In this battle, the Chu army lost more than 30,000 people, more than one-third of the Chu army's number of participants.
There were such heavy casualties mainly because Xiang Liang underestimated the enemy and misjudged the enemy's situation, thinking that the Chu army had an overwhelming advantage over the Qin army in this battle.
So when he found that the momentum was wrong, he still commanded the Chu army to attack instead of retreating or switching from attack to defense.
But this is actually normal.
Who knew that the Liang Army, which had no armor, surrendered troops from Wei, and was surrounded, could fight like this?
Xiang Liang couldn't think of it, and Xiang Yan couldn't think of it either.
Xiang Yan almost vomited blood and died when he received the information from Xiang Liang and found out that the Chu army had lost another 30,000 men... It was the time for the Chu army to use troops. The total army he could mobilize was only 300,000 men. He didn't want to Xiang Liang lost 30,000 yuan on his own initiative.
At the same time, Xiang Yan was also secretly frightened.
He knew Liang's ability, and the Chu army's combat power was not so unbearable. How could 90,000 well-equipped soldiers attack 70,000 unarmored surrender troops and lose more than 30,000 men?
Who is this Shen Bing to have such ability?
However, Xiang Yan has no doubt about this.
If it had happened before, Xiang Yan would probably not believe anything he said, but think about the battle with the navy in Qiancheng... Shen Bing only led 3,000 black-armored troops and defeated his 10,000-strong navy, so that he did not dare to fight.
At this time, isn't Xiang Liang's battle a replica of the water battle in Qiancheng?
Xiang Yan now has a headache:
Only 270,000 of the 300,000-strong army remained, which was comparable to the Qin army's 270,000.
However, the Chu army of 270,000 still has to defend the front line from Ruyin to Chengfu, and more troops will be needed by then.
Although the nobles may send troops to help when the time comes... this is also Xiang Yan's plan, because if Ruyin cannot defend Shouchun, it will be over. After Shouchun is over, the fiefdoms of the nobles will follow.
When the nobles have a sense of urgency, they will naturally send food and troops to Ruyin, no matter how much they are willing to do, otherwise how can they get along in front of the King of Chu and other nobles?
The problem is that it will take time to force the nobles to send troops.
If Ruyin only defends for three days and collapses after five days, then the nobles will not be able to send troops in time.
At this time, the military strength is slightly insufficient... What should we do?
After thinking about it, Xiang Yan ordered to Xiang Bo:
"Go to Jiangdong immediately and convince the clan leader to bring Jiangdong's soldiers and navy!"
Xiang Bo was stunned for a moment and said:
"Father……"
Xiang Yan interrupted Xiang Bo:
"Go quickly!"
Xiang Bo agreed and took a few personal guards with him.
It's no wonder that Uncle Xiang hesitated. Those soldiers and naval forces from Jiangdong were the roots of the Xiang family in Jiangdong.
To put it bluntly, the current situation is that even if the Chu Kingdom falls to Jiangdong, it may not necessarily fall.
Because Jiangdong has a world-famous eight thousand soldiers and elite navy.
As mentioned before, the Xiang clan has been advocating martial arts and bravery and actively preparing for war since they were exiled to Jiangdong, because they believe that this is the only way the Xiang clan can maintain peace.
In fact, most other nobles and even all the nobles in the Warring States Period were like this, that is, they worked hard to cultivate private soldiers.
This is actually easy to understand. Private soldiers are one's own confidants and soldiers over whom one has complete control. This is not the case with national or city garrison troops.
Therefore, the training, equipment, food, etc. of private soldiers are generally higher than those of the army, and their combat effectiveness is naturally higher.
It's just that the Xiang clan is even more special. The eight thousand soldiers are all soldiers of the Xiang clan, and they have been tested in actual combat... Before putting down the rebellion of Zhuang Qi, Xiang Yan led these soldiers to chase and kill Zhuang Qi in the dense forest. It took several years for the group to finally quell the rebellion and send Zhuang Qi's head to the King of Chu.
As a result, these eight thousand disciples became as famous as Xiang Yan.
Whenever the Chu State talks about elites, the first thing they talk about is "the eight thousand children from Jiangdong."
Not to mention the Xiang family's navy. The Xiang family all make a living by fishing in Jiangdong, so they are familiar with water battles.
Therefore, these eight thousand soldiers and the Xiang navy are the life-saving soldiers of the Xiang clan.
If the Chu Kingdom is destroyed, Xiang Yan only needs to take a few sons back to Jiangdong. With these soldiers who are good at long-term water warfare and forest warfare, the Xiang family can be protected.
But at this time, Xiang Yan transferred these troops to guard Ruyin... which meant that he spent all his resources to cut off his retreat.
But as the saying goes, ginger is still spicier when old, but Xiang Yan doesn't think so.
First of all, Xiang Yan considered one thing: If Shen Bing was so powerful and the black-armored navy he trained was invincible in the world, how could Xiang's navy be his opponent?
If Xiang's navy was no match, how could Jiangdong remain in a corner?
Do the Xiang clan really want to hide in the dense forest and join Baiyue?
You must know that Baiyue has always been suppressed by the Xiang clan and has long been resentful. If the Xiang clan is in trouble, they will not add insult to injury, so how can they help them?
After thinking about it this way, Xiang Yan understood:
If the Chu Kingdom dies, the Xiang people will also die.
If that's the case, what's the use of preserving Xiang's private soldiers?
Another point is that Xiang Yan knows that the eyes of the nobles of Chu are staring at him.
If the Xiang clan is not willing to contribute their private soldiers, how can those nobles be willing?
So after much thought, I decided to mobilize the soldiers from Jiangdong no matter what.
Xiang Yan's approach is correct.
After he did this in history, the nobles of Chu State became unprecedentedly united and willing to send troops and food.
From this, after the Chu State defeated Li Xin, Xiang Yan also established his position in the Chu State that no one could shake.
However, the good times did not last long. Soon he was defeated by Wang Jian and committed suicide.
Shen Bing didn't know about this situation.
He only knew that the morale of the Liang Army was unprecedentedly high because of this great victory.
In fact, before this, the soldiers of the Liang Army had doubts about their own combat power and even Shen Bing's formation.
After all, no one has ever used it before, and there are many uncertainties in something that no one has used before.
After this battle, everyone knew their own strength and also knew that this formation was useful, and their confidence and morale came from this.
In comparison, the Qin army led by Meng Wu on the other side paled in comparison.
Because they prepared their troops for battle last night but only heard their voices but not their people, they obviously fell into the Chu army's bluffing plan.
Even though the Chu army harassed them along the way and fought a few small battles, the total number of Chu soldiers killed was no more than a thousand.
But the Liang army killed 30,000 enemies in just one night...
Originally, the Qin army looked down upon the surrender of Wei's troops, and did not want to turn over in just one night.
That's not what Shen Bing is concerned about. They can think whatever they like, or compete secretly, which cannot be controlled by human power.
What Shen Bing paid attention to was a young general who had recently joined the Daliang Army.
Shen Bing didn't take it seriously at first. After all, the Liang Army was famous, and it was normal for Qin Army generals to join him.
But when Shen Bing looked at the roster... he was extremely obedient, Wang Ben!
It's actually Wang Ben?
Could it be that Wang Ben?
Or just the same name?
Otherwise, why didn't Wang Jian's son stay with Wang Jian but join the Liang Army and join him as Shen Bing?!