Qin Official

Since the strategy of luring the enemy with Nanjun soldiers failed, the Qin army no longer kept secret. The 10,000 Qin soldiers following behind immediately followed up, half of them approaching Xiangcheng, and the other half expanding their camps on the south bank of Yingshui River.

On the north bank of Yingshui River, the main force of the Qin army also revealed its true appearance. Countless flags and smoke gathered towards the shore. Dozens of wooden boats came from the direction of the chasm and began to speed up the construction of pontoon bridges.

Nanjun soldiers did not have to act this time. They were fully armed and guarded the position between the river bank and Xiangcheng to guard against the Chu army leaving the city.

Heifu opened his eyes and looked northward, and saw chariots and riders with banners and spears and halberds like a forest on the north bank of Yingshui River. The marching team was several miles long, filled with smoke and dust, and the army was very large. Together, there were probably more than 30,000 people. They were commanded by five or six school captains, and surrounded by them was Li Xin's conspicuous command flag.

The pontoon bridge was narrow, with boats as beams and wooden planks on top. It took 30,000 Qin troops a whole day to cross the river, and it was not completed until nightfall. A captain was left to guard the north bank, and the rest were gathered in the camp on the south bank.

However, from what Heifu saw, he found that most of the Qin troops were infantry, with only a few chariots and cavalry.

Li Youben wanted to meet Li Xin at the pontoon, but he was told by the messenger that General Li had an order for all the captains to meet at the tent after nightfall. Li You had to wait for the army to settle down before letting a few short soldiers follow. He went to the big tent.

Heifu was among them. One of the advantages of being a short-distance soldier was that he could follow the captain around. He didn't have to stay in his tent as long as there was no combat mission like before.

Of course, the premise is that the captain appreciates and likes to take you.

They walked through the camp, which was several times larger than the day before, but they saw the pointed tents stretching into the distance. It was the time to cook, and smoke rose like slender fingers from hundreds of campfires. The dusty Qin soldiers were sitting outside the tent sharpening their weapons. The flagpole was deeply embedded in the muddy ground. The familiar black flag fluttered in the wind and blended into the night.

The main tent arrived soon. The general's tent was as big as a house. A three-foot-high high-toothed banner (dào) was erected outside the tent, with dragons, flags and plumes, and the three armies were under control.

The commander's tent is an important place, and is surrounded by heavily guarded soldiers. As the commander, he has as many as four thousand personal guards at short range! Heifu and other short-distance soldiers were not qualified to enter. They were stopped far away from the camp gate and could only watch Li You walk into the tent.

Outside the camp gate, there was a tent specifically for short-range guards to rest. When Heifu led a few of his men in, he found that it was already full of people.

These people should be the short-range personal guards escorting their respective captains. Heifu took Ji Ying, Gong Ao and others to sit down in the still empty seats, and someone brought him hot soup.

A bearded general sitting nearby greeted Mr. Hei: "May I ask this doctor, where are you from?"

Hei Fu raised his hand to him and said, "Hei Fu, I'm from Nanjun. I'm under the command of Lieutenant Li."

"In Zhou Hua, from Sanchuan, there are short soldiers under the command of Su Duwei."

The man explained his place of origin, and pointed to the groups of people next to him to introduce them. It turned out that they were all generals, and they were subordinate to captains from Hedong, Nanyang, Shangdang, and Hanoi regiments.

The Qin army's field troops were organized according to their place of origin. This time they attacked Chu, and each of the three counties of Hedong, Sanchuan, and Nanyang sent out two troops with more than 10,000 troops. For example, there is only one Qu in Nanjun, Shangdang and Hanoi, with a population of five to six thousand people.

Everyone is a short-term general with similar status and the same responsibilities. They are in the same circle, so they can chat, but after all, the discussion is mostly about how to fight next.

Zhou Hua from Sanchuan asked: "Heifu Baijiang, didn't you agree to let Nanjun soldiers lure the enemy? Why didn't it happen?"

Everyone looked over, and Hei Fu explained: "The enemy general is cunning. Lieutenant Li failed to lure the enemy several times. When the pontoon bridge was built, the Chu army had already sent chariots out of the city, but unexpectedly they came to test us. , when they got close, they turned back and failed to intercept them."

"What a pity." Everyone sighed regretfully. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that if the Chu people could be lured out and annihilated some of them, the subsequent battle would be easier to fight.

"I think next, we will definitely have to fight to the death with the Chu army in this city!"

"Of course, I heard from the captain that the craftsmen were required to build siege equipment. I think we will be attacking the city in a few days."

Because they didn't have to fill the ravines themselves, everyone looked more relaxed, but they couldn't help but offer their own suggestions, although their suggestions were not heard by the superiors.

As Heifu listened, he suddenly couldn't help laughing and almost laughed, because this scene gave him a sense of déjà vu in his previous life.

The leaders were holding a meeting inside, while a group of drivers who brought the leaders were drinking tea and chatting outside...

But as he listened, he noticed something was wrong, and felt that there seemed to be something missing in the camp.

Yes, everyone is from Shandong counties, but they lack the familiar Guanzhong accent.

Heifu then asked: "General Zhou, how come you haven't seen Paoze from Neishi, Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi?"

These places are all "Guanzhong" in a broad sense, with the most elite soldiers. The Qin method has been implemented for more than a hundred years. Each generation is a division capable of hundreds of battles. Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi have more powerful chariots and cavalry with high mobility. . This was the real main force, but it disappeared and was replaced by "miscellaneous troops" like Heifu and others from Shandong counties.

Zhou Hua was stunned: "The captains from these places have all gone to Shangcai with General Meng Tian..."

"Going to Shangcai?"

Heifu nodded, thoughtfully. Could it be that the army that passed by in an endless stream when he was in Yangcheng a few days ago was this group of people?

"The captains of the Shandong counties led their infantry to confront the Chu army in Xiangcheng here. Their strength was only 50,000, and the Chu army in the city was at least 30,000. This city cannot be defeated in a short time. At this moment, Thirty thousand elite chariots and cavalry have disappeared. Could it be that this so-called storming of Xiangcheng is just a pretense?"

…

Heifu and his fellow generals were outside speculating endlessly on the outcome of the next battle. Inside Li Xin's tent, Li You was stunned by the scene in front of him.

The person sitting in the commander's seat is not Li Xin, but Meng Tian!

"General Meng."

Li You put away his horror, raised his hands and asked, "Why is General Meng here? General Li..."

"There's no rush, just sit down first."

Meng Tian asked Li You to sit down. Although Mengshi and Li Si were not on good terms, Meng Tian and Li You were both from Langguan. The battle against Chu was of great importance. The reason why the King of Qin did not use the old generals and let them do it. Li Xin's deputy hopes that the former Lang officials who were close confidants of the King of Qin can cooperate sincerely in this battle, fight a beautiful battle, and destroy Chu in one battle!

Therefore, Meng Tian also has to put aside the barriers and work with them in the same boat.

After Li You sat down, Meng Tian scanned the tent. As a result, the eight captains under his command were all here. They all looked at Meng Tian, ​​hoping that he could give an explanation.

Meng Tian smiled, showed the tiger talisman that Li Xin left for him to control the army, and then said: "General Li asked me to hold up the big banner in vain and confront the main force of the Chu army here. He personally commanded 30,000 elite soldiers from the pass, leading the chariots. Riding to Shangcai, of course, General Li Xin is also flying the banner of General Bi..."

After he finished speaking, he grimaced: "This is a secret. Anyone who dares to leak it will be killed!"

All the captains agreed to the promise. In the battle of Changping that year, generals were also secretly changed, and the king of Wu'an was replaced by the king, keeping the Zhao people in the dark.

When Meng Tian said this, they all understood. No wonder "Li Xin" lives in seclusion these days and only lets his close associates pass orders to the outside world. It turns out that he and Meng Tian were playing a trick.

After thinking about it for a while, Li Youlue guessed the motive behind Li Xin and Meng Tian's troublesome efforts, and immediately asked: "General Meng, does that mean we didn't really attack Xiangcheng?"

Meng Tian nodded: "The purpose is to make the Jing people think that the main force of our army is here to attack the city. The King of Chu is afraid that Xiangcheng will be lost and will let our army go straight down the Ying River, threatening Juyang and Shouchun, so he must mobilize The army came to help. But little did they know that on the left and right sides of Shangcai and Suiyang, two sharp blades had penetrated into the Chu territory. Especially at Shangcai, there were elite chariots and cavalry soldiers commanded by General Li!"

Therefore, the real main direction of the Qin army's attack is not the Xiangcheng and Yingshui lines.

While everyone was talking about it, another messenger came in from outside and handed a sealed letter to Meng Tian.

Meng Tian immediately destroyed the seal, opened the letter and read it under the lamp, smiling immediately.

He turned around and announced the latest military situation to the captains in the tent.

"What I just said was wrong."

"General Li is no longer in Shangcai!" Meng Tian announced: "Our army has just captured Pingyu!"