General Qin

In November of the thirty-fifth year of Qin Shihuang.

Outside the original King of Xiou City, the black Qin flag was flapping in the wind. Two large armies arrived here and met here.

Because the troops had to be divided to stay at important strongholds along the way and maintain the main transportation routes, the number of the Western Route Army that arrived near the Royal City was approximately 25,000. The main force on the east route is about 65,000 people.

Ninety thousand Qin troops gathered here. Looking down from a high altitude, they looked like a black ocean, which was extremely shocking.

"The last general, Ren Xiao, has met the superior general."

As soon as Zhao Tuo got off his horse, Ren Xiao, the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army, came to see him.

There was a friendship between the two of them as brothers and friends. After a brief reminiscing about old times, Zhao Tuo went straight to the topic.

"General Ren, is it true that not even a single Yue person has been caught near the Ou people's royal city?"

Ren Xiao shook his head and said: "When our army first went south, we defeated several Yue tribes, but as we went deeper into Xiou, the Yue villages we saw were all empty, all the way to their royal city. "

Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes. The situation Ren Xiao saw was the same as what their main force encountered.

These Ou people can run quite fast.

Ren Xiao hesitated for a moment and then said: "But General, although there are no living people in the royal city, there are many Yue corpses piled up in one place. I saw something strange, so I didn't move around and waited for the General to deal with it."

"Weird corpse?"

Zhao Tuo raised his eyebrows and said, "Go and have a look."

The West Route Army had already searched the inside and outside of the royal city several times, and soldiers were guarding various intersections. There was no danger inside.

Zhao Tuo, surrounded by generals and soldiers, strode in and shook his head as he looked.

The outer periphery of Xiou Wangcheng is a small and thin rammed earth wall, and the residences inside are wooden buildings with stilts.

The overall scale is not as large as the previous Panyu City in South Vietnam. Although it is said to be a royal city, it is actually not as good as a rural town in the Central Plains.

But when you think about the productivity level of these Ou people, you feel relieved. This is because the royal city has rammed earth walls. If it were an ordinary Ou people stronghold, there would be a circle of wooden fences around it.

The corpse Ren Xiao mentioned was in a large wooden house with a strange shape.

Before Zhao Tuo got close, he smelled a stench in the air.

The corners of his mouth twitched. Wouldn't he be infected with any viruses or bacteria if he went in like this?

As a military commander, Zhao Tuo must master all suspicious intelligence. Some clues may help the commander make better judgments and decisions.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Tuo asked Xia Houying to get a clean silk cloth and cover his mouth and nose. At the same time, he gave some instructions to Fan Kuai, Li Shiqi, Mei Rong and other accompanying persons, and then strode in holding his breath.

In the dim wooden house, there were corpses of Yue people scattered everywhere.

Zhao Tuo only took one look and knew why Ren Xiao didn't dare to deal with it easily.

Because 99% of these corpses are lying on the ground, their limbs are spread out and twisted into weird shapes, which is very weird at first sight.

"Breaststroke stance?"

A word came to Zhao Tuo's mind, because these corpses really looked like big frogs lying on the ground.

But the most eye-catching thing was the corpse in the middle of the room.

This man was wearing feather clothes and a green hat on his head.

Compared with the other corpses lying on the ground, he was lying on his back, and you could see that he was an old man with a dark complexion.

This man's facial features were distorted, as if he had died of endless pain and torture.

This kind of scene is nothing more. Most of the people who can enter this room are people who have seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood on the battlefield. The Qin army will behead heads and pile them up every time after the war. They are not afraid of piles of corpses.

What really frightened them was that in this terrifyingly silent room filled with stench, there was a faint sound.

Gua!

It seems to be a frog croaking, but there is no frog in the house. If you look carefully, you will find it in the belly of the corpses.

From the long-dead body, there were bursts of frog calls.

Zhao Tuo finally understood the word "weird" that Ren Xiao said.

Feeling that the breath he was holding was about to run out, he turned around and strode out.

Everyone quickly followed suit, and Fan Kuai, who was known as the bravest, kept pace with the general, seemingly not wanting to stay in the room for a moment.

As soon as he arrived outside the house, Zhao Tuo threw away the cloth covering his mouth and nose and took a deep breath.

"How come there are frogs croaking in the stomachs of those corpses?"

The straight-tempered Fan Kuai couldn't wait to ask.

Zhao Tuo did not answer, but asked everyone to retreat a hundred meters away with him. Only when the smell of corpses was no longer in the air did he look at Mei Yi.

This teenage boy with Mei family looked horrified when he was in the house, as if he knew something.

Sure enough, Mei Rong immediately replied: "This is a curse! The corpse in the middle should be the great witch from Xi'ou. He and the Ou people are sacrificing their lives to the Frog God to curse us! They want all of us Everyone dies here!”

Although we are both Yue people with different beliefs and tribes, we still understand some basic rituals such as sacrifices, curses, and divination.

Everyone's expressions suddenly changed.

Even people like Ren Xiao, Li Shiqi, and Fan Kuai who had seen big scenes had their eyelids jump.

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

In the late Warring States period, Qin and Chu fought fiercely for hegemony. The King of Qin once offered sacrifices and prayers to the great gods Wu Xian, Yatuo and Dashen Jueqiu respectively, and carved three inscriptions on stones cursing the Chu state for its defeat.

Even the powerful King of Qin used inscribed prayers to curse his enemies. The most important thing is that Chu State has really been defeated now, which proves that King Qin's curse was successful.

The King of Qin did this, do you think ordinary people believe it?

Zhao Tuo looked calm.

curse?

These Ou people couldn't be defeated by force, but they actually started to engage in occultism.

Compared with this, the germs produced by the decay of corpses should be more terrifying. Improper handling can also cause plague.

"Xiahou, let people burn the whole house together."

Zhao Tuo gave the order lightly and said to everyone: "The people of Ou know that our Qin army is pressing down on the border and are stubbornly resisting. They dare not confront our army. They can only come up with these methods. It is really ridiculous. If the curse is useful, , I, Da Qin, may have been cursed to death by the kings of the six kingdoms a hundred times, a thousand times!"

When Li Shiqi heard this, he laughed loudly and said: "Of course, I heard that the general led an army to conquer Shouchun, the capital of Chu. The king of Chu carried the cud on the top of the city and asked Wu Zhu to ask the gods to come to destroy our army. , but was hit in the head by the general with a giant cannon. All gods and witches had to retreat when facing the general! Even the king of Chu was not good enough, and this small country of Ou people could not make waves. "

Ren Xiao, Fan Kuai and others had also heard about Zhao Tuo's attack on Chu, and their faces showed relief.

Only Mei Rong, a Yue man, was still a little scared, but seeing that everyone looked calm, he couldn't say much.

Zhao Tuo glanced at Li Shiqi appreciatively. This sharp-tongued person was really good, and he stabilized his military morale with just a few words.

The more you care about things like cursing, the more scared and panicked the people below you will become. It is better to just ignore it and be confident, and the people below will naturally be stable.

"Besides using curses, the Ou people should have two options. The first is to gather all the tribesmen to follow King Luo and go south to Luoyue. The two tribes will gather together to resist our army."

Zhao Tuo said: "The second option is to escape into the mountains and rely on the vast mountains as cover. If our army goes into the mountains for encirclement and suppression, it will not only be difficult to search in the mountains, but it will also be easier to fall into their ambushes and traps. If we are like General Tu, no matter if they directly If we go south to attack Luo Yue, our rear may be attacked by them."

Hearing Tu Sui's name, Ren Xiao frowned and said, "If this is the case, how should our army deal with it?"

Zhao Tuo said calmly: "Tunting."

"Send troops to guard various traffic arteries and Ou people's villages, and farm fields to grow grain for military needs. At the same time, roads will be built to ensure that troops and horses from all departments can quickly provide support."

Zhao Tuo finished speaking.

Li Shiqi raised his hand and laughed: "Wonderful! If the Ou people go south to join Luo Yue, we will ignore them for now. According to the previous methods of governing Fujian and South Vietnam, we will use one year to completely control all the important roads in Xi'ou. At the same time, we will cultivate fields and grow grain, and finally attack Luo Yue in one fell swoop when we are ready."

"It would be even better if the Ou people hid in the mountains. With such a large tribal population, there are many old and weak women and children, and they need a lot of food every day. The wild animals and fruits in the mountains and forests are not enough to meet their consumption. In farmland and When the water and lakes are occupied by our army, the food reserves of the Ou people will not last long. Without our army's attack, most of the people will probably have died of starvation in winter, and the remaining Ou people will not be afraid."

"The general's strategy is so good! It's so good!"