"Chen Shengzhe is from Yangcheng, with the courtesy name She. Wu Guang is from Yangxia, with the courtesy name Shu..." Lan
When he mentioned Yang Xia, this was the first thing that came to Zhao Tuo's mind.
The so-called Yangxia, also known as Taikang.
It was the capital of Xia King Taikang in the third dynasty of antiquity, and it was also the burial place of Taikang. It is ancient and long-standing, with a history of nearly two thousand years.
The city of Yangxia originally belonged to the Chu State, and Wang Ben captured it when he attacked Chu the year before last. As a result, Li Xin was defeated last year, the Qin army fled back to Wei, and Yangxia and several nearby cities fell into the hands of the Chu people.
Now, the hundreds of thousands of troops led by Wang Jian had just set out from Chenliu, and he sent 20,000 soldiers from Zhao Tuo's tribe as the vanguard, hoping to capture Yangxia first and fire the first shot to attack Chu and destroy the country.
Twenty miles north of Yangxia, in the camp set up by the Qin army.
The generals discussed the matter, and the black-butt military commander was the first to laugh: "Haha, the general is really discerning, and the pioneering credit was directly given to us, General Zhao. We will follow General Zhao, and when we destroy the Chu State this time, we will definitely have the title again."
Let’s go up one liter.”
On the main seat, Zhao Tuo had a calm face. He glanced at the generals in the tent and saw that except for Black Hips, Shejian and Zhao Guang, the two captains had calm expressions.
The other three newly appointed military commanders, because they were not familiar with the general and his colleagues yet, stood stiffly and did not speak.
"Marquis Black Buttocks, please tell me what's so important about this city in Yangxia."
Seeing that Hei Buttocks was quite active, Zhao Tuo asked.
Ever since Black Butt was not selected as the school captain, he has been very energetic. During the trip eastward, he actually started asking She Jian for advice on the art of war. He didn't know how much he learned, so he just wanted to take the exam.
Hearing this, Hei Butt seemed to have been prepared. He walked to the map spread on the eucalyptus in two steps, pointed to the point on the map that represented Yangxia, and said with a smile: "I know, because Yangxia is right in the chasm.
On the border, our troops have too many people, so when we go south, we must rely on the boat divisions on the divide to transport food and fodder in order to maintain supplies."
"So we must first capture Yangxia on the edge of the chasm. If we don't capture it, the Chu army here may harass the chasm division. What is this called... By the way, this is called ensuring the safety of our food routes.
"Lan
Zhao Tuo gave him an approving look.
If it were in the past, Hei Butt would definitely only say "Yangxia is very close. If you don't hit him, who will you hit?" Now being able to talk about the importance of the city's geography is indeed an improvement. It seems that this kid
I still have a progressive heart.
"Hei Butt is right. The location of Yangxia is important. The army attacking Chu must take Yangxia first to protect the flanks and protect the safety of the water transportation in the divide. Since we have received the order from the general, we should capture this city as soon as possible."
"Colonel Shejian, your department sent scouts overnight to investigate the situation near Yangxia and the deployment of troops in the city."
"only."
Shejian immediately took the order.
At this time, the black butt commander rolled his eyes and shouted: "General, I have a plan that may help us capture Yangxia quickly."
Zhao Tuo was stunned for a moment. This guy had learned the art of war for a month or two on the road. Could it be that he had made such great progress and was able to take the initiative to offer advice?
He couldn't help but become interested and asked: "If the black-butt military commander has any clever ideas, please tell me."
Black Butt picked his butt out of habit, then reached out and poked at the map, saying with a proud look on his face: "We can raid the city!"
….
"Send an elite army to march through the night, arrive at Yangxia City before dawn, and launch a surprise attack. The army will slowly follow behind to provide support."
"The Chu army in Yangxia City only knew that we were twenty miles away. At such a long distance, they did not expect that our army would have the idea of surprise. In this way, they would not be prepared. If they are not prepared, we can catch them off guard.
, maybe we can break the city in one battle. This is what is said in the art of war... what is meant by 'taking the enemy by surprise and attacking them by surprise.'
"That's right, that's what you said!"
At this moment, Hei Butt opened his mouth to quote the art of war. He felt that his speaking skills were quite high, and he couldn't help but feel proud, waiting for Zhao Tuo to praise him.
Zhao Tuo twitched the corners of his mouth, and when he saw two military commanders who knew the art of war in the tent, he turned his head and endured.
Keep smiling. If they hadn't thought that Hei Butt was General Zhao's confidant, they would have laughed out loud on the spot.
Zhao Tuo shook his head helplessly and turned to look at Shejian and Zhao Guang.
"What do you two think of the Black Bottom Army Commander's strategy?"
Zhao Guang said with a solemn face: "Our army has a large number of troops. If we attack the city according to the correct method, we can achieve full success. There is no need to use surprise to win."
Compared with Zhao Guang's words, Shejian was not polite at all. He said coldly: "The general led an army of 600,000 to attack Chu. This news has spread throughout the Chu area. The Chu army in Yangxia City must have been there for a long time."
Be on guard. The city must be patrolled day and night, and the soldiers in the city are sleeping on their arms, so it is impossible to relax."
"According to the strategy of the Black Butt Army Commander, we attacked the city with a surprise attack. I'm afraid that before we even get close, the drums are already beating in the city, and the soldiers are on the wall to defend themselves. It is impossible to leave any loopholes."
"How can we attack the city when our troops are exhausted and don't have enough equipment? Such an action will not only be useless, but also waste the energy of the soldiers. If the enemy's city guard is a brave man, he will send his elite out of the city to attack and wait for work.
If you don't do it, our army might suffer in vain."
Black Butt's wonderful idea was blocked by two captains, and he suddenly turned red with embarrassment. He mumbled, "This won't work, that won't work, so what do you think we should do?"
Shejian said indifferently: "Yangxia City is small, far inferior to Huaiyang, Xiangcheng and other large cities. We only need to slowly approach the city, station outside the city, cut down trees and make siege equipment.
Once the equipment is manufactured, we can then attack the city. In this way, we can attack the city in the right way, so there is no need to risk a surprise attack."
Zhao Tuo nodded slightly.
Black Buttocks has not yet changed his mind. He is still thinking of five thousand people crossing Chu Land. All he thinks about is deceiving the city, raiding and other means.
But he ignored that Zhao Tuo no longer had 5,000 men under his command, nor was he a lone army deep into enemy territory without any logistical equipment. Instead, he had complete transportation and supplies, a large number of craftsmen accompanying the army, and an army of 20,000 civilians.
!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Facing the small city of Yangxia, there is no need to take risks and make a surprise attack. You can take it down by approaching the city with an upright army.
Not to mention... Zhao Tuo thought about the metal parts on the army's chariot that had already been made. By then, he would only need to cut down the wood to make frames, and he would be able to quickly assemble a series of siege cannons.
Can the small town of Yangxia stand up to this thing?
…
Yangxia City is twenty miles south of the Qin Army's camp.
On the city wall, Chu army guard Feng Houyi looked to the north, worried.
….
Although it was summer, the sky was high and hot, and it was cloudless at dusk, Hou Yi always felt that there was a dark cloud gathering there, making him breathless.
"The Qin army is coming."
As the first blockade on the Qin army's way south, the Chu army in Yangxia City only had 5,000 people.
It's not that Ling Yin Xiangyan doesn't pay attention to this place, but because Chu State's mobilization ability is really poor.
Even when Wang Jian swore an oath, the Chu State's intermediaries sent back the news of the Qin army's attack on Chu, and they had nearly two months to prepare.
But now, the Chu State has only gathered about 150,000 soldiers and nearly 200,000 civilians. This is the limit of the Chu State.
Qin's quasi-militarist system, with just one order, the entire country would run as fast as a precision machine from top to bottom, with extremely high efficiency and without any delay.
The King of Qin's government said he wanted 600,000 people, so there were 600,000 people. He said he wanted 5 million shi of grain, so there were 5 million shi of grain.
In comparison, Chu's ancient system appears to be very inefficient.
The standing army of the Chu State mainly consisted of the "Left and Right Guang" stationed in the Chu capital, about 20,000 people, similar to the "Lieutenant Army" of the Qin State.
The last time Li Xin attacked Chu, the King of Chu handed You Guang to Xiang Yan to fight the enemy on the front line, so there were only about 10,000 people left in Shouchun City. Later, 5,000 people were sent to escort the prisoners, but they were annihilated by Zhao Tuo on the way.
, there were only a few thousand soldiers left in Shouchun. This is why the King of Chu was so frightened that he was so scared that he quickly summoned Xiang Yan back to the army.
After the war, the frightened King of Chu hurriedly recruited more than 10,000 people, and divided the standing armies of the left and right Guangdong and Guangdong.
The replenishment allowed Shouchun City to regain its strength of 20,000 troops.
This time when the Qin army attacked Chu, King Chu, out of fear, kept all of his 20,000 standing troops in Shouchun and gave none to Xiang Yan.
Therefore, Xiang Yan could only think of other ways.
In addition to the standing armies of the Chu capital and Guangxi, the standing army of the Chu state also includes the county divisions of each county, that is, the local army. The cities within the territory generally have a few hundred to one thousand people, and the border areas may have between one thousand to two or three thousand people.
This time Xiang Yan recruited some county divisions to participate in the war, but it was still not enough.
The main force of the Chu army mainly relied on the private soldiers of nobles from various places, those Chu people recruited by the feudal lord.
However, not every one of these nobles wholeheartedly supported this war. Some families sent more troops, and some families sent less troops, and the food and supplies depended on personal preference. As a result, not only the combat effectiveness of the Chu army was worrying, but also the number and logistics were poor.
Can't go up.
The huge state of Chu could not even compare to the state of Zhao, which mobilized four to five million troops during the Battle of Changping.
In this situation where Chu's military strength was obviously inferior to that of Qin's army, Ling Yin Xiangyan wisely concentrated his limited troops on the Huaiyang and Pingyu front lines. As for small towns like Yangxia, he could only give up.
Therefore, Feng Houyi, who was the guard general of Yangxia, was very worried. Facing the menacing attack of hundreds of thousands of Qin troops, he was determined to abandon the city and escape.
But if he flees before fighting, he may be punished by military law and beheaded in public even if he escapes.
But if he did not escape, he would not be able to muster the will to fight when he thought of the Qin army that was about to approach the city.
Fortunately, at this critical time, a group of special people came from the south and took the initiative to enter the city to ask for help, willing to help the Chu army defend the city.
Feng Houyi turned around and looked at the men wearing coarse brown clothes and walking on qju (qju) on the city wall.
They are directing the craftsmen to place the special catapults from the Mohist family on the city wall for defense arrangements.
"Mr. Deng Ling, with the help of Mr. Deng Ling and other scholars, Feng Houyi will feel at peace."