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Chapter 1046: Chapter 428: The Madness of Zhao Nation_3 Chapter 1046: Chapter 428: The Madness of Zhao Nation_3 Nearly two million soldiers and horses could not possibly be gathered together; they had to be dispersed.

And those large forces distributed outside of the city, without protection, naturally could not rely on the city for defense when facing the oncoming Zhao Army.

They could only grit their teeth, deploy their formations, and clash with them on the battlefield.

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After a month of fighting, the outcome had become quite clear.

The two armies were evenly matched, or rather, the Zhao Army had a slight advantage while the Chu Army was at a slight disadvantage.

However, this disadvantage wasn’t significant, as the foundation of the Chu Army was also quite substantial.

Even after losing 330,000 soldiers and horses, in the Liang City front line, the Chu Army still had over 1.4 million troops left, enough to continue the attrition war with Zhao.

“But in this way, the war has turned into a mere exchange of human lives.

The victory I achieved with the surprise attack on Liang City has also become less important,” Huang Lin thought, as he pondered the current situation and frowned.

Although he held the lifeline of Zhao, before he could choke it off, Zhao’s counterattack was not so easy to withstand.

Let’s not even mention the two million Zhao Army that rushed over from Diqiu.

Although the opponent had overwhelming numbers, after occupying Liang City, he had been continuously summoning reinforcements from the rear to come for support.

On both sides here, although there was some difference in strength, overall they were still at the same level of military power, without leaving any major flaws exposed.

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At the front line of Baima.

The original main force of the Chu Army had been transferred to Liang City, and the number of troops there had dropped to less than a million.

It had completely become a detached army.

Fortunately, the Zhao Army at Baima front line, after Zhao Cheng’s previous strong attack on Liang City, also greatly reduced in numbers, with less than a million remaining.

So after such wear and tear on both sides, their strengths were still roughly balanced.

However, after Zhao Cheng returned, he also knew that with his situation and shortage of food, it was fundamentally impossible for him to sustain a large army for a long time.

To keep the large army alive, he had to either lead the troops to break through the blockade or continuously reduce the number of soldiers in the large army to lessen the food consumption and thus sustain for a longer period.

Therefore, after assessing his own situation, Zhao Cheng returned to the Baima front line and immediately mobilized the soldiers to assault the Chu Army in front of him.

He didn’t have thoughts of attacking Liang City again; given the city’s strength and the number of Chu troops, he feared that Baima’s defenders would all die without being able to take the city.

On the contrary, the Chu Army’s defensive line at Baima front line, due to Chu’s continuous initiative to attack, the campsites were not built to fortress standards, but just had average defensive capabilities.

Breaking through from this direction might be more possible.

Especially after the Chu Army kept withdrawing troops from the Baima front line, the possibility had increased to the point where it had become the only hope for the Baima Zhao Army to survive.

Therefore, after realizing their own situation, Zhao Cheng’s led Zhao Army, in their assaults on the Chu Army’s campsite, became even more frenzied.

In just over a month, the Baima Zhao Army had launched hundreds of breakout attacks.

As a result, over 500,000 soldiers and horses had died or been injured, suffering more than half in casualties.

And the Chu forces facing them, though having the advantage of defense, still lost over 300,000 troops as the camps were ultimately not as strong as a city, thus also suffering substantial casualties.

By now, at the Baima front line, the Chu Army had about 600,000 soldiers left, while the Zhao Army had only about 400,000 left, and the comparative force of both sides had already formed a certain gap.

However, it was precisely because of the previous frantic attacks that the Zhao Army had used up a lot of soldiers and horses, and there were far fewer in the camps consuming food.

So at this point, their main camp’s stockpile of food could still last for another half month, much longer than the initially anticipated end of supplies.

Moving on, because of the reduction in troops, the demand for food and logistics had also decreased significantly.

Plus, the homeland of Ji Province in the north, after learning about the current situation of the Baima front line Zhao Army, also began emergency relief.

They gathered many ships from the north and began to use the small ferry at Baima County to transport various materials and provisions here, while also starting small-scale evacuations of the Zhao Army from this location.

Although the transported materials and provisions were very limited, even if arranged to the maximum extent every day, they could still basically maintain the needs of 50,000 to 60,000 people for a month.

But even a mosquito is still flesh, let alone this could already be considered a drumstick.

Moreover, the Zhao Army was also continuously withdrawing troops.

Each time a food-transporting ship emptied, on its return journey, it could take away three to five thousand Zhao soldiers.

In this manner, on one hand, they kept transporting supplies, and on the other, they kept withdrawing the consuming forces.

Between the increases and decreases, the Baima Zhao Army just managed to maintain itself.

After discovering this, Zhao Cheng confirmed that the current number of Zhao Army’s soldiers had reached a state of equilibrium, and he also stopped trying to forcefully attack the Chu defensive line, effectively abandoning the idea of breaking out.

Without attempting a breakout, the only retreat path left for the Zhao people was to cross the river and withdraw northward.

Therefore, after halting the breakout efforts, Zhao Cheng continued to lead the remnants, holding the Baima defensive line steadfastly.

This Baima defensive line was a defense area constructed by Zhao State for over a year, bristling with various solid fortifications and an abundance of city defense facilities.

Defending in such a place, the defenders’ advantage in the battle situation was far too significant.

The opposing Chu forces, having tried to attack one or two fortifications, soon ceased that action due to massive losses.

There was no helping it.

The batch of Wei Army prisoners sent over previously had already been exhausted during earlier warfare.

Without these expendable cannon fodder, the Chu forces were unwilling to sacrifice their precious lives filling those deep trenches and high ramparts.

So the situation on this side once again fell into a deadlock.

Unless a new batch of prisoners arrived, which could be used as sharp blades for sieging, introducing new momentum.

Otherwise, the Chu Army could only watch the Zhao Army slowly taking boats away, escaping this deadly place.

Although after the Zhao Army’s departure, the Chu forces would be able to smoothly take over the Baima defensive line and then rush to aid the main force at Liang City.

As of the current situation in the struggle for Dongjun, the Chu Army was still retaining the upper hand.

And in the future, it was highly possible for them to capture the entire Dongjun.

But not being able to claim complete victory still left a bitter taste of discontent.

If the Zhao Army could escape with these four hundred thousand main forces and reassemble a powerful military force back in Ji Province using it as a core,

Even if Chu State occupied Dongjun, it would likely suffer their harassment and scarcely find peace.

“So, if possible, we must try to leave behind the Baima Zhao Army as much as we can.

Moreover, I’ve heard that in Ji Province itself, the Zhao Emperor is assembling a large army, ready to personally lead a Southern Expedition to support the front line.

If this new force arrives, the situation in Dongjun might start looking grim,” Huang Lin frowned.

Dongjun was like the lifeblood of Zhao State; without it, Zhao had no future.

In order to hold on to this land, Zhao was nearly exhausting all efforts, acting desperately.

They were not only feverishly conscripting soldiers in Dongjun,

But also in their Hebei heartland, they were fervently expanding their forces, ready for a last desperate struggle.

And with the population of Zhao’s Hebei almost reaching eight million, if they were desperate enough, they could somehow muster another army of over one and a half million.

If this fresh force reached Dongjun and joined with the Zhao troops there, the Zhao forces would almost amount to three and a half million men.

This number had already surpassed that of the Chu Army.

Facing this mad nation, even with the current advantage, Huang Lin still felt trepidation and immense dread.

“So the current plan can only be to contact the main body and continue calling for reinforcements.”

When in doubt, summon the avatar’s main body.

As an avatar, Huang Lin didn’t just stubbornly resist the difficulties.

Instead, he immediately contacted the main body and called for support.