Chapter 15: Ji Wan Mountain Collapses and Ji Xi Regents the State
Unfortunately, will cannot replace reality!
Xiong Dun's personal martial arts skills almost reached the pinnacle of human beings. He could even capture tigers and leopards alive and wrestle with giant bears.
How could ordinary soldiers withstand such a huge force? Since his own guards were unable to rush forward, Xiong Dun took the lead and rushed forward like a bulldozer.
His personal guards protected him on both sides. He held a very thick spear in both hands and directly lifted up the soldiers of Zhou army!
He charged left and right, and no one could match him.
Even the soldiers wearing bronze helmets had their helmets dented by his smash, killing them.
Such invincible fighting power almost instantly broke through the Zhou army's already precarious line.
"It's the King of Chu, Xiong Dun!" A Zhou soldier shouted, "He's leading the charge himself!"
The elite troops of the Chu army rushed in madly along the gap opened by Xiong Dun, and the entire formation was broken down in an instant.
The generals in other directions also discovered the situation here. They wanted to send reinforcements but were entangled by the Chu army, and the troops behind them could not get through at all.
The Chu army followed Xiong Dun's arrangement and drove the Zhou army's slave soldiers towards this side, and then handed them over to three thousand bronze-armored soldiers to disperse them, forcing them to form a rout and attack the Zhou army's formation.
This move was very effective. The formation broken by Xiong Dun had affected the entire deployment of the Zhou army. The Zhou army that came to support was in chaos, and even had no order in the battle formation.
Ji Wan did not arrange a central general, and the disadvantage of Handan Hou, the only one with a little prestige at the moment, not knowing how to command troops, was completely exposed.
A Chu army drove the slave soldiers along the gap that Xiong Dun had rushed out and began to tie down the Zhou army's forces, and the entire Zhou army's front line had to shrink.
Many Zhou army soldiers suddenly found that the Chu army appeared all around them!
Xiong Dun had already retreated with his personal guards. After they had recovered their strength, they followed Xiong Dun and started to charge again. This time, their target was the emperor's banner!
Ji Wan had not yet completely retreated to the center of the army. The emperor's great banner was so heavy. He saw that the extremely brave Chu army, led by the King of Chu, was invincible and was now heading straight for the emperor.
"Protect the Emperor!"
All the soldiers in the central army surrounded the emperor's chariot. In the chaos, Xiong Dun bent his bow and shot an arrow at the flag on the emperor's banner. Without stopping, he shot another arrow at the shaft, causing the entire banner to shake.
With such a heroic performance, the morale of the Chu army was boosted, and in a short period of time they were able to defeat the terrified Zhou army.
"Your Majesty, we can't fight any more! If the great banner falls, once the military orders are completely blocked, the army will be defeated!"
The emperor Ji Wan was already stammering and dared not speak, while Youhou Jihou was even more frightened. Seeing that these three men were unreliable, the Marquis of Han said immediately: "Yu Bo, immediately order the central army to escort the emperor to retreat, cross the river first, then sound the horn to withdraw the troops, and the front army will cover the rear. We must stabilize the offensive of the Chu army and must not cause a rout!"
The timing of sounding the retreat is too critical. In the current situation, one mistake can turn retreat into defeat.
The emperor must cross the river first so that he can gather the defeated troops and plan for the future.
Yu Bo received the order and went to do it immediately. Xiong Dun could no longer shoot at the big banner, so he kept observing Ji Wan's movements. As soon as he saw the direction of their movement, he knew that Ji Wan was going to run away.
He immediately shouted loudly: "The Zhou Emperor has escaped, capture him alive!"
All the Chu troops on the battlefield shouted one after another: "The Zhou emperor has escaped, capture him alive!"
The Zhou army was in a state of confusion, especially the front troops caught in the melee. They soon realized that the support had stopped and there was no reserve to replace them. Even if they were already elite and could withstand greater losses, it would only take a moment.
As for the emperor's guards, the princes' guards, and part of the central army and the rear army who were protecting Ji Wan and the princes and ministers, they now only wanted to escape by boat as soon as possible.
The reason why the Zhou army can still continue to fight is mainly because the great banner is still there. Although they can no longer see the emperor's chariot, the generals leading the troops are still on the battlefield.
Xiong Dun's eyes were full of murderous intent. He no longer thought about shooting down the banner directly, but instead dispatched troops to besiege the general who was commanding the front army.
On the battlefield, it is very easy to avoid the dangers of open swords and guns, but it is impossible to avoid hidden arrows, especially those shot by people like Xiong Dun.
Following the arrow shot by Xiong Dun, Cai Bo, who was commanding the battle, was instantly pierced by a feather arrow in the face and fell to the ground with a look of disbelief on his face!
This was the highest-ranking noble who had died in battle so far, an earl and one of the commanders of the emperor's six armies.
Xiong Dun led his troops forward and chopped down the flag of the front army with one sword. The rumbling sound attracted everyone's attention. The Zhou army soldiers, who had already experienced many blows, could no longer hold on and instantly collapsed, rushing towards the central army.
There were only three ferry crossings on the Han River, so the Zhou army naturally knew where to retreat after landing.
Seeing this, Yu Bo could only arrange some archers to cover the retreat of the army. Although the vanguard of the Zhou army had completely collapsed, the central army was also in danger under the impact of the vanguard, but it was still possible to disperse and provide cover.
Xiong Dun simply drove the defeated Zhou army and mixed slave soldiers into it, completely disrupting their organization and trapping everyone in it. The Chu army formed small teams and chased after them.
The most important killing still depends on the archers. They throw away their weapons and armor while fleeing, and become fat sheep to be slaughtered in front of arrows.
"It's a pity that the terrain is not suitable for chariots to perform. Otherwise, in such a rout, if the chariots charged, few of them would be able to cross the river."
Xiong Dun then ordered his men, saying in high spirits: "The Zhou army has been badly defeated, and now it must be like a dog that has lost its home. Order the rear of our army to board the boat from the ferry, and the remaining soldiers to follow me to chase and kill the Zhou army. Taking advantage of this great victory, we must seize the land of the five countries.
Thinking back to the past, I defeated the coalition forces organized by the Southern Princes several times. It was so glorious, but I was caught off guard and fell into a trap. Over the years, I have been oppressed by these five countries. Now I can finally break the rope that is strangled around the neck of my Chu State. "
The ministers of Chu laughed and said, "The Zhou people are cowardly and dare not fight against our great Chu head-on. They can only use such sinister and cunning tactics. Now, the king with divine power and great majesty is still defeated."
Xiong Dun laughed and said, "Let's get started. Mobilize our people. Tonight, I will take over the Kingdom of Yu, and then advance to Tang and Sui, severing the connection between the five countries and cutting off the Zhou army's food supplies on land. They will surely flee to the land of Shen and Lu in panic, and our army will kill them all the way and rob the wealth of the countries."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Xiong Dun’s strategies are always reasonable, but Ji Wan always comes up with new ideas and gives him big surprises.
If someone had asked Xiong Dun before, what is a surprise?
He will definitely think about it carefully, after all, he has too many things and he wants too many things.
But now, if someone asked him what is a surprise?
He would definitely say that the surprise was that Ji Wan suddenly died during the pursuit.
It happened quite coincidentally.
Amidst the atmosphere of successive defeats and the deaths of countless comrades, the soldiers' resentment could no longer be suppressed, and they vented their dissatisfaction with the emperor to their lords.
The low-level officers in the army are basically all low-ranking nobles whose fiefs are less than 50 miles. Although they are not among the fifth class of nobility, their large numbers make them the key to whether the army can be controlled.
These people were even more dissatisfied with the emperor. Their losses in this expedition were too severe, and many people did not even come back alive.
It would be fine if we can't win, but in this situation, who can accept this if it's not a crime of war?
So many low-level nobles expressed their dissatisfaction, so they advised the emperor to kill You Hou and Ji Hou, the two culprits who led to the defeat of the army, in order to appease the military morale.
The emperor naturally would not agree. He had become a frightened bird, and it was impossible to kill his trusted ministers at this time.
This answer certainly couldn't make them give up, so they chose to take action directly!
As marquises, You Hou and Ji Hou naturally had their own armies, so a huge fire broke out without anyone knowing who was the leader.
The sky was filled with rain of arrows and the military camp was noisy and in chaos.
The chaotic fire stopped with shouts of "The emperor has passed away!" Ji Wan, You Hou and Ji Hou were all killed by arrows.
Now everyone was dumbfounded.
How could the emperor die?
What to do next?
This is the problem facing everyone. The most crucial thing is that no one even knows how the emperor died. We only know that he was hit by those chaotic arrows.
At this time, Marquis Han and Yu Bo, who had been hiding for a long time, ran out. Marquis Han was the person with the highest title and status in the army. He glanced at Ji Wan's body calmly without even a trace of grief.
Su Wang once said, if the monarch treats his subjects as his own hands and feet, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their own heart and soul; if the monarch treats his subjects as dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their fellow countrymen; if the monarch treats his subjects as dirt, then the subjects will treat the monarch as their enemy.
The relationship between him and Ji Wan as a king and his subject ended completely when Ji Wan pointed a sword at him and humiliated him that day.
The Marquis of Handan knew that Ji Wan had passed away and his army had no will to fight anymore. Xiong Dun's army was still chasing after them, keeping Wang's army in a state of exhaustion.
Now the only way to bring as many people back as possible is to leave behind all the things that are inconvenient to carry and travel light.
Now that Ji Wan is dead and the princes have not yet been crowned, if Luo Hou returns to the royal capital, he might even be able to create the myth of the second Su King.
The coalition forces stationed in Qi Yan are still conducting daily drills.
Luo Su and his men received the news of Ji Wan's defeat, and also learned that Xiong Dun had been chasing and killing them all the way. They immediately announced that they would raise an army to defend the king, with the Marquis of Qi as the general, Duke Shuang of Song in charge of documents and food, and Luo Su in charge of entering Luoyi to stabilize the situation. They would head from Song towards Zheng and Xu, and then turn south. They would absolutely not allow the Chu army to enter Luoyi.
Upon hearing that the emperor was in trouble, the princes were filled with indignation and were willing to serve as vanguards. However, while on the march, they received news that the emperor had passed away. Now everyone became anxious.
Moreover, the news has been passed back to Luoyi, the beacon fire has been lit, and the princes from all over the country are raising troops to support the king. As long as they can delay the Chu army in Yingdi and Kangdi, and wait until all the troops from all over the world arrive to support the king, Xiong Dun will certainly withdraw his troops directly. He does not have the strength to compete with the troops from all over the world.
…
The coalition forces of the eastern princes have already stationed in Ying and Kang and started to set up defense lines along the mountains and rivers, blocking all routes that the Chu army can advance.
The Duke of Qi was a veteran who had fought in many battles, and Luo Su was confident in his military abilities.
He himself came to Luoyi with a guard. When the general guarding the city saw Luo Su, he seemed to have found his backbone and directly opened the city gate.
This is the advantage of having a high reputation. At critical moments, you will be the popular choice and can become a banner that gathers people's hearts.
Luo Su didn't waste any words and said directly: "Follow me to see the prince!"
The group came directly to the outside of the Crown Prince's Palace. Someone had already informed the Crown Prince that Luo Hou was here to see him. When the Crown Prince heard that his teacher had come, he immediately ran out of the palace and cried, "Teacher!"
Luo Su comforted him, "Don't worry, Prince. Zhou is blessed by God. If you light the beacon, the princes from all directions will surely come to help. The country will be as stable as mountains and rivers!
Now the Marquis of Qi and the Duke of Song have led the army to station in Yingkang, south of Luoyi. The Chu bandit Xiong Dun cannot enter the royal capital, and when the army arrives, they will surely be able to win in one fell swoop.
The key now is that the crown prince needs to supervise the country, otherwise, when the princes of various countries come to Luoyi to defend the king, who will take charge of the overall situation?"
In fact, the most correct thing to do now is to directly announce Ji Xi's accession to the throne, but he cannot do this because many princes have not arrived yet. If he supports him alone now, he will be putting himself on the fire. Besides, he is Marquis of Luo, one of the most honorable princes in the entire Zhou Dynasty. He does not need to rely on the mere merit of being supported to strengthen his country.
Fortunately, Ji Xi is different from Ji Yun. Ji Yun was only eight years old at the time and was totally incapable of ruling the world. But Ji Xi is at least fifteen years old. After years of education, in Luo Su's opinion, he is much better than his father and can be called a dog father and a tiger son.
Normally, the appointment of the crown prince as regent was authorized by the emperor, but now it was impossible for Luo Su to go to the underworld to ask Ji Wan to issue an order. Fortunately, King Su had established a fairly complete set of etiquette regulations for the Zhou Dynasty.
For such a top priority matter as the succession to the throne, it is naturally written about in great detail, and solutions can be found for all kinds of situations.
Luo Su found out the current situation and quickly completed the ceremony of supervising the country under the witness of Luoyi nobles and the army.
As the only important official in Luoyi at present, Luo Su naturally took on all the power and began to arrange work.
The first and most important thing is to count the amount of property, food, weapons, armor, and horses currently in the Luoyi treasury. These supplies will be the most important things when the subsequent army arrives to support the king.
Secondly, we must re-draw those nobles who did not go to the expedition from the vassal states directly under the emperor. The losses this time must have been extremely heavy, and we don't know how many troops can escape back. We must restore the military strength of the royal capital to a certain level before the army returns triumphantly.
The Xia and Shang dynasties lasted for six hundred years, but the Zhou Dynasty encountered such a serious disaster less than a hundred years after its establishment. How could the world be maintained in the future?
————
Jie of Xia, Zhou of Shang and Li of Zhou all abandoned the title of emperor and called themselves tyrants.
These three evils harmed the world, and there were many evildoers among them, so Heaven brought disaster upon them, and they were destroyed for all eternity, serving as a warning to the Yin Dynasty. - "Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Zhou"
I have never heard of regicide, but I have heard of the execution of a tyrant, Zhou.
(End of this chapter)
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