In the main hall, Gao Xi, Tian Tao, Lian Chen, Bao Shu, Guan Zhong and other officials, after hearing that the left prime minister Zhao Zhao made this suggestion, they looked at each other and nodded slightly.
Two groups of people who had different political views in the past found a rare agreement on this matter.
This made King Lu Bai of Qi feel inexplicably curious, so he asked: "What is...a martial artist?"
In view of the fact that this is the tradition of Qi State, Zhao Zhao, the Prime Minister of the Left, raised his right hand and said: "Master Gao Xi, it is up to you to explain it to the king."
Gao Xi looked at Zhao Zhao thoughtfully and nodded, then stroking his beard and explaining to the young monarch Qi Wangbai: "Your Majesty, martial arts warriors are the powerful strategy of the late king to defeat the Chu State... Thinking back to those days
When the late king first ascended the throne, he first competed with King Jian of Han for supremacy, and a fierce battle broke out in Julu County. Later, King Xiong Xu of Chu in the south took advantage of our Daqi to fight fiercely with Han, and his troops were seriously damaged, so he took the opportunity to attack... In times of crisis...
At this time, the late king used the gold stored in the treasury as a temptation to recruit wild rangers and desperadoes, and finally defeated the Chu State..."
Following Gao Xi's narration, Qi King Lu Bai finally understood this so-called martial artist.
"Martial warriors", to put it bluntly, are a special Qi army composed of rough rangers and desperadoes in the early days of the Qi King Lu Xi's era.
As the saying goes, there must be brave men under heavy rewards. This army seemed to be a rabble, but under the temptation of money, this rabble defeated the Chu army led by Xiong Xu, the king of Chu, and not once, and made Qi cross the border.
The most difficult period has passed.
Later, when the State of Qi, with the help of the State of Lu, greatly improved the weapons and equipment of its own army and built countless terrible war weapons, the State of Chu had almost no hope of defeating the State of Qi. From then on, it suffered repeated defeats.
So in the end, the kings and nobles of Chu State considered that the war with Qi State would only cause them heavy losses and no benefits, so they no longer wanted to contribute. Whenever the King of Chu recruited troops, they would
He made various excuses and refused to use the regular army. He simply used food to recruit troops to perfunctory the King of Chu.
Over time, Chu State, a powerful country with the largest base in the Central Plains and a population of tens of millions, was suppressed by Qi and Lu, and had almost no counterattack power. Of course, in fact, it was not that Chu State had no counterattack power at that time, but Chu Dong
The nobles of the city are not willing to sacrifice the power of their families.
If the battle between Han Wang Jian and Qi Wang Xi made Qi Wang Xi famous all over the world, then the confrontation between Qi Wang Xi and Chu Wang Xiong Xu really contributed to Qi's dominance in the Central Plains.
During this period of time, martial arts warriors played an indispensable role. It was this army that helped Qi survive the most difficult period.
But later on, Qi's army got on the right track, and martial arts warriors inevitably gradually became history.
This is no wonder. After all, in the eyes of generals who know how to fight, no matter how brave the martial arts warriors are, in the final analysis they are just a ragtag group with no military discipline at all, just like the tattooed army of the Qin State. Although the Wei State
Prince Zhao Run would praise the bravery of this army and admire them, but he would never envy them, let alone imitate them.
After all, the difference between the regular army and miscellaneous soldiers is not only reflected in their strength, but also in the military discipline of enforcing orders and prohibitions.
But for today's Qi State, this may be a life-saving straw to save the country. After all, although Qi State's national strength has declined due to civil strife, during the civil strife, Shang Qing Gao Xi protected the king from the hands of former right minister Tian Huan.
The capital was Linzi, so the state treasury did not suffer much losses and was fully capable of paying for the losses caused by this war - to put it bluntly, what Qi lacked was sufficient troops to cope with Chu's all-out attack.
On that day, after receiving the approval of King Lu Bai of Qi, Shang Qing Gao Xi personally drafted a proclamation for recruiting martial arts warriors, and quickly sent people to post it in counties across the country. He even commissioned businessmen from Qi to sell this document.
The news spread throughout the world.
This message quickly swept through the entire city of Linzi and reached the ears of Ya Wu, the leader of the Qing Crows.
After learning about this, Yawu immediately took two Qingya people to a bulletin board in the city where the proclamation was posted to confirm the authenticity of the proclamation.
He was a little surprised: The King of Qi was not thinking about resisting the Chu army, but he was recruiting reckless rangers...
No matter how you look at it, Ya Wu feels unreliable.
It is undeniable that there may indeed be powerful people among the Cao Mang Rangers, such as Cai Qinhu, the general of the Wei State. This man was originally a grass bandit who occupied the mountains in the Shangcai area and became the king.
So he had no choice but to plead with Xu Yin, the general stationed in the Fenxing Army at that time, to send troops to suppress the attack.
But you must know that when Cai Qinhu first arrived at the Fenxing Army, he was a thorn in the army. He just went his own way on weekdays and did not obey orders during battle. He only knew how to blindly charge into the battle. If it weren't for the Fenxing Army at that time,
General Xu Yin was very fond of Cai Qinhu, a reckless man. Cai Qinhu had long been punished with military discipline.
Later, it took a full year or two for Cai Qinhu to gradually integrate into the Fenxing Army's combat lineup and become a special force of the Fenxing Army, which was good at defense.
This is the reason why regular military generals never like to cooperate with motley crews recruited temporarily: The brave are brave, and they can't cooperate with each other on the battlefield. What's the use of you? War is not determined by one or a few people.
.
Within two days, the Cao Mang Rangers from Beihai County rushed to Linzi, and the Qi court temporarily built a military camp outside Linzi City to recruit these Cao Mang Rangers.
"...Would you like to go take a look?"
Yawu thought for a moment, and finally decided to go to the military camp to see what was going on in person, to see if this ragtag group of people gathered together because of the temptation of money had the potential to defeat the Chu army.
When he arrived at the military camp, the outside of the military camp was already crowded with people. Most of them were fierce-looking guys, with their hair covered and disheveled, and scars all over their faces and hands.
"Boy, what are you looking at?!"
There was a rough man who seemed to notice Ya Wu looking at them, stared at them and cursed.
"...A guy who can be killed in two strikes."
Ya Wu curled his lips secretly, but on the surface he pretended to be frightened by the rude man, lowering his head and not replying, which made the rude man very proud.
"Next."
In the distance, the voice of the Qi general responsible for the screening came.
Ya Wu turned around and saw a man dressed as a civilian walking into the open space between the fields.
"Isn't Qi a prosperous country where even the common people are wealthy? How come ordinary common people come here?"
Yawu was very surprised.
I have to say that he misunderstood. In fact, the reason why Qi is called a prosperous country where even the common people are quite wealthy is because it refers to the average wealth of the people in Qi. This does not mean that Qi is not impoverished.
people.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the young man, who looked like he was only in his teens, walked to the field, picked out a stone lock in the middle, and tried to lift it.
It turns out that this is how this military camp was selected: place three stone locks, large, medium, and small. Those who can lift the smallest stone lock will be admitted as soldiers, and those who can lift the other two stone locks will be awarded accordingly.
Military positions, such as corps commander, chief officer, chief uncle, etc.
It was a pity that the young man tried all his strength and his face turned red, but he could only lift the smallest stone chain off the ground.
Seeing this, the group of reckless rangers around burst into laughter, and some even used vulgar and harsh words to attack the middle-aged man, probably saying something like "The baby should go home to nurse."
However, the Qi official in charge of deletion did not make fun of the young man. Instead, he persuaded the young man in a friendly manner: "Little brother, the battlefield is dangerous. You'd better not go through this muddy water and go home."
However, the young man did not accept this kindness. He shook his head firmly and pleaded: "I... I have many brothers and sisters in my family, and I need this bounty."
The official tried to persuade him several times, but when he saw that the young man still refused to leave, he finally added the young man's name to the list.
This surprised Crow Five: Didn’t he fail? Can he join now?
After thinking about it, Ya Wu understood that Qi State was currently short of troops. Even if they were cannon fodder, what reason would there be to refuse?
The official's advice was only out of good intentions and did not want the young man to die on the battlefield at a young age.
"Next one," the officer shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the rude man who had just glared at Yawu, pushed through the crowd and rushed into the venue, shouting: "I, I, let me come!"
After that, he directly picked the largest stone lock, took a deep breath, exerted all his strength, and actually lifted it up.
"...Hey, this guy is really quite capable."
Ya Wu glanced at it, feeling a little surprised.
But it just feels a little surprising. After all, for assassins like them, how come they have never encountered a target with brute force? There is brute force but no corresponding skills. In front of them like the Blue Crows, it is purely
Just a lamb to the slaughter.
But it cannot be denied that the strength of this reckless man really amazed the official. He confirmed the position of uncle on the spot, which made the reckless man even more proud.
After going back and forth, it was finally Crow Five's turn.
After thinking about it for a while, Yaowu chose the stone lock in the middle. Firstly, he didn't want to attract attention, and secondly, he really couldn't lift the stone lock that was as big as a millstone.
But even so, the official was not disappointed. He decided on the spot what commander Ya Wu would be, and then asked Ya Wu to report to the military camp.
After waiting for the two accompanying Qingyas to pass the examination, Yawu took them to the military camp. He thought there would be another examination in the military camp, but what he didn't expect was that he met the Quartermaster.
——This quartermaster directly distributed Qi’s copper coins to the soldiers who passed the examination.
The quantity was not much. After I bought it, I weighed it and found that it was only about eight taels. This amount of money was only enough to live in Linzi for a few days, but if I wanted to drink and eat meat, I would probably lose it in one meal.
However, the quartermaster made it very clear that as long as they killed a Chu soldier after going to the battlefield, they could get another bounty, and the reward for Chu soldiers with titles would be doubled in turn.
After telling this, Ya Wu and others were sent to the tents in the military camp.
"Is this the end?"
Crow Five and the two accompanying Blue Crows looked at each other in confusion.
They originally thought that there would be another assessment after entering the military camp, such as to see if they had any skills in killing enemies, but they did not expect that it would be so careless.
But after thinking about it, Ya Wu finally understood.
Yes, they are all cannon fodder, what is there to test? After a few battles, you can immediately screen out those who are truly capable.
When they came to the barracks to rest, Ya Wu and others carefully looked at the "companions" in the barracks. They saw that most of these people were in groups of twos and threes, had their own small circles, and did not communicate with others. They only discussed what they had done after receiving the bounty.
How to spend it; or just holding the weapons with you and closing your eyes to meditate; only a few people showed fear and uneasiness in their expressions.
Just like the teenage boy who barely passed the exam earlier.
All in all, the atmosphere of this ragtag group before the war is pretty good.
After resting for a while, regular soldiers from Qi State came to the barracks and urged: "Anyone who has no customary weapons and who wants armor should follow me to the rear camp to get it."
"They actually distributed weapons and armor?"
Crow Five was very surprised.
After a while, he and the two Green Crows received three sets of equipment at the back camp.
Of course, the so-called "set" here is certainly not like the set in Wei. In addition to the main weapon and breastplate, it also includes short swords, boots, and even hand crossbows for elite soldiers.
What Ya Wu and others received was just an ordinary bronze Changge and a leather breastplate.
In addition, as the commander-in-chief, Crow Five also received a wooden shield wrapped in cowhide.
Although these weapons and armor can be seen at a glance as equipment that has been eliminated by the regular army of the Qi State, compared with the harshness of the Chu State in recruiting grain and soldiers, the Qi State is indeed much better.
After resting for a night in the military camp, the next day, a Qi general summoned them at the school grounds in the military camp. After a chat with Jili Gulu, he took these people and rushed to Donghai County.
During the march, Yawu secretly observed the ragtag group he was with.
There were about 2,000 people, and almost 70% were composed of reckless rangers and ruffians, so that military discipline was in a mess. Needless to say, they made loud noises and talked during the march. In fact, because of the rush of the march, this group of people complained.
.
Yawu believed that if it weren't for the generous reward for killing the enemy, there would have been many deserters along the way.
"How can such a mob... how can they defeat the Chu army?"
Ya Wu secretly shook his head.
About seven or eight days later, the army that Ya Wu belonged to - let's call it the army, finally arrived at Langya County.
During this period, a messenger cavalry came to everyone and told Ya Wu and others: "The situation on the front line has changed, and our army will rush to Kaiyang immediately."
Upon hearing this, Ya Wu understood clearly: Qi's Donghai County had obviously been captured by the Chu army, but he didn't know whether Qi's fierce general Tian Wu was alive or dead at this moment.
A few days later, when Yawu and others arrived at Kaiyang, they learned that Qi General Tian Wu, who had been stationed in Tancheng a while ago, had indeed retreated to Kaiyang.
And this time Yawu's army went to Kaiyang to join Tian Wu and wait for the general's dispatch.
Just as Yawu was not optimistic about this war, the Qi generals who were retreating to Kaiyang at this moment, namely Tian Wu, Zou Ji, and Ji Mi, were also dumbfounded after learning about the so-called reinforcements.
They originally thought that the reinforcements would be the three armies of Langya, Jimo, and Beihai commanded by Tian Dan himself, and even the Flying Bear Army stationed in Linzi. However, they never expected that Linzi would actually send an undisciplined army.
A ragtag crowd came to help.
"What are those officials in Linzi thinking?"
Qi General Ji Mi cursed angrily: "The Chu army has already reached Langya County. Once Langya is broken, the Chu army can march straight in and reach Linzi... Don't those adults understand?!"
Zou Ji, the chief general of Donglai Army, also shook his head and sighed.
Only Tian Wu remained silent.
Because he had received a secret letter from Handan a few days ago and knew the entire strategic plan of the imperial court.
The counterattack plan formulated by the Linzi court can be roughly divided into two stages. The first stage is to consume the effective strength of the Chu army and defeat the Chu army's arrogance. In the second stage, General Tian Dan will lead Jimo and Beihai.
, the three armies of Langya, including the Feixiong Army stationed in Linzi, and possibly even the troops from Yushan Fortress, will mobilize all the forces of the Qi State to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the Chu Army.
In terms of strategy, Tian Wu couldn't find any fault. Moreover, he was not a general who was good at strategy. He just cared about one thing: could those reckless rangers and desperadoes recruited by Linzi with money really be able to stop the Chu army?
?
You must know that currently under Tian Wu's command, both the Donghai Navy and the Donglai Army, as well as the troops once stationed in Fulisai, have been destroyed by more than half. However, on the opposite side, Jun Jingyun of Chu Shouling and Jun Xiong Li of Diyang have lost their lives because of their continuous supply.
The land absorbed the local armies sent successively from the Chu State, so that the number of troops increased and reached 300,000.
This does not include the hundreds of thousands of Chu troops personally led by Xiong Tuo, Lord Yangcheng, Prince of Chu.
It has to be said that facing the state of Chu, which had completely activated its national war machine and launched an all-out war, even fierce generals like Tian Wu felt that their future was bleak and they did not know how to win this war.
After waiting like this for two days, in addition to the army where Ya Wu was, several groups of martial arts warriors were sent from Linzi to Kaiyang one after another. Even local counties in Qi State also recruited similar troops.
, was also dispatched to the Kaiyang area of Langya County, which caused the number of troops under Qi General Tian Wu to increase dramatically. The number of tens of thousands a while ago suddenly increased to hundreds of thousands in one breath, and even this number is still continuing.
rise.
The question is, how strong are these martial arts warriors?
"Report! Traces of the Chu army were found thirty miles south of the city! It has been confirmed that it is Lord Shouling Jingyun!"
The sentry responsible for patrolling the border immediately sent the news of the Chu army's invasion of Langya County to Kaiyang and informed Qi General Tian Wu.
After Tian Wu learned about this, he discussed with Generals Ji Mi and Zou Ji: "Let's first find out the foundation of this supporting army."
Ji Mi and Zou Ji nodded helplessly.
The two generals were also helpless as Linzi refused to send elite troops, but instead sent hundreds of thousands of what they regarded as a rabble.
But it was helpless. Since Linzi had decided on such a strategy, as generals, they could only accept it and rely on the hundreds of thousands of mobs to resist the Chu army and consume the Chu army's effective strength.
In early April, after the Shouling Lord Jingyun of Chu State captured the entire Donghai County, he led his troops to invade Kaiyang. In order to test the general strength of the hundreds of thousands of reinforcements, Qi General Tian Wu chose to engage in a head-on confrontation.
At about six o'clock that day, the armies of both sides squared off against each other on a plain twenty miles south of Kaiyang City.
Needless to say, the Chu army was so vast and vast that the black crowds made the generals of Qi feel numb. However, the Qi army was reinforced by more than 100,000 martial arts warriors. , the array on the Qi army's side is not weak at all.
After all, after the strength of both sides exceeds 100,000, the difference between 100,000 and 200,000 cannot be seen with the naked eye. Anyway, the edges cannot be seen at a glance.
It is precisely because of this that the young Shouling Lord Jingyun of Chu State was shocked and said to the general Yang You beside him: "When did Tian Wu have so many troops?"
General Yang You was also a little confused. You must know that when he was in Tancheng of Donghai County, Tian Wu had only three Qi armies: Fuli Army, Donghai Navy, and Donglai Army. Moreover, these three Qi armies faced their Chu army endlessly. The attack caused heavy damage. At best, there were only about 30,000 people left. But at this moment, the Qi army they saw was more than 30,000 people.
"Probably Qi State sent reinforcements..."
Yang You guessed.
Immediately, he personally led a team of troops to approach the Qi army to confirm and peep into the reality of the Qi army.
Unsurprisingly, Yang You saw through this undisciplined group of warriors at a glance - which elite team in the world would make a lot of noise before a battle?
"Ha, that's it!"
After seeing through Qi Jun's tricks, Yang You immediately returned to Shouling Lord Jingyun and told the latter exactly what he saw about Qi Jun's face, and said: "My eldest son, Qi State has nothing to do here. There is no need to worry about recruiting militiamen to resist our army."
To be honest, the Chu army is not much better. For example, under the command of Lord Shouling Jingyun, basically 70% of the troops are recruited with grain.
But the key point is that the Chu army has many troops here, and it is not afraid of attrition. As many people as possible can be recruited from Chu State's homeland if they die. Anyway, Chu State has a large population. As long as it is not like Shouling Jun Jingshe's attack on Wei State, a war will The entire army of one million men was wiped out, and the Chu State would not fall into the embarrassment of the lack of young men in the country.
"Defeat Tian Wu, today!"
After learning that most of the troops led by Tian Wu today were just militiamen, Lord Shouling Jingyun no longer had any scruples and immediately ordered an attack.
Even though 70% of his men were recruited from grain, these militiamen had undergone earth-shaking changes in both their morale and the appearance of their soldiers after they captured Donghai County. To put it simply, they were already somewhat of a regular army.
In contrast, the Qi army was still in disarray. It was so chaotic that Qi General Tian Wu felt that there was no need to make any plans for today's war. Anyway, even if they had formulated tactics, this ragtag group of people would not be able to fight against the Chu army. You may not remember to follow his orders.
All in all, just order the attack.
"Left wing, attack!"
Following Tian Wu's order, the left wing of the Qi army launched an offensive against the Chu army.
Not to mention, these martial arts warriors composed of reckless rangers and desperadoes are indeed different from ordinary civilian armies. At least these people are not timid. After Tian Wu ordered the attack, they screamed and rushed towards Looking at the Chu State on the opposite side, there is a vague sense of the Qin State's tattooed army.
Unfortunately, Ya Wu and the two accompanying Qing Ya were also incorporated into the left wing, so they had no choice but to follow the trend and kill towards the Chu army.
"This is simply...simply..."
Without any tactics at all, and without the cooperation of the crossbowmen, the Chu army's food soldiers and the Qi army's martial arts warriors, the two groups of people rushed together, and the sound of killing was loud.
Ya Wu, who was used to seeing the cooperation of various arms of the Wei army, really couldn't accept this method of warfare.