It's not that Zhao Wuxi didn't want to chase after Fuchai, but after entering Huaibei, the army had completely entered the territory of the enemy, and he was unfamiliar with his life. Although there have been many detailed works depicting maps and sending them back to Zhao, because there are no accurate drawing tools and no detailed inspections, the road trends on the map are so different from the actual situation that the cavalry of the Zhao army walked several times. wrong. And the pursuit of the army is even more difficult. In this era, the mountains and fields are everywhere, and once they stray into the swamp forest, it is easy to delay the fighter plane.

Therefore, the advance of the army was very slow, and in addition to the fear of an ambush by the Wu people, they had to take one step and three steps. It was so chasing and stopping, so that the main force of the Zhao army kept pulling behind, only Zhao Jia and Tian Ben's forwards caught up with the Wu army's rear team twice in Lingbi and Gaixia, killing and dispersing more than 10,000 enemy troops.

By the time they reached the Huai River, Zhao Jun, who had been on the road for days, was exhausted, and there was no way to cross the river to stop Fucha from escaping.

After hesitating for half a day by the Huai River, the Zhao army's flag slowly retreated, seemingly giving up. Seeing this, the Wu general Xumenchao of Zhongliyi breathed a sigh of relief.

However, although Xumenchao was right that Zhao Wuxi would not kill Fuchai, but he also expected something wrong.

That is, Zhao Wuxi recognized the importance of Zhongliyi better than him, and was determined to win this place!

In order to paralyze the opponent, Zhao Jun stopped by the Huai River for a while, and then made a gesture of returning north. However, what Xumenchao did not expect was that the main force of Zhao Jun took a detour to the prefecture dozens of miles to the west. A pontoon bridge was built on the sandbar to cross the Huai River quietly, and then when the enemy first discovered it, they suddenly launched an attack in the direction of Zhongli.

The Zhao army was coming fiercely. Although there were still more than 10,000 Wu troops in Jiangbei, they were scattered in Yihu, Qunshu, and Hangou. When the Zhao army attacked, Xumenchao suddenly lost the will to fight, and had to abandon the city and retreat to the southeast. After all, not every Wu army could be as brave and fearless as the rhinoceros guards, and were willing to give up their lives to defend their territory and dignity.

On the night of August 18, the Zhao army occupied Zhongli without fighting.

When driving into Zhongli Township, Wu Xie found that it had almost become a ghost town, and the garrison and residents had all fled. But Zhao Wuxi didn't care, what he valued more was the strategic value here.

Just like what Xumenchao said, Zhongli was called "Fengyang" in later generations. Although it was a little poor, it was also an important place. It connected Chen and Cai in the west, Xu and Si in the east, and was the gateway to the south of the Yangtze River. Since Zhao Wuxi was worried about whether Fuchai would make a comeback, he simply crossed Huai and occupied the place. Without Zhongli, Jiangbei would have no barrier. If Huai couldn't guard, Jiang couldn't guard either. If the Zhao army wanted to attack the Wu Kingdom, they could assemble their troops here at any time, but if the Wu Kingdom wanted to counterattack Huaibei, they would be under Zhong Li's eyes.

But when the army was resting here, Tian Ben and other brave people suggested that it is better to fight all the way to the big river, or even cross the river to the capital of Wu State, and destroy Wu State together with Yue State!

In this regard, Zhao Wuxi categorically rejected it.

"That's right, if the army stays here for a few days, it will continue to move south and attack the cities in the north of the Yangtze River. Maybe it will be able to land on the river, or even defeat Fuchai's army again, so that the Yue Kingdom can successfully capture the capital of Wu, plus the Kingdom of Chu. If you advance eastward, after a year and a half, the state of Wu will be destroyed. But if you do this, what benefits will it bring to the state of Zhao, other than being quick?"

Tian Ben, who was eager to make a contribution, said without hesitation: "Your Majesty can occupy the land north of the river in Wu State! I heard that this place is thousands of miles away, which is equivalent to several counties of Zhao State!"

Zhao Wuxi shook his head and said, "But the people in the north of the Wu Kingdom are less than half a county in the Zhao Kingdom."

Jiangbei, also known as the Huaiyang area in later generations, is a place with flat terrain, numerous rivers, and dense lakes and ponds. In the late Warring States Period, the Chu State used it as the Eastern Chu. In the Han Dynasty, Huainan State was also a wealthy kingdom. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, Jiangbei became even more prosperous. It is a land of heavy taxes, a land of fish and rice, not Jiangnan, but similar to Jiangnan.

However, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Jiangbei was very different from later generations. For example, Jiangbei in this era did not have Hongze Lake, but hundreds of large and small lakes. The water network was interlaced, which was not conducive to cavalry operations. Because of the humid and warm climate, the rivers here are lush with water and grass, the plains are full of grass, and the low mountains and platforms are densely covered with lush forests. Looking out from Zhongli Township, you can see large tracts of virgin forest. People from the north, outside the city, is outside the territory.

If this place is well developed for several generations, it will be very promising, but unfortunately it will not be of much use value in a short period of time, and there are no ready-made cities and people to acquire it. , Huainan composed of Qunshu Zhuyi.

Therefore, if Zhao Wuxi leads an army of tens of thousands to chase and kill Fuchai regardless, I am afraid that before reaching the Dajiang, the army will be hungry halfway, because in Jiangbei of this era, even if he wants to get food from the enemy, he will not be able to grab it from the enemy. go.

What's more, for Zhao Wuxi, since the Wu State forces have withdrawn from Huaibei, and the Zhao army is also approaching the Huaihe River, then he has to face another problem: Chu State.

Last year, due to the death of King Zhao of Chu, the eastern border of Chu State was severely bitten by Wu State and lost hundreds of miles. This year, with Fuchai's defeat in the north, Chu State also started a counter-offensive. It is said that Sima Ziqi's army of Chu State attacked Huai Shang, has surrounded Chen State. On the other hand, Wang Sunsheng, who defected from the Zhao army, changed his body and became the right Sima of the Chu State. The handsome army attacked Qunshu, and he was about to hit the vicinity of the Cai State.

When you go after Wu Jun at this time, aren't you acting as a forerunner for the people of Chu?

"Therefore, in the land of Jiangbei, Zhao State won it but couldn't defend it, and abandoned it and enriched Chu State, what's the benefit of it?"

As for his previous worries about whether Fuchai could "make a comeback", Zhao Wuxi couldn't help thinking of a poem from a previous life.

"Fatigued warriors mourn after a hundred battles, and it is hard to recover from a defeat in the Central Plains.

The Jiangdong disciples are still here, are they willing to make a move for the king? "

The failure in the Central Plains has already severely damaged the husband's poor.

Even if there is no Yue Kingdom, the pressure of Chu Kingdom's accumulation is enough for the husband to drink a pot.

In such a situation, we don't need to worry about whether Fuchai can make a comeback, but we should think about whether the state of Wu can survive for a few years under the attack of Chu and Yue and the internal decline of people's livelihood.

Therefore, Zhao Wuxi denied the idea of ​​Tian Ben and others' request to seize Jiangbei and march on the river. He personally determined that the end of this southern expedition is Zhongli!

"With Zhongli as the fortress at the bridgehead, a division of soldiers will be stationed here to control the Huaihe River. From then on, Zhao State can monitor Wu State's movements from a distance, sit back and watch the war between Wu, Chu and Yue, and prevent the Chu army from taking Huainan and Jiangbei lightly."

But that's not enough~lightnovelpub.net~ Zhao Wuxi's fingers slid to the east of the map again.

"Except for those who stayed behind in Zhongli, the army was divided into two groups, and 30,000 people followed me eastward to attack Shandao Town in Wu State."

Shandao, the end point of the northern section of Hangou, connects Huaisi, and is an extremely important node on Hangou. It is called "Xuyi" in later generations, and Zhongli and Zhongli are both important towns in the Huaihe River Basin. , the south can go to the northern expedition to the Central Plains and seize the good way, which will seal the door of Xu Di, and Zhao Wuxi can return to the division to take Huaibei.

Those who don't plan the overall situation are not enough to plan for a domain. Zhao Wuxi is not satisfied, and his fingers are focused on Zhongli more than a hundred miles west.

"Another 10,000 people will march westward with Zhao Jia's cavalry! You will go to Cai State!"

"Cai Guo?" Zhao Jia and the others couldn't help being shocked.

"That's right." Zhao Wuchun smiled and said, "Caihou has formed a deadly feud with the state of Chu, and has lost the protection of the state of Wu. I must be very uneasy at this moment. If we can get a strong neighbor to lend a helping hand, the state of Cai will definitely join! "

(To be continued.)