Huai State's intelligence network has been developed in Chu State for decades, and now has access to most places in Chu State. Of course, there aren’t many that are truly core. Half of the money earned by the Huaiguo caravan was spent on the intelligence network.
After ten years of development, the State of Chu not only recovered its vitality, but also improved its national strength a lot, and Zhanghuatai of Chu State became a famous palace in the Zhou Dynasty. After the Huai State restrained its minions, the Chu State perhaps felt that it was capable again and began to extend its tentacles to the Central Plains.
The State of Chu wanted to break away from the four-state alliance of Zhong, Huang, Cai, and Jiang. I want to destroy these four small countries together with the Central Plains countries. It's just that some of the countries in the Central Plains are afraid of Huai and dare not take action, while others want them to contain Chu. This is the attitude of Jin State.
Although the Jin State has temporarily allied with the Chu State to deal with the Huai State, it has always been wary of the Chu State. After all, although the Chu State is different from the Huai State, they also eye the Central Plains. ..
Now the relationship between the Chu State and the Jin State has improved, and they have maintained a situation of fighting without breaking up. It is entirely because of the presence of the Huai State. On the whole, Bangzhou gives people a very strange sense of peace. The disputes between the countries There are less, and they are all clearing away those Yi Di to expand their strength.
After exploring the environment and terrain of Chao Kingdom, Wang Jin launched a war against Chao Kingdom in the second year.
Wang Jin ordered his uncle Gongzi Min to be the commander-in-chief and Chen Yi to be the general. He commanded an army of 50,000 people and attacked Chao State on the grounds that Chao State did not pay tribute.
When they learned that Huai's army was coming to attack, Chao's country was in chaos. They quickly ordered a large army to resist and sent envoys to Chu to ask for help.
Chao State is located in the south of the Yangtze River, with crisscrossed waterways, which is not conducive to chariots. Therefore, Huai State's expedition has only a hundred chariots and soldiers. The capital of Chao Kingdom is located on the bank of Chao Lake. Here, the Yangtze River can be cut off in the south, and the Dabie Mountains can be found in the north. Moving eastward, it can threaten Jinling City. It can be said that the geographical location is superior, easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The Huai State army set out from Han, winning consecutive battles along the way. Chao State was defeated in three battles. Soon the Huai army advanced to the vicinity of Chaohu Lake.
Chao Kingdom suffered consecutive defeats and its morale was low. It could only rely on its favorable terrain for defense and did not dare to fight again.
Gongzi Min tried to attack once. Chao State was well defended, and the casualties in the attack were heavy. Moreover, the Chu State army had already arrived.
Chu's 60,000-strong army was stationed on the other side of the Ruxu River. If Huai tried to attack Chao, Chu's army would attack from the flanks. In fact, after the Chu army arrived, they did not immediately engage in battle with Huai. Instead, they seemed to sit back and watch, wanting to attack while Huai and Chao were at war, so they were very cautious.
Huai army camp.
"Isn't this Chu State's army here to rescue Chao State? What do you mean by not attacking after coming?" Young Master Min asked, looking at the terrain map in front of him.
"Sir, the Chu army has been defeated by our Huai army one after another. I estimate that the people in Chu are afraid of our Huai army." Chen Yi thought for a moment and said.
Young Master Min nodded and said: "The Chu army has been defeated by Huai State in a row. They are indeed afraid. They are timid before coming to fight this time. How can they be the opponent of my army? I will write a letter and send it to the generals of the Chu army tomorrow. Our army retreated twenty miles, gave up our position, and invited them to cross the river to fight!"
"Hahaha, Young Master is afraid that the Chu army won't dare!" Chen Yi laughed.
"If you don't dare to do this, then take off your armor and go home as soon as possible!"
...
Chu army camp.
The coach Dou Bo is discussing military affairs with the enthroned general.
"General, the Huaiguo army has been strong all the way, and its morale is high. Now that we are facing it, our army may not be able to defeat it. It is better to cooperate with Chaoguo to form a corner of the force and stalemate the Huaiguo, and then send an army to cut off the Huai army's food and grass. .”
"This battle is in the Chao Kingdom, and the Huai Army is not familiar with the terrain. Our army can use the power of the Chao Kingdom to cut off its retreat."
After some discussion, Dou Bo immediately sent a messenger to Chao Kingdom, asking Chao Kingdom to send people familiar with the terrain to help.
The next day, as soon as it got light, Gongzi Min sent a messenger to the Chu camp to convey the message.
Chu State Camp.
Dou Bo was discussing with a general from Chao State where to cut off the Huai army's food route. At this time, a captain hurried in.
"General, the commander-in-chief of the Huai Kingdom, Young Master Min, has sent a letter of war inviting you to fight!" the captain saluted with his hands raised.
, offering the letter of challenge with both hands.
"Gauntlet, haha, the Huai Kingdom is actually still doing this!" Dou Bo laughed loudly.
Dou Bo picked up the war book and looked through it. He saw that the leader of the Huai Kingdom said that his army had retreated twenty miles, and then invited him to cross the river to fight. He threw away the war book and said with a smile: "Back then, my brother Ziyu and I led the army to attack Song, Song Xianggong was like this."
"When the two armies were fighting, they acted like a gentleman. They retreated ten miles to let our army cross the river, but did not come to attack. It was really a gentleman. It was a pity that I was defeated by my brother in the first battle and fled in embarrassment. Now this young man is pitiful. This move invites me to fight, maybe you don’t want to attack while our army is halfway across the river!”
"The king of the Song Dynasty is a gentleman, but I can't trust his young master!"
In the big tent, the Chu general laughed. Then Dou Bo wrote a handwritten letter and asked the messenger to take it back.
When Gongzi Min saw the bamboo slips brought back by the messenger, as expected, Dou Bo refused.
"This Chu country is full of cowards. Since they dare not cross the river, let's cross the river instead!" Chen Yi said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that Chu State won't dare to accept it either!" Young Master said with a smile.
"Read another letter from me and make fun of it!"
Immediately Gongzi Min wrote another letter, asking the Chu army to retreat twenty miles, and then the Huai army crossed the river to fight with the Chu army. Moreover, Young Master Min was extremely sarcastic in the letter of war. On the left he was a cowardly rat and on the right he was a Jingchu barbarian. Anyone who read it would be furious.
Seeing the written war letter, Gongzi Min immediately sent someone to deliver the war letter again, and soon it was delivered to Dou Bo's hands again.
Dou Bo read the letter of challenge and threw it to the ground, furious: "How dare Huai Yi'an bully me like this!"
"General, there is no need to be angry. The Huai people are despicable. They just want to anger the general so that he can agree to cross the river and fight with them!"
"Hey, this war book is not for us to attack, but for the Huai people to cross the river and fight us!" A general nearby picked up the war book and said.
"Arrogant!" The surrounding Chu generals suddenly shouted angrily: "Huaiyi is so arrogant and underestimates me, the Chu people! General, you can't just let it go!"
"This is to anger us so that we can give them a distance of twenty miles so that they can fight across the river! Huh, what a beautiful idea! The general refused to agree to the Huai people, accepted the letter of war, pretended to retreat twenty miles, and waited When the Huai people cross the river, if they attack halfway across the river, they will definitely defeat the Huai people!"
The surrounding generals asked for battle one after another. Seeing that the military spirit was ready, Dou Bo immediately said: "Since Huaiyi underestimates us so much, let them see it this time!"
He immediately wrote a letter of war and asked the messenger to send it to Huai State, agreeing to start the war tomorrow. Then he discussed with the generals and prepared to attack halfway across the border.
