In Yangcheng, Huaibei, at the main camp of the Qin army, General Qiang Yu came to Wang Jian's tent with the military information sent from the northern army, looking happy.
"The general's strategy is really clever! Fengfei has been captured by the Northern Army, and they have made a posture to attack Pengcheng. The Dongjun garrison has also been ordered to attack Lu. I think Xiang Yan has received urgent calls from all over."
Wang Jian was very satisfied and said with a smile: "Chu is difficult to attack because of its vast territory. If tens of thousands of people enter its territory, they will be like fish entering the sea and are easily ambushed. However, Chu is easy to attack because of its size.
If the main force is suspended here, there will be flaws everywhere along this thousand-mile border."
In February, after discovering that "soldiers were available", Wang Jian issued combat instructions. The nearly 200,000 combat troops of the Southern Army and the Chinese Army remained stationary. Instead, the Northern Army led by General Feng Wuze was allowed to attack the Chu State.
They launched an attack on the weakly defended Fengfei and other places, and succeeded easily.
He did this not to capture the city, but to make Xiang Yan hesitate and make the Chu army confused.
This is what is said in the Art of War: If I do not want to fight, I will draw the ground and defend it. If the enemy cannot fight with me, I will behave as he wants. But if I want to fight, if the enemy has high forts and deep ditches, but he has no choice but to fight with me, I will attack.
He must be saved!
"How do you think the Chu army should respond?"
Qiang Xu was also a veteran general. After pondering for a moment, he pointed at the map and said: "The best strategy for the Chu army is that Xiang Yan saw through the general's intentions and sent troops to fight me instead, gambling on a chance of survival!"
Wang Jian nodded: "At the beginning of winter last year, when the Chu army had just gathered and its morale was high, Xiang Yan might have dared to do this. But now the Chu army has been idle here for several months. The armor is infested with lice, the sparrows are in the curtains, and the soldiers are not there."
After returning home, food was becoming increasingly scarce. The Chu soldiers were all thinking about spring plowing at home and feared they no longer wanted to fight to the death. Xiang Yan did not dare to do this."
Qiang Xu added: "The middle strategy is to abandon the eastern territory, shrink the front line, and retreat slightly to the east to protect it; the lower strategy is to divide the troops and defend them, aiming to cover all aspects."
"Since the Chu army has lost the morale to fight our army here, I guess Xiang Yan will adopt the best of two strategies. The land of Lu is dispensable to the Chu State. Maybe the King of Chu will let Xiang Yan abandon it.
He wanted to defend Huaibei. But he did not dare to abandon Pengcheng and Surabaya..."
Pengcheng was originally the ancient Peng Kingdom. After the Spring and Autumn Period, it became the eastern capital of the Song Dynasty. After the fall of the Song Dynasty, it was captured by the Chu Kingdom. It is surrounded by hills and mountains and communicates with Bian and Si. It leads to Qi and Lu in the north and Liang, Song and South in the west.
Linjiang and Huaihe are also key places. During the reign of King Yan of the Song Dynasty, he also took advantage of Pengcheng's terrain to seize 300 miles of land in the north of Huaibei of the Chu State. Therefore, the gains and losses of Pengcheng are related to the rise and fall of the north and south. If Pengcheng is lost, Huaibei is lost.
Also, even if Xiang Yan blocks Wang Jian here, Huaibei from behind will be driven straight in by the Qin army, and it will be completely destroyed.
Wang Jian decisively picked up the red chess piece representing the Chu army on the map and moved it eastward from the front line to the east of the chasm.
"Xiang Yan is now in a dilemma. After weighing the pros and cons, he can only retreat eastward and shrink the front line, and then send tens of thousands of soldiers over, trying to save Pengcheng..."
The enemy can't work, he can't feed, he can't move, so what's the point? Attacking him must save him! After several months of stalemate, Wang Jian put the Chu army in a difficult situation and had low morale. He also used a simple attack from the south to the north.
, forcing the Chu army to make strategic adjustments.
Thinking of this, the old general picked up the black chess piece representing the Qin army and slapped it hard on the red owl!
"When the Chu army retreats eastward and the camp becomes unstable, that's when our army will attack!"
"If this is the case, the Chu army will be defeated!" Qiang You was very excited. After months of waiting, the battle was finally about to begin.
Wang Jian looked at Qiang Yu: "Have you selected two out of ten vanguard soldiers in the Chinese army?"
This is the trick that Wang Jian used in the battle between Qian and Chengming more than ten years ago. He selected two people from ten people and then used them as the edge. In the past few months, Qiang Yu has been in charge of selecting soldiers.
And let these elites use "war balls" to move their muscles and practice the skills of attacking and trapping.
"The Chinese army has 150,000 soldiers and 30,000 elite soldiers!"
"Where is the Southern Army?" Wang Jian asked again. Although the Chinese Army from Guanzhong and Sanchuan was the main force in this battle, the strategic tasks that the Southern Army had to undertake were not light.
"General Meng Wu sent someone to report that he has decided to use 10,000 Nanjun soldiers with the highest morale as the heel army!"
"Nanjun soldiers..."
Wang Jian couldn't help but think of the fierce competition in those games. When he boarded the car, he loudly said: "We want to fight", as well as Li You, Hei Fu and other military officials...
"I only hope that Nanjun soldiers can be more brave on the battlefield than on the court!"
…
In the early morning of Xinsi day in February, when a little bit of fish belly white appeared in the east, in a military camp located in the eastern suburb of Shangcai, thousands of Anlu soldiers got up early, either wiping their swords or helping each other put on their armor. They were not fighting like ordinary people.
Instead of being scared before, I was a little excited.
Everyone stayed here for almost five months. Although they had enough food and clothing, and there were games such as Cuju to play, and the captain and Heifu even organized everyone to write letters home, in the end they felt uncomfortable, and many soldiers even began to think
, anywhere is good, even if it means dragging them to the battlefield and licking blood from the knife edge, it is better than waiting here in vain!
Finally, they finally received the general's order. On February 1st, the Southern Army attacked!
At this time, the leader, Heifu, finally returned to the camp. He had been up almost all night. The Nanjun soldiers had been given the task of advancing and following the army. Heifu was both happy and worried.
The good news is that the vanguard gets more credit than the average army, but the worry is that if the war goes wrong, the vanguard will suffer the most casualties. Of the thousand men under his command, how many will survive this battle and be crowned?
Therefore, Hei Fu simply went up to the corner tower of the fortress, and together with Zhang Han, he looked at the Chu army's fortress about twenty miles away, which was almost parallel to the Qin wall. There were a few firelights over there, but under the stars and moon, most of them were
The place was pitch dark...
According to the scouts' investigation, the Chu army has not been restless in the past few days, and the morale of the army is somewhat turbulent. There was even a roar caused by a fire in a certain camp, with people neighing and horses hooting, but it was quickly calmed down, and there was no response for the Qin army.
Take advantage of the opportunity. In recent days, although there are many flags and soldiers on the barrier, no one has come to challenge it.
"The general expected that the Jing people were already preparing to retreat and shrink their defense line to the east of the chasm, so he ordered the army to attack."
During the military meeting yesterday, Li You also told them the truth and asked the leaders to encourage the soldiers and prepare for war when they return!
As a result, the relaxed atmosphere in the entire Nanjun military camp was swept away. When it was getting dark, everyone had gathered outside the tent, gathered together, and stood in a neat square formation!
"Really, so much..."
Xiao Tao, the short-term soldier beside Hei Fu, couldn't help but make a sound, because no matter he looked to the left or right, he could only see densely packed people.
Although the Nanjun soldiers only had a fighting force of 10,000 people, they felt that there were too many to fight among them. However, the entire Southern army led by Meng Wu had 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers, filling the entire inner side of the endless barrier.
"A hundred miles away, there are twice as many people in the Chinese army."
Heifu said, this huge number, while bringing some psychological comfort to one's side, should also put huge pressure on the opponent, right? Launching an attack with more than 200,000 people, what a huge scene it is!
Three drums are for food, four drums are for strict discrimination, and five drums are enough. As the drums hit the fifth round, after the army had eaten their meals, they began to walk out of the fortress from the wall gate in order. Zhang Han was still standing on the turret, facing Hei Fu
Say goodbye.
"I wish you a successful return!"
Although Zhang Han kept saying that he liked the position of Army Sikong, he was still a little envious as he watched the army set off. After all, it was easier to achieve meritorious service and gain titles by decapitating people in actual combat.
"Thank you for your good words from Shao Rong!" Hei Fu stood on the military chariot and offered his hand to Zhang Han.
The 10,000 Nanjun soldiers set off as the "heel army" of the entire southern army. In front of them, there were two thousand "Xingjun", almost all of them were flexible chariots and cavalry. Their attire was exactly the same as that of the "cavalry warriors" in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses: upper body
Wearing short armor, tight-fitting trousers, long riding boots, a round hat with a buckle on the chin, and a bow and arrow on his back, he is a typical horseman and archer dressed in Hufu.
Once the Xing Army discovers the enemy's situation and sends a message to the rear, the Heijun Army must quickly move forward and cooperate with the Xing Army to defeat it and open a clear path for the main army.
By the time Heifu and others could see the barrier, Xingjun had already surveyed the Chubi dozens of miles away. The leader of the Xingjun rode back in person to tell Li You: "Captain Li, there seems to be something in the Chu camp."
Strange!"
"What's different?"
Li You's heart tightened. This was the first time he had been tasked with advancing the army. He had already made plans to fight to the death to break through the wall, and did not want any surprises.
"When we approached, the Chu army's scouts did not come to stop us, but quickly withdrew. When we got close, Chu Bi discovered us. Although he also beat the golden drum and lit fireworks to warn us, the movement inside was surprising.
Small and sharp-eyed people can even see that there are crows on the Chu camp screen!"
The cavalry general of Xingjun said seriously: "This area seems to be an empty wall!"
Li You became more cautious and asked the Xing army to explore again. By noon, the Chu army had arrived at the Chu wall. When they set up the equipment to break the wall, there were very few counterattacks from the Chu army on the walls and turrets. After a while, they even stopped completely.
Already.
Li You hesitated for a long time, and then sent people back to ask Meng Wu to send 20,000 people to support him on the flanks, and then ordered everyone to attack!
The unguarded barrier was no different from an ordinary courtyard wall. Heifu and the others quickly broke through the barrier and rushed into the Chu army camp.
Inside, however, there was no Chu army array as they had imagined, ready to lure them deep, nor did they encounter the sound of drums and the sight of thousands of soldiers and horses rushing out.
There are only empty roads in the camp and crows croaking on the tent curtains...
The entire Chu army camp was almost empty!
Heifu asked people to check all the camps for several miles to the left. Looking at the dense ruts on the ground heading eastward, horse hooves, footprints, and the ashes left by the burned out fires, he already understood what happened.
He didn't know whether he should breathe a sigh of relief to avoid a tough battle, or regret that the Chu army withdrew at the critical moment.
"Go back and tell the captain."
Heifu said to Ji Ying, the messenger: "Master Chu escaped at night!"
The Southern Army is definitely going to lose everything, but I don’t know what will happen to the Chinese Army? After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people, and they can’t just evacuate!
…
At the same time, east of Ruyang, a brutal fighting had just come to an end.
"We pursued with 30,000 elite troops, but only 10,000 Chu troops were retained and only 30,000 civilians were captured?"
Listening to the military report sent back by Qiang Yu, Wang Jian frowned, but then relaxed and said with a smile:
"In the battle of Yanling, the princes fought with many drums and gunshots, and used the night army to attack, and the Chu army was defeated at night; later the princes rescued Zheng, and the Chu army escaped at night; in the battle around the corner, the Chu army escaped again... The Chu army is really an expert in night escape.
Hands, even I was fooled."
Laughing, Wang Jian couldn't help but admire him. Xiang Yan made a move that even he had not expected. Not only did he retreat eastward, but he also retreated extremely quickly. The Qin army only had time to catch their severed tails and avoid being caught in one fell swoop.
of misfortune.
Indeed, if the Qin army suddenly attacks, and the Chu camp is mixed with civilians with poor order, it may fall into chaos and lead to the annihilation of the entire army. But now, Xiang Yan retreats calmly, and will also let the civilians and the army go in two directions, seducing
The Qin army went to chase the civilians, but Xiang Yan repeated the tactics he used to defeat Li Xin, then surrounded him and attacked him...
But this trick is useless against Wang Jian!
Because he did not go deep alone with Juan Ai's soldiers, but pressed down the mountain with a huge force!
"Order the central army to follow the Chu army north of the Ying River, and then have the southern army advance south of the Ying River to get ahead of the Chu army. If the Chu army wants to cross the water, wait until they are halfway across and attack them! I would like to
Look, Xiang Yan wants to involve my army, but how far he can retreat!"