Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Han Dynasty, Weiyang Palace, Imperial Study.

Outside the window, the spring rain was drizzling, and water dripped from the eaves in lines. Under the light of the palace lanterns, the face of Emperor Liu Che of Han was gloomy and uncertain.

He held a letter requesting help from Sima Yi, the great general of Wei, in his hand, and his knuckles turned slightly white from the strain.

After a long moment, he sneered and slammed the letter heavily on the table.

"Four hundred thousand against two hundred forty thousand, and he even had the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, yet he still lost!"

Liu Che's voice was low and cold, like the edge of a knife tempered with ice.

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Chen Pin, who was standing by, suddenly changed his expression and stepped forward:

"Your Majesty, the Wei army was defeated? Then... wouldn't the Chu army march straight in?"

Liu Che nodded slightly, a gloomy look flashing in his eyes. "Indeed, Sima Yi retreated to Qingzhou and now divides his troops into three groups to defend the three important towns in order to delay the Chu army."

After saying this, he handed the letter to Chen Pin, his tone grim: "Look for yourself, what Sima Yi said - if our Han Dynasty does not send troops this time, once the Wei Kingdom is destroyed, the next one to fall will be our Han Dynasty!"

Chen Pin took the letter, glanced at it quickly, and his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

The handwriting on the letter was illegible, obviously written in a hurry, and there were even a few ink smudges, which looked like bloodstains.

In the letter, Sima Yi described in detail the brutality of the Battle of Licheng, how the Chu cavalry broke through the formation, and how the Wei army was defeated. Despair and unwillingness were revealed between the lines.

The last paragraph is even more blunt.

"If the Han Emperor sits idly by and does nothing, the day Wei falls will be the day the Chu army crushes Han territory!"

Chen Pin slowly closed the letter and sighed, "Sima Yi is right. With Chu Ning's ambition, once the Wei Kingdom is destroyed, the Han Dynasty will surely be next."

He paused, a look of hesitation on his face. "But the Great Zhou Dynasty's troops are stationed on our border. If our main force is transferred to Wei, the Zhou army will definitely notice."

"Given the relationship between the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty and Chu Ning, she will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble!"

Liu Che certainly understood this truth.

The Empress Wu Zhao of the Great Zhou Dynasty had a close relationship with Chu Ning. If the Han army marched north to support the Wei Kingdom, the Zhou army would most likely march south to harass them, or even take the Han capital directly!

He stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the hazy palace in the rain, and weighed his options again and again in his mind.

"If we don't send troops into this war, the Tang Dynasty will just stand by and watch, and the Wei Kingdom will be destroyed!"

Liu Che said in a deep voice: "But if we send troops, we are afraid that the Zhou army will take advantage of the opportunity and invade..."

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned around, a flicker of determination in his eyes: "Pass on my decree. Order Li Guang to lead 50,000 elite troops, pretending to be an army of 100,000, and rush to Qingzhou overnight!"

Chen Pin was stunned: "Your Majesty, fifty thousand soldiers and horses may not be enough to turn the tide of the war."

Liu Che sneered: "Who said we really want to turn the tide of the battle?"

He walked to the sand table and pointed his finger in the direction of Qingzhou: "Our army only needs to make a reinforcement gesture to make the Chu army hesitate and delay time."

"At the same time, send someone to spread the news that the Han Dynasty has dispatched 100,000 troops north to support the Wei Kingdom!"

Chen Pin's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, are you trying to force the Tang Dynasty to send troops?"

Liu Che nodded, "Indeed! Emperor Li Shiming of the Tang Dynasty has always been suspicious. If he hears that our army has moved, he will not dare to stand idly by."

"As long as the Tang army joins the battle, Chu Ning will be attacked from all sides and will naturally have no time to fully attack Wei!"

He sent troops not because he really wanted to fight a fierce battle with the Chu army, but because he wanted the Tang Dynasty to send troops!

He knew very well that if he did not send troops, Li Shiming would definitely not send troops.

Chen Pin clapped his hands in praise, "Brilliant plan! This way, we can both intimidate the Chu army and force the Tang Dynasty into action, while our main force can still guard against the Zhou army!"

Liu Che's eyes were deep: "The key to this battle is not the number of troops, but the game of people's hearts."

"Pass the order down, and make sure everyone in the world believes that we, the Han, have put all our might into this battle!"

On a rainy night, the lights in the Weiyang Palace remained on all night.

At dawn the next day, a cavalry quietly left the city and galloped north.

At the same time, the news that the Han army of 100,000 was rushing to support the Wei State spread throughout the world like wildfire.

The chessboard of war changes again.

At the same time, the sun was already high on the Moon-setting Slope.

The Chu army's formation still maintained its oppressive momentum, but never took any further action.

Inside the Tang army camp, the soldiers were on high alert, with bows and crossbows strung and swords drawn, but there was no sign of an enemy attack.

Li Jing was playing chess with Pei Xingjian in the central military tent.

Black and white pieces are intertwined on the chessboard, and the battle is fierce.

Yuchi Xiong couldn't hold back and paced back and forth in the tent, his armor making clanging sounds.

"General, what is the Chu army waiting for?" Yuchi Xiong finally couldn't help asking.

Li Jing placed a piece, capturing one of Pei Xingjian's white pieces. He then looked up and said, "They're waiting for us to panic, waiting for us to make a mistake."

Pei Xingjian stared at the chessboard, lost in thought. "Guan Yun has always been cautious in his military deployment. He must have a plan for deploying such a large force this time."

"Report——"

A messenger hurried into the tent and knelt on one knee: "General, the Chu army's right wing has retreated half a mile, and their formation has loosened!"

Li Jing and Pei Xingjian looked at each other, and smiles appeared on their lips at the same time.

"It seems Guan Yun can't hold on any longer."

Li Jing stood up and walked to the sand table, tracing his finger over the terrain of Luoyue Slope. "Pass the order down. Increase patrols tonight, but do not initiate provocation."

Yuchi Xiong was puzzled: "General, isn't this a good time to strike back?"

Li Jing shook his head: "Although the Chu army has retreated, its main force has not been damaged. If we attack rashly, we will fall into Guan Yun's trap to lure the enemy."

He turned and looked outside the tent. The sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting mottled shadows on the ground. "This game isn't about swords, but about patience."

At this time, in the Chu army camp, Commander Guan Yun was staring at the map on the table.

He was about forty years old, with a resolute face. A scar ran from his left forehead across his brow, adding a bit of ferocity to him.

"General, the Tang army is not making any movement." Deputy General Zhou Cang reported in a low voice.

Guan Yun snorted coldly: "Li Jing is indeed a shrewd and calculating person."

He drummed his fingers on the table. "Your Majesty hopes that we can intimidate the Tang army so that they dare not support Wei. Now it seems that they will not act rashly, at least in the short term."

"Then let's..."

"Sound the horn to call off the troops, retreat ten miles and set up camp."

Guan Yun ordered, "At the same time, send a fast horse to report to His Majesty that the Tang army has not made any unusual movements. Our army can attack Wei with all our strength as planned."

That night, the bright moon hung high on the Falling Moon Slope, and the cold moonlight sprinkled on the battlefield where the two armies had withdrawn.

Only messy footprints and broken weapons were left as witnesses of the confrontation in broad daylight.

In the distance, the howling of wolves came one after another, as if mocking the meaningless fighting of humans.

The patience of the Tang army was far beyond Guan Yun's imagination, but this was exactly what he wanted.

If the Tang army loses patience, he will feel that Li Jing's title of the military god of the Tang Dynasty is just a facade.

This time when he confronted Li Jing, he deliberately wanted to compete with the other party.

Although the Tang army has not taken action yet, he believes that as long as His Majesty leads the army into Qingzhou, the Tang army will definitely not sit still!

By then, it would be the day for him to destroy this Tang army and capture Li Jingzhi!