Although he knew he was already late, Zi Chu still refused to give up.
Even if he couldn't capture Hanzhong, he would at least capture Dashan Pass, which was the gateway to Guanzhong!
This place is in the hands of Zhao Jun, which is almost the same as Hangu Pass falling into the enemy's hands. There is no way for others to sleep soundly beside the couch.
Zichu must take back this fatal pass at all costs.
Zichu's idea was obviously a bit naive. If he could regain the Dashan Pass, Hanzhong would be even less able to stop him.
It is said that Li Mu's second round of reinforcements had already arrived at Dashan Pass when he was recruiting troops. Zhao Wei's 30,000 troops alone were enough to keep Zhao Wei's 100,000 troops away from San Pass.
The problem now is no longer how he can win Dashan Pass again. It's about when Zhao Jun will leave the pass and attack the pass.
You know, with the gradual transportation of prisoners and the gradual gathering of troops from various places, Li Mu's strength is recovering towards 300,000.
The 300,000 Zhao troops who have combat experience and have been united in one place are almost always fatal to Qin, whether they go north or south.
Of course, it is no longer up to Li Mu to decide whether to launch the final battle against the Qin army and how to launch it.
Without him, attacking Hanzhong would actually have greatly exceeded the strategic goal of this battle. If it weren't for Hanzhong County's grain reserves, Zhao Jun might have already experienced a food shortage problem at this time.
After all, it is not easy to transport grain and grass from Yingchuan and cross so many mountain roads.
What's more, any further attack will inevitably be met with a strong counterattack by the Qin army. Even if Zhao has a huge advantage, he still has to be careful about trapping the beast and still fighting.
As a result, a good news report detailing the current situation quickly took wings and flew to Handan.
In Handan City, the falling snow has dyed the entire city a layer of snow-white.
However, the falling snowflakes still cannot cover up the enthusiasm of the people of Handan to welcome the New Year.
The laughter and laughter everywhere added liveliness to this ancient city.
However, deep in the palace, in the political hall, Zhao Kuo was frowning at a thick stack of grain and grass loss tables.
There was no way around it. In this month, Li Mujun's food consumption was almost twice as much as when the fighting was at its most intense.
Thanks to Zhao Guo's early preparations, otherwise it would not be enough for Li Mujun.
There is obviously something abnormal about so much food consumption. Although Lord Pingyuan absolutely trusted Li Mu, facing such a large amount of food, Lord Pingyuan had to report it to Zhao Kuo for a decision.
After all, the battle has just begun, and we don’t know how long it will last. If this amount of food consumption is to be maintained, the court will inevitably make policy changes.
Fortunately, just when Zhao Kuo was also a little confused, Li Mu's good news was delivered to Zhao Kuo's hands.
"My king, General Li has good news from the front line." The eunuch Ling, who looked happy, carefully held a piece of cloth and handed it to Ma Su respectfully.
"Huh?" Zhao Kuo was slightly startled. How long had it passed before there was good news?
According to Zhao Kuo's prediction, there should be good news after the beginning of spring.
Zhao Kuo, who was slightly surprised, quickly took the silk book from the eunuch's hand, unfolded it and looked at it, and his frown instantly disappeared.
"This Li Mu has done great things!" Zhao Kuo couldn't help but sigh.
With that said, Zhao Kuo handed the silk book to Mr. Pingyuan and said with a smile: "Mr. Pingyuan, please hurry up and take a look. Don't worry about the grain. If the grain is gone, just plant it again. Look at Li Mu, What a big surprise for us!"
Hearing this, Mr. Pingyuan immediately took the silk book. After looking at it carefully, he laughed out loud and said, "This food is well worth the use!"
"I didn't expect it. Li Mu has actually reached Hanzhong!" Mr. Pingyuan sighed while looking at the silk book repeatedly.
Lord Pingyuan sighed while Yu Qing, who was sitting over there, stretched his head to try to read the contents of the silk book clearly.
I can only say that the two words "Hanzhong" are really magical. Everyone knows what it means to occupy Hanzhong. Not only Yu Qing, but also Le Yi and others who had always been quiet showed their eagerness.
The opportunity to unify the world is before us, and no one can remain indifferent!
After reading it twice, Lord Pingyuan passed the silk book to Yu Qing.
Immediately afterwards, after reading it hastily, the silk book was almost snatched away by Le Yi on the side.
Soon, everyone present finally read Li Mu's silk books one by one.
A strong feeling of joy instantly filled the entire political hall, and everyone involuntarily looked in the direction of Zhao Kuo.
The meaning couldn't be more obvious - Your Majesty, please give the order!
What was ordered?
Unify the world!
Yes, everyone tacitly believes that the opportunity to unify the world has arrived. It only took Zhao Kuo's order to sweep down the remaining three kingdoms in an instant.
Fortunately, Zhao Kuo, who had been severely beaten by Big A, remembered one sentence: I am calm when everyone is crazy, and I am crazy when everyone is calm.
Taking a deep breath, Zhao Kuo gradually calmed down.
Indeed, the current situation has fallen in the direction of Zhao Guo's unification. But the enemy is not completely without the strength to fight.
Although the Qin State was cut into two pieces, the former Qin State had less than 100,000 soldiers, and even Hangu Pass was occupied by the Wei State. Isn't it resurrected?
Not to mention that there are still hundreds of thousands of armored men in Qin today. Once one's own side fails in a battle, it is very likely that Qin will be given a chance to start over.
There is also Chu State.
In history, the Qin State used 600,000 troops across the country to destroy Chu. Although the Chu State today has suffered a lot of losses, Yunmengze is still there. It is not that easy to destroy Chu.
After thinking about it, maybe the only one that is simpler is Qi State.
Therefore, although Zhao Guo has advantages, it is far from being able to squander the advantages at will.
Gently tapping on the table, Zhao Kuo spoke slowly: "The ancients said: He who travels a hundred miles is half a mile. Today's great cause of unification seems to be close in front of us, but it is still more than ten miles away. The more times like this, , we need to be more careful and cautious, and we must not act too hastily."
"I would like to be taught." Everyone agreed seriously.
Seeing everyone's serious expressions, Zhao Kuo also nodded slightly. However, Zhao Kuo also knew that it was difficult to judge how much people would listen to his words.
Not to mention that after they passed on this spirit to the grassroots, it is even harder to say that the officials and soldiers below still have some awe for the coming war.
Fortunately, the steering wheel is still in his own hands. As long as he doesn't deviate from the channel, he can always reach it.
"My king, what should we do next?" Pingyuan Jun on the side also asked immediately.
After hearing this, everyone looked at Zhao Kuo again.
In this regard, Zhao Kuo already had an idea, and immediately ordered: "First, let Lu Qing receive the Qin army's surrender, and prepare to use this as a basis to launch farming in Wei and Chen counties to supply the war."
"Second." Zhao Kuo swept the crowd lightly and continued: "In the direction of Hangu Pass, one hundred thousand people are left to maintain pressure on Qin. The rest of the army withdraws and prepares for spring plowing."
"My king."
When he said this, someone immediately objected. Everyone wants to speed up the progress of unification, but Zhao Kuo wants to slow down. How can people accept this?
However, Zhao Kuo waved his hand gently, not giving others a chance to object.
"There are also prisoners in Lu Qing's hands. Stop training and turn them into field soldiers to prepare for spring plowing." Zhao Kuo continued to order.
"This." Even Mr. Pingyuan was surprised this time.
But Zhao Kuo's order did not stop there: "Third, order Li Mu to adopt the strategy of defending in the north and attacking in the south. On the premise of ensuring the safety of Dashan Pass and Hanzhong, send troops south to capture Shuzhong. In addition, Zhe The troops from Cheng and Luocheng were merged into Li Mu's command, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack Shu from the land of Yanying, and coordinate Li Mu's main force."
Fortunately, there was finally a place to fight, which allowed the ministers to calm down a little.
Seeing that everyone calmed down a little, Zhao Kuo explained briefly: "I know everyone hopes to rule the world tomorrow, and I hope so too. Unfortunately, you have to eat your food one bite at a time."
"As just said, we must complete the great cause of unification step by step. What does it mean to be one step at a time? To put it simply, it is to give up the idea of fighting everywhere and unify quickly, and instead concentrate our strength on one point, with a thunderous momentum. Clean up the mountains and rivers area by area." Zhao Kuo continued.
"It seems that this method is quite time-consuming, but in fact, if our entire army is deployed, how much troops will be needed, how much food and grass will be consumed, and how much hardship will the people have? Even if reunification is completed, how many years will it take for the country to recover? ? Once there is a rebellion, it is not impossible to fall short of the success." Zhao Kuo's words gradually became serious: "Unification is not the goal, making the people live better is our goal, do you understand?"
"I would like to be taught." All the ministers agreed again.
"The reason why the battlefield is placed in the middle of Shu." Zhao Kuo continued to explain immediately: "The purpose is very simple, which is to solve the problem of food and grass for our Hanzhong army. With Shuzhong as our back, our Hanzhong army can have enough supplies, and There is no need to transport it from Yingchuan. Only when Hanzhong has enough food and grass can we further launch a two-sided attack on Qin."
Hearing this, the ministers couldn't help but nodded.
Indeed, now there are only four parts of the world left alone, one for Qi and one for Chu, and two for Qin. If you had to choose one of these four pieces of land, it would definitely be the best in Sichuan.
After all, Qin is the biggest potential threat to Zhao.
Of course, in order to achieve the goal of conquering Shuzhong, Zhao Kuo also needed stability in the rear.
"Fourth, diplomacy." Zhao Kuo then looked at Yu Qing and said, "We must appease Chu and Qi, and tell them that this war is Qin's problem, and we, Zhao, will not come after them. trouble."
"This?" Yu Qing looked at Zhao Guo with some embarrassment.
No one is a fool. The reason why Qi and Chu followed Qin to attack Zhao was because they saw the possibility of Zhao unifying the world.
Now that Zhao has achieved great success, he wants to tell the two countries that he has no unification idea.
Even a fool doesn’t believe it!
Of course Zhao Kuo understood what Yu Qing was thinking.
"Many times, people will find ways to numb themselves, especially when they are already desperate." Zhao Kuo continued to speak calmly: "And what we have to do is to give them a reason, and they will learn the rest by themselves. Complete it yourself.”
Hearing this, Yu Qing's eyes suddenly lit up.
Obviously, he immediately understood what Zhao Kuo meant: Although the other party knew that his unification steps were unstoppable, after all, the blade had not yet arrived. As long as he told him that he would not come for the time being, out of luck, the other party would most likely deceive himself into thinking that he would not come for the time being. I really won’t come.
Of course, what if the other party knows that he is lying to him?
Qi Chu was lucky to have a good night's sleep. And all he wants is for the two countries to stay in peace for the time being.
After understanding this, Yu Qing immediately raised his hands and clasped his fists and agreed: "Wei Chen accepts the order."
Therefore, as Li Mu broke the deadlock on the battlefield again, Zhao finally embarked on the road to unify the world.
However, what is different from everyone's imagination is that under Zhao Kuo's restraint, Zhao Guo walked this road very carefully.
It was Zhao's caution that made the process of unification much faster than that of Qin in history...
