One month after Changping Jun and Li Si came to the ranch to meet Shaolong, Xiang Shaolong's ominous premonition finally came true.
Li Muqi's troops suddenly arrived and defeated the Qin army outside Tunliu. Wang Ling and Huan Qi retreated hastily to Changzi City, about a hundred miles southwest of Tunliu, located at the end of Lushui River, and suffered nearly 30,000 losses.
Wang Ling was worried and angry, and overworked, so he died of illness two days after arriving at Changzi City.
The four generals when Black Dragon was born, except Wang Jian, Meng Ao, Wang Chi and Wang Ling all passed away within two years, which dealt an unprecedented serious blow to the Qin people.
Now the only famous generals in Qin are Xiang Shaolong and Wang Jian.
Others such as Huan Qi, Meng Wu, Meng Tian, Yang Duanhe and Guan Zhongxie are still not in charge of their own affairs.
At this point, Qin's plan to advance eastward was completely shattered for the time being.
If Xiang Shaolong hadn't defeated the combined armies of the five kingdoms and put down the rebellion between Cheng Qiao and Du Bi, the Qin family might have followed the example of the Chu people and moved the capital to avoid trouble.
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi were summoned back to Xianyang. Neither of them wanted their wives and children to work hard and urged them to stay at the ranch.
Ji Yanran and others have begun to get used to their life away from home, but because their opponent this time may be the most difficult and famous general of this era, Li Mu, they have to rush back to Xianyang only after repeated instructions.
Xiang Shaolong went directly to the palace to see Xiaopan as usual, while Teng Yi went to find his fifth brother Jing Jun, whom he had not seen for a long time.
Xiaopan met him alone in the palace, with a solemn look on his face, and said to him: "I am going to the royal mausoleum today because Lu Buwei killed me."
Xiang Shaolong said in astonishment: "Is this happening?"
Xiaopan put his hands behind his back in the palace, his eyes flashed with cold lightning, and when Xiang Shaolong felt chilled in his heart, the future Qin Shihuang snorted coldly: "I have long been worried that the Zhao people will go to relieve the siege of Tunliu. Therefore, I am destined to be evil.
Go and attack the Zhao people and contain Li Mu.
Who would have thought that Lu Buwei had no reason to stop him, and with the support of Miao Du, he made many delays, and finally Tunliu was defeated. I will definitely settle this debt with them in the future."
Xiang Shaolong frowned and said, "Can they take care of these things?"
Xiaopan said angrily: "Of course it's not their business. I just regret that I promised the Queen Mother that any transfer involving more than 100,000 people must be sealed by her approval. According to Mao Jiao, the Jane I sent to the Queen Mother was intentionally sent by Miao Du."
It was delayed for ten days before it was handed over to the Queen Mother, and it was delayed for another half a month when it was sent back. The thieves were too busy to raise troops, and all military aircraft were delayed. I wanted to investigate the responsibility afterwards, but the Queen Mother tried her best to protect Miao Du.
Your Majesty and General died unjustly."
Xiang Shaolong smiled bitterly and said: "It turns out that the Queen Mother listened to my advice and moved to Yongdu. But she has this kind of disadvantage."
Xiaopan shook his head and said: "This has nothing to do with Master. The problem lies with Lu Buwei and Miao Du. As long as these two people are here, we can never imagine that we can dominate the world. Since ancient times, we must first make peace within ourselves before we can fight against outsiders. Nowadays, there is no internal peace.
Jing, how can we pacify the six kingdoms and realize the great cause of eternity?" After a pause, he said: "Now we are facing Li Mu, who is fighting in the north almost every time. If this person is not eliminated in a day, we will never think of attacking Handan."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "Is the power of Zhao State still in the hands of Queen Mother Han Jing?"
Xiaopan replied: "The current King Zhao is even worse than King Xiaocheng. He is addicted to wine and sex, and he is suspicious and jealous. Huh, no one knows him better than me. One day he will die on a woman's belly.
And it won’t be very far away. Although Han Jing is very smart and powerful, she is still a woman. She only knows how to be infatuated with Guo Kai and let this villain control the government and interfere with military affairs. Otherwise, Li Mu might have come here long ago."
Xiang Shaolong was surprised: "Isn't there a rumor that Pang Yuan is Han Jing's face?"
Xiaopan particularly hated Zhao Ren and said disdainfully: "Han Jing is imprisoned in the palace, what's so strange about finding more men?
"Then he sighed and said: "I really don't want to let the master send troops to stay, but there is no more suitable candidate. And this is what Lu Buwei and Miao Du want most."
Xiang Shaolong said in confusion: "Why do you say so after the prince?"
Xiaopan acted as if she didn't dare to face him, walked to the window, looked at the imperial garden where snow powder was being sprinkled, and said slowly behind his back: "Because I understand the relationship between master and Li Mu. So unless master agrees, I will never do it."
There is no personal relationship, otherwise I would not let the master go on the expedition. Because Li Mu is not like Pang Yuan and Han Chuang, master, if you are a little soft-hearted, you will definitely lose."
Xiang Shaolong was shocked and speechless.
Just as he knew Xiaopan very well, Xiaopan also understood him clearly.
The person he least wanted to face on the battlefield was Li Mu, but this mentality made it difficult for him to express himself freely.
But the fact before him was that he had to fight to the death with Li Mu.
Otherwise, not only would Huan Qi not be able to come back alive, but Wang Bi and Yang Duanhe might also fall to Li Mu along with the other counties in the east.
Can he defeat Li Mu? This is something that even Wang Jian is not sure about.
Xiaopan's breathing became heavy.
Xiang Shaolong gritted his teeth fiercely and said resolutely: "Okay, I, Xiang Shaolong, and Li Mu will see each other on the battlefield. No matter who survives or dies, it will be treated as a natural outcome for warriors."
Xiaopan turned around like a whirlwind and said with great joy: "Master, these few words are enough to reassure me."
Xiang Shaolong said: "How many troops can the prince give me?"
Xiaopan's mood improved and he thought: "How can we wait until spring before the master can set off? Recently, Lu Buwei deliberately mobilized a large number of soldiers to build the Zhengguo Canal, so there were not many people who could use it. Fortunately, the master only wanted well-trained soldiers.
Warrior, well..."
Xiang Shaolong's brows became chapped after hearing this.
Li Mu's Zhao soldiers are the most famous in the East. They have 20,000 cavalry, and even the Huns who are good at riding and shooting have to be defeated. His Wu family's elite army now only has 2,000 people left. We compete with each other to win.
Defeating Li Mu was even easier said than done.
After a round of calculations, Xiaopan said with certainty: "I can give the master 20,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. They are all troops that are accustomed to fighting. The master will choose the deputy generals. In addition, Huan Qi's troops in Changzi City, the total
The number of troops can reach 120,000, which should be able to compete with Li Mu's estimated army of 100,000."
The two talked for a while longer, Xiaopan summoned Lord Changping, and after the discussion was complete, Xiang Shaolong and Lord Changping left hand in hand.
Xiang Shaolong couldn't help but ask: "Did the construction of Zheng Guo Canal really hinder us so much?"
Lord Changping sighed: "The Zheng Guo Canal has indeed consumed a lot of our manpower and material resources, but the main reason is that Lu Buwei wants to use the local government to fight against the central government and to control the military and political affairs of our country in another way. Especially now that he and Miao Du are using each other to become
The Queen Mother would often side with them. The Crown Prince had no choice but to die unjustly like Wang Ling."
Xiang Shaolong thought of Wang Chi and Wang Ling, and old hatred and new hatred surged in his heart.
In two years, he can take revenge.
Lord Changping walked out of the palace with him and whispered: "There is news from Mao Jiao. With the secret support of Lu Buwei, Miao Du is secretly organizing a best friend. Even the Queen Mother is hiding this matter."
Xiang Shaolong said in astonishment: "What kind of best friend?"
Changping Jun said: "It is a very strict organization. All those who join the party must swear an oath to be loyal only to Miao Du. Then Miao Du will try to insert them into various military and political positions so that they can replace them in the future when there is rebellion."
He is making waves." After a pause, he continued: "According to the prince's prediction, Miao Du and Lu Buwei's conspiracy will be launched during the prince's coronation ceremony, because according to etiquette and law, the prince must go to the Yongdu Ancestral Temple for the coronation, and Miao Du will
We can arrange everything according to our status. Since Yongdu is all their people, it is a thousand times easier to rebel than in Xianyang. However, we have already guessed that they have this idea, so naturally we cannot teach them to succeed."
Xiang Shaolong smiled bitterly and said: "Their conspiracy has been launched a long time ago, first Wang Chi, then Wang Ling. If Huan Qi is not a good general, I am afraid he will not be spared. Lu Buwei has always been a master of strategy. He can eliminate our people one by one without a single blow."
Come on, now it’s my little brother’s turn.”
Chang Qianjun said in shock: "Shaolong, don't say such ominous words. Now, except for Shaolong and Wang Jian, no one in our country is Li Mu's opponent. Shaolong must muster up his will and make contributions to the crown prince again."
Xiang Shaolong thought of Li Mu and said dejectedly: "Do your best."
Changping Jun suggested: "How about we go to Li Si to discuss it?"
Xiang Shaolong shook his head, said goodbye and returned to the Metropolitan Cavalry Office.
After Teng Yi and Jing Jun heard his report on the situation, Teng Yi said: "The prince is right, there is no place for personal affairs on the battlefield. Because it is not a matter between two people, but a matter involving tens of millions of soldiers.
Life, their wives and children, and the fate, honor and disgrace of the country."
Xiang Shaolong was shocked and said: "I didn't think that much."
Teng Yi pondered for a while and then said seriously: "I have a suggestion, which is to immediately select elite soldiers, then gather them in the pasture, and train them as rigorously as our elite regiments, with our young soldiers such as Jing Shan, Wu Yanzhu, etc.
As a military prince, each prince leads five thousand troops, so we can use our arms to exert our maximum combat capability."
Xiang Shaolong perked up, remembering the training methods of special forces in the 21st century, and happily agreed.
In the next ten days, Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi personally selected 45,000 people from the garrison in the capital, divided into reinforcements, capital cavalry, capital guards and imperial guards, and divided them into nine groups. Eighteen people including Jing Shan
Tiewei serves as the chief and deputy military commander, and then forms an army every two times. Jing Jun, Wu Guo and Zhao Da serve as military commanders, while he himself uses the remaining two thousand Wu family elite troops as personal guards and serves as the general commander. Teng Yi is the commander-in-chief.
The deputy, Zhou Liang, of course became the leader of the spy team.
Most of these people went on two expeditions with Xiang Shaolong. When they heard that Xiang Shaolong was leading the army, they were so powerful that they were willing to die.
Lu Buwei and Miao Du cooperated surprisingly well, and they wished that he would die early and never return to Xianyang.
Xiang Shaolong then asked for permission, and moved the entire army to the pasture, using various facilities to train day and night, hoping to take advantage of the three cold months before spring to train into another huge elite regiment.
Because of the heavy snow that day, all the soldiers went to the pasture. When Xiang Shaolong was having dinner with his wife and children, Ji Cainv said: "In the final analysis, the art of war is the art of deception. Therefore, the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, and the second is to attack the city.
.You can show it but you can't; you can show it when you are close and you can show it from a distance. Sun Tzu even opened the sect and advocated that soldiers never tire of deceit. Now Yan Ran observes the methods of military training by the great monarch, and they are all unique and surprising. Especially the method of concealment of fighting is unparalleled in the world.
But I don’t have time for my husband to come up with any clever strategies to defeat the enemy.”
Qin Qing said softly and affectionately: "Yanran is not without purpose. Puhu has a huge power in the eastern counties, and Tunliu has been built many times by him. The city is high and the river is wide. Now he doesn't have to worry about us attacking him. He can rest and wait for work.
Static braking.
Judging from Wang Linghuan's deep understanding of the art of war and the elite soldiers of the Qin Dynasty, he was still defeated. It can be seen that Pu Hu was not a member of Zhao Kuo's group and would not have lost Chang Ping. In addition, Li Mu was watching from the side. Shaolong
You must not just show off your bravery. Shaolong was sweating profusely when he heard this. This strategy not only required attacking a fortified city, but also dealing with Li Mu's surprise attack. It would be delusional to think that he could win by conventional methods. The biggest problem was that Huan Qi was now commanding a newly defeated army.
The army, but he felt that the troops were insufficient and could not cope with the two fronts at the same time and fought separately. Moreover, Pu Hu was always unpredictable, and Li Mu was a military genius with endless experience. The outcome of this battle could be known without even having to fight.
"
Wu Tingfang suggested: "Can we send someone to sneak into Tunliu City first?"
Ji Yanran said: "How could the enemy not guard against this strategy? Moreover, Tunliu was originally Zhao territory, and it would be even more difficult for the Qin people to get through."
Xiang Shaolong searched his head for more than a thousand years of siege battle memories "from past and present". He almost wanted to explode his head, but couldn't think of any clever plan for a while, so he had to give up.
After the meal, Xiang Shaolong lay on the floor, his head resting on Wu Tingfang's breast, and started thinking again.
Ji Yanran and others did not dare to disturb his train of thought and stayed silently by his side.
Xiang Baoer was sent to the bed by Sister Tian.
There were blazing fires burning in all four corners, so that they were not aware of the cold snow outside.
Xiang Shaolong thought of what was said in "Mo's Supplement": "The way to attack a city is to surround it on all sides, and a corner must be opened to show the way out and lure the enemy to break out." But it obviously does not apply to Tunliu City. Because
With Li Mu by his side, he was not qualified to trap the city to death.
In the final analysis, siege is nothing more than crossing the river trench, storming the city gates and walls, climbing the city and the final pursuit in street battles.
Since the enemy is protected by the city trenches and has the advantage of being at a commanding height, and can turn the defense into an attack at any time and attack the mountain city to rob the stronghold, if we follow the routine, we will definitely incur heavy casualties. If he were Li Mu, he would be more likely to be attacked by the Qin army.
It was only when I was exhausted that I led the army to attack. I would be thankful to heaven that the whole army was not wiped out by then.
How can we change this passive situation?
I only regret that Pu Hu does not love Trojan horses, otherwise the story of the Trojan horse massacre in the West would have happened again.
Suddenly a flash of inspiration occurred, Daxi sat up, raised his arms and shouted: "I thought of it."
The map was spread out on the floor. Teng Yi, Jing Jun and everyone watched it intently, but they still didn't know what kind of medicine Xiang Shaolong was selling in the gourd.
Xiang Shaolong pointed to a large city named Zhongmu in the Zhao Kingdom and said: "This city is an important town in the southern border of the Zhao people. Handan, the capital of Zhao, is one hundred and twenty miles to the north, while Tunliu is one hundred and thirty miles to the northwest. So regardless of the location,
From Zhongmou to either place, the distance is almost the same. But to the east of Zhongmou is the official road leading to Handan, and you can reach Handan in three days by horseback. If we can capture this city, what do you think of the King of Zhao's court meeting?
What was the reaction?"
Teng Yi took the case and exclaimed: "Of course he was frightened. He was afraid that we would attack the capital. We all know what kind of material Guo Kai is."
Qin Qing frowned and said: "Zhongmu is located at the junction of Zhao and Wei. It has always been tightly defended. How could it be easily captured by you? What's more, there is a hundred-mile-long Great Wall to protect the capital south of Handan. The Zhao people have been stationed for a long time. If you have more than 40,000 people,
It is really dangerous to go deep alone."
Ji Yanran smiled and said, "My husband must have another clever plan. Sister Qing, please listen carefully."
Xiang Shaolong smiled at Qin Qing and said, "Let's listen to the husband's advice." Qin Qing saw that he regarded himself as her husband, she was ashamed and happy, and gave him a fierce look in return."
Xiang Shaolong said: "This time we are working hard. The city of Xuansi, which is now in charge of the evil Chen Bing Han people, is only eighty miles away from Tunliu and more than a hundred miles away from Zhongmou. We simply get the secret from the prince.
We ordered to go to the Xuans to deprive Guan Zhongxie of his military power and take his 130,000 soldiers as our own. That would make us powerful. The best thing is that the Zhao people would still think that we were going north to Changzi City to join forces with Huan Qi.
, and then attack north to attack Tunliu. Therefore, we must concentrate our forces on Shangdang to deal with us."
Jing Jun said harshly: "It's best to kill Guan Zhongxie by the way."
Qin Qing said: "If you want to force Lu Buwei to rebel immediately, don't forget that Guan Zhongxie is now Lu Buwei's beloved son-in-law."
Xiang Shaolong said: "After arriving at the Xuans, we marched in two directions: light and dark, making the Zhao people think that we were going to Changzi City, but in fact we were crossing the river and sneaking to Zhongmou, catching them unprepared, and using our Wu family's elite soldiers to scale the wall in the dark.
Once you enter the city, as long as you can control one of the city gates, you can capture Zhongmu."
Teng Yi nodded and said: "It is best to let people sneak into Handan first, and then create rumors and make people panic. The Zhao people have no choice but to call Li Mu back to defend the capital. Then Tunliu will no longer be so hopeless."
Ji Yanran said enthusiastically: "At the same time, we have to teach Xiao Ben and Duan He to launch a massive counterattack. With Pang Yuan and Sima Shang's armies contained, it will be a foregone conclusion that Li Mu will be summoned from Tunliu."
Xiang Shaolong said: "The most difficult thing to consider in this matter is how to march thousands of miles across the river from the Xuans to Zhongmou without being noticed by the enemy. Otherwise, it will just end up being another protracted siege battle."
Ji Yanran carefully examined the map and said: "You can pretend to go to Changzi City first. When you reach the south bank of Lushui River, your troops will be divided into two groups. From here to Zhongmou, there are no people in the mountains. As long as you march quickly, even if you are seen, you will not be able to catch up."
Go and notify the city guards of Zhongmou, so the number of people should not be too large, and all the light cavalry must be streamlined to advance first, followed by infantry. Zhou Liang's Eagle King should be able to exert the greatest effect in this situation."
Everyone was full of confidence at this point and wished they could attack Zhongmou immediately.
Teng Yi said: "If we can send 50,000 people to Changzi City to join forces with Huan Qi, the number of people will reach 120,000. However, if we want to capture Tunliu, we may not be able to do it in a month or two. In the end, we will not be able to do it in a month or two.
We are afraid that by then the Zhao people will find out what we are and what we are and send troops to attack, and we will be under attack from both sides. It is still difficult for us to be optimistic."
Xiang Shaolong said: "Pu Hu has always been a big businessman, but he only relied on the Zhao people, and if he was captured, his family would be confiscated and his family would be exterminated, so he rose up to resist. The soldiers in the city rushed into the army, so we could only create panic rumors.
He also deliberately left a way out to ensure that Tunliu City would collapse without a fight and would be difficult to defend."
Zhao Zhidao: "The first panic is naturally that the Zhao people will abandon them and leave, but then what can we use to scare them?"
Xiang Shaolong smiled and said: "The method is very simple. Just adopt the strategy of surrounding the city with villages. Occupy all the nearby villages, remove the residents, and deprive Tunliu of its food and grass supply. Then build fortifications outside Tunliu City and build
All kinds of siege equipment are arranged to form a long-term siege, which guarantees that Pu Hu will try to escape in less than ten and a half months."
Jing Jun smiled and said: "If he doesn't slip away, just attack his mother."
Wu Tingfang scolded: "Xiaojun, could you please be more careful with your speech?" Qin Qing saw everyone looking at her, shrugged her shoulders and said, "I've long been used to it."
Everyone smiled at it.
Xiang Shaolong said: "Let's think about the whole plan more clearly, and then send someone to inform Xiao Qi, Xiao Ben and Duan He immediately. This matter must be kept strictly a secret, otherwise it will not work well if it is revealed."
Although it was already late at night, Xiang Shaolong and his three brothers could still sleep. After the girls took a rest, they continued to study over and over again. It was not until dawn that they retreated and went to work separately.