There is a modern saying: "An army without a soul cannot defeat the enemy." What this means is the soul of the army.
If you only build an army based on materials or titles, then one day, if the enemy can provide more materials and higher titles, will you be able to buy the army?
But if this army has some kind of spiritual yearning because of the support of its fellow villagers, it will not be so easy to be bribed.
This is actually what the ancients said, "He who wins the hearts and minds of the people wins the world", because winning the hearts and minds of the people means gaining the support of the people, and gaining the support of the people will affect the army.
The Black Armored Army obviously did not do this when they were still Wei soldiers, because the King of Wei was unpopular.
In contrast, the Qin army governed the country according to Legalism and implemented a system of prefectures and counties that gave the people a considerable degree of personal freedom. Coupled with the Qin army's governance in Daliang during this period, the people's hearts quickly turned to Qin.
This in turn affects the Black Armored Army, making them feel a sense of honor and pride after winning a battle, which will obviously affect their combat effectiveness.
Just as I was thinking about it, the ship docked at Heijia Camp.
As soon as Shen Bing got his feet on the ground, a messenger came forward and said:
"Colonel, the general invites you."
Shen Bing only said that Yang Duanhe came to him because he wanted to know more about the battle situation in more detail, but this time he guessed wrong.
As soon as he saw Shen Bing entering the tent, Yang Duanhe said happily:
"Colonel Captain!"
"Your Majesty has made me a general and ordered me to prepare an army of 200,000 men to prepare for war."
Shen Bing didn't feel much at first.
If you become a general, you should become a general. This Yang Duanhe can be considered to have a future.
But then I thought about it...200,000 troops?
Why does this sound familiar?
Shen Bing asked:
"General, did the king order you to attack Chu?"
Yang Duanhe nodded proudly:
"Who else can we attack if we don't attack Chu at this time?"
Shen Bing couldn't help being stunned.
Damn it, this history has been changed by yourself again?
Li Xin was originally supposed to lead an army of 200,000 to attack Chu, but now it was Yang Duanhe?
Then Li Xin returned in defeat. Will Yang Duanhe suffer the same fate?
If so, does that mean that my life will be at risk in this battle...
"Colonel, Colonel?"
Yang Duanhe's cry pulled Shen Bing back, and Shen Bing hurriedly responded.
Yang Duanhe asked:
"I wonder if the captain has a way to attack Chu?"
Shen Bing was the one who defeated 10,000 Chu troops with 3,000 navy troops, so of course he had to listen to Shen Bing's opinion first.
But Shen Bing hesitated at this time.
He tried to recall how Li Xin lost this battle in history.
The record of this battle in the history books is very simple. At the beginning, Li Xin's attack went smoothly and he captured more than a dozen cities.
But who didn’t know that he had fallen into Xiang Yan’s trick of luring the enemy deeper:
Li Xin's army was troubled by the long supply line when it penetrated deep into the Chu army. In order to ensure the supply line, the army was divided into garrison units. As a result, the main force was surrounded by Xiang Yan...
Supply lines?
Thinking of this, Shen Bing said:
"General, an army of 200,000 is far from enough to attack Chu!"
Yang Duan and Qidao:
"Why did the captain say this?"
"Then the Chu army has 400,000 soldiers. Before you flooded more than 100,000 soldiers, there are still 300,000 soldiers left."
"With two hundred thousand versus three hundred thousand, how can it be said that it is not enough to attack Chu?"
No wonder Yang Duanhe felt strange.
The quality of the Qin army has always been higher than that of other countries. Even when facing the powerful Zhao army, they can often defeat one against two...except for Li Mu's northern troops.
So according to common sense, there will be no big problem between 200,000 Qin troops and 300,000 Chu troops.
Shen Bing replied:
"The general doesn't know something. The terrain of the Chu country is mountainous and the roads are difficult to travel. It rains heavily in spring and summer, especially in spring and summer. It is extremely difficult to march and transport food."
Its main purpose is to transport food.
The terrain of Chu State is different from the Yima Pingchuan in the north.
A smooth road often means there is no danger to defend.
The mountains and hills of the Chu State are all dangerous areas, and most of the roads are built along the mountains. Not only are their twists and turns affected by the mountains... it is easy for the Chu army to use these mountains to block the roads.
The only way for the Qin army to solve this problem was to occupy the mountains and hills along the supply line.
It's okay if the supply line is short, but if the supply line is long, it will be full of loopholes and require a lot of troops.
After hearing Shen Bing's explanation, Yang Duanhe frowned:
"What should I do?"
"If Chu is really what the captain said... a force of 200,000 troops is indeed not enough to attack Chu."
This is not a question of whether the combat effectiveness is strong or not, but a question of how the troops will be dispersed.
Therefore, when Wang Jian in history said that he wanted to mobilize all the troops of the country to attack Chu, it was not a sign of weakness, but the real situation was that attacking Chu would require more troops.
Shen Bing didn't know what to do for a while.
It is said that "many soldiers are more valuable than finesse", but this also depends on the situation. In some special circumstances, "more" is more important than "fine".
Shen Bing suddenly thought...how did Wang Jian destroy Chu?
Wouldn't it be enough to copy his tactics?
However, this was just a thought, and I was quickly disappointed.
Because Wang Jian used 600,000 troops to destroy Chu, which was three times more than Yang Duanhe's troops.
In addition, Wang Jian pressed 600,000 troops to play on the border of Chu State.
It was really fun, and it allowed 600,000 troops to eat and drink well, and the fun lasted for several months.
This is actually a kind of psychological warfare and a war of attrition.
At that time, although the Qin State had to mobilize the entire country to gather an army of 600,000.
But it has successively destroyed the three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei, and not only robbed a large number of fertile fields, but also a large number of people and prisoners of war.
Although these common people and prisoners of war cannot be armed and go to war for the time being, they can still farm and do hard labor.
Therefore, Qin State had no shortage of people to work in the fields.
But Chu State is different...
As soon as Wang Jian's 600,000-strong army stationed at the border of Chu State, Xiang Yan was so frightened that he gathered all the soldiers from the country and urgently recruited all the adults to join the army.
But waiting left and right at the front line, Wang Jian did not attack, and there were large fields in the Chu area in the rear that were left uncultivated and needed labor to farm...
It is definitely not an option to continue to waste it like this. The Qin army can afford it, but the Chu army cannot.
As a result, when the harvest is harvested next year, the Chu army will probably starve to death without the Qin army attacking.
So Xiang Yan had no choice but to withdraw his troops first, and then came back to confront the Qin army after finishing the field work.
It seems that Wang Jian launched an offensive at this moment... Needless to say what happened next, the Chu army was defeated, and the Qin army captured Shouchun and successfully destroyed Chu.
Although Shen Bing knew Wang Jian's tactics, he could not imitate them.
Firstly, Yang Duanhe only had 200,000 troops, which was not enough to intimidate Xiang Yan into mobilizing the entire nation.
Secondly, it's because Yang Duanhe is no better than Wang Jian...
Wang Jian could put his troops at the border to spend time with Xiang Yan, but Ying Zheng didn't even dare to rush him.
It would be different if Yang Duanhe led the troops. I am afraid that within a few days, Ying Zheng's order would come:
“Why the stagnation?”
"Isn't the General afraid of the Chu army?!"
Therefore, Shen Bing could only think of another way.