After capturing the King of Chu and occupying Shouchun, the Qin army stopped for a while.
In fact, there was no pause. The Qin army was busy moving down the Huaihe River based on Shouchun to occupy the cities on the banks of the river.
This is consistent with the strategy formulated at the beginning: to occupy and control the Huaihe River, then the Chu State in the area north of the Huaihe River will surrender without a fight.
This was perhaps the largest siege ever seen during the Warring States Period.
North of the Huaihe River reaches the State of Qi. To the north of this area is the State of Qi, to the west is the Wei State and Chu State captured by the Qin State, to the east is the sea, and to the south is the Huaihe River...
The entire area was tightly blocked by the Qin army. The Chu army within this range had the following options:
Lower Qi.
Surrendered to Qin.
Live and die on its own.
Jump into the sea.
There seem to be a lot of options, but there is no way out.
Shen Bing said that the Qin army "stopped for a moment" because they occupied the banks of the Huaihe River and encountered little resistance.
This was mainly because Xiang Yan knew that the downstream areas could not be defended if Shouchun was lost, so he gave up on his own initiative.
On the other hand, the king of Chu also played a certain role in carrying the cud.
After Xiang Yan left, there were still some private soldiers in the local area. Most of these private soldiers were recruited by squires or businessmen... This is a characteristic of the Chu State. The Chu State is very loose in the restrictions on private soldiers, while the Qin State requires only high-ranking officials. Those who have power have private soldiers and their own followers, otherwise it is just forming a clique for personal gain.
Of course, these private soldiers cannot fight against the Qin army.
In fact, there was no need to fight. As soon as the Qin army took out the order of the King of Chu to bear the cud, the private soldiers immediately put down their weapons and surrendered... I don’t know whether they really didn’t know or pretended that they didn’t know that the King of Chu had surrendered to Qin. .
Shen Bing guessed that they knew, but the king's order gave them a step up: they were not surrendering, but obeying the king's order.
Then, the Qin army sent troops from all over to take over the cities in Huaibei.
Not only the Huaihe River line in Shouchun, but also the Qin army in Daliang and Chencheng lines moved eastward.
They also brought the order from the King of Chu to carry the cud... In fact, the order from the King of Chu to carry the cud was not sent to Daliang so quickly, but at this time it didn't matter whether the order was true or false.
The important thing is to read it before Xiang Yan announces the new king, and at the same time tell them that the King of Chu has surrendered.
The news of King Chu's surrender spread quickly.
Because this is not spread like a horse, but it is spread from ten to ten to a hundred, and it is spread to various places by the military and civilians overnight.
After hearing the news, the Chu soldiers in Huaibei had no intention of continuing to resist, so they abandoned their weapons and surrendered.
Due to the vast area of Huaibei, there are many cities, but the number of Qin troops is not large, so there is a situation where a few Qin troops lead hundreds of Chu surrender troops to take over another city...
Shen Bing and Yang Duanhe operated the Huaihe River defense line in Shouchun.
This line of defense is the latest border between Qin and Chu.
After stabilizing, the first thing Shen Bing thought about was what choice Changping Lord would make.
However, Shen Bing was not in a hurry because he knew that he should give Lord Changping some time.
What's more, even if he wanted to surrender, he wouldn't surrender to Qin as soon as he became king of Chu. If so, I'm afraid even Xiang Yan wouldn't be able to convince him.
Shen Bing thought that Lord Changping had more than a month.
Because the Qin army would rest in Huaibei for more than a month before going south to attack Huainan.
Yang Duanhe even wanted to send his troops south directly... He was originally a stable person, but the sudden ups and downs during this period disrupted his inherent ideas or combat experience, so he became a little impatient:
"The King of Chu has surrendered at a time when all the tribes in the Chu Kingdom are leaderless."
"I think we should take this opportunity to continue marching south. What does the lieutenant think?"
Shen Bing thought for a while and replied:
"My subordinates think it's impossible."
"First, our army is insufficient in strength and exhausted from years of fighting."
"The two are that although all the tribes in the Chu Kingdom are leaderless, at this time, Xiang Yan has established Lord Changping as the new king."
"There should be internal contradictions or discord between the face and the heart."
"If we continue to go south at this time, we will help Lord Changping coordinate various ministries."
Yang Duanhe thought about it and felt that it was right.
Although Xiang Yan is a general of Chu State, he is not from a large family of Chu State. He appointed Lord Changping as the new king. One reason is that Lord Changping cannot convince the nobles, and the other is that the nobles are jealous of Xiang Yan...
King Qi of Chu was established by Xiang Yan. If the restoration of the country is successful in the future, does that mean that Xiang Yan will be the first to contribute?
So I agree on the surface but may not be convinced.
If the Qin army went south to attack the noble fiefdoms at this time... it would almost be the Qin army helping King Qi of Chu to defeat them, because these nobles could only rely on King Qi of Chu and hope that he could unite the Chu army to fight against Qin.
So you should take it slow at this time.
Shen Bing does not need to worry too much about the Huaihe defense line. At this time, everyone in the Chu army is in danger. It would be fine if the Qin army does not attack them. Of course, they do not dare to attack the Qin army first.
On the other hand, the Qin army mainly deployed its defensive forces north of the Huaihe River.
This is different from the defensive direction of the Chu army.
For example, Shouchun City is located south of the Huaihe River. Being south of the Huaihe River means that there is no Huaihe River as a buffer zone or moat. Even if it is attacked, the Huaihe River will cut off the Qin army's retreat.
The solution is actually very simple, that is to build more pontoon bridges on the Huaihe River, and rely on the city to put the main force in Huaibei...
The Qin army will definitely not place its main force in the city.
The reason is that the Qin army is good at field battles. Although it is more advantageous to rely on city defense, the enemy only needs to use crossbowmen and trebuchets to block the city gates. It will be troublesome for the Qin army to leave the city.
The troops in the city are mainly used to maintain public order and prevent the city from being occupied by the enemy.
Therefore, Shen Bing's Daliang Army and Shenwu Army were stationed inside the city, while Yang Duanhe's Qin Army camped outside the city.
Yang Duanhe also told Shen Bing:
"Be careful of the people in the city causing chaos."
"The deputy general has experience in quelling rebellion in Handan. It would be best for the Liang Army to defend the city at this time."
The "experience of quelling rebellion" mentioned by Yang Duanhe refers to Shen Bing's trick of shouting "Wolf is coming" in Handan to first lure out the rebels and spies.
Shen Bing originally thought that he would have to repeat his old tricks, but after entering Shouchun, he realized that it was not necessary at all.
Chu Min and Zhao Min are two different things:
When Zhao Min saw Qin Jun, in addition to fear, there was resentment and unyielding in his eyes.
And the way Chu people looked at Qin Jun... was not only scared, but scared.
Because of their fear, they were very obedient and docile.
Shen Bing believes that this is because there is a deep hatred between Zhao and Qin but not in Chu.
On the other hand, the Chu people were accustomed to the separation of forces.
For example, the fiefdoms of the nobles in Chu State have absolute power over the people within their fiefs. These people should listen to the nobles more than the King of Chu.
Therefore, the concept of royal power or even "country" is not strong.
Because the concept of "country" is not strong, then when the Qin army comes, it will just be a new king. They can continue to live how they want to live, and it has little to do with these disputes.