In the eighth year of Emperor Yuan's reign, early March.
At this time, all countries in the world have just organized domestic civilians to finish cultivating this year's rice seedlings, and then the careerists who have just freed up enough labor to start a new round of ambitions.
A year has passed. After this period of recuperation, the countries that were originally at war have slowly recovered their strength. The domestic food and grass have become sufficient again, and they have the strength to launch a new round of attacks.
And having this time to prepare is enough for them to carry out various alliances and conspiracies to instigate rebellion.
First, he made his first move in the Wei State, which is located in the center of the world and in the hinterland of the Central Plains.
Wei State is located at the center of the world, and every move is attracting attention. So as soon as he started to make some moves, the news quickly spread to various countries, causing speculation among interested people.
Wei State sent 150,000 elite troops, leaving only 100,000 ordinary soldiers to guard the country. It can be said that except for basic defense, all forces were used.
And the movement of this frightening army pointed directly at the Tao State next to him, which had a profound conflict with the Wei State.
Tao Guo was horrified, and 70,000 soldiers and horses from the whole country rushed to the border and stationed themselves in the three major cities and towns built in this year.
These three important cities are the achievements of Tao Kingdom in one year.
Tao Guo knew very well that between himself and Wei, it was either you die or I lived. The war would never stop until either side fell first.
The situation is obvious. Tao State, whose strength and national power is far inferior to that of Wei State, is always the first to fall, with almost no exceptions.
In order to extend his life and preserve his designs, Tao Guo had to build these three important cities, regardless of the fact that his country was already plagued by victims and was in urgent need of cultivation.
The results are also obvious.
Although Tao State ignored them and squeezed the country's strength, the construction of the three important cities was finally completed before Wei State attacked.
This made Tao Guo breathe a sigh of relief.
With these three big cities, Tao Guo could hold out for a long time under the attack of Wei Guo.
Such a period of time, whether it is delaying Wei's footsteps, slowly exhausting his food supply and retreating, or causing changes in the rear, is excellent.
Or holding on for time and waiting for the support of the ally Qi in the rear is also a life-or-death time to save one's life.
Today, Tao Guo has stationed in three major cities. As a result, Tao's borders were immediately stabilized, domestic turmoil subsided, and peace was restored.
And after Tao State entered the army, he quickly asked Qi State for help.
They knew that even with these three important cities, it would be difficult for Tao's soldiers and horses to resist the Wei army, which had more than twice the number of Tao's troops.
"We must have foreign aid to preserve the Tao Kingdom." This is the consensus of the Tao Kingdom, and it is also the truth they firmly believe.
As a result, after Wei's 150,000-strong army attacked for half a month, Qi, who heard Tao's request for help from behind, quickly mobilized its army and rushed to the front line to help Tao resist the Wei army.
The reason why Qi moved so quickly was not only to keep an ally so that it would not fall into a situation of fighting alone.
There is another very important reason.
That is, Tao State was located just to the west of Qi State, which helped him block the pressure from South Korea and Wei.
As long as Tao State exists, major countries such as Wei and South Korea who want to attack Qi from the west must first remove the thorn of Tao State, otherwise their abdomens will always be threatened by Tao State.
Therefore, the geographical location of Tao State, the situation in the world, and the innate factors between him and Wei State, naturally determine that Tao State is a staunch ally of Qi State, and it is impossible to betray.
In addition, the strength of Tao State is far inferior to that of Qi State, so he can only act as Qi State's younger brother, following around and waving flags and shouting.
Therefore, for Qi State, this kind of younger brother who is loyal to him and can fight tooth and nail is not willing to throw away no matter what.
Therefore, when Qi's 100,000 elite troops arrived on the battlefield where Tao's front line was fighting Wei, the strengths of the Tao-Qi coalition forces and the Wei army were balanced again, making it difficult to tell the winner.
After half a month of fighting, Tao's original 70,000 troops were reduced to only 40,000, a loss of nearly half.
Similarly, the situation in Wei State is not very easy.
Because they were attacking the city, they were naturally at a disadvantage, so even though the Wei army was elite, it suffered a lot of losses. After a few days, only 120,000 of the 150,000 Wei troops were left, with 30,000 casualties and heavy losses.
As a result, both sides needed to recuperate due to casualties and slowly restore their morale and combat power.
The battlefield once again fell into a long and peaceful confrontation, just like last year.
In the hearts of Qi State and Tao State, they both believed that this time it would be like last year. No one could do anything to the other. As food gradually ran out, both sides withdrew their troops. Not only Tao and Qi, but also people all over the world think so.
However, just one month after the Qi army arrived on the battlefield, the war did not break out. As they expected, it fell into a strange calm.
The war on the Tao-Wei border did not break out, but a more terrifying war broke out in Qi State.
This time the war was too sudden and unpredictable. So that no one in the world expected it, and everyone was shocked.
The State of Zhao in the north of the State of Wei took advantage of the State of Wei and sent 200,000 elite troops to attack the territory of the State of Qi.
Zhao's vanguard of 50,000 cavalrymen, one man and two horses, went south at starry night. Before the news of the army's dispatch spread, they quickly arrived at Xue County in Qi State. Before the defenders of Xue County could react, they fought consecutively and captured the entire territory of Xue County with the advantage of a surprise attack.
The main reason why it went so smoothly was that Xuejun's defenders were too lax and careless!
Xue Commandery is located behind the Tao State, and in front are the troops of the Tao and Qi coalition forces that are resisting the Wei State, restraining all the troops that the Wei State can mobilize.
Although Chu State in the south of Xue County borders Xue County, Chu State is currently in full swing with Yue State. It is said that Chu State is mobilizing troops and horses and plans to launch another war with Yue State, so how can it have any energy? To provoke the Qi State in the north!
Isn't he afraid that Qi State will mobilize troops and horses, turn south to attack Chu State, and attack him from both sides with Yue State
Therefore, the possibility of Chu State attacking Xue County was directly rejected by Qi State.
On the other side of Xue County is Langya County of Qi State. The capital of our country is where there are no enemies.
Therefore, the mentality of the defenders in Xue County was very relaxed and comfortable, and they could not feel the temporary atmosphere at all.
Under this kind of lax defense, it was not surprising that Zhao Guo had carefully prepared for a long time and planned a surprise attack in advance to capture the entire county in one fell swoop.
(End of chapter)