The real attack did not start until Yinshi.
The exhausted Yan army was quickly caught off guard by the recharged Zhao army.
It's a pity that even so, Zhao Jun still failed to conquer Jicheng in one battle. The battle eventually dragged into a long stalemate.
However, that night, Zhao Jun boarded the tower several times, and even had to fight to the death with his own soldiers to resist, which gave Zhao Jun enough confidence.
At the same time, after this night of fierce fighting, Lian Po and Tian Dan had obviously found a way to break Jicheng.
Day and night battles - with the number of Yan troops in Jicheng, it would probably take less than a few days for Zhao Jun to break through the city, but they would still be exhausted from this fatigue battle.
The Zhao army attacking Yan here was already almost certain of attacking Yan, but the Qin army attacking Chu over there was getting more and more tired, and even fell into a bitter battle.
There was no way, as the battle continued, news of Zhao Jun's march south finally reached the battlefield.
Although both the Qin and Chu armies did not know that Zhao Kuo had actually led his troops into Shangdang, and Li Mu of Shangdang quietly entered the territory of Han with an army of 50,000.
But obviously, Zhao Jun's march south not only gave the Chu Army reason and motivation to continue to persist, but also brought a certain degree of morale blow to the Qin Army, especially after learning that Zhao Kuo actually took command in person.
Therefore, under the ups and downs of morale, the Qin army's attack became increasingly difficult.
With the news of King Han's request for help, the situation of the Qin army became even more worrying. To be precise, Wang Lu was caught in the same dilemma as Lian Po.
On one side is Chen Du, which has been unable to be conquered for a long time, and on the other side is the country of Han asking for help.
To divide the troops or not to divide the troops, that is the question.
Let's divide our troops. After the strength of the troops weakens, Chen Du, which is already difficult to defeat, will inevitably spend more time. Once the Zhao army breaks through Jicheng and goes south, the Qin army will inevitably fall short;
But if there is no division of troops, the Kingdom of Han is his ally after all, and Wang Hao does not want to give the Kingdom of Han to the Kingdom of Zhao, even though the Kingdom of Han now only has less than one county.
Although he held an army of 250,000 (excluding the 30,000 Korean troops), Wang Lu still deeply felt that the troops were insufficient - there was no way, Zhao Kuo alone was enough in Wang Lu's heart At least tens of thousands of troops.
"General." Meng Ao, who was sitting next to Wang Lu, frowned slightly and said, "General, I think the country of Han still needs to be saved."
"What should I say?" Wang Lu looked at Meng Ao with some surprise, not because Meng Ao's suggestion was in line with his opposite.
Simply, Wang Hao was delighted that Meng Ao was able to take the initiative to express himself: being able to make his own judgments, and having the courage to speak out and implement them is a sign that a general is gradually maturing.
"General." Meng Ao, who was sitting next to him, had obviously matured a lot after the battle in Luocheng and a year of precipitation. He immediately continued: "Not to mention that the country of Han is now my only ally. From a purely military perspective, Look, we can’t leave Han Zhiguo alone.”
"Now, before this battle, our Great Qin had only three ways to go out to the east, attacking Zhao on the top road, attacking Zhou on the middle road, and attacking Chu on the bottom road." Meng Ao continued: "In fact, the road is impassable, and only the middle and lower roads are left. Now. Chendu is in sight, and if we continue to advance eastward from Chendu, we may be blocked by the network of mountains, rivers, and rivers. Therefore, after this battle, the only way our army can actually fight is the middle road, either out of Han Valley to the east, or out of Chendu to the north. Their targets are all Wei."
"The Kingdom of Han is weak, so I don't see how important it is at this time, but if the Kingdom of Han falls into the hands of the Zhao army, it will be a big problem for the expansion of our Qin state." Meng Ao volleyed in the air, gesturing for the route of the Qin army's troops. continued.
"Whether it is attacking Zhou from Hangu or attacking Wei from Chendu, the Kingdom of Han is on its side. Zhao does not even need to station too many troops. As long as a partial division of tens of thousands is stationed in Xinzheng, our army will have to use rat weapons, even We need to invest hundreds of thousands of troops to defend the Zhao army stationed in Korea. In this case, it is better to send out the army now to protect the country of Korea." Meng Ao finally finished his words.
And Wang Lu immediately fell into deep thought.
Obviously, Meng
What Ao said is not unreasonable. From a long-term perspective, the existence of Han Zhiguo will indeed have greater benefits, but the problem is that if there is a problem in the battle of Chen Du because of the rescue of Han Zhiguo, it will also be a huge loss. Especially, If Zhao State captures Yan State again, Qin State will completely lose its national power and territorial advantage over Zhao State.
After hesitating for a while, Wang Hao looked at Meng Ao and said, "If you lead the troops to defend Xinzheng, how many troops will be needed?"
"Judging from the current strength of Zhao's army, it is only tens of thousands." Meng Ao had obviously expected this question from Wang Lu, and immediately answered: "The Han army is 30,000, plus the Qin army's elite 20,000 are enough. "
"Twenty thousand." Wang Hao was obviously still a little hesitant about this answer.
It's not that Wang Hao thinks Meng Ao wants too much, on the contrary, Wang Hao thinks Meng Ao wants too little.
That's Zhao Kuo! Zhao Kuo, who was able to force General Bai Qi to commit suicide, could he really stop him with only 50,000 troops?
Seemingly understanding General Wang Lu's hesitation, Meng Ao immediately continued: "Don't worry, General, this battle is a defensive battle. The general will stay in Xinzheng and will not come out. Even if he, King Zhao, comes in person, I will not come out." They will never send troops to attack. In this way, even if King Zhao has a thousand good strategies, he can only attack the city. In addition to the thousands of Korean troops in Xinzheng, there are more than 50,000 people guarding it. If they persist for ten months, they will not succeed. question."
"Okay." Seeing Meng Ao say this, Wang Hao finally made up his mind.
"In that case, I will give you an army of 20,000 people." Wang Hao said immediately.
After saying this, Wang Hao still seemed to feel that something was wrong, and immediately ordered again: "No, I will give you 25,000 troops, 20,000 infantry to help you defend the city, and 5,000 cavalry to protect you. If there is any disagreement, We are about to retreat, remember: your safety is more important than the country of Han and its 20,000 troops. Only by staying here can we open up territory for our great Qin."
"Yes." Meng Ao heard this and immediately said gratefully.
Five thousand cavalry is not a small number. Even the wealthy Qin State only has tens of thousands of cavalry.
Obviously, Wang Lu really made Meng Ao the core of the next generation Qin army. However, from the Battle of Luocheng to the recent Battle of Xincai, Meng Ao's performance is indeed worthy of being the successor to the Qin Army's future general.
Moreover, he is also the only successor candidate so far. Wang Lu, who had already lost an outstanding successor, naturally had to protect this rare successor.
However, Wang Hao did not expect that it was precisely because of his momentary thought that he actually saved Meng Ao's life.
Just when Wang Lu made the final decision to send Meng Ao to lead his army to return reinforcements, Zhao Kuo and a group of palace guards had also arrived among Li Mu's army.
time is life! Especially at this critical moment in the struggle between the two countries.
Zhao Kuo knew very well that every time he was ahead of the Qin army, the balance of victory would be closer to him.
Therefore, as soon as Handan's army arrived at Shangdang, Zhao Kuo led a group of palace guards, together with Zhao Wei, to lightly equip Li Mu's army that had entered the territory of Han.
"That's the way it is."
Inside the Chinese army's tent, Li Mu briefly introduced the intelligence collected by the scouts and agents to Zhao Kuo.
After pondering for a while, Zhao Kuo said helplessly: "I didn't expect that the King of Han reacted quickly. As soon as the army set off, all the troops in Han were gathered in Xinzheng."
"Of course." Li Mu also continued: "The King of Han should also know very well that the only thing of some value in the Kingdom of Han today is the capital city of Xinzheng, so he will naturally stick to it with all his strength."
"Based on your estimate." Zhao Kuo said again: "How many troops and horses does Xinzheng still have now?"
"It should be around tens of thousands." Li Mu was obviously prepared for this question and answered almost without thinking: "After the main force of the Korean army sets off, the remaining troops in Xinzheng should be around three thousand. If we include the palace guards, There are about 4,000 people standing in the way, and the nearby cities range from more than a thousand to hundreds. The cumulative number should be about 4,000 to 5,000. Therefore, the number of troops stationed in Xinzheng should number in the tens of thousands."
"They're just a bunch of people." Zhao Wei looked down on this improvised group of Korean troops.
"But even if it is a mob, there are still 10,000 people!" Zhao Kuo sighed again, and then warned Li Mu and Zhao Wei who were present: "This battle is to defend the capital, and the Korean army is bound to break out a bigger battle. Strength, we must not underestimate it.”
"Yes." The two people who heard this immediately agreed.
After nodding slightly, Zhao Kuo hesitated.
In the original plan, Zhao Kuo wanted to use the movement of Handan's army to cover up the movement of Li Mu's army to the south, and then take advantage of the Qin and Han coalition forces to take over the almost undefended Xinzheng in one fell swoop before the Qin and Han coalition forces could react.
However, unexpectedly, there was still a certain problem with the intelligence. The King of Han was actually prepared for it - at the same time as the army set out, he had already ordered the garrison in each city to assemble directly towards Xinzheng.
Also because of the small territory of the Kingdom of Han, within just a few days, King Qin's troops had gathered in Xinzheng.
If Zhao Jun continues to attack Xinzheng according to the established ideas, he will definitely be completely embarrassed in front of tens of thousands of Yan troops.
That's not to say that a full 50,000-strong army will not be able to defeat the small Xinzheng, but the question is, how long will it take for 50,000-strong troops to attack a city garrisoned by nearly 10,000-strong troops?
No one knows.
Once time drags on, the Qin army cannot remain indifferent.
He was still attacking the city here, but the Qin and Han coalition forces had already arrived at his side. At that time, I will be unable to withdraw even if I attack, and I will be completely in trouble.
"Hey." Zhao Kuo sighed softly, and then said: "Since the risk of attacking directly is too high, let's not attack!"
"Ah?" Zhao Wei on the side was obviously a little disappointed and said, "Are we going to go back like this?"
"Go back? Why go back?" Zhao Kuo looked at Zhao Wei funny.
"What does the king mean?" Li Mu obviously didn't quite understand what Zhao Kuo meant.
"Back then, Sun Bin used it to besiege Wei and rescue Zhao." Zhao Kuo looked at the two of them with a smile, and then said, "Today, I will teach you another trick, what is: encirclement and reinforcements."
