(There are some modifications to the previous chapter.)
The Qin army formed a "city wall" connected with chariots and stood on the basin. It was very difficult for the Zhao army to attack from behind. Moreover, it was blocked by the "city wall", which made it even more difficult for the army to attack. In addition, the Qin army continued to fire crossbows, and the Zhao army continued to attack. Several attacks were repulsed by the Qin army.
The Qin army surrounded the Zhao army and was not in a hurry to attack, but continued to improve its defenses. Seeing this situation, Gongzi Cheng and Li Xin led the elite troops to charge to the death. Prince Cheng Li Xin died in the battle. Except for thousands of Zhao troops who escaped in embarrassment, the remaining Zhao troops had no hope of breaking out because their water sources were cut off, so they had no choice but to surrender.
In this battle, Bai Qi used more than 200,000 Qin troops to besiege Zhao's 200,000 troops. He used Gongzi Cheng's eagerness to win to lure the enemy deep, and used the favorable terrain to besiege Zhao's troops. The Zhao army had already traveled a long distance to attack, and was trapped and out of horses. It fell into the trap of the Qin army, and the entire army was annihilated. Only thousands of Zhao troops who broke out of the encirclement retreated together with Li Xian, the governor of Shangjun.
After a fierce battle, Zhao Jun suffered tens of thousands of casualties due to various reasons, and a large number of wounded soldiers died due to lack of water. In the end, Qin captured 100,000 Zhao Jun. When the news reached Handan of Zhao State, everyone in Handan was terrified.
Not long ago, the State of Zhao had just experienced a civil strife in the palace. All the members of Gongzi Zhang Yi's faction were killed, and King Wuling of Zhao was starved to death. The State of Zhao was seriously injured. As a result, the State of Zhao suffered a disastrous defeat, and the State of Zhao lost 200,000 elites.
King Zhao summoned his ministers overnight and asked them to discuss how to respond. Everyone in the Zhao Kingdom was unsure of how to deal with Bai Qi. King Zhao's face became increasingly ugly when he saw that no one in the hall dared to stand up.
"I am a great Zhao, with a place thousands of miles away, and an armor of 500,000 yuan. Is there no one who can defeat Bai Qi?"
Hearing King Zhao's question, the two generals outside the main hall couldn't stand it anymore and immediately stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, our last general Lian Po is willing to lead his army into battle!"
"Your Majesty, our last general, Zhao She, is willing to lead his army into battle!"
The two stood up one after another and said.
After King Zhao saw the two of them, he was overjoyed and said: "Okay, if I can win this battle, I will not be stingy with the reward!"
"I am willing to die for your Majesty." The two thanked him again.
Next, the two of them explained their respective countermeasures to King Zhao. Zhao Guo was newly defeated and his morale was low. He needed to strictly guard the city, strengthen the walls and clear the fields to deal with the Qin army's attack.
Zhao State was fighting on its own territory, so grain and grass did not need to be transported long distances. The Qin army's grain and grass needed to be transported from within the country, resulting in greater losses. At the same time, Zhao State is good at cavalry and can use cavalry to harass the Qin army's food routes to tire out the Qin army. We will defend the city tightly until the Qin army's divisions and veterans are exhausted, and then attack with a large army. We will definitely be able to defeat the Qin army.
King Zhao then appointed Lian Po as the chief general and Zhao She as the deputy general to lead the army to confront Qin Guo Baiqi. The Qin army launched a massive attack, and Lian Po Zhao She personally led his army to resist. The army strictly guarded the city, and the walls were strong and the fields clear. At the same time, Li Xian was appointed by King Zhao to mobilize the northern frontier cavalry to harass the Qin army's logistics.
Bai Qi's army was unable to attack for a long time. At the same time, Li Xian's cavalry appeared in Zhao State, and many of the Qin army's food routes were burned. At this time, urgent news came from the land of Bashu and the Huai army attacked Bashu. After receiving the news of Huai's attack, the entire Qin State was shocked. He quickly ordered Bai Qi to come back for reinforcements.
When Bai Qi learned that the Huai Kingdom was attacking Bashu, he immediately appointed Hu Yang to lead an army of 50,000 to stop the attack, and he himself led a Qin army of 150,000 to go south to support the attack.
The Qin army suddenly retreated. The Zhao army thought it was a fraud by the Qin army to withdraw and did not dare to pursue it. By the time Zhao Jun received the news that Huai State was attacking Qin State's Bashu territory, Bai Qi's army had already rushed back to Qin State, and then rushed to the middle of Shu for support.
It's just that the road to Shu is difficult to travel, and it is equally difficult for the Qin army to support Bashu. At the same time, Qin State also needs to guard against Huai State taking the opportunity to sneak attack Qin Guanzhong from Hanzhong.
There were 100,000 Qin troops in Shu, and the road was difficult to travel. Although Qin was worried about Huai's attack, it did not think that the Huai army could capture Bashu in a short time. The land of Hanzhong was an important threat to Qin's invasion of Shu, so Bai Qi wrote a letter suggesting that Hanzhong should be conquered first, and then he could enter Shu for rescue.
King Qin agreed with Bai Qi's suggestion and decided to attack Hanzhong with a large army. The Qin army entered Baoxie Road from Yi County and attacked Hanzhong. At the same time, another army went south from Chencang Road, entered Mian City, and then cooperated with the Qin army to attack Hanzhong.
Qin's 100,000 troops attacked Hanzhong from the north and west. Le Yi ordered Wei Zong to guard Hanzhong, and the army blocked the entrance of Bao Valley. Wei Zong personally led his army to confront the Qin army in Mian County.
There are many mountain roads between Nanzheng and Mian County. The roads are narrow, rugged and difficult to navigate, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. The two armies of the Qin army are attacking. If the Qin army in Mian County attacks, Hanzhong will really be in danger.
Le Yi was leading his army westward from Jiangzhou to attack Bashu. Le Yi walked north from Jiangzhou to attack Chengdu, but Sima Cuo, the captain of the State of Qin, led his army to resist. After Sima Cuo captured the land of Bashu, he had been guarding Bashu and was very familiar with the land of Bashu.
The Qin army occupies a favorable location, and the soldiers have high morale because they protect their homeland. Le Yi led his army to fight against him several times. In the end, apart from losing some troops, he did not gain much.
The roads in Bashu are difficult to navigate, and it is extremely difficult to attack. Even the Huai State has Shanyue elite soldiers, but they did not take advantage of Sima Cuo. However, Le Yi has already received Wang Xu's order. This station is not in a hurry to end, but to consume Qin's vitality and consume Qin's food and grass. Although the Qin army's grain and grass can be mobilized from Shu County, Huai State has the Yangtze River waterway, and then enters the Fujiang River, and the transportation of grain and grass is equally convenient.
The Qin State has been fighting for many years. Although the results are rich, it consumes a lot of food and grass, which cannot be consumed by the Huai State. This kind of competition is purely a competition of national strength, and Huai Guo is not afraid of anyone at all. Just when Sima Cuo thought that the Huai army was going to fight him, Le Yi was calm and ordered the rear army to attack.
Le Yi faced off against Sima Cuo and saw that Sima Cuo's army was entrenched in Suizhou. After successfully mobilizing Sima Cuo, he immediately ordered another army to set off from Jiangzhou to the south and continue the attack along the Tuojiang River. Wang Xu recruited 200,000 troops to attack Shu, plus the original 100,000 troops in Jiangzhou, a total of 300,000 troops.
This time Le Yi used force to overwhelm others. Except for 30,000 of the 300,000 troops left behind, the remaining 270,000 marched all the way to the Fujiang River, all the way to the Tuojiang River, and finally all the way to the Minjiang River. The Huai State is powerful and capable of overwhelming others. No matter how big or small it is, it will naturally not be spared.
He was just worried that Sima would miss a hundred thousand Qin troops and defend Chengdu, so Le Yi used this strategy. The most respected thing in the art of war is to use more to defeat fewer and to use force to overwhelm others.
Sima Cuo only had 100,000 Qin troops. If he united his troops, he could still fight the Huai army. However, if he dared to split his troops, Le Yi would immediately attack in three directions. When the time came, Sima Cuo would not be able to stop him even if he had three heads and six arms. After Sima Cuo learned that the Huai army was advancing in three directions, he only blocked one army, and the other two armies marched straight in. In the end, he could only grit his teeth, abandon Suizhou, and lead his army back to Chengdu, hoping to rely on Chengdu to defend.
(End of chapter)
