Qin Official

In Yangcheng, Huaibei, at the camp of the Qin Zhongjun, General Qiang Yu came to Wang Jian's tent with military information sent from the Northern Army, looking happy.

"The general's strategy is really clever! Fengfei has been captured by the Northern Army, and they have made a posture to attack Pengcheng. The Dongjun garrison has also been ordered to attack Lu. I think Xiang Yan has received urgent calls from everywhere."

Wang Jian was very satisfied and said with a smile: "Chu is difficult to attack because of its vast territory. If tens of thousands of people enter its territory, they will be like fish entering the sea and are easily ambushed. However, Chu is easy to attack because of its size. If the main force is suspended here, there will be flaws everywhere along this thousand-mile border."

In February, after discovering that "soldiers were available", Wang Jian issued combat instructions. The nearly 200,000 combat troops of the Southern Army and the Chinese Army remained stationary. Instead, the Northern Army led by General Feng Wuze was allowed to attack the Chu State. The weakly defended Fengfei and other places launched an attack and succeeded easily.

He did this not to capture the city, but to make Xiang Yan hesitate and make the Chu army confused.

This is what is said in the Art of War: I do not want to fight, so I draw the ground and defend it. If the enemy cannot fight with me, he will behave accordingly. But if I want to fight, even if the enemy has high fortresses and deep ditches, those who have no choice but to fight me will be saved by attacking them!

"How do you think the Chu army should respond?"

Qiang Xu was also a veteran general. After pondering for a moment, he pointed at the map and said: "The Chu army's best strategy is for Xiang Yan to see through the general's intentions and instead send troops to fight with me to bet on a slim chance of survival!"

Wang Jian nodded: "If the Chu army had just gathered at the beginning of winter last year and the morale was high, Xiang Yan might have dared to do this. But now the Chu army has been waiting here for several months. The armor is infested with lice, the sparrows are in the curtains, and the soldiers are not there." After returning home, food is becoming increasingly scarce, and the Chu soldiers are all thinking about spring plowing at home, fearing that they no longer have the desire to fight to the death, and Xiang Yan does not dare to do so."

Qiang Xu added: "The middle strategy is to abandon the eastern territory, shrink the front line, and retreat slightly to the east to protect it; the lower strategy is to divide the troops and defend them, hoping to cover all aspects."

"Since the Chu army has lost the morale to fight our army here, I guess Xiang Yan will adopt the best of two strategies. The land of Lu is dispensable to the Chu State. Maybe the King of Chu will let Xiang Yan abandon it. He wanted to defend Huaibei. But he did not dare to abandon Pengcheng and Surabaya..."

Pengcheng was originally the great Peng Kingdom in ancient times. After the Spring and Autumn Period, it became the eastern capital of the Song Dynasty. After the fall of the Song Dynasty, it was captured by the Chu Kingdom. It is surrounded by hills and mountains, and Biansi communicates with Qi and Lu in the north, Liang and Song Dynasty in the west, and Liang and Song Dynasty in the south. Linjianghuai is also a critical place. During the reign of King Yan of the Song Dynasty, he also took advantage of Pengcheng's terrain to seize 300 miles of land in Huaibei of Chu State. Therefore, the gains and losses of Pengcheng are related to the rise and fall of the north and south of Zouguan. If Pengcheng is lost, Huaibei will be lost. Even if Xiang Yan blocks Wang Jian here, Huaibei from behind will be driven straight in by the Qin army, and it will be completely destroyed.

Wang Jian decisively picked up the red chess piece representing the Chu army on the map and moved it eastward from the front line to the east of the chasm.

"Xiang Yan is now in a dilemma. After weighing the pros and cons, he can only retreat eastward and shrink the front line, and then send tens of thousands of soldiers over, trying to save Pengcheng..."

The enemy can't work him, he can be hungry if he's full, he can't move him if he's safe, so why? Attack them and you will save them! Through several months of stalemate, Wang Jian put the Chu army in a difficult situation and low morale, and through simple attacks from the south to the north, the Chu army had to make strategic adjustments.

Thinking of this, the old general picked up the black chess piece representing the Qin army and slapped it hard on the red owl!

"When the Chu army retreats eastward and the camp becomes unstable, that's when my army will attack!"

"If this is the case, the Chu army will be defeated!" Qiang Yu was very excited. After months of waiting, the battle was finally about to start.

Wang Jian looked at Qiang Yu: "Have you selected two out of ten vanguard soldiers in the Chinese army?"

This is the trick that Wang Jian used in the battle with Chengming more than ten years ago. He selected two people from ten people and used this elite as the edge. In the past few months, Qiang Yu has been responsible for selecting soldiers and letting these elites use "war balls" to move their muscles and practice the skills of attacking and trapping.

"The Chinese army has 150,000 soldiers and 30,000 elite soldiers!"

"Where is the Southern Army?" Wang Jian asked again. Although the Chinese army from Guanzhong and Sanchuan was the main force in this battle, the strategic tasks that the Southern Army had to undertake were not light.

"General Meng Wu sent someone to report that he has decided to use 10,000 Nanjun soldiers with the highest morale as the heel army!"

"Nanjun soldiers..."

Wang Jian couldn't help but think of the fierce competition in those games. When he boarded the car, he loudly said: "We want to fight" soldiers, as well as Li You, Hei Fu and other military officials...

"I only hope that Nanjun soldiers can be more brave on the battlefield than on the court!"

…

In the early morning of Xinsi day in February, when a little white fish belly appeared in the east, in a military camp located on the eastern outskirts of Shangcai, thousands of Anlu soldiers got up early, either wiping their swords or helping each other put on their armor. They were not fighting like ordinary people. Instead of being scared before, I was a little excited.

Everyone stayed here for almost five months. Although they had enough food and clothing, and there were games like Cuju to play. The captain and Heifu also organized everyone to write letters home, but in the end they felt uncomfortable, and many soldiers even began to think about it. , anywhere is good, even if it means dragging them to the battlefield and licking blood from the knife edge, it is better than waiting here in vain!

Finally, they finally received the general's order. On February 1st, the Southern Army attacked!

At this time, the leader, Heifu, finally returned to the camp. He had been up almost all night. The Nanjun soldiers had been assigned the task of advancing and following the army. Heifu was both happy and worried.

The good thing is that the forwards get more credit than the average troops, but the worry is that if the war goes wrong, the forwards will suffer the most casualties. Of the thousand men under my command, how many of them will survive and be crowned after this battle?

Therefore, Hei Fu simply went up to the corner tower of the fortress, and together with Zhang Han, he looked at the Chu army's fortress about twenty miles away, which was almost parallel to the Qin wall. There were a few firelights over there, but under the stars and moon, most of them were The place was pitch dark...

According to the scouts' investigation, the Chu army had been restless in the past few days, and the morale of the troops was a bit turbulent. There was even a roar caused by a fire in a certain camp, with people neighing and horses hooting, but it was quickly calmed down, and there was no response for the Qin army. Take advantage of the opportunity. In recent days, although there have been many flags and soldiers on the barrier, no one has come to challenge them anymore.

"The general expected that the Jing people were already preparing to retreat and shrink their defense line to the east of the chasm, so he ordered the army to attack."

During the military meeting yesterday, Li You also told them the truth and asked the leaders to encourage the soldiers and prepare for war when they return!

As a result, the relaxed atmosphere in the entire Nanjun military camp was swept away. When it was getting dark, everyone had gathered outside the tent, gathered together, and stood in a neat square formation!

"Really, so much..."

Xiao Tao, the short-term soldier beside Hei Fu, couldn't help but make a sound, because no matter he looked to the left or right, he could only see dense crowds of people.

Although the Nanjun soldiers only had a combat force of 10,000 people, they already felt like they were too numerous. The entire Southern army led by Meng Wu had 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, filling the entire inner side of the endless barrier.

"A hundred miles away, there are twice as many people in the Chinese army."

Heifu said, this huge number, while bringing some psychological comfort to one's side, should also put huge pressure on the other side, right? Launching an attack with more than 200,000 people, what a huge scene it is!

Three drums are for food, four drums are for strict discrimination, and five drums are enough. As the drum beat reached the fifth round, after the army had eaten, they began to walk out of the wall gate in order. Zhang Han, still standing on the turret, bowed his hands to Hei Fu and said goodbye.

"I wish the leader a successful return!"

Although Zhang Han kept saying that he liked the position of Army Sikong, he was still a little envious as he watched the army set off. After all, it was easier to achieve meritorious service and gain titles by decapitating people in actual combat.

"Thank you for your good words from Shao Rong!" Hei Fu stood on the military chariot and offered his hand to Zhang Han.

The 10,000 Nanjun soldiers set off as the "heel army" of the entire southern army. In front of them, there were two thousand "Xingjun", almost all of them were flexible chariots and cavalry. Their attire was exactly the same as that of the "cavalry warriors" in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses: upper body Wearing short armor, tight-fitting trousers, long riding boots, a round hat with a buckle on the chin, and carrying a bow and arrow on his back, typical of riding and shooting in Hufu.

Once the Xingjun discovers the enemy's situation and sends a message to the rear, the Heijun army must quickly move forward and cooperate with the Xingjun to defeat it and open a clear path for the army.

By the time Heifu and others could see the barrier, Xingjun had already surveyed the Chubi dozens of miles away. The leader of the Xingjun rode back in person to tell Li You: "Li Duwei, there seems to be something in the Chu camp." Strange!"

"What's different?"

Li You's heart tightened. This was the first time he had been tasked with advancing the army. He had already made plans to fight to the death to break through the wall, and did not want any surprises.

"When we approached, the Chu army's scouts did not come to stop us, but quickly withdrew. When we got close, Chu Bi discovered us. Although he also beat the golden drum and lit fireworks to warn us, the movement inside was surprising. Small, sharp-eyed people can even see that there is a crow on the Chu camp screen!"

The cavalry general of Xingjun said seriously: "This area seems to be an empty wall!"

Li You became more cautious and asked the Xing army to explore again. By noon, the Chu army had arrived at the Chu wall. When they set up the equipment to break the wall, there were very few counterattacks from the Chu army on the walls and turrets. After a while, they even stopped completely. .

Li You hesitated for a long time, and then sent people back to ask Meng Wu to send 20,000 people to support him on the flanks, and then ordered everyone to attack!

The unguarded barrier was no different from an ordinary courtyard wall. Heifu and the others quickly broke through the barrier and rushed into the Chu army camp.

Inside, there was no Chu army array that they had imagined, ready to lure them deep, nor did they encounter the sound of drums and the scene of thousands of soldiers and horses rushing out.

There are only empty roads in the camp and crows croaking on the tent curtains...

The entire Chu army camp was almost empty!

Heifu asked people to check all the camps for several miles. Looking at the dense ruts, horse hooves, footprints on the ground heading east, as well as the ashes left by the burnt out fires, he already understood what happened.

He didn't know whether he should breathe a sigh of relief to avoid a tough battle, or regret that the Chu army withdrew at the critical moment?

"Go back and tell the captain."

Heifu said to Ji Ying, the messenger: "Master Chu escaped at night!"

The Southern Army is definitely going to lose everything, but I don’t know what will happen to the Chinese Army? After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people, and we can’t just evacuate them!

…

At the same time, east of Ruyang, a brutal fighting had just come to an end.

"We pursued with 30,000 elite troops, but only 10,000 Chu troops were retained, and only 30,000 civilians were captured?"

Listening to the military report sent back by Qiang Yu, Wang Jian frowned, but then relaxed and said with a smile:

"In the Battle of Yanling, the princes fought with many drums and drums, and the Chu army was defeated at night. Later, the princes rescued Zheng, and the Chu army escaped at night; in the battle around the corner, the Chu army escaped again... The Chu army is really an expert in night escape. Hands, even I was fooled.”

Laughing, Wang Jian couldn't help but admire him. Xiang Yan made a move that even he didn't expect. Not only did he retreat eastward, he retreated extremely quickly, so that the Qin army only had time to catch their severed tails and avoid being caught in a pot. of misfortune.

Indeed, if the Qin army suddenly attacks, the Chu camp mixed with poor order civilians may fall into chaos and lead to the annihilation of the entire army. But now, Xiang Yan retreats calmly, and will also let the civilians and troops go in two directions, tempting The Qin army went to pursue the civilian husband, but Xiang Yan repeated the tactics used to defeat Li Xin, then attacked him from behind...

But this trick is useless against Wang Jian!

Because he did not go deep alone with Juan Ai's soldiers, but pressed down the mountain with a huge force!

"Order the central army to follow the Chu army to the north of Ying River, and then have the southern army to advance south of Ying River to get ahead of the Chu army. If the Chu army wants to cross the water, wait until it is halfway across and attack it! I would like to Look, Xiang Yan wants to involve my army, but how far he can retreat!"