Chapter 175 Attack on Wei
Just half a year after conquering Han, the Qin army finished its rest and attacked Wei on the grounds that the King of Wei was disrespectful to the King of Qin.
The King of Wei was much tougher. He did not surrender directly, but was prepared to fight to the end and even asked for help from the State of Zhao.
The King of Wei said loudly in the capital of Wei: "In the past, King Huai of Zhou had only one city and was surrounded by the Qin army. He knew he would die but he refused to surrender.
He eventually died in battle. People all over the world missed him and said that the demise of the Zhou Dynasty was a transfer of destiny, not King Huai's fault.
How difficult is it for a king of a fallen country to receive such an evaluation?
Since I ascended the throne, the power of Wei has been declining, and the Qin army has repeatedly trampled on Wei's cities.
I am afraid that Wei would be in the same situation as Han today, but I want to be like King Huai of Zhou and be a king who died in battle."
When the messenger returned to the capital, he reported to the King of Wei: "Your Majesty, Zhao is fighting with Yan for land and is unable to rescue Wei."
After hearing what the messenger said, the King of Wei was not angry, but sighed deeply and said: "These foolish people, have they not heard the story of the lips and teeth being cold?
The Qin State is really going to take over the world."
That's right.
At this critical moment of national destruction and extinction, the various countries did not unite to fight against Qin, but instead were still fighting each other over territory.
The same thing happened when King Wu conquered King Zhou. The Shang nobles welcomed the Zhou army and wanted to use King Wu to get rid of King Zhou.
It turned out that what they welcomed was not a vicious dog, but a man-eating tiger.
…
Luo Ze met Han Fei. As they were in a hurry to escape, it would be a joke to take those heavy bamboo slips with him, so Han Fei did not bring all his books.
However, Luo Guo had been collecting books for thousands of years, so he was naturally prepared. He quickly summoned a group of palace ladies, and the books written by most of them were only tens of thousands of words.
Han Fei spoke and the palace maids took notes. They took turns. Han Fei kept speaking and the palace maids kept taking notes. The 100,000 words were quickly memorized.
Luo Ze listened at the side and nodded continuously. He had to say that Xunzi was not exaggerating at all. Han Fei was indeed the culmination of the Legalists, who perfectly combined law, magic and power to form a perfect closed loop of governance.
Almost all power is concentrated in the hands of one monarch.
Unfortunately, this theory has a fatal flaw, which is that it requires too high a talent from the ruler.
If the Marquis of Luo in history had not had the assistance of the royal family of Luo State and the blessing of the thousand-year-old kingly way, only the most outstanding family heads such as Duke Wen and Duke Xuan could have met the requirements.
Luo Ze smiled and said, "If you go to Qin, perhaps King Zheng of Qin will value you very much. These theories are what he wants."
Han Fei certainly knew what Luo Ze said, that among all the countries in the world, the Qin State was the one that could realize its ambitions the most. However, he was a prince of Han. Could he enter the government and overthrow the powerful Qin State?
Soon Han Fei didn't need to think about it anymore.
A junior general of the Qin State accidentally discovered the scrolls left by Han Fei while searching the entire city, and presented them to Wang Jian.
Wang Jian was amazed when he first read it, so he presented it to King Zheng of Qin. Han Fei's name then appeared in the eyes of King Zheng of Qin.
King Zheng of Qin spread the news to the world, asking Han Fei to go to Xianyang, Qin State, and reunite with the King of Han as soon as possible.
After some hesitation, Han Fei finally decided to go to Xianyang.
As a prince of the Kingdom of Han, all his wealth and glory come from his bloodline with the King of Han. He can't just watch him fall into danger without saving him.
Faced with Han Fei's choice, Luo Ze did not give much persuasion, but just sighed - knowing is easy, doing is difficult.
The monarchs described by Han Fei were perfect, but he himself could not live up to their expectations.
Han Fei could write the most brilliant political tactics in the world, but Luo Ze knew that Han Fei did not know how to play these tactics.
Such a person went to a place as dangerous as Qin.
I guess he will die there.
…
A raging fire burned above the battlefield. The entire sky was covered with smoke and dust. Countless corpses turned into ashes and disappeared with the flowing wind.
Wang Jian was riding on his horse and looking at the scene in front of him. The tragic battlefield scene could not suppress the joy on his face, and he even felt a little intoxicated.
"Wei's elite troops have been completely wiped out.
The Qin people went to Daliang.
Capture the King of Wei alive and bring him back to Xianyang. This is the great gift I offer to His Majesty."
Although Wang Jian was a general, he was much more tactful than Bai Qi, who would rather break than bend.
Before going to war, Qin Shi Huangdi was already calculating his birthday. Could there be a better birthday gift than a great victory?
After defeating the Wei army, Wang Jian led the Qin army to attack cities and besiege the cities of Wei.
It was like entering an empty land and the Wei army was unable to resist at all.
Seeing the bravery of the Qin army, the Wei nobles changed their strategy and chose to fortify their cities and hold their ground, relying on the strong cities in Wei to resist the Qin offensive.
Not only was the King of Wei stubborn, but the royal family of Wei was also stubborn. Those feudal lords also refused to go out and were unwilling to surrender to the Qin State.
All of a sudden, Wang Jian, who had been winning victory after victory, hit a snag and his progress slowed down abruptly.
After Wang Jian failed to capture the city after a long siege, he decided to find another way. First, he used a tactic commonly used by the Qin State, which was to bribe the spies in the city and force them to surrender the city directly.
This tactic has been proven to be effective time and time again, and it brings huge rewards at a very low cost.
The Qin State made huge profits, the spies made small profits, and the enemy countries suffered heavy losses.
With money paving the way, Wang Jian carefully observed the topography of Daliang City and found a less detailed feng shui map, but the river channel could still be seen on it.
Many people decided to attack with water, imitating the way Bai Qi, the Marquis of Wu'an, flooded Yan and submerged the cities of Wei.
The State of Wei naturally knew what happened back then, so they took precautions, but due to their limited strength, it was of no use.
Daliang City was the capital of the Wei State and had a large population, so the city had to be built near a water source.
Can a capital city be without a moat to protect it?
If you want a moat, there must be enough river water around it.
Moreover, when building a big city, the area around it must be flat. If the roads are too rugged and inconvenient for travel, it cannot become a capital.
All this created favorable conditions for water attack.
But this is not stupidity or not learning lessons, but it is necessary to do so.
If Wei had an army capable of fighting the Qin army in the field, or even an army that could come and go like the wind and raid the Qin army's civilians, would it still be worried about Qin's strategy of using water attack?
Wei State, Daliang City.
All the ministers and court officials looked worried. The Qin army had besieged the city for many days, and now they could not find any way to turn the situation around.
“Your Majesty, the Qin army has not attacked for half a month since the last siege.
I am worried that they are digging canals to bring water to the city."
The whole room was silent. In fact, the people of Wei knew the terrain of Daliang City much better than the people of Qin.
The walls of Daliang City are thickened, and the palaces and pavilions in the city are all located in relatively high places. In addition, when the new city was expanded, defensible areas were deliberately selected.
The King of Wei sighed and said, “Qin must be digging canals.
The soldiers and food supplies of Daliang City are enough to hold out for three years, but once the flood comes, everything will be gone in three months at most.
Sitting back and watching Qin dig canals is like waiting for death. What can you do?"
Is there any way?
Of course there is a way.
He led an elite force out of the city and killed all the farmers who were digging the ditches before Qin could react. This might slow down Qin's speed.
Then he asked for help from other countries and asked the Qin army to withdraw.
But Zhao refused Wei's request for help, so who else could come?
Luo and Qi?
When the Kingdom of Han was destroyed, the Kingdom of Luo did not react at all. Could it be that the Kingdom of Wei was the special one?
Finally, the King of Wei decided to send out his troops at night to try.
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. If the Qin generals are arrogant and fail to pay attention for a moment, the Wei army may disrupt the Qin camp.
Maybe we can achieve a big victory.
This idea makes sense, but unfortunately they met Wang Jian, a commander who has always been cautious.
Wang Jian has always been rigorous in leading troops and would never make such a low-level mistake.
The Wei army that came to harass left behind some corpses and then returned to Daliang city in disgrace.
Wang Jian did not order a pursuit. The Wei State could just open the city gates, and pursuing them would only kill a few more people, which would not have any impact on the overall situation.
Wang Jian just smiled and looked at the towering Daliang City, muttering: "It seems that Wei has learned of my plan, but has no ability to resist."
Since Wei had guessed it, Wang Jian no longer concealed it and started digging ditches with great fanfare. Unexpectedly, it produced unexpected results.
This speculation, which was originally only among the top leaders of the Wei State, suddenly became known to the entire Daliang City.
Not only did they know that Qin was preparing to divert water to flood the city, but also that the royal family's dispatch of troops had failed.
Flood!
What a terrifying word! Although no one in Daliang City had witnessed the tragic scene in Yan in the past, floods had always been seen in this era of abundant water.
There is a man-made flood right now, which will submerge the entire city of Daliang in a month or two.
The feeling of having a sword hanging over your head all the time, waiting for death, is truly an extreme torment.
Soon someone couldn't bear it anymore and started running around the city shouting, and then was captured directly.
In the past, Prince Li of Zhou devised a strategy to prevent the people from speaking out, which was more difficult than preventing a river from flooding. Now, the same strategy is being used.
However, although the people of the former Haojing City were speechless, at least they were not worried that the coalition forces of the princes outside the city would rush in and kill them.
The entire Daliang city finally exploded under heavy pressure!
The King of Wei never thought that there would come a day when he would be held hostage by his soldiers.
Many of the soldiers who followed the King of Wei were not afraid of death, but their families were in Daliang City. If one of them died, the whole family would die, and they had to watch helplessly.
This is too cruel for anyone, and they can only choose to betray their master in order to fight for a chance to survive.
The King of Wei looked at the longing eyes of everyone around him and knew that the situation was hopeless.
"Surrender!"
The King of Wei waved his hand weakly and ordered the soldiers to open the city and surrender.
(End of this chapter)
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