Chapter 223: Zhao State is preparing for war

Guanzhong, Youfufeng, Wugong City, has become the main base of the Qin army. Compared with the sad and miserable talk in Chang'an, the Qin army seems much more relaxed. In several major battles, Bai Qi commanded the Qin army to kill each other and captured more than 200,000 Han army. The main force of the entire Han army was almost defeated by Bai Qi.

However, the Qin army was not feeling well. There were only less than 2300,000 Qin troops left. The casualties were greatly exceeded Qin's expectations. Moreover, dispatching 300,000 people at once was a great challenge to Qin's logistics. After a year of fighting, although the Qin army had completely gained the upper hand, it was forced to suspend the offensive because the domestic money, grain and military funds could not keep up.

The Qin army camp was completely decided by Bai Qi. Just two months ago, Meng Zhan was urgently transferred back to Guzang by the King of Qin. The Qiang tribe in Xique took advantage of the Qin army's main force to advance eastward and rebelled again. Meng Zhan went back to deal with the Qiang tribe.

Bai Qi looked at the map and was thinking about the next move. When Bai Qi became the commander of the Qin army, no one in the Qin army was convinced. If it weren't for Meng Zhan's support, Bai Qi would have been very difficult. However, over the past year, Bai Qi has completely conquered the Qin army with his outstanding military talents. Now in the Qin army, Bai Qi has established absolute prestige.

"Where are Guzang's food and grass now?" Bai Qi asked Qin general Ma Sheng.

Ma Sheng replied: "Return to the general, the spies reported yesterday that the team transporting grain had arrived in Yong County, but this batch of grain was not much, and it is probably not possible to support our army to continue launching an attack."

Qin is now fighting on two fronts, and the daily food consumed is astronomical. It would be fine if there is no war. Once the fight begins, the sea of ​​grain needed every day will go, and the barren land of Qin is really difficult to support.

"Oh..." Bai Qi sighed and said, "Forget it, now we can only have a temporary quit. Let's talk about it until the spring is coming next year. Fortunately, the autumn harvest will soon be coming, and a batch of new grain will be available to the warehouse."

The food issue has always restricted the development of Qin. In terms of military combat effectiveness, Qin can be said to be not cowardly with the world. However, every time when he was preparing to expand the results of the war, there was often a shortage of food in the rear and he was forced to retreat.

In September of the 16th year of Qianyuan, the entire world's wars had gradually subsided. All countries were busy with autumn harvests. At this time, the capital of Zhao was in Jinyang. Since the capture of the four counties in Liaodong last year and completely destroyed Yan State, Zhao State has been preparing for war and preparing to go south to the Central Plains.

In the past, Zhao State had to find allies when it went south, but in terms of strength, even if Qi and Wei were combined, it might not be its opponent. Moreover, this time when it went south, Zhao State planned to include the entire Central Plains in its territory. There were no allies worth making in the Central Plains.

Originally, Zhao State planned to win over Deng State, but by chance, Deng State actually ran to attack Wu State. Since they couldn't get together, Zhao State simply sent troops alone.

In the palace of Zhao, famous commanders of Zhao State, such as Zhao Xin, Li Rubing, Zhang Chuan and Sima Chong, all gathered together. For this trip to the south, Zhao State was full of strength and planned to take down Qi Wei in one fell swoop. By then, Zhao State, which owns the Central Plains of Hebei, would not be a problem to fight the world alone.

"You are all you, now Deng and Wu are fighting against Jiangdong, Qin and Han are fighting against Guanzhong, and the only opponent of our Great Zhao is Qi and Wei. I am determined that in the beginning of next spring, a million troops will go south to compete for the Central Plains in one fell swoop, and establish the foundation for the Great Zhao that will never be defeated forever." King Zhao sat on the throne and said with great enthusiasm.

Since ascending the throne, King Zhao has lived a very comfortable life. Apart from the confused defeat of the Central Plains War, the State of Zhao can almost be said to be invincible and defeated all kinds of battles. This gave King Zhao a great confidence. He also believed that this time he went south, the Zhao army would continue the myth of invincibility, defeat Qi and Wei, unify the Central Plains, and then sweep across the countries, ending this chaotic world that has plagued hundreds of years.

"Report to the king, our army of thousands of great troops in Zhao, and thousands of generals are ready. Just wait for the king's order, the army can set sail south and destroy Qi and Wei in one fell swoop." Zhao Xin said in a list. As the supreme commander of the Zhao army, Zhao Xin has always regarded competing for the Central Plains as his biggest goal. Now, under his command, the Zhao army has won every battle, destroyed the Yan Kingdom, a great enemy that has been unified for Hebei. This is a great opportunity to go south to realize its ambitions.

Now Zhao State has a strong morale, and the whole country is ready to go to the Central Plains to make a big fight. Of course, the King of Zhao will not stop it. The King of Zhao believes that the world is so great that the person who can resist the lion of Zhao State has not yet been born.

"Okay, since everything is ready, then the general will talk about the specific plan for sending troops this time." In fact, a long time ago, King Zhao asked Zhao Xin to plan his plan to go south to the Central Plains. For this plan, Zhao Xin even gave up the merits of attacking the four counties of Liaodong and completely destroyed Yan State, which directly made Li Rubing. Zhao Xin was also full of confidence in this southward journey.

Zhao Xin came to the map placed in the middle of the hall and said, "This time we go south, we will surely shock the entire Central Plains. In order to protect ourselves, Qi and Wei will definitely unite. Therefore, our army can be said to be one against two. Qi and Wei are both powerful countries with hundreds of thousands of troops, and there are countless capable ministers and generals. Therefore, this battle is very difficult."

As soon as Zhao Xin said this, everyone in the hall showed a hint of solemnity. Qi and Wei, as traditional powers that were once not weaker than Zhao, cannot be underestimated. What's more, Qi's whale swallowed up two Chus, and its strength has increased greatly. Although Wei was beaten by Deng in the Battle of Changshe, after so many years of rest and gaining Chen County and Pei County, its strength has almost returned to the level before the Battle of Changshe. If a fight starts, Qi can pull at least 400,000 people, and Wei can pull at more than 20 or 300,000 people. In terms of military strength, Zhao's advantage is not very large.

As for generals, Zhao State included Zhao Xin, Li Rubing, Zhang Chuan, Sima Chong, Qi and Wei, Han Qing, Pang Kuo, Wei Bu, Sima Song and others. If it really fights, the outcome is still unpredictable.

Zhao Xin looked around the generals and was very satisfied with their performance. It was difficult for Qi and Wei to unite, but in Zhao Xin's opinion, it was not invincible. After all, Qi and Wei were not subordinate to each other, and Zhao State could completely attack him. The reason why he deliberately exaggerated the strength of Qi and Wei was to increase the vigilance of the generals in the army. In recent years, Zhao's army has won every battle and has become a arrogant soldier. In this state, when it comes to the battlefield, it is often not defeated by the enemy, but by himself.

Seeing that the atmosphere had almost been mobilized, Zhao Xin continued: "But you don't have to worry. Although the Qi and Wei alliance are evenly matched with our Great Zhao, the Qi and Wei are not subordinate to each other and cannot cooperate effectively. Our army can find opportunities to defeat them one by one. This time, except for the part of the troops guarding the northern border, our Great Zhao all dispatched all the troops, with a total force of 800,000, which is more than the combined force of Qi and Wei. We still have a great advantage."

When everyone heard this, they felt relieved a lot of heart. When they first heard that the two countries of Qi and Wei had a total of 600,000 or 700,000 people, everyone was still a little worried. However, with Zhao Xin's guarantee, everyone was full of confidence in this battle.

Zhao Xin pointed to the map and said, "This time, the general plans to divide his troops into three groups, attack Pingyuan County of Qi, Hanoi County of Wei, and Dong County of Wei, and Dong County of Wei. The generals of the three groups planned this way. General Zhang Chuan commanded 200,000 troops to attack Henei County, and generals under him Tu Gao, Chen Kai, Yang Ping, Dong Zhong, Kou Fei, military advisor Zuo Sheng, and generals Li Rubing led 200,000 troops to attack Dong County, and generals under him Zheng Tuo, Le Ting, Wang Buyi, Zhuang Hong, and military advisor Lin Qingfeng. The generals of this generals personally led 400,000 troops to attack Pingyuan County. General Sima Chong served as deputy generals, and generals Le Yun, Zhao Qing, Sima Tai, Li Rengong, Zhang Jie, Huangfu Ming, and Huang Feng."

After Zhao Xin arranged the lineup of each army, he faced King Zhao and said, "King, this is the plan. It is September now, and it is about to be in the middle of winter. I ask for an order. From now on, the court will send the food and grass military funds to the Bohai Sea, Qinghe, and Shangdang counties in batches. The army will set off on February 2 next year."
Chapter completed!