A waning moon and a lonely star.
At the pitch-black northern foothills of Jiaoshan Mountain, the Qi army quickly gathered their tents from inside to outside, and opened the northwest door wide. Soldiers in black armor poured out like a tide and quickly retreated to the northwest in an orderly manner.
Dense sentinels kept returning to the Allied camp.
"The Qi army has indeed retreated."
The arrangement was extremely cautious, from inside to outside. If they hadn't specially sent people to the top of Jiaoshan Mountain to have a distant view, it would probably have been discovered last.
The more this happened, the more certain the princes were that the King of Qi was seriously injured or killed in battle.
"God help me!"
Zhou Hong laughed loudly: "Everyone, we need to march in and chase them immediately."
"Indeed."
Prince An glanced at Prince Ji, Wang Ji and others. The two men did not speak to him, but stood up.
The army was ready to go. Everyone hurried out of the tent and mounted their horses: "Pass the order! Abandon the baggage and move forward at full speed!"
…
"My lord, the allied forces have left the camp, abandoned their baggage, and are on a fast march to pursue us."
Wei Jing was wearing a captain's armor, with his face painted black, making him inconspicuous. When he heard Han Xi's low report, he curled his lips and smiled, "Very good."
"Pass the order and act according to the plan."
Wei Jing's order was quietly conveyed, and all the generals calmly prepared for battle. The highly disciplined Southern Army was retreating rapidly and orderly towards Fuchang.
In the dark night, the only sounds were the rapid thud of military boots hitting the ground and the sound of horse hooves, and the sound waves like the sea tide, surging towards the northwest.
But soon, there was another new wave of sound, louder and more rapid. It was vague at first, but became clearer and clearer, almost covering up the previous one like a muffled thunder.
The messenger rode his horse and galloped around: "Send the order to the lord, abandon the baggage and move forward at full speed! Abandon the baggage and move forward at full speed!"
After throwing away the baggage, the speed of the Qi army immediately increased greatly, but it was too late. When they reached Fuchang, they were caught up and had to retreat while fighting.
“Zheng, zheng, zheng!”
There were several consecutive sounds of swords being drawn, and King An, King Zhou, King Hong, King Ji, and others issued an order: "Soldiers, attack with all your strength!"
"Charge! Kill!"
Drums and gongs sounded, shouts thundered, the allied forces were filled with fighting spirit and charged towards the enemy's rear like a tide.
There were the sounds of weapons clashing, shouts, blood splattering, and a strong smell. Compared with the high-spirited allied forces, the Qi army that was being pursued was obviously more depressed. They had no desire to continue fighting and kept fighting while retreating, quickly retreating all the way towards the rear pass.
"We can't let the Qi army retreat back to the pass!"
The allied forces pursued quickly and finally stopped the Qi army when they were approaching the southern foot of Qiling Mountain. The Qi army had to turn back to fight.
Prince An rode his horse up a slope and looked out at the fierce battle between the Qi army and could vaguely see in the darkness that their formation was somewhat disorganized. He raised his lip.
finally.
Today he finally annihilated the main force of this mortal enemy.
It is even possible that Wei Jing had been shot to death.
Unfortunately, Prince An's laughter did not last long. About an hour later, there was a commotion far behind and a huge fire was seen in the distance.
"What's going on?!"
An Prince An's heartbeat quickened as he suddenly felt an ominous premonition. At this moment, a sentry rushed in and said, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"
"A large group of enemy troops suddenly appeared at Junqiu and attacked with rocket arrays!"
Prince An was horrified: "What did you say?!"
…
Unknowingly, the Allied forces had fallen into a slightly concave encirclement. Ambushes from all sides quietly took place, and when the agreed time arrived, the disorganized Qi army suddenly changed its formation, reversed its downward trend, and launched a fierce counterattack.
The Allied forces were immediately thrown into chaos.
Not every force is fortunate enough to experience this kind of war. For example, the soldiers of the small and medium-sized forces in Bingzhou had never seen such a battle. Their morale was disrupted and they were immediately defeated. They were completely unable to resist the attack of the fierce enemy.
Fortunately, Prince Ji, Prince An, Wang Ji, Zhou Hong and others had seen many big scenes before. They were extremely shocked and furious. They immediately came to their senses and cursed Prince Qi for his treachery, but they had to immediately release signal arrows and quickly find a weaker position to break through.
Shrouded in the pitch-black night, people roared, horses neighed, and screams and cries were heard everywhere.
Wei Jing was high up, looking down.
Ji Huan stood beside him, stroking his beard: "After this battle, the allied forces suffered a great setback, and they also harbored resentment towards each other."
The allied forces numbered as many as 800,000, and neither Wei Jing nor Ji Huan thought of wiping them all out in one go.
But after this battle, the princes, big and small, may never be able to go back to the way they were before.
After fighting for a month and a half, a breakthrough was finally made.
…
With smoke billowing and blood filling the air, the fierce battle on the southern slope of Qiling Mountain lasted until noon of the next day, when the Allied forces finally broke out of the encirclement.
Wei Jing ordered a pursuit, and Prince An Zhou Hong and his troops ran for nearly a hundred miles before they managed to get back to the camp and stay there without going out.
They came with high morale, but returned in defeat. After a fierce battle, countless people were killed and wounded, and the Allied soldiers killed and annihilated as many as 200,000 surrendered soldiers. The soldiers were still in shock, and their cries and howls were endless.
"Didn't you say that the King of Qi must be seriously injured and dying? If this pursuit goes smoothly, we can wipe out his main force in one fell swoop?!"
Prince Ji's fair face was stained with blood, his hair was standing on end with rage, and he jumped off his horse and immediately pointed at Prince An and started cursing.
"What's going on now? Huh?!"
This is actually an excuse.
Chasing after the Qi army was a decision agreed upon by everyone, and this was not what made Prince Ji so angry.
In this ambush, Prince Ji suffered the most serious losses except for the small and medium-sized princes in Bingzhou. A rough estimate is that he lost as many as 80,000 to 100,000 soldiers.
He was unlucky as he was on the periphery when the unexpected incident occurred and was forced to serve as a forward during the emergency breakout. Prince An and Zhou Hong, who were on the left, saw that the situation was not good and immediately gathered their troops and retreated behind him.
How could Prince Ji not be angry?
There was no room for internal strife on the battlefield, and Prince Ji gritted his teeth and endured it, but this time the camp immediately erupted.
He was not a good-tempered person to begin with, and he had never had a good impression of Prince An. He was so angry that he kept shouting at him.
This scene unexpectedly coincided with some old events. The domineering Third Prince from the past flashed before his eyes, and Prince An's expression immediately became gloomy.
"Your Highness, please calm down."
The person who spoke was Zhou Hong. He knew the reason why Prince Ji was furious. He knew that his side was indeed being a little unkind, so he quickly tried to smooth things over.
"The pursuit was a plan we all agreed on. How can you blame Zhonghe alone?"
Some things are better left unsaid, and this is the only way to deal with them. If the powerful enemy is still there, the Allies cannot afford to fall apart first.
Prince Ji also knew this, and he suppressed his anger. He didn't look at Zhou Hong, but glanced at Prince An, snorted angrily, and walked away with a flick of his sleeves.
Parted on bad terms.
But they had to meet again. After all, in addition to treating the wounded, counting the soldiers and other follow-up work, the Allies still had a very important thing to do.
Discuss relocating the camp.
The reason why they refused to move was that the plain was not conducive to defense and their side had a great advantage in numbers, so this disadvantage belonged to Wei Jing.
But now the situation is different. After losing 200,000 soldiers and generals, their numerical advantage is gone. Facing Wei Jing's army, which is strong and swift in attack and defense, they will suffer a great loss if they continue to camp on the plain.
"The terrain in the Fuchang area is complex, with mountains and rivers as a base, and it is also good for defense and attack."
On the battlefield, advantages and disadvantages can change at any time. For example, in Fuchang, it doesn’t matter whether Wei Jing goes there or not now. Instead, the allied forces need this place with geographical advantages more.
In the central army tent, the princes who had hurriedly cleaned up came back. There used to be 17 seats, but now there are only 16. The atmosphere is heavy and everyone is preparing to discuss.
The Fuchang area was indeed very suitable, and we selected a location close to the mountains and water as the new camping site, and that was decided.
Zhou Hong was in the wrong earlier, and seeing that Prince Ji's face was still cold, he smiled and said, "What do you think, Prince Ji?"
"Nothing."
Prince Ji didn't object just now, which means he agreed, but this doesn't mean he will be nice to Zhou Hong. After a rough count, it was found that over 90,000 soldiers were killed or wounded, and Yang Shu was also seriously injured by a stray arrow.
His rage grew even stronger. He stood up and went to check on Yang Shu.
Zhou Hong was embarrassed.
After all, he is a separatist figure. After being ignored again and again, his face became grim.
Black turned blue, blue turned black, and he snorted coldly.
It has to be said that due to the different degrees of damage to the troops, the internal situation of the allied forces was almost the same as Wei Jing had expected.
Prince An, Zhou Hong and others also knew it, but since it involved their own interests, the rift was there and even if they could continue to laugh and smile afterwards, they could never go back to the way they were before.
"This won't work."
Prince An frowned.
He is now in Zhou Hong's tent, with two people sitting at the top, and below them are ministers and generals from both sides. Before the coalition, they were allies, with a closer relationship and frequent meetings and private discussions.
"Now the difference in military strength is almost there. It will be difficult to defeat the King of Qi."
In fact, this is a euphemism. You must know that after the 800,000-strong army fought for half a month, Wei Jingdu still did not fall into a disadvantage.
At that time, the Allied forces were united and had the advantage in numbers.
Now that the numerical advantage is gone, morale has been severely hit after a major defeat. The most crucial thing is that the princes can no longer be as close as before.
Zhou Hong frowned and said, "In this case, why don't we adopt the second strategy immediately."
Before King An sent envoys to lobby for an alliance, he informed Zhou Hong first. In fact, both of them were initiators of the alliance.
They were extremely wary of Wei Jing, and while waiting for the princes' responses, they discussed it privately more than once.
Where to deploy the troops? Where to attack? How to attack when the army is much stronger than that of King Qi? What if the numerical advantage is weakened? What if you unfortunately fall into a disadvantage?
This was such a crucial battle that the two of them had considered many possible situations.
Among them, some had their numerical advantage eliminated and were forced to move their camp to Fuchang.
Zhou Hong lowered his voice and said, "If we use Dongyukou, we will be able to inflict heavy damage on King Qi."
Zhou Hong, whose ancestors were from Yuzhou, had actually coveted the two states of Yan and Yu for a long time. He also tried to cross the Yellow River to the south and divide the battlefield into three parts, but unfortunately it did not go well.
This covetousness directly led to his extreme familiarity with the terrain of Yu and Yan states. This route of advance was actually proposed by him. No matter how the battle situation changes, they can rely on the geographical advantages.
Later, he and Prince An sent people to survey the terrain in the Fuchang area, and accidentally discovered a very hidden terrain that was very conducive to ambushing the enemy.
Dongyukou is shaped like a tiger's mouth, which is easy to enter but difficult to exit. The slightly concave inside is conducive to tung oil fire attack. But the mountains outside are gentle and the vegetation is lush, so it is not noticeable at all.
It is indeed a very good ambush location, and the area outside is suitable for deploying troops as a battlefield. The left wing is naturally in a slightly lower position, which is an inconspicuous flaw and also a bait. The enemy will inevitably use this as a breakthrough point. Once properly guided after the battle begins, the enemy will fall into danger.
Although not all of the 500,000 troops can enter, at least half of them can. By then, they can use tung oil and fire to cause chaos in the enemy, and take the opportunity to encircle and annihilate them, and surely they will be defeated.
Our side won a great victory, and our numerical advantage was once again highlighted.
The battle strategy has been discussed several times and the terrain has been secretly surveyed many times. It is indeed very good, but now there is a problem.
Chen Ang asked: "Who is on the left wing?"
Who is the bait?
Everyone knows how brave the Qi army is. The bait will surely suffer heavy losses if it is attacked by the vanguard with all its strength.
Everyone in the middle tent looked at each other with difficulty. Sacrifice themselves for the greater good? I'm afraid it's impossible for anyone to agree to this.
Guo Huai's expression became serious: "Now, this strategy is only known to you all."
Prince An and Zhou Hong would naturally not be baits, which meant that they would keep it secret and just choose one person to put up.
Why one?
Aren’t the small and medium-sized princes in Bingzhou okay?
It really doesn't work. After the previous defeat, the strength of the princes of Bingzhou, both large and small, was greatly reduced. Now there are only tens of thousands of people left. It is impossible to use them as bait.
Either Wang Ji or Wang Ji.
Wei Xu raised his eyebrows slightly.
But Zhou Hong's brows were cold: "Prince Ji."
Prince Ji was a descendant of a noble family and had confidence, but he was not as smooth as Wang Ji. Moreover, he and Zhou Hong had already developed a rift before the move.
Prince An frowned: "This..."
Prince An abandoned his wife and fled, but after arriving in Jizhou, he always created the appearance that he was not with his wife at the time and could not rescue her. He also kept sending people to sneak into Luojing to wait for an opportunity to rescue him. He felt painfully guilty and tried hard to restore his image.
I have to say, his acting skills are really good.
Zhou Hong advised: "You treat him as your brother, how can he be like you? Scolding him wantonly is not what brothers do."
Zhou Hong advised him, and so did his ministers and generals. In addition to Wei Xu, Chen Ang, Xu Cang and a few others, Guo Huai and others also tried their best to persuade Prince An.
After struggling, Prince An finally nodded.
"Just follow what Brother Zhou said."
…
Then they discussed the details, and after they had thoroughly discussed it, everyone dispersed with great spirits.
King An led his ministers back to his own tent.
After everyone took their seats, the slightly heavy expression on his face immediately faded, his brows turned cold, and he called for his trusted guards in a deep voice.
"Send a letter to Chu Zhu immediately and ask him to... This matter is extremely important and must be facilitated!"
The personal guards did not dare to stand too forward. Although Prince An spoke in a whisper, his voice was a little loud. Not only could Wei Xu who was nearby hear it, but even Guo Huai, Xu Cang and others below could vaguely hear it.
Wei Xu looked normal. He took the tea offered by the boy, glanced at Prince An Zhou Hong, lowered his eyes and took a sip.
However, a huge wave was rising in Xu Cang's heart.
Chu Zhu?
Isn’t this the first counselor under Prince Ji?
It turned out that he was Prince An's man.
In fact, when he was at Zhou Hong's place just now, he had some doubts. Prince Ji might not take his position obediently. After all, even if he didn't know about Dongyukou, the position was not very good.
I see.
In this way, the design has a high chance of being successful.
He had mixed feelings.
Five years ago, or even two years ago, he never thought that he would face off against his former team like this.
Is it God’s will?
In fact, he was more nostalgic for the days when the Northern Army fought recklessly, but unfortunately, times have changed.
I thought of Wei Jing, and also of the dead and surviving clan members.
Xu Cang quietly tightened his hands on his side and closed his eyes.
…
Qi army camp.
The afterglow of the great victory was still there, and the ordinary soldiers were still discussing enthusiastically, but the central army tent was brightly lit, discussing the next step of the battle strategy.
After Wei Jing read the report, he passed it to everyone to circulate. Zhang Yong clapped his hands and said, "These princes are indeed arguing."
From Prince Ji, Prince An and Zhou Hong to the small and medium-sized princes in Bingzhou who suffered heavy losses, all had complaints to varying degrees.
Ji Huan stroked his beard and said, "Excellent."
He looked at Wei Jing: "Lord, we can proceed to the next step."
Weaken the Allied forces, causing them to harbor resentment and become disunited, which would lead to their weaknesses becoming apparent.
Even now, Wei Jing can make one himself.
He said slowly: "Chu Zhu."
Chu Zhu, the hidden chess piece placed by Prince An next to Prince Ji.
Wei Jing has not been deployed since the war began, and now is the best time.
I wonder what Prince Ji felt when he learned that his first strategist, whom he had trusted for many years, turned out to be a spy for others?
Zhang Yong laughed loudly: "See if Prince Ji can continue to form an alliance with Prince An?"
Everyone looked at each other and laughed in unison.
In fact, there is no need for any strategy to expose Chu Zhu. Any strategy would be enough to shock Prince Ji.
However, in order to make it easier for Prince Ji to take any action, Wei Jing decided to reveal it in a low-key manner and not make it public.
After a brief discussion, the matter was settled.
The advantage of the battle gradually shifted to their side. The emotions of the people were high and everyone was mocking Prince Ji.
Wei Jing smiled and was very indulgent. When it was almost done, he raised his hand to suppress it.
Just when I was about to tell everyone to disperse and rest, I heard a burst of hurried footsteps approaching.
It’s Fan Qing.
"My Lord, there is a letter!"
An unfamiliar letter was delivered to the camp gate when Fan Qing happened to be patrolling the camp. He had received a similar letter in Jingzhou before. When he glanced at the familiar handwriting, he was startled and immediately ran to report.
"Your Highness Wei, please."
The brushstrokes are broad, vigorous and powerful, showing through the back of the paper. Even the casual strokes of the brush bring out the momentum of bending gold and breaking iron.
It was indeed a familiar letter. The handwriting and the address were exactly the same as the anonymous letter that informed Wei Jing that his identity had been exposed.
Ji Huan and others looked solemn. Wei Jing raised his eyebrows slightly and opened the letter which didn't even have a wax seal.
"Set up an ambush at Dongyukou, use tung oil as fire, and use Prince Ji as bait?"
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