After Wu Qi cut off the retreat, he then took advantage of the political chaos in Chu State to use the strategy of being surrounded on all sides. Point by point, they defeated the psychological defense lines of the 100,000 Chu troops who were divided and surrounded in every city.
The Chu State's reform failed, the nobles, ministers and princes once again seized power, and most of the lands given to the people were deprived of them again. Those soldiers who had benefited from the reform were once again oppressed and enslaved.
If these people had never enjoyed the benefits brought by the reforms, then oppression and slavery became their habit, and these people might still fight for Chu. But after enjoying the light, and then driving people back into the darkness, do you still expect them to help?
Wu Qi keenly seized this opportunity and first showed his power by attacking three cities in a row to frighten the Chu army. Then the navy detoured to the rear, surrounded the Chu army, and cut off its retreat. At the same time, it was surrounded by enemies on all sides, which undermined the Chu army's fighting spirit. Finally, it lured them for profit. As long as they surrendered, they would be allocated acres of land and so on.
This operation can be said to have completely grasped Chu Jun's psychology.
Wu Qi came to the Huai Kingdom and read Sun Wuzi's "Art of War" and the "Martial Arts" left by King Wen that were preserved by the Huai Kingdom Office, and he had a better control of the battlefield situation.
Except for the commander and a few generals, all Chu soldiers on the Dabie Mountain defense line wanted to surrender.
When the soldiers at the bottom of the first city rebelled and surrendered, it was like knocking down dominoes, and cities surrendered one after another.
Xiang Rong, the general of the Chu State, was unwilling to surrender. Wu Qi's army besieged the city. The grassroots soldiers in the city directly opened the city gate and surrendered. Xiang Rong resisted with his own soldiers. Naturally, he was easily suppressed by the Tengjia Army.
In less than a month, the Dabie Mountain defense line, which Chu had high hopes for, was completely broken through.
Of course, Wu Qi would not break his promise. He would allocate land to these Chu soldiers who surrendered. There were large areas of wasteland in the Huai State that needed to be reclaimed. Allocating it to these Chu soldiers was not a problem at all.
Breaking through the Chu army's defenses within one month, Wu Qi immediately led his army straight into the Han River plain. At this time, in the capital of Chu State, all parties still fighting for power were shocked when they heard the news.
The Huai State's 200,000 troops invaded the Han River Plain, and the Chu State once again recalled the fear of being defeated by Sun Wuzi in a single battle.
The whole capital of Ying suddenly panicked. The King of Chu mobilized the northern army to go south overnight. At the same time, he quickly reached an agreement with the nobles, ministers, and princes to abolish all the provisions of the reform and restore the feudal prince system and the world minister system. , while retaining some preferential treatment for soldiers.
The Chu State has reached the critical moment of national subjugation. This is what the King of Chu and the Chu State's officials and nobles realized immediately after Wu Qi broke through the Dabie Mountain defense line.
After the Chu aristocracy reconciled with the King of Chu, they immediately began to recruit private soldiers and went to the Han River to stop Wu Qi's army. On the other side, envoys were sent to ask for help from Qin, Jin, and Qi.
"Your Majesty, this time the Huai Kingdom attacks our Chu Kingdom to destroy our Chu Kingdom. Your Majesty, please make preparations in advance." Qu Qing found the King of Chu immediately.
When the King of Chu heard what Qu Qing said, he was shocked. You must know that Qu Qing is the most important minister of Chu State now. If even he does not have the confidence to defend Chu State, then Chu State will really be in danger.
"Uncle, why is this so? Our Chu State still has an army of 300,000. The northern army has also gone south to Han River. The envoys to the Three Jins, Qin and Qi have also set off. As long as we can hold on for a while, the Three Jins and Qi The state will definitely come to rescue us. How can Huai State be our rival to the other six countries?"
Qu Qing sighed and said: "Your Majesty, the reform was abolished and the morale of the country's army dropped sharply. Those nobles and nobles seized the soldiers' property and treated them as slaves. How could the soldiers fight to the death to serve the country?"
"This is the frontline battle report we just received. Wu Qi was able to break through the Dabie Mountains only because a large number of soldiers surrendered."
"What!" King Chu's face changed drastically, and he quickly took the bamboo slip and looked through it. After a moment, the bamboo slip fell from his hand with a crash.
The King of Chu fell down on the couch and said with a look of disbelief: "Why is it that a hundred thousand troops surrendered? Why is it that!"
The King of Chu could not figure out why a hundred thousand troops surrendered to Huai in less than a month.
"Isn't it just fields? Why is it like this! You have been favored by the country in this life, how can you surrender?"
The King of Chu murmured to himself that he did not want to believe that these soldiers were willing to betray Chu just because of a mere ten acres of land.
Ten acres of land was just a drop in the bucket for the King of Chu. Even his cost of a meal was higher than the output of these ten acres of farmland. But for those soldiers, it was all their property.
Qu Qing sighed. This was his negligence. The King of Chu did not know the sufferings of the people, and he also forgot about it because he was entangled by the nobles and princes.
"The morale of the army has been lost and the morale of the army is low. Wu Qi is a famous general in the world. In the battle between Qin and Jin, 50,000 men defeated the Qin army of 500,000. The world was shocked. This time he brought another 200,000 Huai State elites. He only relied on 300,000 How can the Chu army with low morale be its opponent?"
At this point, Qu Qing suddenly felt a surge of anger and couldn't help but cursed: "The Kingdom of Chu has fallen to this point, and these insects are still fighting for power."
"How can we govern the country with a group of insects? The late king was too kind at the beginning. Duke Jing Mu should have been stronger and killed all these nobles, nobles and lords directly, so that nothing would happen again!"
"If this is the case, how dare Huai State attack our Chu State at this time!"
After Qu Qing vented his anger, the King of Chu also understood the reason why the Chu army could not fight, and immediately asked Qu Qing: "Qu Qing, is there any remedy?"
"If in another month, I will ransack the homes of the nobles and nobles who killed the tribe, and distribute the land to those soldiers. With these land replacements, even if the army is a little dissatisfied, they will not surrender. We still have a chance."
"It's too late now! I have ordered that the fields be distributed to the remaining soldiers. But without the Dabie Mountain defense line, less than 30% of them want to stop the Huai army."
"As for asking for help from the Three Jins, Qin, and Qi, Qin was defeated, suffered heavy losses, and was unable to support. The Three Jins have also been divided. Zhao and Wei had just fought a battle, and the casualties were not small. Even if they sent out troops, they would not be too many. , South Korea's small country, and Qi's strength has been greatly damaged due to several consecutive defeats."
Qu Qing shook his head helplessly and said: "All countries have lost their national power, but Huai State is strong. If you want to defeat Huai State, you must pay a heavy price. How can all countries be willing to do this for Chu State?"
"Your Majesty, aren't the nobles and ministers willing to hand over their private soldiers?"
"After the former king's reforms, the private soldiers of the nobles are no longer what they used to be. Your Majesty had better make plans in advance!" Qu Qing said.
(End of chapter)
