August.

The kings of the five kingdoms of Qin, Han, Wei, Qi, and Song gathered in Luoyi, and ten days later, the kings of the five kingdoms dispersed after the alliance.

When the news of the Five Kingdoms reached Yingdu, the monarchs and ministers of Chu immediately gathered to discuss the matter.

"King, the news from Luoyi that this time the Five Nations Alliance is precisely to discuss the matter of defeating Chu. According to the report from the spies, this time the five countries were in alliance, and the kings of the five countries decided to join forces in one place, gather in Wei, and then go south along the chasm to attack Chu. ”

"One place?"

"All go south along the chasm!"

"Qin Qi and both countries agreed?"

"This..."

Chen Zhen's voice fell, and there was immediately a burst of exclamations and mutual discussions from the ministers in the hall.

Even Xiong Huai himself was quite surprised, and he was very surprised by the decision of the five countries.

The reason is not anything else, but that the five countries are doing this, and it is not of much benefit to the two great powers of Qi and Qin.

At the southern end of the chasm was the land of Chu Chen, the land of Chen Cai, which bordered Wei and Han, and after conquering these territories, Qi and Qin could not gain any benefit at all.

Even if Han and Wei cede some cities to Qin Qi, it is probably not worth mentioning compared to the benefits of Han and Wei.

Especially on the Korean side, last time the Qin State seized the two places of Qujiao from South Korea, and then to the east is Mianchi Yiyang, which is very important to South Korea, so even if South Korea is willing to buy the Qin State, I am afraid that there is not much capital.

Therefore, the Qin State traveled thousands of miles to attack Chendi, which was more than worth the loss.

Originally, according to the prediction of the monarchs and ministers of the Chu State, this time the countries attacked Chu, and the two countries of Qin and Han were still the same as last time, attacking the land of Danxi of the Chu State. But as a result, all countries have run to the old land.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai frowned, and asked Chen Zhen in disbelief, "Chen Qing, has this news been confirmed?" Is it true? ”

As soon as the king of Chu spoke, all the ministers looked at Chen Zhen.

Chen Zhen nodded heavily under the gaze of everyone: "Nine times out of ten, the news is true, and the internal response of the five countries has all come with the same news."

Moreover, according to the internal reports of Qin and Qi, the reason why Qin agreed to let Qin and Han attack Chen was because of the price of asking Qi for help when they attacked Han last time. ”

After Chen Zhen finished speaking, Xiong Huai suddenly realized.

At this time, Zhao Ju arched his hand and said: "Great King, if this matter is true, this is extremely bad news for my Chu State, and most of the war preparations we made before have failed. Moreover, the divisions of the five nations gathered in Chendi, and it will be a decisive battle. ”

Xiong Huai nodded when he heard this.

Originally, Xiong Huai had already planned to let those feudal lords of Jianghuai guard Chendi, and even planned to temporarily cede Chendi to Wei, but as soon as the Five Kingdoms did this, Chendi could not be easily abandoned.

If the five countries are allowed to take Chen land lightly, then the five countries will definitely take advantage of the situation to go south, and at that time, hundreds of thousands of troops will sweep south with a great victory, then the Chu State will not lose Chen land, or even Chen Cai's land, I am afraid that even Yejun, Juyang and other places will not be guaranteed, one is not good, and the Huaibei land of Chu will all fall.

Such a big loss is not something that the state of Chu can bear.

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai looked at the ministers and said: "The five countries are menacing, I don't know what the ministers can do." ”

Everyone looked at each other, looked at each other for a while, and saw that everyone looked preoccupied, and for a while, no one spoke.

At this time, Zhao Ju saw that no one answered the important ministers, and muttered: "King, since the five kingdoms have gathered in Chendi, then my Chu State can't admit it, so I will fight a decisive battle with all countries in Chendi." ”

"Decisive battle!" When Xiong Huai seriously considered the question of the decisive battle, he couldn't help but hesitate again in his heart, and was silent for a while before asking Zhaoju: "Ling Yin, if it is a decisive battle with various countries in Chendi, I don't know how many troops are needed?" ”

"This..." Zhao Ju thought about it carefully, and then responded: "The army of the five countries attacking Chen Di is at least more than 600,000, and if my Chu State wants to hold Chen Di, then at least 400,000 troops are needed, of which 100,000 Chu troops plus the people of Chen Di guard Chen City, and the remaining 300,000 troops are outside the city. Moreover, at least 30,000 water divisions are needed to control Yingshui to ensure the food supply of our army. ”

"400,000 troops and 30,000 sailors." Xiong Huai was silent for a moment, then looked at Sima Jian and Deng Lingguang and asked, "Left Sima, Right Sima, can you transfer 400,000 troops to Chendi?" ”

"This..." Not long after Sima Jian returned to Yingdu to serve as Zuo Sima, he was still familiar with the military dispatch of the Chu State, and when he heard the King of Chu's inquiry, he immediately cast an inquiring gaze to Deng Lingguang.

Seeing this, Deng Lingguang first nodded to Sima Qian, and then bowed his hand to the King of Chu and said, "King, with the current situation of my Chu State, it is difficult to transfer out the 400,000 military region Chen Di. ”

As he spoke, he saw that everyone in the hall looked at him and explained: "Great King, ministers, although my Chu country has more than one million armored soldiers, but in the face of the attack of various countries, my Chu country has a defensive line of up to 2,000 miles, from Wujun to Hanzhong, from the land of Danxi to the first line of Fangcheng, from the land of Chen Cai to the first line of Huaishui, plus Jiangdong, such a long defense line needs to be defended by the army.

Although the news from various countries is now that the five countries will all concentrate on Chendi, it is difficult to guarantee that the five countries will not attack other places. Especially in the three kingdoms of Qin, Qi and Wei, all the soldiers with armor exceeded 500,000, and the three countries only needed to send 150,000 troops each, and then with the assistance of Han and Song, the coalition army of various countries besieging Chen Di had exceeded 600,000 troops.

If our Chu State transfers troops from various defense lines, in case Qin and Qi mobilize a large army to attack Chu again, the minister is worried that the defense line is empty and will take care of one and lose the other. ”

Xiong Huai nodded, and asked again: "Right Sima, with the current strength of my Chu State, how many troops can be transferred to Chen Di at most?" ”

"Transferring troops from Jianghan, Jianghuai and even from Jiangnan can only raise 300,000 troops at most, and if there are more, other places will fall into emptiness and may be taken advantage of by various countries."

"This..." Xiong Huai frowned his forehead.

At this time, Zhao Chang spoke: "Jiangdong has been attached for several years, and there are still 80,000 Chu troops stationed, if 50,000 Chu troops are transferred from Jiangdong, and 50,000 Wuyue warriors are recruited from Jiangdong, 400,000 troops will be enough." ”

"This..." When Deng Lingguang heard this, he hesitated for a while, he followed the king of Chu all the year round, and he knew very well in his heart that the king of Chu attached great importance to Jiangdong and the three counties of northern Hanbei, and these places could not be missed.

But Zuo Yin Zhao often spoke, but he couldn't refuse directly, he could only look at the king of Chu, bow his head and arch his hand: "The minister is stupid, please make a decision." ”

Xiong Huai saw Zhao's idea of beating Jiangdong, and Deng Lingguang asked him directly, and immediately refused: "It's not right, the widow has destroyed the Yue country, and the people of Jiangdong have not yet recognized the widow, and they still have complete trust in the Chu state." In this case, the conscription of the people of Jiangdong will inevitably deepen the distrust of the people of Jiangdong towards the state of Chu.

Moreover, it is impossible to let those people who do not trust or even have some hatred in their hearts fight for the widow and shed their blood for the widow. Once they are on the battlefield, the widows are worried that they will not be able to strike a single blow, and who will believe that they will fight for the widows.

Therefore, the matter of transferring troops from Jiangdong is absolutely impossible. ”

After speaking, Xiong Huai looked at Zhao Ju and asked, "Ling Yin, if you are asked to lead an army of 300,000 to guard Chendi, what is Ling Yin going to do?" ”

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