"The traitor Xiong Qi has betrayed the king's kindness. Not only did he rebel against our country of Qin, but he dared to call himself the false king of Jingchu today. Such behavior is against heaven. We must kill him in retribution to the king!"
Outside Shouchun City, black flags were flying in the endless Qin army camps.
General Wang Jian of the State of Qin sat on the throne.
He slapped the letter recording the information about Xiong Qi's claim to the throne on the gum tree, his eyes widened angrily, and he cursed.
Below, Qiang Yu, who has the most impatient personality, immediately shouted: "The last general asked for orders to lead an army to conquer the false king Xiong Qi. I will behead this traitor and present it to the general."
Qiang Yu was very excited, fearing that others would compete with him for this great achievement.
The false king Xiong Qi.
During Li Xin's battle against Chu, this man colluded with the Chu people and betrayed Qin, which ultimately led to the disastrous defeat of the 200,000 Qin army in Chu.
Such betrayal made the King of Qin deeply hated, and this man became the most notorious traitor in Qin today.
The people of Qin wanted to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin, and they hated him so much.
If Qiang Yu can capture and kill Xiong Qi, he will definitely make the king happy.
Even Zhao Tuo, who previously had a record of defeating 100,000 Qi troops, would probably be outclassed by him.
Therefore, Qiangxu was very excited and was the first to ask for orders to conquer.
"If I, Qiang Yu, can capture and kill the false king, I can definitely beat him, Zhao Tuo!"
Except for Qiang Xu, the other generals also had their eyes shining brightly.
Xiong Qi is not only a traitor to Qin, but now he even claims to be the King of Chu.
Although Wang Jian proposed Xiong Qi as king, he thought he was a false king and did not recognize him as the orthodox king of Jingchu.
After all, if they admit that Xiong Qi is the legitimate King of Chu, then how should they calculate the great achievement of destroying the country they just achieved?
But the "false king", after all, has the word "king" in his name, so he shouldn't take it lightly.
Xiong Qi ascending to this position means that his value far exceeds that of everyone in the land of Jingchu, even Ling Yin Xiangyan is not as good as him.
A false king, the most hated traitor of the king, a traitor to Qin. If they could capture and kill him with their own hands, how great would their credit be?
Facing Qiang Yu's request for orders, Wang Jian showed no expression on his face. His eyes swept across the tent and finally landed on Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Tuo raised his eyebrows. When Wang Jian looked over, he knew that the other party wanted to speak on his own.
He calmly said, "The traitor Xiong Qi has the arrogance to call himself a false king. The general is so angry that he wishes he could lead his army to the east and behead him before returning."
"However, although Jingchu was defeated, its strength still remained. When the general heard that Xiang Yan led tens of thousands of elite troops in Huaiyang and marched eastward, Xiong Qi led the people from Jiangdong to the north. Together with the gathered princes of Huainan, the land of Huaiyin is now
There are probably nearly 100,000 soldiers under the thief army."
"The strength of the Chu army is still there, and with Xiang Yan as general, he is a formidable enemy and should not be underestimated. At this time, only the general in our army can defeat Xiang Yan personally, and the last general will be with him.
Just follow your orders."
Hearing this, Qiang Yu's face turned red, and he couldn't help but mumbled: "Flattery."
Several other generals suppressed their laughter, and a few veterans who followed Wang Jian in the battle were still joking.
The general had just asked for orders from Qiang Yu and did not express his position. It was because he wanted to conquer Xiang Yan personally, so he signaled Zhao Tuo to speak.
Qiang Xu is a man who is brave when he is brave, but after all, he was born in a barbarian, he is very competitive and straightforward and rude, and he is far inferior to Zhao Tuo in this aspect of life.
When Yan was besieging Jicheng, Qiang Yu was greedy for power and chased the bait sent by the Yan people, causing the King of Yan's convoy to escape and ascend to heaven. This is an example.
However, in order to appease the barbarians, the Qin State still valued "horse bones" like Qiang Yu. Therefore, although this guy was not popular, the generals did not care about him.
Only in the past, when Li Xin was under Wang Jian, he often had conflicts with this barbarian, and the two often bickered and argued. Now that Li Xin is gone, Zhao Tuo has taken over. He is indeed Li Xin's "arm".
Wang Jian didn't care what the generals were thinking. When he saw that Zhao Tuo had said what he wanted to say, he followed the words and said: "What Zhao Tuo said is true. Xiang Yan still has elites in hand, so they should not be underestimated. I will lead the army eastward."
Conquer the false king and wipe out these bandits in one fell swoop."
At this point, Wang Jian slapped the eucalyptus, stood up, and said loudly: "The generals will listen to the order, organize the troops for three days, and prepare all the food and fodder. After three days, I will lead the army to the east to conquer the puppet king, and pacify the Chu land in one fell swoop!
"
"only."
All the generals in the tent responded in unison, with excitement on everyone's face.
Wang Jian also had bright eyes, and his old body was bursting with vitality again.
He is already old.
The battle to destroy Chu should be Wang Jian's last battle.
Wang Jian wants to achieve a perfect record as the end of his lifelong campaign.
There must be no room for failure in this eastern expedition.
"Xiang Yan, I'm here."
Wang Jian whispered in his heart.
Xiang Yan should be Wang Jian's last opponent on the battlefield in this life.
As the general issued the order to march out, the Qin army outside Shouchun City began to operate rapidly like a sophisticated war machine.
Reorganize the army, arrange defense, and confirm the affiliation of each army and the direction of expedition.
This time the Qin State sent 600,000 troops to attack Chu. In addition to the deputy generals Yang Duanhe and Bei Shang, who led more than 200,000 troops in Huaibei to continue the attack on Chu, a total of 300,000 troops were stationed outside Shouchun City.
Wang Jian went on an eastward expedition and personally led an army of 200,000 people.
Among them were 150,000 soldiers and 50,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians.
The reason why the proportion of auxiliary troops was reduced is because the Qin Army's target, Huaiyin, is located along the Huai River. Therefore, the Qin Army, traveling eastward along the Huai River, can rely on the boat division to transport grain from the Huai River, reducing the loss of manpower and grain.
Too many civilians are needed to transport it.
If the Chu army went south and tried to extend the front line, the Qin army could also recruit Chu people as civilian husbands on the spot to solve the problem of insufficient labor in the future.
Except for the 200,000 people who marched eastwards, the remaining 100,000 Qin troops were not idle either. Except for some who stayed to guard Shouchun, the remaining Qin troops were divided into two groups and sent out by Wang Jian.
Along the way, the Qin army went south and directly captured the six cities of Chu State, as well as the direction of Juchao further south. They wanted to use the power of destroying Chu to occupy the cities in this area when Chu people were frightened, and at the same time block this area.
The Chu reinforcements were heading towards Huainan.
On the other hand, the Qin army went southeast, and then headed east after the north bank of the river. They used a surprise force to cut off the Chu army's rear path, and engaged Wang Jian's regular soldiers in a pincer attack from the front and back.
"With such strength and layout, there is no need to worry about this battle."
Zhao Tuo secretly nodded. This time, Wang Jian's eastward expedition was overwhelming Xiang Yan's Chu army, both in terms of troop strength, morale and food and baggage. The outcome of this battle was almost predictable.
"I just don't know how Xiong Qi and Xiang Yan will fight against our Qin army's Eastern Expedition?"
…
"The king is raising a flag and calling on the people from Huainan and Jiangdong to come and join forces. Wang Jian will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. Within a few days, he will lead an army to attack."
Just as hundreds of thousands of Qin troops were marching out of Shouchun City, the Chu generals in Huaiyin City were also planning a plan to resist Qin.
Ling Yin Xiangyan stood in the tent and said loudly: "Qin's army is large and our army is few. Although our army is in mourning, the Qin people also attack with the power of victory. Their morale is high and must not be underestimated. And
Although our army has plundered supplies from various places, it cannot last long. We must defeat the Qin people in a few months."
As soon as these words came out, all the Chu generals were in an uproar.
King Qi of Chu frowned and said: "Your Majesty's analysis is indeed correct, but now Qin is strong and Chu is weak. Wang Jian led the army to attack, and our army is small. It is difficult to strengthen the city defense in a hurry. How can we compete with Wang Jian's army?"
Fight against each other and win as soon as possible?"
"Yes, that defeat happened too quickly, and we were not prepared enough."
All the generals spoke in agreement.
Shouchun fell so quickly that they didn't even receive a reply from several princes. The food and supplies they needed were even more lacking. Facing the Qin's massive attack, they were naturally stretched thin.
Facing the lamentations of the generals, Xiang Yan also sighed secretly in his heart.
He originally wanted to rely on the land east of the Huainan River and Wang Jian to drag him down, but now the Chu army has gathered nearly 100,000 troops and consumes countless amounts every day. Once they retreat, his troops may not be able to hold on.
Therefore, even if we want to retreat, we must fight the Qin army first.
Moreover, he may not have no chance of winning this battle.
Xiang Yan took a deep breath and spoke loudly: "The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered, and the Qin army has huge cannons, so it is useless to defend it casually. We cannot hold on to the city, so we must rely on the geographical advantage. In terms of geographical advantage,
, we have no chance of winning!"
Hearing this, the generals were stunned.
It was Jing Tong who reacted the fastest. He exclaimed in shock: "Could it be that the favorable geographical location mentioned by Ling Yin refers to the water and lakes in my land of Huainan?"
"Of course!"
Xiang Yan pointed to a point on the map and said with a smile: "Facing the Qin army coming from the west, Huaiyin has no danger to defend. But there is a good road to the west, and there are swamps in the direction of Dongyang, and the lakes are connected. The roads are muddy and difficult to navigate. This is a gift from God to our Chu people."