Wei Yao had briefly introduced it to Shen Bing before, but now the defense plan became clearer.
Yang Duanhe is worthy of being a famous general who has followed Wang Jian in east and west expeditions for many years. He laid out Shouchun's encirclement in a watertight manner:
Needless to say, the Huaibei Liang Army is mainly engaged in building camps for external parties.
In fact, Yang Duanhe's 80,000 Qin troops also built camps outside.
Because although this battle is to besiege Shouchun, what we need to guard against is not Shouchun's breakout... It is very difficult for the troops in Shouchun City to break through. As soon as the city gate is opened, the earth will be shaken, and the Qin army outside the city will be well prepared and able to Use more to defeat less.
Therefore, the main purpose of besieging Shouchun was to prevent other Chu troops from coming to the rescue, and to prevent the Chu army from joining forces with others to kill the Qin army by surprise.
Therefore, the camps of the Daliang Army and the Hanoi Army were set up externally.
Inside, a large number of trebuchets and crossbowmen were used to block the city gate.
The most distinctive feature of this defense is that Yang Duanhe used the Huaihe River to connect his troops: Shouchun used the Huaihe River as a moat to circle half a circle outside the city, while Yang Duanhe's Hanoi Army followed the two turning points of the Huaihe River. The other half of the circle was formed to build a stronghold.
In this way, the Hanoi soldiers can surround Shouchun and do not have to worry about their flanks being attacked during external defense... Both the left and right flanks are surrounded by the Huai River, and the Huai River has been blocked, so even if they want to attack, they cannot attack.
On the other hand, even if the pontoon is made very spacious, it is not a problem for several horses to move forward side by side.
Therefore, the Qin armies on the north and south sides of the Huaihe River can reinforce each other.
If there is any danger, it is that the Hanoi soldiers have to face the two big urn cities in Shouchun.
Thousands of Chu soldiers and even cavalry will rush out of these two barbican cities at any time.
However, this problem is also solved:
Yang Duanhe set up a large number of horse traps outside the city gate to block horse guns, followed by rows of trebuchets.
According to Yang Duanhe's explanation, those horse traps were dug by the Qin army under the city while building a shield formation at night.
The so-called horse trap is not a trap or a pit, but a small pit specifically for war horses and cavalry.
This small hole is only slightly larger than a fist and more than a foot deep.
Such small pits pose no threat to humans, but are a nightmare for cavalry and chariots.
The reason is that if the horse's hoof steps on the pit, it will sink in. Therefore, the cavalry and chariots can only move slowly but not fast. I won't say what will happen when the speed is fast... The horse's leg is stuck and cannot be pulled out in time. However, the carriage moved forward due to inertia, so the entire leg of the horse would be torn off, ranging from lameness to serious injuries.
Even if you are walking slowly, you will limp and easily trip. Riders on horseback can easily be thrown off.
As a result, the Chu army's cavalry and chariots became useless and could not leave the city to fight.
But if the infantry goes out of the city to fight... they will have to face several densely packed rows of new trebuchets behind them.
Therefore, the Chu army tried to break through several times before but was pushed back by the Qin army.
It's a pity that Zhang Qi, the capital guards he placed, especially the cavalry and chariot troops, failed to play their role from beginning to end:
Previously, when attacking the city of Ruyin, the cavalry and chariot soldiers were used as infantry. Now, when defending Shouchun, they could not even get out of the city gate.
Zhang Qi had previously promised to take Shen Bing's life in the future, but he didn't want Shen Bing to take his life.
Shen Bing felt a little sad about this. Those were all elite cavalry, so wasted like this?
He even wanted to tell Zhang Qi that this is not how cavalry is used!
But this is just a thought, Shen Bing would certainly not do this.
After watching the defense deployment, Shen Bing said:
"The general's defense can be said to be invulnerable. All we have to do is wait for Shouchun to run out of ammunition and food."
Yang Duanhe was a little worried:
"What I'm worried about is not Shouchun."
"It is said that Changping Jun's fellow is lobbying the nobles to counterattack, and his intention may be to attack our rear supply line."
Shen Bing thought for a while and replied:
"This strategy is unlikely to achieve great results."
"Not to mention that all the tribes in Chu State have different ideas and are unwilling to send troops. Even if they send troops, I'm afraid it will not help."
"The reason is that our army captured countless supplies in Ruyin, and Ruyin is only two hundred miles away from Shouchun."
"As long as we keep your Yin intact, we will have no food and grass, and no worries about arrows."
Yang Duan nodded in agreement.
Xiang Yan took the blame for this. In order to build the Rushui defense line, he concentrated all the supplies for hundreds of thousands of troops in Ruyin and Chengfu cities.
Therefore, the supplies in these two cities can be described as "stacked like mountains", and Ruyin even has the ability to produce arrows.
And Ruyin was successfully attacked by Shen Bing, so all the supplies and equipment in Ruyin city fell into the hands of the Qin army.
This gave the Qin army an excellent base for advancing.
First of all, Ruyin is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Previously, Shen Bing only led 3,000 troops to garrison Ruyin, which made 70,000 Chu troops helpless.
Now that Yang Duanhe has left 10,000 elite Qin troops to garrison, how many Chu troops will be needed to capture it?
Secondly, it is only two hundred miles from Ruyin to Shouchun, so the cavalry can arrive in just two days.
If the Chu army attacks Ruyin, won't they be afraid of Yang Duanhe attacking from behind?
Therefore, the Chu army's so-called attack on the Qin army's supply line was almost impossible to succeed, because it almost meant a decisive battle with the main force of the Qin army.
Yang Duanhe thought about it and said curiously:
"If that's the case, why would Changping-kun bother traveling back and forth?"
Shen Bing knew the reason. Lord Changping was preparing to become the King of Chu.
But of course Shen Bing couldn't say, not to mention he wasn't sure what Changping Lord's plan was now.
Not to mention that Shen Bing was not sure, even Lord Changping himself was not sure either.
Originally, Lord Changping was certain, because he believed that as long as Shen Bing was in the Qin army, the Qin army would be invincible, so there was no hope of revitalizing the Chu state, so of course he could only do what Shen Bing said.
However, this idea was shaken when he returned to Xiang Yan after a round of lobbying.
Xiang Yan didn't even ask about the outcome of Chang Pingjun's lobbying, because he already knew what the outcome would be.
On the other hand, Lord Changping sighed with a look of shame:
"I am incompetent and cannot borrow soldiers from each tribe."
Xiang Yan replied:
"It is not your fault. How can human power change the situation if it is like this?"
This is actually true.
There is a saying that "there are only eternal interests but no eternal friends".
This is the situation in Chu State.
When Xiang Yan was expected to win, all the nobles hoped to get some of the fruits of victory, so they sent troops.
But now Xiang Yan has basically no hope of winning, and the nobles can't protect their own fiefdoms. How can they send troops to divert the Qin army's disaster to their own families?
They only hoped that the King of Chu could stay in Shouchun longer, so that they would have more time to build defenses and prepare.
Therefore, this is determined by interests. No matter how much Changping Lord tries to express his feelings and reason, it will not help.
Xiang Yan didn't say much. He just led Lord Changping to the case and said:
"Mr. Changping, please see, this is the Qin army's defense."
After Changping Jun looked at it, he shook his head and sighed:
"Yang Duanhe is worthy of being Wang Jian's top general. This defense is impenetrable and his life is in danger!"
Xiang Yan shook his head and said:
"I don't think that's the case."
Changping Junqi said:
"Why did the General say this?"
Xiang Yan pointed to the Huaihe River on the map and said only two words: