General Qin

Qu Ming was still wearing the beautiful Chu general armor, sitting on a chariot, looking from a distance, he had a heroic and mighty aura.

But if you take a closer look, you will find that Qu Ming's armor has several arrow holes, and there are holes and gaps in many places. Apart from the armor, if you look at his lower body, you will also find Qu Ming One of his legs was turned out awkwardly, which looked abnormal.

"General Lao is here."

Zhao Tuo opened his mouth and gave Qu Ming a face.

Qu Ming showed a wry smile, and said: "The Marquis was joking, Qu Ming's defeated general just wanted to survive. It's just that I cheated to open a few cities before, and by now, the news will definitely leak out. I'm afraid that Zhongli City I have been prepared for a long time, and I will not open the door. If this fails, please don’t blame the army.”

Zhao Tuo said lightly: "It's okay, just give it a try, if it doesn't work, then find a way."

Hearing Zhao Tuo's words, Qu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhao Tuo with some fear, waved his hand to let the coachman drive the carriage, and drove him to a distant city.

Behind Qu Ming's chariot, there were a thousand red-armored "Chu soldiers" led by Shejian followed.

"Mr. Jun, what Qu Ming said makes sense. The township we took the day before yesterday has already seen through the identity of our army, and we finally had to attack to get in."

"The city of Zhongli is a bit to the east. We must have received the news that we were pretending to be the Chu army's deceitful city. Otherwise, they would have closed the city gate before our army arrived at the city. I'm afraid this strategy is not very good. Use it."

Xi Qigu said in a low voice, he followed Zhao Tuo on horseback and was responsible for guarding and clerical duties.

Zhao Tuo nodded, his eyes passed the Zhongli city wall in the distance, and looked to the north, the Huai River slowly flowing eastward.

"It's okay to see through it, just try it, and you won't lose anything. The time when Qu Ming cheated the city was just for the army behind to rest. Everyone has worked hard on the road, and it is not suitable for tired soldiers to attack the city."

"If you can't open the city gate by deception, then attack by force. Zhongli is not a border city, and the number of Chu soldiers guarding the city will not exceed five hundred, maybe only two or three hundred. The city wall is not too high, although there will be losses in a strong attack , but this city must be taken."

Having said that, Zhao Tuo's voice became extremely firm.

Although he frightened the King of Chu in Shouchun City with "30,000 Qin Army" and the trick of a wooden man, who knew he could frighten him for a few days.

Things will come to light sooner or later, and at that time, the king of Chu, who has become angry from embarrassment, will definitely send the Chu army to follow and pursue.

After all, they caused such a big incident under Shouchun City, whichever king can bear it, will naturally wipe out these bold lunatics at all costs.

And Zhao Tuo's army was a lone army that went deep into Chu. Once the king of Chu sent a fast horse to send an edict and let the Chu army from all over the place chase and intercept them, they would be in trouble.

The soldiers died one by one, and there was no replacement, and there were enemies everywhere. Once they were blocked, the army might be overwhelmed.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo had to be quick, and he had to seize the time to quickly break through the state of Chu and return to the border of Qin State in the north before the Chu army caught up with him and blocked him.

But this so-called fastness is not completely random.

After Zhao Tuo led his army to leave Shouchun, he did not immediately cross the Huai River and enter the Huaibei Plain. Although that method can cross the river the fastest and be closer to the Qin border, it is also more dangerous.

One reason is that a Qin-Chu war just broke out in Huaibei near Xiacai. Without the support of intelligence, Zhao Tuo didn't know whether there was a Chu army in that area.

If they crossed the Huai River and happened to collide with the Chu army in Huaibei, or the army that received the order of the King of Chu to come back to help, it would be a fierce battle, and no one would know the outcome. So it is better to continue eastward and find another place to cross the river.

Secondly, there are more than two hundred miles from Shouchun to Zhongli. Although there are many places suitable for crossing the river with bamboo rafts, Zhao Tuo finally gave up this option.

The last time he led his army to cross the Huai River on bamboo rafts, although he successfully crossed, it was not without loss.

At least nearly a hundred people were in distress on the way, or because of inexperience, the bamboo rafts were not stable enough, which caused the bamboo rafts to fall apart halfway, causing the Qin soldiers to fall into the water and drown.

Or some people were unlucky and were washed away by the water and the bamboo raft, and they still don't know whether they are alive or dead.

The vast Huai River is hundreds of meters wide.

Once in danger, no one can save anyone, not to mention that there are not many people in their army who can swim, and most of the soldiers are landlubbers.

After crossing the Huai River on a bamboo raft last time, all the soldiers in the army were afraid of it. They were afraid when they saw the Huai River, and they said that they would rather die in battle than take a raft to gamble in the water for life and death.

Unless the Chu army had already chased them and put their swords and halberds around their necks, Zhao Tuo forced the Qin army to cross the river with bamboo rafts, which might cause the army's morale to be unstable and the soldiers to complain.

In fact, even Zhao Tuo himself was beating drums in his heart. If the bamboo raft he was sitting on fell apart, it would be really ridiculous.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo decided to give up the bamboo raft strategy and go straight east to take Zhongli Town.

This is the best place to cross the Huai River to the east except for the banks of Xiacai in Huaibei. The port is wide and the water is gentle, and there are many boats available for them.

The Qin army took Zhongli and crossed the Huai River from here, so that the losses could be minimized, and the soldiers would also be happy.

Of course, another important reason is that they need to take down Zhongli and need supplies from the city.

Including the rescued prisoners, the total number of the Qin army was close to 6,000. With so many mouths, it was a big problem just to eat.

Zhongli must be captured!

Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo said to Xiqigu again: "Although Shejian brought a thousand men to the front, he did not bring siege equipment to win the trust of the other party. He ordered the army resting in the woods to cut down bamboo nearby and make For some siege ladders, once the gate of Zhongli City is closed, the army will immediately press it up and attack directly without giving them a chance."

"only!"

With a promise, Xiqigu turned around and sent someone to send orders to the army behind.

...

"Call the gate general."

At this moment, Qu Ming, who was sitting on the chariot, had a gloomy face, muttering the nickname given to him by the Qin people, and let the "Chu soldiers" who were driving him lead him to Zhongli Town ahead.

He, Qu Ming, was originally a nobleman of the Qu family, a well-known man from Chu, how could he have the intention of surrendering to the Qin army.

He was defeated by the Qin army's surprise attack on Bashan before, and he was shot by the Qin crossbow arrows while retreating, and fell off his horse.

Although the armor on his body saved his life, and the horses galloping behind only crushed his legs and feet instead of his head, his end was worse than death and he became a prisoner of the Qin army.

The very young Qin Junjun tried to recruit him, but of course Qu Ming refused. He just held his head high and said the lines of generous death, letting the other party kill or cut him at will.

But the young soldier didn't kill him. Instead, he had Qu Ming tied hands and feet and placed him on a slope with feet up and down, saying that he wanted to torture him and make him submit.

Qu Ming laughed on the spot, saying that even if the car was torn apart, he would never frown.

He Qu's people only have generals who died in battle, and never surrendered traitors.

Soon, a rag covered Qu Ming's face, and the stench hit his mouth and nose, and then the Qin people began to pour water on it.

Qu Ming trembled.

One by one, cloths were folded over Qu Ming's face, and the water was rushing.

suffocate, drown...

That kind of extreme pain is even more terrifying than the so-called sword adding to the body. This kind of punishment is simply not something that humans can do.

So Qu Ming surrendered.

He became the "General Called Gate" of the Qin people, covering for the Qin army, fraudulently opening several cities along the way, allowing the Qin army to travel eastward without suffering any losses.

The first time he called the door, Qu Ming was naturally embarrassed.

But after doing too much, I let go.

Qu Ming is now very familiar with the game, he is called a veteran.

He took a chariot and came to about thirty steps outside Zhongli City, and shouted to the guards on the top of the city who were watching him nervously: "I am Qu An, a member of the Qu family. I was ordered by the king to lead the army eastward, passing by Zhongli If you want to go to the city to rest and eat, why do you close the door to block me, and why don't you let the county highway open the door, come down and see me!"

As Qu Ming yelled, thousands of soldiers following him waved their spears and halberds at the same time. The metal spearheads and halberd blades shone brightly in the sun, scaring the city with low cries, and the guards were all afraid. Trembling.

behind the walls.

Zhong Liran, the county magistrate with a beautiful beard and beard, glanced at thousands of red-armored soldiers outside the city through the lookout hole on the female wall. It's all black and ash.

Although Zhong Liran received the warning before the enemy army arrived, he promptly evacuated the residents outside the city into the city and closed the city gate for defense.

But now that the enemy was approaching the city, he began to feel fear again.

"Now the rebels are leading the Qin army outside the city. They are numerous and well-armored. I have only four hundred county soldiers in Zhongli City. How can I be their opponent?"

"If you open the door, I'm afraid one of them will rush up, and you will inevitably become a prisoner at that time."

"But if you don't open the door, how can I be their opponent in this small city with hundreds of soldiers? When the time comes, the city will be covered with blood, and it will be another catastrophe. Ah, what can we do about the current situation?"

As he spoke, Zhong Liran looked at a young man beside him.

This person is about twenty years old, with thin cheeks, yellowish skin, and a small beard under his jaw.

He is not a native of Zhongli, but from Yilu, Qu County, a distant branch of the Zhongli clan.

His father had a good relationship with Zhong Liran, so he was allowed to travel in Zhongli. Although he was young, he was very resourceful, and was appreciated by the county magistrate Zhong Liran, so he often asked him for advice, like a think tank.

Now seeing Zhong Liran startled and frightened, he asked himself for advice.

Zhong Limei (mò) could only respond, and stretched his head to look outside the wall, but he didn't look at the thousand soldiers holding spears and halberds to demonstrate outside the city, but instead looked at a group farther away. In the big forest.

Over the forest, it seems that there are birds flying.

Zhong Limei shrugged and said, "The only solution for now is to surrender."

"Surrender? To whom? Qin Jun?"

Zhong Liran opened his mouth wide with shock on his face.

Zhong Limei smiled, showing his white teeth.

"That's right, Jiang Qin."

"Historical Records Xiang Yu's Benji" notes and quotes [Jijie] "Hanshu Yinyi" said: "The end of the syllable."