Chapter 88: Xiang Ci of Chu, Dies for His King
While people in the Central Plains were restless, the Chu and Wu states were fighting madly on the Hanyang Plain, with white knives in and red knives out.
On the surface, this war was very chaotic, but the goals of Qingji and Sun Wu were very clear. This was the only way to win quickly that Sun Wu had studied for many years.
"If we go upstream from the Yangtze River, we will definitely be blocked by the State of Chu. We have no guarantee of victory. We can only win by taking the Xinyang Passage. However, the key is to hold the elite main force of the State of Chu on the Hanyang Plain."
This was the war plan formulated by Sun Wu, but the development of the war situation soon exceeded everyone's expectations. The State of Wu originally just wanted to contain the main force of the State of Chu on the Hanyang Plain.
However, they did not expect that the general of Chu was too stupid. Thanks to Sun Wu's planning, Qingji, who was wearing three layers of heavy armor, was too brave and beheaded the Chu generals one after another. As a result, the Wu army won victory after victory.
If Chen had not been so effective in harassing Ying, Wu would have been hard-pressed to keep up with its food supplies and might even have been able to push all the way to the Han River.
In the end, the two armies temporarily confronted each other. The State of Chu was slightly relieved, and the State of Chen was even more proud that it was able to interfere in the disputes between big countries with its small territory.
Sun Wu's eyes were filled with chill, "Your Majesty, Chen State is harassing us. It is no longer realistic to fight a war with Chu State in Hanyang.
We still have to follow the previous strategy, take the Xinyang channel and head straight for Yingdu.
The primary goal is to capture the nobles of Chu, the secondary goal is to destroy their land as much as possible, and the third goal is to abduct the people of Chu."
Qingji nodded in agreement. The king and his minister had never thought that they could take the Jianghan Plain into their possession. Previously, they had expected to take the boundary along the Yingshui River and the Dabie Mountains, but now there might be a chance to block the State of Chu to the west of the Han River again.
After the plan was made, the wise and brave king and his ministers began to implement it directly. The Chu army realized the situation belatedly and reported to Yingdu only long after they had lost sight of the Wu army.
Yingdu.
The war with the State of Wu in recent days has been beyond everyone's expectations. Now the entire State of Chu is filled with a restless atmosphere and a sense of panic and uneasiness.
"Wu State is not planning to directly attack Yingdu?"
"How is this possible? On the Yangtze River, the advantage of our Chu's ships is far beyond the reach of Wu."
But when the Wu army suddenly appeared in Xinyang and defeated the last elite troops of Chu, the nobles in Yingdu suddenly panicked.
Almost all the nobles of the entire Chu State gathered in the royal palace's meeting hall, and everyone felt that a catastrophe was about to befall them.
The Queen Mother's face was filled with anxiety and fear. She was a very beautiful woman, but in war, such beauty could only be a disaster.
At this time Xiang Ci stood up. He was the grandson of Xiang Cheng, and Xiang Cheng was the former prime minister.
He looked at the panicked Chu nobles with great disappointment and said sternly, "Be quiet, and stop making noise!
It's just a small failure, is it worth getting so panicked?
During the Battle of Yanling, all the Chu troops were wiped out in the Central Plains. Isn't Chu still so prosperous now?
Wu is not Luo, King Su will not bless him!
The Supreme Taiyi is in the sky, and the people of Chu will never surrender!"
The Xiang family already had a very high prestige in the State of Chu and were close relatives of the royal family. The key point was that when everyone was in a panic, Xiang Ci's appearance made people feel very reassured.
The current King of Chu is just a child of seven or eight years old. The regent is the Queen Mother, and the prime minister is Jing.
Guo Bi was very dissatisfied with Xiang Ci's performance and wanted to explode immediately. The characteristic of a fool is that even if the sky is about to fall, he will still fight among himself.
Fortunately, the Queen Mother spoke first. She was a woman without her own opinions or abilities, and became a widow at a young age.
Seeing Xiang Ci's heroic spirit, he felt relieved and couldn't help but ask with joy: "Does Xiang Ci have any good plan to repel the enemy?"
"A good idea?"
Xiang Ci sighed and said, "The Wu Kingdom has been planning for a long time and is heading for Yingdu.
If we had been able to fight the State of Wu to a draw in Hanyang before, or if we had been able to stop the Wu army in Xinyang, we could still negotiate now.
But after being defeated on the battlefield, do you still expect to drive the enemy away with words?
If the Xiang family's ancestors were still alive hundreds of years ago, they might have been able to do it with the blessing of the Su King, but now it's just a dream."
Unless it is a country that is far away and must pay compensation, what you cannot get on the battlefield, you cannot get at the negotiation table either.
Xiang Ci's words caused the glimmer of hope that had just risen in the hall to fall again, but Xiang Ci did not despair. He looked at everyone in the palace.
He closed his eyes slightly, his grandfather's sincere teachings in his mind, he opened his eyes and said loudly: "Although we have suffered a failure now, this is only the success of Wu's tactics.
The State of Chu was still a behemoth that the State of Wu could not reach. The population and land in the Jianghan Plain and the Nanyang Basin were still there. It was only because of some incompetent people that it failed.
The only thing Chu can do now is to reduce the losses caused by the capture of Yingdu. I ask the Queen Mother and the King to retreat to Qin.
Qin and Chu are in a relationship of mutual dependence, so they can certainly ask Qin to send troops. As long as the royal family is still there, all the troops from all over Chu can be transferred to the royal capital.
By then, the State of Wu will not fight with us between the Jianghan Plain and the Nanyang Basin.
Jin, Luo, and Qi have a peace alliance, so Wu cannot be a match for the coalition forces. We can still fight on the Hanyang Plain."
Xiang Ci paused, stared at Queen Mother Wang and said resolutely: "Queen Mother Wang, we can't stay in the capital now.
You must flee immediately with the king and the nobles. If they fall into the hands of Wu, then Chu will be seriously damaged this time.
How can they compete with Jin, Qi and Luo for the position of overlord of the world?
As for the Wu army, I will leave it to you to cover their retreat."
Cut off the rear!
Now using the troops in and around the royal capital to block the Wu army, it is nothing more than seeking death.
His tone was sonorous and powerful, as if he was not going to die, but to attend a banquet. The Queen Mother looked at him with a glittering look in her beautiful eyes. She regretted not using Xiang Ci earlier, so she said softly: "Xiang Qing, no, you are the pillar of Chu. If Chu loses you, what will happen next?
Let others handle the aftermath."
Xiang Ci sighed and said, "Queen Mother, Your Majesty.
It has been more than two hundred years since our ancestor Luo Yan entered Chu and the previous king granted the Luo family the fiefdom of Xiang. How much favor has the Xiang family received from the previous kings?
Now it’s just a matter of returning all these things.
I have made up my mind. Please take the king with you and immediately retreat from the Yangtze River to Bashu and then go to Qin.
If we encounter the Jin army breaking the alliance while crossing the Han River, then everything will be over.
The other nobles took the route via the Han River. The State of Jin would not target the small nobles, so they were safe.
I hope I will still be alive when you return with Qin's reinforcements."
Qin and Chu opened up Bashu in order to enable the two countries to exchange what they had. Unexpectedly, the first time it was used was when the royal family of Chu was escaping.
The Queen Mother walked down the hall, held my hand and cried, "It was only when the country was in danger that I realized your loyalty. This is my fault. I will confer you the title of Ling Yin. This is the only thing I can do. Please take care of yourself, Prime Minister."
Xiang Ci bowed slightly to the Queen Mother, then his eyes fell on the young King of Chu. He took a few steps forward, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"Your Majesty, I bow to thank the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."
In the palace hall of the State of Chu, all the ministers were silent, and only Xiang Ci's voice was heard.
He bowed slightly, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying that he was willing to die and exchange his life for the king's life. The sun shone into the hall, fell on his body, and dyed it with a layer of golden light.
This scene fell into the eyes of the young King of Chu sitting on the throne. For a moment, he seemed to see the sun.
The heroic figure was deeply engraved in his mind, very warm. He whispered softly, no one heard, "Xiang, Xiang."
Xiang Ci was quick in execution. After the Queen Mother gave him the position of Prime Minister of Chu, he prepared the first list of nobles to flee without any delay.
There were also a large number of elite soldiers in the royal capital, all of whom rushed out to protect these nobles. Batches of nobles left Yingdu in an orderly manner.
He himself took a lot of military forces left behind by various families and began to deploy them along the Yangtze and Han rivers, preparing to fight against Sun Wu.
He knew that he was no match for Sun Wu, a man who was able to defeat the State of Chu by relying on the power of the State of Wu. He was a rare war god, but Xiang Ci was not afraid.
“Your Majesty, the Most High and Most Exalted King, you see, the descendants of the Xiang family are no worse than the relatives of the Luo Kingdom.
Even without your blessing, the Xiang family can still be loyal to the royal family, and the Xiang family can still bless the eternal prosperity of the Chu State. "
Xiang Ci looked at the busy Yingdu and said secretly in his heart.
The development of things is not subject to human will. Xiang Ci was much stronger than the previous Chu generals and indeed caused great trouble to Sun Wu.
However, after such a long war between Wu and Chu and the loss of a large number of elite troops, the offensive and defensive situations between the two countries had already changed.
Facing a super military master like Sun Wu, only a completely unreasonable military leader like Xiong Dun could possibly crack Sun Wu's perfect strategic plan directly from a tactical perspective.
It was obvious that Xiang Ci did not have this ability, especially when the nobles retreated and took away a large number of elite troops, the gate of Yingdu was shattered.
"Decades of accumulation were destroyed in one defeat. The next revival of Chu will not be seen."
Xiang Ci was unwilling to surrender, so Qingji killed him personally. After killing Xiang Ci, Qingji was somewhat emotional, "Among all the Luo clans, the Xiang clan has the most loyal and upright style. The royal family of Ying State cannot compare to the Xiang clan at all."
Sun Wu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the upper class nobles in Yingdu have all fled, and it seems that our biggest goal cannot be achieved.
But they left in a hurry, and countless wealth was left here.
I'm afraid Chu has gone to Qin to ask for help. We don't have much time."
…
The impact of the Wu-Chu War was enormous. In the third volume, the editor proposed that the iron curtain between the Ji-Jiang Alliance and the Ying-Mi Alliance had completely fallen, and two major military groups had been completely formed.
The two sides confronted each other in the areas of Qiaohan and Yanling. After the Battle of Yiluo, Jin ceded land to Qin and Chu. The Ying Mi Alliance gained advantages in the Wei River Plain, Nanyang Basin, and Hanyang Plain. However, the sudden rise of Wu and the rapid war redefined the spheres of influence between the two sides, and the front line of confrontation between the two sides was pushed to the Yingshui area.
This kind of rise and fall between the two sides dominated the next hundred years, especially having a great impact on people's thinking. The individual fights between countries completely disappeared, and the idea of no war without alliances was implemented in everyone, with far-reaching influence. ——"Global History of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Volume 4"
(End of this chapter)
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