"PS: It was past twelve o'clock when I got home yesterday, and I was so tired that I couldn't open my eyelids, and I fell asleep in bed without taking a shower."

———— the following text————

Just like Zhai Zhang said in front of Wei Wangyun, Meng Zhong has his own judgment.

The reason why he was persuaded by the Storm Kite was not because, as the Storm Kite said, that is, he realized that he and Wei and Han must take advantage of the opportunity of the Five Kingdoms to attack Qin, but because he did see the hope of defeating Qin from this risky behavior.

Otherwise, even if he thinks that the kite's view is correct, he will be forced to give up in danger.

And in the hope that Meng Zhong saw, the cavalry of his allied army would play a very key role.

Cavalry, at least as far as the current mainstream cavalry is concerned, is actually not very suitable as the main force on the battlefield, at most it is to assist the main force to meet the enemy, such as appearing at the right time, sneaking up on the enemy's own formation, in order to achieve a surprising victory, but in terms of frontal combat ability, cavalry is almost unable to break down the tight infantry formation.

However, at the strategic level, the role of cavalry is magnified several times, for example, a while ago, Meng Zhong sent Meng Hu and Hua Hu to lead four thousand square city cavalry to sneak into the hinterland of Qin, and sneak attacked Taolin, Baigu and other cities before the autumn harvest of Qin, and burned down the farmland outside nearly ten cities in Huakuo before the autumn harvest of Qin, which directly led to the Qin army garrisoning on the front line into the embarrassment of lack of food, forcing the Qin army commander Bai Qi and deputy general Sima Cuo to retreat, and retreated more than 200 miles in one breath.

With only 4,000 Fangcheng cavalry, it was easy to achieve the goal of more than 200,000 allied troops at great cost, which shows the role that cavalry can play at the strategic level.

Because of this, in the follow-up war against Qin, Meng Zhong inevitably also had extremely high expectations for the cavalry of his coalition army, and he planned to divide the battlefield into two levels: one level, that is, his more than 200,000 allied troops fought head-on with the Qin army led by Bai Qi, Sima Cuo, Huayang Jun Qirong and others; At another level, he planned to call the cavalry of Fangcheng, including the cavalry of Zhao under the command of Li Dui, the king of Fengyang, to go deep into the hinterland of Qin to destroy.

For example, destroying Qin's farmland facilities, attacking Qin's granaries, and cutting off Qin's grain routes, in short, is to make it impossible for Qin to concentrate on resisting the coalition forces, and by the way, weaken Qin from the inside and fundamentally.

This strategy, the storm kite also praised again and again after learning about it, but what they didn't expect was that only half a month after they decided to adopt this strategy, a large number of enemy cavalry appeared around the battlefield where they were.

According to the news sent back by the cavalry in charge of investigating the enemy, the enemy cavalry was basically armed with iron swords and leather armor, but at the same time, these people would also hang chains made of beast teeth around their necks, and wear a large coat made of beast fur over the leather armor, or simply a cloak of animal fur.

How to say it, this cavalry looks very strange at first glance, as if it has both the Central Plains and foreign cultures, but it is neither completely like the Central Plains nor completely like a foreigner.

Because he felt strange, Meng Zhong summoned Dou Xing and Wei Qing to the tent and asked them if they had heard of such a group of people.

As a result, after listening to the description, Dou Xing immediately replied: "Yuncheng Jun, this is the cavalry of the Yiqu Kingdom. ”

"Yiqu Country? I vaguely seemed to have heard of ......," Meng Zhong touched his chin and recalled.

Seeing that Meng Zhong didn't seem to know the affairs of Yiqu Kingdom very well, Dou Xing and Wei Qing were not surprised, not to mention that Meng Zhong was born in the Song Dynasty, and he had few opportunities to contact the grassland aliens - even if Meng Zhong had lived in the Zhao Kingdom for a period of time, he only came into contact with those aliens who had been assimilated by the Central Plains culture.

For example, the former Zhao Guoguo from the Baidi tribe is Feiyi, Lou Shu from Lou Fu, Qiu He from the Huns, and so on.

But Dou Xing and Wei Qing, as veterans of the Wei State, knew some things about the Yiqu State.

Yiqu, according to legend, is a branch of the Qiang tribe in the west before the Shang Kingdom, they were originally in the predecessor of the Zhou royal family - the tribe surnamed Ji often had wars, until because of the relationship between the Di people in the north, the tribe surnamed Ji moved south to Qishan.

At the end of the Shang Dynasty, the king of Zhou was defeated, and Xibohou Jichang wanted to overthrow the rule of the Shang Dynasty, so he listened to the advice of Jiang Taigong and won over hundreds of princes and tribes under the rule of the Shang State.

Since then, the relationship between Yiqu and the Zhou State has gradually become close, and at that time, Yiqu also learned the Central Plains culture through the Zhou State.

After King Wu of Zhou destroyed Shang, Yiqu first surrendered to the Zhou State, got the status of a prince, and became one of the hundreds of princes under the rule of the Zhou State.

It was also during this time that Yiqu announced his independence from the rule of the Zhou royal family and established a country following the example of the Central Plains.

Subsequently, in order to take advantage of the weakening influence of the Zhou State and step up its growth, Yiqu began a long foreign campaign, that is, during this time, Yiqu and the Qin State also had this purpose, and the two sides launched a long confrontation and conquest in order to expand their territory and strengthen themselves.

"I see."

After listening to Dou Xing's story about the origin of Yiqu, Meng Zhong suddenly realized.

Suddenly enlightened, he asked Dou Xingdao in surprise: "Why does Dou Sima know so clearly?" ”

Hearing this, Dou Xing pretended to be unhappy and said, "Could it be that in the eyes of Yun Chengjun, Dou is a reckless man who is not good at reading?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he laughed himself.

Also, Dou Xing has always been fond of alcohol and martial arts, and most of his free time is spent drinking, looking at his rough face full of scum, he doesn't look like the kind of person who can calm down and read ancient books.

On the side, Wei Qing smiled and explained the reason to Meng Zhong: "It's because of the rhino head." ”

In ancient times, 'rhino' was used to refer to powerful, such as rhino soldiers, rhino pawns, and rhino troops, so as the name suggests, the position of the rhino head actually refers to the great Sima of Wei, but because Gongsun Yan, who once served as the head of the rhino, is so famous that the world generally thinks that the rhino head refers to Gongsun Yan, but in fact it is not.

In the same way, the title of Xiwu, or official position, in the Wei State refers to the deputy position designated by the rhino head, and it is a general who needs to be responsible for fighting on the front line of the battlefield.

For example, today's Meng Zhong is actually qualified enough to be called a rhino warrior.

But similar to Gongsun Yan, the fame of Gongsun Xi of Xiwu is too great, so that the world mistakenly thinks that Xiwu is another name of Gongsun Xi, but in fact, this is only an official position of Wei.

Perhaps in the future, when Shi Ling records Meng Zhong's exploits, he will also use rhino martial arts or even rhino heads to refer to it, after all, this is indeed Meng Zhong's identity or official position in the Wei State, but if there is no note, future generations may misunderstand that it is Gongsun Xi and Gongsun Yan's brothers, and feel confused about it.

Of course, Meng Zhong at this time didn't think about this, he was very curious when Wei Qing mentioned Gongsun Yan: "Rhino head? Gongsun Yan? ”

"Exactly!"

Wei Qing nodded and explained: "Back then, Hui Xiang was forced away by Zhang Yi, and the rhino head replaced Hui Xiang...... Oh, by the way, Hye-sang is also Yuncheng-kun's teacher, right? ”

"Well, but it was the Zhuang master's son who collected it. …… You go on to say. ”

"Wow. …… In short, when the rhino head succeeded Hui Xianghe's will to resist Qin, and united the countries to crusade against Qin, it happened that the king of Yiqu admired the culture of the Central Plains and asked the rhino head for advice, so later Yiqu also joined the ranks of the crusade against Qin. …… During that period, the relationship between the Yiqu State and the Wei State was very good, and the two countries often united against the Qin State. Later, for some reason, the relationship between Qin and Yiqu gradually eased......"

Speaking of this, Wei Qing frowned and added: "But I still didn't expect that the Yiqu State would send troops to aid the Qin State, these two countries have been feuding for hundreds of years." ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong frowned slightly and thought for a while, and said: "Wei Qing, you send someone to try to communicate with those Yiqu cavalry to see if you can avoid the confrontation with the Yiqu cavalry, be kind, and if the other party is unwilling to retreat, try to ask what is the reason for them to help Qin State." …… If the Qin State gave them some benefits, tell them that I, the Wei State, can promise them greater benefits, as long as they are willing to give up helping the Qin State. ”

Hearing Meng Zhong's words, Dou Xing asked incredulously, "Yunchengjun is afraid of Yiqu?" ”

He really felt very strange, after all, Meng Zhong was not even afraid of the Qin State, which was the most powerful in the Central Plains today, and had blocked the Qin State's plan to enter the Central Plains eastward several times, but in front of a Yiqu whose strength was far weaker than the Qin State, he behaved like this...... Hmm, whispering?

Meng Zhong shook his head when he heard this, and said, "If you can reduce one enemy through words and wealth, why not?" I am not afraid of Yiqu, but before Yiqu shows obvious hostility, it is convenient for me to take the lead in showing hostility, which is undoubtedly pushing Yiqu to the side of the Qin State, which is not a wise decision. ”

Dou Xing and Wei Qing glanced at each other and nodded convincingly.

Although they may have some disrespect for the deceased Gongsun Xi, the two of them sincerely felt that the young Yuncheng Jun in front of them was indeed better than the rhino martial arts they had revered before—no matter in which aspect.

"Then, send someone at once. …… No, in person under it. ”

Wei Qing responded with a fist.

"I'm tired."

In the evening of the same day, Wei Qing returned to the camp again to ask Meng Zhong, and seeing that his face was not good, Meng Zhong guessed that Wei Qing's departure was not going well.

Sure enough, I saw Wei Qing say to Meng Zhong after saluting: "Yuncheng Jun, the Yiqu cavalry said that they refused to withdraw from this war, saying that this was their king's order. ”

Meng Zhong frowned: "What is the reason?" ”

"The one who talked to him for a while was a 'Thousand Commanders', similar to the 'Thousand Generals' of the Qin Army, a general in charge of about a thousand soldiers, according to him, he didn't know why he Yiqu State wanted to help the Qin State, but this was an order from their king, and they must obey the king's order......"

Meng Zhong thought for a moment and asked, "The 'Great King' in the other party's mouth refers to the King of Yiqu, right?" Where is this person? In the country of Yiqu, or did you personally lead the army here? ”

Hearing this, Wei Qing showed a strange expression on his face, shook his head and said, "In fact, that person doesn't know, according to him, he is the king...... That is, the king of Yiqu, who is still a guest in Xianyang. ”

"Oh?"

Meng Zhong frowned and muttered, "Could it be because of the alliance of our countries, it is because the Qin State wants to win over Yiqu?" ”

"Oh, it's not, according to the other party, King Yiqu has been a guest in Xianyang for at least three or five years. By the way, there's something that makes Zai Xia feel weird...... When talking about the Qin State, the commander was very angry, saying that the Qin State had swallowed their land and lured their people down all these years, but the King of Yiqu turned a blind eye to this matter and was happy to be a guest in Xianyang...... The Yiqu people suspected that the Qin people might have seduced their king with a beauty. ”

"And this?"

Meng Zhong's face was full of surprise, and he finally understood why Wei Qing had a strange expression on his face.

If you think about it carefully, this incident is indeed strange, the monarch of a country, leaving behind his subjects, running to a neighboring country as a guest, staying for at least three or five years, during which he even disregarded his own country, such a monarch, it is really strange.

"Didn't you say that King Yiqu was a very virtuous person, and he once made a special trip to the Central Plains to learn my Central Plains culture?" Meng Zhong asked puzzled.

Wei Qing shook his head with a strange expression: "I also feel puzzled below...... I once heard Xi Wu inadvertently mention that the rhino head had a very high evaluation of King Yiqu back then. ”

Meng Zhong shook his head and said incredulously: "Beauty plan...... Is it? The monarch of a country can be so confused that he doesn't even care about his own country, and I would like to see it when I have the opportunity. ”

Speaking of this, he exhaled slowly, restrained the smile on his face and said in a deep voice: "Back to the point." …… In other words, Yiqu will not withdraw from this war, they have decided to help the Qin State, right? ”

"As far as I know, that's right." Wei Qing nodded and said.

Hearing this, Meng Zhong nodded slightly, and then said, "Okay, I know, Wei Sima has worked hard, let's go back to the tent to rest first." ”

"Whoa! In the next retirement. ”

Looking at Wei Qing's departing back, Meng Zhong frowned deeply.

In all fairness, he was already under a lot of pressure when facing a Qin State alone this time, and he really didn't want Yiqu State to get involved, so as long as possible, he was more inclined to keep Yiqu State out of the matter through words and wealth.

Unexpectedly, King Yiqu seemed to be determined to stand on the side of the Qin State - it was clear that the soldiers of the Yiqu State had all kinds of complaints, even resentments, against the Qin State.

"There's no way, since it's destined to be an enemy, you have to consider striking first......

After pacing a few steps in the tent with his hands on his back, Meng Zhong decided to deal with these Yiqu cavalry first.

After all, the existence of the Yiqu cavalry made the strategies he had formulated almost all empty talk, making it more difficult to defeat the Qin state, and he had to think of another way to defeat the Qin army with the assistance of the Yiqu cavalry.

But logically speaking, there is another solution, which is to get rid of those Yiqu cavalry first.

As long as the Yiqu cavalry was annihilated, the situation would return to what he had originally predicted, and the strategy he had formulated at that time could be used again.

It's the same as pouring out the water, filling it up, and then boiling it when there is actually water in the kettle, which seems silly, but logically speaking, this solution is actually the most worry-free and labor-saving. [PS: Let's explain it in this chapter, I won't repeat it here.] 】

But the problem is that there are a lot of Yiqu cavalry in this group, according to the rough estimate of the Fangcheng cavalry sent out, there are at least nearly 10,000 people, and the four thousand Fangcheng cavalry under Meng Zhong alone want to swallow this cavalry in one go, and the chance of victory is not great.

Fortunately, in his coalition army, there was not only one cavalry of Fangcheng cavalry, but also about 3,000 cavalry of Zhao State.

If the two cavalry of Wei and Zhao were combined, although the number of troops was still much smaller than that of the Yiqu cavalry opposite, it might not be impossible to win.

After all, the Zhao State rode on the side, which was a powerful army that defeated Lin Hu, Xiongnu, Lou Fu and other foreign races, and strictly speaking, he was still the teacher of the cavalry of his Fangcheng, Meng Zhong didn't think that such two cavalry of the Central Plains would lose to Yiqu - well, in fact, Yiqu also belonged to the category of the Central Plains country.

The only problem is that Fengyang Jun Li Dui is not firm in his intention to continue the crusade against the Qin State, no, a few days ago, he also tried to win over Tian Touch and Le Yi to suppress the violent kite of the 'main battle faction' and his Meng Zhong - Li Dui, Tian Touch, and Le Yi, let's just say that they reached a tacit understanding of the 'Lord and Faction'.

is different from the 'main battle faction's side, the storm kite has the same purpose as his mengzhong, and the 'main and faction' side, it is really three people and three ideas.

Fengyang Jun Li Dui, probably if he wants to see it, he will accept it, and the reason why he acquiesces to the stalemate between Qin and the coalition forces is purely to get some benefits from Qin, whether it is for himself or for Zhao; Tian Touch, probably hoping that the Qin State and the Three Jin Dynasty would continue to fight hotly, so as to divert the attention of the countries to his Qi State; As for Le Yi, his purpose was the most complicated, and even Meng Zhong couldn't figure out what he wanted.

It is not an exaggeration to say that these three people look like each other and have their own ghosts, but these three people have reached an agreement, that is, they do not want to fight with the Qin army anymore, and they hope that this battle will continue to be stalemate for various purposes.

I have to say that with these allies, Meng Zhong often feels helpless: originally his more than 200,000 allied troops did not have much advantage in the face of the entire Qin State, and he could not unite internally.

『…… Let's go and persuade that Li Dui, if this person insists on making peace with the Qin State, this battle will be difficult to fight with me and the tyrant kite alone."

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong decided to talk privately with Fengyang Jun Li Dui again, and find a way to persuade Li Dui to support him in continuing his crusade against Qin.

Unexpectedly, when he came to Li Dui's tent to ask for a meeting, he happened to see Li Dui's guards coming out of the tent.

After seeing Meng Zhong, the guard said in surprise: "Huh, Yuncheng-kun? Are you here to see Fengyang-kun? It just so happened that Fengyang Jun was ordered to invite Yuncheng Jun to you. ”

"Oh?" Meng Zhong was stunned when he heard this, and when he saw the guard lift the tent, he stepped in.

Sure enough, just as the guard said, Li Dui in the tent turned his head and glanced at Meng Zhong, and his face also showed surprise: "Yuncheng Jun? The old man just wanted to send someone to invite you to come to the tent with the storm kite......"

As he spoke, he raised his hand to invite Meng Zhong to take a seat.

Meng Zhong didn't shirk either, and after thanking him, he sat down on the seat, and immediately asked curiously: "I don't know what happened when Fengyang Jun sent someone to invite me?" ”

Hearing this, Li Dui picked up a bamboo slip from the low table and handed it to Meng Zhong, and said with a smile: "Of course it's good news, the Qin State has finally succumbed!" ”

『……』

Meng Zhong glanced at Li Dui quietly, and spread out the bamboo album to take a closer look.

Sure enough, this is a letter from the Qin State, and it seems to be written in the name of Qin Wangji, as for the content of the letter, it is probably similar to what Li Dui said, that is, the Qin State hopes to sue for peace by ceding the city and offering the wealth, so that the Five Nations Alliance will withdraw its troops and no longer attack the Qin State.

It is worth mentioning that Qin Wangji wrote in the letter that although the Qin state hoped to sue for peace with the Qin states, if the countries were not greedy enough and insisted on destroying the Qin state, then the Qin state would rise up and resist.

The soft and the hard are not only peace-seeking, but also an obscure threat, but it is indeed in line with the character of the current King of Qin.

"Yunchengjun, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, a country like Qin, even if the five countries join forces to fight, how can it be possible to destroy it in a battle? It is better to ask the Qin State to make some promises to restrain and weaken the Qin State for the coming day. Li Dui persuaded in a low voice.

Ignoring Li Dui's persuasion, Meng Zhong looked intently at the peace letter of King Qin in his hand.

Immediately, he smiled and said, "This is a delaying tactic!" If Feng Yangjun believed this letter, he would die without a place to be buried. ”

"How?" Li Dui's face changed: "Could it be that there is fraud in it?" ”

"How do I know if there is a fraud?"

After thinking secretly in his heart, Meng Zhong sneered and said lightly: "Fengyangjun can not believe his words, and gamble on the integrity of the Qin people." ”

“……”

Seeing Meng Zhong's serious expression, Li Dui was inevitably a little hesitant, took the bamboo book in Meng Zhong's hand, and carefully read it word by word.

Taking advantage of this time, Meng Zhong seized the time to think about countermeasures and strive to deceive Li Duiyu.