Qin Official

"This matter must be kept secret, the information must be sealed, and no subordinates can know about it!"

At the end of January, at the Zhao Jun camp in Jiexiu (Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province), Li Zuoche gave these instructions to his two confidants. After he retreated, he only felt a headache.

"This Chen Sheng deserves to die!"

He gathered the defeated troops of Wei State in the east of Hedong, finally stabilized the situation in Taiyuan, and formed a confrontation with Han Xin. However, at this critical moment of life and death, Hengshan County, which was behind Taiyuan, actually lost its chain.

Li Zuoche had just received the news that Hengshan Captain Chen Sheng suddenly launched a mutiny and took control of most of the counties including Dongyuan. The governor Chen Yu fled to Kuxing and mobilized the local wealthy family to defend it with private troops...

This was a fatal blow to Zhao, who was already facing a formidable enemy.

Hengshan County was the area around Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province in later generations. This county controlled the dangers of Taihang and the key points of Hebei. If you go west, Taiyuan will be shaken, and if you go north, Fan Yang will be shocked. The territory controls Yanji, the road leads to Heluo, and there is also the danger of Jingxing. It is the most convenient and only direct passage from Taiyuan to the east of Taihang. If the soldiers under his command know about it, it will definitely shake the morale of the army.

But how long can they hide it? How many days? Half a month? Once Han Xin's roving spies detect the news, the situation is bound to change.

Zhao State has six counties and can recruit nearly one hundred thousand troops, half of which are in the hands of Li Zuo. He has inherited the family's military manual and knows that Taiyuan County is easy to defend. If the enemy wants to attack, there are only three ways:

The first is to cross the river from Shangjun. Recently, a large number of Qin army's cavalry have sneaked in sporadically from there. However, if a large group of people and horses must pass through the ferry, Li Zuoche released 10,000 people at Lishi Fortress (Lishi County, Shanxi).

The second road is Guanjuejin south of Jiexiu, also known as Queshu Valley (Lingshi Gorge), which means that the canyon is so narrow that even sparrows and mice can hardly pass through. Li Zuo's car once turned over and his grandfather Li Mu described this place: "Two mountains confront each other in the east and west, and a river flows from the north to the south. For dozens of miles, the road is dangerous and narrow, and the left and right are connected. The road is partial to the pavilion, and the road is full of stones. It lingers on the side of the rock, or goes to The water is one foot, or five or six feet high. It reaches the mountain peak at the top and the Juejian stream at the bottom. It covers the ancient pass, which is also dangerous in today's place."

The two mountains in the east and west refer to Huotai Mountain and Luliang Mountain, and the water in the north and south is the Fen River. It forms a rugged and steep situation with twists and turns, steep mountains and steep waters, and fast flowing water. It is actually a dangerous place in the north and south.

So Li Zuoche personally guarded 30,000 people at Jiexiu and blocked the pass. Han Xin wanted to capture Taiyuan. If he dared to go north from Shuqiao Valley, the long team would be attacked head-on by Zhao Jun as soon as it showed its head. !

There is also a third road: from Shangdang County through Tunliu, Tongdan to Qi and then to Weiyu, reaching Jinyang City. However, if the Qin army wants to take this road, the premise is to eliminate the 40,000 Zhao and Wei coalition forces in Shangdang. People, capture this county. However, the terrain there is no better than that of Hedong, which is a flat river. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Wei Prime Minister Zhang Er has called on the Shangdang to fight to the death. Soldiers from Handan and Julu passed through Taihangxing and Baixing to the Shangdang to set up defenses there.

The generals of the Zhao army have disputes about where Han Xin will attack. Some people think that Han Xin has a three-pronged plan. One army continues to cross the river to harass in Shangjun, one army is stationed in Huoyi, eyeing Shuque Valley, and the other army is attacking Go to the party and try to break through there.

"Han Xin is good at using suspicion to blind people."

This is Li Zuoche's evaluation of Han Xin. Judging from the two battles of secretly building a plank road in Chencang and forcibly crossing the Hedong River, his strength is to attack the east and attack the west. Before the war, he performs a set of dazzling moves to let you divide your troops for defense, but the real killing The trick is hidden in it.

"Those who are on the battlefield first and wait for the enemy are useless, and those who are behind the battlefield and rush to fight are tired. Therefore, those who are good at fighting will benefit people without killing them. Those who can make the enemy come to him will benefit him."

This was his grandfather's secret to winning the battle of Yi'an and defeating the invincible Qin general Huanjue.

"The changes in Hengshan cannot be concealed. Instead of waiting for the enemy to notice and then control us, it is better to use this to lure the enemy."

After a long time, Li Zuoche made a decision. This was a last resort. Originally, they could fight a protracted war, but the changes in Hengshan County broke the balance. The Zhao army must make a quick decision, otherwise the situation in both the east and west of Taihang will collapse.

"Order Lishi's defenders to retreat to Jinyang, and Jiexiu's army also makes a move to move its camp northward!"

He wanted to take the initiative to create a fighter opportunity for Han Xin to easily capture the Mouse Valley and capture Taiyuan's fragrant bait...

…

In early February, the withdrawal of the Zhao army from Taiyuan did attract the attention of the Qin army. The Qin army stationed in Huoyi (Huoxian County, Shanxi Province) increased significantly. Initially, a small group of troops came out of the valley to test and confirmed that the Zhao army had left Jiexiu. The army broke out of camp and slowly crossed the long and narrow valley. The forward Qin army arrived at the north entrance of the canyon and set up camp to protect the arrival of follow-up troops.

But what they didn't expect was that Zhao Jun suddenly responded with a killing blow!

Outnumbered by the Xia army, the forwards of the Qin army were unable to resist and collapsed at the first touch. They retreated into the valley, while the Zhao army continued to pursue the Qin army into the Queshu Valley. They fought 8 times in one day and defeated them all. Although they were captured and beheaded. Not much, but it greatly boosted morale. The forwards became more and more successful and continued to chase south.

Everyone in Zhao was happy, but Li Zuoche felt that something was wrong. It was too smooth. The Qin army retreated so fast, it seemed like they were faking defeat.

Sure enough, as soon as the Zhao army's forwards caught up to the outside of the valley, they were attacked head-on by the Qin army. It turned out that the Qin army used the entrance of the valley as cover and only sent the forwards into the valley. The large group of troops were still waiting at the south entrance, waiting to work.

Now it was the Zhao army's turn to retreat steadily. They retreated hastily, while the Qin army's infantry pressed forward step by step from behind!

Zhao Jun has penetrated too far into the valley entrance, more than ten miles in front and back. If there is a defeat, the consequences will be disastrous. They must win this tough battle.

"Can win!"

Li Zuoche cheered for his subordinates: "Decades ago, the five countries all feared Qin like a tiger and suffered repeated defeats. Only Zhao and Qin fought in battles, each winning or losing!"

"The siege of Handan was a desperate situation, and my great father Li Mu's battles of Yi'an and Fanwu both severely defeated the Qin army, and General Zhao She's army also fought with him..."

Even Lian Po felt that the battle was hopeless, but Zhao She still felt that there was hope, and finally defeated the powerful enemy, shocking the world.

Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, Han, Wei, Qi and Yan all swept away fallen leaves like the autumn wind without experiencing any difficulties. Only Zhao and Chu, one in the north and one in the south, created big trouble for the Qin army.

The Zhao people were more aggrieved and dissatisfied than the Chu people. Not only did the blood feud of 400,000 people in Changping make almost every Zhao person have a family feud with Qin, but also because Zhao did not die in defeat, but after winning the battle. , was assassinated by the knife from the court behind him!

But today, the Zhao people who refused to admit defeat, under the command of Li Zuoche, shouted the same slogan as Yan and Zhi fought:

"We meet on a narrow road."

"The brave wins!"

The Zhao people shouted and fought back with guns, but the situation did not simply turn to them. The two sides fought evenly until night.

In the next few days, the Qin army seemed to be determined by the weight of the scale and kept trying to cross the Shuque Valley. Li Zuoche led the main force to deal with it and refused to give in. There were confrontations in the canyon every day, but they were all small-scale. Yes, both sides have suffered losses and neither dared to attack rashly.

It wasn't until mid-February that Li Zuoche thought about it carefully and realized something was wrong.

"Fell into a trap!"

"The general on the opposite side is definitely not Han Xin."

"The one who has been at odds with us for a long time is not the main force of the Qin army!"

…

Relying on the cover of the valley, neither side could know the full appearance of the other side's troops, but the Qin army relied on the reconnaissance of the rangers crossing from Lishi, at least knowing that the main force of the Zhao army was here, but the Qin army...

At the south entrance of the Rat Bird Valley, Captain Wu Guang was very happy: "What a clever plan by Marquis Han. If Li Zuoche knew that the only people who were inseparable from his 40,000 Zhao troops across the Rat Bird Valley were Dong Jun and me. 20,000 people, aren’t they going to die of anger?”

Although the number of people is small, they are not afraid at all. Mouseque Valley is a natural danger for both the north and the south. No matter which side has a military advantage, if they want to forcefully pass through the canyon, they must invest less troops than the other side at the first time. Even if Pushing forward desperately, these dozens of miles of canyons are enough for both sides to fight for half a month, and that is what the Qin army hopes to see...

What's more, there is a steady stream of support from Hedong behind them, and the Guanying Department, which has already established a firm foothold in Lishi, is also a close relative of them.

Dong Yi felt a little aggrieved: "The Xihe Army does not want to fight this kind of battle."

They slaughtered 20,000 Wei soldiers, but they still had more to say, but they may not believe it. Although the Zhao people and the Qin people did have a bloody feud, under the constraints of Li Zuoche, the Xihe city occupied by the Zhao army, although there were looting, killing and other atrocities, but No large-scale massacres.

Young Master Wu Guang could not help but comfort Dong Yi: "By the time Li Zuoche noticed it, the Marquis of Han had already defeated the Shangdang, Zhao and Wei coalition forces. Tunliu and Tongtan went around behind him and completely wiped out the main force of the Zhao army!"

After that, I can get in touch with my old friend Chen Sheng from Hengshan County...

It turned out that when Han Xin learned that the Zhao army in Taiyuan was "retreating", he had already seen through this ruse.

But since Li Zuoche was eager for a decisive battle due to the Hengshan Incident, Han Xin took advantage of his plan and used his partial division to hold back the Taiyuan Zhao army at Shuque Valley. The left car formed an outflank, and the battle was set to the west of Taihang.

This is Han Xin's goal, and it is also the consensus of the "Northern Theater Staff Department" assigned to him by Heifu.

But this optimistic attitude of "a battle will determine the outcome" was shattered three days later.

The harassment launched by the Qin army from the valley was still frequent, but the Zhao army initially counterattacked fiercely, but the further it went, the weaker it became. Until mid-February, the Qin army's forwards had almost reached the entrance of the valley, and still did not encounter a single Zhao pawn. The former ramparts in the valley were also empty.

When they arrived at the north entrance of the canyon, they met a ranger from the Guan Ying Department and informed them of the latest results of the investigation.

"Li Zuoche, retreat!"

…

"It's not too late to wake up, but even if Li Zuoche retreats, he can only save himself, not the party."

In late February, when he learned that Li Zuoche had escaped from Shuqiao Valley, Han Xin was standing on a pass in Shangdang County. This is the entrance to the Changzhi Basin and where the Zhao Army's partial division supporting Shangdang was garrisoned. , is now occupied by him.

The long and narrow valley below the pass, as well as the two ancient barriers in the valley, became prisons for prisoners.

This was a beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle, worthy of being recorded in history.

Forty thousand Zhao and Wei people were either squatting or standing, huddled together. After Han Xin and Heifu increased their numbers several times, as many as sixty thousand Qin troops looked on. They raised their heads, waiting unwillingly and fearfully for victory. Those who are disappointed...

Han Xin also knew why they were afraid.

There are countless arrow clusters and broken halberds scattered in this river valley. The locals have been picking them up for decades. If they dig down a few feet with a hoe, they may be able to dig out numerous bones!

Han Xin knew that this was a knot tied by a senior military strategist more than fifty years ago, a knot called "Changping"!

The national destiny of Qin and Zhao completely diverge here!

It was like fate. Han Xin couldn't help but sigh:

"What was Lord Wu An thinking when he faced Zhao's surrender troops that were ten times more than this?"

…

PS: Chapter 2 is at night.