Zhao Guo, Handan.

Although Lian Po's 100,000-strong army was trapped on the other side of Luoshui, Zhao didn't seem to be too worried. Life in Handan is still the same, and the people talk a lot about when Lian Po can return triumphantly. For the people of Zhao, it seemed natural to achieve another great victory over Qin. The people were interested in what Cheng Cheng the Zhao army would fight this time, whether it would force the Qin State to cede the land and beg for mercy, or plunder Guanzhong and return to the court.

The reason why the people of Handan are full of confidence is because of the help of some well-intentioned people. Now, the people of Handan have known the news that Qin's Pass is crumbling, and Hangu Pass has fallen into the hands of Wei. The shape is developing in the direction of the Zhao State, and the next Qin State should be like more than 20 years ago, ceding the land and suing for peace. If Qin is unwilling to pay a sufficient price, Zhao's army will let Qin know what the anger of a great power is.

In the palace, King Zhao, who was discussing state affairs with Zhao Sheng, the king of Pingyuan, Lin Xiangru, the king of Pingyang, Zhao Bao, and Zhao Hao, the captain of the country, also had this idea. Yesterday, on May 14, Zhao received the news of the good news from the King of Wei, saying that Hangu Pass was already under the control of Wei. Although the tone of the envoy of King Wei was respectful, his expression could not hide his smug mood.

At that time, it was getting late, but King Zhao still found Zhao Sheng and Lin Xiangru. After the negotiation, King Zhao decided to spread the news as soon as possible. Therefore, by today, the streets and alleys of Handan know that Zhao Guo's victory is imminent. The Qin State has lost the last line of defense, where will there be any confidence to deal with it!

More than ten days ago, King Zhao urged Han, Wei, and Chu to increase their offensive against the pass, with the intention of solving Lian Po's predicament. Although Korea, Wei and Chu were very obedient and attacked the pass to the ground, they always lacked the courage to do so. Xianyang can only be said to be three shocks a day, but every time there is no danger. It did not play a role in forcing the white army to return to help.

Fortunately, there was an unexpected surprise in the direction of Hangu Pass, and Wei, with the cooperation of Korea, recaptured Hangu Pass. This made King Zhao ecstatic, and King Zhao, who had been hesitating to send a large army to reinforce the pass, was completely relieved. Hangu is in his hands, and the whole Qin State must be panicked and panicked. The king of Qin must sue for peace. Although it is different from the earlier plan to break through the pass to deter Xianyang, it has the same effect.

Zhao concluded that in the present situation, the war could be ended with dignity. The goal of weakening the Qin State and striking at the prestige of the Qin State has been achieved, and the Qi State has also lost 20,000 troops, and if it continues to fight, the war may get out of control. After all, the foundation of the Qin State is there. Zhao State recklessly provoked the Qin State, and the Qin State poured all the troops of the whole country into the battle. It's just a lose-lose situation.

Now, King Zhao only waited for the Qin State to send an envoy to sue for peace. As long as Zhao agreed to strike the army, the five kingdoms of Han, Wei, Yan, Chu, and Qi would naturally follow suit. However, if you want to make peace by yourself, the conditions of the Qin State must be favorable, otherwise you will wait for your own army to attack and disturb Guanzhong!

"Have all the losses of each country been counted?" After discussing some national affairs, King Zhao asked about the war losses of various countries that he had asked for statistics a few days ago.

Prime Minister and Plains Jun Zhao Sheng immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the minister received a report from the spies from Hedong and Nanyang this morning. The gross losses of the countries have already been calculated. ”

"Say!" King Zhao said expectantly.

"Regardless of minor injuries, Yan Guo. A total of 13,000 casualties; On the Qi side, it was 17,000 people; On the Chu side, it was 20,000 people. On the Wei side, the number of casualties in Hedong County exceeded 50,000, and in Yaoguan it was 20,000, adding up to 70,000. South Korea. The total number of casualties in Hedong County and Yaoguan was about 25,000. ”

"Wei suffered such heavy casualties?" King Zhao was a little surprised, especially in Hedong, where the casualties exceeded 50,000. The troops invested by Qin in Hedong were only 60,000, and with the help of Korea, Wei's losses were still so large. It can be said that it hurts the vitality. But if you think about it, the Qin State also lost more than 50,000 troops here, and the battle loss ratio between the two sides was about one to one.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this number cannot be wrong. Because of such great losses, the Wei army in Hedong County was besieging the Qin army, which had less than 10,000 left. However, Wei took Hangu Pass this time, and there was no longer any need to worry about Qin's future attacks. ”

King Zhao nodded, Wei lost 50,000 troops for one Hangu Pass, and it also made a great contribution to the coalition army. It seems that if the Qin State seeks peace, it will not be able to get over without making up for it.

Zhao Sheng continued: "The losses of my Zhao State mainly came from the battle with the Qin army of Neishi County and Shangjun County. Based on the battle reports of Xinping Jun and Hexi Junshou, the minister probably deduced that our casualties should be around 40,000, and that Qin's losses were much greater, at least more than 120,000. ”

After hearing this, Lin Xiangru and the others quickly calculated in their hearts that the casualties of Yan, Qi, and Chu were almost the same, totaling 50,000 people; Korea, which also belonged to the Three Jin Dynasty, was 25,000, Wei was 70,000, and Zhao was 40,000, totaling about 135,000 people. In this way, the total number of casualties in the six countries of Shandong was calculated, and it should be around 190,000. Correspondingly, the losses of the Qin State were more than 120,000.

Lin Xiangru knew the casualties of the Seven Kingdoms for the first time, and after calculating this result, Lin Xiangru immediately said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the countries have reached the limit of this journey. Especially the three kingdoms of Yan, Qi, and Chu, with more than half of the casualties, did not collapse because of the support of our Zhao, Han, and Wei. Although the kings of Yan, Qi, and Chu did not comment on the war, most of them had the intention of retreating. ”

Zhao Hao nodded approvingly and said, "What Shangqing said is extremely true. The reason why the king attracted all countries to attack Qin was just not to give Qin a chance to recuperate, and to prepare for the invasion of Qi by the way. Now that the Qi State has suffered nearly 20,000 casualties, if the fight continues, the Qi State will inevitably have a grudge against my Zhao State, and even turn his back on Zhao and pro-Qin. The great cause of destroying Qi is not an overnight achievement, and it is more appropriate to gradually weaken it. As for the Qin State, the number of troops available in the whole country is now less than 500,000, and if it is weakened, the Qin State will inevitably not fight desperately and bloodily, and if the losses of my Zhao State are too large, there will be no way to command the five countries of Shandong. ”

King Zhao also thought so in his heart, the Qin State had a deep foundation, and it took more than a hundred years to expand to the current scale, and it was definitely not possible to succeed by cutting Qin once or twice. For Zhao State, the hegemony with Qin State has already gained the upper hand! Slowly trying to figure it out, gradually encroaching on the Qin State is the way to go. Forced the Qin State to lose his mind and have a strategic Armageddon with himself. Too risky for Zhao Guo. Once the state of Zhao is weakened, it is inevitable that Korea, Wei, and even Qi will have the heart to fight for hegemony.

At this time, Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao shook his head and said unconvinced: "Lord Guowei is too careful. My Zhao country has four or five hundred thousand troops, and the morale is very high! The state of Qin was defeated repeatedly. even lost Hangu Pass! If you don't take advantage of this great opportunity to enter Guanzhong, do you want to give Qin another chance to recuperate? Don't forget, when Kuang Zhang led his troops to break Hangu, the Qin State only ceded three cities in exchange for peace. The result? Two years later, the Qin State annihilated the 240,000 combined forces of Han and Wei in the Battle of Yique! The countries of Shandong were panicked and never dared to mention the attack on Qin again! ”

"It's different! At that time, the national strength of the Qin State was strong, and there were occasional small defeats without major losses in the national strength! The current state of Qin has greatly reduced its national strength, and even if it gives the state of Qin two or three years, it is not enough to recover its vitality. The tragedy of the Battle of Ique that you are talking about will not happen! Moreover, Hangu Pass was in the hands of the Wei State. Where does the Qin State have a chance to go east! Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng said. This younger brother of mine is still young. Some are in a hurry.

"Since you said that the national strength of the Qin State has been greatly reduced, why don't you take Xianyang in one go! Taking advantage of the fact that Xinpingjun's army is on the bank of the Luoshui River, as long as the king sends another 100,000 troops from Hangu Pass into Guanzhong, the Qin State will be in chaos! What's more, the losses of Wei are so great, and South Korea is relying on Qin, the two countries must have coveted Guanzhong for a long time! As long as I am out of the army. The two countries will definitely follow suit and try to get a piece of the pie! Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao defended his idea.

If Hangu Pass had been in the hands of Wei from the beginning. That's a good idea. But now the State of Qi, the State of Yan, and the State of Chu have suffered heavy damage, especially the State of Yan and the State of Qi are not ready to destroy Qin at all, if Han, Zhao, and Wei Sanjin work together to destroy Qin, the State of Yan and the State of Qi, who cannot share a piece of soup, will definitely make some small moves. The six-nation alliance, which was originally good, will be completely divided. What's more, where is the Qin State so easy to destroy. Han, Zhao, and Wei will even suffer heavy losses as a result, and they will be reduced to the ranks of second-rate powers in a short period of time!

Lin Xiangru thought for a moment. said euphemistically: "Pingyang Jun has never thought that the army has not moved, and the grain and grass go first. If you want to attack Xianyang and destroy the Qin State, you need at least a large army of more than 400,000 to be sure. The daily food and grass needs of this 400,000-strong army is an astronomical amount! How to send troops without any food and grass preparations? How to destroy Qin? ”

Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao shook his head disappreciatively. said with a smile: "We can supply on the spot, there should always be grain and grass in every city in the Qin Kingdom!" Let South Korea provide enough grain and grass to sustain the army to Xianyang first! The subsequent grain and grass are sufficient for self-sufficiency. ”

"If the Qin State comes to clear the wilderness, how can we get our grain and grass? The more than 200-mile-long Hangu road is difficult to travel, and it is really difficult to supply grain and grass! The matter of destroying Qin is by no means so simple! Lieutenant Zhao Hao sighed.

Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao was stunned after hearing this, and then realized that he was a little inconsiderate, but he had to admit to his ministers that he was wrong, and he was a little embarrassed. Immediately embarrassed, I didn't know what to say.

King Zhao still loves this young brother of his very much, and immediately excused him: "Pingyang Jun's idea is still good, but the Qin people have a tough personality and will never surrender lightly!" This time, we will unite Han and Wei, and even if we destroy Qin, we will suffer heavy losses! The Yan Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom will also be jealous of us. You know, the Huns in the north are eyeing the tiger, and we are strong now, and they dare not provoke our tiger whiskers! But once we are weak, they will definitely come and attack us! In order to reduce losses, according to the opinion of the widows, when the United Wei State gathered a large army in the direction of Hangu Pass, they made a posture of attacking Qin. In this way, the Qin State will not only dare not act rashly against Xinping Jun's army, but will also tremble and live under the pressure of my Great Zhao, and it won't be long before they will sue for peace! What do you think? ”

"The king is shengming!" Pingyuan Jun Zhao Sheng, Shangqing Lin Xiangru, and Pingyang Jun Zhao Bao complimented in unison.

The lieutenant Zhao Hao did not make a compliment, but was deeply worried about the optimism of the monarch and the ministers, and said: "The king's plan is very good! But our Zhao State should also be vigilant, after all, the Qin State must be annoyed and angry if it loses Hangu Pass! If you can't say it, you will fight against the water! ”

Seeing King Zhao's brows, Zhao Hao immediately realized that his unsuitable words had annoyed King Zhao. But Zhao Hao just told the truth, Zhao Guo is too optimistic now, even Lin Xiangru, who has always been wise, believes that another big victory for Zhao Guo is not far away.

This time, it is Lin Xiangru's idea to unite the five countries to attack Qin, and the pressure on Lin Xiangru's body can be imagined. Especially when Lian Po's army did not march smoothly and was trapped on the banks of the Luoshui River. It seems that there is no other way but to increase the number of troops and relieve the siege. Fortunately, Lin Xiangru Jian yì King Zhao was both wooing and threatening to ask Han, Wei, and Chu to increase their offensive against Yaoguan. After a series of tricks by Wei and Korea took Hangu Pass, the battle returned to the familiar rhythm of Zhao.

More than 20 years ago, Kuang Zhang could be so frightened that Qin State ceded the land after taking Hangu Pass. This time, on the basis of taking Hangu Pass, the Six-Nation Alliance Army was still storming the Pass, and there were 90,000 troops demonstrating on the land inside the Pass. There is no reason for Qin not to surrender and show weakness.

But Zhao Hao just felt that Qin Guo would not succumb so quickly! After all, the losses of the Qin State in previous years were too heavy. If King Qin continues to show weakness, where is his prestige! The reason why the chariot of the Qin State is invincible is that it relies on the wealth accumulated from one big victory after another, and the stimulation of military exploits! If the Qin State is defeated again, the forces will retreat to Guanzhong! And it's hard to get ahead. With the loss of Wuguan and Hangu Pass, the initiative of the Qin State was lost!

Thinking of this, ignoring King Zhao's dissatisfaction, the upright Zhao Hao continued: "Your Majesty! If the Qin State ceded the land and begged for mercy. There is only one upper county and half of Yanmen County left! Having lost these two places, what else did the Qin State have? The Qin State can only shrink into the Qin River for eight hundred miles! King Qin will lose the hearts of the people, and Zonggui will no longer support King Qin! Will King Qin agree? Chen Jianyì, the front-line Xinping Jun should be vigilant! The Wei side should also be careful of Qin's counterattack! The Qin State did not surrender for a day, and we can't take it easy for a day! ”

Seeing that Zhao Hao mentioned Zhao Guo's scar, Yanmen County, and provoked King Zhao to have a seizure, Lin Xiangru hurriedly came out to relieve the siege and said: "Your Majesty! The captain is also thinking about the king! The Qin State is definitely going to surrender, but maybe it will struggle a little before surrendering. If our Zhao State accidentally touched the Tao of the Qin State. It will inevitably put some stain on this big victory. With the king's army to help the Wei army, there will be no danger in Hangu Pass! But there were only 90,000 troops in Xinpingjun's army. Bai Qi still has 150,000 or 60,000 under his hands, so it's always right to be careful! ”

King Zhao pondered for a moment, suppressed the displeasure in his heart, and said, "Okay! The widow sent an army of 50,000 to Hexi County to respond to Xinpingjun, and the captain of the country should take a trip to Hexi! As for the direction of Hangu Pass, the widow will remind the Wei State. ”

"Your Majesty! The minister will do his best. Live up to the king's trust! Zhao Hao respectfully bowed and said.

Lin Xiangru didn't expect that King Zhao would be so disrespectful to Zhao Hao, but reuse him! It seems that the king's heart is getting bigger and bigger! Where did Lin Xiangru know, at this time, King Zhao was saying in his heart: "I'll let you go out for a spin." When you know that you are unfounded, the widow will laugh at you again! ”

King Zhao waved his hand magnanimously and continued: "If the Qin State seeks peace, how do you Aiqing think the interests of various countries will be distributed? ”

Although I feel that this is a bit premature, after all, the Qin State has not yet sued for peace! However, Lin Xiangru and others still realized that the war was coming to an end, and how to unite all countries and prevent this loose alliance from dispersing would be the top priority of Zhao State.

It is impossible for Zhao to monopolize all the interests, on the contrary, it is necessary to take out a lot of interests to encircle the Yan State to stabilize the rear, to encircle the Qi State to stabilize the Qi State to facilitate the next weakening, to encircle the Wei State and Korea to prevent being tempted by the Qin State, and to encircle the Chu State to balance the three kingdoms of Qi, Han and Wei.

"Your Majesty! The minister thought that the best thing was to take Yanmen and Shangjun, which were occupied by the Qin army. However, the Qin State in these two places has gathered an army of 80,000! We, the Zhao State, must exert enough pressure on the Qin State! After taking these two places, I, Zhao, Wei, Korea, and Chu, will block the route of Qin's eastward journey! There is no way for the Qin State to stop my Great Zhao from dominating Shandong! In order to maintain the alliance and maintain the current situation, we Zhao need to pay some price. Like the State of Qi, the State of Yan, the State of Korea, and the State of Wei, we can cede a few cities in exchange for them giving up Shangjun, after all, they do not border with Shangjun, and they will not oppose it. As for the State of Chu, it can only be with the help of one of the three kingdoms of Han, Wei, and Qi that border the State of Chu, to exchange land for the Three Kingdoms once! ”

Although King Zhao felt pain in his heart, in order to be able to envelop them and exchange them for their recognition of Zhao's overlordship, he had to admit that this was a good method. It's like the boss on the street, if you don't let the little brother taste some sweetness, how can the little brother work hard!

Pingyuan Jun said: "As long as the Qin State shows weakness, there will definitely be no problem with the five cities in Yanmen. The minister is worried about the upper gun! Shangjun also borders the Xiongnu, and if we take all Shangjun, we will have to face pressure from the north! According to the minister's idea, it is better to let the Qin State cede half of the upper county! In this way, there is the Qin State in the north of Shangjun to defend us, and our first advantage is that we do not have to garrison a large army to guard against the Xiongnu. The second advantage is that Qin's army here is surrounded by us from the south and east, and if Qin makes some small moves, we can completely threaten it! ”

"Great idea!" King Zhao said with a smile. On the surface, it seems that Zhao Guo has suffered some losses! But in fact, this will make Qin Guo very uncomfortable! Since the troops were divided to guard against the Xiongnu, they had to live under the threat of the Zhao State.

Zhao Bao didn't say anything this time, in his opinion, the Xiongnu are not a climate now, and a large territory is a more direct benefit. But just think about it. If you say it, you may make Brother Wang unhappy again. The national lieutenant Zhao Hao didn't say anything, King Zhao was confused, how could Lin Xiangru follow the nonsense! Fortunately, he is about to lead the army to support Lian Po. I hope nothing goes wrong! (To be continued......)