Chapter 683 Wei Bao’s dilemma: how to choose!

Chapter 683 Wei Bao’s dilemma: how to choose!

Zhao Shuo couldn't help but sigh that if he could have persisted, Han Xin would have been the one to be defeated in the end. However, now that the matter was done, it was too late to regret. At this moment, Zhao Shuo had very complicated feelings towards Han Xin. On the one hand, he deeply hated him, but on the other hand, he sincerely admired him.

He had to admit that even though he had a high opinion of Han Xin's ability and had no intention of underestimating his enemy, he still failed to escape the trap set by Han Xin. He realized all this only after the fact.

Zhao Shuo knew that he was far behind Han Xin in terms of control over the entire battle situation and decisiveness in executing various strategies. It was this gap that led to his disastrous defeat.

Zhao Shuo knew very well that he did not lose this battle unjustly. However, after this battle, the situation was fundamentally reversed, and the offensive and defensive forces were completely reversed. The morale of the Wei army was low, and even if there was a better opportunity, it would be difficult to fight a fierce battle with the Southern Border Army. At present, all they could do was to defend with all their strength to prevent the Southern Border Army from breaking through the defense line.

Zhao Shuo knew that if he could hold his ground from the beginning and resolutely hold on, even if Han Xin had some legendary siege weapons, he might not be able to break through his defense line. Dispersing the troops and trying to repel him with a strategy of breaking through the whole point is absolutely a foolish dream. Unfortunately, all of this is just a hypothesis. The facts are already in front of him, and his failure has become an irreversible foregone conclusion.

At the same time, the same result was almost simultaneously transmitted to Wei Bao, the King of Wei. In Wei Bao's mansion, Wei Bao stared at the battle report in his hand, his face as angry as a dark blue cloud.

At this moment, Wei Bao was filled with shock and regret. He never expected that the situation of this war would be so out of control, which was completely beyond his expectations.

Wei Bao's original plan was very simple. He just wanted Han Xin to stop in Lang, instead of fighting a desperate battle with the Southern Border Army. After all, Wei Bao was not willing to make wedding clothes for others. He was more concerned about how to protect his own interests.

Reality gave Wei Bao a heavy slap in the face. He had more than 100,000 soldiers, which was all his assets! Now, he lost nearly 40,000 soldiers in one go, which made Wei Bao feel heartbroken and miserable.

What's worse, according to the latest news, Han Xin showed no signs of retreating after receiving the military rations. Instead, he was preparing for war and was obviously preparing to continue the attack. This meant that Gao Yao was still determined to capture Dongjiao County.

Faced with this situation, Wei Bao felt torn. If he continued to fight, he was worried that his remaining wealth would be completely exhausted in this war; but if he gave up and let Gao Yao easily occupy Dongjiao County, he would be in danger of being attacked by Gao Yao at any time, and he would not even be able to sleep peacefully.

As for how to deal with Zhao Shuo at this time, it seemed to be forgotten and temporarily put aside. There were actually two reasons why Wei Bao did this.

First of all, he really didn't have the time and energy to consider the issue of replacing generals at this time. Right now, the most urgent thing was how to deal with the attack of the Southern Border Army. At this critical moment, Wei Bao had to focus all his attention on how to resist the enemy's attack, rather than considering the appointment and removal of generals.

Secondly, Wei Bao's character determined that he could not completely trust Zhao Shuo. This was not to say that Zhao Shuo had any obvious problems, but as a monarch, Wei Bao had an innate suspicion. He would place confidants in his troops so that he could have the most accurate intelligence at any time. This practice was not unique to Wei Bao. In fact, most of the princes would do this, even including Gao Yao himself.

This kind of thing is usually not done too obviously, after all, no one wants their generals to feel monitored and distrusted. Han Xin also has high-level chess pieces around him. The existence of these chess pieces is to prevent some unexpected situations from happening on the battlefield, but the main general insists on concealing them.

Wei Bao also knew the reason for the failure of this battle. He knew that Zhao Shuo did have some responsibility, but it was not the whole reason. In a complex war, victory or defeat is often affected by many factors, and the responsibility cannot be simply attributed to one person.

In the same battlefield situation, in Wei Bao's eyes, Zhao Shuo's choice was not obviously wrong. The reason why Wei Bao was able to ascend the throne of King Wei was not only due to his noble status, but more importantly, he had considerable ability.

If Han Xin could get the supply of food and grass, he would inevitably fall into a long-term confrontation with the Wei army. In this case, if other parties could not find a way to break the deadlock, Wei Bao's 100,000 troops would not be able to withdraw easily and could only continue to confront the enemy.

Zhao Shuo was keenly aware of the weakness of his own side's insufficient food and grass, and cleverly used his military advantage to force the enemy to withdraw from Langya, leaving enough buffer space for the Wei army. At the same time, he also secretly sent people to surprise attack the enemy's food and grass. These strategies were actually understandable.

Even from Wei Bao's critical perspective, it is difficult to find any faults in it. This is indeed an indisputable fact.

As for Han Xin's reaction, it was indeed beyond common sense. Another reason why Wei Bao decided to keep Zhao Shuo was because Zhao Shuo was a talent he promoted himself. He also rejected many of his subordinates' opinions and let Zhao Shuo get the right to lead the army. If he criticized Zhao Shuo too much at this time, it would not only slap Zhao Shuo in the face, but also make Wei Bao look bad.

A new problem was placed before Wei Bao - Han Xin's army had not suffered a serious blow, but had been reorganized and was ready to launch another fierce attack. Faced with such a situation, the person who was most troubled was Wei Bao. How should this battle proceed? How should he deal with Han Xin's offensive?

In the meeting hall of the Prince of Wei's palace, the atmosphere was extremely solemn. Many of Wei Bao's generals expressed their opinions and put forward their own views and suggestions.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we should continue to defend the city." A general stood up and said solemnly, "As long as we can defend Dongjiao County, it is equivalent to defending our territory and laying the foundation for the future security of our army."

"Your Majesty, I think that it is urgent to replace the generals leading the army at this time." Another general immediately spoke up, "Only by selecting more talented generals can we effectively repel Han Xin's attack."