Chapter 4: Deceit and Strategy
"Zi Xu, given the current situation, what should I do?"
Helu had no choice but to ask Wu Zixu for advice.
Yaoli's attempt to assassinate Qingji failed, which resulted in Qingji's revenge army marching all the way to the city of Wu. This was something Helu had never expected!
This is because in Helu's view, although Qingji was brave but lacked strategy, compared with Li, who was meticulous and skilled, and who had deceived Qingji with his self-torture trick, how could Helu fail to assassinate the latter?
But, the development of things was unexpected.
Qingji did not die at the hands of Yaoli as expected.
This made Helu feel very difficult!
Wu Zixu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, for now, we can only defend Wudu and wait for an opportunity to act."
"Why?"
Helu was very puzzled.
Although Qingji's army was coming with great force, Helu was not afraid!
In terms of military strength, Helu's army was superior to Qingji's army.
The only thing he couldn't handle was human nature!
Wu Zixu obviously took this into consideration.
"Your Majesty, please understand. Qingji led his army to attack Wu in the name of 'avenging his father's death and punishing the traitors'. So many people responded that the neighboring countries of Wei, Lu, Qi and others all assisted Qingji!"
"Not to mention the subjects who were grateful for the kindness of the previous king, even in my army, there are many who sympathize with Qingji's experience and are dissatisfied with the king."
Wu Zixu sighed and said, "At this time, Wudu has hundreds of chariots and more than 30,000 soldiers, which is more than the rebels led by Qingji. However, the people are weak, so how can we fight?"
This is exactly what Wu Zixu was worried about.
If Helu led his army out of the city to fight against Qingji's army, and his own soldiers turned against them in the battle, the situation would be completely out of control!
Does Helu dare to take a gamble?
He doesn't dare!
Helü assassinated King Liao with the help of Zhuan Zhu and seized the throne, which in itself was widely criticized by the people.
King Liao of Wu reigned for many years, made many contributions and achievements, and has always been deeply loved by the people!
Now that Qingji is attacking Wu under the banner of "avenging his father and punishing the traitors to the country", how can he not get the support of Wu's military and civilians?
Apart from the fact that he had a legitimate reason to fight, Qingji's original reputation was enough to make many Wu soldiers follow him.
In fact, that’s exactly the case!
After Qingji fled to Wei State, in addition to the soldiers he brought with him, he also continued to recruit soldiers.
People from nearby Wei, Lu, Chu, Wu, Qi and other countries came to join Qingji's army, allowing the latter to have an army of 20,000 in just over a year.
Of course, this is inseparable from the financial and food support from various countries.
The monarchs of various countries all looked at Chongqing Ji's character, ability, status and reputation, hoping that he could defeat Helu or compete with him!
It would be best if the State of Wu was divided into two. At worst, Qingji, who gained the kingdom, would be grateful for the help from other countries and would return the favor.
"Zi Xu, in my opinion, it is even more inappropriate to be trapped in Wudu."
Helu frowned and said, "Although I have been in power for more than a year, there are many people in the city with ulterior motives. I am afraid that when we defend the city, some people will work together with Qingji from inside and outside. How can we defend such a huge city of Wu?"
"If Your Majesty wishes to go to war, that is fine. However, Your Majesty must ensure that the enemy's army can be defeated in one battle, and that there is no one in the city who is secretly colluding with Qingji!"
"this……"
Upon hearing this, Helu couldn't help but hesitate.
He wanted to achieve his goal in one battle and destroy Qingji's army, which was not an easy task. Moreover, he had to ensure that no one in Wudu City would collude with Qingji. How could he do that?
"I want to go to war, what can you teach me, Zixu?"
Helu was well aware that Wu Zixu was a man of great talent.
In the process of Helu's regicide and usurpation of the throne, Wu Zixu made a lot of efforts, and it was he who recommended the assassin Zhuan Zhu to Helu!
Therefore, Helü could completely trust Wu Zixu.
"Your Majesty, if we fight Qingji in the wild, we must put the former king's old ministers under house arrest, and then select your old generals and soldiers to lead the way and fight Qingji."
Wu Zixu stroked his beard and pondered, saying: "For this reason, Your Majesty can issue a declaration of war to Qingji and schedule a battle the next day."
“Before the battle, Your Majesty can select several thousand elite soldiers and ride in carriages to the side of Gusu Mountain overnight. When the two armies are fighting, the drums will sound, and this special force can attack Qingji’s army from behind!”
"By then, Qingji's rebels will be attacked from both sides, how can they not be defeated?"
"good!"
Helu deeply agreed with this.
As the saying goes, there are no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period, and they are good at this!
Hundreds of years ago, wars between nations would still follow etiquette and be fought in formation.
The fighting will not begin until one side is ready for battle and the drums sound!
However, after entering an era of great contention, rituals and music collapsed and the rules (etiquette) of war were trampled upon.
Especially after the Battle of Hongshui, the "benevolent and righteous overlord" Duke Xiang of Song who did not attack when the enemy was halfway across the river was defeated, which marked that the wars between the nations had entered an era of "cunning and strange strategies"!
In order to defeat the enemy, Helu would use any means necessary.
So, under Wu Zixu's advice, Helu immediately dispatched troops.
He first ordered Fu Li to lead two thousand soldiers to place all the nobles and ministers in the city under house arrest, allowing them to enter but not leave. He then let his son Fu Chai stay in Wudu to strictly control the city gates and strictly forbid his subjects to go out.
Then, Helü appointed the envoy Wu Zixu as the Grand Marshal, led 3,000 armored soldiers and 500 chariots, left the capital under the cover of night, and headed towards Gusu Mountain!
Finally, Helü reorganized his army and prepared for a decisive battle with Qingji the next day.
At the same time, Qingji, who was far away in Hongshang Camp , had already received the declaration of war from Helu!
"What exactly is Ji Guang's intention?"
Qingji was quite puzzled.
Inside the central army tent, sitting at the top was Prince Qingji, and on his left and right sides were burly generals!
The revenge army created by Qingji was extremely powerful, with elite soldiers and brave generals. Its only shortcoming was the lack of a resourceful military advisor.
"Sir, wouldn't it be better if Ji Guang was willing to go out of the city and fight with our army?"
"That's right! What we are afraid of is that Ji Guang will fortify the city and defend it to the death. Now that Ji Guang has issued a letter of challenge, we might as well just save trouble."
The generals with strong limbs and simple minds are not afraid of fighting.
But Qingji could vaguely guess what was going on!
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong!
According to what Qingji knew, when he led his army to attack Wu this time, there were many old ministers of King Liao of Wu in the capital of Wu who served as his internal supporters.
On the contrary, Qingji had already attacked the city of Wudu, but there was no news from inside the city!
This forced Qingji to be on guard.
His eyes gradually shifted to the sheepskin map hanging in the middle.
The huge map, with Wu as the center, marks the various cities and fortresses of Wu, as well as the number of garrisons!
As the saying goes, only when you know yourself and your enemy can you fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.
As a prince, Qingji was naturally well aware of the previous situation of the Wu State!
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Qingji's mind.
"Meng Ben!"
"I will be here!"
"You must immediately gather 5,000 soldiers, prepare enough arrows and crossbows, and rush to Hulukou at night. Hidden there, wait for the enemy to enter, and then ambush and kill them in one fell swoop!"
"promise!"
Meng Ben immediately took the order and left.
