Apart from vexation and regret, Di Chen would also face a more difficult situation. This time, the conquest of Great Jin had failed. How would Great Zhou deal with the attack of Great Xia?!
"It's time for the six-nation alliance to show their sincerity."
Di Chen looked thoughtfully at the map of the Huaxia region hanging on the wall. Under the circumstances that the Great Zhou could not fight against the Great Xia alone, the only way to survive was to strengthen the alliance and hug each other.
Although it was frustrating, it was the only feasible way at the moment.
…
On the 13th of August, on the day that the Great Xia imperial guards bypassed Handan City, Han Xin led the Leopard Troop and officially advanced into the Great Jin dynasty. They were only one day away from Luofeng City.
After receiving the report, Lian Po no longer dared to stay in the valley of Luofeng Castle and hurriedly retreated east with the royal guards.
But out of everyone's expectation, the ten thousand royal guards that had been abandoned at the suburb of Fallen Phoenix City suddenly rushed out and blocked the Imperial Guards' way to the east fearlessly.
Then, the imperial guards stationed in Luofeng Castle, under the leadership of Meng Tian, attacked the royal guards. The vanguard of the Leopard Troop soon arrived at the battlefield and participated in the encirclement.
This time, the royal guards of the Great Zhou were immediately besieged.
Old Lian Po's forehead was sweating. He did not dare to tangle with the enemy for too long. Once the Leopard Troop attacked, the royal guards would all die here. Lian Po had no choice but to abandon the chariot to protect the general. He arranged for a corps to bring up the rear and retreated east with the remaining 200,000 troops.
After this battle, the royal guards of the Great Zhou were reduced by nearly half.
In view of the destruction of the provisions, the heavy losses of the royal guards, and the strong intervention of the Great Xia's Leopard Troop, Wu Qi determined that it was impossible to destroy the Great Jin and requested to withdraw.
Di Chen had no choice but to agree.
The defeat of the royal guards made Di Chen realize that the Great Zhou army could no longer take the initiative in the Great Jin battlefield. If this dragged on, even the main force would not be able to smoothly return home.
The army was the pillar of a country and the biggest weight in Di Chen's hands. Once the army suffered heavy losses, the foundation of the country would be shaken.
Di Chen did not dare to take this risk.
Especially in such a treacherous war situation.
However, before retreating, Wu Qi still organized a strong encirclement and annihilation of the Flame Army. After killing nearly 70,000 Flame Army soldiers, he finally retreated from the battlefield in satisfaction.
Wu Qi was worthy of being a Divine General. Not only did his eyes focus on the battlefield, he also knew how to think from a strategic point of view. He knew very well that if the Great Zhou Dynasty was unable to destroy the Great Jin Dynasty, greatly weakening the Great Jin Army could also indirectly protect the Great Zhou Dynasty and prevent the Great Jin Dynasty from launching a war of revenge against the Great Zhou Dynasty.
This kind of strategic foresight was what Lian Po lacked.
Otherwise, after the Great Xia Imperial Guards broke through the siege, Lian Po would have led the Royal Guards out of the canyon, retreated to the borders, or met up with Wu Qi's troops. No matter what, they wouldn't have suffered such a huge setback at the last moment.
If not for Lian Po's decisiveness, the Royal Army would have been in big trouble.
Firstly, Lian Po had underestimated the courage of the 10,000 Imperial Guards of Great Xia. They actually dared to block the path of the Royal Guards with such a small force. Little did they know that the Great Xia Imperial Guards never lacked the courage to fight to the death.
Secondly, Lian Po had underestimated the Soldier Immortal Han Xin's ability to seize opportunities. The vanguard of the Leopard Troop had arrived at the battlefield so quickly, not giving the Royal Guards a chance to breathe. This was really too surprising to Lian Po.
Ultimately, it was because Lian Po had underestimated the enemy.
And the price of underestimating the enemy was that Di Chen's most relied on troops suffered heavy losses.
With the withdrawal of the Great Zhou Dynasty's troops, the war of the Great Jin Dynasty finally came to an end after nearly a month.
After paying a heavy price, the Great Jin Dynasty finally managed to defend its territory. After this battle, the Blazing Flame Army was completely crippled, with more than half of them dead. The Royal Guards also suffered heavy losses, with nearly 100,000 people dead.
After this battle, the Great Jin Dynasty's elite army of more than 600,000 at its peak was reduced to less than 400,000. In terms of military strength, it was even inferior to Qin, Tang, Song, and other countries, and fell from the ranks of the powerful countries.
In addition to the casualties of the army, the territory of the Great Jin Dynasty was already riddled with holes after the baptism of the war. The people had no way to make a living, and bandits were everywhere. The direct or indirect economic losses caused were no less than 15 million gold coins.
The dynasty's economy was bound to experience a period of pain, or even decline.
Considering the new situation in the Hua Xia region, there was no longer a chance for the rise of the Great Jin in the future of Hua Xia.
A dynasty had fallen just like that.
… …
Although the Great Jin Dynasty was crippled, the Great Zhou Dynasty did not have it easy either.
A million troops went out to battle, not only did they consume countless rations and resources, they also suffered losses of more than 200,000 people. In the end, they did not gain anything and only got themselves into trouble.
What was worse was that Di Chen still had to fulfill his promise.
When the news that the Great Zhou Dynasty was preparing to withdraw from the Great Jin Dynasty spread, the Song and Ming Dynasties sent envoys to Handan to urge the Great Zhou Dynasty to fulfill their pre-war promise, which was to cede Jingchu Province to the Song and the East Sea Province to the Ming.
Di Chen defended himself, saying that the Great Jin Dynasty had not been conquered and that the promise had to be delayed.
The Song and Ming Dynasties did not agree and said with certainty, "We have already done our part in guarding the borders for the Great Zhou Dynasty. As for whether the Great Zhou Dynasty has conquered the Great Jin Dynasty, that is the Great Zhou Dynasty's own business and has nothing to do with fulfilling our promise. "
Di Chen was speechless and wanted to argue further, but the envoys from the two countries immediately gave him an ultimatum, "You have one week to complete your withdrawal. Otherwise, don't blame us for disregarding our alliance and attacking by force."
This was not just a verbal threat.
Just as the envoys gave the ultimatum, the Song Imperial Army had already surrounded Dan Yang City. The Ming Imperial Army that was stationed at Jianye had also sent 50,000 men and horses to Blood Red City.
The situation in the Central Plains had become tense.
Both the Song Dynasty's Zhao Kuangyin and the Ming Dynasty's Zhu Yuanzhang knew that in the current situation, the Great Zhou Dynasty could no longer be relied on. If they wanted to continue to establish themselves in the wilderness, they would need to have enough territory.
In order to conquer a province, the two countries would not hesitate to go to war.
When Di Chen received the news, he gritted his teeth in anger but did not dare to act up.
Right now, the Great Zhou Dynasty was at its weakest. Its soldiers were exhausted and its borders were guarded by the armies of the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. If they turned on each other, the Great Zhou Dynasty would not be able to defend itself.
Even if the Great Zhou Army successfully returned to Handan City, Di Chen did not dare to take the risk of sending the army to Dan Yang City or Blood Red City to start a war with the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.
If he really did that, it would only benefit the Great Xia.
After all the scheming, Di Chen had to swallow this bitter pill no matter what.
In the end, after working so hard, not only did the Great Zhou Dynasty not get anything out of it, they even lost two provinces. This was a huge loss. Di Chen could only hope that he could use this opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the six countries.
Of course, it should be called the Five Countries Alliance now because the Great Qing Dynasty was only a day or two away from destruction.
On the 15th day of the eighth month, Huo Qubing led 200,000 Imperial Army soldiers through the Capital Province without fear and officially set foot on the land of the Great Qing Dynasty.
What happened next was both surprising and not surprising.
The two hundred thousand imperial guards and the two hundred and ten thousand members of the Soaring Eagle Army led by Li Mu formed an encirclement around the two hundred thousand cavalrymen of the Eight Banners who were wandering outside the Capital City.
Two against one, the Eight Banners Army was completely defeated.
The battle lasted for three days and three nights. More than 600,000 soldiers engaged in a life-and-death battle in the vast wilderness. The rumbling of horse hooves and the clashing of swords could be heard within a radius of ten miles.
The war horses neighed and the heroes were past their prime.
By the afternoon of the third day, more than 70,000 of the 200,000 Qing soldiers had died. The rest were exhausted, their morale was low and they had lost their drive.
Seeing this, Huo Qubing and Li Mu tried to persuade them to surrender.
In the face of the general trend of the world, no one could reverse it. Since the Great Xia gave them a way out, the 130,000 Qing soldiers did not resist and chose to surrender.
Some of the loyal members of the Qing Army were unfortunately beheaded by their companions and taken to claim credit.
Early the next morning, Huo Qubing's troops stayed behind to take care of the prisoners of war, while Li Mu's troops turned around and marched towards the capital. The Imperial Army had been running for a long time and it was time for them to rest.
On the contrary, Li Mu's troops had been conserving their strength and were eager for a battle.
Huo Qubing knew how to conduct himself. He knew that the Imperial Army had been in the limelight and had gained enough military merits. If they rushed to attack the Capital, it would be rude.
Being so overbearing would be disliked.
…
The Capital of the Qing Dynasty.
After learning that the 200,000 soldiers had been destroyed, the Qing court was shaken and everyone was in a panic. A week ago, the main force led by Li Jing had blasted open the Capital's walls and entered the city to fight with the Qing army.
The army outside the city was the last hope of the Capital.
"Now, our hope is gone."
Emperor Kangxi collapsed on the dragon throne, feeling indescribably exhausted.
Ever since he appeared in the wilderness, Kangxi had not had a comfortable day because of the Great Xia as his neighbor. He was worried all day, thinking about how to protect the foundation of his ancestors.
But the rules of the game in the wilderness were extremely unfair to emperors like them.
Gaia gave the capital a strong military force, but it did not give them the territory and authority that matched the military force. It was not easy for them to get involved in the battle in the wilderness, but the Huaxia region was already under the shadow of the Great Xia and had no room to play.
"It's difficult."
Kangxi sighed with the same emotion as Di Chen.
As the Great Xia army entered the city, the people of the Capital looked at the Manchurian nobles differently. They were sinister and made people panic.
"Those who are not of my race will have a different heart!"
Kangxi felt upset when he thought of this sentence from "Left Turn".
Historically, the dissatisfaction and resistance of the Han people against the Manchurians had been settled during the reign of Shunzhi, so it was not Kangxi's turn to worry. The wilderness now belonged to the Han people, so one could imagine the situation of the Manchurians.
Once the Great Xia conquered the Capital, the people of the Capital would probably set off firecrackers to celebrate.
Just as Kangxi was at his wits' end, it was the 20th of August. On this morning, Li Mu led the 200,000 soldiers of the Soaring Eagle Army and appeared in the western suburbs of the Capital.
The Capital fell into an awkward silence, and the entire court was dead silent.
Kangxi got the news and gave up on his last bit of wishful thinking. He did not want to drag the entire Manchurian royal family into the abyss, so he surrendered to the Great Xia on the same day and ended his temporary rule over the Capital.
The Huaxia region had another country destroyed.
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