When Wang Sheng heard this, he thought it made sense, and immediately ordered the Huai navy to attack Chu's rear.
Chu army camp.
Qu Tong, the general of the Chu State, was discussing with the generals. Everyone was worried about the Huai army. Although the Huai army was small in number, it had strong soldiers and sharp armor. The soldiers of the Chu state had been defeated in consecutive battles. If they had not had enough troops, they would have been defeated long ago. collapsed.
At this moment, a team of messengers suddenly arrived.
Then he presented a scroll of bamboo slips with both hands, and Qu Tong took it and took a look. The Chu army was attacked from the rear, and immediately felt darkness in front of them, and almost fell down. Hao Xuan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the food and grass behind him had not been cut off.
Then he asked: "How many people were on the rear route of the Huai army's attack on our army? Is it safe to hoard food and grass? What are our army's casualties?"
"General, the Huai army attacked from the water by boat. Our army observed from the watchtower along the river and discovered the Huai army. Then they fought with it. They were defeated and retreated. Hundreds of people were killed and injured, and two ships were lost. However, the retreat was not lost, and we had food and grass. Burn thousands of stones," the herald said hurriedly.
Qu Tong breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
"The security of the back road has become better, and the loss of food and grass can be accepted!"
"General, the army's supply route is in danger of being cut off. Why don't we get rid of it as soon as possible?"
"That's right, General. The army has been here for a long time and has suffered many battles. The damage is quite serious. If the food and grass are robbed, the entire army may be in danger of being destroyed."
"General, the lessons of the past are not far away. We are carrying 70,000 lives in this battle, so we must be on guard!"
Hearing that the rear route was being attacked, the faces of the Chu army generals in the tent suddenly changed, and they all asked the army to retreat. Seeing this situation, Qu Tong also understood that the morale of the army had been shaken.
He immediately said: "The Huai army is attacking my rear. The army cannot fight for a long time. Set up more campfires tonight to prevent sneak attacks. We will withdraw our troops tomorrow!"
"Here!" all the generals said in unison.
Every move of the Chu army's camp was monitored by the State of Huai. After discovering that the Chu army's defenses became stronger at night, they immediately reported it.
"Haha, the Chu army is scared!" Wang Sheng laughed after seeing the information.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Chu army is about to break camp. Our army can take advantage of the situation and pursue it!" Gongyang Shuo said.
"At the same time, the three armies, please be careful and go to battle tomorrow!" Wang Sheng said with a smile.
Early the next morning, the Chu army retreated.
Seeing this scene, the Huai army did not attack, but followed closely, keeping the pressure. At first, the Chu army was in neat formation and evacuated in an orderly manner, but the Huai army never found a chance. In the afternoon, after long-term vigilance, the Chu army finally made a mistake, and Wang Sheng immediately ordered an attack.
The army was dispatched, but the Chu army was exhausted, their morale was shaken, and they were defeated.
Fortunately, Qu Tong responded in time and mobilized his troops to defend, and then managed to hold on. Seeing this situation, the army had no choice but to abandon their baggage and evacuate quickly.
When Wang Sheng saw the Chu army retreating in an orderly manner, he stopped pursuing him. He collected the baggage discarded by the Chu army and then returned to the camp.
The Chu army was relieved when they saw that the Huai army did not continue to pursue them. Then they did not dare to stop and retreated all the way back to where they were stationing grain.
After Chu retreated, Wang Sheng sent people to transport Wu prisoners of war back to his country, and then led his army to Meili, the capital of Wu. He had previously sent envoys to persuade Wu to surrender, but they were rejected by Wu. Moreover, after the State of Wu learned that Wu Hou had been captured, he had already appointed his son to the throne.
He also stepped up training of soldiers, repaired the city walls, and assumed a posture of refusing to surrender until death. But in Wang Sheng's view, this move was nothing more than a desperate struggle.
Meili City is the capital of the Wu Kingdom. After more than two hundred years of ups and downs, Meili City has a high and deep pool, abundant water around it, and a wide moat. If you want to attack it by force, you will definitely suffer a lot of casualties.
After Wang Sheng saw Meili City like this, he stopped thinking about attacking by force for the time being. This kind of city was easy to defend and difficult to attack. A force attack would cause heavy casualties, but it was impossible to make him give up the fat in his mouth. The army of Wu State is completely lost. As long as Meili is conquered, Wu State will be completely destroyed.
The achievement of expanding territory and destroying a country is extremely attractive to any prince.
Wang Sheng stationed the army in Meili, and then sent part of the army to wipe out all directions. Wu Hou took away the young and strong of the Wu state, leaving only the old and the weak. The Huai army was like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and quickly occupied these large and small cities.
In the end, more than 90% of the cities in the Wu Kingdom were occupied by the Huai Kingdom, and only Meili, the capital of the Wu Kingdom, was still resisting.
At this time, the weather was sultry and there were frequent heavy rains. The army was stationed in the wild. The ground was muddy, the bowstrings were loose, and there were many mosquitoes. The garrisoned army was miserable. Although Wang Sheng strictly implemented the health regulations passed down by his ancestors, many people still fell ill. .
It turns out that Wang Sheng planned to besiege the city for several months. By then, the people in Meili City would naturally be unable to hold on, so they would have no choice but to surrender. But now it seems that if the siege continues, more people will fall ill. Wang Sheng also hesitated whether to continue the siege or retreat.
"Your Majesty, the army is out for March. Meili is humid, mosquitoes are everywhere, and the soldiers are sick. It is not suitable to fight again. How about returning home first and waiting for winter?"
Wang Sheng did not want to leave. If he waited for winter to come again, the Wu State would definitely have trained new soldiers. At the same time, the surrounding cities that had been occupied by the Wu State would not be able to defend it. If the Chu State came to help, it would be even more difficult to annex the Wu State. Difficult.
But if they don't leave, hundreds of people in the camp have become sick and must be treated as soon as possible. And if the siege continues, there will definitely be more sick people in the army, and there will probably be heavy casualties by then.
Once the army suffers heavy casualties, the Huai Kingdom will be in danger. He knows very well that Qi, Lu, Tan, Ju, Wu and other countries are eager for the Huai Kingdom to suffer heavy casualties so as to add insult to injury, and may even be in danger of subjugation.
"Your Majesty, I have a plan to defeat Meili. However, if I use this plan, Meili will definitely suffer heavy casualties, which will harm the peace of the world and is not conducive to the stability of Wu." Gongyang Shuo hesitated and said.
"What's the plan?" Wang Sheng asked.
"My minister has recently traveled around Meili. Although Meili has a high city, deep ponds, and criss-crossing waterways, it is located on a flat land. There is abundant rain this season. If we send people to store water upstream and build embankments, it will only take ten days to destroy the embankments and flood them." , Meili immediately turned into Zeguo!" Gongyang Shuo said.
"It's just that although this plan can defeat Meili, the water will burst the embankment, and dozens of miles around will be flooded. There will be too many casualties, and there will definitely be many rebels by then!"
Wang Sheng was a little hesitant after hearing this. This plan was indeed cruel and harmful to Tianhe.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, this plan is feasible!" Xu Mao suddenly said.
"Oh, what did Xu Qing say?" Wang Sheng asked.
"Your Majesty only needs to send people to build embankments upstream with great fanfare to cut off the water source, but do not breach the embankments, or divert the water flow to other places, and then order people to write on brocade and silk that if they do not surrender, the water will flood Meili, and then shoot into the city. "
"When the Wu people in Meili City find that the water source has dried up, they will definitely believe that your Majesty is going to flood Meili. By then, whether Meili surrenders or sends an army out of the city for a decisive battle, Meili will be conquered!"
"This battle focuses on the heart!"
After hearing this, Wang Sheng's eyes lit up and he said: "Gong Yangqing and Xu Qing are really talented people, so let's act according to this plan!"
