It has been ten days since the Qin army besieged Xiangcheng, but the gates of Xiangcheng were tightly closed. Xiang Yan's banner stood firmly at the top of the city, ignoring any temptations and provocations.
Although the siege equipment was being built in an orderly manner, the two attempts to siege the city ended in failure. The Qin army general did not seem to be in a hurry and asked the soldiers to build two new barriers outside the military camp on the south bank of Yingshui River to resist the enemy. Look like this
, is planning to confront the Chu army in Xiangcheng for a long time.
Therefore, in Heifu's opinion, this siege was too leisurely, which made him increasingly doubt whether Xiangcheng was the real main direction of attack.
Sure enough, on that day, the news came that the Qin army's "partial division" defeated the Chu army and advanced in Huaibei, causing the Qin army's siege camp outside Xiangcheng to boil.
The army is a place where good news is reported but not bad news. The military officials will try their best to hide the news of failure, but if it is a good news, they want every soldier to know about it. This good thing is spread both inside and outside the camp, which makes the Qin army besieged the city for ten years.
The sense of depression about not having accomplished anything in the past was relieved, and there was laughter and joy everywhere.
Heifu was also exposed to this atmosphere. As a personal guard, he had much better information than ordinary officers. After asking several other short-hand generals, he got many different opinions.
"It is said that General Meng Tian personally commanded 30,000 elite soldiers from Guanzhong, and they have defeated Pingyu and slept on the hill."
"In the battle at Qiuqiu, more than ten thousand enemies were killed, and the Chu people were defeated. No wonder no Chu reinforcements have come to Xiangcheng these days."
"Some people say that General Meng Tian has arrived at the lower reaches of Yingshui River and is preparing to attack Juyang. The ships carrying grain outside are there to support him!"
Although there are many explanations, a marching route can still be pieced together. Heifu thought to himself: "My intuition is indeed correct. The so-called partial division is the real main offensive force. Now it has broken through the Pingyu from the flank, and is sleeping.
Qiu, troops are approaching the Ying River. This way, we can get support from ships upstream to transport grain and fodder. It is really a good idea."
But to be able to carry out a long-distance attack of three hundred miles, this army must be lightly equipped. It may not even bring enough food and arrows, let alone siege equipment, so it is impossible to expect this partial division to attack the city and seize territory.
Yes, Li Xin should just go find the enemy and fight.
In any case, as a result, the balance of victory seems to be slowly tilting towards Qin. Some people even boldly estimate that the war will be over before spring comes...
However, Heifu was not so optimistic.
It was as if God had favored him and granted the Qin army one victory after another: in Dun County, in Pingyu, in Qiuqiu...
But as the Qin army continued to win, Heifu became more and more fearful.
The battle situation was complicated and changing in an instant, which made Heifu even more puzzled. What happened in this originally vigorous battle against Chu failed in the end?
He didn't have Baidu at hand, so he had no way of knowing. He could only sharpen his sword, look for news everywhere, and wait day and night.
…
On the arrow tower at the head of Xiangcheng City, Zhou Wen also noticed a small movement in the Qin army's camp and frowned.
"The Qin army seems to be more cheerful today than in the past. Could it be that there is some news from outside?"
As the "sun-sight" of the Chu army, he must wait on the wall all day long to observe the Qin army's movements: whether any new enemy troops have arrived, whether any enemy troops have quietly left, those seemingly ordinary arrangements, and even the movements of the Qin army.
When cooking, he must record the number of enemy campfires one by one. And he must not fall into the wrong strategy, because in wars these days, people always like to use the strategy of reducing or increasing the number of stoves to mislead the enemy.
In addition, you must also write down the layout of the Qin camp: where are the two barriers with the weakest defense, where is the military tent, where are the civilians living, and where are the horses and chariots concentrated? There is a steady stream of transportation from the direction of Chen Ying.
In which camp was the incoming food stored?
The gate of Xiangcheng was tightly closed and surrounded by two rammed earth barriers built by the Qin army, cutting off all contact with the outside world. They could only understand the reality of the enemy camp through this method.
These observations by Zhou Wen will not only help "General Xiang" in the city judge the enemy's situation, but will also lay the foundation for their future counterattack...
Unknowingly, night has arrived. Behind the two walls, in the Qin army's camp, the campfires are slowly lighting up, like thousands of stars in the Milky Way. It is difficult for Zhou Wen alone to count them clearly.
After recording what he saw and heard today on the wooden tablet, Zhou Wen walked down the arrow tower. The walls of Xiang City were full of Chu soldiers wearing red leather armor. They all lived on them, waiting in groups of three or three, even though the Qin army attacked
The city is not too violent, but the soldiers are still vigilant.
To the Chu people, the Qin army was an invading bandit, and jackals were wandering outside the city. How could there be any reason to relax and sleep peacefully?
The hatred between Chu and Qin began when King Huai of Chu was deceived into Qin and died in a foreign country. In the following decades, new and old hatreds between the two sides continued to accumulate. Therefore, among the six countries, the one who disagreed with Qin the most was the one who disagreed most with Qin.
The one who resisted the most fiercely was Chu.
Zhou Wen himself is the most typical example.
His ancestor was originally from Jiangling, Nanjun, and worked as a minor official in the capital of Ying. When his grandfather was here, Bai Qi attacked Yan City, and the Zhou family had no choice but to flee eastward with the King of Chu. The whole family left the capital of Ying where they had lived for generations.
Qu Yuan, the Sanlu doctor, watched this scene helplessly and wrote "Sorrow", which can be said to be the voice of those who moved away from Chu.
"Why are the people shocked by the impure destiny of the Emperor and Heaven?
The people were separated and lost each other, and they moved eastward in the middle of the spring.
Going to my hometown is far away, following Jiangxia in exile..."
That tragic defeat and migration left a deep memory on the Chu people.
If we say that before this, due to government corruption and flattery in the Chu State, the people were alienated and unwilling to fight with their lives. It was like "the country does not know its people, and the people do not know its country." Then after the scars of moving eastward,
, the nobles and common people of Chu State began to hate Qin State, and the forces calling for war continued to rise.
It is a pity that the Chu kings of all dynasties have always been afraid of Qin like a tiger. They moved from Yingdu to Chendi, then from Chendi to Juyang, and finally to Shouchun, Huainan. In the past fifty years, three generations of Chu people have moved their capital three times in fear of Qin, and the kings of Chu never tired of it.
, but the Chu people were exhausted, and even Zhou Wen was forced to leave his hometown of Chen Ying last year and live in Huainan.
They couldn't imagine that if they lost this war again, where could they move to?
Jiangdong? Wuyue?
At least in Zhou Wen's opinion, he no longer wanted to run away in embarrassment. Under the call of Xiang Yan of the Shangzhu Kingdom, they decided to stay and fight to defend their territory.
With this in mind, Zhou Wen had already entered the military meeting camp in the city. The general had to listen to their "sun-watching" report on the enemy's situation every day, and then make the defense arrangements for the next day.
When Zhou Wen walked into the hall with a wooden tablet in his hand, there were already many generals from the Chu State sitting on the left and right sides, all talking in whispers. The key point was that the Qin army ships going south along the Ying River seemed to be loaded with food. Could it be that they were full of food?
Has the Qin army penetrated deep into the lower reaches?
Zhou Wen approached and bowed respectfully to the general sitting in the middle.
"General Xiang, look at the sun and Zhou Wen and come to report the enemy's situation!"
"Say it."
A powerful voice came, but the face reflected in the light was extremely young. He was a general in his thirties, with dark beard and hair, and a burly figure. Where was Xiang Yan, a veteran with gray temples?
Although he does look like Xiang Yan when he was young...
The "General Xiang" in the city is not Xiang Yan, but Xiang Yan's eldest son, Xiang Rong!
In the Qin army's camp, Li Xin's flag was hoisted high, with the dragon flag and feathers hanging high.
At the top of Xiangcheng City, Xiang Yan's high-tooth banner was also fluttering its flag, looking very majestic.
The two flags confront each other, giving each other the illusion that "the enemy's commander is here."
But on the chessboard, the black and red generals in the Nine Palaces have long since disappeared...
