"However, my king." Li Mu then bowed and said: "The general can only defeat one of the Qi troops and return to the front line of Xinzheng."
"Huh?" Zhao Kuo was slightly startled when he heard this, but he already understood what Li Mu was thinking.
It wasn't that Li Mu was incapable of defeating two Qi armies in a row, it was just that Li Mu wanted to return as soon as possible for Xinzheng, or to be precise, for his own safety.
However, facing Li Mu's kind request, Zhao Kuo was a little hesitant.
Without him, if only 70,000 Qi troops were eliminated, it would mean that Tian Dan's troops would continue to face an army of 250,000 troops.
And even if there are 70,000 troops in Wei to support them, Tian Dan only has a mere 140,000 troops in his hands, and his opponent will still be almost twice his size.
This also means that Huaisi County will still be in an absolute disadvantage.
In other words, the winner of this war still has to be in the hands of Sun Gu's 100,000 troops.
But now, Sun Gu's army has most likely marched towards Hexi. It will be impossible for Sun Gu to send troops back for reinforcements within a month or two.
Even taking into account the upcoming winter, it will only be more difficult to mobilize troops and return reinforcements.
In one or two months, the initiative on the battlefield will be completely in the hands of the opponent.
Even if the Xinzheng front line can support it, can Huaisi County hold on?
Even if they are unable to attack for a long time, what if the Chu and Qi armies detour north and go straight to Jibei?
It is not a good thing to completely hand over the initiative on the battlefield to others, especially for such a long time.
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Kuo shook his head firmly and said: "We must eliminate the threat of the Qi army at all costs, even if we cannot completely annihilate the second Qi army, we must defeat it. Only by completely wiping out the Qi army After your troops leave, General Tian Dan will have hope of victory."
"One hundred and forty thousand versus one hundred and eighty thousand, even if the Chu army is insufficient in combat strength, it is already at its limit." Zhao Kuo murmured.
"But." Li Mu was about to refute, but was ruthlessly interrupted by Zhao Kuo.
"I know you are worried about the direction of Xinzheng." Zhao Kuo said coldly: "Moving troops eastward is a very dangerous move. Since you have taken a huge risk, you should have corresponding gains. If you only cut off the Qi army, The war situation in Huaisi cannot fundamentally change, so why should our army take such a risk?"
Zhao Kuo's words left Li Mu speechless.
Indeed, since you have taken the risk, if you are still afraid of this or that, then it is better not to take the risk at all.
Although his words are correct, it is still good to strangle the first Qi army. Li Mu is still sure that he can rush back to Xinzheng before the Qin army can react. But if he strangles two Qi armies in a row, it is almost impossible for the Qin army not to discover one of them. The problem.
Putting his own king in danger, Li Mu could never get over this hurdle.
"That's it." Zhao Kuo obviously saw clearly the entanglement in Li Mu's heart, and immediately continued: "Bring Zhao Wei's three thousand heavy cavalry with you will speed up the speed at which you can strangle the Qi army."
"This?" Li Mu's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this, and he immediately said: "Your Majesty, I will take two thousand heavy cavalry, and the remaining one thousand will be transferred to Xinzheng City. If anything happens..."
No need to ask, Li Mu's idea was very simple. If he was too late to come back and the Qin army was too hasty to attack the city, with these thousand heavy cavalry, they could escort the king out of the city and back to Handan.
However, Li Mu forgot that the Zhao Kuo in front of him was not the former King Zhao.
How could Zhao Kuo, who had climbed up from the mountain of corpses in Changping, abandon the army and escape alone.
Immediately, Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said: "There is no such thing as a chance."
"At that time, there were only 5,000 troops in the Yan city, but the 60,000 elite troops of the Yan army were still standing firm." Zhao Kuo said with confidence: "Now the city of Xinzheng is many times stronger than the city of Yan. , I have an army of 200,000 in my hands, and the Qin army only has more than 300,000. Even if we let them attack, no one will even think about taking a step into our Xinzheng in a year and a half. General, please feel free to lead the troops eastward. !」
Although Zhao Kuo's words are beautiful, everyone knows their meaning.
It is full of flaws.
Not to mention other things, just one point, does the Yan army's combat strength compare with the Qin army?
Not to mention, the Qin army in front of Xinzheng City had prepared for a long time and had a ridiculous amount of siege equipment, but the Yan army even spared a few arrow towers. The difference in equipment was huge.
In terms of military strength, in terms of multiples, it was indeed larger during the time of Yancheng, but in terms of quantity difference, Zhao's army was now more than 100,000 less.
Obviously, the fact that Zhao Kuo was able to defend Yancheng back then does not mean that Zhao Kuo can defend Xinzheng today. XiuShu.com
But Zhao Kuo had already reached this point, and Li Mu knew that he could no longer refuse. The only thing he can do is to find ways to solve the problem in Huaisi County as quickly as possible.
Li Mu, who had thought clearly about this, immediately stood up with his fists clasped and said, "Wei Chen takes orders."
"Okay." Zhao Kuo nodded.
The two of them then continued to refine the details of the plan.
The plan to use the speed of the cavalry to create a time difference seems simple, but in execution, it is not simple at all.
The first thing to be solved is how to quietly withdraw an army of 100,000 troops from under the Qin army's nose.
Fortunately, because Zhou Qi's troops had established a stronghold outside the city and had already formed a rivalry with Xinzheng City, the Qin army did not dare to get too close.
Or maybe it was because the Qin army was trying to paralyze the Zhao army, but the Qin army itself was quietly moving, trying to tell the Zhao army that they were going to retreat to aid Chendu.
Therefore, Xinzheng at this time has enough space to quietly deploy troops.
The second issue is that of cooperation.
You know, even if all the troops that are about to rush to Huaisi County are taken into account, Zhao Jun's military strength is only 240,000. Facing Qi's 140,000 troops, although he has an absolute advantage, he wants to take it in one fell swoop. It is not easy to defeat Qi's 70,000-strong army.
In particular, this 240,000-strong army was led by three people. Lu Buwei and Lejian's troops in Wei, Tian Dan's troops in Huaisi County, and the cavalry regiment led by Li Mu needed these three forces to cooperate. It's really not easy.
But fortunately, after discussions between Zhao Kuo and Li Mu, a complete plan was quickly released.
Before noon, dozens of cavalry messengers flew out from the north gate of Xinzheng City.
These messengers are the most elite soldiers around Zhao Kuo, and what they carry is the latest deployment discussed by Zhao Kuo and Li Mu, which is also the top secret of whether this battle can be successful.
After leaving the city gate, the dozens of riders instantly divided into three groups, heading towards the northeast, due north and northwest respectively.
No need to ask, this order was given to Tian Dan, Lu Buwei and Sun Gu.
In Xinzheng City and in the outer village, Li Mu and Zhao Wei also started the final preparations according to Zhao Kuo's orders.
As night fell, Zhao Jun soldiers were quietly awakened by their camp commanders and captains.
The cold water washed over his face, washing away his sleepiness. He put on his armor, picked up his weapon, and quietly got out of the tent.
Using the moonlight and starlight and the bonfire on the roadside, he took out his mount one by one, only to see that his old friend had already been wrapped in the horse's hooves, and even the horse's mouth had been bitten.
He held his horse with one hand, took a wooden stick from the captain's hand with the other, wiped it on his body randomly, and then bit it into his mouth.
Following the long figure in front of him, he slowly walked towards the unknown darkness.
The further forward, the brighter the stars became, but the bonfire became thinner and thinner, until it fell into a black hole.
Before he could panic, he raised his head and saw that the bright moon had been left behind by him.
Also left behind was the majestic Xinzheng City!
Just like that, quietly, tens of thousands of troops had left Xinzheng and headed towards the mountains and forests further away.
Although they were a little surprised and full of questions, all the Zhao soldiers still walked silently without making any sound.
Just walking quietly and silently like this, passing through twists and turns
, passing by rivers.
After walking straight for more than two hours, Xinzheng City was no longer visible when I looked back, and the order to "untie the bonds" came in a hurry.
With a sound of "Bah", the soldier immediately spat out the wooden stick in his mouth.
As the wooden stick fell to the ground, the neighing sound of "Xi Lv Lv" instantly resounded throughout the world.
The equally suffocated war horse raised its head wantonly, venting his dissatisfaction to his master.
Patting the war horse's belly, the soldier immediately squatted down and untied the thick cloth tied to the horse's hooves.
The war horses obviously knew what their master meant, and they actually cooperated by lifting their hooves one by one so that their master could operate them better.
In a short time, the cloth on the four hooves was removed.
The war horse also stamped its feet excitedly on the spot, and the clatter of horse hooves instantly formed a sweet music.
On the contrary, the owner who was holding the cloth in his arms couldn't help but laugh. This thick cloth could not be thrown away. It could be changed at home and it would be a good piece of clothing for a child.
This moment may be the most relaxed and happy moment for the war horse and his owner.
Unfortunately, happy time is always short-lived.
The cavalry soldiers here had just released the horses from the restraints, and the general's order from the front was conveyed again.
"Hang the stirrups."
With the command, the soldier quickly took out two ropes from the baggage under the saddle of the war horse, and then buckled them on both sides of the saddle.
Yes, bilateral stirrups.
At this moment of decisive battle, Zhao Kuo obviously no longer needed to hide.
In fact, after Zhou Qi's heavy cavalry completely defeated the Qin army's three thousand heavy cavalry, Zhao Kuo began to have his cavalry units equipped with and adapt to bilateral stirrups.
However, because the war has been in a confrontation, even if it is not a confrontation, it is probably an attack by the Qin army. However, the Zhao army's cavalry with bilateral stirrups has never had a chance to use it.
But today's battle at Huaisi just gave the Zhao army's cavalry equipped with bilateral stirrups a chance to show off.
Of course, the use of bilateral stirrups not only has an effect on the battlefield, but also greatly increases the speed of the cavalry.
Soon, the soldier hung both stirrups on the saddle.
"Mount."
Almost at the same time, another order came into the warrior's ears.
Gently caressing the horse's head, the warrior quickly came to the side of the horse, stepped into the stirrup, and with a slight exertion, his body was already in the air. With a simple turn, the warrior was sitting safely on the horse's back.
"Xilulu" the war horse whistled again, seeming to greet the owner on the horse, and also seemed to remind the owner to be careful!
"Set off!"
He rubbed the war horse's neck, gently pinched the horse's belly with his feet that had been put into the stirrups, and the war horse immediately started running.
The clatter of horse hooves instantly resounded across the earth.
It's a pity that Xinzheng City in the rear couldn't hear the thunder-like sound at all. Of course, it was impossible for the Qin army to hear it.
In this way, Zhao Jun sent one hundred thousand cavalry on the road in one night.
At the same time, Lu Buwei, who was far away in Daliang City, received the secret order from Zhao Kuo at dawn.
Looking at the panting messenger, Lu Buwei immediately understood the importance of the secret order.
However, Lu Buwei remained unhurried. While checking the secret order, he ordered someone to invite Lejian.
But in just over an hour, the entire Daliang City became lively.
In the name of reinforcing Xinzheng, Lejian led the newly reorganized 52,000 Wei troops (of which more than 3,000 Zhao troops were used to control the Wei troops) out of the south gate quickly, but after ten miles out of the city, he turned eastward.
Lu Buwei, on the other hand, assembled the Zhao army in Daliang and recalled the Zhao army in the surrounding cities. It was not until dusk that the Zhao army was completely assembled. Then the 20,000-strong army quickly set off, following Lejian's footsteps.
Of course, Lu Buwei still stayed in Daliang City, and he also had more than a thousand elite Zhao troops under his command.
While the Zhao army in the Wei State had already moved out, the Chu army in the capital of Chen had not yet begun to take action.
It's not that the generals of the Chu army don't know the importance of soldiers and speed, it's just that the generals of the Chu army need to firmly occupy Chendu.
Of course, in Chu Jun's mind, Zhao Jun had been deceived by them, and it was impossible to know their true intentions. This was the most fundamental reason why they dared to rest in Chendu.
And as Zhao Kuo reminded them to pay attention to the Qin army's movements to prevent falling into the Qin army's trap, the King of Chu and his generals laughed even louder.
Everyone seemed to have seen the stunned expression on Zhao Kuo's face when they appeared in Huaisi County.
However, in order to make the performance more realistic, the King of Chu immediately replied to Zhao Kuo with a letter of credence. One was to express his gratitude to Zhao Kuo for the timely reminder, and the other was to tell Zhao Kuo that he would firmly occupy Chendu and wait for Zhao Jun. Head south to join forces.
This is obviously to deceive the Zhao army into giving up the advantage of the city and launch an attack on the Qin army!
The King of Chu was indeed cruel enough. Even if the Zhao army really went south, it would be possible for the Chu army to stay in Chendu and strangle the Zhao army.
Unfortunately, what King Chu didn't know was that his conspiracy had long been discovered by Zhao Kuo.
But looking at the reply from King Chu, Zhao Kuo was...
