The Grand Coalition's Military Conference
The Coalition Army. At last, all the key figures who would attend the coalition army's military conference had gathered. Wei's general, Xin Yuan Yan. Zhao's general, Pang Nuan. Chu's general, Xiang Yan. Yan's general, Ji Xin. The crown prince of Yan—myself. And the supreme commander of this coalition army, Wei's princess Lord Xinling, Wei Wuji.
In the meeting of these six people, the first issue raised was the scale of forces on both sides—Qin and the coalition. Since this war was unfolding in their own backyard, Lord Xinling did not intervene. General Xin Yuan Yan delivered a concise briefing instead.
"I will first outline the current composition of our coalition army."
Xin Yuan Yan placed four horse pieces upon the military map at the center of the hall, positioning them over the locations marked Ji and Gong.
"Our state of Wei has mobilized seventy thousand troops."
Seventy thousand. It was no exaggeration to say Wei had squeezed out nearly its absolute maximum. Gathering every soldier in the state might exceed one hundred thousand, but committing all of them solely to the Henei battlefield was naturally impossible. Qin could strike Daliang from Hexi south of the Yellow River, so troops had to remain to defend the capital. Forces also needed to guard the border with Qi, now aligned with Qin. Internal security could not be completely ignored either. After reserving roughly thirty thousand men for those duties, everything else had been scraped together and thrown into this fight.
"Chu has sent forty thousand reinforcements."
"Hmm."
Xiang Yan crossed her arms and exhaled sharply through her nose. For a moment I thought it disappointing that Chu—a state said to rank second only to Qin—had sent merely forty thousand. But that thought lasted only briefly. Chu had its own inescapable circumstances.
"We have detected Qi advancing troops toward the border region with Chu. The Qin forces in Ba Shu must also be watched."
Even though Qin had committed the staggering total of four hundred thousand to this war, they still possessed reserves. The reason was Ba Shu, their granary region bordering Chu.
In the Three Kingdoms era centuries from now, Ba Shu would be known collectively as Yi Province. Originally, however, the term referred to two distinct states—Ba and Shu. Roughly forty years ago, Qin had conquered them. Before Bai Qi's rise, the man called Qin's greatest general, Sima Cuo, had led one hundred thousand troops to annihilate both kingdoms. With that pair of wings, Qin soared even higher.
Sima Cuo did not stop there. He defeated Wei and Chu in succession, seizing their lands. Rebellions erupted in Ba Shu, but they were nothing to him. In the end, Ba Shu became fully subjugated and transformed into a forward base for attacking Chu.
This time, too, Ba Shu was performing that role perfectly. The precipitous Qinling Mountains lay between Qin's heartland and Ba Shu, making it extremely inefficient to transport troops from there. One needed only recall how much Zhuge Liang would struggle during his northern expeditions in the Three Kingdoms to understand. If crossing those mountains remained so difficult hundreds of years later, moving tens of thousands of soldiers across them now would be an act of utter folly.
Therefore, rather than committing Ba Shu's troops directly to this war, Qin was using them to pin down Chu—the most troublesome opponent of all.
That means Qin could mobilize even more than four hundred thousand.
The more I learned, the more Qin seemed like a nation without limits. Sima Cuo, Bai Qi, Wang He, Meng Ao, Wang Yi, and later Wang Jian of the Qi Jian Po Mu faction. While Zhao was renowned for its unbroken succession of famous generals, Qin was at least their equal. For nearly forty years after Sima Cuo, outstanding commanders had appeared one after another, literally ravaging the other states. Another forty years after that would see the emergence of figures like Zhang Han, known as Qin's final great general. For nearly a century, the lineage of renowned commanders had continued without interruption.
The largest territory among the Seven States. Abundant resources pouring from the fertile Guanzhong and Ba Shu regions. A population untouched by the scars of massacre. And a roster of exceptional generals capable of destroying entire kingdoms.
It was as if Heaven itself favored Qin. The state possessed every prerequisite for unifying the world.
Yet the other states still held strength. Gathering the full power of every state except Qin would still produce a significantly larger force. Through operating the Mubee Merchant Group, collecting intelligence across the lands, and exchanging views with many people, my estimate put the other states at roughly one-and-a-half times Qin's military strength. In other words, Qin alone held national power equal to two-thirds of all the other states combined.
Qin itself surely possessed a far more precise grasp of the balance than my rough calculations. Even so, they likely did not yet believe they could defeat every other state single-handedly. That was why they had drawn Qi to their side.
Perhaps Qin has calculated that they could handle the five states excluding Qi on their own?
Suddenly, words Lord Xinling had once spoken to me resurfaced.
'Qin is a far more terrifying enemy than you imagine, my lord.'
Even she could not completely shake off her dread of them. That was the true nature of Qin.
It feels so distant.
How much stronger would Qin become once Ying Zheng ascended the throne? Could I truly stop the empire that would force the states to their knees with spear and sword, then raise Qin's banners across the entire world?
Even as such doubts weighed on me, Xin Yuan Yan's explanation continued without pause.
"Zhao has contributed fifty thousand troops. The fact that fully twenty thousand of them are cavalry is extremely encouraging."
"Hehe. Since the reign of King Wuling, our cavalry has never lost its place as the finest under heaven. In this war, Zhao's cavalry will surely become the key that breaks every impasse."
Pang Nuan openly flaunted his pride in Zhao's cavalry. The fame of the mounted archers in Hu attire—created through King Wuling's military reforms—was enough to make even Ji Xin and Xiang Yan nod without objection.
"Finally, the Yan forces. Like Chu, Yan has sent forty thousand reinforcements."
At Xin Yuan Yan's words, Pang Nuan cut in.
"Yet Yan is the state that suffered defeat against our Zhao army despite fielding five times the troops. Can they truly be of any use?"
To Pang Nuan's provocation, Ji Xin immediately fired back.
"That was because Zhao was led by Lian Po and Yan by Yue Fu. If it had been you and me in command, Zhao would have fallen long ago, Pang Nuan."
"Ridiculous. If it had been you, the Xiongnu would not have surrounded us—our Zhao army would have been the one besieging your capital."
Pang Nuan's dismissive words toward Yan made me consider siding with Ji Xin. But I remembered the neutrality Lord Xinling had emphasized recently and intervened.
"Both of you, restrain yourselves. The previous war arose from misunderstanding and concluded without excessive bloodshed. Why behave this way?"
"I have shown poor conduct."
At my words, Ji Xin quickly conceded and withdrew. Pang Nuan narrowed his eyes, regarding Ji Xin with a strange look, then offered me a slight bow.
"Hm. I apologize for my remarks slighting Yan."
"It is fine. Let us focus solely on the conference now. General Xin Yuan Yan, please continue."
Xin Yuan Yan gave me a respectful nod and spoke once more.
"In total, the coalition army numbers two hundred thousand. Ninety thousand from Zhao and Yan are stationed at Ji City, while the eleven thousand from Chu and Wei are positioned at Gong. In contrast…."
Xin Yuan Yan paused briefly, then began placing black horse pieces on the military map opposite the coalition markers at Ji and Gong. The location was labeled Shan Yang.
While the coalition had four pieces, the black ones numbered six.
"The Qin army totals approximately three hundred thousand. They have captured Shan Yang and established it as their base."
Shan Yang was a rather large city. When classifying cities—excluding minor towns not even granted county status—into small, medium, large, and special grades, it ranked in the upper tier of medium cities. Special grade included the greatest metropolises and state capitals under heaven such as Handan, Xianyang, and Linzi. Large grade encompassed commandery centers and former capitals. That should give some sense of Shan Yang's scale.
"Then the cities Qin has captured so far are Gao and Shan Yang—two in total?"
To Ji Xin's question, Xin Yuan Yan shook his head and moved two black horse pieces marked with Qin.
"No. Meng Ao's main force remains at Shan Yang, but two vanguard armies of fifty thousand each are advancing toward Mao and Ning. The Qin generals commanding them have been confirmed as Zhang Tang and Biao Gong."
While I marveled at their unhindered advance despite commanding three hundred thousand, the other generals focused not on the speed of the enemy march but on the commanders leading it.
"Zhang Tang and Biao Gong."
"Qin has certainly exerted considerable effort."
"Even so, they are no match for our Chu forces."
They were generals who had distinguished themselves even before Lu Buwei and Cai Ze. Though a step below Meng Ao—who had been active since Fan Sui's time as chancellor—they were still quite renowned. None of the coalition generals gathered here, each representing their state's military elite, showed the slightest fear at the names Biao Gong and Zhang Tang.
"Our current defensive line runs through Ji and Gong, with Chaoge in the rear as a precaution. Mao and Ning must be considered already lost to Qin."
Xin Yuan Yan placed black pieces atop Mao and Ning, treating their fall as inevitable.
"Meng Ao, who was at Shan Yang, has likely set out by now. They will press directly toward us. Therefore, I suggest to the assembled generals and the supreme commander that we employ Zhao's cavalry as an outside guerrilla force while focusing entirely on defense. We should wait for the enemy to exhaust themselves. What are your thoughts?"
It was the first time since the conference had begun in earnest that Lord Xinling spoke.
"Unacceptable."