Chapter 265: King Wei fled east

In Chenliucheng, King Wei was walking in the palace. King Wei held Pang Kuo's letter of help in his hand, and stood in front of him Wei Yuan, the minister of the royal family of the Wei State. He was a representative figure of the royal family of the Wei State in the court, especially Wei Bu and Wei Li died in Changhuan City in battle, Wei Yuan became the leader of the royal family of the Wei State.

"Wei Yuan, Pang Gu wrote a letter, hoping that I would transfer all the troops of Chen County and Pei County to Donghun and follow him to resist the Zhao army. What do you think?" King Wei asked Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan thought for a while and said, "King, Pang Kuo is going to make his last fight. If he succeeds, my Great Wei is still the great country that dominates the Central Plains. If it fails, the Great Wei will disappear. However, in my opinion, Pang Kuo cannot be Zhao Xin's opponent, and his chances of winning this battle are very low."

"Then do you think I want to fight?" King Wei asked again. He also knew that Pang Kuo would not be Zhao Xin's opponent and it was difficult to win this battle, but after all, as the former overlord, King Wei was unwilling to admit defeat.

But Wei Yuan shook his head and said, "King, since you know that the defeat is decided, why do you still send these tens of thousands of elite soldiers to the front line to die? Now our Great Wei still has Chenliu, Chen County, Pei County, and Liang County. We can completely imitate Chu State, seek the protection of Deng State, form an alliance with Chu State, and resist Zhao State together."

"Is it possible?" Although the King of Wei was a little moved by Wei Yuan's proposal, would they help Wei with the hatred between Deng Wei and Chu Wei?

Wei Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't know, but this is the last chance of my Great Wei. More importantly, Wei Bu died. Now, the entire Great Wei, the only soldiers and horses that are still under the control of the king are left Chen County, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers in Pei County. If these soldiers are sent to Donghun, then all the elite soldiers of my Great Wei are under the control of Pang Kuo. No matter whether they win or lose, it will be of no benefit to my Wei family."

Wei Yuan's last sentence was the key to impressing King Wei. King Wei had been trying his best to suppress Pang Kuo and support generals of the royal family such as Wei Bu, in order to weaken Pang Kuo's power in the army. When Pang Kuo was defeated by Deng, the King of Wei removed Pang Kuo's position as the Grand Sima without hesitation. Later, if Zhao had not forced him too hard and Pang Kuo's subordinates in the army made great suggestions, the King of Wei would not have been forced to restore Pang Kuo's position under pressure.

The King of Wei was also clear about the Changyuan incident some time ago. There were even many court officials in the court impeached Wei Bu for this, but the King of Wei was still unmoved. He just wanted to see if Wei Bu had the strength to replace Pang Kuo. Unfortunately, things went against his wishes. Wei Bu messed up, not only losing tens of thousands of elite troops in Wei, but also dead in Changhuan City. Not only did the Ten Kings of Wei’s plan fail, but also pushed Wei into a deeper abyss.

The King of Wei thought for a while and said, "I want to move to Juyang, and ordered Chen County and Pei County soldiers to go north to protect the lords. In addition, I sent someone to send Pang Kuo, saying that the Wei Dynasty has too few troops and cannot station in too many places. I decided to retreat to Liang County, Chen County and Pei County. If he is willing to continue to follow me, come to Juyang. If he doesn't want to, then let him do it." Since he decided not to increase his troops in Donghun, Donghun will be broken. Once Donghun is broken, Chenliu will be in danger. Therefore, the King of Wei decided to move to Juyang City, the capital of Liang County. However, the King of Wei did not push Pang Kuo out, but chose to send someone to inform Pang Kuo. As for whether Pang Kuo would like to come to Juyang, it depends on Pang Kuo's own choice.

On June 23, 18th year of Qianyuan, the King of Wei led the royal court officials and concubines in the harem to leave Chenliu and headed east towards Juyang. The departure of the King of Wei means that the State of Wei completely gave up the large tract of territory west of Liang County and north of Liang County, just like the State of Chu, and was willing to be a small country for a moment.

When the news reached Wancheng, Deng Sheng couldn't help but sneer. Deng Sheng had a relationship with the King of Wei during the talks in the Central Plains. The King of Wei was in his prime and full of energy. At the negotiating table, he refused to give in and said that he would start a war when he had a disagreement. But now, ten years have passed and the King of Wei is old, and now he is thinking about how to maintain his power.

After receiving the order from King Wei, Pang Kuo in Donghun City looked desperate. He had already arranged defenses in Donghun. As long as Chen County and Pei County reinforcements arrived, he could make a last fight with the Zhao army. However, at this time, King Wei actually dragged his legs and hurried in Liang County with the last elite of Wei. This was like giving up the opportunity to defeat the Zhao army. Although the King of Wei said it very beautifully in his handbook, retreating to the three counties was to future. However, Qi and Wei could not defeat a Zhao State at their heyday, let alone a broken Wei State.

Pang Kuo silently turned the handwritten letter of the King of Wei into ashes. He had already made a decision in his heart and would not retreat. He wanted to fight to the death with the Zhao army in Donghun, just to do his last part for the Wei State. At the cost of 50,000 lives, in Donghun, he might have a heavy blow to the Zhao army. Perhaps it might bring a glimmer of hope for Wei State.

In the Wei army camp and the central tent, Pang Kuo sat in the main seat. Below were Shangluo, Feng Kui, Sun Ru and other Wei army generals, as well as Chu Fei, the Wei army military advisor. This is the only remaining talent in the Wei State.

"Everyone, Chenliu has heard that the king has moved to Juyang, and the soldiers of Chen County and Pei County have all gone north to Juyang to protect the king. We have no reinforcements anymore." On the main position, Pang Gu told this fact plainly.

What is rare is that the generals of the Wei army were not surprised or angry. As if everything was expected, they all lowered their heads and remained silent.

Pang Kuo smiled and said, "The king once asked my Sima to take Donghun's troops to Juyang, but I refused. I planned to fight with the Zhao army to the death in Donghun. If I could severely damage the Zhao army, it might be possible to get a glimmer of life for the Great Wei. However, this battle will last forever. I don't want to force anyone. If you don't want to die with me, you can go to Juyang to find the king, or you can go out of the city to surrender to the Zhao army."

Everyone looked at each other in silence. After a long time, they nodded each other and stood up together and said in unison: "See the Grand Sima to the death!"

Pang Gu was very pleased, stood up, pulled out the sword from his waist, and said, "Okay, since all the generals are fearless, then Sima will take you to kill a lot, pass on the orders, prepare for war, and fight the Zhao army to fight for life and death!"

At the command of Pang Kuo, the 50,000 Wei troops in Donghuncheng began to make final preparations. At the same time, Zhao Xin was puzzled by the Wei army's abnormal behavior. He already knew that King Wei had fled to Juyang. Zhao Xin thought that Pang Kuo would soon withdraw from Donghun and go to Juyang to meet with the King of Wei, but now Pang Kuo did not retreat, but instead acted like a desperate attempt, which made Zhao Xin very confused.

"Two military advisors, what do you think Pang Kuo wants to do?" Zhao Xin asked Zuo Sheng and Lin Qingfeng, the two military advisors around him.

Zuo Sheng and Lin Qingfeng looked at each other and said, "General, the subordinates thought that Pang Kuo must have refused the order to evacuate Donghun. Instead, he planned to fight our army for a lifetime and death here, with the intention of severely damaging our army and gaining a glimmer of hope for the remaining Wei State."

Lin Qingfeng also said: "That's right, General, the King of Wei suddenly fled to Juyang, and transferred all the last elites of Chen County and Pei County to Liang County, in order to follow the example of Chu State and survive. The reason why Pang Kuo chose to stay in Donghun and not go to Juyang was that he could use the lives of the Wei army in Donghun City to severely damage our army. If our army suffered too much loss, he would be unable to pursue the King of Wei, and Wei State would be able to survive in the south."

After hearing this, Zhao Xin looked at him disdainfully: "Hmph, Pang Kuo is still so naive. Our army has 400,000 troops, so how could he be shaken by just 50,000 people? Since he wants to die, I will fulfill him. As for the King of Wei in Juyang, the Wei State without Pang Kuo is not worth mentioning."
Chapter completed!