When he learned that his son Xiang Rong had feigned attacks several times to lure the enemy, and that although the Qin army sent out warnings with force and drums, they huddled behind the barrier and could not come out in time, Xiang Yan just sighed and told Zhaohua in the tent something strange.
related things.
"There is a turtle chamber in Shouchun, in which the shell of a divine turtle is enshrined. It is said that he was born in the era of Huangdi and Shennong, and lived for three thousand years. All the turtles in Jianghuai are his descendants. Unfortunately, during the reign of King Song and Yuan
He was killed, but the tortoise shell remained immortal for a hundred years. After the Chu State destroyed the Song Dynasty, it was wrapped in fine brocade and silk and hid in the temple."
"Zihua's territory is in Jiangdong, so he must have seen many turtles?"
"I see you often."
Zhaohua responded: "My elders in the east of the Yangtze River often see tortoises that are thousands of years old and swim on lotus leaves. Where they are born, there are no tigers or wolves in the beasts and no poisonous stings in the grass. People by the river often raise big tortoises with food and drink until they grow up."
One foot in size, then offer it to Bu Yin. On auspicious days, pick off the turtle's plastron and use it for divination."
Xiang Yan said: "Of course, when the king dispatches his troops, he must first drill a tortoise in the temple to divine good or bad luck. This time is no exception. However, this time the tortoise shell was burnt three times in a row. In order to appease everyone's hearts, the old man had no choice but to
I followed the example of Dou Lian of the past, who used divination to resolve doubts and not to doubt anything. He knocked over the tortoise shell in order to reassure the soldiers. However, he did not even dare to say a word about the results of the tortoise divination to the soldiers."
He smiled helplessly, and the divination was not good, which cast another layer of gloom in the hearts of King Chu and the officials.
"It's just that this tortoise was against me during the divination, but when I came to the front line, I bumped into a hard tortoise shell again."
The turtle shell mentioned by Xiang Yan refers to the barrier built by Wang Jian on the front line with hundreds of thousands of people. No matter how the Chu army challenged him, he just cowered and refused to fight. From the looks of it, he was determined to stay here.
It's winter.
"Wang Jian is this old turtle."
Xiang Yan couldn't help but cursed. He didn't know what his opponent was thinking. The Chu army's only advantage was the psychological self-confidence they gained after defeating the Qin army last year.
It will fade over time.
This is not the first time Wang Jian has used this tactic. A few years ago, Wang Jian commanded the Qin army to attack Zhao. Zhao general Li Mu was like a god with his troops, so he failed to achieve success. So Wang Jian and his soldiers retreated for half a year, stalemate with Li Mu, and finally surrendered.
There was suspicion within the Zhao State, and Li Mu was killed with a rift. Only then did the Qin army, which had been holding back its anger for half a year, conquer Handan in one fell swoop.
Now, he used this trick against the Chu State again. Xiang Yan asked himself whether he would end up like Li Mu. But the trouble was that the tortoise's carapace was extremely hard and invulnerable. It also had a sharp mouth. If you were not careful,
It will chew off a piece of meat.
If I had known this, I would have launched an offensive even if my own army had not yet fully assembled, making it impossible for the Qin army to build barriers with peace of mind.
"There are actually many ways to kill turtles."
Zhaohua said: "If you can't break its carapace head-on, why not try cutting in through the gap between the back carapace and the plastron?"
Xiang Yan thought thoughtfully: "Could it be that Zihua's strategy is to eliminate his food supply?"
"good!"
Zhaohua pointed to several roads on the map that were discovered by Chu army scouts who risked their lives:
"The army of Qin is in a stalemate, with supplies of food and grass as the priority. The Qin army has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and consumes 30,000 shi of food a day!"
"Its food has three routes, Ru River, Ying River, and Honggou, all of which are waterways. This is why its food transportation is more convenient and faster than our army. Food comes from Yangzhai, Xinzheng, Xiangcheng, and Ao in Dang County of Qin Yingchuan County.
The warehouses were transported downstream one after another, docked at Shangcai and Ruyang, and then transported to the front line barrier camps by carriages, horses and human chariots..."
"We can't do anything about the Qin army's rear grain and waterway grain ships, but if Shangzhu State can advance with a large army as a decisive battle, and then send chariots and cavalry to surround the rear and destroy its dock grain warehouses in Shangcai and Ruyang, then
In less than half a month, the Qin army will be in chaos! Our army will take advantage of the momentum to attack. Although we cannot say that we can completely defeat the Qin army, we can at least destroy its barriers and force those behind to retreat!"
Xiang Yan and Zhaohua decided to attack the baggage first. However, in early November, when Zhaohua and others led the Chu army with tens of thousands of chariots, they realized that their thinking was too simple.
They made a long circle and approached the other side of Shangcai Pier from the unprotected south bank of Ru River. They were shocked to discover that the pier was also protected by barriers and the turrets were well protected. From a distance, they saw the Chu army coming to the other side. Thousands of people were there.
The Qin army marched out from the barracks one after another and were ready!
What surprised the people of Chu even more was that in addition to the tight defense of the dock where the grain ships docked, barriers were also built on both sides of the road from the dock to the granary in the city, and from the granary to the barricaded military camp more than ten miles away.
This kind of road protected by a barrier is called a "corridor". After completing the construction of the turrets of the barrier in front, Zhang Han and other army commanders led the civilians back to make emergency repairs, in order to ensure the safety of the grain road.
"I never thought that Wang Jian would attach so much importance to the food industry and not leave any loopholes..."
Zhaohua looked at the river and sighed, and Xiang Yan's evaluation of Wang Jian flashed in his mind: "Old Turtle."
…
Seeing the Chu army slowly retreating again, Dongmen Leopard lowered his halberd hand in frustration and said in disappointment: "These Chu troops are really courageless, why did they withdraw again?"
When they were guarding the front line barriers, they encountered several attacks from the Chu army, but they only challenged them. The Qin army did not come out, so they retreated on their own.
Ten days ago, the Nanjun Corps received a new task. Li You was ordered to return to Shangcai and be responsible for guarding the docks, granaries and grain roads. As the Qin army's fortress camp moved forward, this place was already in the rear. Dongmen Leopard originally thought
I never saw half of the Chu army again, but unexpectedly, a seemingly elite Chu army of cavalry came from the other side today!
Before he could be happy! The Chu army left again? How could he not be angry?
Heifu said: "If you come here, you will be attacked halfway across the river. Even if you are lucky enough to gain a foothold, the pier has been built like a fortress, and the turrets are made of three-piece earth ramming. How to break it? If you attack rashly, you may destroy the entire army.
The Chu army would not dare to bet on being destroyed."
Another leader of five hundred, Li Xian, also came over and said: "Commander, our army is not attacking, and the Chu army is cautious. When will this battle really start?"
"We've been fighting for a long time."
Heifu said: "The battle between the two generals is in full swing!"
Unlike his subordinates who were a little anxious, Heifu could see this kind of confrontation with hundreds of thousands of people. The more than a thousand people under his command could not even be counted as a black pawn. The veterans of both sides just refused to cross the river, and the small soldiers had
any solution?
After saying this, Heifu ordered: "Let the Yu cavalry and their servants patrol along the river. Beware of the Chu army who has not retreated and crossed the water at night!"
Although Heifu was extremely cautious, the Chu army did not dare to take risks.
In the next half month, although the weather got colder day by day, there was still an endless stream of grain ships on the Ru River, and grain trucks also traveled safely in the corridor, transporting 20,000 shi of grain every day to supply the Confederate Army's 150,000 soldiers.
Folks, the excess is stored in the Shangcai granary, because in more than a month, when heavy snow falls, the Ru River may be partially frozen, making it difficult to sail.
In December, there was heavy rain and snow, outdoor activities basically disappeared, and the Chu army also stopped their meaningless harassment.
Unknowingly, the Qin army and the Chu army faced off on the front line for more than two months. During this period, the Qin soldiers lived a good life. They were protected by barriers and were not afraid of the Chu army's rash attack. They also had enough food.
Winter clothes and bedding also protect them from the severe cold, and they can wash and clean themselves every few days to avoid the spread of diseases.
The only problem is that I am so busy that I have a lot of time to spend every day except for duty and training.
Others were fine. Dongmen Leopard, Ji Ying and other restless ones were already restless. They complained to Hei Fu: "I just feel that this is not a war, but just idleness. If I leave it at home, I'm afraid I will be sentenced to prison."
Sin!"
Heifu had no choice but to let everyone find something to do.
It was cold outside in December, so everyone could only throw pots in the tent, or compete with each other. Whoever lost would take off a coat and go for a run outside. For a time, the Qin Army's barracks was filled with the atmosphere of philosophy.
In January, the ice melts and the snow melts, everything revives, and the sun shines, and everyone goes out for activities. However, there are too few entertainment games these days. They are just practicing archery or playing stone throwing...
The so-called stone throwing distance, in Heifu's opinion, is a stone throwing and standing long jump competition. It was interesting in the first few days, but after a few days, everyone got tired of it.
After the daily training that day, Dongmen Bao and others were basking in the sun boredly, when suddenly, something hit them hard on the back of their heads!
"Who did it?"
Dongmen Bao thought someone was teasing him, so he cursed and turned around, only to find Hei Fu watching from a distance with a smile.
"It turns out to be the leader..."
Dongmen Leopard's anger subsided immediately, and when he looked at the thing rolling on the ground, it was a spherical thing.
"Isn't this Ju!"
Seeing Pi Ju, Dongmen Bao, Ji Ying and others did not show any interest. These days, Cuju is mostly a personal game, similar to later generations of ball-bobbing or shuttlecock kicking. I heard that people from Qi State like it very much. Linzi Street
There are often performers on the street, some of whom can kick for an hour continuously, including foot kicks, knee thrusts, both legs flying together, one-footed jut, jumping back hook and other technical movements. However, this kind of sport is not very popular in Qin State.
, maybe it’s because Qin people are clumsy and don’t like tricks that require too much skill.
"This is no ordinary Cuju."
Heifu stepped on Naju firmly under his feet, looked at his lazy men, and smiled: "Aren't you complaining about having nothing to do all day? I will teach you a new way of playing today!"
…
"It's been a cold spring these days, but the old general is here to patrol the camp. It's really hard work!"
At the camp of the "Southern Army" of the Qin State, the Southern Army's assistant general Meng Wu, who was nearly fifty years old, came up to him with a smile. He wanted to help Wang Jian, who had a gray beard and a big fur coat, and got out of the car. However, he was stopped by the old general who was as hard and cold as iron.
Hou Zhan held his hand.
"General Meng, have I reached this point of age?"
Wang Jian was smiling. He was not as old and weak as he was in Pinyang a year ago to recuperate. Instead, he was full of energy. He looked at Meng Wu in front of him, who was tall and taller than himself. After exchanging a few words, he went hand in hand with him.
Walk to the military camp.
The military officers along the way bowed to Wang Jian one after another. Unlike when Wang Jian inspected the Northern Army and received a warm and considerate reception from the Central Army, there was no trace of old feelings in the respectful and solemn expressions of this group of people.
Indeed, Meng Wu's subordinates are different from Wang Jian's old tribes such as Qiang Fu, Yang Duanhe and others. The Meng family has its own system, and together with the Wang family, they can be called the two most prestigious generals in the Qin State.
Although the Wang family had to wait until Wang Jian and his son destroyed several kingdoms in succession for the Wang family to reach its peak, as early as the time of his uncle Wang Lu (hé), he had already been highly used by King Qin Zhao, and he and Lian Po were in a stalemate in Changping, with no distinction between superior and inferior.
But in Wang Lu's later years, his limelight was completely overshadowed by another person, that is Meng Ao from Qi State.
Since the death of Wu'an Jun Bai Qi, Meng Ao has been the most trusted general of King Zhao of Qin and King Zhuangxiang of Qin. He defeated Han, Zhao and Wei, established Sanchuan County, captured twenty cities of Wei, and established Dong County. When Qin Wangzheng succeeded to the throne, , Meng Ao has been ranked above Wang Ji and Duke He, and he is the number one general in the Qin State.
After his death, his son Meng Wu inherited his father's title. Because Meng Wu had old injuries, the Meng family gradually became inferior to the Wang family.
However, Qin Wangzheng has always cultivated the Meng clan as a force to check and balance Wang Jian and his son. He especially admired Meng Wu's son Meng Tian, making him his assistant general in the last battle against Chu. Unfortunately, Li Xin and Meng Tian failed in their success and faced the loss of troops and ground. After being humiliated, Meng Wu had no choice but to stand up despite his injuries and clean up the mess for his son.
With an army of 100,000 men, he faced off with the Chu army in Shangcai and Yangcheng for a year, but did not allow the Chu people to continue to expand their victory, until Wang Jian came with his army.
Therefore, the relationship between Wang and Meng is subtle. Meng Wu is both a junior and a subordinate, but he is also a competitor. It is the king of Qin who arranges on the front line to check and balance Wang Jian's back-up...
However, both of them had been immersed in the battlefield officialdom for decades, and they seemed to be close old friends, with endless laughter and laughter along the way.
When Wang Jian visited the camp this time, as usual, he still asked the cook to give the soldiers extra meals, let them eat a bite of meat, improve their diet, and went deep into the barracks to talk with them, and ate with the soldiers in person.
Although the military officials treated him respectfully and lukewarmly, the soldiers admired the old general extremely. Every time Wang Jian entered the camp, there would be huge cheers.
Moreover, wherever he went, Wang Jian would ask the local generals and captains a question.
"Is it a drama in the army?"
Meng Wu was stunned for a moment, and then responded: "Recently, it is common for soldiers to play games in the camp, mostly for throwing rocks at a distance, but..."
Wang Jian raised his head: "But what?"
"But I heard that the Nanjun soldiers who were ordered to garrison Shangcai Granary are quite different. Each battalion likes to play a new game called football!"
