The arrival of Zhao Kai put tremendous pressure on Xi Chu. The offensive that had been steadily advancing on the east and west fronts stopped instantly. Even Kou Jianghuai, who liked to cause trouble, suddenly became quiet and made no further moves. Apparently, he was driven by Zhao Kai.
Kai was frightened. Xue Zhong, who was also from Shangyin Academy, and Kou Jianghuai even had a shadow on Zhao Kai and did not dare to take it lightly.
Everyone is waiting for this prestigious king's next move. When the opponent's trump card is unclear, the most reasonable strategy is to remain unchanged in response to changes.
However, what surprised everyone was that after the new commander came to Guangling Road, he did not attack Western Chu. Instead, he commanded the army to attack the remnants of King Guangling. King Guangling was not a wise ruler, and the generals under his command were naturally not loyal.
When they got there, Zhao Kai issued several imperial edicts one after another, and these people surrendered without a fight.
With the addition of these people, Zhao Kai's army in Guangling has reached close to 150,000. However, there are many factions and cannot form much combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
Surprisingly, after wiping out the remaining forces of King Guangling, Zhao Kai was not in a hurry to launch an attack, but chose to set up camp on the spot. Apart from daily training and vigilance and sentry, Zhao Kai did not make any offensive moves at all.
Such a move made the entire Guangling Road suddenly quiet, and the two armies could be seen practicing separately across the Guangling River every day.
A few days later, a statue dozens of feet high was suddenly erected on the top of Wuling Peak outside Wuling City. What was surprising was that the person on the statue was not a heroic general or an emperor who was famous throughout the ages.
, but a strange and beautiful woman.
Her appearance also had the tranquility and gentleness of a Jiangnan woman. Then, a shocking news came out. The woman engraved on the statue was none other than the biological mother of today's emperor, a woman from Guangling Road. This statue is very special.
Most of them were carved by Zhao Kai himself. Immediately afterwards, Zhao Kai led countless people in Wuling City to hold a grand commemorative event.
Soon, everyone in Guangling Dao and even the whole world knew that Dang Tianzi’s biological mother came from Guangling Dao, and he had half of the blood of Guangling Dao in his body! It was even said to be the blood of Xi Chu, because when Zhao Kai was born
, Western Chu has not yet destroyed the country.
As soon as this news came out, there was an uproar in Western Chu. Even the morale of the military was a little unstable. The emperor is half one of our own, does that mean that half of Liyang belongs to Western Chu? Does that mean that,
Even if we are defeated, do we still have a way out? Even if we cannot defeat him, does the emperor still have an excuse to treat Xi Chu well?
For a time, even the people of Western Chu no longer hated Zhao Kai so much. They had heard before that when Zhao Kai ascended the throne, the empress and Cao Changqing went to Tai'an City to watch the ceremony. Zhao Kai not only did not rely on the strength of the crowd,
Instead of embarrassing Cao Changqing, he and the empress calmly drank a glass of wine and graciously let them leave.
Moreover, the first thing the emperor did after he ascended the throne was to directly get rid of Prince Guangling and his son who had oppressed them for many years. When the imperial commander personally went on the expedition, instead of using troops against Western Chu first, he first eliminated the remaining forces of Prince Guangling Zhao Yi.
Incidentally, when the people of Western Chu mentioned Zhao Kai, they couldn't help but give a thumbs up. Even the stubborn Western Chu party members did not say "dog" when they mentioned Zhao Kai in private.
The word "Emperor".
Zhao Kai's move can be said to be a blow to the bottom of the cauldron, and Cao Changqing couldn't help but give a thumbs up when he saw it. Soldiers can only exert their strong combat power by breaking the cauldron, but Zhao Kai's move is equivalent to giving them a
The second way is that even if you can't win, you can still live. The idea spreads among the army.
What's more, Zhao Kai's kindness is not just words, but real.
For a time, Xi Chu's policy also quietly changed. The previously captured soldiers were originally intended to be executed, but now they were inexplicably retained.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Xi Chu's morale is good now and he has won consecutive battles. But once he falls into a disadvantage or loses a battle, the result will be absolutely devastating. When he was in Shu, Zhao Kai could see Cao Changqing's wavering.
, not to mention other people.
Just because Zhao Kai didn't take action himself didn't mean he couldn't do anything. Three imperial edicts were issued one after another, one to Zhao Ying, King of Huainan, one to Zhao Xun, and one to Zhao Bing.
Soon, the three major vassal kings responded one after another. Zhao Ying personally led 10,000 cavalry south to meet with Zhao Kai. Zhao Xun took almost all the Qingzhou navy and half of the infantry to make possible plans at any time in the upper reaches of the Guangling River.
The situation of crossing the river.
The powerful Zhao Bing was even more ruthless. Although he did not take action personally, he also asked his most powerful general Wu Chongxuan to lead an army of 100,000 to press him step by step on the eastern front.
An army of up to 300,000 people gradually formed an encirclement on Western Chu, and carried out a comprehensive blockade in all aspects. As soon as Zhao Kai gave the order, they launched a general attack and took the capital of Western Chu, Shenhuang City, as quickly as possible.
I'm afraid this kind of scene only happened when Xu Xiao destroyed Chu, right?
However, what is surprising is that despite clearly having the advantage in military strength, Zhao Kai still did not rush to launch a general offensive. Instead, he only carried out small-scale battles on various fronts. At the same time, people kept shouting across the river every day, saying a lot of punishments.
Words from the heart.
These words may not be of much use to the veterans of Xichu, but they are definitely of great use to the young soldiers. After all, Xichu has been subjugated for twenty years, and most of these young people have only heard about Xichu from their parents.
Just brilliant.
In Wuling City, outside the emperor's camp, Lu Shengxiang, who was demoted to a general, was walking back and forth. He wanted to meet the emperor, but was blocked by soldiers.
Soon after, Zhang Bianguan, a military advisor, came out of the camp and bowed to him:
"General, Your Majesty is tired from traveling and traveling, and occasionally feels cold, so it is inconvenient to see you. Your Majesty has given orders, please do not act rashly, and everything can continue as usual."
"Military advisor, now is a great opportunity. As long as His Majesty gives the order and 300,000 troops surround Western Chu, even if Cao Changqing is extremely capable, he will still be defeated!"
Having led the army for many years, he really couldn't understand the emperor's layout and planning. At this time, Liyang had basically occupied the right location and people. It was the best time to launch a full-scale attack. If he launched an attack at this time, he would have at least a 70% to 80% chance of winning.
, the opportunity is really rare.
He didn't want to disobey the emperor's order, but just wanted to know the emperor's layout and plans. As one of the generals, he didn't want this battle to be fought unclearly.
Not only Lu Shengxiang, many generals have come to see the saint, and even several vassal kings have sent people to inquire, but without exception they were rejected. Zhao Kai did not explain to anyone, but
Let them calm down and focus on stability.
He even let the fledgling Zhang Bianguan and some young generals take charge of the army.
Lu Shengxiang left with a look of helplessness. If he were the general, he would have led his army to kill them long ago.
In fact, not only was he helpless, but Zhang Bianguan, as a military advisor, was also helpless, because a few days ago, Zhao Kai left secretly, and he didn't know where exactly he went. He was also a little bit embarrassed when he was asked to take charge of an army of 150,000 people.
Panic.
Just a few days ago, Zhao Kai was studying the sand table as usual, and then he received a letter. After receiving the letter, Zhao Kai's face suddenly changed, and after explaining something, he secretly left.
I don't know where I went, but I vaguely heard Zhao Kai saying something like, "We can fight the battle later, but it's better to coax the wife."