"Urgent report, urgent report from the front line..."

Early that morning, an anxious shout came accompanied by the clatter of horse hooves, breaking the tranquility of Handan, the capital of Zhao State.

Passing through the city wall of Handan and passing through the bustling streets, the war horses that galloped for an unknown length of time stopped in front of the palace gate of the Zhao Palace.

With a "plop", the messenger on the horse didn't even have the strength to turn over and dismount, and fell directly from the horse.

Seeing this scene, the Zhao Jun guards who were on duty in front of the palace gate did not dare to neglect, and even trotted forward to take a look.

"Wake up, wake up quickly!"

Awakened by the shouts, the orderly soldier opened his eyes with difficulty, and what he saw was a soldier wearing the same uniform as him.

The messenger stretched out his right hand and slowly took out a silk book from his arms, and then pressed it into the hand of the man in front.

"Quick...quickly save the king..."

After using all his strength to say these words intermittently, the messenger fell into a coma.

"Commander of the Brigade, this man has fainted."

"Send him to the medical officer quickly for treatment." After confirming that the person's life was not in danger, the Zhao Jun officer guarding the palace gate immediately looked solemn and said, "I will hand the silk letter to the prince."

"Here."

Following the hurried footsteps of this Zhao Jun officer, this silk letter from the front was quickly delivered to the hands of the Prince of Zhao, Zhao Yu.

"Quick, go and ask the Prime Minister to come."

Soon after, Zhao Xianggong Zhong Le walked quickly into the hall, and what caught his eyes was Zhao Yu, who was pacing back and forth.

"Old minister, please pay homage to the prince."

"Prime Minister, there is no need to be polite." Without any unnecessary words, Zhao Yu directly handed the silk letter to Gong Zhongle, "Prime Minister, let's take a look."

"My father led an army of 40,000 and Zhongshan's army of 30,000 met at the banks of the Sophora River. After a fierce battle, our army was defeated and retreated."

"Now, the Zhongshan army with high morale has surrounded Haoyi. My father and my 20,000 Zhao army are like trapped dragons, not daring to move at all."

After listening to Zhao Yu's narration and reading the content on the silk book in his hand, Gong Zhongle looked in disbelief.

"How could this be?"

"I'd like to trouble the Prime Minister to protect Handan for our Zhao State."

Before Gong Zhongle could wake up from the news of the defeat on the front line, Zhao Yu walked out of the palace on his own after saying this.

Just as Zhao Yu was about to step out of the hall, Gong Zhongle's questioning voice came from behind him, "What does the prince want?"

"My father is trapped. As a son, how can I stand by and watch. I intend to gather the soldiers and horses in Handan City and go to the house to rescue my father."

"Prince, you are not saving your father, but you are putting the entire Zhao country in extreme danger."

Gong Zhongle's words made Zhao Yu retract the steps he was about to take, and turned around to look at him with confusion on his face.

"What does Prime Minister mean by this?"

Walking step by step in front of Zhao Yu, Gong Zhongle said slowly: "Although our army has suffered a huge defeat on the front line, it is not yet at the point of life and death. Please listen to what I have to say."

Gong Zhongle said so. Although Zhao Yu was still very anxious, he finally calmed down.

Looking at Zhao Yu in front of him, Gong Zhongle nodded as he gradually calmed down.

"Prince, it is important to gather troops and horses to rescue the king, but there are two things that should be done before the rescue."

"First, be prepared for Qi's attack."

Facing Zhao Yu's gaze, Gong Zhongle looked extremely solemn, "In the past ten years or so, our Zhao State's main opponent has never been the Zhongshan State, but the Qi State in the east."

"Through several wars jointly with the Wei State, our Zhao State seized a large area of ​​land from the Qi State, and even the north of Jishui became the land of Zhao."

"Is it possible that Qi will remain indifferent to these lost lands?"

"Of course it's impossible."

After shouting this sentence loudly, Gong Zhongle immediately bowed and said, "This time our State of Zhao is fighting against Zhongshan, the State of Qi will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. I would like to ask the prince to order to strengthen the alert along the Jishui River to deal with the possibility of coming at any time."

The Qi army committed the crime."

Zhao Yu listened to the first thing Gong Zhongle suggested and nodded in agreement.

That's right, Qi State will never sit aside and watch the fierce battle between Zhao State and Zhongshan State.

The reason why Qi has not chosen to send troops yet is because it lacks a suitable excuse to send troops, and the current defeat of Zhao undoubtedly gives Qi a golden opportunity.

"What the Prime Minister said is true, I immediately ordered to strengthen the alert." After hearing the first thing, Zhao Yu's eyes immediately turned to the next thing, "What about the second thing?"

"Second, ask Wei for help."

As soon as Gong Zhongle said these words, Zhao Yu's face lost the previous agreement and was replaced by hesitation.

Today, although the Zhao State and the Wei State still maintain an alliance on the surface, they have gradually drifted apart secretly.

In fact, the turning point in the relationship between the two countries was not based on the will of the kings of Wei and Zhao, but was the result of changes in strength.

In other words, the increasingly powerful Zhao State was no longer satisfied with being subordinate to Wei State, and was also seeking to have its own right to speak.

Seeing the hesitant look on Zhao Yu's face, Gong Zhongle immediately said: "Prince, our Zhao State is currently in a fierce battle with the Zhongshan State, and Qi State is watching from the sidelines. We really can't let another incident happen."

"Wei is the most powerful country in the world today, and the prestige accumulated by being the hegemon for decades is unmatched by anyone."

"As long as we, the State of Zhao, can get the support of the State of Wei, then Xiaoxiao will definitely not dare to move lightly, and we, the State of Zhao, can wholeheartedly deal with Zhongshan and the Qi State lurking in the dark."

Gong Zhongle's explanation directly dispelled Zhao Yu's doubts.

Zhao Yu immediately said: "What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true. I will immediately send an envoy to Anyi."

After talking about the State of Qi and the State of Wei, Zhao Yu and Gong Zhongle finally focused their attention on how to rescue King Zhao Zhong and the more than 20,000 Zhao troops trapped in Haoyi.

"Prince, the king seems to be in a critical situation now, but in fact he still has the strength to fight. The prince only needs to..."

…

In Handan City, while the monarchs and ministers of Zhao State were still planning the rescue, Qi State, who learned about the war situation from Zhongshan State, suddenly sent troops.

Qi Hou Tian Yin Qi took Tian Pan as his general and led 50,000 Qi martial arts troops across Jishui and launched an attack on the original homeland of Qi.

The advancement of the Qi army seemed to be particularly smooth. In a short period of time, they recaptured Qiancheng, Dicheng, Maiqiu and other cities, and directed their troops towards Gaotang, one of Qi's original five capitals.

Just as the State of Zhao was dispatching troops and generals to rescue Zhao Wang Zhao Zhong in Haoyi City, and was scrambling to deal with the rapid and fierce offensive of the Qi army, war broke out in the north of the State of Zhao.

The State of Yan, which had not participated in a war in the Central Plains for many years, sent out troops. Thirty thousand Yan troops suddenly surrounded the Wuyuan City of Zhao State.

At this point, the Zhao State, which was originally attacking from three directions and preparing to destroy Zhongshan in one fell swoop, suddenly fell into a three-sided attack by Zhongshan, Qi State, and Yan State.

And don’t forget, there is a powerful figure behind Zhongshan Kingdom.

Although Wei Wang Wei Feng, who was in Anyi City, did not personally order the dispatch of troops, every move he made was closely related to the fate of Zhongshan, Zhao, Qi and even the world.
Chapter completed!