Chapter 261: Each with His Own Agenda
"General, how do you plan to deal with the Vietnamese army?" asked King Xi of Yan.
Le Yi clasped his fists and said, "The Vietnamese army has been on a long expedition, so they must be short of food and grass and not good at a long battle. I suggest that we use the royal city as a fortress, adopt an active defense strategy, and take the initiative to send troops to harass in order to delay the Vietnamese offensive.
"As long as we wait for the Zhao army to come back to support us, and then unite with the allies from other countries, we will surely be able to annihilate the Yue army."
"good!"
King Yan's expression brightened up a little, "Just as the general said."
After some consolation from Prince Dan and Yue Yi, King Xi of Yan finally came out of his panic, calmed down, and at least knew what to do next.
It was also the King of Yan's fault for being in such a mess, as the Kingdom of Yue was indeed very famous.
…
Prince Dan returned to the palace and immediately summoned his guests.
Although he was not among the four nobles of the Warring States Period, he also had hundreds of retainers, including many famous people such as Tian Guang, Gai Nie, Jing Ke, and Qin Wuyang.
in,
Gai Nie and Jing Ke were both world- famous sword masters, and were skilled in assassination. If ordinary cultivators encountered them, they would probably die before they could even react.
It's really terrifying.
Due to the rise of the Kingdom of Yue, the incident of Jing Ke assassinating the King of Qin did not happen in our world.
Jing Ke,
It also became a trump card in Prince Dan's hand.
Under Prince Dan's arrangement, the news of Yue's attack on Yan spread to all countries in just one day.
…
Wei State, Daliang.
When King Wei Jia heard the news, he immediately summoned Lord Xinling Wei Wuji to the palace to discuss the matter.
"What do you think?" King Wei remained calm.
Xinling Jun, however, was positive. He clasped his fists and said, "Yue State has evil ambitions, and is simply a replica of Qin State. This time they are attacking Yan State with great ambitions, and they are determined to conquer the world. Wei State should mobilize its army to support them and jointly attack Yue State."
"Yeah?"
King Wei raised his eyebrows and asked, "Then how do you think we should attack them?"
"If the king agrees, I am willing to lead 200,000 elite troops to rush to the aid of Yan State." Xinling Jun took the initiative to volunteer. He hoped to be able to lead the allied forces of various countries again.
King Wei frowned, "What if the Kingdom of Yue attacks?"
The State of Yue sent a large army to attack the State of Yan, but it still had 600,000 troops stationed in Guanzhong.
That's not just for show.
"The King of Yue promised not to leave Hangu Pass for five years, but if we take the initiative to provoke them, do you think Yue will still abide by the agreement?" The King of Wei was worried about the security of his homeland.
The Black Water Army stationed in Guanzhong were all reorganized from the Qin Army.
Looking at the five countries,
That is also a first-class elite division.
The State of Wei had been fighting against the Qin Army for many years and was well aware of the strength of the Black Water Army.
Lord Xinling was not speaking nonsense. "Yue only has 600,000 troops stationed in Guanzhong, and they also have to guard the border, so they can mobilize at most 500,000 troops. If we can cooperate with Chu, we will definitely be able to stop Yue's offensive."
From the very beginning, Xinling Jun had been planning to attack Yue with the other four countries.
The King of Wei shook his head in amusement.
Although Xinling Jun's idea is good, it is too idealistic.
If the four countries of Qi, Chu, Yan and Wei could really cooperate sincerely, then let alone one Yue country, even if there were two Yue countries put together, the four-country alliance would be fearless.
The question is, is this possible?
"Have you ever thought about this: if Yue State concentrates all its forces, goes out of Hangu Pass, and attacks Wei State with all its strength? Do you think Chu State will choose to help or will choose to stand by and watch?" King Wei said slowly.
Three years ago, Wei State cooperated with Yue State to severely defeat Chu State and annexed the entire Han area in one fell swoop.
There has been little communication between the two countries so far.
It is impossible to have no grudges between each other.
Moreover, according to intelligence from the King of Wei, in the past three years, the shadow of Chu was vaguely behind the forces that were trying to restore the Han country, so the King of Wei was very wary of Chu.
“…”
Xinling Jun was speechless for a moment. Considering the character of the Chu people, it was more likely that they would surrender.
I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.
It is no wonder that Qin and Yue rose one after another. After hundreds of years, the once glorious overlords, Qi, Chu and Wei, gradually lost their due bloodiness and pattern.
When the King of Wei saw this, he waved his hand and said, "You go back first. This matter is of great importance. Let me think about it carefully." Deep down in his heart, he did not want to fall out with the State of Yue.
Especially with the promise made by Yue State in the past, they were even more reluctant to be the first to turn against each other, and still hoped to maintain peace.
"promise!"
Xinling Jun left the palace with a hint of disappointment. After all, he was still not trusted by the king.
…
Chu State, Shouchun.
King Fu Chu of Chu was also discussing the matter of Yue's attack on Yan with Lord Chunshen Huang Xie. To be honest, when the King of Chu heard about this, he felt secretly delighted at that moment.
It would be better if my teammates died than for me to die.
This means at least that the State of Chu will be safe for the next one or two years.
No matter what he thought, the King of Chu was still very concerned about this battle. If Yan won and Yue was seriously injured, then it would naturally be "a happy ending for everyone."
But if Yan State is destroyed...
"Your Majesty, this is a good opportunity for us to take back Nanyang County." Chunshen Jun said shockingly.
"What do you mean?"
The greedy King of Chu suddenly became interested.
"Yue attacked Yan and angered other countries. We only need to leave 300,000 troops in the south to guard against Yue's 200,000 border troops. The rest of the main forces can go north to attack Nanyang. We will surely win in one battle."
Even better,
Because they were fighting against the State of Yue on the front battlefield, they could also give an explanation to the State of Yan's request for help.
So as to avoid being accused of being untrustworthy.
"But I heard that the State of Yue has stationed 600,000 troops in Guanzhong?" The King of Chu frowned.
Chunshen Jun smiled and said, "Although there are 600,000 troops, Yue State has to guard the border and fight against Chu and Wei at the same time. It is impossible to have both. The most sensible thing for Yue State to do is to take the initiative to retreat to Wuguan."
No matter how arrogant the State of Yue was, it was impossible for it to take on three enemies alone.
“I see.”
The King of Chu stroked his beard subconsciously, his eyes sparkling, "Then please ask Ling Yin to go to Daliang and convince Wei to join forces to fight against the Yue army."
In order to recover Nanyang, the King of Chu put aside his grudge with the State of Wei and cooperated temporarily.
Wei was originally in the wrong in the previous incident. Now that the King of Chu has lowered his stance and offered an olive branch, there is no reason for Wei to refuse.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Chunshen Jun had to admire the King of Chu's broad-mindedness.
…
Qi State, Linzi.
At the end of the Warring States Period, in terms of weirdness, Qi State could definitely be ranked among the top three.
Historically, during the process of Qin's conquest of the five kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu and Yan, Qi was a spectator from beginning to end, enjoying peace and not getting involved in the struggle for hegemony among the nations at all.
at last,
After Qin conquered the five states, Qi surrendered without much resistance.
Paddling the whole time.
And it all has to do with one person.
That was the last monarch of Qi State, King Jian of Qi, known in history as the Fei King of Qi.
In 265 BC, King Jian of Qi succeeded to the throne, and his mother, Queen Jun, served as regent. Because of Queen Jun's virtue, King Jian of Qi lived a quiet and leisurely life.
In modern terms, it means that the baby has not been weaned.
In 249 BC, the queen died, and King Jian of Qi appointed his uncle Hou Sheng as prime minister.
But Hou Sheng is a good-for-nothing.
Hou Sheng accepted a large amount of gold and jade from Qin spies and sent many guests to Qin. Qin gave these guests a lot of gold and jade, but when the guests returned, they became spies for Qin.
As the saying goes, be lenient when you take advantage of others.
Hou Sheng had been persuading King Jian of Qi to give up the alliance, pay tribute to Qin, not build up military preparations, and not help the five countries attack Qin. He lived a very Buddhist life.
The result is,
After Qi surrendered, King Jian of Qi was starved to death. His end was quite miserable.
Due to the rise of Yue State, under the lobbying of Jia Xu, three years ago, Qi State inexplicably joined the Five-Nation Alliance and destroyed Qin State in one fell swoop, completely changing the history of Qi State.
After getting half of Zhao's land, King Jian of Qi seemed to have "grown up" overnight.
In addition, without the bribes from Xianyang, Housheng had no reason to speak for the Yue State, which replaced Qin. The Qi State changed its previous Buddhist strategy and became proactive.
Upon receiving the request for help from the State of Yan, King Jian of Qi agreed to send troops without hesitation.
Just a little bit,
King Jian of Qi proposed that if Qi sent troops, Yan must give up the old land of Zhao that it had occupied as compensation.
This guy has a tendency to "overcorrect". He used to be very Buddhist, but now that he has "awakened", he has become greedy again.
It's really weird.
The envoy of Yan State did not dare to act on his own and returned to his country to report.
…
Jicheng, the royal palace.
King Xi of Yan summoned Crown Prince Dan and General Yue Yi to discuss matters again. After the three envoys went out for a circle, the attitudes of the three kingdoms of Qi, Chu and Wei were basically understood.
After the delegation reported, King Xi of Yan looked unhappy again.
Among the Three Kingdoms, Qi was openly trying to take advantage of the situation, Wei was mainly concerned with self-preservation, and Chu had its own ulterior motives. It said it would provide reinforcements, but so far it has not sent a single soldier.
"General, what's the situation on the front line?" King Yan was not in a hurry to express his opinion.
Le Yi clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, after our sniping, the enemy's advance has slowed down significantly. It will take at least a week to reach the foot of Jicheng."
"When will the Zhao army arrive to reinforce us?"
"Three days at most."
"That's good." King Yan's expression eased a little.
Le Yi was not optimistic and said in a deep voice: "Even if the reinforcements arrive at the royal city before the Yue army, with our current military strength, I am afraid it will still be difficult to resist alone."
The total military strength of Yan State was less than 500,000.
This also includes the border troops and royal city guards that are inconvenient to be transferred from various places.
The actual number of troops that could be mobilized was only around 400,000. Even with the advantage of geographical location, Le Yi was not sure that he could definitely repel the enemy.
The South Vietnamese army, composed entirely of barbarians, is no longer the unknown army it once was.
Who doesn't know,
Under the training of the State of Yue, it had become an iron-blooded army that made people tremble in fear.
"Then what should we do? Should we recruit soldiers temporarily?" King Yan frowned.
"this……"
Le Yi shook his head, "I'm afraid it's too late."
The war has already started in full swing. Recruiting new soldiers at this time would be like sending food to the enemy, which would do more harm than good.
The hall suddenly became quiet.
The atmosphere is a bit depressing.
Prince Dan looked at his father calmly, and finally broke the silence, saying quietly: "If there is really no other way, we can only temporarily agree to the conditions proposed by Qi in exchange for Qi sending troops."
"Let's get through the current difficulties first," Prince Dan added.
“…”
King Yan’s face turned as black as charcoal.
