si-mexico Chapter 465: Five Nations Alliance
Chapter 465: Five Nations Alliance
"I second the proposal."
"I think the Prime Minister is right."
"Yes, Your Majesty, this is too fake. Let's wait and see what the Wei State has to say."
"But Your Majesty, we are allies with Qi after all. Now that the Emperor of Qi is dead and Tong Xuan has succeeded him as Emperor of Qi, does our alliance with Qi still count?"
A minister raised this sensitive issue.
The Prime Minister said,
"Whether the alliance still exists depends on whether we recognize Tong Xuan as the Emperor of Qi.
Whether or not they will be recognized depends on whether Qi is still useful."
"Your Majesty, the Yan army now has 500,000 to 600,000 soldiers in Qi. They are unstoppable and can capture every city in less than a day. Although Tong Xuan has 400,000 soldiers, they are all local troops, a motley crowd, and now they have offended Wei.
If Wei sends troops again, Tong Xuan's downfall is only a matter of time, and he will surely die. Even if we want to form an alliance with them, it will be too far for us to do anything.
The more than 200,000 Qi troops in Liang State fought frequently with the western army of Yan State and were defeated in three battles. According to yesterday's intelligence, the remaining Qi troops had been surrounded by the Yan army. With the combat effectiveness of the Yan army, these Qi troops were doomed to die.
In other words, after a while, Qi will be gone, so what alliance will we still recognize?"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor Qin nodded and said,
"That's right, there's no need to discuss Qi's affairs anymore. They have nothing to do with our country anymore.
But what should our army do now? Bai Wuan's army of over 300,000 is still stationed in Xingqing Prefecture.
The Yan army's banner was to support the Liang State, but later it turned into revenge for the Liang State. The Yan army will definitely attack our army.
Our army should fight or retreat, please tell me what to do."
Upon hearing this, all the ministers fell silent.
The general stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, if we retreat, wouldn't this battle be in vain? What will the loss of soldiers, money and food mean?
If we destroy Liang but can't get its land, what's the point of wasting our efforts?"
The Prime Minister shook his head and said,
"But what if we can't defeat the Yan army? Our country only has 800,000 central troops. Bai Wuan took away 400,000, and now there are only 300,000 left.
If Bai Wuan's army is completely annihilated, our Great Qin's military strength will be cut in half, making it difficult for us to resist the southward invasion of Yan State."
The general snorted coldly.
"If we withdraw, will the Yan army stop invading?"
The Prime Minister turned around in a hurry and said loudly,
"The Yan State's evil ambitions are obvious.
Now they have destroyed Kun State and swallowed up most of Qi State. Judging from the situation, Liang State will also be taken into their possession. They have already occupied the entire northern world.
Their pace of expansion will not stop, and the next unlucky ones will definitely be us and the State of Wei.
What we have to consider now is not whether we can still defend Xingqing Prefecture, but whether we can still defend the Qin State!
If Bai Wuan's troops were completely wiped out in the north, our country would inevitably suffer heavy losses in military strength.
The State of Yan will not attack our country and the State of Wei at the same time, but will defeat them one by one.
They had no grudge against the State of Wei, but they could invade our country under the banner of revenge for the State of Liang.
By then, Wei will be powerful and have a strong military, while our military will be weak, and we will still have a legitimate reason to attack.
Tell me, if you were the State of Yan, who would you attack first?!"
When these words were spoken, all the ministers were stunned.
Even the Emperor Qin came to his senses.
Yes, now it is no longer a matter of considering whether we can defend Xingqing Prefecture or make up for the previous losses.
But the question is whether we can defend the Qin homeland and resist the invasion of Yan!
The Emperor Qin waved his hand and said calmly,
"I am wrong!"
"emperor……"
The ministers were so frightened that they knelt down immediately. If the emperor was wrong, then all of them should die.
The Emperor Qin said helplessly,
"Everyone, get up! I'm speaking the truth. Before I set out on this expedition, Bai Wuan advised me not to attack Liang, but to attack Sichuan instead.
Conquering the remote and poor Liang State would gain nothing, but would instead lead to a direct confrontation with the Yan State.
It would be better to let Qi and Liang fight Yan first to buy time for us to destroy Chuan and combine the strength of the two countries to compete with Yan. Even if they are defeated, they can retreat to Chuan. Their artillery will have difficulty traveling between Chuan and Shu.
But I did not listen and was deceived by the envoy of Qi, and chose to send troops to Liang.
Fortunately, it is not too late to mend the situation now.
We don't want this Liang Kingdom anymore. Let's just think of it as a gift to Yan Kingdom after conquering it for free.
We need to withdraw Bai Wuan and then gather a large army at the border to guard against the State of Yan.
Otherwise, if Bai Wuan stayed in Liang, it would be equivalent to giving Yan the opportunity to defeat us one by one.
The supply lines are too long, fighting in a different location, the enemy is outnumbered, the enemy is strong and we are weak, this is not appropriate."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
The ministers shouted.
The Emperor of Qin continued,
"But right now, it's a foregone conclusion that Yan will destroy Qi and occupy Liang. This behemoth dominates the north. If we wait until they completely absorb the power of the two great powers, Kun and Qi, we will be in a very passive position.
At that time, the State of Yan had sufficient population, food, money, and strong national strength, and built more weapons.
From now on, I’m afraid no country in the world will be able to rival Yan.”
All the ministers felt heavy in their hearts.
They all have a map in their heads.
From north to south, there are the State of Yan located in the northeast corner.
Then there is the Kun Kingdom, which occupied a large area of land in the north.
Further south are the Qi State in the east and the Liang State in the west.
Further south are the State of Wei in the east and the State of Qin in the west.
Further south are the Chu State in the east and the Sichuan State in the west.
Finally, there is the powerful Qian Kingdom that dominates the south.
Judging from the territory alone, the State of Yan, which occupied the territories of Yan, Kun, Qi and Liang, almost occupied half of the country.
Its territory is so vast and its national strength is so strong that no country can stop it.
Suddenly, the Prime Minister raised his head and said slowly,
"Your Majesty is right, we absolutely cannot give Yan State time to develop.
We have to go out and strike.”
The general said angrily,
"You were the one who ordered the troops to withdraw, and you were the one who ordered the offensive. How could you change your mind so suddenly? We are fine with defending, but if we take the initiative to attack the State of Yan, that would be courting death."
The Prime Minister shook his head and said
"We definitely can't win alone, but what if five families come together to fight?"
"Five?"
Everyone was shocked.
"Yes, Your Majesty, everyone, of the nine kingdoms in the world, three have been destroyed. Besides Yan, we still have five kingdoms in the south.
All we need to do is tell other countries about Yan’s evil ambitions, and then teach them the truth that if one loses the other, the other’s teeth will be cold.
The most important thing is that the Five-Nation Alliance needs a leader. Our Qin State is not qualified. Only the powerful Qian State is qualified to be the leader.
As long as we can convince Qian Guo, then this matter will be half done."