The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 405: Battle of Yan and Zhao
As for the State of Qi that took advantage of the situation, it made the King of Yan so happy that he almost couldn't breathe.

If it weren't for the fact that your State of Qi had just formed an alliance with the State of Qin, and if it weren't for the fact that there was Qin's Hejian Land in between, I would have beaten you to a pulp!

You bastard Qi State, you dare to join forces with Zhao State to attack my Yan State? !

But now, King Xi of Yan is still in a state of panic.

Among the Three Kingdoms, Yan was the weakest, and now Zhao and Qi were attacking Yan together.

Although the Zhao army was small in number, their fighting power was strong. In addition, what Yan did last year was indeed excessive, which led to resentment among the Zhao people and high morale.

Li Mu and Le Cheng were both famous generals of the time, making it difficult for the State of Zhao to deal with them.

What's more, there is the State of Qi.

No matter how poorly the State of Qi prepared for war and how its soldiers had no will to fight, it was still a great power in the world after all. Most importantly, Qi was the mortal enemy of the State of Yan.

The people of Qi are willing to work hard to fight against the State of Yan.

The army was led by Tian Dan, a famous general of his time and an expert at dealing with the State of Yan.

The State of Qi sent out an army of 100,000 and attacked the State of Yan directly through Hejian.

For a time, fighting broke out on both sides of the Yishui River.

This time, King Xi of Yan gritted his teeth and led the army in person, otherwise he was afraid that he would not be able to hold the city.

After all, Zhao and Yan were coming at us with great momentum, and their strength far exceeded that of Yan.

Wu Sui is too important and must not be lost!

Now the correct decision made last year has been demonstrated once again. The lost territory has been recovered at all costs, and important cities such as Fangcheng, Wusui, and Wuyang have been taken back.

Wusui and Wuyang are located on the banks of the Yishui River, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. There is also a Great Wall built by the State of Yan over the years to guard against the State of Zhao and the State of Qi.

With such a big city in a strategic location, a defensive battle can be fought as long as there are no major mistakes.

There was also hatred between Zhao and Qi. Two years ago, Qi had Rao'an robbed by Pang Nuan of Zhao, and this hatred was not so easy to forget.

Although the two countries agreed to attack Yan together, it was completely impossible to expect them to work together.

Now Qi and Yan are not bordering each other, and the condition for Zhao to get Qi's help is that as long as Qi helps Zhao break through the Yishui defense line, Zhao will return Rao An.

Although Qi was willing to help at the invitation of Zhao and the covert instigation of Qin, it was impossible to get him to risk his life, and Qi never dared to fight to the death.

Li Mu and Le Cheng kept their eyes on Wuyang and Wusui, while Tian Dan kept his eyes on Yicheng.

Even though they are all famous generals of the time, they are still a little embarrassed now.

As King Xi of Yan was well prepared, the defense of Yan State was not only impregnable, but also extremely solid.

King Xi of Yan personally stationed himself in Wuyang, which was the lower capital of Yan State. It was connected to Wusui, and the two cities were only a few dozen miles apart.

Yan Chunjun and Crown Prince Yan Dan were sent to guard Yicheng, forming a support system between the north and the south.

The most important Wusui on the front line is defended by General Qu and General Taishudong who are both reliable and prestigious enough.

Fortify our defenses and clear the fields, and defend key points and large cities with all your might.

Moreover, King Xi of Yan issued a strict order that defense was allowed but not attack. Anyone who took the initiative to attack the city would be punished, regardless of whether they won or lost, or whether they were successful or not. This completely put an end to those who were greedy for merit and reckless advances, as well as the opponent's strategy of luring the enemy.

With the Great Wall and the Yishui River in between, Li Mu had no choice but to let his cavalry deploy without any maneuver.

If you attack without any intention and on purpose, you may be able to gain something.

But now the State of Yan has been well prepared and its defense is impeccable. King Xi of Yan is personally stationed at the border. There is nothing that can be done about it.

Li Mu even cursed loudly, "Damn Yan State, how come they are always so well-informed? It's obvious that their own actions were fast enough."

Le Cheng was also at a loss. Prince Xi of Yan had made it clear that he could only fight a hard and slow battle.

As for Tian Dan, although he liked to attack the State of Yan, he knew very well that he was not here to work for the State of Zhao, but to take advantage of the situation.

The gains must be greater than the losses, otherwise it is better not to fight.

Yicheng is defended by the Great Wall and relies on the dangerous Daqing River. Apart from anything else, how to cross the river is a problem.

So Tian Dan decisively set up camp on the other side of the river and temporarily confronted the Yan army. As for the next step, that depended on the Zhao State.

What a joke! How can I, the Great Qi, risk my life for your State of Zhao?

As for Qi, Zhao itself did not consider how useful they could be. It was already good enough that they could tie down the forces of Yan army.

The real main force and tough battles still have to rely on Zhao itself.

Even though Li Mu and Le Cheng were both famous generals of the time and led soldiers of far superior quality than the Yan army, they were still at a loss. They tried every possible way in the military tent, but still could not come up with a good solution.

After all, Yan's defense system has great geographical advantages, and with King Xi of Yan personally in charge, it is equivalent to having the support of people.

Even though it was just a defense, King Xi of Yan still fully utilized the advantage of his large numbers and raised an army of 250,000.

The art of war says: If you have ten of your number, surround them; if you have five of your number, attack them; if you have twice your number, fight them; if you are your enemy, divide them; if you are fewer than them, defend against them; if you are not as good as them, avoid them.

If you want to attack a big city, it is definitely not suitable to attack by force without more than five times the number of troops.

The coalition forces of the two countries seemed to have more than 200,000 troops, but in reality, Qi's troops were not counted.

The only ones who can really fight are still the more than 100,000 people in Zhao State.

These were the elite troops of Zhao State, and no one would be willing to use them as a city wall. However, the two of them knew that if they attacked Yan State with great fanfare, and did not attack because it was difficult, they would lose face even more.

It's not just the two of them who are losing face, it's also the face of their own king.

If the king loses face, the two of us might lose our lives.

The two of them delayed for several days in a row, and finally Li Mu made the decision, let's fight, let's attack by force.

There is no point in just wasting time like this. We still have to fight and then look for an opportunity to fight back.

The brutal siege began again.

No matter what kind of war it is, none is as brutal as a siege.

War is a terrible art.

The attackers and defenders are the best performers.

For a famous general, he either doesn't take action, or if he does, he will be ruthless.

Li Mu and Le Cheng attacked the city in a wheeled manner without stopping for a moment.

Siege crossbows, catapults, and even Gong Shujia's siege machine beasts took turns to go into battle.

Of course, the other side also had them, but the military equipment of Yan State was much inferior to that of Zhao State. After all, Yan State was really a bit poor.

Fortunately, the State of Yan was on the defensive and ultimately gained the upper hand.

In such a tough competition, even a general like Li Mule Cheng, who was used to seeing life and death, couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

As many as two to three thousand people were killed or injured every day, and they were all elite troops.

With Prince Xi of Yan in charge, it is useless to attack the enemy's mind.

However, Yan's attack on Zhao's army was effective.

He sent envoys to negotiate peace several times and even spread rumors to the Zhao army outside the city, accusing Zhao of attacking Yan without courtesy.

A peace treaty was signed last year with Yishui as the boundary. But now, less than a year later, the treaty has been torn up and the country has taken the initiative to break the alliance and attack Yan.

Hatred could not compare to the fear of death. After several days, the terrible casualties in the siege caused the morale of the Zhao army to be low.

Li Mulecheng keenly sensed the change in morale among the troops and immediately stopped the siege, and the two sides fell into a stalemate again.

Among them, Li Mu tried several times to lure the enemy out of the city, and even went to great lengths to fake a defeat, but the Yan army just refused to come out.

With the death order from Prince Xi of Yan, no one dared to disobey. Moreover, the general was a cautious person. In addition, Li Mu and Le Cheng were so famous that no one would underestimate the enemy unless they were stupid.

While Wu Sui's men were fighting tooth and nail, the situation in Yicheng was extremely peaceful. Tian Dan would not launch a forceful attack. What was he trying to achieve? He came here to fight a favorable battle, not a tough one.

He was keeping an eye on the battle situation in Wusui every day. In fact, after seeing that Yan State was well prepared and King Xi of Yan was personally guarding the place, Tian Dan knew that there would be no gain from this battle this year.

Tian Dan saw it even more clearly. His own State of Qi could choose not to take action, but Zhao, Li Mu and Le Cheng, who were put in the fire, had to fight regardless of whether they could win or not. Now that things had come to this, there would be no end to it without some deaths.

But Tian Dan said it didn't matter. Neither Zhao nor Yan were good people anyway. The harder they fought, the better. The more people died, the better.

If both of their countries suffered losses, as long as Qi had no losses, it would be considered a winner.

The Yan army also suffered heavy casualties in the fierce attack of the Zhao army. Although it was the defending side, the quality of its soldiers, morale, and even its ordnance were far inferior to those of the Zhao army.

If it weren't for King Xi of Yan watching from behind, the Yan army might have fled long ago after such a brutal siege.

But even so, under the brutal war, the morale of the Yan army was still very low. After all, the lower-level soldiers had no benefits except dying in battle, and even if they died in battle, their families would hardly get any benefits.

King Xi of Yan did not want to fight this battle. War costs money and will delay production. Although the defending side has the advantage of terrain, it cannot withstand the large number of people dispatched. Every day of delay will result in huge losses.

The State of Yan is poor to begin with. It has suffered countless losses in the wars that have taken place over the past few years and cannot afford to waste time.

Besides, one can steal for a thousand days but cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days. If you guard for too long, you will inevitably lose.

Moreover, it was impossible for him to stay in Wuyang for a long time, and King Xi of Yan felt very uneasy if he was not away from Ji City for a long time.

After the Zhao offensive was suspended, King Xi of Yan instructed his general to seek peace talks with the Zhao State.

Li Mu and Le Cheng also wanted to negotiate peace, but the current situation was really not suitable for fighting any further.

It would be better to withdraw the troops for the time being and wait for an opportunity to fight again. King Xi of Yan cannot guard the border forever.

Li Mu said that as long as he was given a chance, it would not be a problem to capture Wusui. As long as Wusui was captured, the door to Yan State would be open and they could beat him however they wanted.

However, the two of them did not dare to withdraw their troops on their own. They had led a large army to battle, suffered heavy casualties, and achieved nothing. How could they dare to go back?

He could only hint that he should send lobbyists to Handan to talk directly to his own king.

The two of them also sent an urgent message to Handan about the difficulties they were facing.

Just after the war between Zhao, Yan and Qi broke out, the State of Chu, which had long been unable to contain itself, took the opportunity to attack Wei.

Qin's provocation was certainly effective.

King Kaolie of Chu was also considering the issue of succession, and he had been training his son while moving the capital. Now that the move had been completed, it was also a good opportunity for him to gain experience for the attack on Wei.

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