On the south bank of the Huai River, in a gentle area between swamps and swamps, there is a small city.
A large number of red-armored Chu troops camped outside the city, and everyone was in high spirits. The depression caused by the fall of Shouchun and the surrender of King Chu was swept away, and the eyes of every Chu soldier shone with hope.
.
"Your Majesty is worthy of being a famous general of our Chu State, and he uses troops like a god!"
"In this surprise attack, our army killed nearly a thousand Qin soldiers and captured more than two thousand prisoners. In addition to some Qin soldiers who broke through and blocked the original route and fled back, there were also a large number of Qin soldiers who jumped into the swamps on both sides. These people did not know who they were.
How many casualties were there?”
"Haha, most of the Qin people don't know the nature of water. They just wait to feed the fish, turtles and turtles when they wander into the swamp. But what should we do with the captives in front of us? Do we have to feed them with food?"
Amidst the discussion of many Chu soldiers, in an open space outside Shandao City, more than two thousand Qin people who had been disarmed were crouching on the ground. Their faces were full of panic, not knowing what they were about to fall into.
end.
From the victors who destroyed the people to the captives who were allowed to be slaughtered overnight, this contrast made many of them feel like they were in a dream.
This is the cruelty of war. No one can imagine when the butcher knife of death will fall on their head.
There are several figures standing by the Huai River in the north of Shandao City.
"Your Majesty, although our army has plundered a lot of food from Huaibei and moved south, it is only enough for our army to eat for a few months. Keeping these Qin prisoners will only consume our army's food, so it is better to slaughter them."
General Qu Mao spoke with a cold light in his eyes.
Xiang Yan turned around and saw that Jing Tong on the side also agreed with Qu Mao's suggestion and said with a smile: "In that case, just kill them. After Shouchun fell, it was just right to use the heads of these Qin people to hold memorial ceremonies. Cut off their heads.
Find a place to build a palace. If Wang Jian can attack here, he can also see the gift I gave him."
"Okay, I'm going to chop off the heads of these Qin people and build the Jingguan. I will also let the world know that my Jingchu men are bloody and will never lose to the Qin people."
Qu Mao said with murderous intent, basically all of his Qu family's fiefdoms fell into the hands of the Qin people, and his clan members had no idea of their fate. He harbored an incomparable hatred for the Qin people.
There are many people like him who have deep hatred against the Qin army, and he is also the most determined anti-Qin person among the Chu army.
Seeing that Qu Mao was about to leave, Xiang Yan said again: "By the way, from those armored stomachs and weapons of the Qin army, pick out some intact ones, they may be useful later."
"only."
Seeing Qu Mao leaving, Xiang Yan looked towards the other side of the Huaihe River again. His deep gaze seemed to be able to see through the hundreds of meters wide Huaihe River to the land of Huaibei on the other side.
There, black Qin flags have been planted everywhere, and they no longer belong to their Chu country.
Jing Tong did not leave, but asked worriedly: "Your Majesty wants to rely on this swamp to compete with the Qin people. It is indeed a good strategy. Our army has this advantage. As long as the Qin army dares to come, they will never come back."
But I'm worried that if Wang Jian repeats his old tricks, like in the battle of Chen Ying, where he didn't launch an attack, but stationed troops on the side to drag our army down, what should we do?"
Xiang Yan turned around and saw Jing Tong's face full of worry.
This gentleman of the Jing family, who is in his twenties, has experienced many vicissitudes after successive battles in Surabaya and Suishui. It seems that some people would believe him if he was in his thirties.
"Zitong, don't worry. Wang Jian will definitely attack this time."
Xiang Yan sneered and said, "Did you listen to what these prisoners said, that King Qin has left seclusion and is about to go to Chen Ying?"
"Haha, the Qin State's war against Chu has been going on for a year since last year. Now that King Qin is coming east, although he may not necessarily urge Wang Jian to attack immediately, the generals and soldiers under Wang Jian will definitely not be able to bear it.
, each of them will be thinking in their hearts to defeat our army before the arrival of King Qin, capture and kill me and the king, and report their merits to King Qin. With such a greed for power and profit, even if Wang Jian does not come, the generals of the Qin army will urge them.
Come with him."
"Wang Jian used 600,000 troops to attack Chu for one year, which cost a huge amount of manpower and material resources. If he dares to station troops here again, how much food and grass will be consumed? Will the Qin people in Qin allow it? Besides, he has hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command.
We have been away from home for a year. If we continue to waste time, everyone will want to return, and the Qin army will be defeated without a fight!"
"Besides, Wang Jian is old and he can't wait much longer."
"He will definitely attack!"
At this point, Xiang Yan's voice was decisive and full of affirmation.
After Jing Tong was shocked, he whispered: "Ling Yin, according to what you said, since Wang Jian can't afford to wait, our best response should be to fight with him instead of fighting with the Qin army. I
It is better for the army to abandon Huaiyin, lead the army south, and lure the Qin army to penetrate deeper. As long as we are undefeated, sooner or later we can delay the Qin people until they can no longer wear out the troops, withdraw their troops and return north, and then we can lead the army north to regain our homeland!"
Xiang Yan looked calm.
What Jing Tong said was not what he had thought before.
With the help of Huainan, Jiangdong, and even the Baiyue land further south, he and Wang Jian were defeated. After Wang Jian was killed, it was the time for him to launch a massive counterattack.
But the situation now is very different from before.
Now that the Chu army has a new king, it is a time when the morale of the Chu army is greatly increased. If they retreat south without fighting and give up Huaiyin, Shandao and other places to the Qin people, it will definitely weaken the hearts of many warriors of the Chu army and their morale.
The disadvantage is that it will also make some Huainan and Jiangdong princes who are still waiting to give up supporting them.
Secondly, it is because the Chu army finally gathered nearly 100,000 troops, many of whom were elite. However, their food and grass were only enough for a few months. If Xiang Yan chose to retreat south, not only would the Qin army be unable to hold on, but also the Qin army would not be able to hold on.
His Chu army cannot hold on. When the food is exhausted in a few months, his 100,000 troops will be dispersed due to lack of food.
It is easy for an army to disperse, but it is difficult to gather it again, especially in the current situation where most of the Chu State has fallen into the hands of the Qin army. Perhaps this will be the last time that Xiang Yan controls an army of 100,000.
Instead of waiting until the army is dispersed, it is better to fight Wang Jian while the troops are still there to have the hope of a big victory.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Xiang Yan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
In addition to the reasons mentioned before, there was another more important factor that made him give up retreating south and stay on the south bank of the Huai River to fight Wang Jian.
Because he, Xiang Yan, was a nobleman of Chu State and a well-known Jingchu man.
"Chen Ying's defeat was not due to my incompetence, but to the lack of national strength and the constraints of the mediocre leader."
"Today, you have the advantage of military strength, and I also have the geographical advantage to rely on. You have the trust of the King of Qin, and I also have the King's sage. In this way, you and I can fight openly and openly to see whose military skills are stronger! Come on!
A fair duel!"
Xiang Yan raised her head high and looked towards the Huai River again.
He had sent out sentries and mobilized Chu civilians along the coast to patrol along the Huaihe River day and night to monitor Qin ships that might appear at any time, and set up beacons at regular intervals.
If Wang Jian chooses to load ships with soldiers across the Huaihe River and land from the rear of the Chu army, then as soon as the Qin army's ships appear, the Chu people will immediately set off beacons to warn the surrounding area, and then the nearby Chu army troops will quickly arrive to attack them.
The Qin army crossing the river attacked halfway across the river.
Xiang Yan turned his head and looked south of Shandao.
It would be okay if Wang Jian chose to avoid the large swamps of Shandao and go south from Dongyang to attack Huaiyin.
Although the terrain in the south tends to be flatter and the water is less, it is not suitable for the Chu army's water ambush tactics.
But if the Qin army chooses to take a southward detour, they will also lose the Huai River supply line.
That was nearly 200,000 Qin troops. They could only rely on civilians to transport grain from the rear using oxen, horses and vehicles, and the grain road would be very long. The Chu army did not even need to fight Wang Jian's main force, as long as it cut off the Qin army's rear
The food road can also win!
"So, Wang Jian, you can only attack from the front."
"I'm waiting for you here."
A smile appeared at the corner of Xiang Yan's mouth.
He and Wang Jian are already destined enemies.
…
In the wide area west of Shandao, with the arrival of the Qin army, there were endless camps.
In the main tent, Wang Jian sat high, and the generals were divided to the left and right.
Meng Tian, the commander-in-chief of Xingjun, stood in the tent and finished reporting the military situation with a bitter look on his face.
"We raised an army of 10,000, but lost 5,000 troops. Meng Tian, Meng Tian, do you know how to fight?"
Qiang Yu, who had the most impatient personality, spoke, his eyes widened and his face full of displeasure.
Meng Tian blushed and could only bow his head silently in the face of ridicule and endure the humiliation.
Zhao Tuo couldn't stand it anymore and argued: "It's not the fault of Captain Meng for this matter. The terrain near Shandao is complicated and the water is continuous. We Qin people have never been accustomed to water, and we don't know the depth of the water here. It was taken advantage of by the Chu people."
The ambush at Wei Dao is also normal. Not to mention Captain Meng, I am afraid that even the veteran general in the army will not be able to escape this defeat."
Meng Tian raised his head and glanced at Zhao Tuo gratefully.
Qiang Yu was furious: "Zhao Tuo, who are you talking about?"
Zhao Tuo smiled slightly and said: "Of course I'm not talking about General Qiang Yu. The general is always resourceful. He must have his own way to face this dilemma."
Faced with Zhao Tuo's sarcasm, Qiang Tuo laughed loudly and hummed: "You Zhao Tuo are right, I, Qiang Tuo, have a way to solve it."
"Oh? General Qiang Yu really has a way to solve the Chu army's ambush by using swamp reeds?"
Not only Zhao Tuo was surprised, the generals also looked over, and even Wang Jian on the main seat looked at Qiang He curiously.
Sensing everyone's surprised or curious eyes, Qiang Xu, who became the center of attention, said proudly: "The method is very simple, just burn these reeds with a fire. There are no reeds along the way to block the view.
, Those Chu people were able to ambush our army, but I am afraid they were knocked over by our army's crossbow arrows before they even got close."
Fire attack?
The generals stared at each other with big eyes and small eyes.
Wang Jian rolled his eyes.
He turned to look at Zhao Tuo.
"Zhao Tuo, what do you think of General Qiang Yu's words?"
Zhao Tuo frowned and replied: "To deal with the reeds blocking the road, the Chu army is lying in them. It is naturally better to burn them all with fire. But if you burn the reeds in autumn and winter, if you put down the fire, they will be burned into pieces immediately.
.”
"But now it's the turn of spring and summer. The reeds carry their own moisture, and the weather is moist and humid. There are also swampy depressions below. Even if it can really burn, I'm afraid it will be very slow, and we need to worry about the wind direction. It will burn all over.
This road that stretches for ten miles is extremely difficult. Even if the journey goes smoothly and the Chu army does not attack, it may take ten months."
"And even if our army burns all the way to Shandao City, what if the Chu army in the city retreats to the rear and continues to use this method to deal with us? There are nearly a hundred miles of swamps between Shandao and Huaiyin. Burn them all the way.
, when will it be available?"
Hearing this, the generals nodded one after another. Qiang Yu blushed and said unconvinced: "You Zhao Tuo said that I can't set fire, so what should you do?"
Seeing everyone looking over, Zhao Tuo hesitated for a moment and said: "The water here is difficult to attack, and it is really a dangerous place given by God. Instead of taking risks here and putting ourselves at a disadvantage against the Chu army, it is better for our army to avoid this dangerous place."
, go south to Dongyang, take a detour and attack Huaiyin."
"Hahaha, you are so ridiculous. You put it simply. If we take a detour, how will our army's logistics be guaranteed? And how will we prevent the Chu army from attacking our food road?" Qiang He immediately laughed.
Zhao Tuo turned his face away, not bothering to pay attention to him, and secretly cursed "barbarian" in his heart.
However, what Qiang Xu said makes sense. Once the army takes a detour, logistics will be a problem.
But Zhao Tuo believed that even if he found a way to solve the problem of logistics and food supply, it would still be better than fighting the Chu people in this swamp.
At this time, the generals also expressed their opinions. Some of them mentioned using the Qin army's fleet on the Huaihe River to transport soldiers to the rear of the Chu army, directly bypassing the good Chu army, and killing them from behind.
But someone immediately said that the Chu army would definitely be prepared for this, and since the ships were transporting only a small number of people at a time, it would be easy for the Chu army to cross the river and attack them, resulting in a massive defeat.
The generals expressed their own opinions and never found a perfect solution.
However, everyone unanimously did not mention the strategy of "consuming the opponent to death with national power".
Now that the King of Qin is about to rush to Chu, everyone wants to destroy the false king Xiong Qi and Xiang Yan as soon as possible and achieve a great victory when the King arrives in Huaiyang. In that case, the reward will be generous.
After discussing this for a long time, everyone finally looked at Wang Jian on the main seat.
"I also ask the general to decide how we should defeat the enemy."
All the generals looked at Wang Jian with sharp eyes. This truly famous general in the world must have some wise opinions when faced with the Chu army's advantageous geographical situation.
Wang Jian smiled slightly and asked: "The Chu people have the advantage of terrain, so what advantage does our Qin army have over the Chu people?"
The generals frowned, and one of them replied: "Compared to the Chu army, our army is much larger."
"Of course, compared with the Chu people, the biggest advantage of our army is the crowd!"
Wang Jian laughed heartily. He stretched out his hand to stroke the white beard under his chin, looked around at the generals and said, "We are outnumbered but the enemy is outnumbered, so we should make full use of the advantage of this manpower."
"What you just said just now, burning the reeds, detouring to Dongyang, and crossing the Huaihe River by boat, all have advantages and disadvantages, but what if they are all combined?"
After saying this, Wang Jian stood up and looked outside the tent.
His face was full of wrinkles like ravines, and the hair on his head was already gray, but his eyes were full of energy and wisdom.
"I want them all!"
"I will use absolute force to attack the Chu people from all sides!"