The recapture of Nanjun greatly boosted the confidence of the whole country for Chu State. With Nanjun, there was a thick barrier to the east of Chu State.
The current territory of Chu State is entirely occupied by Huainan and Huaibei. The Huaihe River in the north is relied upon to defend against attacks from other countries. The south is full of savages, so naturally they have no worries. The east is the sea, let alone that.
The only danger is the Qin State from the west.
Not only was Qin's population no smaller than Chu's, but it also had far more brave men than Chu, and its aggressiveness was infinitely greater.
All the lands Chu had lost before were swallowed up by the Qin State in the west, and they were all fertile lands with a prosperous population. Now these lands have become the solid rear granary of the Qin State.
Under Qin's powerful and fierce offensive, the capital of Chu slowly moved from Jiangling in the east to Chen, and then to neighboring Shouchun. It can be said that it has been retreating.
As for the Guangrao land to the west of the Chu State, the first Hanzhong County, later Nanyang County, and then Nanjun and Qianzhong County, the entire four counties, with a combined population of more than two million, were thus conquered by the Qin Dynasty. The country was taken away. Do you think everyone in the Chu country could not hate it
However, in order to capture Nanjun, the Chu State paid a heavy price. Not to mention the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops, just the mountain of material losses in the country wiped out most of the Chu State's treasury.
After all, the Qin State is a powerful Qin. It is definitely a terrifying idea to seize a piece of fat from his mouth after being prepared.
The 100,000 Nanjun garrison, led by their general, all died for their country, and the people of Nanjun also suffered.
Understanding that the situation in Nanjun was dangerous, the Qin army forcefully recruited people to help defend the city. Even if these people might rebel, under Qin's strict defense, there were only a few who could really rebel, or dared to rebel.
In the entire Nan County, 1/3 of the young population died during the war, and the rest were displaced and became refugees running around.
The ruins of Nanjun brought great trouble to the Chu officials who came to receive it, making them extremely busy.
However, all this did not make the King of Chu give up his determination to continue attacking Qin. He wanted to take advantage of this great opportunity to regain all the lost territories of Chu.
After taking Nanjun, the army took some time to rest and then continued to march to the north, which is now Nanyang County.
This time the army attacked. Under the training of Nanjun's offensive and defensive warfare, the Chu State obtained a group of extremely elite veterans, a total of 100,000 people. Together with the regular armies from other places in the Chu State, they formed a 300,000-strong army. Northern Expeditionary Army.
Today, there are only 100,000 people left in Nanyang County, and as Qin continues to fall into a disadvantage, their morale is relatively low, and their combat effectiveness is no longer what it was when Qin was strong.
After the King of Chu discussed with his ministers, they believed that as long as Chu could pay more than 100,000 casualties, it would be very possible to capture Nanyang County.
As for what kind of impact those more than 100,000 casualties would have on the Chu State, and how many families would lose their loved ones, the King of Chu did not consider it!
In addition to the 300,000-strong Northern Expedition army, there was also a 50,000-strong partial army. The order they received was to attack Qianzhong County in the south of Chu State, a county that Qin had just acquired less than ten years ago.
This county in central Guizhou was a county where the Chu State had just established its initial rule after conquering the local barbarians.
The entire Qianzhong County is extremely backward and sparsely populated. It is full of miasma and poisonous smoke, deep in the mountains and old forests, and is often infested by uncivilized savages who would not accept any civilization. People in the Central Plains have always regarded it as barren mountains and harsh waters.
However, there are also some barbarians who have accepted a certain degree of civilization and formed some tribes. Some even established some tribal countries. Like the 800 princes in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, many of them were composed of a powerful tribe.
Because of Chu State's strong strength and advanced culture, these people regarded Chu State as their suzerain state, and slowly incorporated Chu State's culture into the local area and gradually penetrated it.
When the time was right and Qianzhong County had developed a little foundation, the Chu State wiped out all the local tribes, sent troops and horses to guard them, established counties one by one, and implemented the rule of the Chu State.
However, after the loss of Nanjun, Qianzhong County was too far away from Chu State. Although it was still connected to Changsha County of Chu State, the roads were blocked and difficult to cross. Gradually, the entire county surrendered to Qin.
However, because it was a barbaric land with a population of even 100,000, the Qin State did not pay too much attention to it. It casually sent tens of thousands of people to guard it, which was barely enough to maintain law and order and ignored it.
Now that Chu State is attacking with 50,000 people, to be honest, it is really overkill.
However, these 50,000 people did not just attack Qianzhong County, such a small border county. They also shoulder another important goal, which is to reconnect the Chu Kingdom with Yelang in the southwest.
Now Yelang has established a so-called Yelang Kingdom and has become the sect leader of many barbarians in the southwest, and is very powerful in the Yunnan-Guizhou region.
But no one knew that this so-called Yelang Kingdom was just established by a partial army of 10,000 or 20,000 people sent by the Chu State to expand its territory in the southwest.
Previously, due to the capture of Nanjun and the loss of Qianzhong County, the connection between Chu State and Yelang State was completely cut off, and Yelang County became the current Yelang State.
Now, in addition to the goal of regaining Qianzhong County, this 50,000-strong Chu army also has the goal of once again bringing the Yelang Kingdom under the rule of the Chu Kingdom.
This is not an easy task. Yelang Kingdom is located in a more wild place than Qianzhong County. The people there are far away from the Central Plains and are even more uncivilized. It is okay to treat them as savages.
Moreover, the roads there are rugged, the mountains are densely forested, and there is miasma and poisonous smoke everywhere. Just like Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times, he encountered various challenges from nature. This is even more true now that it has not been developed by the Han Dynasty.
And there is already a country here, even if it is a tribal and backward country, it also means that the people here have a certain degree of organizational power.
Although the population in the southwest region is sparse, it is unknown whether there are more than 500,000 people in total. However, it is precisely because of the sparse population that there are poisonous snakes and beasts everywhere. The locals have to fight against these existences in order to survive. They are naturally extremely brave. .
Although the Chu army is well-equipped and well-trained, it is still a question whether it can win the Yelang Kingdom
However, going abroad is not without its advantages, and that is in the country of Yelang. Many of the people in power today are former ministers of the Chu State.
They yearn to return to the prosperous Central Plains. Anyway, why should they suffer with their king in this barbaric land if they are not their ministers
(End of chapter)