Qin Official

"After the Qingyang Incident, Qin and Chu have gone to war! But the general forbids us from going out to attack the enemy?"

In late June, in the western border of the Chu Kingdom, an angry question rang out in the Fortress of Mether.

Zhong Lizhen was no longer dressed like a peasant and a laborer when he was working as a spy in Anlu County a year ago. He was now wearing Chu-style leather armor painted red, and he looked like a military official of the Chu State, although he was only the lowest "two Sima", with only twenty-five men.

But this little soldier, who was insignificant in the eyes of his superiors, was suppressing his anger and questioning General Yin's decision.

The "Qingyang Incident" mentioned by Zhongli Mei was a major event that happened in the Jiangnan area of ​​Chu State in early June.

Last year, the state of Qin sent Wang Ben to lead an army to attack Shangcai and Chen Ying of Chu. The state of Chu had just committed regicide to seize the throne. For a time, the state of Chu was in a hurry and could not mobilize troops to defend against the enemy, resulting in the fall of the two places. At that time, as long as the Qin army was willing, they could go south along the Ru River, break Juyang, and threaten Shouchun, the capital of Chu.

The king of Chu had no choice but to propose to Qin the land west of Qingyang (now Changsha, Hunan) on the advice of the peace faction to seek peace.

The Qin army captured Chen Ying in order to cut off the connection between Chu and Wei, so they agreed to Chu's request for peace. After Wang Ben returned to destroy the Wei State, in May, the envoys of the King of Qin also arrived in Shouchun, demanding that the Chu State hand over Linyuan, Gaocai and Lingyang to the west of Qingyang in accordance with the previous agreement.

The people of Qin, carrying the power of destroying Wei, did not dare to refuse, so they immediately asked people to do it.

However, things went wrong here. To the west of Qingyang is the territory of the Qu family, one of the "Three Households" of Chu State. Because of Qu Yuan's incident, the Qu family was the most hostile to Qin among the Chu clan. Although the King of Chu ordered the Qu family to give up the west of Qingyang, the Qu family actually disobeyed the king's order.

When the Qin people sent envoys to take over the city, the Qu family not only refused to surrender, but also killed the Qin envoys. They even led the Qu family soldiers to counterattack to the foot of Jiling County, Nan County of Qin State, and almost broke into the city...

After this incident, Qin was furious and claimed that Chu had broken its treaty. The two countries of Qin and Chu, which had returned to peace, once again became at war with each other.

Nanjun Shou Teng gave an order, and all counties in Nanjun of Qin State were on guard. Almost all the young and strong people were mobilized to intensify military training.

The same was true on the Chu side. In the court, the main war faction headed by the Xiang family raised its head again, urging the King of Chu that the peace treaty had been abandoned anyway, so it was better to counterattack the Qin State and regain the lost territory.

Not only must we regain Chen Ying and Shangcai, but we must also regain the land of Nanjun!

Affected by this incident, Ming'e Sai, located in the western border of Chu State, was also heavily guarded, but General Yin was prohibited from entering Qin without permission because the indecisive King of Chu still had not made up his mind.

This was what confused Zhongli Mei. In the past few years, he was not the only one who was sent to Nanjun, Qin State to lurk as a spy. This was General Xiang Yan's plan for a rainy day. After finding out what was true in Anlu, Zhongli Mei returned. Returned to Mether.

However, General Yin of Minghe Fortress thought that he was making too big a fuss. Not only was he not rewarded, but he also reduced Zhongli Mei's position from the rank of pawn commander to the rank of commander-in-chief. Zhong Lizhen had no complaints. He only hoped that their group of people, who risked their lives to go to the Qin Dynasty to investigate the military equipment, roads, and actual conditions of the border counties, could be used in the counterattack!

However, facing this thorn-headed subordinate's request to fight, General Yin from the Fortress of Hell just smiled contemptuously and had Zhongli Mei beaten out with sticks.

"In ancient times, Wu Helu taught war for seven years. He held armor and held troops. With Sun Tzu and Zixu as generals, he ran three hundred miles and entered the Ming Pass. He fought at Bai Ju and captured the capital of Ying in one fell swoop."

Zhongli Mei sighed to his colleagues who came to comfort him: "If the general can imitate the Wu army in those days, go out of Ming'e, seize Sui and Tang, and then go straight to Jiangling; the navy will advance westward through Yunmengze, and Qu's troops will come out Qingyang, cross the river and approach Jiangling, then Yingdu can be restored and Nanjun can be captured!"

Everyone looked at each other, but they all felt that this was not something they should be concerned about.

Seeing that everyone was unmoved, Zhongli Mei had no choice but to punch the wall with his fist, and said with some frustration: "How can we have two sides, and the outcome of the war is uncertain? In this way, not only will we lose the opportunity to pre-emptively strike, but I'm afraid We still want to be controlled by Qin!"

…

"Qin and Chu are at war again?"

In early July, after learning the news, the garrison soldiers who were already on their way home suddenly received an order asking them to return to Chenliu on standby. They were immediately shocked.

When they learned that the Chu people were attacking Nanjun, people from various counties in Nanjun even let out bursts of exclamations.

"Did something happen to Nan County!?"

"Which county did the Chu people attack?"

Fortunately, they received follow-up news later. It turned out that it was just a border friction south of the river, and there was no major fight. The Chu people only besieged Chaling County, and the war did not burn their hometown Anlu.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Ji Ying smiled optimistically: "Since it was just a small conflict, maybe it will subside in a few days, and we can still go back."

So the only remaining worry for everyone is that after delaying so many days, they may miss the autumn harvest at home.

Only Heifu felt that things might not be that simple. When everyone breathed a sigh of relief again and began to look forward to their return date, he silently squeezed out of the crowd and returned to the camp to check his weapons and armor.

The sword is an old friend and needs to be sharpened from time to time. Even a bronze sword must be polished with leather. If it is not used for a long time, it will easily develop patina.

At this time, Li Xian opened the tent and walked in, just in time to see Heifu wiping his weapon.

"Doctor, do you think this matter is not that simple?"

Li Xian was the most attentive among Heifu's subordinates and could often make some small suggestions. He also noticed that the order for them to stay put was somewhat unusual.

"I do feel something is wrong."

Heifu did not hide anything, asked Li Xian to sit down, and analyzed him: "The conflict between Qin and Chu occurred in Nanjun, and now everyone's eyes are focused there. It stands to reason that our soldiers who are from Nanjun will be more We should be dismissed quickly and return to Nan County to participate in the defense, but the order from Chen Ying asked us to return to Chenliu County to wait for orders..."

At present, tens of thousands of Qin troops have been asked to stop demobilizing and are stationed in Chenliu, Suiyang and other places. However, the Chu State outside the border has no signs of sending troops to attack Chenying and Wei. The two sides are just confronting each other coldly.

However, Heifu has smelled the breath of war again...

A total war could break out at any time.

He vaguely felt that by allowing garrison soldiers from all over the country to station in place, some people in the upper echelons of the Qin State wanted to take this matter as an opportunity to launch a war against the Chu State. The main attack direction would be from Wei to Huaibei.

Although Hei Fu was not a historian in his previous life, he also knew that Qin had defeated Chu twice. An army of 200,000 was used to attack Chu, but it failed miserably and the army was lost. After learning the lesson for the second time, he mobilized the whole country and sent an army of 600,000 to attack Chu, and finally succeeded in destroying the Chu state.

It is now the twenty-second year of the Qin Dynasty, and the first attack on Chu is probably very close.

"I won't really run into Fa Chu for the first time!" If that were the case, Heifu would really want to cry.

Historically, Heifu himself died during the second attack on Chu. This was something he tried hard to avoid. He had been working hard to climb the ranks and official positions in order to be able to lead enough soldiers by then without having to charge into battle and avoid death.

Unexpectedly, as if by fate, he was now going to be involved in the first battle against Chu! There are casualties in winning battles, and there are countless casualties in losing battles. Thinking of this, Heifu gets chills down his spine.

Of course, these are all his guesses. The final result still has to wait for Qin Wangzheng's decision on war or peace in Xianyang!

After hearing Heifu's analysis, Li Xian was also shocked, but as a low-level Qin official, if things really developed to that point, he could only act according to orders, pick up weapons and armor again, and go to the battlefield again. …

The king raised his army and repaired my spear. The soldiers could only complain secretly while packing their spears.

Unlike Dongmen Bao, Li Xian was so eager to return home. He even felt that it would not be too late to return home if he could get another first-level title. Unlike Heifu, he didn't know the outcome of this war, so he speculated excitedly: "If we really want to attack Chu, will General Wang be the commander?"

Wang Jian's reputation became known to almost everyone in the Qin State after he conquered Yan and Zhao. Everyone said that although not all of them would have meritorious service in the war with General Wang, most of them would survive because of General Wang. A general is as steady as a mountain in battle...

From high-ranking officers to lower-level soldiers, everyone felt that if one day the King of Qin wanted to destroy Chu, Wang Jian would be the undoubted candidate to lead the army.

"I hope so."

Heifu responded ambiguously, but said in his heart: "If the King of Qin really decides to use troops against Chu within this year, the leader may not be Wang Jian."

"But Li Xin!"