More terrible news soon came, Zhao Jun's cavalry had been seen behind him.
Wang Hao's heart suddenly sank to the bottom with a thud - How could Zhao Jun come so fast?
"What's the number of people? Are they the scouts of Zhao Jun?" With the last trace of luck, Wang Hao asked the scout who came to report the news in a trembling voice.
"It's not a small-scale scout. The number is at least tens of thousands." The scout calmly answered Wang Lu's question.
What the scout didn't know was that his answer was like sharp arrows piercing Wang Lu's heart.
Wang Hao knew that perhaps what he thought was a secret transfer had already been under the surveillance of Zhao Jun. Otherwise, he would not be able to explain the Zhao Jun blocking him in front of him, nor could he explain that just a few hours after the war started, the encircling Zhao Jun could not explain it. Zhao Jun appeared in his path.
There is no suspense anymore.
Wang Hao raised his head again and looked at the Qin army soldiers who were still fighting in blood in front of him. Then Wang Hao's eyes crossed the battlefield and looked in the direction of Xianyang in the distance.
"My king, Wang Hao did his best." Gently, Wang Hao said goodbye in the direction of home in a voice that could only be heard by himself.
This is despair in the true sense of the word.
Not only because his army was surrounded, but also because the Qin State had completely lost hope of making a comeback.
Once his 150,000 troops are wiped out, Zhao Jun can then send his troops northward to form a two-sided pincer attack on Hangu Pass.
With foreign aid cut off, Hangu Pass could not last more than two months.
Then, the Zhao army can concentrate all its forces and launch the final attack on Xianyang.
Even if Xianyang is towering and tall, it is impossible to defend it under the fierce attack of hundreds of thousands of troops.
Qin has completely lost any hope of making a comeback.
Even if Li Mu was more impatient, after taking care of his 150,000 troops, he could directly march towards Xianyang with his own heads.
The scene of Zhao Jun's flags planted all over Xianyang seemed to be right in front of him, and Wang Hao also closed his eyes in pain.
But the old Qin man's unyielding blood rushed towards his frozen mind again, and Wang Hao immediately opened his eyes again.
And as the tiger's eyes reopened, there was no longer despair and confusion about the future in his eyes, but only a look of determination to fight hard.
Taking a deep breath and looking at the rear formation where there was no movement, Wang Lu immediately ordered: "Each captain and captain will lead their own troops and immediately get rid of the enemy in front of them and break out in the direction of Xianyang."
Yes, what Wang Lu issued was not an order to fight to the death, but to disperse and break out.
It's not that Wang Hao is afraid of death. On the contrary, death is the easiest thing for Wang Hao at this time.
What he wanted was to preserve as much military strength as possible for the king who had been given to him by Xianyang, even if it was only 12,000, or even only 1,200.
There is no other way. If you fight to the death, you can only die. Even if a part of the troops were lucky enough to break through, the troops and horses that suffered heavy losses would definitely be strangled to death when facing the second line of defense of the Zhao army outside Xianyang City.
Only by taking advantage of the insufficient strength of the enemy in front of them and before the subsequent Zhao army arrived, and carried out a dispersed breakout, could it be possible to escape back to Xianyang City with a full force of troops and horses.
Only organized troops and horses may be able to break through the blockade outside Xianyang City.
Of course, the premise is that the 50,000 soldiers and horses on the opposite side cannot be dispersed as completely as he was.
For this reason, Wang Hao obviously already has a plan.
After conveying the first order, Wang Hao immediately went on to issue the second order: "The 20,000 troops of the Chinese army, together with the general's own soldiers, will launch an attack with the enemy in front of me."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Hao had already held the long knife in his hand.
Clamping lightly on the horse's belly, Wang Hao was already carrying a long sword and rushed towards the Zhao army in front of him who was blocking the Qin army's return to Xianyang.
Obviously, Wang Lu wanted to use himself and the 25,000 elite troops of the Chinese army to hold back Tian Dan's intercepting troops, so that more Qin troops could break through the front and return to the front line.
In Xianyang City.
It should be said that Wang Lu's calculation was good, but unfortunately, he still underestimated Li Mu's ability.
How could the main army led by the four great generals of the Warring States period be easily discovered by your scouts if they hadn't released the enemy?
Since the scouts assisting the army have been discovered by the Qin army, it means that there are more elite soldiers, and they may have penetrated deep into the hinterland.
Yes, just when Wang He was trying every means to disperse and break through, Li Mu had already arranged for two groups of cavalry to move around the left and right wings of the Qin army.
As we all know, two legs cannot run as fast as four legs. XiuShu.com
Just when Wang Lu's order was issued and the Qin Army soldiers began to charge regardless, two Zhao Army cavalry had already begun to deploy their forces on both sides of the Qin Army.
Although the battle is still going on, the result is actually already self-evident.
The Qin army that had just begun to disperse and break out was quickly intercepted by Li Mu's cavalry. The few cavalry who could escape were held back by Tian Dan's cavalry.
Fortunately, Wang Lu didn't need to see this desperate scene.
Shortly after leading the elite of the Chinese army to launch a fierce attack on Tian Dan's headquarters, Wang Lu fell in the fierce battle.
It's not that the Zhao army under Tian Dan is too powerful, but that Wang Hao has already been determined to die. He will join forces wherever there is danger, and attack wherever there are many Zhao soldiers.
If he had Zhao Wei's martial arts skills, that would be fine.
It is a pity that Wang Lu is not that good in martial arts. Coupled with the decline in physical strength caused by being over fifty years old, Wang Lu's combat effectiveness is even worse than that of ordinary generals.
After repeatedly hitting Zhao Jun's blade like this, death in battle became a normal thing.
However, such a way of death may also be a relief for Wang Lu.
Perhaps it was also because of Wang Lu's sudden death that the Qin army that broke through could not adapt to local conditions well, let alone get rid of the entanglement of Tian Dan's troops in time.
As a result, for more than half an hour, the Qin army's breakthrough had almost no effect.
Li Mu obviously realized that the Qin army's movements were not quite right, and then urged the cavalry to speed up the detour.
Finally, Zhao Jun completely pocketed the 150,000 Qin troops before they could react.
The Qin army's breakout was casually declared a failure.
The Qin army, which failed to break through, without Wang Lu's unified command, was quickly divided and surrounded by Li Mu's army.
However, this Qin army did not live up to Wang Lu's training.
Even though they were surrounded by divisions, no one put down their weapons.
Even until the last moment of their lives, the Qin army was still resolutely carrying out the order issued by their chief general Wang Lu - to break out towards Xianyang.
The encirclement and suppression battle lasted for three days and three nights. This was thanks to the help of Zhao Wei's five thousand heavy cavalry.
In the end, the 200,000 Zhao troops strangled all the 150,000 Qin troops outside Xianyang City.
The last elite field army of the Qin State finally disappeared together with the last famous general of the Qin State in the land of his birth.
After getting rid of Wang Lu, Li Mu and Tian Dan also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this man was a man who could stand up to General Lian Po for three years without losing!
It's a pity that because the battle was too fierce, Wang Lu's body had been trampled to pieces by the war horses. If it weren't for the armor and military badges on his body, Wang Lu would not have been recognized at all.
However, as a general, dying on the battlefield can be considered a destination.
Immediately, Li Mu also ordered someone to build a good coffin, put Wang Lu's body in it, and returned it to Xianyang City, along with hundreds of wounded soldiers and prisoners, led by Tian Dan.
This move was of course out of respect for Wang Hao, his opponent.
But more importantly, Li Mu naturally wanted to use Wang Lu's death and the fear of hundreds of captives to threaten and intimidate the Qin subjects in Xianyang.
If you can make Xianyang give up
It is naturally best to resist. Even if it is not possible, it will at least lower Xianyang's morale.
Of course, Li Mu did not wait stupidly outside Xianyang City for King Qin's decision.
On the contrary, after handing over the corpses and prisoners to General Tian Dan, Li Mu led the army towards Hangu Pass.
King Qin's decision has become irrelevant with the demise of Wang Lu and the last field elite.
Surrendering is just to make Zhao Jun more relaxed; not surrendering is just to make the army work harder for a few more months.
Soon, under the leadership of Li Mu, Hangu Pass was completely blocked.
Immediately, nearly 300,000 troops also launched a two-sided attack on Hangu Pass.
After all, Hangu Pass is worthy of being the most powerful pass in the world. Even in such a harsh situation, it still withstood the two-sided attack from the Zhao army.
But the problem is that under Li Mu's blockade, not only food cannot be continuously supplied in Hangu Pass, but also the huge daily consumption of arrows and other ordnance materials cannot be replenished.
Without food, the Qin army could hold on for a short period of time, and at worst, they could kill horses to satisfy their hunger.
But without the arrows, the Qin army standing at the head of Hangu City could only become the target of the Zhao army. Without the rolling wood and stones, the Qin army could only use its own body to block the Zhao army's attack.
Even Xiongguan Hangu quickly lost the possibility of continuing to hold on.
In the winter of 251 BC, Hangu Pass, which had easily blocked the Allied Forces of the Six Nations from entering the country, finally lowered his noble head.
The remaining 30,000 Qin troops, hungry, trapped and cold, walked out of the pass and surrendered to Zhao Jun.
Hangu, this great pass that has stood firm through hundreds of years of vicissitudes, was finally no longer owned by Qin.
From then on, only the city of Xianyang was left in the entire fertile land of Guanzhong, still fighting stubbornly.
Soon, the news of the fall of Hangu Pass was sent to Xianyang City along with the seal of its defender.
Everyone understood that Jiujiao Lao Qin was finished.
However, no one from the King of Qin to the people of Li seemed willing to accept this reality and still stubbornly stuck to Xianyang, trying to wait for a miracle to happen.
It's a pity that they didn't wait for the miracle to happen, but they waited for the arrival of Zhao Wangkuo...
