At dusk on the third day, under Ming Jin's order to withdraw troops, the Chu army, which had suffered heavy casualties, hurriedly returned to the rebel camp as if they were facing an amnesty, as if the tide was ebbing, not even taking care of the siege equipment such as ladders, leaving them scattered everywhere.
land.
Zhou Shi stood on the high platform with a cold face and said to the staff officer beside him: "Have you seen it clearly? According to your guess, how many people are there in the Qin army in the pass?"
The staff officer next to him flipped through the record book in his hand, bowed his hand to Zhou Shi and said: "Commander Qi, in the past three days, the Qin army in the city has changed its defenses a total of 17 times, each time about 20,000 people.
"
"My subordinates can clearly see that every time there are some new faces, and their behavior in response to our army's siege is no different from that of the new army. From this, we can infer that there are at least 350,000 Qin troops stationed in the pass."
"Under normal circumstances, the Qin army commander will not use all the troops, but will reserve a part of the reserve army. Based on the situation at Hangu Pass, it is estimated that it will not be less than 100,000. Therefore, my subordinates believe that the Qin army in the pass will be at least 40.
More than 50,000."
"The specific amount still needs further observation."
More than 450,000? Zhou Shi grabbed the right hand of the railing of the high platform, couldn't help but use a little force, crushed it into pieces, turned around and left without saying a word.
Reason told Zhou Shi that he should order the army to retreat and wipe out the Qin army causing trouble in the rear instead of continuing to waste time here.
However, he had a hunch that if the attack on Hangu Pass failed this time, he might never have a chance to attack Hangu Pass in his lifetime.
As soon as Zhou Shi stepped into the camp, he saw three military ministers, Xiang Liang and Tian Rong, coming hand in hand and standing steadily in front of him.
Zhou Shi couldn't help but frown slightly and asked, "What do you three want from me?"
Xiang Liang was the first to speak: "Brother Zhou, I came to you today to persuade you to withdraw your troops. You have also seen that no matter how hard our Zhao Qichu army attacks the city at any cost, Hangu Pass is still as solid as a rock.
Continuing this battle will only increase casualties, so it is better to retreat."
The military minister's tone was not as good as Xiang Liang's, and he said in a low voice: "In just three days, our Zhao Qichu army lost one-third. If we really want to attack with all our strength in ten days as you said, our Zhao Qichu army will probably be defeated."
The whole army was wiped out, was this your idea from the beginning?"
Tian Rong said quietly: "All the men in our Qi Kingdom are good men. If you die on the road to conquer Qin, I have nothing to say. But if you die by being plotted like this, I, Tian Rong, will be the first to refuse. Marshal Zhou, if you
If we continue like this, we will just break up."
Zhou Shi glanced at the three of them with cold eyes, and the military minister Xiang Liang and Tian Rong looked at him unceremoniously.
After dozens of breaths passed, Zhou Shi showed a trace of ridicule on his face and said: "Tomorrow Zhang Chu's army will attack the city. All four countries will treat them equally. If you still have any objections, then prepare to explain the funeral arrangements."
After saying this, Zhou Shi turned around and left without looking back, not caring about the ugly expressions on the three people's faces.
The three military ministers Xiang Liang and Tian Rong who stayed there looked at each other for a long time, with helpless expressions on their faces, nodded, and left.
…
At Hangu Pass, countless animal meats were brought out, cooked in large iron pots, cut into countless pieces, and distributed to each soldier. A cheerful atmosphere permeated the entire pass.
This atmosphere became even more intense when the heads of the powerful families announced that after the war, they would reward meritorious soldiers with land and houses.
In the past two days, soldiers from various families have killed and wounded a large number of rebels while defending the city. According to Lin Ze's promise, these military exploits are enough to ensure that the heirs of each family will inherit some of the family's major titles.
If we make some more contributions and the family operates again, it is not impossible to go further.
The heads of each family felt very happy after completing the tasks assigned by their families, so they came up with this event to reward the army.
As for the coalition forces' casualties of more than 40,000 in the past two days, each coalition did not take it seriously. To them, aren't they just some soldiers? They can just recruit them after they die.
While each family was rewarding the army, Lin Ze also ordered Qianyuan to prepare a large amount of meat to appease the soldiers' morale. You must know that when each family's supplies entered the customs, Lin Ze took 30% of them.
In the entire Hangu Pass, the only depressed person may be Li You, who is unable to support the 50,000 troops Lin Ze gave him.
This time to reward the army, these 50,000 people secretly ran to Lin Ze.
After Lin Ze found out, he didn't let anyone expose it. He just asked Qianyuan to prepare more meat and treat everyone equally.
As a result, many of the 50,000-strong army had objections to Li You.
…
In the early morning of the fourth day, a total of 300,000 Chu troops lined up in front of Hangu Pass. Encouraged by the sound of drums, they continuously attacked the city wall of Hangu Pass.
Under such an offensive, the armies of each family immediately showed signs of decline. If it weren't for last night, when the heads of each family rewarded the army, their morale increased a lot, and the city wall would have almost been unable to be defended.
Even so, Lin Ze brought the army to support twice before he could save the city wall.
This battle lasted until dark and ended with Zhang Chu's army suffering more than 90,000 casualties and various miscellaneous armies suffering more than 30,000 casualties.
However, Zhou Shi had no intention of paying attention to the results of this battle, because the envoy sent by Chen She arrived and brought news that the Qin army was causing trouble in Yangzhai.
According to Chen She's messenger, one hundred thousand Qin troops relied on Yangzhai City and captured more than ten surrounding counties one after another, killing all the officials and soldiers Zhang Chu had assigned to each county.
The cruelty of his actions is outrageous.
All the officials and soldiers of Zhang Chu in Yingchuan County were in panic. They sent people to step up patrols and wrote to Chen She, asking for rescue.
In this way, Chen She, who was far away in Chen County, learned of the news and immediately sent an envoy to ask him why he allowed the Qin army to cause trouble in the rear?
If it was just a call for help from the rear, Zhou Shi might just turn a blind eye and pretend that nothing happened.
But now that Chen She had personally inquired about the matter, Zhou Shi certainly did not dare to neglect it. He could only entertain the envoy while pondering a document to explain the matter to Chen She.
After seeing off the envoy, Zhou Shi had some free time, rubbed his temples, and thought carefully about how to continue this war.
For the first time, Zhou Shi had the idea of withdrawing from the army.
Then Zhou Shi locked a man in the tent for a whole night.
Early the next morning, Zhou Shi summoned his generals, conspired, and issued a military order to retreat.
After the three military ministers Xiang Liang and Tian Rong learned about it, they almost thought they had heard wrong. They immediately came together to find Zhou Shi and asked, "I heard that Marshal Zhou planned to withdraw his troops. I wonder if this is the case?"
Zhou Shi nodded and said: "Yes, Hangu Pass is dangerous and cannot be broken easily. I decided to pack up my things and lead the army back to Yangdi."
The three of them looked at each other, and Wu Chen asked: "In this case, is it time to give us the antidote?"
Zhou Shi took out three bottles from his arms and threw them to the three of them: "The bottles contain the antidote. Take one pill a day. After three days, the poison will be cured naturally."
The three of them hurriedly accepted the antidote, but did not rush to take it, but carefully put it into their arms.
Zhou Shi just smiled slightly when he saw this. After being poisoned by himself, the three of them were obviously much more cautious.
After the three of them got the antidote, they looked at each other, and unanimously raised their hands towards Zhou Shi and said, "Since we have decided to retreat, I have to go back and pack my things, so I will say goodbye."
After speaking, the three of them walked cautiously towards their respective campsites. Seeing that Zhou Shi had no intention of stopping them, they immediately quickened their pace, fearing that Zhou Shi would go back on his word.
An hour later, the remaining 960,000 rebels broke camp and left to the east.
…
Such a large movement by the rebels immediately aroused the Qin army's thoughts on the city wall. Lin Ze naturally noticed it, but did not make any move.
After the principals of each family learned the news that the rebels had withdrawn, they immediately couldn't sit still and hurriedly joined forces and came to the city wall.
Seeing that the rebels were really far away, he immediately suggested to Lin Ze: "Master Shaofu, the rebels have retreated. This is the best opportunity to pursue them. This opportunity cannot be missed. Please order the pursuit of the rebels quickly."
Lin Ze glanced at the group of people with an idiotic expression, and then ordered: "Pass this commander's military order not to open the city gate. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed."