The news that the Zhao army crossed Hutuo at night and broke through the defense line of Zhongshan Hutuo soon reached Lingshou. The concubine ordered the Zhongshan army to rush to the front line on the opposite bank of Fanwu waiting for the Zhao army to cross the river, and at the moment of emergency, Sima Xi categorically suggested that the concubine change the order, and all the Zhongshan soldiers should return to the city and hold on, and not throw themselves into the net. Sima Xi reminded the concubine that even if he sent troops to attack the Zhao army at this moment, he hurried overnight, exhausted, and had lost the opportunity to fight, and the Zhao army took the cavalry as the lead this time, and the troops defending the defense line in Zhongshan were mostly foot soldiers, so it was too late to stop it, and it was possible to be intercepted and killed halfway.

On the one hand, she changed the order according to Sima Xi's suggestion and ordered the defenders from all over Zhongshan to rush to the aid of Lingshou, and on the other hand, she sent Zhang Deng to the Zhao army's camp to beg for peace, willing to cede the Zhongshan land occupied by the Zhao army to Zhao in exchange for Zhao's retreat.

Although Zhang Deng was reluctant to touch such a loss of power and humiliation of the country, he was loyal, and he had to carry out the orders of the concubine, and he came to the door on the fourth day of the Zhao army stationed in the Hutuo River, and met Zhao Yong, indicating the willingness of the concubine.

Zhao Yong was also not polite, and directly proposed that if he wanted the Zhao army to retreat, Zhongshan must abolish the title of Wang and call him Hou; The Zhao army received other territories in Zhongshan except Lingshou; The Zhongshan royal family paid tribute to the king of Zhao; There are several requirements that Zhongshan cannot have an army. Zhang Deng responded to Zhao Guo's request on the spot and was rude, and Zhao Yong didn't say much to the old man, and drove him out of the camp.

Zhang Deng was so angry that he scolded Zhao Yong at the entrance of the camp for bullying people too much, and the more he scolded, the more energetic he became. The surrounding generals couldn't see it, and wanted to go out to behead this old man to show the public, but Zhao Yong smiled slightly, and ordered everyone not to drive him away, and provide food and water to don't let him go hungry. In this way, a strange scene happened, the envoys of Zhongshan State scolded their generals outside, but Zhao Yong was indifferent and happy. However, Zhang Deng is a literati after all, and his scolding words do not involve taboo words such as ancestors, but there is no other. And Zhao Jun's side is also indispensable for eating and drinking. After two or three days like this, Zhang Deng, who was finally exhausted, returned to Lingshou and told Zhao Yong's conditions to the concubine, saying that he was sick at home and would no longer ask about political affairs.

Zhao Yong's conditions were so harsh that none of the concubines could accept them. But Zhang Deng did what he could, and others had no choice, so in the end, Sima Xi stood up and said that he was willing to go to the camp of Zhao State. Although he was full of vigilance, there was no one available in Zhongshan, so he could only arrange for Sima Xi to go.

This time, Zhao Yong's conditions are less, just one: within two days, the king of Zhongshan will pay tribute to Zhao and dig his own temple, otherwise the army will besiege Lingshou on the third day!

Sima Xi knew that the concubine would categorically not agree to this, so after returning to Lingshou, he persuaded the concubine to stick to Lingshou and plot a plan. The concubine can only agree to this.

On the third day, the Zhao army, which had completely gained a foothold in the Hutuo River, began to divide its troops to attack the territory of Zhongshan, and Qiu Ye led the cavalry to roam in the Hutuo River, waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the enemy and hold the Zhao army's camp on the Hutuo River, preventing the other side from cutting off the retreat route of the Zhao army's southward crossing. And the rest of the people, led by Pang Cong, who had already gone north, went to Lingshou.

When the Zhao army set up camp under Lingshou City, and the camp tents slowly increased, day after day, the concubines who looked at the prime minister at the head of the city were completely dumbfounded. If he had seen hundreds of troops, he was a little weak when this kind of nearly 200,000 troops appeared in front of him at the same time.

He even regretted that he had concentrated the defenders on the other side of Fanwu, and if they were all concentrated in Dongyuan, it might have been a different scenario.

"Xiangbang, how many days do you think Lingshou City can hold on?"

Sima Xi looked at the concubine's somewhat trembling figure, and suddenly felt a little happy, but still said with a normal expression: "The king doesn't have to mind, Lingshou City is solid, even if the Zhao army has an army of 200,000, it may not be able to conquer Lingshou in ten days." ”

"What does the general think?"

Wuqiu said awe-inspiringly: "The end will be, and Lingshou is here." The last general will never let Zhao Jun step over the last general! ”

When the concubine heard this, she felt a little comforted. "The Zhao army is powerful and vigorous. Our army can't hold its edge, and let's observe it first. The widow handed over the safety of Lingshou and Zhongshan to the two of them! ”

"No!"

At the same time, Zhao Yong, accompanied by Pang Cong and Le Yi, circled around Lingshou City three times. I deeply feel that this city is not a loss of two generations of Zhongshan royal family painstaking and lonely capital, its defense is perfect, the city wall is strong, are very perfect, so that Zhao Yong, who has a trace of luck psychology and wants to be opportunistic, is disappointed. Le Yi and Pang Cong have always felt that no matter what, to capture Lingshou, they can only try it slowly, and they can't go all out. Zhao Yong could only decide to surround it for the time being and attack it slowly.

Just when the war between Zhao and Zhongshan entered the stage of stalemate, the other end of the land of Yan and Zhao, around the problems of the other two great powers, the smell of gunpowder gradually became stronger.

Ji Zhi stood on the city wall of Xiadu, looking at the mighty Yishui River under the city wall, and his heart was indeed as calm as this churning river.

He had thought more than once that he could lead the army to return to Jidu, become the new King of Yan, revitalize the Yan Kingdom, trample the Qi Kingdom under his feet, and let the Yan Kingdom stand in the east from now on. However, the ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny. I have been hostage in South Korea for so many years, not only do I lack familiarity with the officials here, but I am also at a loss as to how to govern the country, and I have no experience in commanding operations and fighting wars. So he is full of hope for the city quilt and the orchestra pit, hoping that the two can help him build the supreme glory.

However, he was still too naïve, he didn't expect that when the two passed that period of mutual familiarity, the contradictions between the two became more and more obvious. The most direct contradiction is in how to attack the Qi State.

Le Chi's suggestion was that while the Yan Zhao army was stationed in Xiadu, it should send troops to directly attack Xiadu and take the lead in driving Qi out of Jidu, and when the troops won victory in Jidu, Jidu and the soldiers of Xiadu cleaned up Qi from north to south, so as to drive Qi out of Yan's land. The reason for this arrangement is that from the topography, although they are all plains, because the thistles are backed by mountains, the terrain is higher, and the southward movement is relatively smooth. Besides, it is not too far from thistle, and it does not take much distance to march. For the coalition forces of the two countries, there are no worries, and there is no pain in long-distance transshipment.

However, the city was opposed to this approach, and his plan was that the Yan-Zhao coalition army should take the opportunity to occupy the Great Wall between Yan and Qi first, cut off Qi's retreat to the south, and then, with the help of Yidu and the South Great Wall, besiege Qi from south to north. The reason why the city was hoping to do this was because if the Qi State retreated to the Southern Great Wall first, it would inevitably receive a steady stream of supplies from the Qi State. At that time, the Yan State was entrenched in the north, and the Qi State was entrenched in the south, and the two countries formed a tug-of-war in the middle of the wide place, which would consume the national strength of the Yan State, and the period of Yan unification would be hopeless.

The orchestra pit is also fearless, and while it is useful to propose a plan for the city, there are two problems that cannot be solved.

One is how to bypass the Qi troops, if you take the land route, there is no way to avoid it, if you take water transportation, there is not enough material to ship ships and transport troops for the time being, as for the first bypass Yishui and then attack the Great Wall from the front is even more wishful thinking, if the Qi country did not open the city gate by Yan people, it would not enter the Yan country in a short time, not to mention the Yan Zhao coalition army that is now short of materials.

Second, even if the Great Wall is captured, will the people of Qi be able to sit back and watch? The Great Wall lies between Yan and Zhao, and now the Great Wall is full of soldiers inside and outside, and the Great Wall can prevent the external Qi soldiers, and the internal Qi soldiers, who will defend it? When the time comes, Kuang Zhang sees that the fighting power of the Yan State is scattered, and he can defeat the Yan army of the Great Wall first, and then occupy the lower capital.

You can't convince me of two people, and I can't convince you, Ji Zhi is caught in the middle, and it's really embarrassing. He just hated himself for not studying the military books before, so that he hesitated on such a major military decision-making issue. He used to think that Zhao Yong's things on the battlefield were very simple, but now it seems that Zhao Yong's achievements are not in vain.

Looking back at these two plans, it is actually the difference between dividing troops and concentrating troops. The two naturally have their own advantages and disadvantages, although the method of the orchestra pit is safe, it is also very in line with the current actual situation, and, in a political sense, the first to conquer the thistle capital can not only improve morale, but also gain the prestige of the Yan people, and naturally succeed to the throne of the king of Yan, so as to call on the people of the Yan country to rise up against the rule of the Qi country.

But from another point of view, this plan may not be safe, the biggest question is, with the strength of the Yanzhao coalition army now, can it capture Jidu at one time? Not necessarily, I'm afraid Although this plan, the orchestra pit also has its own careful thoughts, but it may not be without practical considerations.

However, the plan of the city quilt is too radical, and even has been gambling, putting Yan and Zhao on the negotiating table, once successful, it will naturally return richly, but in the same way, once it fails, it will be a catastrophe.

In the end, how to choose is a test of Ji Zhi's courage and wisdom. But it is clear that he does not have the courage to do so. "Ugh." Ji Zhi sighed, turned away from the city wall, and made a difficult decision to do.

"Childe."

When the two Zhao soldiers saw that it was Ji Zhi, they hurriedly saluted. Ji Zhi was also very polite to them, put away the solemnity on his face, and returned with a smile, "No courtesy." Then he walked away quickly.

"I think that the son-in-law is also very good for us Zhao people, if such a son-in-law becomes the king of Yan, I am afraid he will also be a very good king." Ju Xin said to Pang Xuan.

"What? Do you want to stay in the country of Yan? Pang Xuan asked amusefully.

"How is that possible?" Ju Xin hit him, and the two fought and walked towards the city wall. Ju Xin glanced back at the departing son-in-law, and soon chased after Pang Xuan.

(End of chapter)