Following Ouyang Shuo's order, Great Xia's war machine quickly began to operate.
On the fifth day of the fifth month, Sun Bin led the Brave Tiger Army north from the border of the East Sea Province, brazenly killing his way into the Great Zhou Dynasty's Ludong Province, opening the prelude to the Great Xia's conquest of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The next day, Yue Fei led the Northern Frontier Army westward from the border of the Northern Frontier Province, heading straight for the hinterland of the Capital Province of the Zhou Dynasty. At the same time, Zuo Zongtang led the Hedong Army to advance from Hedong Province, cooperating with the Northern Frontier Army to launch a pincer attack from the east and west.
The Great Xia Dynasty only dispatched these three army groups.
The remaining forces, including the Imperial Guard garrisoned in the capital, the Leopard Army and the Xiangjiang Army in the southeast war zone, and the Soaring Eagle Army garrisoned in the Western Sea Province, were all biding their time.
Only the Soaring Phoenix Army stationed in Vast Gold Province arranged for a legion to head south and station in Northern Frontier Province.
The purpose of doing this was very obvious. It was to intimidate the Qin, Tang, and Song Kingdoms. Among the three kingdoms, no matter which kingdom sent reinforcements to Great Zhou, they would face the invasion of Great Xia.
The Soaring Eagle Army monitored Great Qin, the Leopard Army monitored Great Tang, and the Xiangjiang Army and Yulin Royal Forest Army monitored Great Song.
It wasn't hard to see that out of the three armies that Great Xia had arranged to attack Great Zhou, two of them belonged to the border defense system. However, the ones that were arranged to monitor the three states were top-notch elite troops.
His intention couldn't be any clearer.
In this way, the so-called alliance of the four countries had in fact been dismembered. If they rescue Great Zhou, they will not be able to protect their homeland; if they do not rescue Great Zhou, they will not be able to protect Great Zhou.
Once Great Zhou was destroyed, Great Xia would continue to carry out the strategy of breaking them down one by one.
Therefore, this was a dead knot. No matter how it changed, the four-nation alliance seemed to be unable to escape the fate of destruction. The root cause of the current situation was the powerful military strength of the Xia Kingdom.
Of course, if the Flying Bear Army led by Li Jing had already attacked Tubo, the plan would be more stable.
Speaking of which, Ouyang Shuo still had to thank the Mongolian Empire. If it wasn't for the fact that the Mongolian Empire was completely engulfed in the Persian War, the Northern Frontier Army and Hedong Army wouldn't have dared to put in all their effort to destroy Zhou.
Genghis Khan was using Ouyang Shuo, and Ouyang Shuo was also using Genghis Khan.
…
May 7th, Ludong Province, Peng City.
As the former West Chu capital, Peng City was the largest city in the East Lu Province, as well as the administrative center of the province. At the same time, the city was also the headquarters of the Great Zhou's Dan Yang Army.
Speaking of the Dan Yang Army, their fates were full of troubles.
First, the army lost tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield of the Great Jin Dynasty. Not only did they not receive effective reinforcements, but they were also forced to transfer tens of thousands of elite soldiers away when Di Chen reorganized the royal army.
Only when they arrived at Ludong Province did they transfer a large number of new soldiers from the reserves to make up for the lack of soldiers.
With such a heavily damaged army, they couldn't even compare to the border guards of Great Xia, let alone the Brave Tiger Army which was as ferocious as wolves.
Lord Chunshen, the actual controller of the Dan Yang Army, did not have the slightest confidence in defending the Ludong Province.
However, Di Chen had given a strict order for the Dan Yang Army to hold their ground. Di Chen was forced to do this. Once the Lu Dong Province fell, the Great Zhou Dynasty would have no buffer zone, and they would die for sure.
Peng City was close to the border of Ludong Province and was only a short distance away from Donghai Province.
Therefore, on the second day after the Brave Tiger Army invaded the Ludong Province, the two sides started a bloody battle along the long border of the province, with Peng City as the fulcrum.
In the past winter, the Great Zhou Dynasty, despite being short of soldiers and people, still used the army and a large number of laborers to strengthen the fortifications at the border.
After losing the barrier of Donghai Province, the Ludong Province became even more important. It was reported that in just one winter, the number of laborers who died at the construction sites at the border of Donghai Province was no less than two thousand.
Under the pressure of Di Chen, the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty were close to their limits. This time, in the face of the Great Xia's attack, in order to protect the logistics, they used a large number of laborers, causing the Heavens to be angry and the people to be resentful.
Even if the Great Xia did not attack, the Great Zhou Dynasty was actually on the verge of collapse.
It was not that a little bit of food had forced the Great Zhou Dynasty into a dead end. Food was just a fuse. What really caused the Great Zhou Dynasty to fall into such a predicament was the system that it had always relied on to survive in the wilderness.
As everyone knew, the Great Zhou Dynasty was founded by the aristocratic families.
After the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, apart from the four great families, there were more than thirty small and medium-sized families that depended on them. Together, they formed the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
From the important departments of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the profitable commercial fields, they were all controlled by the aristocratic families.
The aristocratic families were the foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Without the support of these aristocratic families, no matter if it was the earliest [Six Hegemons of Handan], or the mid-stage [Yan Huang Alliance], or the current Great Zhou Dynasty, they would not be able to stand out.
For territories like Handan City to be able to survive in the wilderness, it was because of the large number of talents and funds provided by the aristocratic families that they could support, so that they would not fall behind Shanhai City at that time.
But don't forget, the nature of the aristocratic families was greed.
Naturally, there would be rewards for their efforts.
After the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in the eyes of the aristocratic families, they had already established an invincible foundation in the wilderness. It was time to reap the fruits of victory.
Dividing the power of the Great Zhou Dynasty and competing with the people in the commercial fields were all very normal things.
There were even those who relied on their family's meritorious status to commit crimes in the imperial court, disregarding human life, which happened from time to time. If not for the suppression of Di Chen and the others, even crazier things could have happened.
Di Chen envied the Great Xia Dynasty for being able to implement the rule of law, but he could not imitate it, because it could not be carried out.
The past winter was a heavy disaster for the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it was a feast for the aristocratic families. They hoarded goods, bought low and sold high, and plundered the wealth of the people.
Originally, the aristocratic families were also rational and would not kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
The problem was, with the Achievement Points constantly being updated, and the Great Zhou Dynasty in danger of being destroyed at any time, these aristocratic families could no longer hold back and wanted to use the last bit of time to plunder resources and exchange them for Achievement Points.
Everything else was fake, only the Achievement Points were the most real.
For this, they did not hesitate to eat up the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, and even incited a rebellion among the people, sending troops to suppress them. In the eyes of the aristocratic families, NPCs were a pile of data, a tool for them to plunder Achievement Points.
Who, I ask, has pity for a worker?
Just as the Great Xia Dynasty sent troops to attack the Great Zhou Dynasty, the situation had already developed to a point where it could no longer be remedied. Within the two provinces, there was a tense atmosphere that made people feel uneasy.
Although Di Chen knew that the aristocratic families were detestable, he was powerless to stop them.
Therefore, it was not only the small and medium-sized aristocratic families that went crazy. Many members of the Di family themselves participated in this feast, and they were eating the fattest piece of meat.
As such, what position did Di Chen have to restrain the other aristocratic families?
This was also one of the reasons why Di Chen was depressed throughout the winter, because the Great Zhou Dynasty was no longer under his control. This was such a tragedy.
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