Now that the vanguard army for the first battle has been confirmed, Qu Cheng, Yan Mo, and Wu Ji did not say anything more.

Although I felt a little regretful, to be honest, there was no need to get into a stalemate with the Fenxing Army in order to participate in the first battle. After all, if there were no accidents, the Fenxing Army would definitely return to the Fenxing Fortress where they were originally stationed.

This means that the Yanling Army, Shangshui Army, and Fenxing Army will be "neighbors" in the future. Why should there be any conflicts over a trivial matter? Anyway, there are plenty of opportunities to gain military exploits.

With this idea in mind, Qu Cheng, Yan Mo, Wu Ji and other generals expressed their congratulations to Xu Yin, the general of the Fenxing Army. After saying a few words of good luck and wishing the horse a successful victory, they exited the commander's tent one after another.

, went to busy themselves with their respective tasks.

After all, although the Fenxing Army was in the lead, Zhao Hongrun had left the control of the wilderness to the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army. He could not guarantee that he would encounter several groups of Chu troops who came out to patrol and explore the road. Although the mosquito legs are small, they are still good.

It's also meat.

After Qu Cheng, Yan Mo, Wu Ji and other generals left, only Zhao Hongrun and Xu Yin were left in the simple commander's tent.

At this time, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Xu Yin, smiled and asked: "Does General Xu have something to say to this king?"

Xu Yin smiled kindly, then lowered his voice and said seriously: "Your Highness, our Fenxing Army is the vanguard, is there anything wrong with this?"

"Huh?" Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this. He didn't react for a moment, frowned slightly and asked: "You mean, Qu Cheng and Wu Ji will complain about this?"

Unexpectedly, Xu Yin shook his head and lowered his voice and said: "Your Highness has misunderstood. Xu just feels that His Highness has given too much trust to the Yanling Army and the Shang Shui Army... Do you think they are after all..."

"Okay." Zhao Hongrun raised his hand to interrupt Xu Yin's words, frowned and said: "I know that General Xu does not trust the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army, and is biased against them. After all, these two armies were still the same two years ago.

My enemies in the Wei Dynasty... I do not ask General Xu to trust Qu Cheng, Wu Ji and others. I believe that they will prove their loyalty to our Wei Dynasty in the subsequent war."

"Okay, maybe Xu is worrying too much."

Seeing Zhao Hongrun talking about this, Xu Yin had no choice but to nod his head in approval.

After all, although he also hates the Chu State, he has not yet reached the point where he slaughtered all his people like Sima An of the Dangshan Army in the past. He was just being cautious and reminded His Highness Prince Su in front of him.

Perhaps because he felt that Xu Yin still had some concerns, Zhao Hongrun stepped forward and patted Xu Yin's shoulder, smiling and saying: "Uncle Xu, concentrate, the first battle is up to you."

Xu Yin was flattered by the name "Uncle Xu". Although he was also a Zongwei who was beside Emperor Wei back then, and he was indeed qualified by seniority for Zhao Hongrun to call him uncle, he really didn't expect that Zhao Hongrun would really call him such a name, coupled with the words of encouragement.

, Xu Yin couldn't help but feel a little excited for a moment.

However, at this moment, military bugles sounded over the Wei camp.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

What's going on?

Zhao Hongrun and Xu Yin looked at each other in surprise, both of them a little confused.

The two stepped out of the commander's tent. By chance, several Shangshui soldiers rushed towards them. They knocked on the ground and reported: "Your Majesty, King Su, there are enemy troops invading from the southwest!"

Southwest? Isn’t that Honolulu?

A trace of confusion flashed in Zhao Hongrun's eyes.

Before he could think of a reason, Xu Yin clasped his fists beside him and said, "Your Highness, please allow Xu to leave temporarily."

Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, nodded and said: "General Xu, please do as you please."

The reason why there is this dialogue is because Zhao Hongrun has handed over the first battle of their Wei army to Xu Yin's Fenxing army.

Xu Yin was supposed to lead the Fenxing army to attack Tanshan. Unexpectedly, the Chu army in Tanshan actually came to attack on his own. However, no matter what, the first battle had to be left to Xu Yin.

Therefore, Xu Yin requested to leave temporarily because he wanted to gather his troops to launch a counterattack.

A moment later, fifteen thousand Fenxing soldiers lined up outside the Wei camp, waiting for the Chu army to attack.

The term "Wei Camp" is actually just a general term. After all, at this moment, the Wei army has not yet established a military camp.

They haven't even erected the fence of the military camp. At most, they have set up a few tents for Zhao Hongrun and the generals in the army to live.

About half the time it took to burn the incense, an army faintly appeared in the southwest. According to Zhao Hongrun's visual inspection, there were about five thousand people.

This estimate immediately refreshed Zhao Hongrun's estimate of the strength of Chu Camp in Tanshan. He originally estimated that the Chu Camp in Tanshan had at least five thousand people, but now it seems that this number needs to be increased.

But having said that, if you dare to attack 55,000 Wei troops with 5,000 Chu soldiers, the Chu generals on the opposite side are too trustworthy, right?

Do you really think that Wei’s army is weak?

Sitting astride his mount, Zhao Hongrun stood behind the Fenxing army, quietly observing the invading Chu army on the opposite side.

He did not ask anyone to raise the royal flag with the word "King Su". After all, he had handed over this battle to Xu Yin, the general of the Fenxing Army, who had full command. Zhao Hongrun was just a spectator.

"With five thousand soldiers, how can we have the confidence to take the initiative to attack an army of more than fifty thousand?"

Zhao Hongrun muttered.

At this time, Zongwei Lu Mu, who was not far from him, looked at the Chu soldiers approaching slowly in the distance and said in surprise: "Your Highness, these Chu soldiers... are a little strange."

strangeness?

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Lu Mu in confusion, and then focused his attention on the Chu army in the distance again.

After observing carefully for a while, he finally understood what Lu Mu meant by strangeness. It was definitely not the Chu army in his impression!

I saw those Chu soldiers in the distance, all covered in leather armor and holding iron swords in their hands, they were fully armed.

Even Zhao Hongrun vaguely saw the archer.

What's more, the momentum of this Chu army also gave Zhao Hongrun the feeling of having been killed for a long time.

Is that really the Chu army?

Zhao Hongrun looked surprised and rubbed his eyes with his hands, an incredible expression on his face.

Because in his impression, the Chu army should be a ragtag group wearing shabby armor, carrying rusty weapons, and relying only on human sea tactics to win.

But what was he seeing at this moment?

Actually a regular army?

"..." Zhao Hongrun was speechless in surprise.

At this moment, a voice came from his right, approaching from far away.

"Regular army!...These soldiers are regular troops!"

Zhao Hongrun looked back and realized that Qu Cheng and Yan Mo had come to him hand in hand, and the words just now came from Qu Cheng's mouth.

"Regular army?" Zhao Hongrun looked at Qu Cheng doubtfully.

Qu Cheng nodded and said seriously: "The army of Chu State is divided into four types: regular army, king's soldiers, private soldiers, and county divisions."

With that said, Qu Cheng explained Chu's army to Zhao Hongrun in detail.

The first is the regular army, which actually means the regular army. Whether it is weapons and equipment or the training of soldiers, it is the best in the entire Chu State and is the true embodiment of military force and national defense strength of the Chu State.

The level is equivalent to the Sixth Battalion of the Wei State's garrison, and it is affiliated with the Chu State's court. It can be understood that it is an elite division that only obeys the Chu State's court.

The second is the king's soldiers, which is the army composed of the Xiong family, Qu family and other descendants of Chu kings, princes and nobles. They are generally composed of members of the royal family who are commoners.

Although this comparison is not very accurate, the status is indeed equivalent to that of Yu Linlang, the Zongwei of Wei Zongfu, who is an army that protects the interests of the Chu king, princes and aristocratic class.

Then there are the private soldiers. As the name suggests, they are private soldiers recruited on a private basis, ranging from the king of a feudal city to the guards and family soldiers of small nobles.

But it should be noted here that this kind of private army does not refer to the Yanling Army, the predecessor of the Shangshui Army, that is, the 160,000 troops recruited by Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, to attack Wei two years ago, but to the original Qu Cheng , the troops directly led by Yan Mo and others included Zi Cheyu who died in Cai River that year.

These direct troops led by Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, and Xiong Hu, Lord of Pingyu, are personally led by their beloved generals. They can be called private soldiers. As for Wu Ji, Ran Teng, Yang Wu and other warriors who gradually emerged from the common people of Chu State, they are private soldiers. Generals, powerful soldiers, in fact can't even be called private soldiers, at best they are in the category of work soldiers.

Note: Engineers, i.e. engineers, are infantry with the nature of servants in war. They are mostly poor people recruited from the army. They are engaged in building bridges, building cities, repairing weapons, building fortifications, etc. They also directly participate in battles. In the army has the lowest status.

And finally, there is the county division, which is the national defense force of the Chu State commanded by the county prince and personally mobilized by the King of Chu. It is responsible for suppressing bandits, maintaining public order and guarding the border.

As for the county magistrate, it is actually like the position of county magistrate in Wei State. But the difference is that the county magistrate in Wei State is an official position, while the county magistrate in Chu State is a title. The two are essentially different.

"Perhaps His Highness has misunderstood that the Chu State's army is weak, but in fact, the Chu State's army is not weak... It's just that the Chu State has almost transferred its domestic elite to Chudong to defend Qi State and encircle Wu Yue. And Siyi..."

Perhaps noticing the look of surprise on Zhao Hongrun's face, Qu Cheng explained in a low voice.

Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun was silent and couldn't help but feel enlightened.

I remember that at first he was still wondering. If Chu's army was so weak, he could defeat 160,000 with 30,000 people. How could Chu still struggle under the joint suppression of Qi, Lu and Song? , but the country was not destroyed?

Now, he finally understands.

The reason why he felt that the 160,000-strong army under Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo's command two years ago was just a ragtag army was because that army was originally a ragtag army and was temporarily recruited by Xiong Tuo to attack Wei. Except for a few tens of thousands of peasant soldiers who can be called private soldiers, the rest cannot even be called an army.

Including when he took advantage of the victory to pursue and counterattack into the fiefdom of Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng in western Chu, this was all because the Chu State transferred the country's elite troops to the east, that is, the rich Chudong.

It can be seen that if Zhao Hongrun's brother Zhao Hongzhao had not persuaded Qi King Lu Xi to build more fortresses and station heavy troops in Pi County, Chu King Xiong Xu might have sent a regular army to western Chu. Help his son Yangcheng Jun Xiong Tuo.

The regular army of Chu State...

Although it cannot be concluded that the army led by Zhao Hongrun could not defeat Chu's regular army, it can be foreseen that if this is the case, Zhao Hongrun and even Wei will definitely not be able to force Chu to sign the "Wei-Chu Armistice Zhengyang" in five months.

Peace Treaty".

"Tsk!"

Zhao Hongrun curled his lips secretly, feeling a little depressed.
Chapter completed!