Chapter 73: Peace
After a night attack by the Wu army, most of the Chu army's food and supplies were lost and burned.
Shen Yinshu knew that with food and grass running out and morale low, the Chu army was no longer able to fight, so he sent an envoy to Yu Qingji to negotiate peace with the Wu army.
"Peace talks?"
In the lobby of Zhenzi City, Qingji looked at the envoy sent by Shen Yinshu at the bottom of the stairs and couldn't help but sneered and said, "You Chu army, do you still have the qualifications to negotiate peace with me? Do you want to negotiate peace or seek peace?"
"Reporting to the King of Wu, our army is negotiating peace, and we are also seeking peace. Peace should be the most important thing in everything. Our Chu army still has the strength to fight, and it is reasonable to negotiate peace with the King of Wu!"
The Chu envoy said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Although the Wu army has won many battles and has never been defeated, it is still far inferior to our Chu army in terms of military strength. If the King of Wu does not agree to negotiate peace, aren't you afraid of additional casualties?"
"It doesn't matter if our Chu army fights to the death. Chu is a dominant country with vast territory, a large population, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and thousands of chariots!"
"Chu can afford casualties, but can Wu?"
Hearing this, Meng Ben and other Wu generals standing on both sides could not help but glare at the Chu envoy, as if they wanted to cut him into pieces.
A fierce light flashed in Qingji's eyes, and he sneered, "Chu Envoy, are you threatening me?"
"I dare not. But please think twice, King Wu!"
The Chu envoy bowed and said, "The war has come to this point. Whether to fight or make peace is all up to the King of Wu."
"Of course, I have to remind the King of Wu that the enemies of Wu right now are not just the Chu army. The Han people and the Yue people are also invading Wu, and the main force of Wu is all in the Zhenzi line!"
"King Wu is not afraid, but the capital of Wu is lost, and he cannot return home? This loss of a country is truly a heart-wrenching pain!"
Upon hearing this, Qingji simply smiled calmly and said, "This is my responsibility, so you don't need to worry about it. Come on, show the guest away!"
"King Wu!"
Before the Chu envoy could continue speaking, Qingji waved his hand and asked the guards standing on his left and right to carry him out so that they could pretend they didn't see him.
At this time, Meng Ben stepped forward and asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, since the Chu people are asking for peace, why don't you agree to it?"
The generals present were all quite puzzled.
This is because the current situation of the Wu State is very critical, and it faces more than one enemy, the Chu State!
According to Qingji's original plan, he intended to fight a quick battle and resolve the powerful enemy, the Chu army, as soon as possible.
Now that the Chu army has already surrendered, why is Qingji still so aggressive and unwilling to give in ?
In this regard, Qingji only wants to say: plans cannot keep up with changes!
"Haha, things are different now."
Qingji smiled and said, "My friends, do you think that the people of Chu can easily surrender to the State of Wu?"
"This...is unlikely."
All the generals shook their heads!
After all, the Wu and Chu countries were sworn enemies with an irreconcilable blood feud.
If the Wu army were asked to surrender to the Chu army, they thought it would be impossible, unless they had reached the end of their rope!
"The Chu army is at its wit's end!"
Qingji said confidently: "I admit that the Chu army does have more soldiers and generals, and still has the strength to fight. But their food and fodder are running low. People are not made of copper or iron. Eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, and sleeping are all necessary."
"No matter how powerful an army is, without food and fodder, it will be nothing more than a mob of the old, weak, sick and disabled!"
"Why should I fear the Chu army?"
After hearing this, Meng Ben and other generals suddenly realized what was going on and immediately complimented him: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Qingji just laughed it off.
As the saying goes, hit the snake at its most vulnerable part. Now the Chu army's vulnerable part has been firmly grasped by Qingji!
Isolated and without support, and running out of food and fodder, how could the Chu army not collapse?
At that time, surrendering to the Wu army will be their only option!
In order to ensure the proper resettlement of the surrendered Chu soldiers, Qingji had to send people back to Wudu to ask Taizai Ji Zha and other ministers to raise more food.
Otherwise, Qingji could not guarantee that when he accepted so many surrendered Chu soldiers at once, they would not kill them due to lack of food, and do something like the Qin State's massacre of Zhao soldiers in the Battle of Changping.
Prepare for a rainy day, this is what Qingji must do!
The battle on the Zhenzi front came to a stalemate again.
Because Qingji rejected the Chu army's request for peace, Shen Yinshu had to gather his troops and set up camp on the spot.
Shen Yinshu planned to just waste time with Wu Jun like this for the time being and wait and see what happens!
This was because he had already received news that the Vietnamese army was attacking cities and strongholds along the way, and would soon arrive at the city of Wu. By then, how could Qingji, who had a fire in his backyard, not be anxious?
By then, the person who will be caught might be Qingji!
However, what worried Shen Yinshu was that the army's food and grass had almost been consumed.
In desperation, Shen Yinshu could only let his soldiers go into the nearby mountains and forests to hunt, pick wild fruits, or go to the lake to fish, trying every way to get a living.
But, this is just a drop in the bucket after all!
How can the tens of thousands of Chu soldiers fight when the food they eat every day is less than half of what they used to eat?
"Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready!"
Inside the Chu army camp, as soon as it was time for dinner, many Chu soldiers rushed over like hungry wolves and lined up in an orderly manner to get their meals.
But there is very little that they can eat!
Hundreds of large pots were set up in the wooden shed. Each pot was filled with white water mixed with rice grains, vegetable leaves, shredded fish, and minced meat. However, the amount that reached the soldiers' bowls was too little.
A soldier looked at the dozens of grains of rice and minced meat in his bowl and couldn't help but feel very dissatisfied. He shouted, "How can this little food fill my stomach?"
"Are you kidding me? Both meals a day are just porridge! Is this bowl of porridge porridge? It's obviously soup!"
“That’s right!”
"If we keep eating this kind of stuff, we won't even have the strength to lift a sword, let alone fight in battle!"
The dissatisfaction of the Chu army soldiers was immediately ignited, and they all blamed the cook.
The military officer on the side immediately glared at the soldier who was causing the trouble, whipped him with a whip, and cursed: "Damn it! It's good enough to have something to eat, and you still dare to ask for delicious fish and meat?"
"Get out of here now, or I'll beat you to death!"
Upon hearing this, all the soldiers were angry but dared not say anything. They left angrily with the food in their bowls.
Shen Yinshu, who was patrolling the camp, felt helpless when he saw this scene.
The deputy general Mi Ji on the side couldn't help but sigh: "General, this is not a solution."
"In recent days, the soldiers' food has been decreasing. They have been complaining privately. I am really worried that it won't be long before a large number of deserters appear in the army, and our Chu army will collapse without a fight."
Shen Yinshu nodded slightly.
How could he not know this?
If even the most basic problem of food and clothing cannot be solved, the low morale of the soldiers is secondary. Mutiny and camp riots are not the results that Shen Yinshu wants to see.
