"Greedy."
Zhao Kuo looked at the reply from King Chu in his hand and couldn't help but laugh in his heart. Obviously, judging from the letters, the Chu army should still be in Chendu now.
Although the letters between the two countries were delivered via carrier pigeons, three days had passed between the time they came and went.
According to Zhao Kuo's estimation, Li Mu should have passed through the Wei border at this time and was about to reach the Dongjun area. It would probably take less than three to five days to reach the offensive line.
Of course, if Zhao Kuo is willing, he can pretend to be ready to go south, or even reply to the King of Chu, so as to continue to hang the Chu army near Chendu and buy more time for Li Mu's troops to encircle and annihilate.
However, after thinking about it, Zhao Kuo still didn't do it.
The reason is very simple. Letting the Chu army continue to stay in Chendu is not the optimal solution.
On the one hand, Li Mu's troops already have a time advantage. Even if the Chu army heads east immediately, it will not be able to keep up with Li Mu's troops, and it will be too late to rescue the Qi army.
On the other hand, the Chu army continued to stay in Chendu, which posed a great threat to Xinzheng City.
The simple truth is that once the Chu army in Chendu learns that the Zhao army is marching eastwards, it is very likely that they will directly lead their troops northward and join the Qin army to attack Xinzheng.
At that time, what Zhao Kuo had to face was not an army of 360,000, but an army of 540,000.
Therefore, Zhao Kuo not only could not continue to hang the Chu army in place, but also wanted the Chu army to set off as soon as possible. The best result is that as soon as the Chu army arrived at Huaisi County, news came that the Qi army was attacked.
For this reason, Zhao Kuo also quickly replied: The Qin army is still determined and cannot go out easily. It should strictly guard the front and retreat when its food is exhausted, and then attack from both ends to annihilate it.
Of course, it is not enough to just let the Chu army strictly guard Chendu.
Ma Di directly informed the King of Chu in his letter: His army from Hedong was on its way back and would arrive at the battlefield in the near future. Even if the Qin army still had food left, they would be able to surround and annihilate it.
These words were of course intended to intimidate the Chu army. In fact, the cavalry sent by Zhao Kuo had not yet reached Hedong.
However, Sun Gu's troops in Hedong did disappear after taking Hedong. Zhao Kuo certainly knew that they were looking for a ferry along the river to prepare for a sudden attack on Hexi, but the Qin army did not know.
All the Qin army could see was the sudden disappearance of Zhao Jun.
In this way, combined with the relationship between Zhao and Chu, what Zhao Kuo said in the letter is very credible.
And knowing that Zhao's nearly 100,000 troops were about to return for reinforcements, what should the Chu army do?
Obviously, of course, we should go east immediately and go to Huaisi County to break the situation before the Zhao army shrinks! In such an urgent situation, even if the King of Chu wanted to wait, the Qin army would definitely not agree.
A letter instantly set the Chu army into action.
The day after receiving Zhao Kuo's letter, the King of Chu ordered the Chu army to immediately set off towards Huaisi County.
However, the number of Chu troops who attacked was not the 180,000 that Zhao Kuo and Li Mu imagined, but 150,000.
It's not that Zhao's scouts made a mistake, it's just that the other 30,000 Chu troops were left in the capital of Chen by the King of Chu. Obviously, the King of Chu wanted to keep Chen Du firmly in his hands before he could rest assured.
Such a move of "forgetting one's duty for small gains and cherishing one's life for big things" was something Zhao Kuo and Li Mu never expected.
Of course, this is understandable from the perspective of King Chu.
After all, the Qi army in Huaisi County was strong enough to crush the Zhao army. There was no essential difference whether he sent an army of 150,000 or 180,000.
On the contrary, in Chendu, although the Qin army has withdrawn, no one can say whether the Qin army will turn around and take back Chendu once the Zhao army is defeated.
With 30,000 troops here, at least the Qin army can make a show of force.
Such a conservative mentality, placed on an ordinary person, may be an insurance belt before he steps into the abyss, but placed on a king, especially when facing a battlefield related to the fate of the country, But it can easily become a fatal mistake.
And what happened next just confirmed this
a little.
Of course, this is all a story for later.
In any case, under Zhao Kuo's overt and covert "urging", the Chu army finally drove out of Chendu and rushed towards the Huaisi battlefield.
While the Chu army was marching slowly, the Qin army also pretended to start to shrink its troops, as if it was about to retreat en masse and rush to Chendu for reinforcements at the next moment.
It was a disaster for the Zhao Jun scouts in Xinzheng City.
In order to cooperate with the Qin army's performance, even though the army could not move lightly, they were still frequently sent by Zhao Kuo to investigate the Qin army's every move. It's like if the Qin army makes any move, the Zhao army in the city will rush out to pursue it.
The Qin army was not idle either, and immediately sent out many scouts, hoping to strangle the Zhao army's scouts on the spot. It was as if he was afraid that his actions would be discovered by Zhao Jun.
An action scene of "you come and I go" was quickly staged in front of Xinzheng City.
It's a pity that although the scouts of the two armies were fighting to the death on the vast battlefield, the generals of both sides had no intention of going to fight or leaving.
However, it was the frequent battles between these scouts that firmly locked the Qin army's sights on the Xinzheng battlefield.
On the fifth night after Li Mu left Xinzheng City, several giants of Zhao Jun met in Rencheng, a little-known town in Huaisi County.
Tian Dan, who was stationed in Huaisi County and was most familiar with the enemy's situation, took the lead in introducing the battle situation.
"Currently, the Qi army is divided into east and west routes to attack our Huaisi County. The east route goes south along the Yishui River and is blocked by our army at the Yushan line. The west route army advances southwest along the Mengshan Mountains and is currently blocked by our army. The army blocked the attack near Wuyang." Tian Dan pointed to the map and explained in detail: "It seems that the straight line distance between the two places is not far, but because of the mountain road, it will take at least two days to reach it."
"According to the king's arrangement." Seeing that the three of them did not speak, Tian Dan immediately continued: "The main force of our army has mobilized nearly 55,000 people to Wuyang City, preparing to cooperate with General Li to eat the enemies of Wuyang first. Turn to the east and eat the land of Yushan."
After saying this, Tian Dan also looked at Li Mu, Lejian, and Zhao Wei.
As a newly-activated Lejian, he was not familiar with the battlefield situation, so naturally he would not have any opinions. As a general, Zhao Wei had nothing to say about charging into battle, but he had no say in this strategic arrangement.
However, Li Mu, who came under Zhao Kuo's order and almost represented Zhao Kuo, frowned.
"No." After a long time, Li Mu finally uttered these two words slowly.
Hearing this, Tian Dan was obviously a little stunned.
Without him, this plan was already a plan that he had thought up with great effort. He had gone through it many times over and over again, but now it was rejected by Li Mu. How could he not be shocked.
Fortunately, Li Mu's ability has been noticed by Tian Dan in recent years. Faced with Li Mu's denial, Tian Dan was not angry. Instead, he looked at Li Mu with a serious face.
This is a battle that affects the prosperity and decline of Zhao State, and even Tian Dan has to be careful.
"It's too far." Li Mu didn't show off, and even expressed his dissatisfaction.
However, as soon as these three words came out, Tian Dan and Le Jian who were present were stunned on the spot, and even thought they heard wrongly.
"Did General Li say that our army is too far away from these two places?" Tian Dan asked with some confusion.
"No." Li Mu quickly replied: "Is Wuyang and Yushan too far away?"
As soon as these words came out, the two of them were even more confused. Is there anyone who dislikes the fact that the opponent's reinforcements are too far away?
"The straight-line distance between the two armies can be farther, but it cannot be a mountain road." Li Mu ignored the two people's surprise and continued: "The straight-line distance is far and there is an official road. My cavalry can arrive quickly, but if it is a mountain road, I The cavalry will not be able to arrive quickly."
"Place the first battlefield in Yinping." Before the two of them could react, Li Mu found his ideal decisive battle location on the map.
"Yin Ping?" Tian Dan followed Li Mu's fingers and quickly found where Yin Ping was.
exist.
A series of information about Yinping also poured into Tian Dan's mind instantly. It was obvious that during the past few months in Huaisi County, Tian Dan had already understood the mountains and rivers here clearly.
"Yinping is located in a plain, which is conducive to cavalry assaults. Although the city is not large, it is not difficult to garrison tens of thousands of troops." Tian Dan then introduced the situation in Yinping.
"It's just." Tian Dan then raised his head and looked at Li Mu and said, "It only takes one day from Yinping to Yushan. If the cavalry comes lightly, even including the time to report the message, it may not take half a day to arrive."
"The battle will be over in half a day." Li Mu said with an almost unquestionable tone: "After the battle is over, quickly rush to Yushan."
"Half a day?" Tian Dan couldn't help but frown.
Even though Li Mu had proven himself in battle after battle, Tian Dan still couldn't help but feel a little angry when faced with this arrogance.
This is a battle related to the fate of Zhao State! How could it be so careless?
Seemingly seeing the anger on Tian Dan's face, Zhao Wei, who came with Li Mu from the side, quickly interjected: "General Tian, the last general's three thousand heavy cavalry have also arrived with the army."
Zhao Wei's meaning was very clear. With his own heavy cavalry, it was not impossible to defeat Qi's army in half a day.
Tian Dan naturally understood what Zhao Wei meant, but on the battlefield, anything could happen. No matter what, the battle time could not be compressed so tightly. What if something unexpected happened? .
Just when Tian Dan was about to refute, Li Mu seemed to finally realize the inaccuracy in his words.
Immediately, Li Mu also raised his hands and saluted Tian Dan and Lejian: "Both generals, it is not Mu who is arrogant. It's just that the war is like this. Our army must try its best to complete this battle as quickly as possible."
Sighing lightly, Li Mu could only tell the truth and said: "On the Xinzheng front line, my king only has 200,000 troops. Once the Qin army learns of the Huaisi war, they will attack Xinzheng with 360,000 troops. Until then......"
"How is that possible?" Tian Dan suddenly panicked and said, "According to some calculations, Xinzheng should have 300,000 troops at this time?"
When Li Mu heard this, his face suddenly turned red with embarrassment and said: "The last general underestimated the enemy. After the king captured Daliang, he ordered Sun Gu to lead an army of 100,000 to the east. Now he has occupied the east of the river and is now marching to the west of the river."
"That's it, that's it." Tian Dan understood everything immediately.
No wonder the king has not sent more troops to his side for a long time. No wonder Li Mu has to lead his army back after adding more troops...
"In this case, how can you rashly leave Xinzheng with a hundred thousand people and put our king in danger?" Tian Dan, who understood, suddenly became even more angry.
"This is my king's order." Zhao Wei on the side quickly came to the rescue.
"Old General Tian, please put down the wrath of the thunder for a moment. The most important thing now is to defeat the thief as soon as possible." Lejian on the side finally said.
Hearing this, Tian Dan also exhaled a long breath, and then looked at the map.
After thinking about how to make a cup of tea, Tian Dan said: "In that case, it's in Yinping."
"Of my 60,000 main force, I will leave 50,000 in Wuyang and gradually retreat, leading the Qi army to Yinping in three days; another 10,000 troops will support Yushan as a cover; General Lejian's 70,000 troops will Immediately move north to Yushan, strengthen Yushan's defense line and cooperate with General Li in the battle." Tian Dan immediately adjusted his arrangements and said: "Three days later at Mao Shi, you will lead the cavalry to strangle the enemies of Yushan, and then go westward. Arrive at Yinping and defeat the enemies in front of them. enemy."
"In this way, after strangling the enemies in Yinping, I can continue to return west to Xinzheng, which may save half a day." Li Mu then continued Tian Dan's plan.
"Yes." Li Mu agreed to Tian Dan's plan almost instantly.
"Yes." Le Jian and Zhao Wei immediately nodded in agreement.
The time, space and tactics of the decisive battle were determined in these simple sentences:
Li Mu did not ask Tian Dan whether he could lead the Qi army to Yinping within three days;
Tian Dan did not ask Lejian whether he could use infantry within three days.
Bring the Lord’s seventy thousand troops to the designated location;
Le Jian did not ask Li Mu whether the 100,000 cavalry troops could hide their whereabouts, but suddenly appeared at Mao Shi three days later.
At this critical moment of the decisive battle, the three most top-notch warriors in the world showed their full trust in each other.
Soon, the four people who had finished their deliberations began to separate.
Three days is neither long nor short, and it is almost impossible to hide the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops from the Qi army.
This has to mention the 10,000 reinforcements sent by Tian Dan.
It stands to reason that Tian Dan Youlejian's 70,000 troops plus Li Mu's 100,000 cavalry and the more than 10,000 elite Zhao troops stationed on the front line of Yushan are enough to strangle the cavalry in front of them. There is no need for Tian Dan to send another 10,000 troops. Go to help in the fight.
But the mobilization of these 10,000 troops was simply a stroke of genius.
It was precisely because of the mobilization of these 10,000 troops that it not only successfully covered up the retreat of Tian Dan's troops and successfully introduced the Qi army into the designated battlefield, but also made Li Mu and Lejian's mobilization of tens of thousands of Zhao troops appear in the Qi army's eyes. The general's mind disappeared.
