Chapter 295: Cities are conquered from within

The Qi army gathered heavily at Yicheng, and the entire Yan State was in a state of panic. Of course, this word had not yet appeared in this era, but it best describes the mood of the people of Yan State at this time.

In the Palace of Prince Yan in Jicheng, Prince Xi of Yan, who had been immersed in the grief of losing his son, no longer cared about arranging Yan Dan's funeral. Facing the aggressive Qi army, it was inevitable that someone else would have to take care of his funeral soon.

"What is Yan Yi doing? He has an army of 100,000, but he is trapped in a city." King Xi of Yan roared. During the period when the Qi army invaded Yan, Yan quickly mobilized the whole country and immediately mobilized 70,000 to 80,000 elite troops from Jicheng to support Yicheng. Although Yan urgently recruited nearly 200,000 troops during this period, these 200,000 troops were far inferior to the 100,000 elite troops in Yicheng.

If Yicheng was lost, the Yan State south of Yanshan Mountain would be at the mercy of the Qi army. If the 100,000 Yan troops in Yicheng were lost, the Yan State would become a pretty woman who had taken off her armor and could be bullied at will.

It can be said that King Xi of Yan was under great psychological pressure at this time. He hoped to get news from Yicheng, but he was afraid of the news from Yicheng. What if it was bad news?
He really couldn't bear the cost.

For a time, King Xi of Yan regretted his previous decision. Why did he want to provoke King Chong of Qi? Although Rao'an had a lot of wealth, compared with the entire Yan State, it was just a mountain of money. In front of the state of Yan, it was really nothing.

"Your Majesty, good news, good news!" Just when King Xi of Yan was worried about the war on the front line, Yan Chunjun came running over happily.

"What good news?" King Xi of Yan asked. How could good news come out in this situation?
"The Qi army has been besieging Yicheng for a long time but failed, so they have been forced to split their forces. According to reports from spies, the Qi army has now split its forces. A force of nearly 80,000 Qi troops has abandoned Yicheng and has been led into the Dukang area." Yan Chunjun said.

"The Qi army is about to reach the Du Kang area. Is this good news? Lord Yanchun, are you kidding me?" The surprise on King Xi of Yan's face froze before it could fully bloom.

The Du Kang area was the most essential land of the Yan State. Although the Du Kang area was only 500 miles in radius, it produced more than half of the grain of the Yan State, one-third of the ironware, and its population accounted for 40% of the Yan State.

If Yan lost Du Kang, and Qi's army attacked Jicheng, the whole city would be in chaos. The reason was that there were 400,000 soldiers and civilians in Jicheng, and the output of Jicheng alone could not support them.

According to the original trajectory, when the Qin army was approaching, the State of Yan chose to offer the map of the Du Kang area to King Zheng of Qin in order to seek peace, hoping to exchange it for peace.

Since the State of Yan was able to come up with such a solution at that time, it naturally believed that the State of Qin would most likely accept their peace terms. This also indirectly reflects the importance of the Du Kang area to the State of Yan.

"How dare I tease the king? The Qi army's division of forces is actually a good thing for us." Yan Chunjun said.

In the war in which the Qi army attacked the State of Yan, King Xi of Yan was the person who could not allow himself to be defeated the most, and the same was true for Lord Yan Chun, because if the State of Yan was defeated, King Xi of Yan would lose everything he had, and the same was true for Lord Yan Chun.

Back then, the State of Yan took advantage of the situation to rob the State of Qi, and it was Yan Chunjun who contributed to this. Although he had maintained a cooperative relationship with Qi over the years due to Qi's commercial needs, that was only an act that Qi had no choice but to do. Once the State of Yan was destroyed, he would no longer be of any value to Qi. Whether Qi would then settle the score or not, Yan Chunjun could not guarantee.

Moreover, he would not dare to gamble on matters concerning his life and property.

Therefore, in Yan Chunjun's cognition, only if the State of Yan continues to exist and King Xi of Yan remains the King of Yan, can his wealth and glory be guaranteed and he can enjoy peace.

Therefore, in the entire Yan State, apart from King Xi of Yan, he was the person who least wanted to see the Qi army attacking. This was not because he was so loyal to his brother King Xi of Yan, nor because he loved Yan State so much, but simply because he cared too much about himself.

"What benefits?" King Yan, who had been unable to sleep or eat because of the attack by the Qi army, was pleased to see Yan Chunjun's confidence and became interested. All he had heard during this period was bad news and he hoped to hear good news too much.

"It's not that Qi is without rivals. It also has to guard against Qin and Chu. That's why, although Qi has an army of 400,000, it only has 150,000 troops that invaded our Yan territory. This is almost all the troops that Qi can mobilize, and there will be no more Qi troops in the future." Yan Chunjun said.

"Just 150,000 Qi troops are already very troublesome. Doesn't Yan Yi have an army of 100,000 at his disposal, but he can only stay in the city and not go out?" King Xi of Yan thought that Yan Chunjun would say something brilliant, but he never expected it to be such nonsense.

"If 150,000 Qi troops gather together, even 200,000 Qin troops may not be able to defeat them. But now they are divided. This is our chance!" said Yan Chunjun.

Seeing that King Xi of Yan still didn't believe it, Yan Chunjun said, "If the Qi army can split up once, they can split up twice. We have many cities in Yan. If we allow the Qi army to attack one by one, when they reach Jicheng, no matter how powerful they are, they will be exhausted. That's when our chance comes."

"It seems that this is the only way at the moment, but..." King Xi of Yan murmured. It seems that it is not impossible to rely on the vast territory and cities to resist the attack of the Qi army layer by layer, causing the Qi army to continuously divide its troops and expose its weaknesses. Then, he can quickly attack and defeat a part of the Qi army.

After all, Yan State was still a big country, unlike Han State, whose territory was too small so that it could be easily attacked by the enemy to the city of Xinzheng. Although the Yan army was not strong in combat, it should still be able to do it if it just defended.

After all, Zhao had attacked Yan more than once over the years. Even with the Zhao army's combat power that was enough to fight against the Qin army in the field, the Yan state was helpless. It seemed that the Qi army was at most equal to the Qin army, and was almost the same as the Zhao army in terms of cost-effectiveness. The Yan army was able to defend itself against the Zhao army's attack, so it should be able to rely on city defenses to face the Qi army's attack.

In theory, this seems to be the case.

However, as we all know, there is often a gap between reality and theory.

When the people of Yan decided to rely on the city for defense, the Qi army had completely controlled the north and south banks of the Yi River. Only Yi City stood there alone, surrounded by tens of thousands of Qi troops.

During this process, the Qi army, which had divided its troops first, did not continue to divide its troops, but marched straight to Jicheng.

The analysis of the Qi army by King Xi of Yan and Lord Yan Chun was indeed good, but it was just the self-righteous conjecture of two self-proclaimed smart people behind closed doors.

Along the way, the cities and towns around Yan State followed the orders of King Xi of Yan, closed the city walls and turned a blind eye to the Qi army in Yan State. At this time, leaving the city might be a merit, but it was more likely to cause trouble. On the contrary, as long as they stayed in the city, it would not be so troublesome. This was the understanding of the Yan army.

"This country, which has existed for eight hundred years, has already decayed. It looks grand, but in fact it is no different from a paper house. Once it is punctured, it will completely collapse." Wei Zhuang, who led a Qi army towards Jicheng, never thought that the journey would be so easy.

“So it’s a waste for such a good place to continue to be controlled by King Xi of Yan. Only by incorporating it into Qi can the people of Yan become real people. Among all the countries in the world, the people of Yan are not cowardly. They have fought with the Hu people for hundreds of years, which is why we have the Yan State today. In this respect, Yan State is no different from countries like Qin and Chu. The truly corrupt ones are the rulers of Yan State.” Zhang Liang, who was walking side by side with Wei Zhuang.

This time, the Qi army attacked the State of Yan, with Yan Ju as the commander-in-chief, Wei Zhuang as the vanguard, and Zhang Liang as the military advisor.

Leaving aside Wei Zhuang, Zhang Liang was quite interested in this mission. The demise of Han was certainly a bad thing for the Zhang family. Several generations of business were reduced to ashes, and they had to start over in Qi. But for Zhang Liang it was a good thing.

Korea was like a well to Zhang Liang. It seemed that the Zhang family got everything from it, but for Zhang Liang, such wealth and glory were a bondage. Korea bound him completely in this well. His real talents were buried, and his talents could not be truly displayed in Korea.

But it was different in Qi. If Han was a well, then Qi was a vast pond. In this pond, Zhang Liang could give full play to his talents. In Qi, he could stand at a high enough height to step out of the petty vulgarity in Han and into the world. He could play his role in the chess game of the world and leave his own footprints.

A similar logic applies to Han Fei.

Although South Korea was a partial help to people like Han Fei and Zhang Liang, to a greater extent it was a constraint.

Now, for Zhang Liang and Han Fei, the sky is high and the birds fly freely. It is the opportunity for them to display their talents freely.

"I almost didn't recognize you. It turns out that the young man from Xinzheng was also a remarkable figure." Wei Zhuang looked at Zhang Liang and said thoughtfully.

In Wei Zhuang's impression, Zhang Liang was a young man as gentle as jade. In this respect, he was more like a nobleman than Han Fei. But now Zhang Liang was very sharp and his unintentional display of brilliance often made Wei Zhuang look at him sideways. He looked like a disciple of the school of diplomacy.

"The world is big and there are many history books, so we should have a place here." Zhang Liang said. He has already found his own stage, so why would he be content with loneliness?

"It seems that you are still you." Wei Zhuang smiled and said nothing more. What he wanted to do was not to leave a name for himself in history books. Zhang Liang seemed to have changed, but based on his previous words, it could be seen that he was still the same Zhang Liang, the Zhang Liang with the spirit of a scholar.

"Is Wei Zhuang still Wei Zhuang?" Zhang Liang asked back. Wei Zhuang could see the changes in Zhang Liang, and Zhang Liang could also see the changes in Wei Zhuang.

“It will always be different if you see how big the world is.” Wei Zhuang replied.

Zhang Liang jumped out of the well in the State of Han, and so did Wei Zhuang jump out of the well in his heart.

A disciple of Zongheng should be able to conquer the world with either literature or martial arts. It was really ridiculous that he was trapped in Korea and did the quicksand incident.

Of course, he didn't think that he was ridiculous at the beginning, because he felt that it was right. But when he saw that Yang Chong had become the ruler of Qi in just a few years and was even able to change the situation in the world, Wei Zhuang's former pride became very pitiful.

With the demise of the Kingdom of Han, Wei Zhuang of Xinzheng also disappeared. The current Wei Zhuang is still a disciple of the School of Diplomacy, but in addition to this identity, he has a new identity, that is, the general of the State of Qi.

Yang Chong once wanted him to take over Ye Mu, but Wei Zhuang refused because he needed a bigger battlefield.

"Yes, seeing the vast world will always make a difference." Zhang Liang nodded.

When Wei Zhuang and Zhang Liang led the army towards Jicheng, Yan Yi in Yicheng was worried and uneasy. Although the Qi army under the city had divided its forces and the Qi army had fewer troops than the defenders in Yicheng, he still did not have the courage to go out for a field battle.

As the general of Yan State, he knew very well the combat effectiveness of his own army.

If he were allowed to rely on the city walls, he might be able to deal with the Qi army. He used this method to block the attack of the Zhao army back then. He didn't want to try anything new at the moment. He never wanted to make any great achievements.

"It seems that the King of Qi is not just trying to capture cities this time. If that were the case, he would never provoke the king so much and send the prince's head to the king. This is simply a fight to the death. So there is only one explanation, that is, the King of Qi is preparing to destroy the State of Yan this time." Yan Yi, who occupied the best mansion in Yicheng, thought listlessly.

He was helpless against the Qi army outside the city. For him, whether the current crisis could be resolved no longer depended on him. Only if Jicheng won could his predicament be resolved. But could Jicheng be relied upon?

Yan Yi knew the people in Jicheng too well. They were good at eating, drinking and having fun, but if they were asked to repel the Qi army, it would be better to expect meteorites to fall from the sky and smash the Qi army to death. As for why he knew them? It was too simple. He only needed to look in the mirror to know that he was that kind of person!

"It's a troubled time, a troubled time. I just don't know if I can survive this crisis this time." Yan Yi thought worriedly.

It was not only Yan State that was facing a turbulent time. Its neighbor Zhao State was also facing a very bad situation. This time, the Qin State no longer wanted to fight wits and courage with the Zhao army on the battlefield. This time, Qin State wanted to crush Zhao State with absolute strength.

(End of this chapter)