Because if there is any country among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period that can compete with Qin in terms of comprehensive strength, it is Chu.
The Chu State had people, land, and food, and its size was not much different from that of the Qin State after it occupied Bashu.
In addition, Xiang Yan's timing for a comprehensive counterattack was quite accurate at this time...
It is the time when the Qin State has provoked all the six countries except Qi and even destroyed Zhao and Han. As long as the Chu State stands up for justice or wins one or two battles, all the countries will respond one after another.
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For example, if the Chu State successfully surrounded and annihilated 100,000 Qin troops in Daliang, the exiled soldiers from various subjugated countries would come to surrender one after another, and the people would easily accept and even welcome the rule of the "liberator" of the Chu State.
So this small spark in Chu State soon had the potential to start a prairie fire.
Therefore, the current encirclement and annihilation battle is a top priority for Xiang Yan. It has become the beginning of the entire strategy and almost determines the victory or defeat of Xiang Yan's grand strategy.
So far, Xiang Yan is very satisfied with the development of things.
Under Chu's vigorous propaganda and appeal, the army and people of Wei strongly supported the Chu army: many Wei soldiers came to surrender from all directions, but the number increased by tens of thousands in more than ten days, and the people also sent food, clothing and various supplies.
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Xiang Yan believed that if one day he captured Daliang again, he would only need to support a puppet to be the emperor so that he could control Wei.
As for the Qin State, the Wei State was also the top priority at this time.
If Qin State rested for four years before launching a war as it had in history, Wei State might not be important.
Because at that time, the three counties of Zhao State and South Korea had recovered their strength and could recruit troops.
But if the Qin State did not have these four years, the Wei State, which has fertile soil and beautiful water and whose people do not have a high sense of identity with the country, would be a battleground.
As mentioned before, the King of Wei pretended to love dogs more than people, and the people were not as good as dogs in his eyes.
In this case, if the Qin army occupied Zhao and Han could take four years to recruit troops with confidence, it would only take one or even half a year for Wei.
Not to mention other things, even a loyal minister like Wei Wei could surrender to Qin with all his heart, what else is impossible?
On the contrary, if the land of Wei falls into the hands of Chu, it will also be able to increase a large amount of food and troops for Chu in a short period of time.
One comes and goes, the other waxes and wanes, the difference is huge.
Therefore, Ying Zheng, who was in charge of Handan, was pacing back and forth in the tent anxiously, while Wang Jian below did not dare to say a word.
After walking for a long time, Ying Zheng suddenly stopped and asked:
"Is there no other way to rescue Daliang?"
"Are we just going to wait for the Hanoi soldiers to be surrounded and annihilated by Chu?"
Wang Jian replied:
"Your Majesty, please be patient. General Yang has captured Daliang City."
"The beams are indestructible, and there must be food in the city."
"I think it is not difficult for Daliang to hold on for several months..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Ying Zheng:
"What about in a few months? Do you have a solution?"
Wang Jian was speechless for a moment.
He was indeed helpless in the current situation.
Mainly because the navy of Chu State was powerful and the water network of Wei State was suitable for navy operations, the Qin army could only attack dozens of miles south and was overwhelmed and unable to move. Handan was more than 600 miles away from Daliang.
Ying Zheng also knew this, so he thought about it and asked:
"Since the Chu army has a navy, can our army also organize a navy?"
"We can make the Zhao people rush to build the warship day and night and seize the time to train."
"Then the navy will not be so passive against the navy and infantry."
Wang Jian cupped his hands and replied:
"What the king said is absolutely true. I will go and make arrangements right away."
"only……"
"Handan is located in the lower reaches of the river, so even if we form a naval army to confront the Chu navy, we have to go upstream."
"In addition, training navy troops cannot be accomplished in a short while."
"But Chu Shuijun is a soldier who grew up on the river bank..."
Ying Zheng waved his hand and interrupted Wang Jian with a "hum" sound:
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Wang Jian could only bow slightly and dare not speak.
Ying Zheng sighed and said:
"It would be great if Shen Bing was here. He would definitely be able to come up with strategies to deal with the enemy."
This really gave Shen Bing too much face. What Ying Zheng didn't know was that Shen Bing in Daliang had no choice but to waste his time like this.
The weather is getting colder and it even snowed.
The water volume of the Yellow River has gradually decreased. It is estimated that the upper reaches of the river have been frozen.
This period is when the water volume of the Yellow River is at its smallest... Two places on the Yellow River will be frozen, one is the Hetao Plain, and the other is near Jinkou.
The Hetao Plain is further north than Jinkou, and because Jinkou is an outlet to the sea, there is seawater intrusion and the temperature does not change quickly, so it freezes later.
During this frozen time difference, the water in the upper reaches of the river cannot flow, but the water in the middle and lower reaches of the river can be drained out. Only a limited number of tributaries can replenish the water, so the amount of water is minimal.
But this is not a good thing for the Qin army.
To be precise, it was the Qin army under Wang Jian's tribe... They couldn't even build a pontoon bridge because of the small amount of water. When crossing ditches and rivers, they had to build bridges as before.
It was definitely a hard job for the engineers to go down to the river to drive pilings and build bridges in such a cold weather.
The only consolation is that due to the decrease in water volume, Chu's navy has become less active.
But everyone knows that this is only temporary. Once the Jinkou River freezes, the water in the lower reaches of the Yellow River will also accumulate and the water level will rise again.
Shen Bing was eating "fire wok" in the city while chatting with his subordinates.
The soldiers of the Qin army did not have enough warm clothes and bedding, so they adopted a rotation system to take turns to go out of the city for defense.
Cang complained about this:
"We should defend outside the city first, because the weather will get colder as time goes by!"
Fatty Tun replied:
"But it's not much different."
"I heard that some people have frozen to death in the night!"
The temperature outside the city was low and hiding in a tent that was difficult to keep out the cold. In addition, the bedding was stuffed with wheat stalks and was not insulating. It would not be surprising to freeze to death.
Shen Bing was lucky, he had two duck feather quilts.
However, Shen Bing allocated a bed for his subordinates to take turns sleeping... How could he have the nerve to occupy two beds to himself when his subordinates were all shivering from the cold.
But these are not problems. The problem is how to break this situation.
If we can't figure out a way, we will have less food every day. The conflicts in the city will one day intensify, and then there will be rivers of blood and corpses scattered everywhere.
Not long ago, some people even suggested killing a group of prisoners of war first to reduce the rate of food consumption.
Of course Shen Bing didn't want to come to this point, but he couldn't think of a suitable solution after much deliberation...
"Master, master?" Fatty Tun handed over a bowl of boiled dumplings and said, "Eat while it's hot to warm yourself up!"
Shen Bing nodded, took the bowl and chopsticks, took a few bites, and then fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, Shen Bing thought of a plan that seemed feasible. He was so excited that he put down the bowls and chopsticks and jumped up, which shocked everyone around him.