In June of the same year, because it was the midsummer season, the extreme heat of Zhao in the north was difficult to overcome. The ice stored last year was gone, which was the most difficult time. In the Changle Palace in Yecheng, Zhao Wuxi was wearing cool silk, sitting on the couch, frowning at the battle report sent by the southern front, while Ji Ying peeled off the cool oranges sent by Huainan and sent them to him. in the mouth.

Although the two are old couples in their forties, their relationship is still as harmonious as before. Even if there are more Xishi and Kongtong Mingzhu in Zhao Hou's harem, Ji Ying's respect and love have not diminished in the slightest.

It is no wonder that some people secretly remarked that in the past two years, the Changqiu Palace has slightly overwhelmed the Changxin Palace. If it wasn't for Mrs. Le's dedication to medical treatment and the countless favors she gave to the people of Yecheng, it was popular among the people. He looks very satisfied. He is often brought by his side when dealing with important military affairs. Zhao people will think that the position of the wife of the main family will change hands soon...

This kind of thinking became more and more popular as Xu Jun and Zhao Yan grew up day by day.

But no matter how outsiders speculate about the upcoming "Battle for Inheritance", everything inside the Changle Weiyang Second Palace seems to be harmonious, especially when Zhao Hou was in Yecheng, the two palaces were at peace with each other. .

After all, both sides understand that Zhao Hou's current mind is completely in the south.

In May, the fourteen cities of Huainan surrendered without a fight, and all the cities and towns of Qunshu east of the Dabie Mountains were replaced by the banner of the Zhao army, and almost every city had 500 to 2000 Zhao soldiers stationed. At the same time, Zhao Guo's boat divisions, who had never trained together, also went south to Guangling, stationed in the Jiangbei Water Village, and hurriedly trained.

The Vietnamese people firmly believed that Zhao's boatmen could not pose any threat to Jiangdong, and after burning Huainan ships, they sailed across the river. Zhao Wuxi is also clear that now Zhao's land duck navy is forcibly fighting in the big river, just to send the heads of the Yue people. Therefore, after occupying Huainan, he told Qu Ao and Xu Cheng's 50,000 troops not to enter rashly. Take the time to train boat masters and strengthen your rule over Qun Shu.

In the middle of May, on the northern front of Chu State, Zhao State's 100,000 6th Army began to force!

In the choice of the commander-in-chief of this army to defeat Chu, Zhao Wuxi gave up the always stable Muchia, and ordered You to become the commander...

Now, more than a month has passed, and Zhao Jun's military operations in Chu State have achieved results. After reading the report of Yucheng's return requesting reinforcements and food, Zhao Wuxi couldn't help but complained to Ji Ying: "I choose the commander of the Southern Expedition. At that time, I thought of Mu Xia and Youcheng. I asked them how many troops were needed to destroy Chu. Mucha replied that a total of 200,000 troops and 400,000 people were needed to transport food. Youcheng told me Said that as long as 50,000 people are in Huainan to contain the country of Yue and provide assistance on the flanks, he can destroy the country of Chu with one hundred thousand troops..."

"Finally, the prince chose Youcheng."

Ji Ying smiled, she knew that Zhao Wuxi had always disliked the harem, and now she is just complaining out of trust. She doesn't need to give an answer, she just needs to smile and listen quietly. How to deal with the military and politics, her husband has his own set in mind.

Sure enough, without waiting for Ji Ying to respond, Zhao Wuxi spread his hands: "Of course, I felt that Mu Xia was very angry at the time, and Zhao Guo couldn't get the army and people he wanted in a short time, so it was useless. He, but let the young and brave Youcheng go and give it a try..."

The state of Chu had already abandoned Manshi, Zhanban, Xibugen and other places two years ago, and moved its people to the empty space. Mausoleum. Build the first line of defense.

At the end of May, after Youcheng arrived at the front line, he believed that the defense of the Chu State in Luyang and Yexian was very heavy, so he let 30,000 soldiers attract the Chu general Gongsun Kuan, and 70,000 soldiers of his own command aimed the attack at Zhaoling.

His decision was right. In the battle of Zhaoling, although the remaining Chu troops swore to defend themselves, they were eventually outnumbered and a big hole was opened. Shen, Hu and other cities, even the younger brother of Ye Gong Shen Zhuliang was defeated and killed.

After Yucheng's victory, he was overjoyed. He believed that after the great chaos in Chu, there was really no fighting strength, so he began to detour westward, planning to capture Shangcai first and outflank the Chu troops stationed in Luyang and Yexian.

Shangcai was originally a big city, and when King Ling of Chu was able to give out a thousand rides, there were 5,000 soldiers and armour, and the state of Chu had ruled here for a long time. At this time, the three armies of Ye Gongshuai Shen, Xi, and Zuo Guang arrived from the south. These are the three most elite troops of Chu State. They have been trained for a long time in the process of suppressing the rebellion, and their combat effectiveness is far superior to that of the local defenders of Chu State.

The two armies faced off against Rushui, but Zhao Jun eventually suffered from unfamiliar terrain and long-distance supplies. The Chu army crossed the river to attack the Zhao army's barracks, and then pretended to be defeated and lured the Zhao army to pursue. The dam used to block the flow of water upstream was suddenly released, Rushui Taotao, and Zhao Jun were killed and injured thousands.

This battle was unfavorable, coupled with the difficulty of supply, Youcheng then took the main force and retreated from Shenyi to confront the Chu army with Rushui.

At this time, Youcheng began to regret the fact that he only brought 100,000 troops. The total strength of the Zhao army dispatched this time is 150,000, and 50,000 are in Huainan. Now they are restrained by the Yue people and cannot provide him much help. The Chu people on the other side of the Rushui also came from the whole country. The determination to die prevented the Zhao army from advancing, and the mourners would win, and the two sides were evenly matched.

There are many forests and hills here, and the role of cavalry cannot be exerted. The Chu people also deliberately avoided a head-to-head battle. Instead, they attacked the Zhao army endlessly from various forest trails, causing their supplies to suffer losses. A month has passed. Card, Youcheng had no good way to break the deadlock, so he had to bite the bullet and ask Yecheng for reinforcements. He knew very well that Zhao Guo's mobilization force had only been used half of it. As long as Zhao Hou sent another 100,000 people, he could throw the whip. And cut off the Rushui, and force the people of Chu to give up their territory with the power of Wan Jun!

Now, this memorial has been transmitted back to Yecheng, making Zhao Wuxi's face not very good-looking.

"Why don't I want to use the power of the country to go south? But do you know that Zhao Guo has fallen into a vicious circle over the years, the territory is getting bigger and bigger, but the available troops have not increased much."

Since the battle to destroy Zhongshan five years ago, the area actually controlled by Zhao State has expanded like a balloon. Zhongshan County, Yunzhong County, Shanggu County, Guangling County, Luoyang, Yingchuan County, Weinan County, Yong County, Huainan County ... The territory of nearly ten counties has grown, but it cannot provide troops in a short period of time. Because those counties have not yet completed the establishment of Qimin households, or the people are nostalgic for the country and cannot be loyal to Zhao. This means that, not only do not expect these counties to provide Zhao with personnel, but also to send tens of thousands of troops loyal to the central government to guard, especially the border counties, which require twice as many troops as the inner counties.

As a result, Zhao Wuxi was surprised to find that the standing army that he could use was not increased but decreased, and the burden and pressure of those guards would also be borne by the inner county...

Therefore, after the Qin State was defeated last year and the troops of the two armies were left there, according to the usual practice, the county soldiers dispatched during the Qin expedition would take turns to rest for a year, so he could use the Hebei, Jibei, Jinan, The standing armies and conscripts in Ludi and Huaibei together were only 150,000, all of which were given to Youcheng and Qu Ao.

Now it seems that with these 150,000 people alone, it is difficult to completely destroy the state of Chu, and even the hinterland of the state of Chu is somewhat difficult to penetrate. I have to say that even though there was a great turmoil, Ye Gong and Shen Zhu Liang were really outstanding people, and Chu Wangzhang was also bold. Let Ye Gong serve as Ling Yin and Sima at the same time. Therefore, Zhao Jun is not facing a state of Chu that is divided and distracted, but a state of Chu that is unprecedentedly united in order to avoid the disaster of the country!

"I was lucky and underestimated Chu's ambition to fight beasts and beasts." He criticized himself, but said proudly:

"But I believe that the general trend is better than the manpower. No matter how outstanding a person is, no matter how sad and angry soldiers are, they will not be able to match the crushing power of our Zhao country!"

...

After thinking about it, Zhao Wuxi stood up to help the case. He decided that he would use Mucha as the commander again, and recruit the 100,000 soldiers who were supposed to take a rest for a year to reinforce Youcheng!

At the same time, he will also be dispatched in person to go to Xinzheng to sit in town to ensure the delivery of grains!

The administrative efficiency of Zhao State is very high. The decision was made in June. At the end of July, the conscripts from Hedong, Taiyuan and other places had already been launched and were ready to be assembled in Luoyang.

Zhao Wuxi also took the Yulin army and left the south gate of Yecheng. When the officials saw him off by the Zhangshui River, Zhang Mengtan promised that he would do his best to provide Zhao Hou with luggage and a steady stream of troops. Inevitably, he admonished anxiously:

"How can the lords and lords have the ambition to rule the world, how can the ministers and others not know it? But the grandson also said that the service will no longer be registered, and the food will not be available for three years. In the past five years, the lords and lords have destroyed Zhongshan, broken Donghu, divided the Zhou Dynasty, took over the Yan Kingdom, The destruction of Zheng State and Qin State, except that Zhou and Yan did not use too many troops and supplies, the other four battles were all heart-wrenching battles!"

He persuaded bitterly: "Your Majesty, in the five years and six wars, although the Zhao state was rich, the people were exhausted. Although the tax was not increased, the indirect taxes on wine, grain, and salt were added, and the merchants were full of grievances. , the people are also a little unhappy, there are already people in Lu who can't bear the hardships, and they have fled into Taishan and Onoze to be thieves. And the newly surrendered Zhongshan, Zheng, and Qin areas have many rebels who cherish their homeland, or enter the mountains to become pirates. , or secretly waiting for the chaos of the Zhao country, undecided internal affairs and external troops, this is unwise. A total of 250,000 troops have long-distance expeditions, and the loss of national strength is great. If this war lasts for years, the country will be in danger! Zhao Jun will be in danger! In the end, the Rushui River was forcibly broken through and the state of Chu was occupied, and there would be turmoil in the rear. If the battle is unfavorable and the monarch repeats the story of King Zhao of Zhou's failure to conquer the south, then Zhao State, who has finally unified the Central Plains, will be like Zhou. Like King Zhao's wooden boat, it fell apart in the middle stream!"

Zhang Mengtan is a confidant who assisted Zhao Wuxi in starting his career. Generally speaking, Xiao He and Zhang Liang, who are equivalent to him, will help Zhao Wuxi to take care of everything without a sound. Zhao Wuxi rarely sees him like this. worry.

In order to carry out strategic deception, Zhao Wuxi once played the image of a stubborn and domineering monarch, but at this moment, Zhang Mengtan's words spoke to his heart. Previously, he used mail instead of Mucha, and he refused to go with the army of the whole country. Nan Zheng, isn't that what he's worried about?

"This is the old saying of the state to seek the country."

When there was no one around, Zhao Wuxi confided to Zhang Mengtan: "I have heard a saying that half of the people who travel a hundred miles are less than ninety. The closer an event is to success, the more difficult it is to be treated with caution. Lonely will naturally think twice. It’s just…”

He stared at the southern sky, his chest full of enthusiasm.

"Although Gu is known as the uncle and the regent of the emperor of Zhou, the essence of today's world is that there is no emperor above, no Fangbo below, the princes strive to become stronger, and the winner is the king!"

"Zhao Guoxiong is in the north, and has two thirds of the world, while in the south Jingchu is exhausted, and Yuyue is entrenched in the east of the Yangtze River. This is a great opportunity for the Zhao family. It is not ignorant of domestic difficulties. The reason why they hesitated for a long time in this campaign , still the whole country is marching south, because the opportunity cannot be missed, and it will never come again. This time, let the state of Chu go. After the king of Chu and Ye Gongqin repair their government and treat their people well, they will inevitably rise again. lightnovelpub.net~ It has become a three-legged situation, and it is even more difficult to go south. Therefore, even if the few people can't destroy Jingchu in one battle, they must cut the country of Chu, which has the strength of three or four thousand times, by half! Let them lie down and never get up again!"

He patted Zhang Mengtan and reassured him: "But the widow also promised that after the winter, no matter where the army advances, whether it goes well or not, the widow will stop the war, so as to avoid the disaster of laboring teachers abroad and national chaos at home. ."

"Jun Hou... Since this is the case, the ministers and others wish the lord and the lord to be invincible in battle and attack!" Zhang Mengtan calmed down a little and bowed down.

"For the front line, there are widows and generals, and the stability of the rear will be handed over to the state and ministers!"

After saying that, Zhao Wuxi drank the spirits that the courtiers had given him for his heroic act, lifted his flaming red cloak, and walked towards the army on the south bank of Zhangshui.

The 3,000-feather forest guards, plus the tens of thousands of horses from Daibei and Handan gathered here, for a while, the horses’ hooves were so sturdy that they couldn’t be broken.

Zhao Wuxi rode in a red chariot, with flower mats as curtains and shark skins as clothing, and four well-trained black horses with copper hooks and iron bridles, and rode the horses in front of the army.

From Zhang Mengtan's perspective, Hua Yisheng's middle-aged monarchs were as brave as they were. More than 20 years ago, when the moon was dark and the wind was high, they took a few 500 people out of Taoqiu and headed towards Wei Guo. When Zhen Yi leaves...

"Drum! Play music."

Zhang Mengtan, who has always been prudent, has the urge to burst into tears.

"Play "Xiaoya. Caizhi"!"

The army marched south, and they were accompanied by an impassioned battle song:

"Stupid you are savage, and the great state is an enemy. Uncle Fang, the old man, is strong and strong. Uncle Fang led the way, and he was humiliated. Jihu, Man Jing is coming!"