Warring States Odyssey

  Originally, Zhao Wang Jian sent three imperial edicts to Li Mu, requiring him to immediately withdraw his troops and rescue Handan, because at that time the Qin state was sending 100,000 reinforcements to Yang Duan's army on the southern line, attacking the northern shore of the Zhang River in Zhao.

  The northern bank of the Zhang River is less than 200 miles away from Handan. Although the Zhao army has the danger of the Zhang River and the solidity of the Great Wall, there are only more than 30,000 troops stationed on the north bank of the Zhang River. After Yang Duanhe's reinforcements arrived, his forces reached over 200,000 men, making the strength of both sides extremely uneven. This also caused great panic in Handan City, and officials repeatedly petitioned King Zhao Qian to recall Li Mu to rescue Handan. King Zhao Qian, on the one hand, gathered soldiers to defend Handan, and on the other hand, urgently sent a decree to Li Mu, with very severe wording, demanding that he immediately withdraw from Fanwu and return to rescue Handan.

  When he received the imperial edict from Zhao Wang Qian, Li Mu was listening to Gao Yuan and Li Yinghong's report on the new cavalry army. Therefore, he did not conceal it from them either, telling them the contents of the edict.

  Li Ying was also very anxious and said: "What to do now? General Sima's troops have only 30,000 men, which is definitely not enough to withstand the attack of the Qin army. We are currently facing off against the Qin army, Father, what should we do? Are we going to abandon Fanwu and retreat back to Handan?"

  Gao Yuan Dao: "No, but if we abandon Fanwu, the Qin army can immediately occupy Fanwu and form a pincer movement on Handan from the north and south. If we retreat and cannot defeat Yang Duanhe's Qin army in a short period of time, the situation will become even more dangerous. Therefore, I think it is better to launch a pre-emptive attack at Fanwu rather than retreating to reinforce Handan. As long as we defeat Huan Ju's troops, even if Yang Duanhe breaks through the Zhangshui defense line, they will retreat without a fight. Moreover, we currently have 150,000 troops in Fanwu, while the Qin army has 200,000, but they are from afar and need to divide their forces to guard various strategic passes, so the number of troops that can engage in battle should be roughly equivalent to ours. As long as our plan is sound, we still have a certain degree of confidence in defeating the Qin army. Moreover, over the past few months, the general has been holding his ground without fighting, perhaps also intentionally showing weakness to the Qin army."

  Because Gao Yuan knew that in history, this battle was won by Li Mu's leading Zhao army. Although he didn't know the detailed process of this battle, Li Mu used this tactic of pretending to be weak when defending against the Xiongnu, which made the Xiongnu arrogant and careless, and then Li Mu launched a counterattack and surrounded them, defeating more than 100,000 Xiongnu soldiers, establishing his reputation. Now Gao Yuan estimated that Li Mu was using the same trick again.

  Li Mu shook his head and said: "If I could launch a surprise attack on the Qin army, I would have led the troops to attack long ago, and wouldn't have waited until now."

  Gao Yuan also looked puzzled and asked: "Why?"

  Li Mu said: "Although we now have an army of 150,000 in Bianwu, the actual number of soldiers who can fight is only more than 80,000. The others are newly recruited and lack combat experience. Therefore, my refusal to fight in Bianwu also has a big reason for hoping to gain more time to let these new recruits have more training time. Although I also hope that the Qin army will be arrogant and give me an opportunity, unfortunately, the Qin army is not like the Xiongnu, with strict military discipline, attacking and defending according to law. Huaiyang, although defeated by me in the Battle of Fei three years ago, wants revenge, but this time he is even more cautious. In these three months, I have deliberately shown weakness to him, but the Qin army has not launched a reckless attack, and the defense is tight, leaving me with no opportunity."

  Gaoyuan Dao: "Why are our battle-ready troops so few?"

  At this time, Li Mu's face, which had always been calm and composed, finally revealed a hint of helplessness. He said: "Since King Zheng of Qin took power, he has been waging war against our great Zhao state. In the second year of King Qian's reign, the Qin general Huan Yi attacked and captured Pingyang and Wucheng, and our great general Hu Zhe was killed in battle, with a loss of 100,000 troops. In the third year of King Qian's reign, Huan Yi again led his army to attack Shangdang, occupying Cheli and Yian, attacking Zhao from the rear. It wasn't until then that King Qian summoned me back from Daijun. Although I defeated Huan Yi at Feixia, our great Zhao state has suffered heavy casualties year after year, and now our entire country's effective troops are basically just my army that resisted the Xiongnu in Daijun, which is now only 150,000-160,000 strong. Guarding Handan requires 50,000 troops, while Sima She is stationed on the north bank of the Zhen River with 30,000 troops, so there are only a little over 80,000 effective troops here."

  The plateau was also shocked, not thinking that the current situation of Zhao Guo had reached such a difficult point. Li Mu was supporting the situation of Zhao Guo with his own strength in the last few years of Zhao Guo. But what about this battle now? In history, didn't Li Mu win this battle? Although he himself has arrived, he hasn't done anything against history, on the contrary, he has made saddle and stirrup which are beneficial to the Zhao army. So how did Li Mu win this battle in history?

  At this point, Gao Yuan inadvertently raised his head and saw that Li Mu was still calm, not showing any signs of difficulty due to the unfavorable situation. It's unknown whether he had a plan in mind or was just pretending to be calm. However, from Gao Yuan's understanding of Li Mu, it's likely that he did have a plan to defeat the Qin army, but wasn't sure if he could find it. From the current situation, Zhao was indeed at a disadvantage, Handan was in danger, and Pingyu was also facing off against the Qin army, without enough strength to advance or retreat, making it difficult to protect both fronts. Therefore, Gao Yuan couldn't think of any solution either. Meanwhile, Li Xinghong's eyebrows were already furrowed into a "川" shape.

  But in an instant, a flash of insight struck the plateau's mind, and he said: "I understand, it's to use their own plan against them."

  Li Mu's mouth curled up into a faint smile as he said, "You'd better speak up, what's this plan of yours?"

  Gaoyuan Road: "Now Handan is in crisis, and we must wait for the general to return with reinforcements. I think Huan Yi is also waiting for the general to withdraw his troops, then lead his army to pursue and attack, defeat the general once and for all, and avenge past grievances. Meanwhile, we can use this opportunity to set up an ambush, pretend to retreat, and set up an ambush halfway, wait for the Qin army to come, and then launch a surprise attack on the Qin army, which will surely defeat Huan Yi."

  Li Mu nodded and said, "Not bad, this is indeed our only way out, but there's one thing you haven't thought of. From my understanding of Huan Zhu, he is well-versed in military strategy and cautious in his deployment of troops. After his last defeat, he has become even more cautious and refused to attack me even after three months of stalemate. So even if we retreat, it's unlikely that Huan Zhu will pursue us with his entire army. At most, he'll send a small contingent to chase us while the main force heads towards Fanwu to form a pincer movement with Yang Duanhe from the north and south. He'll also set up an ambush along the way to prevent me from returning to rescue Fanwu."

  Gao Yuan originally thought that his plan was brilliant, but he didn't expect Li Mu to point out the flaws. He realized that he had overlooked the psychological aspect of the enemy commander and had been too optimistic, thinking that the enemy would follow his lead. However, from Li Mu's attitude, it seemed that this line of thinking was correct - using the withdrawal as an opportunity to mobilize the Qin army and then finding a way to annihilate them in motion. But where should they start? Gao Yuan carefully studied the map, analyzing the movements of the Qin army.

  At last, the general's gaze fell on a location on the map, and he pointed with his hand: "General, it is here."

  Li Mu burst out laughing and said: "Gao Yuan, in a few more years, you'll also be able to take charge on your own and lead the great army."

  Dividing line Dividing line

  The Qin army's large camp was stationed in Lingshou, twenty miles northwest of Fanwu. The main general of the Qin army, Huan Yi, was sitting very relaxedly in the big tent at this time, and was drinking tea very leisurely.

  Among the current Qin army generals, Huan Yi and Wang Jian have the longest seniority. The rest, such as Li Xin, Yang Duanhe, Xin Sheng, Wang Bi, Meng Tian, etc., are their juniors. Moreover, since King Zheng of Qin took power, Huan Yi has always been the main general of Qin State. In the tenth year of King Zheng's reign, Huan Yi was appointed as a general and then repeatedly led troops to conquer, with outstanding military achievements.

  In the 11th year of Qin Wang Zheng, Huan Yi and Wang Jian, Yang Duanhe led the Qin army to attack Handan, took nine cities from Zhao, and Huan Yi took Anyang again. In the 13th year, Huan Yi attacked Pingyang and Wucheng in Zhao, killed the general of Zhao, Zuo Qiuming, beheaded 100,000 people, and reached the peak of his personal military career. However, at this time, Li Mu appeared in front of Huan Yi, causing Huan Yi to suffer his first major defeat in his life.

  This time, Huan Yi led the Qin army and Li Mu held a standoff in Fanwu. Of course, Huan Yi wanted to defeat Li Mu on the battlefield and avenge his previous defeat. However, as Huan Yi was well-versed in military strategy and had extensive battle experience, he would not let his desire for revenge cloud his judgment. Moreover, having suffered a crushing defeat previously, Huan Yi did not dare underestimate Li Mu. Therefore, this time Huan Yi was extra cautious, even though Li Mu appeared weak everywhere, Huan Yi did not dare to launch a rash attack on Fanwu.

  Of course, Huan Yi was also very clear that this time the State of Qin was attacking the State of Zhao with two separate forces. The main force of the Zhao army was concentrated on the Bianwu front line, while the troops on the Zhangshui front line were thin and eager to fight. It should be Li Mu who couldn't wait, not himself. As long as he remained calm, Li Mu would eventually lose patience, break out of his camp at Gucheng, and attack him. Moreover, by holding back Li Mu here, waiting for Yang Duan to achieve results on the other side, Li Mu would have no choice but to withdraw his troops. Then he could lead his army in pursuit, defeat Li Mu, and avenge his previous defeat.

  It was the day before yesterday that Huan Yi received news from within the state of Qin, knowing that 100,000 more troops had been added to Yang Duan's forces. This meant that Zhao's defense line at Zhang River was in danger, and the might of Qin's army could threaten Handan. As a result, Li Mu's position in Fanwu would be unstable, either retreating or engaging in an all-out battle with himself. Therefore, Huan Yi defended his camp while sending out numerous scouts to gather information on Zhao's army, waiting for news of Li Mu's retreat. At the same time, he was considering whether to pursue Li Mu or capture Fanwu once Li Mu retreated.

  At this time, Huan Yi finally received the news he had been longing for. The Zhao army retreated from Fanwu. Then Huan Yi immediately ordered to gather all the generals to discuss together.