Three days later, Chu Pei, the envoy of the Great Jin Dynasty, led a group of officials to officially canonize Murong Hao, the assassin of Liaodong, as the king of Yan, and read out the various materials rewarded on the spot.

Murong Hao naturally accepted the canonization happily and bowed down to the south, which could be regarded as thanking the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty for his imperial grace.

After the tedious ceremony, Murong Hao stood up, walked to Chu Li's side, and said enthusiastically: "General Chu is not far away, coming to Liaodong, how can this king have been entangled in official business, and he has not been able to fulfill the friendship of the landlord well, and please General Chu not be surprised." ”

Chu Li hurriedly said politely: "Yan Wang Yan is strict, Chu Li came to Liaodong on the order of the emperor, which can be regarded as a duty, how can he be bitter." ”

Seeing that Chu Li was a very good talker, Murong Hao said with sincere concern: "I heard that most of you adults are infected with wind cold, I don't know what is happening now." ”

"King Tuoyan's blessing has been much better, but there are still a few adults who are seriously ill, and I am afraid that they will not be able to withstand the bumps in the journey, so they will have to recuperate for a few more days in your land." Chu Li replied truthfully.

When Murong Hao heard this, he hurriedly said: "The bitter cold land of Liaodong, where can it be regarded as a noble land, General Chu and all the adults, you can live as long as you want, this king can't ask for it." ”

"Then I'm going to have to bother for a few more days." Chu Li saw that Murong Hao was very enthusiastic, so he was not polite.

"Don't bother, don't bother." Murong Hao said politely, and suddenly said with a straight face: "General Chu, this king still has important military affairs, leave for the time being, if the general has any needs in the city, you can tell Sù Ke'er." ”

Murong Hao said, looked at Murong Ke, and said loudly: "Ke'er, these days, you must take care of General Chu and all the adults, and there must be no mistakes." ”

"Father, don't worry, Ke'er understands." Murong Ke nodded and took the order.

"Hmm." Murong Hao replied and strode away.

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Just when the Great Thorn City of Yan Kingdom was holding a lively ceremony to seal the king, Shi Hu's 300,000 army had already launched a fierce attack on the border of Yan State.

In particular, the 70,000 horses of the forward Zhixiong and Yao Gezhong, who were stubborn and sharp, invincible, the two of them went all the way to the north, and the defenders of Yan along the way either surrendered or abandoned the city and fled, almost without much resistance, and the 70,000 horses led by Zhixiong and Yao Gezhong were killed to Bintu City, which was more than 100 miles south of the Great Thorn City.

And Tao Leopard and Wang Hua, who attacked by sea, led 100,000 sailors, have also landed on the sea south of Bintu, so that the 170,000 troops of Zhao State's water and land forwards have completely surrounded Bintu City from many directions, which is extremely unfavorable to Murong Hao.

Murong Hao's originally planned strategy of resisting and gradually depleting Shihu's army did not work at all, it is no wonder, after all, the cities of Yan Kingdom along the way are all small cities, and many of them are tribes that have just been annexed, and their loyalty to Murong Hao is not high, and Murong Hao, who is the lord of a country, has withdrawn to the Great Thorn City, these cities with only hundreds of people and thousands of defenders, the defenders will naturally not die for a battle without any hope of victory, not to mention, These meager men and horses were completely vulnerable in front of the enemy's 70,000 army, and it was reasonable to surrender and abandon the city and flee.

However, the worst thing is that the main army of more than 100,000 led by Shi Hu himself is also pressing towards the Great Thorn City, which has only 20,000 defenders, and the shape is already extremely grim.

A few days later, the front-line spies reported that the 170,000 army of Zhao had launched several rounds of fierce attacks on Bintu City, but because the city was relatively tall and all kinds of materials were prepared before the war, the attack of Zhao's army did not shake the defense of Bintu City.

At the same time, the army of more than 100,000 led by Shi Hu, the king of Zhao State, has approached the Great Thorn City, and it is estimated that in two days, the army will be able to come to the Great Thorn City.

In the case of such a large number of soldiers, the army and people of Yan State were in a panic, and even Murong Hao, the king of Yan, couldn't sit still, the resistance he originally designed did not work at all, and the army of Zhao State made extremely rapid progress, which made Murong Hao lose confidence a little.

In the main hall of King Yan's Mansion, all the civil officials and military generals under Murong Hao's command came, and the entire lobby was extremely depressed and nervous.

Murong Hao frowned and sat on the throne, looked at the ministers under the hall with a worried face, and said helplessly: "The Shihu army is progressing rapidly, and it will arrive at the city of Great Thorns in a few days, this king feels that with only 20,000 defenders in the city, he may not be able to hold the city, it is better to retreat north to dodge, wait for the Shihu army, I will come back later, what do you think." ”

As soon as they heard Murong Hao say this, the generals immediately tried their best to dissuade them, because at this time, retreating north meant giving up Liaodong, and Shi Hu attacked Yan State, naturally not to vent his dissatisfaction, but to take a fancy to a large area of land in Liaodong, if he escaped at this time, the entire land of Yan State would become the territory of Zhao State.

"Your Majesty, you must not retreat north, the Great Thorn City is the foundation of my Great Yan Kingdom, the loss of the Great Thorn City, the whole country will inevitably panic, so as to compete to surrender to the Zhao State, so, it will not be long before the hearts of the people of Great Yan are towards the Zhao State, and my Great Yan will no longer have a foothold in Liaodong." General Mu Yugen was the first to come out to oppose it.

"Father, in the future, my Dayan Kingdom will definitely enter the Central Plains, this is the opportunity to understand the strength of the Zhao State's army, how can we miss it, it is better to defend the Great Thorn City, as long as my Dayan can hold the Great Thorn City, in the future, when I enter the Central Plains, I will be invincible and unstoppable." The prince Murong Jun said heroically.

"This ......" Murong Hao hesitated for a while and asked, "If our army can't hold the Great Thorn City, the consequences will be unimaginable!" ”

"So I have to defend Great Thorn City." Murong Ke said unhurriedly.

Looking at Murong Ke's confident eyes, Murong Hao hurriedly asked, "Ke'er, do you think our army has a chance of winning." ”

"Ten percent, at least ten percent." Murong Ke's eyes became more confident.

Seeing that Murong Ke was so confident, Murong Hao and the civil and military ministers under the hall were secretly surprised, and they all raised their eyes to look at Murong Ke.

Murong Hao asked even more curiously: "Ke'er, why are you so sure, the more than 100,000 main forces led by Shi Hu himself are not vegetarians. ”

Murong Ke sneered at the corner of his mouth, hugged his fists and said: "Father, although Shi Hu has a lot of troops, he has committed many taboos, one of them, Zhao Guo is attacked on all sides, Jiangnan, Guanzhong, and Mobei, all have strong enemies, Shi Hu raised 300,000 troops for the Northern Expedition, the troops in the country are insufficient, and it is difficult for all forces to ensure that they do not take the opportunity to attack, Shi Hu must want to fight quickly, and after occupying Liaodong, he will immediately take the division, and my Dayan can defend the fortified city and break Shi Hu's plan for a quick victory."

Second, Yecheng to the Great Thorn City, stretching for thousands of miles, Shihu rushed thousands of miles to attack my Dayan, the soldiers were tired and easily adapted, and multiple diseases were inevitable.

Third, Shi Hu sent 300,000 troops, and the soldiers consumed a huge amount of grain and grass every day, and the grain and grass in the rear were bound to become unsustainable.

Fourth, now that the midwinter has just passed, the grass needed for the horses has not yet grown, and the tens of thousands of war horses of the Zhao State will have no grass to eat, so they have to compete with others for food, which increases the burden of logistics.

Fifth, the division was unknown, and Shi Hu only attacked Duan Liao alone on the grounds that he did not know how to divide and plundered after victory. He sent troops to attack my Dayan, and the people of the world were unconvinced, and they were suspected of 'wanting to add sin'.

With these five taboos, Shihu will be defeated, and my Dayan will win. ”

"It makes sense, what the fourth prince said is good, my Dayan will win, and Shihu will lose." The civil ministers and military generals under the hall were all very approving, and they commented on Murong Ke's insight.

Murong Hao was also extremely excited when he heard this, he looked at Murong Ke approvingly, and said loudly: "Ke'er is right, as long as my Dayan army and people have the same hatred for the enemy, it is still possible to repel Shi Hu." ”

"Father, not to repel it, but to completely defeat Shi Hu's army of 300,000." The words of the prince Murong Jun were even more shocking, he boasted so much, giving people a feeling of competing with Murong Ke, after all, he was the prince of Yanwang, how could he fall behind his own brother.

When Murong Hao heard this, he stood up from his seat in surprise, if Murong Ke's words made him excited, then the words of Murong Jun, the son of the world, made him completely shocked.

You must know that Shi Hu has an army of 300,000, and only 70,000 or 80,000 people can be used to resist under his command, a difference of four times the number of troops, it is already difficult to repel Shi Hu, and completely defeat the 300,000 army of Zhao State, Murong Hao can't even think of it.

"Completely defeat Shi Hu's army of 300,000, Jun'er, you really dare to think about it." Murong Hao pointed at Murong Jun approvingly.

Seeing his father praising him, Murong Jun was naturally very happy, but from his father's eyes, he also saw that his father had no hope of completely defeating Shi Hu, and being able to force Shi Hu's 300,000 army back was already his highest requirement.

Murong Jun was young and vigorous, and seeing that his father didn't believe his speculation, he hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "Father, Shi Hu is brutal and unkind, and the people hate him to the bone, and this attack on my Dayan is even more laborious and costly, as long as our army holds on for a period of time, the army of Zhao will not continue to have food and grass, and it will definitely retreat back due to the chaos of the army, and when our army comes out of the city, it will definitely be able to break the Zhao army in a battle." ”

Murong Hao nodded when he heard this, he felt that what his son said had some truth, but everything that said that the grain and grass of the Zhao State army would be weak was based on the speculation given by the huge number of troops, and it was not completely certain.

According to the report of the spies hidden in Yecheng, Shi Hu hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in the granary of Yecheng for this Northern Expedition, which was enough for the 300,000 army for half a year.

Murong Hao informed the Wenchen generals of the news that Shi Hu was hoarding a large amount of grain and grass in Yecheng, and expressed his worries, and everyone in the hall was also a little worried.

After all, if Shi Hu had made great efforts to mobilize a large number of vehicles to be responsible for transporting grain, it would still be possible to solve the problem of grain and grass.