To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

If Zhou Country were to perish, the most probable outcome would be that one country would be divided into six.

Namely, the Barbarians and the Western Liang seizing the two provinces of Helong, Wei Country seizing the two provinces of Shuofang and Guannei belonging to Zhou Country, Zhao Country seizing a part of Henan Province, Liang Country seizing another part of Henan Province and Nanyang Province, and Chu Country seizing the three prefectures control by Zhou Country in Xiangyang Province.

Based on the division of these territories, Chu State would benefit the least, according to the geographical connections between Zhou Country and the surrounding countries and the distance from each other.

From this estimation, it could be seen that once Zhou Country was destroyed, among the six forces, Chu State would benefit the least.

Just three prefectures, for the present Chu State, was barely better than nothing and held little significance.

On the contrary, the other clans, after seizing the territory of Zhou Country, would expand their strength, posing a much bigger threat to Chu State than Zhou Country itself.

With Liang Country seizing the two provinces of Central State occupied by Zhou Country, their strength would grow and it would be more difficult for Chu State to fight for Central State in future northern expeditions.

With Wei Country securing the core territory of Zhou Country, Chu State’s two provinces of Hanzhong and Xiangyang would be directly threatened, posing a huge challenge for Chu State’s defense in the northern border.

Perhaps the entire northern border will be bereft of peace in the future.

With Barbarians taking over the two provinces of Helong, they would temporarily have a suitable habitat and their dependence on Chu State’s needs would be greatly mitigated.

From now on, it would not be as easy for Chu State to manipulate them as it is now.

Moreover, after the Barbarians settled in Helong, they might seek further expansion into Hanzhong Province and Xichuan Province, seizing these territories to expand their own living space.

The only one that posed no threat to Chu State was the remote Zhao Country.

But with Zhao Country separated from Chu State by a great distance, taking several months or even a year for each contact and European countries blocking each other along the way, even if Chu State wanted to ally and cooperate with Zhao Country, the efficiency would be too low.

Therefore, upon closer examination, it is more advantageous for Chu State to maintain the existence of this Yongzhou Hegemon than to have it destroyed.

At the very least.

Before Lu Yuan unified Yangzhou and integrated Jiangnan, Zhou Country could not perish.

So now, to bleed Zhou Country was permissible, letting the Yongzhou Hegemon weaken slowly, while Chu State clung to its wounds to absorb nutrients and strengthen itself step by step.

Once it had finally grown strong enough and gained enough strength, it would join the surrounding beasts in devouring and dividing this weak giant, capturing the juiciest parts of its body.

Before achieving this goal, Zhou Country could not perish, and if necessary, Chu State could even lend it a hand to support it for a longer period of time.

Adhering to this line of thought, Lu Yuan had slightly adjusted his strategy towards Zhou Country.

To shield it from danger and weaken it as the main focus, but also to lend support if necessary.

This will be the strategy against Zhou Country in the future.

…

The ninth month of the fifth day of the tenth year of Shenwu.

The elite of Zhou Country’s northern border arrived in Longxi Province, and the vanguard fought with the invading Chu army.

The two armies fought fiercely, with the Zhou being more numerous, the Chu being unsuccessful, unable to resist the many, and were thus forced to retreat.

Then, in accordance with Lu Yuan’s strategy, Huang Xuan took advantage of this defeat to withdraw his troops several hundred miles, losing a large number of Longxi prefectures and counties that had previously been occupied.

Subsequently, he sent a messenger to the Barbarians to inform them of the arrival of Zhou reinforcements and Chu army’s preparations for retreat.

Without waiting for the Barbarians’ reply, Huang Xuan led his troops in battle against Zhou’s reinforcements after giving up many occupied territories, stopping Zhou’s momentum.

Eventually, after getting some respite, the king of Chu led the last batch of captive Zhou people along Yang Pass, retreating to Hanzhong Province.

By then, the Chu army’s Longxi campaign came to an end, with thirty thousand people from Longxi being taken back to Hanzhong, effectively ending the campaign.

Not long after the Chu forces withdrew, the Barbarians were still reluctant to give up their hard-won gains.

In the end, after He Basheng joined forces with the reinforcements, he seized the opportunity to exact revenge on the Barbarians.

After several major battles, more than 200,000 Barbarian troops were annihilated, dealing a heavy blow to the invading forces.

Although the losses were heavy, during this spring looting, the Barbarians seized more than a million stones of grain from Zhou Country.

After these supplies were transported back to the tribes and the dead were accounted for, there would be enough food for the Snow Plains tribes to recuperate, and the famine would be greatly alleviated.

This summer, fewer people would die.

At this time.

With the complete end of the war in Helong and the return of Zhou people to Hanzhong with Chu army, Lu Yuan also took the opportunity to issue a decree, relocating these captive Zhou people to Xichuan to enrich the local population there.

At the same time, the three Northern Expeditionary Forbidden Armies that had been stationed in Hanzhong for half a year were officially led by Qingyunzi to return to the capital.

Now that the war in the north is over and Hanzhong is secure, the threat from Zhou Country has been eliminated.

As for Ning Country to the east, Lu Yuan personally guarded it with troops, having ten Forbidden Armies from Dongting Prefecture, fifty thousand naval forces, and nearly three hundred thousand standing soldiers from various prefectures and counties, which was enough to ensure its protection.

Now, all that’s left is for Qingyunzi to lead the sixty thousand Northern Expeditionary forces back and for Li Xiong to lead his one hundred thousand vassal troops to Dongting, so that with these one hundred sixty thousand troops as the foundation, the Southern Expeditionary Army can be formed.

By autumn at the latest, Chu State would be able to launch the Southern Expedition and unify Lingnan.