Chapter 662: Frightened King and Ministers

Lucheng. Read М

A cavalryman appeared at the north gate of the city. Before he entered the city, the cavalryman and his horse suddenly fell down.

The warhorse he was sitting on straightened up, neighed, and suddenly fell silent.

The cavalryman got up and rushed into the city without caring about the exhausted warhorse.

He ran and shouted, "The soldiers from Yanzhou are coming, the soldiers from Yanzhou are coming!"

The soldiers of Qi State guarding the gate changed their colors, and they immediately led the cavalryman to the palace.

"What! The soldiers from Yanzhou crossed the Jin River?"

In the Imperial Garden, Han Zheng was playing chess with Sato Masahisa.

Hearing this, he stood up suddenly, and the corner of his clothes knocked over the chessboard, scattering chess pieces all over the ground.

He seemed to be too shocked, and his body shook.

After a while, he calmed down, "The King of Yan is so bold and arrogant. How many soldiers and horses have they brought?"

"About 120,000." The cavalry replied, "Before I came, they had surrounded the first fortress."

Han Zheng frowned and said to the eunuch beside him: "Immediately call all the ministers to discuss the war, send envoys to Jinling and Xiangcheng for help, and must immediately unite and attack the King of Yan."

Originally, there was only one month left for the troops from all directions to gather in Lucheng and go north to attack Yanzhou.

He never thought that the King of Yan would take the initiative to attack Qi at this time.

Although this disrupted their plan, their war preparations for Yanzhou were 80% completed.

He believed that as long as they persisted for more than 20 days, they could gather a million strong troops in Lucheng. After all, the Xie family had transported enough food and grass to Lucheng during this period.

Then he said to Sato Masahisa: "Lord Zuo Teng, please ask Japan to send a navy to support Qi according to the plan."

Sato Masahisa was excited. On this day, he deceived for a long time.

He nodded: "I will send someone back to Japan and tell the general about the early attack on King Yan."

Han Zheng felt relieved, "Thank you, Lord Sato. As long as the Japanese navy is dispatched, I promise you that Qingcheng will be used as a port for trade with Japan and allow Japanese people to settle in Qingcheng."

Sato Masahisa was slightly happy. This was an order sent by the shogunate not long ago, asking him to discuss this matter with Qi State so that Japan could further intervene in the civil strife in Dasong.

But Han Zheng has never agreed.

At present, he finally took it out as a bargaining chip.

In his opinion, Han Zheng probably has been worried that if the war breaks out, Japan will break its promise and stand idly by.

But he did not blame Han Zheng. After all, if it were him, he would choose the same way.

So he said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, our Japanese navy will destroy King Yan's fleet, and Japanese warriors will arrive in Qi State."

Han Zheng showed a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and he said: "I can't wait."

After saying this, Sato Masahisa left, and he also went to the Council Hall.

An hour later, all the ministers and generals of Qi arrived.

At this moment, they all learned the news that the troops of Yanzhou had crossed the Jin River, and many of them had deep worries on their faces.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to fight and kill the King of Yan without leaving a single piece of armor."

Before Han Zheng spoke, a young general stepped out.

He was Han Lei, the eldest son of Han Qi. His father was captured by the soldiers of Yanzhou in the Battle of Pingyuan City.

Qi sent envoys to Yancheng twice, and one of the conditions put forward was to release his father.

But they were all rejected by the King of Yan.

Such a great humiliation, he has always wanted to take revenge on the occasion of this crusade against the King of Yan.

Now, the troops of the King of Yan actually invaded Qi, which was a great opportunity for him to take revenge, so he decided to ask for battle immediately.

Han Zheng showed a gratified look. The troops of Yanzhou were coming fiercely, but at least none of his Han family members were afraid of fighting.

After just a thought, he did not agree to Han Lei, but cast his eyes on Yuan Li.

After the establishment of Qi, Yuan Li served as the general of Qi.

He had 60,000 direct troops of the Yuan family under his command.

Most importantly, Yuan Li and King Yan had an irreconcilable hatred. No one was more suitable than him to fight against King Yan this time.

Although Han Lei was brave, he had never experienced a real war.

Yuan Li was different. In the battle of Ningjin Dusi, Yuan Li made many contributions, so he was able to secure the position of governor of Yanzhou.

When guarding Yanzhou, he fought with the Northern Di in autumn hunting all year round, and even directly fought with the troops of King Yan.

Letting him go is much better than Han Lei going directly.

So he said: "General Yuan, are you willing to fight?"

"Yes." Yuan Li said loudly, with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes.

The attack on the Yan Alliance is the only chance to eliminate King Yan.

Only by taking this opportunity to eliminate King Yan can he have the opportunity to return to Yanzhou and Fanyang, the place he longed for.

For this, he is willing to pay any price.

After all, if the King of Yan conquered Qi, Yuan Li would have no place to stay.

This time he could not hide, and he had to fight to the death to stop the King of Yan's troops from continuing to move south, so as to buy time for the various armies to gather in Lucheng.

"Okay!" Han Zheng patted the back of his chair excitedly, and said, "I order you to lead 60,000 troops to fight, and give you another 90,000 troops, a total of 150,000 troops, to support the South Bank Fort."

After a pause, he continued, "But at present, the battle situation is unclear, and we need to wait for more news. You should prepare immediately and set off at any time."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yuan Li responded.

At this time, Han Zheng looked at the ministers and said loudly: "My dear ministers, the battle with Yanzhou is related to the survival of Qi. You should work together, not afraid of dangers and obstacles, and live and die with Qi, so that you can finally defeat the King of Yan and eliminate Qi's great enemy."

Then, he discussed with the ministers about raising food and grass, recruiting new soldiers and other war matters.

At night, another battle report arrived, causing an uproar in Luzhong.

"The fortress was broken!" Han Zheng couldn't believe his ears at all.

This battle report was only half a day apart from the first battle report, and the first fortress on the south bank fell.

The next day, he received news that made him even more uneasy. The remaining two fortresses were also broken by the King of Yan's troops.

One hundred thousand Qi soldiers were wiped out.

"Two hundred thousand soldiers are gone just like that." In the imperial study, Han Zheng looked depressed.

In the Battle of Pingyuan, Qi lost 100,000 soldiers. He thought that with the 100,000 soldiers on the south bank, he could resist the troops of the King of Yan for ten days or half a month.

But it was only one day, and all three forts fell.

He believed that Dongping City would soon be taken by the troops of the King of Yan.

"Your Majesty, this time the troops of the King of Yan seemed to have used a new type of firearm. They dug tunnels and reached about 40 meters outside the city wall, and then threw the firearms on the city wall."

"Because it was too sudden, the defenders on the city wall were unprepared, and often suffered heavy casualties. Taking advantage of the opportunity, they quickly took down the city wall and broke through the city."

In the imperial study, in addition to Han Zheng, there were Wang Zian and Wang Xie.

In these two battles, more than half of the direct troops of their two families were lost.

If it weren't for this period of time, they would have no soldiers available now.

But even so, the troops of Qi could not withstand such consumption.

So, after learning the news, he and Wang Xie hurried into the palace and made suggestions to Han Zheng to save Qi from danger.