Chapter 270 Sweeping the World
The second half of 221 BC seemed calm and strange.
The Yue State, which had been active before, immediately stopped its activities after taking over the Zhao land. It was busy digesting the Yan and Zhao lands while also busy reorganizing the four newly formed legions of the Black Water Army.
The three kingdoms of Qi, Chu and Wei had frequent secret exchanges, and Chunshen Jun, Xinling Jun, Hou Sheng and others met frequently, gradually reaching a consensus and forming a relatively solid triangular alliance.
The peaceful Warring States continent is just the prelude to the coming storm.
According to the course of history, in this year, the Qin State destroyed the Qi State and completed the great cause of unifying the world. Qin Wang Zheng felt that the title of king was not enough to show his achievements, so he called himself the emperor, and became the first emperor.
Unknowingly, the State of Yue had reached this historical juncture.
…
Time quickly entered 220 BC.
Just as January began, the quiet Warring States Period had new changes.
Found abnormalities,
He was a scout of the Chu army stationed on the border.
First, the Chu army scouts in the south discovered that the fifth and sixth corps of the Nanyue Army stationed in Jiangdong County and Kuaiji County suddenly disappeared.
The land of Baiyue became defenseless again.
Then, the Northwest scouts discovered that the Second Corps of the Blackwater Army, and the Eighth Corps of the South Vietnamese Army, which had been stationed in Nanjun and Wanjun respectively, had also disappeared.
Only Nanyang County still has troops stationed there.
It seemed as if overnight, the State of Yue lifted its surveillance on the State of Chu.
The abnormal behavior of Yue State was immediately reported to the royal court.
Since last year, King Fu Chu of Chu had been on edge. Upon receiving the news, he immediately summoned Chunshen Jun.
"What is the Kingdom of Yue going to do?" The King of Chu was a little flustered.
Logically speaking, the Yue State was at its peak and should have strengthened the defenses of the two places. Why did it do the opposite and withdraw all the troops stationed in the two places?
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong!
Chunshen Jun Huang Xie was also a little confused, "How about sending troops to test it?"
"Is this... feasible?"
The King of Chu hesitated. "What if this is a trap set by Yue State, to make us attack first, and then use this as an excuse to send a large army to attack us?"
This is very possible.
Chunshen Jun disagreed. "Looking at the style of Yue State in destroying Yan and Dai, it seems that they don't care about finding a reason to start a war. They just send troops directly. There is no need to do all these things, right?"
The middle and late Warring States period was completely different from the Spring and Autumn Period.
In the Warring States Period when rituals and music were in decline, when two countries went to war, there was no need to occupy the moral high ground, nor did they need to find excuses under the banner of the army of justice.
Everything depends on strength, and the strong are respected.
"Let's observe for a while." The King of Chu was still cautious. He had suffered too much at the hands of Yue. "Also, report this situation to Qi and Wei immediately."
"promise!"
Chunshen Jun did not insist, and there was nothing wrong with the King of Chu's approach.
…
Wei State, Daliang.
After receiving a report from the State of Chu, the King of Wei summoned Lord Xinling to the palace.
"Your Majesty, based on this inference, the spies from the north reported that there seemed to be a troop crossing the northern prairie. Could it be the retreating army of Yue?" Xinling Jun was doubtful.
"Eighty percent of it is true." The King of Wei also looked solemn. "What is Yue trying to do? At this time, it is still sending more troops to Zhao?"
Xinling Jun had some guesses. "Guanzhong has a unique geographical location. As long as we defend the two natural barriers of Hangu Pass and Wugu Pass, we can rest assured. From the perspective of local defense, Yue State does not need to station too many troops in Guanzhong. On the contrary, there are defense loopholes in the northern prairie. Could it be guarding against us?"
"Then how do you explain that the State of Yue withdrew its troops from the Baiyue?" The King of Wei was still puzzled.
"There are only two explanations. Either he is preparing to destroy Qi, or he is going to attack Wei."
King Wei: “…”
The hall suddenly became quiet, and the king and his minister could hear each other's breathing.
"Immediately issue an order to mobilize the army to strengthen the defense in the north and Hangu Pass area. At the same time, inform the two countries of Qi and Chu of this situation immediately." The King of Wei said in a hoarse voice.
"promise!"
Xinling Jun also realized the urgency of the situation.
…
Qi State, Linzi.
The past winter was the most difficult for the State of Qi.
no way,
If any country were to have a million-strong army stationed to the north, they would probably be unable to sleep or eat well.
The newly formed Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Corps of the Black Water Army of Yue State have respectively stationed in Handan County, Julu County, Guangyang County and other places.
He was just short of slapping the insole of his shoe on Qi's face.
Based on the reports from Wei and Chu, King Jian of Qi was almost certain that Yue’s first target of attack this year would be Qi.
The pressure is huge...
"Your Majesty, I suggest that you immediately request the Wei and Chu countries to send troops to help us." Hou Sheng's eyes flickered.
The King of Qi shook his head. "Yue has not sent out its troops yet . The situation is unclear. Wei and Chu will not take action. Let's wait a little longer."
Although the three kingdoms formed an alliance, they were not so close that they could wear the same pants.
What if this was just a trick of the State of Yue, and the actual intention was to attack and destroy the State of Wei or the State of Chu?
That's not the end.
"Your Majesty is wise." Hou Sheng changed the subject, "Based on the current situation, Yue may also choose to attack Chu or Wei. No one knows where the smokescreen will be."
"Let's take another look." The King of Qi looked a little tired.
After suffering repeated setbacks in front of the State of Yue and kneeling twice in a row, the ambitions that the King of Qi had accumulated before seemed to have begun to disappear.
I can't get hard anymore.
…
As it turned out, the three kingdoms of Qi, Chu and Wei all underestimated the determination of Yue.
The strategy of destroying the country formulated by Jia Xu was extremely radical. It can be summed up in one sentence: "Completely abandon the defense of the homeland and make annihilating the enemy's living forces the first priority."
so,
The land of Baiyue is now completely undefended, with only a city guard corps stationed in Longchuan City.
Bashu and Hanzhong were also undefended.
As for the Guanzhong area, in addition to the three legions stationed in Hangu Pass, Wugu Pass and Nanyang County, there is only the First Legion of the Black Water Army stationed near Xianyang.
Basically, it is just guarding the key point into the pass.
Jia Xu dared to formulate such a bold battle plan based on two points.
First, the Yue State had a unique logistics support system.
The food and grass supplies for the million-strong army of Yue State did not come from the counties in the rear, but from Qin Mo, the invincible plug-in. Even if there was a fire in the backyard, the food and grass supply of the army could be guaranteed.
It does not affect front-line operations at all.
Second, Qin Mo’s unique goal.
As mentioned before, Qin Mo is not trying to become the greatest emperor of all time, he just wants to achieve the goal of unifying the world, that is the only result he wants.
The process is not important.
Qin Mo will not overly protect the people, as long as the people are happy.
From a macro perspective, although the State of Yue was at war for years, it neither increased taxes on the people nor conscripted more people for war labor, which was already extremely merciful.
The people of Yue are definitely the happiest group of people among all countries.
Based on this, the State of Yue could mobilize all the troops it could and concentrate all its efforts to fight against the three states of Qi, Chu and Wei. As long as the organized armies of the three states were annihilated, it would be a victory.
So where did the remaining 1.4 million troops go? The answer was soon revealed.
February 10,
It was still cold spring in the north, but the attack of Yue State had already begun.
Li Mu, the General of Cavalry of the State of Yue, commanded the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th and 9th Corps of the Nanyue Army, a total of 600,000 troops, and invaded the northern part of the State of Qi from Guangyang County in Yan.
at the same time,
Yue Yi, who was promoted to General Wei for destroying Dai, commanded the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Corps of the Black Water Army, a total of 400,000 troops, and invaded the southern part of Qi from Julu County in Zhao.
The two armies advanced side by side and jointly launched a war to destroy Qi.
The Second Corps of the Black Water Army, which was transferred from the Guanzhong area, and the Eighth Corps of the South Vietnamese Army followed behind the two armies respectively, responsible for the transportation of food and fodder and the occupation of cities.
What does it mean to have an army of 1.2 million soldiers going to war?
Historically,
Qin only deployed an army of 600,000 in its campaign to conquer Chu.
double!
The army was so huge that it blocked out the sky and the sun, filling up the border of Qi State. It was so dark that there was no end in sight. They marched forward bravely with an invincible momentum.
Any enemy that stands in the way of the army is doomed to be like an egg hitting a rock and will be vulnerable to a single blow.
Caught off guard , Qi suffered defeat after defeat.
It took only five days for the Yue army to reach the north bank of the Ji River.
The panicked King of Qi could only organize the remaining troops and reorganize the defense line on the south bank of the Ji River, while urgently asking for help from Wei and Chu, hoping that the two countries would immediately reinforce Qi's troops.
…
In response to Qi's request for help, Wei and Chu responded quickly.
This isn’t last year after all.
The three kingdoms of Qi, Chu and Wei are truly interdependent. If one of them falls, the other two will suffer.
Judging from the posture of the State of Yue, it is clear that it is concentrating all its military forces, preparing to destroy the State of Qi in one fell swoop, and then withdraw its hands to deal with the States of Wei and Chu one by one.
If you still stand by and watch at this time, you would be a real fool.
February 18,
Chunshen Jun Huang Xie personally led an army of 200,000 to rush to the aid of Qi.
Xinling Jun Wei Wuji personally led an army of 150,000 to the State of Qi.
It looks like we can still give it a try.
At the same time, the greedy King Fu Chu of Chu also sent an army of 50,000 to attack Jiangdong County and Kuaiji County; at the same time, he sent an army of 200,000 to attack Nan County and Wan County.
There were only 50,000 troops left around Shouchun.
This leaked to me...
…
As Wei and Chu took action, over two million troops were assembled in Qi.
It is worthy of being the first battle of the Warring States Period.
However, the reinforcements from both countries were blocked before they could reach the main battlefield.
First, the 150,000- strong army could only enter Qi from the north bank of the Ji River due to its geographical location, and just ran into the base camp of Yue.
Yue Yi only pulled out one and a half legions to block the Wei army's way to the east.
The 200,000-strong army of Chu entered Qi from the south and seemed to be unstoppable, but in fact it was not.
February 19,
The day after Wei and Chu decided to send reinforcements, the Fifth and Sixth Corps of the Nanyue Army, which had previously disappeared from Jiangdong County, suddenly appeared on the eastern coast of Qi.
The disappeared sea fleet once again came into everyone's sight.
Although Qi was still on guard against the coast, it could not withstand Qin Mo's personal intervention and forcibly opened a gap. Two hundred thousand troops landed in Donglai County and marched into the southern hinterland of Qi.
Immediately blocked the Chu army's way to the north.
Qi was in dire straits...
