"General Zhang, I'm so happy." Shen Shiqi said with a smile.
"Where does happiness come from?" Zhang Ren asked.
"The casualties have been calculated. Our army has killed 5,532 people and killed 3,764 Qin soldiers. The Qin army's swords and armor captured are enough to equip an army of tens of thousands.
" Shen Shi laughed.
"Thirty thousand against eight thousand, but the casualties were nearly 30% higher than the Qin army. What's there to be happy about?" Zhang Ren asked rhetorically.
"Uh, is that wrong? But the general knows that fighting against the Qin Dynasty can cause more than 3,000 casualties to the Qin army in one battle. That's very rare.
Moreover, the cost of raising an army for the Qin army is much higher than that of the Han Dynasty.
These 3,700 Qin troops, plus pensions, can outweigh our Shu army of 15,000 troops.
Calculating it this way, our army only suffered 5,500 casualties, but used 15,000 resources. This is certainly a victory."
Shen Shiqi also knew that this was not the case in a war, but if he couldn't fight head-on, he could only look for excuses to boost morale from other aspects;
Seeing that Zhang Ren ignored him and looked dazed, Shen Shiqi shouted: "General? General Zhang?"
"Uh, sorry, I got distracted." Zhang Ren sighed.
"General Zhang, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Military advisor, why do you think the fighting will of Qin soldiers is so tenacious?
In the end, the thousand Qin troops who were left behind were reduced by 80% but still fought to the death.
If all the Qin troops are like this, then do we, the great Han, still have hope?"
Zhang Ren was a little frightened by the Qin army. He had been on the battlefield for a long time and had never seen such a tenacious army. Liu Ji's army and Chi You's army were all incompetent in front of the Qin army.
After hearing Zhang Ren's words, Shen Shi was silent for a moment, and then said: "I'm sorry that I can't answer the general's question, but as a minister of the Han Dynasty, receiving a salary from a big Han Dynasty, I should fight for the Han Dynasty until the last moment."
"What the military advisor said is true. Since the Qin army was able to set up an ambush in Zhushan, it means that Fangling must have fallen. What should the Japanese army do next?" Zhang Ren asked.
"Fangling City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Since it was captured by Han Xin, it will be extremely difficult to recapture it.
According to what I saw, it is better to retreat to the west city first, wait until the Chu State sends troops to Jingbei, and then see if there is a chance to recapture Fangling City." Shen Shi Qi said.
"That's all it can do." Zhang Ren sighed.
If he had an army of 100,000, he would definitely attack Fangling City directly.
But now he only has 24,000 troops in hand. He can't attack Fangling City with 30,000 to 40,000 defenders, right?
After Zhang Ren cleaned up the battlefield, he led his army back to Xicheng.
On the other side, after Han Xin learned that the ambush failed and more than 3,000 soldiers were lost, he was not ignored by Jintai and Gao Lan.
Although nearly half of the soldiers who set up the ambush were lost, the casualties of the Shu army were even greater.
It should be noted that Da Qin has a population of 38 million, and the damage to thousands of soldiers is not a loss at all to Da Qin, and can be replenished in the blink of an eye.
Shu and Da Qin are doomed to fail if they fight for consumption.
"When Zhang was appointed as this general, he had few victories. He thought he was a mediocre general, but now he has discovered the governor's ambush plan."
Han Xin had a look of surprise on his face. He never expected that Zhang Ren, who had been defeated many times, could be so calm in seeing through his ambush when he was eager to support Faang Ling. This did not look like the behavior of an incompetent person at all.
Han Xin is a very proud and confident person. In his eyes, what kind of famous general can be produced in a remote and remote place like Shu?
Except for Liu Yu, no one in Shu was qualified to be Han Xin's opponent in terms of military use.
But he didn't expect that Zhang Ren, who had a dismal record, would see through the plan. This also made Han Xin realize that he underestimated the world's heroes.
"It was my governor who underestimated Zhang Ren, which led to the setback in this battle. It was not the fault of the two generals."
Although Han Xin is proud, he is not arrogant. When he realizes his mistakes, he will correct them promptly instead of gritting his teeth and holding on until the end.
Han Xin took the initiative to take responsibility and attributed it all to himself for underestimating Zhang Ren, which actually made Jin Tai and Gao Lan a little embarrassed.
"No, it is the responsibility of the general. After being discovered by Zhang Ren, if the general chose to retreat directly, he would not have sacrificed so many soldiers." Jintai said with an annoyed look.
Gao Lan said: "At that time, the general also thought that while he was waiting for work, my 8,000 elite army may not be able to defeat the 30,000 Shu army head-on. Unexpectedly, he still underestimated the Shu army."
"After learning this lesson, we should all remember that we should not underestimate the heroes of the world just because our country, Qin, is powerful and powerful.
His Majesty also said: Strategically, despise your opponents, but tactically, you should pay attention to them," Han Xin said seriously.
"promise."
Jin Tai, Gao Lan and other generals said in unison.
Han Xin nodded, and then said: "Since Zhang Ren's reinforcements have arrived, and there are many fierce generals in the army, it will be more than ten times more difficult to capture Xicheng, so I have decided not to attack Xicheng now."
If Zhang Ren did not return to Xicheng to defend it, but came to Fangling for a decisive battle, Han Xin would be absolutely sure to capture Xicheng.
But after Zhang Rencai finished the battle, he immediately retreated to Xicheng. He clearly did not want to fight the Qin army head-on, and Han Xin would not waste his troops on attacking the city, so he could only give up the attack on Xicheng temporarily.
"Deputy Governor, if we don't attack Xicheng, where should we attack?" Mi Houwang asked.
Han Xin glanced at Mi Houwang indifferently and thought to himself: The governor is the governor, why do you need to add a deputy? Fortunately, you are still from the Mi family and you don't even understand this etiquette.
"Fangling has been conquered, and Shangyong County is already full of fat. However, now that Jingbei is empty, considering that the Chu Kingdom may take advantage of the opportunity to invade, it is still necessary to completely capture Shangyong County as soon as possible to prevent long nights and dreams."
As soon as Han Xin finished speaking, soldiers came to report: "Inform the Commander-in-Chief, the State of Chu has raised an army of 100,000 by water, and is advancing on Xiangyang County in two ways.
Deng Yu, the leader of the left army, led an army of 55,000 men and attacked Xiangyang from Jiangling;
Wei Zhang, the leader of the right army, led an army of 45,000, and led Jiangxia to attack Xiangyang;"
Before Han Xin captured Fangling City, Zhang Su, the envoy to Chu and Shu, met Liu Xiu, explained his interests to him, and asked Chu to fulfill its duty as an ally and send troops to Jingbei to help Shu share the pressure.
After discussing with all the counselors under his command, Liu Xiu decided to send troops to attack Jingbei.
Even if Xiangyang cannot be captured, the Chu State will still send troops to enhance the prestige of the Qin army and let other countries know that there are still people who dare to show their swords against Qin, thus stimulating the anti-Qin hearts of all countries.
With the demise of the Tang State, Chu State, the most active anti-Qin state among the eight kingdoms of China, basically supports everything related to anti-Qin.
After the Second Battle of Guanzhong began, after the Chu State received Tang's request for help, it immediately supported Li Tang and deployed heavy troops in Jiangling to contain the Qin army in northern Jing and prevent it from intervening in the Guanzhong War.
go.
This is why the Chu army was able to send troops so quickly this time.
The 100,000-strong army had been mobilized long ago. With Liu Xiu's order, the two armies of Deng Yu and Wei Zhang began to march, directly eliminating the process of dispatching troops and generals, and the movement speed was naturally faster.
The Chu army had been waving flags and shouting before, which also gave the Qin army in northern Jing the illusion that the Chu army only dared to support the Qin army and did not dare to confront the Qin army head-on. However, they did not expect that the Chu army would actually attack now.
If all 100,000 Jingzhou Qin troops were present, let alone 100,000 Chu troops, even 150,000 troops would not be afraid at all. After all, the defenders would have the advantage.
What's more, it is impossible for Chu State to send out 150,000 troops to attack Jingbei. After all, after disarmament, Chu State's total military strength is only 200,000, and there is still a big enemy of Wu State to the east.
With the current total strength of the Chu State, they can only dispatch a hundred thousand troops to attack Qin at most. If there are any more, once the Wu State invades, they may not be able to defend it.
It just so happened that in order to seize Shangyong County, Qin transferred 50,000 Jingzhou troops and took the initiative to give the opportunity to the Chu army.
With the combat effectiveness and resilience of the Qin army, if 50,000 Qin troops faced off against 100,000 Chu troops, it cannot be said that they cannot fight, but there would definitely be certain risks.
Han Xin was naturally aware of this, but fortunately he had captured Fangling City and completely cut off the connection between Shangyong and Hanzhong.
With the strong city of Fangling and Xincheng County in hand, Shangyong County can no longer afford to make trouble, so the attack on Shangyong can be slowed down.
Han Xin can first detach an army to support Xiangyang, and after repelling the two armies of Chu, he can then attack Shangyong. After all, as long as Fangling is not lost, Shangyong will not be able to escape.
"General Jintai, I order you to lead an army of 15,000 to support Xiang..."
"Report... Governor Xue has an order."
Before Han Xin finished speaking, he received an order from Xue Rengui, the governor of Jingzhou.
After Han Xin opened it and took a look, he couldn't help but frown.
Seeing this, all the generals were a little confused. Jin Tai then asked: "Commander, Commander Xue, what order did he send?"
"We are not asked to abandon Fangling and return to Xiangyang, right?" Chen Qi said.
"How is it possible? Governor Xue is a famous general and has been on the battlefield for many years. How could he issue such an order?" Gao Lan said.
"Yes, the strategic significance of Fangling is too important. As long as Fangling is in hand, our Great Qin can advance, attack, retreat or defend, and we will be in an invincible position.
And once Fangling is abandoned, our battle will be in vain, and the sacrifices of the soldiers will also be in vain.
It’s impossible for Governor Xue not to know this, so how could he issue such an order?” Jintai said.
"But what if Governor Xue feels that defending Xiangyang is more important?" Zheng Lun asked rhetorically.
"Okay, don't make blind guesses anymore."
As soon as Han Xin said this, all the generals immediately shut up.
"The Governor said in the letter that 50,000 troops are enough to protect Xiangyang. Not only does it not require us to withdraw our troops and return to Xiangyang, but we are allowed to continue attacking Shangyong and minimize casualties."
Hearing Han Xin's words, all the generals were dumbfounded and didn't understand where Xue Rengui's confidence came from.
It should be noted that there are 100,000 Chu troops invading this time. With only 50,000 Qin troops, no matter who leads the army, they may not be sure of victory.
The same goes for Han Xin. If he were given command of an army of 50,000, he would be absolutely sure of defending Xiangyang, but he was not absolutely sure of winning. After all, the Chu army's chief generals, Deng Yu and Wei Zhang, were not ordinary people.
Han Xin didn't know where Xue Rengui's confidence came from, but since Xue Rengui, the governor-general, had given him orders, naturally his subordinates could only obey orders.
At the same time, in Xiangyang County, in the Governor's Mansion.
Xue Rengui, the governor of Jingzhou, was sitting on the main seat, while the governor Zhang Jiuling and the newly appointed governor Guan Zhong were sitting on his left and right respectively.
In addition to force, the other four dimensions of Guan Zhong's five dimensions have exceeded 100. Such an all-round talent, Ying Hao naturally has to reuse him.
But Guan Zhong was implanted in Bingzhou as a farewell, and Bingzhou is now extremely stable, with no wars and no natural disasters. Guan Zhong has no chance to make great achievements in Bingzhou.
It would be too slow to be promoted based solely on political achievements. Guan Zhong himself was willing to wait, but Ying Hao was not willing yet.
So Ying Hao used some selfish motives and transferred Guan Zhongping to Jingzhou to serve as a special commander and also as a leading military division.
The reason why Xue Rengui was clearly at a disadvantage in the battle between 50,000 and 100,000, but still confident in this battle, was because he adopted Guan Zhong's strategy.
Guan Zhong proposed a plan to Xue Rengui and sent eloquent people as envoys to lobby the monarchs of Wu and Wei, claiming that 50,000 reinforcements from Sizhou had set out to strengthen the positions of the two countries.
In addition, Wu was invited to send troops to attack Jiangxia County, and Wei and Qin were invited to attack Jiangling County together. He claimed that the other country had agreed to send troops, and made a written promise that regardless of success or failure, he would receive heavy gifts in return.
This was used to mislead the two countries Wei and Wu, making them think that Qin was determined to completely expel Chu's forces north of the Yangtze River. In order to gain profits, the two countries would definitely send troops to help Qin.