Chapter 300: The Sorrow of Yan and Zhao
Under the attack of the Qi army, the people of Jicheng were constantly shaken. The idea that King Xi of Yan had originally had was constantly strengthened under the pressure from the Qi army. Face? The ancestors of Yan? These seemed not so important in front of his personal life.

In Jicheng, King Xi of Yan was not the only one who had the same idea as him. There were many more nobles. Moreover, unlike King Xi of Yan who wanted to escape, these nobles in Jicheng were more thinking about surrendering. After all, Yan Yi had surrendered in Yicheng before. If they surrendered, they would not only have no psychological burden, but also no worries. After all, Yan Yi, this living signboard, was already in front of them.

As the king of Yan State, although King Xi of Yan had nothing to do with wisdom and bravery, he was the king who had ruled Yan State for decades after all, and he still had a certain degree of ruling power over Yan State. Therefore, when the nobles in Ji City began to think about surrendering, King Xi of Yan knew about this trend of development at a time not too early but not too late.

After realizing this, King Xi of Yan no longer had any hope. If he had previously wanted to rely on Jicheng to block the attack of the Qi army and let Yan hold out until the situation in the world changed and forced the Qi army to withdraw, now he only had one idea, which was to flee to Liaodong as soon as possible.

King Xi of Yan was so scared that he could even imagine a situation: some nobles from Jicheng would suddenly break into the palace in the middle of the night, tie him up, and then present him to the future King of Qi.

Based on King Xi of Yan's understanding of the powerful people in Jicheng, they could really do such a thing.

Just when King Xi of Yan decided to flee to Liaodong, Yang Chong from outside Jicheng also assisted him. During this period of time, there were indeed powerful people in Jicheng who secretly lowered a hanging basket from under the city wall and offered their "loyalty" to the enemies outside the city.

However, these people did not know that their so-called loyalty was so cheap to Yang Chong, so cheap that Yang Chong simply disdained it. So when faced with the surrender requests from those dignitaries in Jicheng who thought they were smart, Yang Chong directly chose to refuse.

It is true that Yang Chong wants the State of Yan, but he does not need the powerful people of Yan. If these powerful people continue to stay in their original places, it will only bring trouble to Yang Chong. What Yang Chong wants is a clean State of Yan. If those powerful people of Yan do not flee to Liaodong, how can Yang Chong do whatever he wants on the land of Yan?

Besides, if the powerful people of Yan State did not go, how could Yang Chong train his confidants to become new powerful people? The land of Yan State was limited, and the corresponding positions were also limited. Someone had to go before new people could take over.

What Yang Chong needed was a Yan State that was like a blank sheet of paper, and those powerful people were the stains on this blank sheet of paper. The powerful people of Yan State did not know this, so their self-righteous surrender naturally became a joke.

Under the increasingly fierce attacks of the Qi army, despair quickly spread throughout Jicheng. They could not win the battle, and surrender was not accepted. For a time, the whole Jicheng felt as if there was no way out.

It stands to reason that under the threat of the Qi army, these people in Jicheng might be able to unite as one, but that is just theory. If Yan State was still within common sense, it would not have been a country that could be arbitrarily controlled by Zhao State for so many years.

As the Qi army continued to attack, the dignitaries inside Jicheng, including their king Yan Wangxi, came to a common decision, which was to flee to Liaodong. They wanted to rely on the ice and snow and the sparsely populated area of ​​Liaodong to block the Qi army's advance. The descendants of the Shang merchants could cross Liaodong in the past, and they can do it now.

Although living in seclusion is not a good choice, it is better than death.

With the deliberate connivance of the Qi army, one night, at the north gate of Jicheng, a huge convoy fled Jicheng under the cover of darkness. What they took away was the wealth of Jicheng and the last elite troops in Jicheng.

In the darkness of night, King Xi of Yan and others hurried on their way cautiously and nervously. The so-called humiliation had disappeared the moment they opened the city gate and escaped. Humiliation might still exist, but they no longer cared. Although they could not change the reality, they could change the concept.

When daybreak came, the people of Jicheng suddenly discovered that something seemed to be missing from the original Jicheng. Just when they were puzzled, the gate of Jicheng was suddenly opened.

What happened? For a moment, the whole Jicheng was confused. Although the Qi army outside the city was brave, it seemed that it would not be possible to capture the city in a short period of time.

Surrender? Would a city with its king still alive surrender so easily? What is their king doing now?
Their king has fled.

When the Qi army began its advance, they encountered the military and civilians of Jicheng. However, when the Yan Palace was occupied by the Qi army without any defense, the will to resist of the entire Jicheng collapsed.

The king has abandoned them, who can they defend?
Two days later, the Qi army completely took control of Jicheng, and the former Palace of Prince Yan became a temporary palace for Yang Chong.

Yang Chong is not King Zheng of Qin, who likes to destroy the palace of a country after conquering it, and then make the Qin Palace the only palace in the world, or even the imperial palace. What Yang Chong wants is the palace of every country.

These palaces are the essence of a country for hundreds of years. It is very easy to burn them down, but if they want to be rebuilt, the cost will be borne by the people. Yang Chong has calculated this account very clearly.

Moreover, Jicheng played an important role in his future plans. Although Linzi was a city with a larger scale and larger population than Xianyang, it was not suitable as the capital. Especially when Yang Chong intended to integrate the power of Qi, Zhao and Yan to stand side by side with Qin in the east and west, Linzi was not suitable as the capital.

Handan of Zhao, Jicheng of Yan, Linzi of Qi, and Taiyuan of Qin, these four cities are the ones that Yang Chong must obtain and must manage well. Jicheng is the first one, so there is no reason for Yang Chong to destroy it.

After the Qi army occupied Jicheng, relying on Yan Yi's surrender demonstration and the powerful deterrence of the Qi army, all the Yan territory south of Yanshan Mountain was quickly taken by the Qi army. Although there were cities that resisted, in the face of absolute strength and the fact that Yan was doomed, the so-called resistance could not cause any waves.

While the Qi army was quickly occupying the cities of Yan State south of Yanshan Mountain, the Qin army also achieved a great victory in Zhao State.

When Li Mu was delayed by Wang Jian, Wang Ben, the commander of the Qin army, was able to move freely in Zhao State. After successively capturing the South City and West City of Handan, the North City where the Zhao Palace was located became an isolated city.

Faced with such a situation, the same thing happened in Zhao State as in Yan State. In the face of victory, perhaps no Zhao people would have the idea of ​​surrendering, but in the face of successive defeats, some people were shaken. Some people's hesitation was just a thought, but for some people, the hesitation was fatal because they could really get things done.

For example, Guo Kai.

The seed that Yao Jia planted in Guo Kai's heart finally sprouted and grew into a towering tree when the Zhao army suffered successive defeats and Li Mu was powerless to turn the tide. Facing the offensive of the Qin army, perhaps because he was afraid of death or for wealth and glory, Guo Kai finally surrendered.

One night, the private soldiers of the Xiangguo Mansion moved. Before the Zhao army had time to defend their companions, they quickly opened the city gates and let the Qin army outside the city into the city.

After three days of fierce street fighting, the northern city of Handan was finally occupied by the Qin army.

However, after the Qin army captured Handan, they found that although there were two charred bodies in the palace, they were not the two people who should have died. King Qian of Zhao and his mother, the Queen Mother Zhao, were not in the palace. This cast a gloom over the Qin army, which was in high spirits because of the capture of Handan.

As the commander of the Qin army, Wang Ben, who was the one who defeated Handan this time, announced to the outside world that the Queen Mother of Zhao and King Qian of Zhao had burned themselves to death when the city was captured, but on the other hand, he quickly sent his personal soldiers to Xianyang to report the specific situation to King Zheng of Qin. In name, King Qian of Zhao had passed away, and Handan City had been captured by the Qin army. From this point of view, the State of Zhao had already perished.

In this way, a person's situation becomes quite embarrassing.

This person is Li Mu.

At this time, there were still 60,000 to 70,000 Zhao troops under Li Mu's command fighting against Wang Jian's Qin army. Although they could not win, it would not be easy for Wang Jian's Qin army to swallow him.

But now King Qian of Zhao is dead and Handan has been captured by the Qin army.

The capital and King Zhao's resignation were both gone. From this point of view, the State of Zhao had been destroyed both in reality and in name.

At this time, Li Mu and the Zhao army under his command had lost the target they were defending and the meaning of continuing to fight.

However, they were still people of Zhao, and they absolutely could not surrender to the State of Qin just like that.

On the one hand, the war between Qin and Zhao had already been decided, but on the other hand, Li Mu and his men did not want to surrender. For a moment, Li Mu and his men felt that they had no way out.

This is what is meant by being in a dilemma.

Moreover, not all Zhao people wanted to continue the war. Generals like Li Mu might have their own persistence and ethics, but for more Zhao soldiers, they just wanted to survive. If Zhao no longer existed, they would not mind continuing to live as Qin people.

So, such an almost impossible thing happened on the land of Zhao State. Deserters actually appeared under the command of Li Mu, the god of military formation.

But in the Zhao army camp in Donghuan, Li Mu fell silent as he listened to the report about deserters by his deputy general Sima Shang.

In the past, deserters would naturally be severely punished.

But right now?
"We can't expect everyone to be like us. After all, they are ordinary people. They have been able to hold on until today in the great battle with the Qin army. We really can't blame them." Faced with the increasing number of deserters, Li Mu did not get angry, but calmly counselled Sima Shang.

"General, I understand what you said, but if the current situation cannot be stopped, our army will soon be defeated, and then we will have no choice but to be defeated." Sima Shang said worriedly.

He was not only Li Mu's deputy general, but also Li Mu's good friend for many years, so he would never persuade Li Mu to surrender to the Qin army, because he knew that his boss and good friend would never surrender to the Qin army, but it was precisely because of this that he was worried about Li Mu.

The current situation faced by their army only has two options: either surrender to the Qin army or die.

Since it was impossible for Li Mu to surrender to the Qin army, the only option left for him was to die in battle. However, at this point in the war, dying in battle was no longer of any value.

"Perhaps it's time to end this war. We have done our best for Zhao State." Li Mu said to himself.

"General." Sima Shang looked at Li Mu nervously. He was afraid that Li Mu would make that choice.

"General, perhaps we have a third way to go right now." Sima Shang suddenly thought of a possibility in his nervousness.

"What way?" If possible, Li Mu did not want to die. It was not that he was not afraid of death, but his fear of death was not as great as his perseverance. So when he heard about the third way besides surrender and death, Li Mu was no exception.

"We can also retreat to Qi. The King of Qi has a good relationship with our country. If we retreat to Qi, maybe we can convince the King of Qi and use his power to recover our Zhao State. After all, our Zhao State made great efforts to enable the King of Qi to conquer Qi back then." Sima Shang said.

"Qi is a retreat for us, but not for the soldiers. We cannot force them to abandon their families and go with us." Li Mu pondered.

Retreating to Qi State is certainly a good choice, but for the soldiers, when the entire Zhao State is occupied by the Qin army, the soldiers' families will have to accept the rule of Qin. As long as the family is there, one cannot leave. Everyone understands this truth.

When Li Mu had no way to advance or retreat, more and more Qi troops appeared in the area that originally belonged to the Great Wall of Yan State.

When this news reached Li Mu, it also appeared on Wang Jian's desk.

"King Chong of Qi still needs to be faster after all." Wang Jian sighed.

He knew very well that when the Qi army began to gather towards the southern city of Yan State, it meant that the Qi army had already conquered Yan State.

The entire Qin State, including King Zheng of Qin, ultimately underestimated Zhao's determination to resist and overestimated Yan's persistence.

However, it was indeed difficult for the Qin people to imagine that 100,000 elite Yan troops would surrender to the Qi army so quickly without even much of a struggle. They also had not imagined that the Qi army, with its absolute advantage, would choose to force only King Xi of Yan and other Yan rulers to flee to Liaodong.

"Now we have no choice but to speed up the attack. My original intention was to wait until the day when the Zhao army's morale collapsed, but now I can't wait any longer. I absolutely cannot, and the king will not, allow Li Mu to lead the last elite troops of Zhao to retreat to Qi. We absolutely cannot let Qi take such a big advantage."

(End of this chapter)