Shen Bing could not guess the Chu army's plan from these small actions.
But his intuition made Shen Bing feel that things were not simple.
Shen Bing found Yang Duanhe immediately. During this period, he also specially observed the top of the Chu army's city in the south, so he became more sure of his idea.
"My subordinates think that the Chu army has plans to break out of the encirclement." Shen Bing said to Yang Duanhe, "And it should be from the north."
Yang Duanhe disagreed.
"Our army can reinforce Huaibei through the pontoon bridge at any time. What difference does it make whether the Chu army breaks through from the south or from the north?"
Shen Bing thought for a while and replied:
"So, the Chu army may have a way to cut off our pontoon bridge."
Yang Duanhe couldn't help but wonder:
"The pontoon bridge is under the strict protection of our two armies and has a chain to seal the river. How can the Chu army cut off our pontoon bridge?"
This is true. The pontoon bridge is the hub of communication between the northern and southern Qin armies. Of course Yang Duanhe was prepared.
The wooden stakes and chains cut off the threat from the Chu army's waterway, and the walled city on land blocked the enemy's attack path... Even Shen Bing couldn't figure out how the Chu army could cut off the pontoon bridge.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Bing explained:
"In the past two days, the Chu army in the north of the city has increased suddenly, and from time to time there are people observing the Huaihe River below the city."
"Our Daliang army only has 20,000 men. If the Chu army can cut off the pontoon bridge and attack Beiying from both sides, I'm afraid..."
Yang Duanhe looked at the map, nodded and said:
"That's fine."
"If the deputy general is so worried, I will dedicate 20,000 troops to the north bank to assist in defense."
Although Yang Duanhe didn't quite believe that the Chu army would attack Beiying, the Qin army was almost everywhere...
With the pontoon, the Qin army's southern camp could reinforce the northern camp if it had more troops, and the northern camp could reinforce the south camp if it had more northern camps. Therefore, it might not be a bad idea to allocate 20,000 troops to defend the north.
However, Shen Bing shook his head and refused:
"My subordinates thought this might not be the opportunity I was waiting for."
Yang Duanhe asked puzzledly:
"What does the deputy mean by this?"
Shen Bing explained:
"If the Chu army really wants to break through from the northern camp, but our army moves its troops to the northern camp first, it will be a 'snake' that will prevent the Chu army from breaking out."
Yang Duanhe couldn't help but laugh:
"If you don't dare to break through, why not..."
Then Yang Duanhe's smile froze on his face:
"What the deputy general means is that the King of Chu will be among those who will break out of the encirclement?"
Shen Bing nodded:
"If the Chu army just wanted to break the Beiying camp or take my life, Shen Bing, why would they go into such a big fight?"
"My subordinates boldly speculate that the Chu army's move was to save the King of Chu from leaving the city."
Yang Duanhe thought for a while and replied:
"Then if King Chu wanted to leave the city, he should have fled before we arrived in Shouchun. Why did he wait until now?"
Shen Bing did not explain much:
"No matter what Chu Jun's plan is, it's fine anyway. It doesn't matter if I try it later."
Yang Duanhe thought it was right to think about it. The army was bored outside the city anyway, so they could just use their hands and feet as a drill.
So Yang Duanhe asked Shen Bing:
"Then from the perspective of the lieutenant general, how should we respond?"
Shen Bing replied:
"It's actually quite simple."
"We will not increase our troops during the day, but secretly increase our troops at night, and return at dawn the next day."
The purpose of Shen Bing's doing this was to make the Chu army unaware of Beiying's strength, thinking that Beiying still only had 20,000 Liang soldiers.
Yang Duanhe agreed without thinking, because it was indeed a trivial matter.
So these two nights, when it got dark, the 20,000 Qin troops quietly passed through the pontoon bridge to reinforce the North Camp, and then quietly turned back before dawn the next day.
Shen Bing and Daliang Bing still went their own way and did what they usually did.
It was Yang Duanhe's general Li Yan who led the reinforcements.
Originally, Yang Duanhe did not need to send the general Li Yan, because at this time Li Yan was already the general and Shen Bing was still the deputy general. This would cause a command problem: should the Beiying follow the command of Li Yan or Shen Bing?
However, considering that once Beiying is attacked, it is likely to be attacked from two sides by the enemy, so Beiying actually needs two people to command, otherwise it will be in a hurry and not care about the end.
On the other hand, the military system of the Daliang Army is very different from the military system and tactics of the Qin Army... The Qin Army is a simple army of five people, one corps, two corps and one ten, while the Daliang Army is organized according to the Yuanyang Formation.
As a result, problems may also arise if only one person is in charge.
This is also one of the reasons why Yang Duanhe asked the Liang Army to defend Huaibei alone.
In the actual battle, the Liang Army stopped in the Qin Army's ranks. Not to mention other things, even the ranks seemed unorganized.
This is not an advantage, but there is nothing the Liangjun can do without the weak armor protection.
Therefore, sending Li Yan to command the Qin army in combat was a last resort.
However, Yang Duanhe gave Li Yan an order:
"All matters shall be subject to Shen Bing's arrangements, and there shall be no objections."
Li Yan obeyed.
At this time, Li Yan was convinced.
Not to mention that Shen Bing saved his life in the Qiancheng water battle... In fact, even though Shen Bing saved his life in the Qiancheng water battle, Li Yan was still dissatisfied. He still thought that Shen Bing was just relying on a little cleverness and luck. , in terms of seniority, when will it be Shen Bing’s turn to take command.
But after Shen Bing planned a surprise attack on Ruyin and used 3,000 manpower to resist the 70,000 Chu army, Li Yan knew that he was indeed far behind Shen Bing.
Being able to devise clever tricks such as luring a snake out of its hole is a sign of cleverness.
If you can resist the Chu army and defend Ruyin with three thousand troops, you are brave.
He is brave and resourceful, why should he, Li Yan, look down on Shen Bing?
Although he thought so in his heart, the face-saving Li Yan didn't show it on his face. When he saw Shen Bing, he just cupped his hands as a greeting.
Shen Bing didn't want to but came up to him and bowed respectfully:
"My subordinates have met the general."
"The general once asked his subordinates who they wanted to lead the army, and they thought that this person must be the general."
"Now that it is really the general who has come to help me, my subordinates can feel relieved."
These words surprised Li Yan.
Li Yan didn't have a good attitude toward Shen Bing before. If Shen Bing was asked to choose, he shouldn't choose him, right?
But thinking about it, Li Yan felt that Shen Bing was telling the truth.
Because it is known that Shen Bing was highly regarded by the king at this time, even if Yang Duanhe wanted to give him three points, it would not matter if he chose a general to fight with him.
Thinking of this, Li Yan's expression immediately softened:
"The deputy general is not worthy of the award, Li Yan is just a reckless man..."
Shen Bing interrupted Li Yan:
"General, don't say that."
"The general has been leading troops for more than ten years and has made a deep study of marching formations, and his subordinates have long heard about it."
"Now the safety of the city depends entirely on the general."
Li Yan quickly replied:
"Lieutenant General, there is no need to be so open-minded. This is a matter within my scope."
His tone and demeanor were immediately very polite.
The ancients were actually very easy to deceive. They only needed to say a few polite words and they would be convinced in minutes.
Although there are some who have a deep city like Mr. Changping, they are in the minority after all.
Shen Bing is not doing this just so that we can coordinate with each other during the war...