At this time, the nobles of Chu State wanted to use Shouchun as a shield. They all hoped that Shouchun would have as many defenders as possible instead of relying on Ruyin's defense line.
Some nobles even hoped that after the Qin army captured Shouchun, they would be unable to attack again or have no interest in attacking the Chu nobles. This would be a good thing for the nobles, and they could become kings in their own fiefdoms.
The King of Chu naturally understood their thoughts after carrying the cud. He thought about it and said:
"Ruyin is only two hundred miles away from Shouchun. Once Ruyin is lost, Shouchun will not be guaranteed."
"If this is not protecting the country, what is protecting the country?"
"Besides, the cavalry is only used for support, so what's the use of the cavalry if it's left to defend the city?"
So without hesitation, he immediately ordered Zhang Qi to prepare and set off, bringing not only 20,000 cavalry troops but also 10,000 chariot troops.
After General Zhu got the order, he immediately sent out 5,000 troops to advance, followed by 15,000 cavalry, 10,000 chariots at the end, and 30,000 troops marched toward Ruyin in a mighty manner.
Zhang Qi's arrangement makes sense.
He knew in his heart that the battle of Ruyin was not due to lack of troops but lack of time. If the main force of the Qin army reached Ruyin City and failed to break the city, all previous efforts would be wasted.
So the first batch of 5,000 cavalry carried only three days of dry food and went straight to Ruyin to join the battle. The following 15,000 cavalry carried food and grass. The chariots and soldiers were not used as a last resort...
Chariot soldiers are different from cavalry.
The cavalry of this era were mostly infantry on horseback, except for the black armored troops. Their duties were to attack cities and so on.
The chariot soldiers are truly another branch of the army, and their biggest feature is heavy armor... Anyway, they rely on horse-drawn carriages to maneuver on chariots, so it doesn't take much effort to have heavier armor. If you can add some protection, why not add some?
Therefore, robes, thickened armor, leggings, etc. are all available, and even the general's armor is not as complete as the chariots and soldiers... The general must also consider the issue of mobility and horseback transfer, otherwise the battlefield will be regarded as a target and he will not be able to move.
So sad.
The chariot troopers, like modern tanks, pile up armor within the range that the horse power can bear, thereby obtaining better protection and impact.
However, this makes it too clumsy in siege warfare.
Moreover, each chariot has a driver, a halberdier, and an archer.
The driver is good at driving, the halberdier is good at using long weapons, and the archer is good at shooting from a distance, but they are not suitable for close combat.
Then let them all mix together to attack the city?
Or was it reprogrammed?
Or let them all switch to bronze swords and use them as sword and shield soldiers?
After a while, a series of problems appeared.
Therefore, Xiang Yancai did not ask for chariot troops who could reach Ruyin in time and join the battle, but only cavalry.
Xiang Yan had this foresight, but the King of Chu, who did not know how to use troops, did not understand this, so with a wave of his hand, he also sent up chariot soldiers who were not suitable for attacking the city.
In fact, if the king of Chu carried the cud and did this, it would be better to use the chariot as a means of transportation to carry 10,000 infantrymen to Ruyin.
Although Zhang Qi also understood this, thinking from his perspective, it was better to have these 10,000 chariot soldiers than none, so he didn't say anything more.
From Zhang Qi's arrangement of the march, it can also be seen that he understands the art of war and knows how to arrange the march.
In fact, Zhang Qi has been in the Chu army for more than ten years, starting from the leader of the cavalry army of 500 to the general of Zhuguo...
Although it is said that the reason why he was appointed as the general of the Zhu Kingdom was because he was deeply trusted by Chu King Fu Chu, and he also benefited from it after Chu King Fu Chu came to power, he could be regarded as an experienced veteran.
However, Zhang Qi failed to consider that his opponent was Shen Bing, the same Shen Bing who defeated Xiang Yandu, the number one general in Chu State, many times.
Zhang Qi and his personal guards were among the first five thousand people.
According to Zhang Qi's idea, they were going to attack the city and the Qin army only had 3,000 men, so they must have concentrated in Ruyin and waited for the Chu army to attack.
So most of these five thousand people were sword and shield bearers, and they carried short axes, hand saws and other tools so that they could start making siege equipment immediately when they arrived in Ruyin.
Zhang Qi urged the troops to hurry up.
Because he learned from Xiang Yan that the main force of the Qin army might arrive in Ruyin in ten days.
Shouchun is two hundred miles away from Ruyin. It would take a day and a half to reach Shouchun at full speed, and it would take at least a day to make siege equipment.
It would take two and a half days to launch the offensive in this way, and the remaining time would only be seven and a half days.
With 30,000 troops, it was not a problem to fight against 3,000 Qin troops, not to mention that Zhang Qi was leading the capital guard army...the soldiers, food and equipment were the best elite private soldiers.
The problem is that the Qin army's three thousand men occupied Ruyin.
Ru River goes west from the north gate of the city, bypasses the west gate and returns to the south gate.
That is to say, the three gates in the north, west and south of the city are blocked by Ru River. Usually, the entrance and exit of the city gates rely on a pontoon bridge and a moat. It is extremely difficult to attack the city from these three gates.
Only the east gate is connected to the land.
The reason why the east gate is connected to the land instead of building a moat is not because of the lack of military and civilian power of the Chu State.
But facing Shouchun from the east, there is usually no enemy to attack... If the enemy attacks from this side, it almost means that Shouchun is no longer protected.
Therefore, Ruyin City is extremely difficult for enemies attacking from the west, but it is very easy to reinforce our own side from the east.
At the same time, it became possible for Zhang Qi to attack the city from the east.
The issue is……
In this way, the Qin army's three thousand men could concentrate their forces in the east direction and almost ignore the offensives in the north, west and south.
In other words, only a small number of troops need to be deployed in other directions to ensure its safety.
So this battle will not be as easy as imagined.
Just as Zhang Qi was advancing and thinking about how to attack Ruyin, suddenly there was an unusual commotion of birds in the dense forests on both sides.
Zhang Qi was shocked, could there be an ambush?
But then I thought about it and thought it was impossible.
The Qin army has only three thousand men in total. If an ambush occurs here, who will guard Ruyin?
Thinking about it, Zhang Qi didn't pay much attention, thinking that the passing of troops had alarmed the birds.
However, the next second he realized that he was wrong, because thick smoke was already rising from the dense forest, long thick smoke, on both sides, and occasionally the crackling sound of burning branches and leaves could be heard.
Zhang Qi secretly said something bad, and then shouted:
"There's an ambush! Rush out!"
The reason why Zhang Qi ordered "rush out" instead of "retreat" was because he knew that the enemy must have blocked the retreat.
Of course, the enemy must have blocked the way forward, but often more troops will be deployed on the retreat path than on the forward path.
Zhang Qi guessed this correctly.
It was the Black Armored Army who set up an ambush here.
Shen Bing will not just stay in Ruyin in a daze.
Just kidding, they are cavalry. The advantage of cavalry is that they can maneuver quickly and attack everywhere. Staying in the city and defending is the next best thing. Attacking instead of defending can not only surprise the enemy but also demoralize the enemy.
So Shen Bing only left a thousand men in Ruyin to prepare for defense, while the other two thousand cavalry continued to "do evil" in the appearance of Chu cavalry.