Just as Gao Yuan and Hehua led the army out of Handan, the Qin-Qi coalition army really sent troops to attack Handan's defensive positions outside the city. This also proves that the estimation of the Qin-Qi coalition army by Gao Yuan and Hehua is not wrong, although the appearance of Hehua has dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Qin-Qi coalition army, but it cannot stop the attack of the Qin-Qi coalition army, and the Jiuli tribe naturally has a way to restore the morale of the Qin-Qi coalition army and launch an attack on Handan again.

And this time the Han-Qin coalition army did not go out of the camp to meet the enemy, after all, the strength and momentum of the Qin-Qi coalition army are now above the Han-Qin coalition army, and the Han-Qin coalition army has a solid position and city defense to rely on, and the task is only to hold Handan, attract the Qin-Qi coalition army, and still go to the Qin-Qi-Chu coalition army in the future, so there is no need to fight hard with the Qin-Qi coalition army.

In this attack, the Qin-Qi coalition army dispatched 100,000 troops, the Qin army and the Qi army each accounted for half, and the commander was still Wang Ben, deputy marshal Tian Kezang, the direction of the main attack was the Xicheng position in Handan, and the remaining three parties each sent 20,000 troops to contain it, so a total of 160,000 troops were dispatched.

Although the total strength of the Qin-Qi coalition army is close to 700,000, Handan is also one of the few large capitals in the world, and the defense line is all pushed to a distance of about three miles outside the city, and the total strength of the defending city is also nearly 400,000, so it is impossible for the Qin-Qi coalition army to completely surround Handan, attack from all sides, and can only choose one direction for the main attack.

There were 50,000 defenders on each of the four defensive lines of Handan City, and Sima Shang, who was responsible for guarding Handan, also immediately ordered to send an additional 30,000 troops and ordnance to the Xicheng defensive line, and Li Yinghong also took the initiative to ask Ying to personally go to the Xicheng defensive line to supervise the battle. Sima Shang thought about it for a while and agreed to Li Yinghong's request.

Although Li Yinghong is not too good at government affairs, his military ability is much more reassuring, and he can definitely be regarded as a qualified commander, so Sima Shang is not worried that Li Yinghong will blindly command and affect the combat effectiveness of the whole army.

And this is the first time that the Qin-Qi coalition army has attacked Handan, so naturally it also needs to play a beautiful defensive victory to boost the morale of the whole army, but the Qin army has troops on the other three sides, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will not turn false into true. Therefore, let Li Yinghong go to the Xicheng position to supervise the battle, naturally it is no better, Bi Jing Li Yinghong is the queen of the main palace of the plateau, and the only heir of Li Mu, the status in the Han State is very special, she went to the position to supervise the battle, of course, it can inspire the fighting spirit of the whole army.

After Li Yinghong and Chunyu Zhongxiu arrived at the Xicheng defense line, Zhongsunqi immediately invited Li Yinghong and Chunyu Zhongxiu to the command platform, and at the same time assigned the reinforcements brought by Li Yinghong and Chunyu Zhongxiu to various parts of the defense line.

Standing on the command platform and looking around, I saw that the Qin and Qi coalition forces were arrayed at a distance of about seven or eight hundred steps from the Handan defense line, and stood in a large area of black pressure, Chun Yu Zhongxiu was a little surprised, and said, "Why are they arranging formations so far away?" ”

Li Yinghong smiled, pointed to the huge door beam standing tall in front of the stage, and said, "Because they are afraid of our lightning strike car, it seems that Wang Ben is still a lot smarter." ”

Li Yinghong expected this point is not wrong, when Wang Ben was guarding the girder, but he did not suffer less from the lightning strike car, knowing the terrible power of this huge trebuchet, which can throw stones at a distance of five hundred steps, so when he saw the high gate beam erected in the position of the Han and Qin coalition forces, he naturally did not dare to get too close, and stopped when he was far away.

After the Qin-Qi coalition army arranged the array in front of the position in Handan Xicheng, seeing that the Han-Qin coalition army did not react, obviously saying that this time it would not fight with the Qin-Qi coalition army, and Wang Ben was also slightly relieved, although before the battle, Wang Ben was already mentally prepared to face Hehua again, if Hehua asked Wang Ben to answer in front of the battle, Wang Ben would not avoid it again, but he could not face Hehua directly, of course, it was better not to face it.

It turned out that just two days ago, Wang Ben had not recovered from the coercion of Hehua, so he had to sit in his big tent, when the guards came to report that Zhong Xuanzi had asked to see Wang Ben.

In fact, Wang Ben has always been unable to guess the true identity of this Zhong Xuanzi, because he doesn't understand why Tian Kezang is so respectful to Zhong Xuanzi, not only obedient, but even absolutely obedient.

Although it is said that in the history of this era, there are also monarchs who are very respectful to their own capable ministers and virtuous ministers, obey their words, and even treat each other with the courtesy of their brothers, such as King Wu of Zhou to Jiang Taigong, King Zhou Cheng to Zhou Gong, and Qi Huan Gong to Guan Zhong, all of which are the same, Jiang Taigong, Zhou Gong, and Guan Zhong are all recognized by the world as capable ministers and virtuous ministers, which can be described as a model for future generations of ministers, and of course can afford the preferential treatment of the monarch.

And Wang Ben also inquired about the origin of Zhong Xuanzheng from the side, knowing that he was a wise man hired by Tian Kezang, but he did not take refuge in Tian Kezhang for a long time, only one year at most, of course, he also came up with a lot of good ideas for Tian Kezang, this time Qi joined the Triple Alliance to fight against Qin, although it was Tian Kezang's decision, but Zhong Xuanzheng also contributed to it and played a lot of roles.

Although judging from these deeds, Wang Ben also admitted that Zhong Xuanyu did have considerable talent, but compared with Jiang Taigong, Zhou Gong, Guan Zhong, and other recognized capable ministers and sages, there is still a considerable distance. Of course, those who enjoy special privileges may not all be recognized virtuous ministers, such as Lü Buwei has also enjoyed such treatment, but Lü Buwei is obviously not qualified enough, so Jiang Taigong, Zhou Gong, and Guan Zhong can all get a good death, but Lü Buwei died unexpectedly. So will Zhong Xuanzi be the next Lü Buwei?

Although Wang Ben and Zhong Xuanzi did not have a deep relationship, and instinctively rejected Zhong Xuanzi, mainly because this time the changes of Qi were too fast and weird, although Qi claimed that it was Han who first betrayed the Three Kingdoms and formed an alliance with Qin, but Wang Ben knew that Han actually had no reason to ally with Qin and betray the Three Kingdoms. Of course, although the situation has really developed to the point of an alliance between Han and Qin, it is also the first time that the Qi State has betrayed the alliance, and its responsibility is not with the Han State.

Therefore, Wang Ben has always been unable to figure out why the Qi State would betray the Three Kingdoms without reason or sign and choose to be the enemy of the Han State, but after seeing Zhong Xuanzi, he faintly felt that this change in the Qi State may have a lot to do with this Zhong Xuanzi.

However, now Wang Ben and Qi have formed an alliance, and Zhong Xuanzi is an important figure in Qi State, so he still maintains basic etiquette for Zhong Xuanzi, so he immediately ordered Zhong Xuanzi to enter the tent, and at the same time personally greeted him at the door of the tent.

Wang Ben took Lu Xiuhong into the big tent, and after the guests and hosts sat down, Wang Ben said: "Mr. Zhongxuan came to see him, I don't know what to teach?" ”

Lu Xiuhong looked at Wang Ben, and said after a long time: "Does the general regret it now, if the general had defected to Princess Hehua instead of following General Han, he would not have today's troubles." ”

Wang Ben was stunned for a moment, and his face changed several times, and finally dimmed, and he sighed and said, "What's the use of talking about these now, it's too late to do anything." ”

Lu Xiuhong said with a smile: "Actually, it's not too late, I can guarantee that if the general is now on the verge of defection and takes refuge under Princess Hehua's account, Princess Hehua will definitely accept the general regardless of her past suspicions, and treat the general preferentially, and the King of Han will also greet the general with courtesy." ”

The corners of Wang Ben's mouth twitched a few times, and he couldn't tell what Lu Xiuhong's intention was when he said these words, was it difficult to test his attitude?

Lu Xiuhong obviously saw Wang Ben's thoughts, smiled again, and said: "I am indeed here to test the general's intentions, but the general doesn't have to worry, now the general has 400,000 strong troops, and his strength is far above the Qi army, and this is the general's account, and there are many henchmen, so why be afraid of the next person, and ask the general when he comes down, it is still for the sake of the Qi army, if the general really has the intention of defecting to the princess of Hehua, how dare my Qi army still stay in front of Handan City, and immediately withdraw the army, and never dare to care about the affairs of the Han and Qin kingdoms again." ”

Seeing Lu Xiuhong confess like this, Wang Ben was also a little surprised, stared at Lu Xiuhong for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "I don't hide it from Mr., even if Princess Hehua can do it regardless of her past suspicions, she accepts it, but she really has no face to go to Princess Hehua's account again, and she has no face to see her former colleagues." After a pause, Wang Ben said again: "What's more, the King of Han has a grudge against Zai Xia to kill his father, so no matter what, he will never be cast into the enemy's account to listen to it, whether Mr. Zhong Xuan believes it or not, this is Zaixia's intention." ”

And listening to Wang Ben say this, Lu Xiuhong also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that although Wang Ben has a sense of guilt towards Hehua and Qin Guo, he has not thought of taking refuge in Hehua, no matter what the reason is, but there is still a lot of room for redemption, it seems that Sang Qingti reminded him very much, so Lu Xiuhong said: "The revenge of killing his father is not shared with the sky, and the general avenged his father, so he rejected Princess Hehua, and it is also fateful." If you change the top, I'm afraid you will make the same choice as the general. ”

Wang Ben listened, and couldn't help but feel some confidants in his heart, because since he refused Hehua's surrender, Wang Ben has been under tremendous pressure, and the pressure has increased greatly in the past few days, and now when he hears Lu Xiuhong's words to understand himself, he naturally feels different, people at this time, often need the understanding and support of others, so Wang Ben also felt that Lu Xiuhong's good impression of Lu Xiuhong had greatly increased, and said: "Thank you, sir." ”

Lu Xiuhong said again: "But there is still one word below, I want to advise the general." ”

Wang Ben said: "What else does Mr. say?" ”

Lu Xiuhong said: "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are difficult to achieve, since the general wants to avenge his father, then he is the enemy of Princess Hehua, but if the general still thinks of the feelings of his homeland, hesitates, and it is difficult to decide, I am afraid that not only can not repay his father's revenge, but even the general is afraid that it is difficult to have a good death, so I advise the general that he must make a decision as soon as possible and make a choice, otherwise it will inevitably affect the general and regret it." After a pause, he said: "After the general has avenged his father, he can resign and retire to his hometown, and the people of later generations will not blame the general, Wu Zixu avenged his father and brother, and returned to attack Chu, but the world is respected as a hero." It can be emulated by the great generals. ”