The Second Army was divided into two parts, the subordinate Fourth Army was responsible for covering the flank of the First Army and at the same time following the First Army to attack the Zhou State, while the Third Army was to carry out raiding operations in the flank and rear of the eastern part of the Dao, opening up the battlefield from the other direction, so that the enemy had no time to think about it and create opportunities for the frontal battlefield.

After the order was issued, the various units began to prepare according to the deployment, and three days later all the troops set out and carried out separately. The frontal Qian Tuan also immediately began to attack the enemy to attract the opponent's attention.

However, Xu Hu soon guessed Gongsun Jian's plan, but unfortunately his task was to help resist the Zhou army here, and he only had 50,000 troops under his command, and it was obviously impossible to divide his troops to defend against Gongsun Jian's main force. Xu Hu hurriedly sent people to Shangjing to report on Gongsun Jian's movements and plans, hoping that the Zhou court would send more soldiers and horses to support, especially to hold the territory bordering the eastern part of the Southern Han Kingdom in the southeast. Once Gongsun Jian did not take the initiative to attack Zhou Guo, but suddenly turned around and killed back, then he would become a turtle in an urn and be surrounded by the other party.

In fact, Gongsun Jian also thought of this when he formulated the plan for this battle. It's just that his plan is more to attract Xu Hu to divide his troops to protect the border of Zhou, or the court of Zhou can send more soldiers and horses to support. As long as the main force of the Zhou State can be effectively annihilated here, then it can be said that it will be easy to take the entire Zhou State next. This is Gongsun Jian's real strategic intention.

After receiving Xu Hu's notice, the court of Zhou urgently convened a meeting to discuss countermeasures. The officials of Chen Cheng's family advocated that all the people in the family should be arrested and escorted to the front, and if Gongsun Jian still dared to attack the Zhou State, then he would kill the whole family of the family. But this proposal was rejected on the spot, and even the old Yue Emperor Qian Hong objected. What's the use of killing the public at this time? Killing all the public family made Gongsun Jian no longer have any worries, and he could simply let go of his hands and feet to attack Zhou State. In addition, once the Gongsun family was killed, it gave Gongsun Jian a better excuse, and it could also inspire Zhou Jun's fighting spirit.

The ministers of the Xungui family advocated sending people to negotiate a settlement, and it was a big deal to withdraw Xu Hu's 50,000 soldiers and horses. But this proposal also does not work. Once Xu Hu's soldiers and horses withdrew to the Zhou State, then soon the entire territory of the Southern Han State fell into the hands of the Great Zhou, and together with the four provinces previously occupied from the Zhou State, then the area of the Great Zhou State would exceed the current territory of the Zhou State, and it would also have greater advantages in all aspects such as economy. In this way, it will be a matter of time before the Zhou State will perish. Only by sending troops to contain the development of the Great Zhou can the goal of delaying the fall of the Zhou State be achieved.

There are also courtiers who propose to unite Wu and Qi to attack the Great Zhou together, after all, these two countries have suffered under Gongsun Jian's men before, and Qi has ceded part of the territory. This proposal has been approved by many ministers, but it will take time to implement it, and I don't know if Wu and Qi are willing, maybe the other party is waiting to see Zhou Guo's jokes.

The most important thing at the moment is that Gongsun Jian and the army led towards the Zhou State, and with the current garrison situation of the Zhou State, it is estimated that no one will be able to resist the pace of Gongsun Jian's advance. The only way to defend is to mobilize a large army to resist. But the problem is that the elite soldiers and strong generals that the Zhou State can call are really limited at the moment, and the most capable of fighting Chu King Qian Tuan defected to Gongsun Jian, while Xu Hu was trapped in the eastern part of the Southern Han Dynasty, and the only available prince Qian Yan was responsible for the garrison of the entire Shangjing City.

In the end, the eldest prince Qian Yan stood up and expressed his willingness to gather troops from other regions outside the capital, led by him to resist the invasion of the Zhou army, and even attacked Gongsun Jian with Xu Hu in the north and south, which could not only bankrupt his plan to invade the Zhou State, but even suffer a heavy blow.

Although the old Yue Emperor Qian Hong also agreed with Qian Yan's proposal, he was worried about who would be responsible for the safety of the capital after Qian Yan left. There is almost no one in the family except for the eldest son who can be trusted. His own brother betrayed, and his own son imprisoned himself and forced himself to abdicate. It's really disturbing to think about it, and the family members who should have been the most trusted are now afraid to use any of them.

Seeing that the old Yue Emperor Qian Hong did not agree for a long time, Qian Yan spoke again: "Father, in fact, there is still one person who can be used." I just don't know if you dare to use it, father? ”

"Who?"

"Sixth brother."

"What?" Qian Hong's eyes widened and he looked at the eldest son standing in front of him, feeling very puzzled.

"Father, I know that you are worried that the sixth brother's mother concubine is from the public family. But the sixth brother has not had much contact with Gongsun Jian and the public family since he was a child. It's basically not about feelings. In addition, the talents of the sixth brother are still good among our brothers. If my father can give him some hope, I think the sixth brother will definitely be willing to contribute to the country. ”

Wish? Qian Hong immediately understood the meaning of his eldest son's words. Now the nominal emperor of the Zhou State is the seventh prince, but the actual power is all in the hands of Qian Hong, the emperor. Once Qian Hong dies one day, his eldest son will not talk about it for the time being, can it be that the ancestral inheritance will really be handed over to the seventh son who is useless in bad things? Maybe the sixth child is really a good choice, although he has the blood of the public family, but when the supreme imperial power is placed in front of him, will he still be nostalgic for his feelings for his mother's family?

After being silent for a moment, Qian Hong finally nodded and said, "Well, then according to Yan'er's proposal, you quickly gather soldiers and horses from all over the country to resist the Zhou army, and after you leave, the defense of the capital will be handed over to the sixth child and Chen Cheng, the prime minister of Zuo." ”

After receiving Qian Hong's affirmation, Qian Yan immediately began to prepare. began to draw troops and horses from all over the Zhou State to assemble and rush to the southeast border. And the news in the court of the Zhou State also reached the ears of Gongsun Jian soon after. After hearing the news, a weird smile appeared on Gongsun Jian's face. Qian Yan, the eldest brother, doesn't seem to be a good bird, he has learned badly over the years. And after his cousin Sixth Prince took power, I don't know if it will be beneficial to him? It seems that someone needs to be sent to contact him. Although I have had contact before, after all, the other party was ignorant and powerless at that time, and he was just an empty prince. But it's different now. I guess that after seeing Qian Yan who brought the troops, maybe there will be an accurate answer.

After a brief thought, Gongsun Jian slowed down his mind and ordered the whole army to speed up, and the vanguard army could immediately launch a battle against the target after entering the territory of Zhou, and it was necessary to take the state capital and county seat on the border of Zhou as quickly as possible, and put pressure on the Zhou court. At the same time, he ordered the Fourth Army on his flank to slow down and pay close attention to the movements of Xu Hu's troops behind him. At the same time, he sent someone to inform Qian Tuan that he should always oppress the other party, and he could not give Xu Hu the possibility of returning to his teacher.

All the actions had to start speeding up, because Gongsun Jian felt that maybe this time would be the time for him to really have a good harvest. Not only can you take the entire territory of the Southern Han Kingdom, but it is even possible to take this opportunity to take the entire Zhou Kingdom in one fell swoop. After several years of hard work, it was finally time to harvest. In the capital, my Gongsun Jian will definitely go back, and he will return again as a conqueror.

The Zhou army quickly broke through the border of the Zhou State, and immediately launched a battle to conquer the city, and in only half a month, it was connected to the three prefectures and fourteen counties. It's incredible.

At this time, the troops of Qian Yan, the prince of Zhou, had just completed the convocation, although the logistics supplies were not yet in place, Qian Yan couldn't wait to lead the soldiers and horses to stop the Zhou army. By the time the two sides met, the Zhou army had already captured five state capitals. In other words, in addition to the land of the Zhou State that was cut off by Gongsun Jian before, nearly half of the territory of the Zhou State is now occupied by Gongsun Jian.

The land that can still be controlled by the Zhou court, except for the special area of Shangjing, there are still four complete state capitals, and the others have all fallen under the rule of the Great Zhou. If it weren't for the reality right in front of them, probably no one would have believed that the Great Zhou Army could have such strength.

But the facts are in front of us, and the real situation is that the Great Zhou Intelligence Department and the Propaganda Department in charge of Huang Wenyuan played a key role in it.

Before the establishment of the Great Zhou, Gongsun Jian had already occupied part of the land of the Zhou State and established the territory of the Zhou Palace. Under the vigorous governance of Gongsun Jian and his subordinates, these areas radiated unprecedented vitality, the lives of the common people became richer day by day, the government governance was clear and fair, various policies favorable to the common people were constantly introduced and improved, and there was an endless stream of businessmen, which promoted the further development of economy and trade.

It is precisely because of these reasons that in the eyes of many people in the outside world, the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty is a piece of paradise on earth. Of course, this is just a rumor among ordinary people, and those wealthy families hate Gongsun Jian to death. But there were many rumors, and as soon as someone who had been to King Zhou's territory came back, the flame in the big guy's heart rose. Why can Da Zhou live such a life, but he has to suffer here? The Great Zhou was not the land of the Zhou State before, but it was just a change of emperor. It's a big deal, let's get up and fight together, it's time to change the Holy Son of Heaven who is the master of our poor people.

Therefore, under the secret liaison between the Intelligence Department and the Propaganda Department, in fact, many county towns of the Zhou State were opened to welcome the Zhou army into the city. Although there was a struggle between blood and fire, it could not resist the hope of people who yearned for a free, peaceful, and prosperous life. This is also the fundamental reason why the Zhou army was able to conquer so many towns in less than a month.

The so-called spark can start a prairie fire, and now this torch of the Great Zhou has begun to illuminate more people, so that they can see the coming light in the endless darkness.

Qian Yan marched all the way, and what he saw was the social phenomenon of the withering of all industries in the Zhou State today, and those wealthy families were still drunk and dreaming of death. The people at the bottom are also struggling. Many people looked at him with such indifference and even a little hatred. It is as if he has brought them the injustice and poverty of life.

When Qian Yan faced Gongsun Jian and Zhou Jun head-on, he felt as if he had been defeated before he even started fighting. Actually, it doesn't seem, it should be changed to be OK. Except for his logistics, which had not yet been able to be raised, the rest were robbed on the way to the escort. And the people who robbed these logistics materials were not only the poor people who were about to survive, but also those local wealthy families.

Are these people crazy? Wouldn't they know what kind of treatment Gongsun Jian would receive when he arrived with his Zhou army? Or are they actually ready to surrender to the Great Zhou? Is this really the end of the Zhou Kingdom founded by his own master? A hundred years have not yet arrived, but the whole country has long been in shambles.

Qian Yan rode on the horse, looking at Zhou Jun, who was brightly and neatly arranged with knives and guns on the opposite side, and unconsciously tears flowed from his eyes. Raising his hand and waving at the guards beside him, he rode a horse alone and walked slowly towards the opposite side.