The news of the Zhao army being besieged by the Qin army spread throughout the lands in just 10 days. The various vassal states are already numb to it and can only look at Qin in fear and respect.
Handan fell into dead silence as the officials argued incessantly.
Some people suggested that Handan should follow Qin's example and mobilize all males above 15 years of age to form a large army led by the old general Lian Po to the Hu Guan fortress and rescue the main Zhao army. Others suggested to negotiate peace with Qin and cede Shangdang Commandery in exchange for Qin to release the besieged Zhao army back to Zhao.
No matter which suggestion it is, it will be difficult.
Firstly, mobilizing the army is not something that can be done in a day. Before the army is in position, the Zhao army at the old pass will not be able to hold on and will starve to death.
Even if the army can be mobilized, how can a new army with no battle experience break through the 60 thousand Qin soldiers at Hu Guan fortress. Although the troops stationed at Hu Guan are also new Qin soldiers, they have already experienced a siege and they have the geographical advantage and sufficient defensive equipment.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to mobilize the army within the country. The other states in Shandong have been scared out of their wits by Qin and will not dare to send reinforcements to Zhao at this time.
With no hope of reinforcements, Zhao can only send envoys to Xianyang to negotiate peace.
Be it the King of Qin, Fan Ju or Bai Qi, their priority is to destroy Zhao's strength. How can they let the tiger return to the mountain when they have the absolute advantage?! According to Marquis Fan Ju, Shangdang Commandery is already in Qin's possession and there is no need for Zhao to cede it.
Once they get rid of this thorn in their side, Qin's journey to the east will be smooth and it will only be a matter of time before they unify the world.
Although she has made up her mind to reject Zhao's peace talks, but when the Zhao envoys arrived at Xianyang with a huge sum of money, Fan Ju put on a show of welcoming yet rejecting attitude, feigning civility with the Zhao envoys.
The Lord of Martial Peace wrote a letter, hoping that Handan can delay the Zhao envoys and leave a glimmer of hope for the soldiers at the old pass to prevent them from doing anything out of desperation.
Fan Ju was well versed in such a scheme, so he was able to execute it with ease.
Therefore, the King of Qin and the Zhao envoys started to play hide and seek. On the other hand, Marquis Fan Ju is putting on a show of trying his best to mediate, keeping the Zhao envoys at Xianyang.
Just as the Zhao envoys were giving their all and running around Xianyang, the Changping battlefront has entered a rare period of peace and there are no more battles between the two sides.
Everyone knew that the peace was only temporary. Once the negotiations broke down, the flames of war would reignite.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bai Qi conducted a large-scale reorganization of the army, mixing 100,000 new soldiers into the main army and indirectly increasing the defensive capabilities of Hu Guan Stronghold.
At this point, the 60,000 strong army stationed at Hu Guan Fortress consists of both new soldiers and veterans. Even if Zhao secretly formed a new army in Handan, it would be impossible for them to take down Hu Guan Fortress.
After the reorganization of the army was completed, Bai Qi breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that he had an eighty percent chance of winning this battle.
Bai Qi's actions dazzled Ouyang Shuo, and he benefited greatly from it. During his free time, Ouyang Shuo intentionally looked for Bai Qi to chat about some matters regarding the territory, using this as an excuse to get closer to Bai Qi.
Ever since the destruction of the circular formation, Bai Qi's attitude towards Ouyang Shuo changed greatly and he became much closer to him. Sometimes, he would even discuss with Ouyang Shuo on how to take down the old pass.
Bai Qi knew that although they have surrounded the Zhao army again, the actual situation is different from the first time. Not to mention the fact that the Zhao army is no longer defenseless with the old pass, the key point is that there is a large amount of rations stored in the old pass. Zhao Kuo has every reason to fight to the death before the rations run out.
It is almost impossible to take down the Zhao army without shedding blood.
Therefore, Bai Qi deduced that no matter how Xianyang plans, they will not be able to avoid a fierce battle.
No matter how the Zhao army breaks through, the old pass is a hurdle that the Qin army cannot avoid. As for how to take down the old pass, Bai Qi has already started to plan and strive to successfully take down the old pass at the lowest cost.
Up until now, the Qin army has the absolute upper hand. In fact, the number of casualties on both sides is almost the same, about half of the casualties.
In Changping Valley, more than 500,000 brave souls from both sides are resting here.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
The Zhao envoys gained nothing in Xianyang and finally understood that Qin will not agree to the peace talks. They also saw through the evil intentions of the Qin court and left Xianyang in anger.
Even though they saw through Qin's evil intentions, Zhao is powerless.
When they sent the envoys to Qin, Handan was not really idle. On one hand, they sent a large number of envoys with generous gifts to the various states in Shandong, secretly persuading them to send troops. Unfortunately, there is little effect.
Needless to say, Wei's Prince Xinling has long been imprisoned; Qi's Prince of Qi refused to accept Prince Pingyuan, Lin Xiangru and Old Su remonstrated on his behalf and refused to send troops and supplies; Chu's Prince Pingyuan was ignored and watched the battle between Qin and Zhao; the most detestable of all is Yan, their old enemy who has long become weak, actually plotting to attack Zhao and take advantage of the situation.
The fickleness of human nature, the fickleness of the world, there is no lasting friendship between countries.
On the other hand, King Xiaocheng of Zhao has reactivated the old general Lian Po and started to organize the new army in Handan.
Half a month later, the 100,000 'new army' has taken shape in the outskirts of Handan. Even with Lian Po's ability, he has no confidence in his own army.
But time waits for no man. The peace talks have broken down and Zhao cannot afford to lose their main army. King Xiaocheng of Zhao can only order Lian Po to lead the new army and attack Hu Pass.
One could well imagine how a new army of a hundred thousand could break through Hu Pass Fortress. After the Qin army took over the fortress, not only did they reorganize the army, they also reorganized the armaments. The soldiers were arranged to the city walls to practice defense every day and familiarize themselves with the various defenses, making Hu Pass impregnable.
Not only that, Bai Qi even transferred Meng Ao, who is known for his steadiness, from the southern lines and stationed him at Hu Pass to lead the army. With Meng Ao personally in charge, Hu Pass fortress has become an insurmountable barrier for the Zhao army.
What Lian Po had to face was precisely such a hurdle.
Lian Po's original intention is not to attack Hu Pass fortress by force. But it is difficult to defy the King's orders. In addition, there are many old brothers who have followed him for many years in the army. Old Lian Po cannot bear to part with them.
After days of attacks, other than the increasing number of casualties, there is no progress.
While Lian Po is leading the army to attack Hu Pass, Zhao Kuo, who is guarding the old pass, has finally recovered. Naturally, Zhao Kuo does not want to wait for death. He must break through the Qin army's blockade before the rations run out.
To the north or to the south? Zhao Kuo has to make a choice.
To the north, not only must he break through Ying Bao's camp, but he must also attack Hu Pass fortress. To the south, he must break through the southern lines and the royal tomb's camp.
Neither side was easy to deal with.
What's worse, Zhao Kuo cannot mobilize the entire army to break through one side. Because the old pass is being attacked from both sides by the Qin army, no matter which side is broken through, the Qin army on the other side will take the opportunity to attack the old pass fortress.
After careful consideration, Zhao Kuo finally decided to break through to the north. After all, outside Hu Pass, there is still the 100,000 soldiers led by Lian Po.
With the plan decided, Zhao Kuo ordered Zhao Zhuang to take 70,000 soldiers to guard the southern side of the old pass. He then led the main force of 200,000 soldiers to attack Ying Bao's camp.
At this time, Ying Bao's camp has increased to 140,000 soldiers. For Zhao Kuo to take down Ying Bao's camp, which is guarded by 140,000 Qin soldiers with 200,000 soldiers is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Before departing, Zhao Kuo made a final war mobilization, "Brothers, this is our last chance. Either we attack the camp, or we die in battle. There is no third option."
"Fight to the death! Kill! Kill! Kill! " A solemn and stirring feeling spread out in the old pass, giving people the courage to fight and the strength to advance.
"Move out!" Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
Di Chen and the other player lords bitterly led the few remaining troops and watched helplessly as they walked towards death. At this time, if the players refused to send out their troops, they would be killed.
From the very beginning, both sides were fighting to the death, and they fought with all their strength.
There was no probing, no fluke. It was either you die, or I live!
Fierce fighting could be seen on every corner of the camp. Every section of the wall had to go through repeated tug-of-war. If it was seized by the Zhao army, the Qin army would fight to the death to take it back, and the cycle would repeat.
The number of soldiers dying on both sides increased at a visible rate.
Zhao Kuo divided the 200,000 soldiers into two groups and had them take turns to attack. They wouldn't stop until they broke through the wall.
The Qin army wasn't easy to deal with either. Ying Bao personally led a group of elites to act as a 'firefighting team'. Wherever there was danger, the 'firefighting team' would be there, and they would take back the lost positions time and time again.
The sea of red flames and the black waves clashed again. Either the soldiers were smashed to pieces, or they advanced by stepping on the corpses of their enemies. The cruel war turned every soldier into a Shura, turning the battlefield into an endless hell.
In the eyes of the soldiers, there was only killing, and no other emotions.
After a morning of fierce attacks, Ying Bao's camp was badly damaged, and almost all of the defensive weapons were destroyed. In the end, the Qin army could only use their bodies to block the attacks of the Zhao army. As the attacking side, the Zhao army didn't have it easy either. The mountain of corpses outside the camp was the best proof.
As the saying goes, the first drumbeat of energy, the second will weaken, and the third will be exhausted.
After a long time of failure, the high morale of the Zhao army inevitably started to drop. The huge number of casualties and repeated tug-of-war put the soldiers through a huge test, both physically and mentally.
From now on, it was a battle of willpower between the two sides, to see which side would give up first.
What broke the balance of the battlefield didn't come from the two sides, but from the rear of the Zhao army.
The old pass was broken through by the Qin army!!! (To be continued.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
