In the palace of Handan City, the capital of Zhao.
"Your Majesty, this subject did not fail his mission and completed your request!”
An official of the State of Zhao bowed to the King of Zhao who was sitting on the throne.
This was Su Dai, the envoy who had bribed Fan Ju with a large sum of money to make King Zhaoxiang of Qin agree to cede the city to Zhao and Han for peace.
"Alright, thank you, Lord Su."
After hearing Su Dai's words, the King of Zhao and the officials in the palace could not help but heave a sigh of relief.
The State of Zhao had finally overcome the crisis in front of them.
"The Qin State's request is that we give the six cities near Shangdang County to the Qin State.”
Su Dai continued.
"Mn, then we'll give those six cities to the Qin country.”After hearing this, King Zhao couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
Shangdang County was originally the territory of Han Country, but now it had fallen into the hands of Qin Country. There was no harm in ceding the six cities near Shangdang County to Qin Country. At least it could exchange for a short period of time for Zhao Country to breathe. When Zhao Country recovered, they could join forces with the other countries to take it back. It was better than destroying the country.
Now that the situation in the Qin Country was stronger than the Zhao Country, they had no choice but to lower their heads.
"Your Majesty, this subject believes that this cannot be done.”
At this moment, Minister Yu Qing of Zhao stood out to stop him.
"Why?" The King of Zhao frowned as he looked at Yu Qing.
"Your Majesty, the current Qin State is already very powerful. If we cut off another six cities from the Qin State, the Qin State will only become even stronger.”
Yu Qing continued to analyze.
"The land of Zhao is limited, but the demands of Qin are endless. This time, we cut off the city to sue for peace. What about the next time? If this continues, Zhao will eventually be destroyed."
"Why don't we bribe Qi State with six cities and ally with Qi State to resist Qin State?”
"At the same time, give Ling Qiu to Chun Shenjun and befriend Chu.”
"Moreover, the best plan is to ally with Wei, Han, and Yan to resist Qin.”
Yu Qing continued to explain the power of each of them.
After the ministers and the King of Zhao heard this, they also agreed.
It was just that blindly ceding territory and making peace with the Qin country was not a long-term plan. The Zhao country would only become weaker and weaker, and in the end, it would be completely swallowed by the Qin country.
The other five countries naturally did not want the Zhao Country to be destroyed by the Qin Country, nor did they want to see the Qin Country become powerful. For the sake of their own country's interests, they would definitely ally with the Zhao Country.
"Then what should we do about the matter of the Qin country ceding the city?”
King Zhao frowned.
"Of course, we can only delay it for now. Before we form an alliance with the other countries, it is not wise to fall out with the Qin country.”
Yu Qing thought for a moment and said.
"Then let's do it." King Zhao thought for a moment and said.
Following that, the King of Zhao and his ministers discussed the details.
……
"Handan City!"
A day later, Handan City was already in sight.
Bai Qi, who was sitting on the commander's chariot, stood up and looked at the tall city wall not far away.
On the city wall, the flag of the State of Zhao was constantly fluttering.
Handan City was the capital of Zhao State, and it was also the political and cultural center of Zhao State. The city walls were much higher than the other cities.
Fortunately, the news of him killing 400,000 Zhao soldiers had not spread.
Otherwise, Zhao would definitely risk their lives to defend Handan City. With the advantage of the city walls, it would not be easy to take down this city with just 100,000 Qin soldiers.
However, even if they didn't know the news, it wouldn't be easy to take down this city.
Of course, since Baiqi had decided to attack Handan City, he was confident that he could do so. Otherwise, he would not have sent out his troops.
First of all, the Zhao army had just been defeated, and their morale was low. They naturally had a fear of the Qin army.
In addition, the Zhao army had lost a total of 450,000 soldiers in the Battle of Changping, and there were not many soldiers left.
Moreover, the other countries had yet to react. They might not be able to save Handan in time.
The State of Zhao and the State of Qin had been at loggerheads in Changping for three whole years, almost dragging down their own economy. Otherwise, they would not be in such a hurry to defeat the Qin army and end the war.
Therefore, it was certain that Handan City did not have much grain.
The Qin army could take advantage of their victory in the Battle of Changping and take advantage of the morale of the Great Qin soldiers to destroy the State of Zhao.
He wanted to take advantage of its weakness and kill it, not giving Zhao Gao a chance to catch his breath.
"Have the army set up camp and prepare the siege weapons!”
"At the same time, send three armies, each with ten thousand soldiers, to surround the east, south, and west of Handan.”
"Send another 5,000 cavalrymen to lie in ambush at the north of Handan City. Once you find any retreating or defeated Zhao army, immediately attack and kill them all.”
Baiqi gathered Meng Ao and the other generals and ordered.
He had already thought of this siege strategy.
"Yes, Great General!" Meng Ao and the others bowed and accepted the order. After which, they began to move.
Besieging three without one was a common tactic in the military, because once they surrounded all four sides, it would be easy for them to become trapped beasts. Even if Baiqi could take down Handan City, he would suffer heavy losses, and it was not worth it.
Leaving a gap would make the enemy think that they still had a chance to live. Naturally, they would be lucky and would not fight to the death.
However, according to Baiqi's battle style, it was basically a battle of annihilation, so how could he let the Zhao army leave?
Therefore, he had laid an ambush for five thousand cavalrymen at the last gap.
Moreover, cavalry did not have any advantage in a siege. Placing them at the last gap could bring out the advantage of cavalry. Why not?
Of course, Baiqi had sent 10,000 troops to the east, south, and west of Handan City, but he did not really intend to attack the city.
He just wanted to give the Zhao army of Handan City some mental pressure and use this method to continuously consume the Zhao army's energy.
This was because the Zhao army was at their peak. It was not the time to attack the city.
Furthermore, Baiqi was still waiting. After Wang He and Sima Geng's army took down Pilao and Taiyuan, they would meet up with him.
At that time, the Zhao army would be exhausted. They could then take down the entire Handan City in one go.
Pre-emptive measures are always effective.
This was Baiqi's plan to attack Handan City.
……
In the palace of Handan City, the King of Zhao and his officials were discussing how to develop production to deal with Great Qin's future attacks.
"Your Majesty, Baiqi has already led the Qin army to Handan City. They can attack Handan City at any time!”
A soldier hurriedly walked in and reported to King Zhao, who was sitting on the throne.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Didn't the King of Qin already agree to Zhao's request for peace? Why would he send an army to attack Handan City?”
When the King of Zhao and the ministers heard this, their expressions changed drastically.
Their first reaction was, could it be that their plot a few days ago was known to the King of Qin?
However, that was impossible. It had only been a few days. It was impossible for the King of Qin to know about it.
They originally thought that they could drag it out for a year and a half, so that they would have enough time to prepare.
However, they did not expect the Qin army to suddenly arrive at the city gates, catching them off guard and causing them to panic.
Right now, they had just sent envoys to the four kingdoms of Qi, Han, Chu, Wei, and Yan. They probably hadn't even seen the kings of the four kingdoms yet, but the Qin army had already arrived.
Even if the Zhao emissary really persuaded the other four countries to join forces against Qin, it would be too late for the four countries to send troops to rescue Handan.
"Could it be that Baiqi did not receive the order from the King of Qin to withdraw his troops?”
"Why don't you let me bring the peace treaty with the King of Qin to Baiqi? With that treaty, Baiqi wouldn't dare to attack Handan City.”
Su Dai, who had previously been sent to the State of Qin, immediately stood out and spoke to the King of Zhao.
With the agreement signed by the King of Qin, Baiqi would not dare to go against his wishes.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Lord Su." The King of Zhao nodded.
"I will definitely do my best!" Su Dai bowed and cupped his fists at the King of Zhao. After saying that, he turned around and left the palace, heading straight for the encampment of Bai Qi's army.
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