Xiang Yan's army withdrew, and those Chu troops who were besieged in the highlands by the flood could only be held captive.
It was not difficult to capture these Chu troops. The Qin troops only needed to surround the high ground on rafts and then flash the bronze swords in their hands.
In fact, it is very easy for the Chu army to resist in this situation, and it can even be said to be a sure win. After all, they are the down-to-earth side and have much more troops.
The question is whether resistance still makes sense:
Although the highlands are temporarily safe, there is not enough food, and continuing to persevere is a dead end.
If there are no reinforcements, the only way to survive is to surrender, and resistance will be digging your own grave.
Of course the Chu army was unwilling to choose this path.
There were even Chu soldiers who were so cold and hungry that they expected the Qin army to "capture" them.
Therefore, the Qin army was not so much about fighting as it was about saving people.
The Qin army got used to it after going back and forth, and when they went to "fight" again, they just pulled a few more rafts, and then shouted to the Chu army:
"If you want to surrender, come, if you don't surrender, stay where you are!"
This method is good, as it does not require the expenditure of troops to annihilate. The Chu troops all took off their equipment and threw down their weapons and listened to the Qin army's orders. There were even cases where a few Qin troops captured hundreds of Chu troops.
There was great joy in Daliang City, and every time the soldiers brought back a batch of prisoners, there was always a cheer among the troops.
As for the army and people of Wei... they had no choice.
Wei Wei played an important role in this. During this period, he had been eloquently stating his interests and harms to the army and people of the Wei State.
The soldiers and civilians think about it. They were really worse than dogs under the false hands of King Wei before. Now, what's wrong with being able to become the most powerful country in the Central Plains under the Qin system?
So I accepted it half-heartedly.
Here in Handan, Ying Zheng is said to hold his head high and his chest high, and his spirit is high.
At this time, although he did not dare to go out of the tent to expose his identity due to the danger in Zhao land, his mind had already drifted out of the tent to conceive of a beautiful blueprint.
This battle can be said to have opened up a great situation for Qin. It not only solved various crises but also defeated the Chu army.
Ying Zheng summarized the following benefits:
One: The Chu army defeated hundreds of thousands of troops and suffered heavy casualties. After the Chu army was seriously injured, it would be unable to send troops for a long time in the future, so Qin got a rare chance to breathe.
Second: Stabilizing the rule of the Qin army in this area.
This aspect is mainly about psychological shock:
If the Qin army were defeated in this battle, then Zhao, Han, Wei and other countries would all raise their troops to cause rebellion. As the saying goes, when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down, and they push it with great vigor and concerted efforts, so the wall will be more easily knocked down.
However, it would be another matter if the people knew that the wall could not be pushed down.
The Qin army won this battle, which told the people that Qin's wall had not yet fallen, so no one wanted to be the "leading bird".
Third: The inclusion of Wei State into Qin State's territory will connect the three counties of Zhao State in the north and South Korea in the south and straighten the border.
This not only makes it easier for Qin to defend but also makes it easier for Qin to attack.
It is easier to defend not only geographically, but also because the straightening of the border line at least saves the Qin State from the 50,000 Qin troops originally deployed on the curved border of the Wei State.
At this time, the Qin army was in short supply of troops, especially the three counties of Handan, which became a major weakness.
The 50,000 Qin soldiers who were saved were transferred to Handan... and a big stone hanging in Ying Zheng's heart was put down.
Needless to say, it is easier to attack. The Wei State is located in the center of the six countries and has a dense water network and a well-developed irrigation system. In the future, it will undoubtedly attack the food supply bases of Chu and Qi.
At this time, among the Six Kingdoms, Han, Zhao, and Wei had been destroyed one after another, and Yan and Dai had been beaten to half ashes. The only ones left were Chu and Qi.
If Wei is not important, which other country is important?!
Therefore, this battle can be said to be a stroke of genius, which wiped out all the disadvantages caused by Qin's lack of troops and lack of preparation, leaving a great situation.
This made Ying Zhenglong very happy, and he began to dream of unifying the Central Plains, a dream that everyone before him had dreamed of but could not achieve.
At this time, the bodyguard came to report:
"Your Majesty, please see Prime Minister Li Si."
Ying Zheng said without thinking:
"See!"
During this period, the Qin State gained too much territory too quickly, and Ying Zheng needed someone to manage it.
As for the expert in internal affairs, it was Li Si, so Ying Zheng transferred him from Xianyang.
When Li Si entered the tent, he bowed to Ying Zheng:
"Congratulations to your Majesty for your new kingdom."
"Now that Wei has been destroyed, our army only needs to rest for a while before sending troops to Chu to avenge it."
There is a reason why Li Si did not talk about Qi.
At this time, Qin's strategy was to stabilize Qi, that is, to maintain friendly relations with Qi. Therefore, the whole country had a unified voice and did not talk about the attack on Qi, so as not to be overheard by Qi's spies and cause trouble.
On the other hand, the state of Qi is really nothing compared to the state of Chu, so let’s not mention it.
Of course Ying Zheng knew what Li Si meant. He nodded slightly and said:
"The Prime Minister said it well, the Wei State and the Chu State will no longer matter."
"From now on, who else can stop my army of Great Qin?"
"The unification of the Central Plains is just around the corner..."
However, Li Si poured cold water on Ying Zheng, and he paid homage to Ying Zheng:
"Your Majesty, I think... it's too early to say 'it's just around the corner' at this time."
Ying Zhengqi said:
"Why did the Prime Minister say this?"
"The Chu State has been severely weakened by this battle, and the domestic political situation is unstable and there is no need to worry about it."
"And Yan, Dai and other countries are just a bunch of young people..."
Li Si replied:
"The little minister is worried about the country of Chu."
Ying Zheng said "Oh":
"Prime Minister, do you think Chu State is still capable of resisting our Qin army?"
Li Sibai said:
"Your Majesty, although the battle in Daliang ended with a great victory for our army, it was a bit of a fluke."
"In particular, it exposed a weakness of our army: it is not good at water warfare."
"And the Chu State has many lakes and water networks from Qinhuai down."
"When the time comes, the Chu State will use the advantage of its naval forces to assist with its infantry defense. How do you think our army can win?"
This question stumped Ying Zheng.
Li Si's analysis is very reasonable. When the Qin army attacked Wei, it suffered heavy losses from the water network and the Chu navy.
If we were to attack the Chu State...the water network would be even worse than that of the Wei State.
In addition, many of the water networks in the Wei State were artificially dug ditches and canals, while the tributaries and lakes in the Huaihe River and Yangtze River systems in the Chu State were naturally formed, with more complex hydrology and better navigation capabilities.
This means that it is more conducive to Chu's naval warfare. Then the Qin army will not be able to attack Chu again by water!
Ying Zheng frowned as he thought about it and asked:
"In this case, Prime Minister, can you have a solution?"
Li Si replied:
"For today's plan, I think we can only prepare early."
"We should train a naval force as soon as possible."
"Then when we go south to attack Chu, we won't be at a loss as to what to do!"