In the Yingshui camp of the Qin army, a large banner (dào) three feet high was erected outside the general's tent, representing the identity and majesty of the general Li Xin.
However, the first sentence Meng Wu announced in the commander's tent was: "Li Xin has been defeated."
The generals already knew the result, and there was silence in the tent, with a layer of gloom covering everyone's faces.
Whether it was those who agreed with Li Xin's surprise attack strategy or the generals who had always been unfavorable about this strategy, by now, everyone knew that something was wrong.
Li Xin's 30,000 chariots and cavalry were nearly annihilated by the Chu army, leaving only a few thousand people fleeing in panic. It was so sad. Correspondingly, it also meant that Qin's battle against Chu had failed. At least they could not complete the destruction of Chu.
strategic goals.
Not only will their previous efforts be wasted and they will not be able to achieve meritorious service and be promoted, but they will also be looked down upon by countless Qin people after returning to Xianyang. This battle against Chu not only has high hopes for the king, but also the aspirations of countless Qin people.
No one would be willing to do so. In addition to scolding Li Xin in their hearts for his rashness and recklessness, the generals were also thinking of ways to remedy the situation.
But at this time, Meng Wu said: "I want to lead the army back to Huaiyang and give up the attack on Xiangcheng."
Hearing this, the generals were in an uproar, even more excited than when they heard the news of Li Xin's defeat.
General Pi Yang Yuan stood up first and said excitedly: "General Meng, this must not be done!"
"Although General Li was defeated, there is still hope for a turning point in the war against Chu. After days of fierce attacks by our army, the northern wall of Xiangcheng is about to collapse, and there are countless casualties among the Chu troops in the city. Our army has been attacking the city for days. Although there have been losses, there are still many losses in the city.
There are still more than 60,000 soldiers here who can fight. If we attack fiercely for a few days at most, our army can capture Xiangcheng!"
"If our army can capture Xiangcheng, we can open up the road to the south. Maybe we can defeat the Chu army that intercepted General Li, and then we can take advantage of the opportunity to seize the city in Huaibei. In this way, we can attack Chu this time.
, even if we are unable to destroy the Chu State, we can at least capture many cities, enough to explain to the king."
Another general, Han Zhong, also agreed: "Yes, General Meng. If we withdraw at this time, our army's previous achievements will be in vain. And if General Li is defeated, he will definitely come north from the sleeping hill to join our army in Xiangcheng."
, if the general withdraws his troops at this time, the Xiangcheng defenders will leave the city, which will definitely block General Li's escape route, and General Li will be trapped in death. This is absolutely impossible."
"Yeah yeah……"
Other generals and commanders also agreed.
Meng Wu gave everyone a cold look.
He knew very well what these people were thinking.
Everything they said was an excuse.
It was nothing more than seeing that Xiangcheng was about to be conquered and the credit was about to be obtained, so no one was willing to give it up.
Li Xin's defeat must be a serious crime.
Although their team did not participate in Li Xin's surprise attack and would not bear too much responsibility, they have been stuck at Xiang City without success. Who would be willing to go back like this?
At this time, as long as we attack fiercely for a few more days, we can capture Xiangcheng and chop off the heads of tens of thousands of Chu people in the city. This is all military merit!
Comparing such a great victory with Li Xin's defeat, wouldn't it highlight their merits even more? Even if they failed to destroy Chu this time, they could return to Qin with their heads held high without worrying about being punished.
To be honest, Meng Wu was also very excited. Taking Xiangcheng and destroying the tens of thousands of Chu troops in the city would not only give them merit, but also eliminate Chu's effective forces, giving Qin a greater advantage when it attacks Chu next time.
only……
Meng Wu thought of the letter Li Xin had received last night. The letter was written on silk and was delivered by Li Xin's personal guards day and night. Meng Wu burned it after reading it.
The content of the letter is very important and very surprising.
Li Xin said in the letter that the reason why his raid on Shouchun failed this time was because someone within the Qin army leaked his plan and the route of Li Xin's surprise attack was known to the Chu army, so Xiang Yan could gather Chu in advance.
The soldiers from the eastern border intercepted Xia Cai in Juyang, and eventually the Qin army suffered a major defeat.
In Meng Wu's view, Li Xin's words inevitably seemed to shirk responsibility, but if he thought about it carefully, it also frightened Meng Wu.
Xiang Yan's banner was clearly still stuck in Xiang City, but he ran hundreds of miles away to the Xiacai area in Juyang, which was exactly the only way Li Xin could attack Shouchun. How to explain this coincidence?
?
The Chu troops recruited from the eastern part of Chu State were supposed to come to Xiangcheng to support them, but instead they all went south to intercept and kill Li Xin. How did the Chu people know and deploy their troops in advance?
Everything proves that Xiang Yan has an intelligence source that lets him know the route of Li Xin's surprise attack, so that he can make corresponding arrangements.
There is a mole!
But Meng Wu didn't dare to talk nonsense, because that person's identity was too important, and he and Li Xin were not something he and Li Xin could slander and accuse at will without evidence.
According to Qin law, those who make false accusations will be punished.
Therefore, Meng Wu is also very conflicted at the moment. The generals are unwilling to withdraw. If they withdraw by force, the morale of the army may be unstable. But if the siege of Xiang City continues, and the man in Huaiyang City is really a traitor, serious trouble will occur. I think these words
When he got up, Meng Wu felt like a light on his back, making him unable to sit still.
At this time, the generals were still persuading Meng Wu, hoping that he could continue to attack Xiangcheng.
Meng Wu took a deep breath and finally thought of a way.
"In this case, the army continues to attack Xiangcheng. We must capture this city in five days!"
"In addition, General Li has been defeated in this battle. If the news spreads to the rear, I am afraid that it will cause uneasiness among the Chu people. Yang Yuan, please arrange a group of soldiers to retreat to Huaiyang to take charge of the army and implement military management to prevent the local Chu people from moving!"
…
Xiangcheng.
Zhou Wen looked out from the broken female wall and saw the brightly lit Qin camp in the distance. Countless figures were filing out with torches and running towards Xiangcheng. At the same time, war drums were playing.
"The Qin army is going to attack at night again?"
Zhou Wen took a breath of cold air. You must know that usually when two armies fight, they will try their best to avoid night battles unless necessary.
Especially in siege battles, without daylight, it is easy for soldiers climbing the city to be affected. Many people just missed and fell down before they could climb the wall. The casualties of the attackers would be very high. Unless they wanted to
Carry out a sneak attack while the defenders are unprepared, otherwise few generals would choose to attack the city at night.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Qin army had attacked the city several times day and night before. Although the Chu army in the city was exhausted, the Qin army also suffered heavy casualties.
They gave up fighting at night and only attacked the city during the day.
Why did he launch another night attack today? Is the Qin army commander crazy?
Zhou Wen quickly retreated from the city wall and rushed to the commander's tent in the city to report.
At the same time, the tired Chu soldiers in the city also received military orders and went to the city wall to defend themselves against the enemy.
In Xiang City, after hearing Zhou Wen's report, Xiang Qu, the leader of the Chu army who was stationed here, was not only not in a hurry, but instead laughed and said: "The Qin army is going to attack Xiang City at night, hahaha, it seems they are in a hurry!"
"They're in a hurry!"
Smiling, Xiang Qu's face turned red with excitement.
He whispered: "This is a signal. Counting the time, my father should defeat Li Xin. He will be there soon. By then, it will be our chance to fight back."
Xiang Qu stood up immediately and issued an order: "Let the ten thousand elites in the city who have not been on the city wall to fight be ready. It is time to use them in the next few days!"
…
Huaiyang, the former Chu State Chen Ying.
"Young Master Qi."
Xiong Qi held a silk letter in his hand and murmured this title.
Lord Changping of Qin.
The prince of Chu State, Qi.
These are his two identities.
In the first half of Xiong Qi's life, he lived in Qin as Lord Changping.
Together with Chang Wenjun, he worked for the King of Qin to put an end to the Lao Ai Rebellion and attack Lu Buwei's party. After that, he worked conscientiously in the position of Prime Minister of Qin for nearly ten years. For Qin's great cause of dominating the world, Xiong Qi can be said to have dedicated his whole life.
However, later on, he found that his mind had changed.
The King of Qin wanted to annex the world, and Chu was the country he was destined to perish.
The country that Xiong Qi's fathers and ancestors once ruled, that ancient country that has the blood of Zhu Rong and has been passed down for eight hundred years, is about to perish in the hands of the Qin people, and it will also perish in the hands of Xiong Qi.
Whenever he thought about this, Xiong Qi felt his heart hurt.
Although he is a child abandoned by his father in the Qin Kingdom, the blood of the Xiong family named Mi still flows in his body.
Does he, Xiong Qi, really want to destroy his ancestral country with his own hands?
His clan brother Chang Wenjun told him that Qin was strong and Chu was weak, and Qin's destruction of Chu was a general trend. They could not stop it, so it was better to focus on the longer term.
Fusu!
The child born to Chu Nu has the same blood as them and is also a true descendant of Zhu Rong.
They only need to influence Fusu and make Fusu like the culture of Chu, the clothes of Chu, and everything about Chu...
It doesn't matter if Qin destroys Chu, as long as the two of them can help Su ascend to power.
At that time, when Qin Wangzheng is dead and Fu Su succeeds to the throne, the rulers of the world will still be the descendants of the ancestor Zhu Rong, who are from Chu!
Fusu will promote the culture of Chu throughout the world, allowing everyone in the world to wear Chu clothes, speak Chu language, worship the phoenix of Chu, worship the ancestor of Zhu Rong, and worship the god of Taiyi.
The state of Chu fell.
But the whole world will become the new Chu State.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to change things like this?
Xiong Qi was once persuaded by Chang Wenjun, and the two of them worked hard to influence Fusu. With their efforts, Fusu, who had neglected to pay attention because the King of Qin was busy with political affairs, really developed in the direction they expected.
Fusu spoke Chu sounds, wore Chu clothes, was fond of Confucianism, loved to read silk paintings from Chu, and even liked to eat tangerines from Chu. He always had compassion for heaven and earth in his heart, which was completely different from his father Qin Wangzheng.
They say they are from Qin, but they are actually more like Chu people.
Just when Chang Wenjun was complacent and thought their plan was going to succeed.
Xiong Qi discovered that Qin Wangzheng had seen through everything.
"It's useless. The more we make Fusu look like a Chu man, the less likely the king will let him take over Qin."
Xiong Qi murmured to himself that he understood the politics of the King of Qin and Chang Wenjun's plan was destined to fail.
If Fusu, who looked very much like the Chu people, could not inherit the throne, then the Chu Kingdom would have perished in the past eight hundred years, but it would have really perished.
From that moment on, Xiong Qi had new ideas in his mind.
"I don't want Chu to perish."
Xiong Qi stood up from the couch, his eyes becoming firm.
"I am Xiong Qi, a descendant of Emperor Gaoyang, and a true son of the Chu Kingdom!"
"How could I let my motherland perish!"
A sound of footsteps approached quickly.
Xiong Qi's cronies walked in hurriedly and reported: "Your Majesty, there is news from the army that General Mengwu will arrange a song of soldiers to come and take over Huaiyang. He said that he is afraid that the news of General Li Xin's defeat will cause a stir here.
The people of Chu were uneasy and sent troops to guard them."
Xiong Qi was startled.
He served as prime minister for ten years and stayed in Huaiyang for another year. He had already established informants and confidants everywhere, so before the soldiers sent by Mengwu arrived, he had already received the news first.
"Did you notice something?"
"Or maybe Meng Wu is too prudent and that's why he arranged it like this."
Xiong Qi's eyes narrowed.
After thinking for a while, he whispered: "No matter what the reason is, those five thousand people cannot be allowed to enter the city, otherwise it will be difficult to accomplish anything. I can only start the attack in advance, but it is only two days away from the time agreed by Xiang Yan.
I think he will be able to arrive in time and the impact will not be big."
With that said, Xiong Qi left his bed and said to his relatives: "Let's go, follow me to wake up the Chu people in this city. Let Huaiyang become the Chen Ying capital of our Chu country again."
"Wei, Junhou."
The confidant promised.
Xiong Qi stopped and gave the confidant a cold look.
"Don't call me Junhou again."
"Call me young master."
"I am the Young Master of Chu State, Qi Shi!"
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