Wang Mang's life has been quite difficult recently, and he even regretted traveling through time again.
Under Liu Bowen's calculation, the Qin army did not directly start a war with the Bingnan princes, but pointed the finger at the Liang army in Yewang City. This also made Wang Mang and the Bingnan princes breathe a sigh of relief, but what happened next was a little strange.
It exceeded Wang Mang's expectations.
Wang Mang also knew that the alliance he formed was not strong. After all, no one knew the internal corruption better than him, but he did not expect that the alliance would be so fragile.
The Qin army hadn't even attacked yet, but just sent an envoy. In just a few words, all the conflicts within the alliance were brought out, and the alliance had even reached the point of falling apart.
Are you all pigs? Couldn't anyone see such an obvious plan to alienate someone?
It would be fine if the Qin Army's alienation tactics were extremely clever, but the key point is that the Qin Army's alienation tactics were not very clever, and their lobbying rhetoric was also extremely childish. It was nothing more than, 'My lord is the leader of the alliance and will never attack his allies.'
Willing to jointly govern Sizhou with the princes of the south, etc.
But even for such a childish lie, some princes are still willing to believe it.
Where is the brain?
What about IQ?
Wang Mang was also afraid that Qin Hao would use estrangement tactics, so he took precautions in advance. He and the four princes in the south gave many warnings, never believe anything the Qin envoy said, and must remember one thing:
The four counties of Bingnan are sandwiched between the Qin and Jin armies. The Qin army can only border Bingzhou by occupying Sizhou and Bingnan. Therefore, there is no room for relaxation between the princes of Bingnan and the Qin army...
Wang Mang said this truth more than once, but the princes of Bingnan were fooled by someone's two words, and they all turned a deaf ear.
What else can Wang Mang say about this?
MDZZ, FUCK!
Wang Mang was speechless to these pig teammates, but he had taken the initiative to find them after all, so even though he knew that these scumbags couldn't help him up at all, he could only continue to help him with tears in his eyes.
Oh, I feel so tired!
Wang Mang knew that the princes of Bingnan were not brainless, but Qin Hao's record was too terrible, and they had little confidence in him, so they comforted themselves by believing in Qin Hao's promise.
Wang Mang must build confidence in his allies, otherwise the coalition forces may be disbanded before the war begins. Naturally, the best way to build confidence is to win the war.
The Qin Army's northern front only had a total of 50,000 troops, while the Southern Allied Forces had a total of 150,000 troops, which was three times the strength of the Qin Army. So why did they have to wait for the Qin Army to take the initiative to attack?
Previously, Wang Mang wanted to wait for the Qin army to take the initiative to attack, and then use his superior troops to defend the city in order to consume the Qin army's vigor and strength.
However, the Qin army left the weak Bingnan Allied Forces alone and went to attack the Liang Army, which was obviously more difficult to attack. This also made many of Wang Mang's calculations useless. He could only guard the city gate and recruit and train the army.
, to improve the overall quality of the army as much as possible.
Now the Bingnan princes have completed their military expansion. There are 110,000 Bingnan coalition troops, plus 40,000 mercenaries, for a total of 150,000 troops.
All the supplies for the 40,000 mercenaries were naturally provided by the southern princes, and this was also a considerable expense.
If we join forces with the southern princes during the war, we will hold our noses and admit it, but if there is no war, it will be a waste to maintain an army of 40,000 people, which is a bit hard to accept.
Therefore, whether it was to build confidence in the southern princes or to make the 40,000 mercenaries worth their while, Wang Mang had to take the initiative to attack the Qin army.
Wang Mang spent a lot of effort to persuade the wavered princes to support him in sending troops again, but before sending troops, he found that there was not enough food and grass.
The foundation of the four Bingnan counties is too weak. It is natural for them to be short of food. It would be strange not to be short of food.
The consumption of food and grass during wartime is not the same as in peacetime, and the food and grass that supported the 150,000-strong army on the expedition could not be obtained even by the southern princes.
In desperation, Wang Mang could only borrow food from everywhere, but now the only princes who could lend food to Wang Mang were Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng from Jizhou.
Wang Mang had never been so aggrieved in his life. He said everything that should be said and what should not be said. Then he borrowed 50,000 stones of food and grass from Chen Zhang, but this was still not enough for an army of 150,000.
It's a drop in the bucket.
Forced to do so, Wang Mang could only imitate Zhang Jiao and Dong Zhuo and rely on massacring aristocratic families to raise food and grass, but his method was much more clever and did not bring him any infamy.
Wang Mang relied on a big drama he wrote and directed to accuse nearly half of the aristocratic families in Bingnan and Sizhou of being connected to the Qin Dynasty, and then used the name of his cheap brother Wang Shichong to confiscate and exterminate their families. It is no wonder that such aristocratic families are so strange.
to Wang Mang's head.
I have to say that the aristocratic families in this era are really unlucky. Zhang Jiao will destroy the aristocratic family whenever he needs something, Xiang Yu will destroy the aristocratic family, Dong Zhuo will also destroy the aristocratic family, and Qin Hao and Wang Mang will also use different methods to destroy the aristocratic family.
In short, no matter what is missing, as long as the family is destroyed, everything will be available.
In this way, Wang Mang finally collected more than a month's worth of military rations by borrowing money and raiding aristocratic families. Even if he was frugal, it could barely cover two months' expenses.
What about two months from now?
Wang Mang estimated that the plan to rescue Li Shimin would be over in two months. If it worked, he could borrow it from Liang Jun. If it didn't... he would have to leave it to fate.
After Wang Mang gathered the rations, he immediately launched an offensive against the Qin army, but he had to carefully consider the choice of his opponent.
Of the 50,000 Qin troops on the northern front, Su Dingfang led 30,000 to guard Hanoi, and Xue Rengui led 20,000 to guard Hedong.
Wang Mang was naturally very fond of these two famous generals of the Tang Dynasty, especially Xue Rengui, who was both civil and military, and was one of his favorite generals.
Although Su Dingfang is also an extremely powerful general, Wang Mang believes that Xue Rengui is more powerful, and he is not sure about dealing with an opponent like Xue Rengui, so he naturally leaves it to Chen Qingzhi to deal with him.
Wang Mang's attack on Qin was an all-out attack, using a total of 130,000 troops, leaving only 20,000 troops to guard Hanoi and Hedong.
Wang Mang personally led an army of 80,000 to attack Hanoi, and ordered Chen Qingzhi to lead an army of 40,000 to stop Xue Rengui in Hedong. After wiping out Su Dingfang, he concentrated his efforts on dealing with Xue Rengui.
Wang Mang knew that Xue Rengui was extremely powerful, but Chen Qingzhi didn't have many strong generals under his command, so he sent Ju Guuba to Chen Qingzhi to ensure nothing went wrong.
With an army of 80,000 on his side facing off against 20,000, Wang Mang felt there was no reason to lose. However, when the battle began, Wang Mang was stunned by Su Dingfang. He still overestimated his commanding ability.