When people in the Central Plains were in a state of constant action, Chu and Wu were fighting madly on the Hanyang Plain, with white knives coming in and red knives coming out.
On the surface, this war was fought in a very chaotic manner, but Qingji and Sun Wu's goals were very clear. This was the only way to win quickly that Sun Wu had studied for many years.
"If you go upstream from the river, you will definitely be intercepted by the Chu State. There is no guarantee of victory. You can only defeat it by taking the Xinyang Passage. But the key is to drag the main elite force of the Chu State on the Hanyang Plain. .”
This was the war plan formulated by Sun Wu, but the development of the war situation soon exceeded everyone's expectations. Wu State originally just wanted to contain the main force of Chu State on the Hanyang Plain.
However, he did not expect that the Chu generals were too stupid. Sun Wu planned and Qingji, who was wearing three layers of heavy armor, was too brave and beheaded the Chu generals one after another. As a result, the Wu army won consecutive battles.
If Chen Guo's harassment of Ying Guo had not been effective, Wu Guo's food and grass would have been somewhat unsustainable, and it could even have been pushed all the way to the edge of the Han River.
In the end, the two armies temporarily confronted each other. The Chu State breathed a sigh of relief, and the Chen State was even more proud. Although it was a small country, it could interfere in the dispute between great powers.
Sun Wu's eyes were filled with coldness, "Your Majesty, the Chen State is harassing us, and it is no longer realistic for us to fight the Chu State in Hanyang.
We still have to follow the previous strategy, take the Xinyang Passage, and go straight to Yingdu.
The primary goal is to capture the nobles of Chu State, the secondary goal is to destroy their land as much as possible, and the third goal is to kidnap the population of Chu State. "
Qing Ji nodded in agreement. The emperor and his ministers had never expected to capture the Jianghan Plain. They had previously planned to divide the Chu State along the Yingshui Dabie Mountains, but now they may have the opportunity to block the Chu State to the west of the Han River.
After the plan was finalized, the wise and powerful monarch and his ministers immediately began to implement it. The Chu army, which was belatedly aware of the plan, did not report to Yingdu until long after the Wu army had lost its presence.
Yingdu.
The war with Wu State these days was beyond everyone's expectations. Now the entire Chu State was filled with impetuousness and a sense of panic and uneasiness.
"Wu Guo doesn't want to directly attack Yingdu, right?"
"How is this possible? On the Yangtze River, the power of Chu's boats is not comparable to that of Wu."
But when Wu's army suddenly appeared in Xinyang and defeated Chu's last elite army, the nobles in the capital of Ying suddenly panicked.
In the palace meeting hall, almost the entire Chu Kingdom's nobles gathered here, and everyone felt that disaster was about to befall them.
The Queen Mother's face was full of anxiety and fear. She was a very beautiful woman, but in a war, this kind of beauty would only be a disaster.
At this time Xiang Ci stood up. He was the grandson of Xiang Cheng, and Xiang Cheng was the former Prime Minister Ling Yin.
He looked at the flustered Chu nobles and was very disappointed, and said sternly: "Everyone, please calm down and stop making noise!
It's just a small failure. Is it worth being so panicked?
During the Battle of Yanling, all the troops of Chu State were lost in the Central Plains. Isn't Chu State still so prosperous now?
The Kingdom of Wu is not the Kingdom of Luo, so King Su will not bless him!
The supreme Taiyi is in the sky, and the people of Chu will never surrender! "
The Xiang family has a high prestige in the Chu State and is close relatives to the royal family. The key is that when everyone is panicking, Xiang Ci's appearance is very reassuring.
The current King of Chu is just a child of seven or eight years old. The regent is the Queen Mother, and the prime minister is Jing.
Guo was very dissatisfied with Xiang Ci's performance and immediately wanted to explode. The characteristic of a fool is that even if the sky is about to fall, he still wants to fight among himself.
Fortunately, the Queen Mother spoke first. She was a woman with no independent opinions and abilities. She was widowed at a young age.
Now that I saw Xiang Ci's heroic spirit, I suddenly felt at ease. I couldn't help but asked happily: "Does Xiang Qing have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"
"Good strategy?"
Xiang Ci sighed: "Wu has been planning for a long time to come to Yingdu.
If we could draw a draw with Wu in Hanyang before, or if we could block Wu's army in Xinyang, we can still negotiate now.
But after a complete defeat on the battlefield, do you still want to retreat the enemy with just words?
If the ancestors of the Xiang family were still alive hundreds of years ago, they might be able to do it with the blessing of King Su, but now it is just a dream. "
Unless it is a country that must pay compensation even though it is far away, what is not obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained at the negotiation table.
Xiang Ci's words made the glimmer of hope that had just risen in the palace fall again, but Xiang Ci did not despair. He looked at everyone in the palace.
Closing his eyes slightly, with his grandfather's Chun Chun teachings in his mind, he opened his eyes and said loudly: "Although we have suffered a failure now, this is just the success of Wu Guo's tactics.
Chu State is still a behemoth that Wu State cannot reach at all. The population and land in Jianghan Plain and Nanyang Basin are still there, but now it is just a failure caused by some incompetent people.
Now the only thing the Chu State can do is to reduce the losses caused by the capture of Yingdu. I ask the Queen Mother and the King to retreat from the Qin State.
Qin and Chu have a close relationship, so they can definitely ask Qin to send troops. As long as the royal family is still there, all the troops from all over Chu can be transferred to the royal capital.
When the time comes, Wu will not fight with us in the Jianghan Plain and Nanyang Basin.
Jin, Luo, and Qi have an alliance to eliminate troops, and Wu cannot be an opponent of the coalition. When the time comes, there will still be a fight on the Hanyang Plain. "
Xiang Ci paused for a moment, stared at the Queen Mother and said decisively: "Queen Mother, we can no longer stay in the capital.
You must take the king and nobles and run away immediately. If it falls into the hands of the Wu State, the Chu State will really be seriously injured this time.
How can we compete with Jin State, Qi State and Luo State for the position of hegemony in the world?
As for Wu's army, leave it to your ministers to cut off the rear. "
After the break!
Now using the soldiers and horses in and around the royal capital to block Wu's army is to cut off the rear, but it is just to die.
His tone was sonorous and forceful, as if he was not going to die, but to attend a banquet. The Queen Mother looked at it with bright eyes, regretting why Xiang Ci had not been reused earlier, so she said softly: "Xiang Qing, you can't. , you are the pillar of Chu State. If Chu State loses you, what should we do next?
Let's leave the rest of the matter to others. "
Xiang Ci sighed: "Queen Mother, Your Majesty.
It has been more than two hundred years since our ancestor Luo Yan entered Chu and the previous king enfeoffed the Luo family to Xiang. How much favor has the Xiang family received from the previous kings?
Now it's just a matter of returning all these things.
The minister has made up his mind. Please take the king with you and immediately retreat from the Yangtze River towards Bashu and divert to Qin.
If the Jin army breaks the alliance while walking along the Han River, everything will be over.
Other nobles diverted from the Han River. The Jin State would not target the small nobles and they would be safe.
I hope that when you come back with reinforcements from Qin, I will still be alive. "
Qin and Chu opened up Bashu in order to allow the two countries to exchange supplies. Unexpectedly, the first time it was used was that the Chu royal family escaped for their lives.
The Queen Mother walked directly down the hall, holding her hands and crying: "It was only when the country was in crisis that I realized your loyalty. This is my fault. I have given you the title of Ling Yin. This is the only thing I can do. The Prime Minister will also return the favor." Please take care."
Xiang Ci bowed slightly to the Queen Mother, and then his eyes fell on the young King Chu. He took a few steps forward, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"I would like to thank the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."
In the main hall of the King's Palace of Chu, all the officials were silent, and only Xiang Ci's voice could be heard.
He bowed slightly, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying that he was willing to die and exchange his own life for the king's. The sun shone into the hall and fell on him, giving it a layer of golden light.
This scene fell into the eyes of the little King Chu who was sitting on the throne. For a moment, he seemed to see the sun.
That heroic figure was deeply engraved in his mind, and it was very warm. He whispered softly, and no one heard, "Xiang, Xiang."
Xiang Ci's execution ability was very fast. After the Queen Mother handed over the position of Ling Yin of Chu State to him, he drew up the list of the first batch of nobles to flee without any delay.
There were also a large number of elite soldiers from the royal capital, all of whom went out to protect these nobles. Groups of nobles left Yingdu in an orderly manner.
He himself took a lot of military power left by each family and began to deploy above Jianghan, and began to prepare to face Sun Wu.
He knew that he was no match for Sun Wu. That person could rely on Wu's national strength to defeat the Chu State. He was an unparalleled god of war, but Xiang Ci was not afraid.
"Supreme and noble King Su, you see, the descendants of the Xiang family are no worse than the main family in the Luo Kingdom.
Even without your blessing, the Xiang family can still be loyal to the royal family, and the Xiang family can still protect the eternal prosperity of the Chu Kingdom. "
Xiang Ci looked at the busy Yingdu and thought to himself.
The development of things does not depend on human will. Xiang Ci was much stronger than the previous generals of Chu, and he indeed caused a lot of trouble to Sun Wu.
However, after such a long war between Wu and Chu and the loss of a large number of elite troops, the two countries had already changed their offensive and defensive positions.
Facing a super military master like Sun Wu, unless he is a completely unreasonable military leader like Xiong Dun, he may be able to directly decipher Sun Wu's perfect strategic plan from a tactical perspective.
It was obvious that Xiang Ci did not have this ability, especially when the nobles retreated and took away a large number of elites. The gate of Yingdu burst into pieces.
"After the defeat in one battle, decades of accumulation were destroyed in one fell swoop. The next revival of the Chu Kingdom will not be seen."
Xiang Ci was unwilling to surrender, so he was killed by Qingji himself. After killing Xiang Ci, Qingji sighed with emotion, "The Xiang family is the most loyal and upright among all the Luo family clans. It is the official residence of Yingguo." It’s completely incomparable to the Xiang family.”
Sun Wu shook his head and said: "The king and the upper-class nobles in Yingdu have all fled, and it seems that the biggest goal cannot be achieved.
But they left in a hurry, and there was still countless wealth left here.
The State of Chu is probably going to the State of Qin to bring reinforcements, and we don’t have much time. "
…
The impact of the Battle of Wu and Chu was huge. In the third volume, the editor proposed that the Iron Curtain between the Ji Jiang Alliance and the Ying Mi Alliance had completely fallen, and the two major military groups were completely formed.
The two sides faced off in the land of Weihan and Yanling. After the Battle of Yiluo, the Jin State cut land for Qin and Chu. The Yingmi Alliance had advantages in the Weihe Plain, Nanyang Basin, and Hanyang Plain, but Wu's The sudden rise of the army and the rapid war redefined the spheres of influence between the two sides, and the frontline of the confrontation between the two sides was pushed to the Yingshui area.
This kind of ebb and flow between the two sides dominated the next hundred years, and especially had a great impact on people's thinking. Individual fights between countries completely disappeared, and the idea of no fighting without alliances was implemented in everyone. has a profound impact on his body. ——"Cambridge History of China·Eastern Zhou Dynasty Volume 4"
(End of chapter)
