"General Meng!" During the march, a school lieutenant came to Meng Ao's side, and his urgent and seductive words sounded again: "Why don't we try to attack Luo City again, just in case we succeed!"
It must be said that although the captain's words were light, they caused huge waves in Meng Ao's heart.
Yes, what if it succeeds?
As long as Luo City can be regained, the entire Zhou Wangji will be firmly in the hands of the Qin army, and he will not have to garrison Yiyang City, which is troublesome.
No matter how dilapidated Luo City is, it is far stronger and more reliable than Yiyang City!
If Meng Ao had just set off from Hangu Pass, he might have followed his inner guidance and attacked Luo City with tens of thousands of troops behind him.
However, after months of bloody battles, especially after seeing the gap between himself and the top generals, Meng Ao immediately killed this idea.
Indeed, the counterattack on Luo City may have a 10% chance of success, but there is a 10,000% chance of failure.
And what happens after failure?
Not only will his tens of thousands of troops be besieged by the Zhao army, but even the subsequent armies will be entangled with the Zhao army. Once such a situation is formed, what will happen to Hangu Pass? What should we do if the Zhao army in Zhencheng attacks?
"If you don't plan for the whole life, you won't be able to plan for a while; if you don't plan for the overall situation, you won't be able to plan for a region!"
This is an experience gained through bloody lessons, and Meng Ao dare not forget it.
"No need to say more, follow the order and take Yiyang without making any mistakes." After snorting coldly, Meng Ao decisively gave his decision.
It should be said that Meng Ao's decision was very decisive.
Although Zhao Guo does not want to start a big battle with the Qin army now in the land of Zhou Wangji. But the reason is definitely not because the Zhao army cannot defeat the Qin army.
On the contrary, in this local battlefield, in a short period of time, the Zhao army's combat power was much higher than that of the Qin army.
In terms of military strength, even after the bloody battle in Zhi City, the Zhao army still had nearly 100,000 troops. In addition to the 130,000 troops of Li Mu who attacked Luo City, the total strength reached 230,000; After a fierce attack on Zicheng, the Qin army's strength had dropped to a mere 200,000.
Obviously, Zhao Jun has a certain advantage in military strength.
From the perspective of combat effectiveness, the Zhao army has more cavalry and the Qin army has more infantry, but it is the Zhao army stationed in the city. In order to maximize the advantage of the cavalry, the Zhao army can set up a formation to follow the Qin army on the plains. Let's have a fight.
In such a contest, Zhao's cavalry, which has advantages in speed and strength, will obviously have the advantage.
Judging from the situation between the enemy and ourselves, the Zhao army occupies Luocheng and Zicheng. It can be said that it is almost semi-surrounding the Qin army. Under the north-south attack, it also occupies an absolute geographical advantage.
Therefore, it can be said that if there is a fight, Zhao Jun's probability of winning is at least 70%.
Naturally, the Zhao army would not give up the decisive battle with the Qin army because they could not defeat it.
But under the current circumstances, if the Qin army fought on the ground in Zhou Wangji, even if they won, the Zhao army would still lose miserably, and it would be more likely to cause a long-term confrontation. This would undoubtedly give other countries an opportunity.
Although other countries may not be able to seize such an opportunity, Zhao Kuo, who wants to unify the six countries, obviously does not want to make his unification cause more difficult.
Of course, the more important thing is that no matter what the outcome of this battle is, it will not kill Qin.
They paid a huge price and even gave other countries the opportunity to rise, but they still couldn't give Qin a fatal blow. The payment and the reward were simply not proportional. Naturally, Zhao Kuo didn't want to fight.
To curb the development of the Qin State, first go north and then south, first easy and then difficult. This is the answer given by Zhao Kuo to solve the problem of unification.
From this aspect, whether Wang Lu's retreat or Meng Ao's denial actually avoided the possibility of a major defeat for the Qin army.
Soon, under the leadership of Meng Ao, 50,000 cavalry left quietly in the north of Luocheng.
Although in this dark night and due to the distance, Meng Ao and Li Mu couldn't see each other's traces at all, but in the dark, the two of them were still close to each other.
People really looked at each other from afar.
The new generation of generals from Qin and Zhao completed their first confrontation under such circumstances.
There was no fierce fighting, no close combat, and the two of them didn't even see each other. But driven by the gears of fate, the two were forced to continue to create sparks in the following days.
"Report!" A scout's urgent call interrupted Li Mu's view from the top of the city.
"Speak." Li Mu ordered simply.
"The Qin Army's tens of thousands of cavalry have crossed ten miles away from the north of the city and headed southwest." The scout immediately replied.
Hearing this, Li Mu finally relaxed slightly. It seems that the Qin army is still a little self-aware and is not prepared to directly attack Luocheng.
Of course, tens of thousands of cavalry are far from the entire Qin army. Therefore, Li Mu did not take it lightly, nor did he order the army to stop preparing for war.
"Continue to closely monitor the movements of the Qin army, especially the direction of the follow-up army, and be sure to report every moment." Li Mu then ordered again.
"Yes." The scout immediately agreed.
Finally, under the strict surveillance of Zhao Jun's scouts, the Qin cavalry army led by Meng Ao headed west. After several hours of long journey, they finally arrived at the destination of their trip - Yiyang City.
Looking up, this city is really small!
Not to mention compared with Luocheng, the capital of Zhou Dynasty, or Xianyang of Qin State, even compared with Yueyang, the old capital of Qin State, it is still far behind.
The low city wall was less than two feet high, and ladders were not even needed during the war. There were still several gaps in this wall.
The small town with a circumference of less than two miles could not even take a quarter of an hour. Surrounded from all sides, not even a hundred thousand troops were needed. His 50,000 troops opened the way and even occupied the entire small town.
Not to mention that in such a small city, almost all the people have fled, and supplies, food, grass and other supplies are bound to be in urgent need.
Looking at Yiyang City in front of him, Meng Ao finally knew what kind of dilemma he was about to face.
Even so, Meng Ao ordered the entire army to move in without hesitation.
"Order the entire army. Except for the 10,000 former troops stationed outside the city to prevent any unexpected events, the rest immediately begin to strengthen and repair the city wall." Meng Ao, realizing that the situation was not good, immediately ordered.
Facing the Zhao army that may arrive at any time, he and his Qin army must make all preparations as soon as possible, even if it is just a trivial reinforcement of the city wall.
Of course, it would be impossible to make the walls of Yiyang City as grand as Xianyang in just a few hours, but at least all the gaps could be plugged.
The soldiers of the Qin Army obviously also realized that they were very likely to be stationed in this city. Facing the dilapidated city, they had gone through bloody battles and understood better what a strong city wall would do to the defenders. of preciousness.
Without saying a word, he followed the captain's order, put down his sword, took off his armor, and began to repair the walls of Yiyang City.
After several hours of hard work, this dilapidated town actually became somewhat vibrant under the Qin army's renovations. However, the inherent attributes of this small town, such as its size problems, cannot be improved by the Qin army in a short time.
Wang Lu, who rushed to Yiyang City, looked at the small city and sighed in his heart. Obviously, this city is smaller and more fragile than he imagined.
However, at this point, he and Qin Jun no longer have any choice.
Then Wang Hao summoned the quartermaster in front of Meng Ao and said: "Leave half of the grain and fodder to Meng Ao, as well as arrows and kerosene. Give him as much as he can carry."
Providing Meng Ao with sufficient food, fodder and ordnance was the only thing Wang Lu could do. .z.
After resting for less than half an hour, Wang Hao hurriedly left Yiyang with the remaining Qin army, followed the Luoshui River to the west, and penetrated into the Hedong area.
In the small city, only Meng Ao and his 40,000 foot soldiers were left, still reinforcing the tower all the time.
And Li Mu, who finally got the news that all members of the Qin army were heading west, was finally relieved and watched as the troops gradually
As the sky lit up, Li Mu decisively gave the order for the army to take turns to rest.
Although the Qin army did not go directly westward to support Hangu as expected, but instead dropped a nail in an inconspicuous corner of the southwest corner of Zhou Wangji.
Of course, Li Mu could understand the reluctance of the Qin army and the good intentions of the Qin army generals: the city left behind, as the result of this eastward campaign, could also serve as a bridgehead for the Qin army's eastward march in the coming year.
However, a mere 50,000 troops were really not looked upon by Li Mu.
Not to mention that the current Zhao army in the Zhou Wangji area has a total of 230,000 troops. The 130,000 troops in Li Mu's hands alone are enough to surround the 50,000 Qin troops in that small city.
In less than ten months, Li Mu would be sure to break through the small city.
After all, the small city didn't have very thick walls.
However, Li Mu still chose to stand still. The reason is very simple. Even if Yiyang is given to the Qin Army, it will not be able to cause any trouble. Ensuring the main force of the Qin Army evacuates is the top priority now.
If the Qin State counterattacks because of coveting this mere 50,000 Qin army, Zhao State really can't afford it!
Naturally, at the same time, Li Mu also reported the news of the Qin army's westward march and the capture of Yiyang to Zhao Kuo in Handan and General Lian Po in Zhi City.
It goes without saying that the report to Zhao Kuo requires Zhao Kuo's instructions on whether to attack Yiyang, how to attack Yiyang, and the aftermath of Zhou Wangji's land.
As for the report to Lian Po in Zhi City, on the one hand, it was out of respect for Comrade Lian Po, the commander-in-chief of the campaign, and on the other hand, it was necessary for Lian Po to send troops to take over the territory of Zhou Wangji according to the established plan.
After months of fierce fighting, the troops in Zhi City were obviously more qualified than their own troops to take over these cities and feel this honor.
Of course, there is another reason, that is, as Luocheng is the closest to the Qin army, Li Mu's troops still need to continue to monitor the Qin army.
At the same time, several flying pigeons also flew up from Luo City, flying straight towards Hangu Pass.
Before the Qin army could retreat to Hexi County, Li Mu's troops who attacked Hangu had disappeared into the mountains and forests outside Hangu Pass. Since the goal has been achieved, it is natural to withdraw.
In this way, the entire Luocheng-Zhecheng-Hangu battle finally came to an end with the Qin army's return of reinforcements and the Zhao army's retreat.
However, restoring order after the war has become another headache.
Especially when the Qin army intervened in Yiyang, it became even more fatal.
