Yes, the Chu army took the initiative and failed again.
It even failed in the hands of a not-so-famous Meng Ao.
The only good news is that because the Qin army has been operating in Chu for a short time, it is not as familiar with the terrain as the Chu army.
Although they defeated the Chu army in the field battle, they failed to achieve a battle of annihilation. Also because of the change of power in the Qin State, Meng Ao did not pursue the retreating Chu army.
Relying on the dense woods and water network, although the Chu army was defeated, it did not damage its roots. Out of an army of more than 100,000 people, the Qin army only left less than 20,000 people behind.
However, it took nearly a month from planning to troop deployment, but the Chu army was defeated in less than three days.
This really embarrassed Zhao Kuo, who was still studying the possibilities of the war situation in Handan.
I haven’t felt it here yet, but the other side told me it’s done. Can you bear this?
After this battle, Zhao Kuo had to re-evaluate the strength of Chu's ally.
As the Chu army ceased operations, the Zhao army had to shrink its defense line, spending a lot of food and mobilizing troops. It almost only made a circle in Shangdang and Yingchuan counties before being transferred back to Handan.
There was no way, Zhao Kuo and his Zhao State were not ready to launch attacks at the same time as Qin and Wei.
Similarly, Qin was actually unwilling to engage in a decisive battle with Zhao when its own internal peace was not yet peaceful.
Therefore, on the basis that neither country had any intention of a decisive battle, the battle that took place in the autumn of 254 BC ended with the Chu army losing more than 20,000 troops.
Only the injured world of Chu State was achieved.
Although Zhao Guo was a little surprised by the rapid retreat of Chu State, Zhao Kuo was actually happy to accept such a result. After all, apart from the consumption of some food and grass, there was not much loss.
Just think of it as an outdoor training session.
Of course, Wei Guo was also happy to accept such a result.
As one of Qin's secret allies, Wei was very happy about Qin's once again display of strength.
This also made Zhao Guo dare not easily declare a decisive battle. Even Zhao Kuo could not help but sigh: "Qin has so many generals!"
is not that right! Just now, Bai Qi finally left, and Sima was mistakenly executed in Lanyucheng. Seeing that the only general left in the Qin State was Wang Lu, he did not expect that in just a few years, there would be such a general. After a while another Meng Ao appeared.
When Meng Ao finally couldn't kill him anymore, Wang Jian had almost gained enough experience to take over the position of general. After Wang Jian, there would be his son Wang Bi... ap.
The fighting spirit of the old Qin people in their flesh and blood meant that the Qin army would never lack generals who could fight.
Of course, Zhao Kuo also understood that a few famous generals could not stop the vast historical trend. However, the emergence of famous generals can greatly advance or even delay the process of history.
Don’t you see, in real history, how long did the famous general Li Mu delay for Zhao?
And Xiang Yan, the famous general of Yan State, also added a lot of troubles to Qin Shi Huang's great cause of unification.
Zhao Kuo, who was still frightened, even ordered his secret guards to spy on a man named "Guo Kai" in Zhao State.
Of course Zhao Kuo didn't want to use it for himself. As the "number one" famous general in the Warring States Period, Zhao Kuo certainly hoped that he could go to Qin and give Qin's generals a fatal blow!
The biggest beneficiary of this battle was undoubtedly Qin's grandson Chu.
A hearty victory is enough to eliminate any amount of distrust.
In particular, Zi Chu appointed Meng Ao. This young general, at the beginning of the battle, Meng Ao's tactics of luring the enemy deep into the army really made everyone sweat.
In fact, petitions from both inside and outside the Qin State requesting the replacement of generals were sent to the desk of Grand Prince Chu like snowflakes.
Fortunately, Meng Ao was an assistant minister left by his grandfather (King Qin Zhaoxiang), so how could he be a mediocre person.
Therefore, despite the pressure from all sides, Zichu still insisted on
Use Meng Ao regularly.
In the end, Meng Ao lived up to the trust of Qin Prince Chu and won a decisive victory against Chu at the smallest cost. This undoubtedly caused an uproar among the Qin government and the public. While praising the might of General Meng Ao, he also kept praising the unique vision of Grand Prince Chu.
In any case, with the victory of the Qin army, the position of the great grandson of Zi Chu was secure.
Of course, this is far from the end, but just the beginning.
A lot of internal matters in the Qin State were still waiting for Zi Chu to take care of, and Meng Ao invested in the construction of heavy cavalry after Banshi returned to the court.
Everyone knows that the temporary cessation of activities is just for further fighting in the future.
But taking advantage of the time when the Qin State finally died down, Zhao Kuo once again ordered people to sweep away the threats behind him that were no longer a threat - Lin Hu's people.
To put it simply, when Zhao State destroyed Yan State, it did not thoroughly clean up the barbarian areas adjacent to Yan State.
It's not that Zhao Kuo forgot about it, but that he was too impatient to go south at that time. Naturally, Zhao Guo had no time to take over Lin Hu's people who had been beaten by Yan Guo and dared not raise their heads.
As winter turned to autumn, in the spring of 253 BC, Zhao Kuo appointed Li Mu as his general, and Zhou Qi and Zhao Wei as his deputy generals. He led an army of 100,000 people from Jibei to the north, and swept away all the tribes in the grassland with lightning speed, leaving no barbarians behind. It can be blocked!
In addition, seven new cities were built in the land of the Hu people and merged into Jibei County!
At this point, Zhao Guo unified the north and no longer had any worries. It can be said that it is based on the northern land and looking south, and the general trend of the world has been achieved!
At this time, the world was in a state of power: Zhao was in the north, Qin was roaring in the west, Qi and Chu were shrinking in the southeast, and Wei alone looked up to Qin and Zhao in the Central Plains.
Zhao has the vast territory in the north, Qin has the fertile land of Bashu and Guanzhong thousands of miles away; Zhao has the wise generals of Lian Po and Li Mu, and Qin has hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers. It is not yet known who will die!
However, Zhao Kuo's words of "the foundation of all ages" have spread throughout the countries!
It’s also time to consider your next steps.
Soon, several giants of the Zhao Kingdom were also called into the palace amidst the storm.
A discussion about the life and death of several countries was born.
"The State of Qi is surrounded by me on three sides, so we should take the opportunity to seize the land of Qi State! It is not too late to stand against Qin and Wei Zao!" Lian Po said with determination on his face: "The land of Wei, although there are rivers and mountains outside and inside, Although Qi is a country close to the sea, the salt industry is enough to offset it. The people of Qi have no time to use it, so it is just for my use!"
"General! Although Qi is a good country, it has tens of thousands of armored men! There are also strong cities such as Linzi and Jimo that can be defended, which are not easy to obtain!" Li Mu shook his head when he heard this and said, "And If I attack Han and Wei, I only need to defeat Lord Xinling of Zhou in the first place, and then I can advance to Daliang of Wei. The strength of the Wei army is only one hundred thousand so far, and destroying the country is like searching for something from a bag!"
"However, if our army attacks Linzi, I am afraid that the Qin State will launch an attack by the Wei State on our weak Yingchuan County! If this is true, our army will be in the dilemma of fighting on two fronts!" Li Mu continued said.
"So what if we fight on two fronts? With the strength of our army, we can't use fire oil?" Lian Po continued to ask.
Before Li Mu could respond again, Lu Buwei on the side immediately interjected: "In the territory of Yingchuan, contact the party and get the key to Qin's eastward exit. There is no room for loss!"
"No, no!" Mr. Pingyuan immediately joined the "battle group", and an energetic voice immediately sounded: "Although Yingchuan County is more important, if you can get Qi State, even if you lose it, it will be worth it. !」
"When two strong forces fight, there will be injuries!..."
"The land of the Three Jins must be protected first..."
Several civil servants and military officers in front of them started a new round of arguments, and no one could convince anyone.
That's right, after 253 BC, the entire war situation was almost recorded as strangely peaceful.
Of course, under the turbulent situation, the Qin army actually began to gather silently. It is precisely because of such secret communication that this rather fierce court debate took place.
Obviously, Zhao Kuo's four-person cabinet was now divided into two factions.
Lord Pingyuan and Lian Po were of the same faction, and believed that they should imitate the story of the destruction of Yan that day, use Yingchuan County to entangle the Qin army with the Wei state, lead the army to decisively capture the Qi state, and benefit from its sea salt, thereby forming a negative impact on the Qin state's national power. Total crushing! And then take the initiative in the final battle!
Li Mu and Lu Buwei are on the other side, and the land of Yingchuan cannot hold on until Zhao Jun breaks through Qi!
The Qi State was different from the Yan State in that it not only had many cities and a large population, but also benefited from salt. Even if the Qin army suffered losses after defeating Yingchuan County, they would not allow Zhao to continue attacking Qi. In this case, Zhao would be in a difficult situation.
It should be said that the ideas of both parties have shortcomings and advantages.
What is worthy of recognition is that both factions are for the good of Zhao Guo! Definitely.
Of course, there are reasons why the two groups put forward completely thoughtful opinions.
The reason why Pingyuan Jun and Lian Po want to attack Qi quickly to gain an absolute advantage over Qin is not that they are unaware of the risks involved, but because they are already old. Even if the prosperous Zhao State injects Pingyuan Jun and Lian Po into He has lost a lot of youthful vitality, but in the end he cannot withstand the invasion of time.
They are old and have come all the way from the precarious Zhao State. They really want to see the Zhao State dominate the world in their lifetime!
They also believe that under the leadership of King Zhao, the two counties of Yingchuan and Chuan have complete defenses, which are enough to withstand possible dangers. This small risk is nothing at all!
As the leaders of the Qingzhuang Sect, Li Mu and Lu Buwei had to take the risks that Zhao Kuo and Lian Po had already taken for them. They have enough time to accompany Zhao Guo to continue to grow stronger, and the concept of stability in everything has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In a word: If we stay steady and don't waver, victory will be ours.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with such behavior, but giving up danger also means giving up opportunities! And if you give up opportunities to your opponents again and again, I'm afraid your stability will become unstable!
Zhao Kuo listened to their argument and gradually understood in his mind!
