Zhiyao's plan was clear: he left 50,000 troops to garrison the city of Jinyang, which he had already occupied.

Jinyang City had high walls and thick walls, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was also surrounded by a moat...

To capture this city, the enemy would need at least five times the strength of the defending side.

The reason why the Zhi family's army easily broke through Jinyang City from the beginning was due to Zhao Yong's strategic misjudgment of the internal situation of Jin.

It was no secret that the powerful ministers of Jin intended to "divide Jin."

But Zhao Yong felt that things hadn't yet escalated to the point of "the rats turning on each other from their nests"...

He also planned to join forces with Minister Wei Ji to destroy the state of Zhongshan, thereby gaining more influence in the Jin court, and then use the Jin ruler to command the ministers, and further pursue the matter of "dividing Jin".

This is equivalent to a group of brothers who are about to split up their family property, and one of them... wants to do more good for the family so that he can get a bigger share of the inheritance.

But Zhi Yao didn't care about any of that. He directly imprisoned the Duke of Jin and marched his troops on Jinyang City.

When the Zhao family saw that the Zhi family's army was carrying the banner of "The King has ordered that we support the Zhao family," they didn't think much of it and opened the city gates.

As a result, the Zhi family army filed in, occupied Jinyang City, and killed Zhao Yong's entire family!

Now that we have Jinyang City, how can we give it up so easily?

The 50,000 garrison troops were only there to stabilize the situation; another 100,000 Zhi family troops would be gradually added to Jinyang City.

Zhi Yao himself led 250,000 Zhi family troops and 80,000 Han family troops to Changping, ready to fight Jiang Ming to the death!

The enemy forces outnumbered Jiang Ming's forces by more than two times, and Jiang Ming had already chosen the location for their decisive battle.

Changping is a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The 320,000-strong Zhi-Han allied forces want to capture Changping. If Jiang Ming focuses on defense, then they will be bogged down in a long war of attrition, just like in the Battle of Maiqiu.

The problem is that they are currently in the heart of Jin, and their food supplies depend entirely on support from Zhao.

Now, advancing deep into Han territory from Zhao territory is tantamount to cutting off our own supply lines, and Hanyuan City to the south is also heavily fortified and will not be easy to capture in the short term.

Therefore, he must act quickly and decisively; he cannot afford to engage in a prolonged war of attrition with Zhi Yao.

It was precisely because of this that Zhiyao was full of confidence in this battle, and even called Jiang Ming a fool!

Digesting it... I thought we were still on the grasslands!

With no obstacles in any direction, you can go wherever you want.

The state of Jin is surrounded by mountains, and its 150,000-strong army will be trapped in the Taihang Mountains, unable to go anywhere.

Once they got close, there was no need for a fight; it was simply a standoff. They blocked the supply lines from Zhao to Jiang Ming, and within a few days, Jiang Ming collapsed on his own.

Previously, I heard that he had wiped out the main force of the Xiongnu and even directly eliminated the Rouran... I thought he was quite capable.

As it turns out, he's still a complete incompetent, not even understanding the principle that supplies must be prepared before troops arrive, and he's not worth mentioning at all!

Jiang Ming had already decided on the location for the decisive battle: a large canyon in the Taihang Mountains.

This canyon is very narrow, with towering cliffs on both sides and a wide river flowing closely along one of the mountain walls in the middle... The total width of the river and the land route that can be traversed is no more than 500 meters!

However, this is indeed the only way to enter Changping.

Although the canyon is steep and towering, it is not very long, so it is not suitable for use as an ambush.

Jiang Ming didn't intend to ambush them here. Instead, he used a different tactic: using the cliffs on both sides of the river as a decoy to create a smokescreen for the Zhi-Han allied forces.

The Zhi-Yao allied forces arrived at the Grand Canyon, where they set up camp on the east and west sides of the canyon, facing off against Jiang Ming's army... Neither side launched an attack easily.

Zhi Yao was cunning. He knew that Jiang Ming was using effective forces to block this 'passage'. In this way, Zhi Yao's army could not take advantage of its numbers and could only fight one-on-one.

It's like both sides are guarding their own pockets, neither willing to stick their heads in...

But Zhiyao knew in his heart that Jiangming's supply lines had been cut off.

If the supply lines are cut off, what's the point of playing?

Don't forget, this is the State of Jin!

If Zhi Yao just keeps holding the line at the canyon, the entire Jiang Ming army will collapse in less than ten days to half a month...

There's no need for Han Yuan's garrison to come out and launch a "two-pronged attack" on Jiang Ming. Time... is the best weapon to eliminate this Qin hostage prince!

Because the Han family's army was considered mere cannon fodder in Zhi Yao's eyes, the Han family's army was positioned near the canyon, while the Zhi family's army was positioned behind them, with the two families setting up camps at different locations.

Even if Jiang Ming were to fight like a cornered beast and charge directly from the other side of the canyon, he would first encounter the Han family's army...

Faced with this situation, Jiang Ming first sent a messenger to write a letter to Han Jiong, the commander of the Han family. The letter stated that he had good relations with both the Zhao and Wei families and hoped that General Han could cooperate with him from within to eliminate the Zhi family. Otherwise, if the Zhi family grew too powerful, the Han family would also become victims of the law...

Han Jiong, the commander of the Han family, scoffed at the letter and burned it immediately.

Then, Jiang Ming wrote another letter to Han Jiong, saying, "Thank you for your support, General Han. We will do as we agreed before... First, we will put on a show without making a fuss or showing any signs of trouble. Then we will wipe out the Zhi family's 250,000 troops together, and then we will divide the Zhi family's land equally with the Zhao and Wei families."

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