The horrible truth is that this man, when he gathered his army to attack Zhaodu, did not encounter an enemy whose fighting spirit had been weakened, nor was it the "tired soldiers" or the defeated army that suffered "heavy losses after the siege" as some historians had speculated... What they encountered was probably a fortified city that was even more powerful than when Chu Tianxiao first attacked Zhaodu...
As for this, how did Chu Tianxiao do it? There have been many debates in later generations, and there has never been a consensus, so it has become a mystery like a headless coffin...
But no matter what, the result of that battle finally changed the pattern of the entire Shenzhou! After Chu Tianxiao withstood the offensive of the Great Zhao and defended the capital of Zhao... the fall of the southeastern part of the Great Zhao was inevitable...
Hundreds of thousands of Zhou soldiers entered Zhao, and it only took a long time for them to swallow up the southeastern border.
For a time, the Great Zhao Empire was in decline and fell from grace.
…
…
A few days later.
The rain was falling heavily and the strong wind was blowing, destroying the trees, making a humming sound.
In the military camp in the northern border of Zhao State.
A piece of brown chess paper was spread in the middle, and two people on the left and right were playing chess.
The man on the left, with a Shura mask on his face, white hair, a thin and old-fashioned appearance, and a cautious and experienced style of play, makes him quite difficult to deal with. The man on the right, with a handsome face, wearing a purple and gold dragon robe, plays chess in a vigorous and powerful style, with ruthless and decisive manner. He seems to be not at a disadvantage in the fight with the opponent.
At this moment, the man in the imperial attire made a move and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Elder State, please take a look at my chess move."
"…" Hearing this, the old man pondered for a moment, placed a move, and said, "Your Majesty is not calm, this move is a little worse than before."
"I think Your Majesty has already known about the troubles within the family."
As soon as these words were spoken, the identity of the person on the right became clear. Yes, he was the youngest emperor of Shenzhou today, Emperor Zhao!
"…" Emperor Zhao secretly grasped a chess piece, exerted his strength, and the chess piece immediately turned into powder, "Why do you teach me, old man?"
There was a hint of respect in his voice, which showed that the old man opposite was extraordinary.
In fact, the small actions of Emperor Zhao during this period, including the surprise attack on the siege, the redeployment of the border defense, etc., were all done by this person. If it weren't for him, Chu Tianxiao would not have chosen to take the risk of surprise attacking Zhaodu, and the current situation would have been different.
But those... naturally couldn't be blamed on the old man - it couldn't be said that he was unprepared, but that Chu Tianxiao was too evil.
Although Zhao Shaodi was lustful and played by the scheming watch, he was really not a fool when it came to employing people. Knowing this, he not only did not blame her at all, but became more respectful.
Hearing this, the old man did not answer but asked, "Your Majesty, do you think the southeastern border can be protected?"
Emperor Zhao frowned slightly: "Those bitches harmed my capital Zhao, but Zhou Ying will never sit idly by..."
The old man shook his head: "General Zhou Ying is a famous general, but he is not Wang Chu, Yi Le, Xiao Cunli, and even less Yu Xiu... The enemy commander can successfully launch a surprise attack on Zhaodu. He must be a great general. How could he not have a way to deal with it? I think it is impossible to recapture Zhaodu by force."
Hearing this, Emperor Zhao secretly clenched his fists and said with a hint of anxiety, "Then, does the state elder have any good ideas?"
The old man looked at the chess game and said leisurely: "Although the situation is a little bad, there is still a way to save it."
"Hmm? The elder has already seen through my arrogance?" The young emperor of Zhao was slightly surprised. Although he knew that this old man was the "most precious legacy" left to him by the previous emperor of Great Zhao, he never expected that this man had figured out a way to save the city shortly after receiving the news that the capital of Zhao had fallen
"I eat the emperor's salary and bear the emperor's worries... I, an old minister, have received great favors from the late emperor. In this national crisis, I will naturally devote all my energy to the country."
Hearing this, Emperor Zhao said solemnly, "I am all ears."
“Although the current situation is bad, our army must not act in chaos and delay…” The old man’s eyes fell on the north side of the chessboard, and he said leisurely, “This expedition to Tang has attracted worldwide attention. At this point, the Tang invaders are at their wits’ end. At most, they can fight one more war to take over all of Tang territory. If they can swallow up Northern Tang… the loss of territory can be recovered. Otherwise, if we turn back now, we will most likely be attacked from both sides and will surely be defeated!”
Emperor Zhao showed a hint of displeasure: "Does the old man want me to give up the entire Southeast Territory?"
"If we save the people and lose the land, we can eventually get the land back. If we save the land and lose the people, we will lose both the people and the land..." the old man said, "If the capital of Zhao falls, the army in the southeast will lose the will to fight. In addition, the gates have been opened and the battle line is very long. It is unwise for our army to linger here... Instead of doing this, it is better to concentrate our forces first and completely destroy Tang and eliminate this threat in the northern border! This will open up a new situation for the future strategy of our Great Zhao."
As he spoke, he spread out a topographic map, pointed at the word "Tang" on it and said, "The Tang bandits occupy the Wushui River in the northern border and can cross the river to attack our Great Zhao at any time. If we don't drive them out completely, Great Zhao will be constrained by them every year and it will be difficult for us to spare strength to fight for hegemony in China... Therefore, now that the war situation is set, we must not give the Tang bandits a chance to revive!"
"Besides, although the southeast is good, it has no strategic location to defend. After the northern border is pacified and the demons are destroyed, our Great Zhao can send out an army of 200,000 to sweep across the southeast. At that time, if the Zhou army comes to fight and takes the southeast as the main battlefield, then... the advantage will be on our side. And if the Zhou army retreats, it will only be a matter of time for our Great Zhao to recover the southeast."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhao gradually calmed down and said respectfully: "The elder is indeed very perceptive, but the southeast is the throat of the army's food supply route..."
"We can do this in two ways." Emperor Zhao's question did not cause any difficulty for this man. He said in an orderly manner, "First, we can negotiate with the Zhou Dynasty. At this critical moment, the Zhou Dynasty is absolutely unwilling to fight a decisive battle with our army. As long as we show a posture of burning both sides, they will most likely give in. After all, we have enriched the southeast, and it is time to feed these wild wolves."
"Secondly, the fall of Zhao's capital is still quite secretive and too bizarre. We can just 'make' it up as a rumor, conceal it and forcibly attack Tang!" the old man said. "I have already calculated that the army's food reserves can last for about half a month. If we adopt the method of fighting to support the war and annex Tang territory to Zhao, we should have a good chance of success."
"The most difficult part of this matter is still in Zhaodu."
The old man sighed at this point, "Zhaodu is the new capital of our great Zhao after all. If it is occupied by the enemy for a long time, it will definitely have a very bad impact on Your Majesty... I have already planned this matter, but I will not tell Your Majesty about it until the strategy is complete... But please rest assured, Your Majesty, it is impolite not to reciprocate. The Zhou army dared to offend our great Zhao in this way, and this matter will never be over!"
Hearing this, Emperor Zhao Shao was relieved and exclaimed: "Fortunately, the state elder is by my side, otherwise this difficult time would be really troublesome..."
"I dare not, Your Majesty." The old man bowed modestly. After the two exchanged a few more words, the young emperor of Zhao suddenly stood up and paced for a while. Suddenly, a strong murderous intent appeared in his eyes. He said heavily: "Old Master, who is that person who attacked the Great Zhao? This person dared to break into my city and take my favorite concubine. This is a humiliation to me! When the emperor is angry, millions of corpses will be buried. I want him... to die without a burial place!"
Hearing this, the old man understood very well. He was silent for a moment, then said, "According to the secret reports I have received from various sources, it can be concluded that this person is most likely Chu Tianxiao, the son of Chu Zhongyi, the Purple-Robed Marquis of the Zhou Dynasty."
"… Chu Tianxiao? He's still a teenager?"
Hearing the voice, Emperor Zhao laughed, and his laugh was extremely cold and full of murderous intent.