Qin Official

"Mr. Changping has been the prime minister for ten years, but now he is released and becomes a mere county guard. Instead, he has to raise food and transportation for our juniors. General Meng, do you think he has any injustice in his heart?"

It was already dark, and after sending Lord Changping out of the camp, Li Xin stood under the gate of the camp, and suddenly expressed such emotion to his deputy, General Meng Tian, ​​beside him.

Meng Tian was a few years younger than Li Xin. He wore a crown with a belt tied under his chin, and the tail of the belt floated on his chest. He had two beards on his chin. Hearing Li Xin's words, he just smiled and said:

"This is not necessarily a criticism. On the king's order, Lord Changping took the king's car to patrol the east, quelled the rebellion in Xinzheng, and descended on the big city of Huaiyang, which was a great achievement. The king wanted to destroy Chu in one battle, so he asked the most trusted Lord Changping to station here. It is understandable, as long as we fight this battle successfully and achieve the goal of destroying the country, Lord Changping may have the chance to return to the court and become the Prime Minister of Qin again."

Meng Tian's implication was that this time they and Lord Changping were both prosperous and devastated. They would both be rewarded if they won, and punished if they lost. I hope Li Xin wouldn't be too suspicious.

"Right."

Li Xinxin knew that Meng Tian's father, Meng Wu, and Lord Changping were old friends, so he nodded: "You and I are young after all, and we still need an elder to sit in the middle."

There is no room for Li Xin not to think too much, because this war has revealed something unusual since King Qin took office as a general.

Not to mention that Wang Jian and Wang Ben, father and son who had contributed to the destruction of the country, were suddenly hidden in the snow. Even the old generals who had followed Wang Jian to destroy the country, such as Xin Sheng, Yang Duanhe, Qiang Yu, etc., were not used by the king.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see this, because Wang Jian insisted that 600,000 people be needed to attack Chu, which meant that the war would be postponed until next year, which made the impatient King of Qin quite unhappy. So he simply let the senior generals stay in their original positions, and instead boldly activated a large number of young generals from Langwei, such as Li Xin, Meng Tian, ​​Li You, etc., and put them in charge of the attack on Chu.

"The king is intending to retire General Wang and his old troops, and start to let new people take over..."

Li Xin and Meng Tian both understand this. Although they are young, they have also experienced several years of military service. Li Xin has won great achievements many times. In terms of merit and qualifications, he already has the capital to stand alone. Meng Tian is the grandson of Meng Ao, the famous general of the Qin State. His family has military knowledge. After Li Xin, he is the most admired young general of the Qin King.

Both of them knew the importance of this expedition to Qin and to themselves, especially Li Xin. The illustrious military exploits of his senior Wang Jian were in front of him, which brought him huge pressure and at the same time he was a little eager to try.

After returning to the big tent, Li Xin ordered his subordinates to light all the anointing lamps, and he and Meng Tian had to discuss the next military affairs overnight.

There are two maps on the table. One is the "garrison map", which is a garrison map painted in three colors: red, black and field green. Its scope is equivalent to Dang County in Qin State, as well as the newly established Chen County Huaiyang and Shangcai areas. The red outline on a black background emphasizes the locations and command centers of several armies under Li Xin's command, as well as the granaries and grain transportation routes at the rear.

Li Xin's eyes scanned the map and found the location of Ao Cang.

The Art of War says that an army will perish if it has no baggage, perish if it does not have food, and perish if it does not have the courage to accumulate. As a general who has fought many battles, Li Xin certainly understands that in order to win this war of annihilation, the first thing to do is to ensure that the two Food supply for 100,000 people.

"Xingyang Aocang is the starting point for grain transportation in this attack on Chu."

Aocang is a large granary newly built in Xingyang in June and July, which can store hundreds of thousands of grains. It is close to a big river and is the starting point of the chasm, so transportation is convenient, whether it is millet and wheat from Guanzhong, or from Hanoi, Grain from Hedong and Sanchuan can be concentrated in Aocang first, and then transported along the chasm to Huaiyang...

That's why Li Xin chose Huaiyang as the base camp for the army to conquer Chu. It was the end point of Honggou grain transportation.

He has 200,000 available manpower, of which 100,000 are civilian prisoners responsible for transporting food. They are basically recruited nearby. The other 100,000 are the combat troops. Of course, with so many people, it is impossible to crowd into Huaiyang. Li Xin also assigned several partial divisions to be stationed in Shangcai, Yangcheng, Suiyang and other places, so the combat troops in Huaiyang , only fifty thousand.

"The grain and fodder for the 50,000-strong army will be centrally dispatched by Lord Changping, with 30,000 in Shangcai and 5,000 in Yangcheng. The grain and fodder will be transported by Xiangcheng County, Yingchuan County, and 15,000 in Suiyang. The grain and fodder will be transported by Chenliu."

What Li Xin, Meng Tian and Chang Pingjun were discussing just now was the issue of grain transportation. In this way, the rear supply lines of the three armies will be clear, and they will all have waterways, which can greatly increase efficiency and reduce losses.

After ensuring food supplies, the army can further consider how to advance.

Li Xin asked people to hang up the second "topographic map". The main area of ​​this map is the Huaibei area on the border of Qin and Chu, with upper south and lower north, and the orientation is opposite to that of later generations. More than 30 rivers in the Huaibei region are drawn on the map using curves of uniform thickness. Mountains such as Mangdang Mountain are represented by halo lines within closed curves, with clear veins. Roads are drawn as thin lines, and counties, villages and cities are represented by boxes. .

"Huaibei is flat and there is almost no danger to defend it, but we cannot go deep into it alone, because the Chu army is concentrated in several cities, which can block our army's supplies."

Meng Tian also clicked on the map: "According to the spies' report, these three cities, Xiangxian, Pingyu, and Chengfu, are the first line of defense of the Chu army."

These three cities are close to the three armies of the Qin army, and the two sides have been facing each other for more than a month.

Meng Tian moved his fingers backward: "Xincai and Juyang, this is the second line of defense of the Chu army."

Compared with the previous three border counties, these two are large cities. Once the two cities are not defended, there will be only the Huaihe River between Shouchun, the capital of Chu State, and the Qin army.

"The first tough battle must be in Xiang County."

Meng Tian stared at the end of the chasm. As long as Xiang County was captured, the Qin army could control the entire chasm and extend the supply line for hundreds of miles.

"We think so. Xiang Yan has a reputation as a good soldier. Why don't we think so?"

But Li Xin smiled. According to the spies' report, Xiang County had already hoisted the flag of Xiang Yan, the Sima of Chu State, and the Chu army also gathered here, because Xiang Yan also knew that the main force of the Qin army would be in Huaiyang, and Xiang County First of all, once Xiang County is not protected, the Qin army can threaten Juyang along the Ying River. If so, the Chu State will be passive.

"The Huaiyang army left five thousand to guard the city, and the rest went south to intimidate Xiang County. Then Li You of Yangcheng was ordered to send troops to Duncheng on the first day of October. They first went to this city and made plans to cooperate with Huaiyang and encircle Xiang County. potential."

Meng Tian looked confused: "There are thirty to fifty thousand Chu troops in Xiang County, which is about the same as our army. I'm afraid it will be difficult to attack. Does the general want to attack by force?"

Li Xin shook his head and said, "Who said I would sit in Huaiyang and lead the army to attack Xiang? This matter should be done by General Meng Tian."

Meng Tian suddenly realized: "The general is going to..."

Li Xin's fingers left the unbreakable boundary between Huaiyang and Xiangxian and reached Shangcai.

In military affairs, we must rely on the right combination to win by surprise.

"My flag is in the Huaiyang army, but in a few days, I will appear in Shangcai with my chariots and cavalry under the banner of General Meng! This is a secret. Anyone who dares to reveal it will die!"

Li Xin showed a sly smile: "I first bluffed to make the Chu army think that our army was going to attack Xiangcheng, so I mobilized a large army to defend. However, I sent out to Shangcai with a partial force, first defeated Pingyu, and then cut off the Yingshui River. The Chu army retreats!"

Li Xin's purpose is obvious. He does not want to conquer the city and break through the defense lines one by one. That is a stupid way. He wanted to deliberately concentrate the Chu army, and then wait for an opportunity to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Chu army. As long as most of the Chu army under Xiang Yan's commander were annihilated, why should Huaibei worry? Why is Chu worried about immortality?

This is Li Xin's strategy to defeat Chu!

…

In Yangcheng, more than a hundred miles southwest of Huaiyang, as the letters home of the soldiers were sent away, their uneasiness seemed to be sent away too. In addition, Li You frequently asked the cooks to add meals to the labor force, and the Nanjun soldiers began to let go. Concerned, morale has recovered.

Heifu, who was given the new nickname of "Hundred Generals", not only received gratitude from the soldiers, but also gained Li You's attention.

After the time entered late September, Heifu clearly felt that the war was getting closer and closer. First of all, the cavalry in the army was constantly mobilized to enter the Chu territory to spy on the enemy. At the same time, he also hunted down those who also came to spy on the Qin army. Battles between the real and false Chu scouts and cavalry scouts have started frequently.

Yangcheng is the only road from Huaiyang to Shangcai. Soldiers have been mobilized very frequently in recent days. There are even a large army of chariots and cavalry passing by under the banner of General Mengtian. The roads outside Yangcheng are filled with dust for a while. Looking at the elite chariots and cavalry of the Qin army from the north, they all had high morale and a grand appearance. As a miscellaneous army, the Nanjun soldiers felt a little ashamed of themselves.

Heifu also got the task to intensify his inspections around Yangcheng, because whenever the army is mobilized, it is the time when the enemy's espionage activities are most frequent.

On this day, while riding around Yangcheng with a person from the village, Heifu discovered that there were three suspicious-looking people on the side of the road, pointing at the city head of Yangcheng...

Hei Fu immediately rode over and led his troops to surround the three people. He saw a middle-aged man with a thick beard wearing short clothes, and two young people holding rulers and squares, both dressed in civilian clothes, looking at them. They were sitting in Yangcheng, discussing something excitedly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The middle-aged man was surrounded by Qin soldiers, but he did not panic. He took out the things in his arms, handed them to Hei Fu, and said in a Guanzhong Qin opera: "We are going to Shangcai with the army and passing by this place. This is the pass festival."

Heifu looked at the Sangmu Talisman, and it turned out to be a pass signed and sealed by General Meng Tian himself, allowing the three of them to move around the city at will, as long as they did not enter or leave the military camp, they could move anywhere.

This is extremely high treatment, but these three people are dressed in civilian clothes. They are not generals. Could they be aides to the shogunate? When you reach the rank of general, you can bring some staff and disciples with you and serve as military counselors.

Heifu was suspicious, and when he took a closer look at the description of the identities of the three people in the biography, he was even more surprised.

"Are you... a Mohist?"

"Of course." The middle-aged man raised his hands towards Hei Fu and introduced himself: "Qin Mo!"