"Mr. Zhao, you are a scoundrel who stole the heaven's time..."
It is conceivable that the people of Zhao, who worshipped the young emperor as a god, would feel about the comments made by the Zhou emperor... It is precisely because of this that the relationship between the Great Zhou and the Great Zhao has been at a freezing point in recent years, and friction often occurs. The two sides have also fought several battles of varying sizes, with each side winning and losing.
Therefore, after the Great Zhou proposed to form an alliance to fight against the demons, the Great Zhao has always been the biggest trouble for the alliance! This is not to say that Emperor Zhao destroyed the alliance - if that were the case, the Great Zhao would become the public enemy of the human race - he just refused to back down during various negotiations, and was often aggressive and demanded bargaining chips.
It’s just that he had been more restrained before and didn’t ask for such a huge amount as he did this time.
"Well, Zhao is located in the south, which is a weak point in the Demon Clan's defense. From a strategic point of view, the 'Hualing City' they occupy should be the best entry point for the allied forces! Attacking the Demon Clan from there has many advantages. Even if we cannot win, there is no risk of being cut off from the rear and the entire army being annihilated... Moreover, according to intelligence, although the Demon Clan did not counterattack from the north, they did make a lot of small moves, such as blocking some corridors, burning some plank roads, and redeploying defenses... Therefore, if we enter the Tianhuang Continent from other entry points, I am afraid that the obstacles we encounter will become greater and the degree of danger will increase sharply!"
"With the current situation, it's no wonder that Emperor Zhao dares to ask for such an exorbitant price."
Chu Tianxiao put down the jade slip, rubbed the map with his right hand for a while, and saw through the key. Hearing this, Xueyan and others nodded and were about to speak, but at this moment, Chu Tianxiao suddenly had a flash of inspiration!
"etc!"
Chu Tianxiao looked around and said, "Everyone... what do you think? Is it possible that this exorbitant price is just a cover... Emperor Zhao knows that our Great Zhou will not agree to his unreasonable request, so he wants to take advantage of this opportunity to attract the attention of the Great Zhou when he returns the money, and then... raid the city and take it himself?"
After these words fell, everyone was shocked. Feng Luoer was the first to blurt out: "Young Master? This... is impossible? Not to mention that the matter of destroying the demons is more important than anything else, if Emperor Zhao sent troops at this time, it would definitely give people a reason to criticize him. Just look at the current situation... Zhao State is attacking the islands in the east, swallowing up the Tang State in the north, and is entangled with the Wei people in the deeper southern wilderness. It can be said that he is fighting on all sides... Why would he mess with the Great Zhou at this time?"
"Heh, if there was no demon slaying, he really wouldn't dare to do such a thing, but it is precisely because of the demon slaying that the current situation is very different!" Chu Tianxiao knocked on his palms and said, "Think about the battle between our Great Zhou and many powerful demons in the Forbidden City at night, and it has become a battle to the death! Therefore, if this battle begins, we will definitely be the focus of the demons. At this juncture, Your Majesty will surely draw a deeper bottom line of patience..."
"So, if Emperor Zhao is really determined to launch a surprise attack, and quickly send reinforcements to reinforce the city after taking it, then your majesty will most likely not order troops to recover the lost territory, because that would mean a large-scale war between Zhao and Zhou, which would disrupt the overall layout! Therefore, it is very likely that your majesty would choose to hold back for now, and wait until the demon is annihilated before settling the score later..."
"Choosing this time to cut the flesh... Ha, it seems that Emperor Zhao is quite confident in the battle to destroy the demons. Is he already considering the battle to unify Shenzhou after destroying the demons?"
Chu Tianxiao thought about it and continued, "However, this is actually a risky move. Everything depends on whether the surprise attack can be ended quickly. If it can, Emperor Zhao can make a sacrifice. Otherwise... he will lose all his power at the negotiation table!"
"He would choose to use such a method... I'm afraid that Emperor Zhao has gained another fierce general who is good at surprise attacks, and this move also targets His Majesty's temperament of considering the overall situation... Could it be that someone has defected to Emperor Zhao? Or, is there someone in the court..."
Chu Tianxiao narrowed his eyes and thought of many things at once. Hearing this, Feng Luoer said, "Then young master, should we immediately notify all the big cities adjacent to Zhao State?"
"… Not right. First, this is just my guess, without any evidence. If I am not careful, it will give people a chance to criticize me. Second, if Emperor Zhao really intends to take the city himself as I expected, then I am afraid that the elite troops for the raid have already set out. By the time we notify them, it may be too late."
"Uh... then there's nothing we can do?"
"That's not the case... If I guessed wrong, it would be fine. But if I guessed right, then..." A deep light flashed in Chu Tianxiao's eyes, "This may be the opportunity for me to defeat the enemy!"
After these words were spoken, Xueyan and the others were stunned at first, and then their eyes lit up at the same time - they were not stupid, and they came to their senses immediately!
"Young Master, are you saying... instead of just sitting there and waiting for death, why not take the initiative?"
"That's right! Zhao is now at war on all sides. Although all sides are making good progress, it's not something that can be resolved in the short term... Especially, I heard that Emperor Zhao is personally leading the army to the northern border to annihilate the Tang invaders in one fell swoop and eliminate this threat forever... Therefore, even though Zhao has many brave generals and elite soldiers, they are now scattered everywhere and it is impossible for them to rush to the country to help in the short term!"
Chu Tianxiao looked at everyone who reacted quickly, nodded with satisfaction and said.
"Especially, if they want to deal with our Great Zhou, the surprise attack force they sent must be an elite force. In this case, Zhao will inevitably be left with a hollow domestic force!"
"If the defeated army could enter the territory of Zhao at this time..."
Chu Tianxiao said this and smiled faintly: "I won't say much, you can imagine it yourself."
After these playful words were spoken, several people in the room laughed. After hearing these words, they all realized the opportunity - if everything was really as Chu Tianxiao expected, then the mountains and rivers of Zhao State would be no different from a naked woman to the defeated army!
There was a flame of war in almost everyone's eyes!
"But young master, if we guess wrong, and we rashly use troops against Zhao, will we be criticized by those with ulterior motives?" There was still a calm person in the room who immediately pointed out this sentence. Hearing this, Chu Tianxiao nodded with relief and said, "This may be a problem for others, but it does not exist for us, the Loser Army."
As he spoke, Chu Tianxiao's expression gradually became serious: "Before entering the barbarian land, His Majesty has issued a secret order - if we have the chance, we will teach these Zhao people a lesson if they don't learn their lesson and act arrogantly when we are treated nicely!"
"Since they don't care about the overall situation, only know how to argue, and won't listen to good words, then there is no need to hesitate, beat them to death until they obey!"
After these words fell, everyone in the room was stunned, and then Chu Tianxiao coughed: "Of course, His Majesty's original words were not these, but I think what he didn't say was probably about this..."
"Who made these Zhao people argue all the time at the negotiation table, love to seek small profits, and don't want to pay more and make more sacrifices... If we don't fight them, do they really think they are the future masters of Shenzhou?"
Hearing this, everyone in the room felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry. However, Chu Tianxiao's words were so decisive, so Emperor Zhou's meaning must be not far off... In this way, their last layer of concerns were gone, and all of a sudden, the fire of war in their eyes surged up!
"Young Master, in this case, let's just have a big fight!"
"Yes, young master, this is a God-given opportunity, don't miss it!"
Seeing the excitement among the crowd, Chu Tianxiao just smiled faintly: "Don't worry, we know the situation of Zhao State, and the young emperor of Zhao must know it too! Therefore, he will definitely send his most proud generals who are good at defense to defend it strictly! After all, we only have 3,000 people. Compared with the mountains and rivers of Zhao State, this amount of troops is very limited, so we need to find the weak point first before we can bite it!"
As he spoke, Chu Tianxiao squatted down slightly and began to mark various points on the map with his fingers. Everyone followed suit and after some discussion, they came to a conclusion.
"There are only two suitable entry points into Zhao."
"The first is Changling Pass. As long as we take this pass, the rest will be mostly plains. With the speed of the defeated army, they can quickly rush into the hinterland and even threaten the grain route of Emperor Zhao's personal expedition! Then, he will have no choice but to give in!"
"But there are many difficulties in this matter... For example, Changling Pass is narrow in terrain, and the general guarding the pass, Tao Bei, is a famous general who resisted the sudden attack of more than 10,000 elite Qin troops with only 500 men ten years ago! With him in charge, it will not be easy to conquer this pass, and it is likely to turn into a protracted war, and the situation will be unfavorable to us by then."
After Chu Tianxiao finished speaking, Feng Luoer's eyes suddenly lit up and she said, "Young Master, don't we still have that kind of... Uh, although it's not finished yet, it should be enough, right?"