In the sixth year of Emperor Yuan's reign, early June.
The mighty coalition army swept across the west of Qi State with an unstoppable force.
It was only February since the coalition's offensive began in early April. They had already broken through Xue County in Qi State and captured it. Their troops were directed towards most of Qi State.
At this point, except for Jiaodong County in Qi State, which is located in the rear and is not disturbed, the remaining three counties of Jibei County, Linzi County, and Langya County are all threatened by the coalition forces and are always under attack.
The whole country of Qi was shocked and panicked.
In order to cope with such a disaster of national destruction, the Qi State mobilized from top to bottom, with a total of one million troops dispatched, all of which were sent to Yangguan, the front line to resist the coalition forces.
At this time, Xue County in Qi State was captured by the coalition forces. Except for the city of Qufu, which was still holding on, the other cities and rural areas were all conquered by the coalition forces, and no one was spared.
Even the situation in Qufu City today is not very good.
Qufu City was intimidated by the bad behavior of the coalition forces outside the city, and the defenders inside the city persisted in expressing their determination to resist, and soon won the support of the people in the city.
With the mobilization of the whole city, a ragtag group of 300,000 people was formed.
Although their combat power is really weak, they all have a heart hostile to the coalition forces and the will to fight to the death. So in general, the sea of people is quite scary.
Although these 300,000 people included tens of thousands of strong women, many children with no teeth, and old men who were stooped when they walked, they still shocked the coalition forces surrounding Qufu outside the city.
Therefore, in order to attack and eliminate the Qi defenders who are at the center of themselves and pose a great strategic threat to the overall situation of the coalition forces.
With the goal of consuming the war potential of the Six Nations as much as possible, Zhong Yu left 500,000 troops behind with a stroke of his pen, and issued a death order. The battle would continue until the city was broken.
This command is stupid and hard to understand.
For the coalition forces, although the so-called 300,000-strong army in the city is more difficult to deal with, it is more difficult to capture them.
But that's about it.
Anyone with some military knowledge knows that as long as 100,000 or 150,000 troops are stationed under the city, the so-called 300,000 troops in the city can be blocked inside, making it difficult to get out.
Why send out a large army to attack in a thankless and thankless way, not only losing troops but also losing generals, and it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, which is quite worthless.
The most correct method is to surround them in the city, block their way out, and starve them to death. This is the best strategy for military strategists.
However, the questions of the people below can only be questions, and even the questions of the kings of the six countries can only be questions. The real decision-maker is the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Prince Jing Zhongyu.
How do they understand? Zhong Yu's great ambition and true goal.
Attacking Qi is only secondary. It consumes the overall strength of the Central Plains and reduces more stumbling blocks when one goes south to unify the world in the future.
Therefore, these 500,000 troops are destined to be tragic.
In their military camp, there were more than 10,000 accounts left behind, as well as the nominal commander-in-chief Cao Cao.
With Cao Cao's methods and his ruthlessness, he could definitely consume these 500,000 troops in siege battles without even realizing it, and it would be difficult to cause resistance from the army.
The defenders in the city will naturally be exhausted in the process.
Calculated in this way, quietly and quietly, five or six hundred thousand troops in the Central Plains were finally consumed. Those were all young and middle-aged men, the main force sowing seeds in the Central Plains in the future!
Without them, I don’t know how many counties in the Central Plains would have widow villages, widow counties, or even widow counties.
Thinking about it, in the future, the population of Yuguo, whose male population will explode, will definitely be welcomed by these widows' villages and counties when they go south.
It is very likely that there is no need to even appease people's hearts. As long as some garrison troops are left and a few widows are married, the local people's hearts and minds will be tethered.
Thinking of the beautiful days in the future, Zhong Yu's face stopped showing an extremely lustful smile.
The topic turned to the front.
A 500,000-strong army was left behind to besiege Qi's only stronghold. Except for tens of thousands of people left to guard the entire Xue County, the rest of the army rushed to the front battlefield.
Under Yangguan City, a famous Guan City in Qi State, the terrain is majestic. Needless to say, it is surrounded by the Taishan Mountains.
Yangguan is a dangerous place that guards the Taishan Mountains and enters the territory of Qi State. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.
If the coalition forces want to fully invade Qi without any worries, Yangguan is a nail that must be pulled out, a place that cannot be opened.
Therefore, both the coalition forces and the Qi State realized the importance of Yangguan's location and stationed their troops in preparation for a decisive battle here.
This decisive battle will determine the fate of Qi and even the entire world.
Needless to say, the whole country of Qi was mobilized. It can almost be said that except for men under the age of fourteen who were not mobilized, all the remaining men who could move around and could hold weapons were mobilized on the battlefield. Even in the military camp, many long and strong women appeared. They followed the men and shouted bugles, holding weapons and looking at the coalition forces opposite with hatred.
The coalition forces are different.
The mentality of the entire coalition army is very relaxed, yes, it is very relaxed.
Although the total number of allied forces is only 800,000, which is 200,000 less than the opponent.
Although many of the coalition forces could not afford to wear armor, except for the 300,000 elites who barely had a set of leather armor and some quite sophisticated weapons, many of them only had rags and rotten wooden sticks. Compared with the rebel army on the opposite side, which has 600,000 elite leather armors and 200,000 iron armored troops, they are like beggars compared to the rich.
But the coalition is very relaxed.
It's true that they were intoxicated by their previous achievements.
Let’s not talk about Qi’s first battle. The 100,000 vanguard reinforcements fought the first battle with the 300,000 vanguards on their own side. As a result, they were defeated and fled in less than three days.
You must know that these 100,000 Qi State reinforcements are Qi State's standing army. The entire Qi State is only 150,000 people. It can be said that Qi State's most elite presence.
However, their combat effectiveness was greatly disappointed, and they were defeated by the coalition's 300,000 vanguard, an army composed of some old men and children.
Moreover, compared with the Qi army, the weapons of the coalition vanguard were like the savages of the Stone Age, and they were not at the same level as the people of the Bronze Age.
After that, just under Yangguan City, the coalition forces still fought with the Qi vanguard. 100,000 people versus 100,000 people, but the outcome was a barely tie. Although the coalition forces were defeated in this battle, they were defeated gloriously.
After all, if 100,000 old and weak fight against 100,000 young and strong, there is still an unstoppable gap in equipment between the two sides, and the Qi army can still achieve a miserable victory.
This kind of fighting power cannot but be blamed for the ridicule of the coalition forces.
(End of chapter)