Qin Official

The "Southern Army" led by Meng Wu had 150,000 people, of which 80,000 were combat troops, divided into eight captains, with a total of 80 captains.

When General Wang Jian, commander-in-chief of the Qin State's 600,000-strong army, came to inspect the Southern Army, among the eighty commanders, only Hei Fu had the opportunity to accompany General Wang, along with General Meng Wu, Captain Li You and others. Inspecting the military camp...

Heifu was personally named by Wang Jian and came forward to talk. Wang Jian asked if he had come up with the "football" drama. Heifu said that he was the one who came up with it, saying that he came up with it from Cuju and just wanted to make his soldiers trouble. Can be done.

He did not brag, but said sincerely: "I dare to speak to the generals. Just as Captain Li once said to us, soldiers are no longer free people from the moment they enter the military camp. They should forget their relatives and the enemy when they cross the border. body."

"But being in the military camp for a long time, there is nothing to do except eat, sleep, drill, and occasionally make routine inspections. After a few months, it will inevitably become boring and boring, and even violent. These violent atmospheres are prevalent in the military, just like the poison in the human body. . If there is a battle to fight, at least this poison can be exported to the outside world, but there is no battle to fight at the moment. If we let it go, the poison will accumulate inside. Recently, there are often restless soldiers in various camps, gambling, Private fights, women entering the military market, etc. occurred. The captain ordered us to investigate strictly. Although we were severely punished, we were still banned repeatedly. On the contrary, after the football drama, my soldiers had something to do and they were all at peace. Come down..."

What Hei Fu said was very true, but Wang Jian secretly nodded. He had heard of this man's name when he was in Xianyang. After all, he was a hero who followed Li You in the Battle of Linyang. Just now, Li You also attacked Hei Fu. The husband has many words of praise.

He is right, letting soldiers wait for a long time and get tired is not good for the management of the army, and may even affect morale.

Sun Tzu said: The morning energy is sharp, the day energy is lazy, and the evening energy returns. Therefore, those who are good at using troops to fight should always avoid the enemy's initial attack, and wait until the enemy's morale is low and exhausted before launching an attack. Use your own rigor to deal with the enemy's chaos, use your own composure to deal with the enemy's impatience, wait for the near and wait for the far, wait for the leisure to work, and wait for the full to wait for the hungry, these are the general rules for predicting the enemy.

After Wang Jian came to the front line, he deliberately did not fight, but waited for four months. This was also to deplete the morale of the Chu army to defend the enemy, and to make his soldiers forget the gloom of the Qin army's defeat in the last battle, and let Chu The morale of the army is getting lower and lower, and the Qin army's desire to fight is growing day by day, thus realizing the exchange of morale between the enemy and ourselves.

If the morale of the Qin army itself drops sharply during the stalemate stage, what will happen?

In the past, the kings and generals of the princes thought of many ways to solve the morale problem.

For example, Guan Zhong of Qi State and Gou Jian of Yue State comforted the soldiers by recruiting women into the military camps. When the army had no battles to fight, the soldiers vented their anger in the women's households, and through some clouds and rain, they regained their composure. Renovation.

However, this method has gradually been proven to do more harm than good. First of all, the soldiers believe that if there are women in the army, morale will be reduced. If a woman is in the army, everyone will not focus on training and combat.

Therefore, from the beginning of the Mohist defense of the city, it was stipulated: "When a woman comes to the army, she will order the men to go to the left and the women to go to the right. They will not go side by side. They will all guard, and those who do not obey the order will be killed."

And Shang Yang also changed the law: "There are no women in the army!"

Since the Qin army could not rely on female camp prostitutes to encourage soldiers like the armies of the Six Kingdoms, it could only relax the constraints on the soldiers and let them do some amateur activities such as cornering and throwing stones beyond the rules. Counting games, with hundreds of people watching, not only kill time, but also improve morale and train the soldiers.

But there has never been a game that has become as popular as "football", which is not actually football, allowing soldiers to jump as the little ball rolls, and roar and cheer like they are conquering the enemy on the battlefield...

In addition to letting the soldiers kill time and forget the boredom of the military camp, Wang Jian also saw some shadows of the art of military warfare.

At this time, Li Youye held the ball just right and said with emotion:

"I have heard of a legend. It is said that the Yellow Emperor fought with Chiyou in a deer chase. After capturing and killing him, he skinned him and made him a lord of the rank. He had people shoot at him. Those who hit more shots were rewarded. He cut his hair and made a flag, named Chiyou. The jing. Use it as a juju in the stomach and make people kick it. Those who hit more will be rewarded. This is the origin of Cuju. Gradually, this thing was often played in the army to entertain and train warriors, especially in Qi and Chu. My favorite."

"But those Qi Chu Cuju games were mostly for martial arts warriors to show off their skills, and were of no use in battles. However, the football game played by everyone in Nanjun today is different. It can not only entertain people, but also practice formations. Only ten people working together can win. .”

So Li You suggested: "General, it is better to promote this football game in the army, so that the soldiers can be used as line forwards to practice defending against the enemy, the trapped soldiers can be used as forwards to practice breaking out, and the grassroots military officers can be used to do their best on the field. , come and practice commanding. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to play games and have everyone suit themselves?”

This was what Heifu had been instilling in Li You for several days. Li You finally used this to advise Wang Jian. Seeing that his boss quoted scriptures, the limelight finally overshadowed his own. Heifu was very happy. Now he didn't have to worry about being the guest.

Although Wang Jian is the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, Heifu's influence in the next ten years will still be with the Li family. Even Wang Jian's own grandson Wang Li will have to rely on Li Si for guidance in the future. This must be understood clearly. If you get carried away for a moment and try your best to show off in front of Wang Jian, it will bring shame on the face of your boss Li You and create a rift between the two of you, which will not be beautiful...

Wang Jian was a sensible man. He looked at Li You and then at Hei Fu who lowered his head and smiled. He did not say anything, but just laughed: "Yes, we can let the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Army and the Northern Army learn from it. That's all." Once this happens, I'm afraid that in Shangcai, Ruyang and other cities, the urine bubbles that were just thrown away will start to be sold for money."

The commander-in-chief told a joke, and of course the others laughed along with him. Heifu also laughed for a while, and then he cupped his hands and said: "General, I have a kind request..."

It was okay to keep a low profile, but he also wanted Wang Jian to leave an impression on him.

"Why please? But it doesn't hurt to say so."

Heifu said: "Initially we called this game football, but now it seems that it is not appropriate. I hope the general will give me a name!"

Wang Jian did not refuse or hesitate, he stroked his gray beard and said: "Li Duwei said that Cuju originated from Chi You's stomach. Chi You was the master of war in Qi and Chudong, and today's game originated from Cuju." , and our army will use this method to let elite soldiers practice military warfare... How about calling it a military ball?"

Soldier ball? I wonder if it will be confused with table tennis in the future... Heifu secretly complained, but it is better than calling it rugby, because this thing has not been introduced to China yet.

After some questioning, Wang Jian was quite satisfied with Hei Fu's performance. It seemed that this little leader who didn't even have a last name really knew a little about the art of war and knew how to train and lead troops. When he asked again, he learned that Hei Fu was only a second grader. At the age of eleven, Wang Jian couldn't help but sigh:

"At the age of twenty-one, I was still a captain in Wu County, Hedong County, with only 500 people under my command..."

After saying that, he looked at Li You again and said with emotion again: "When I was thirty, I was just a small official, working as a Langguan in Xianyang Palace."

He shook his head and let his gray beard flutter in the wind: "The next generation is to be feared. How could we know that the one who comes is not as good as he is now?"

"General, you will get stronger with age!"

Hei Fu said this, and everyone reacted and said in unison: "General Wang will always be strong and strong, and he is the pillar of the country!"

Wang Jian also laughed when he heard this: "However, Jingchu has not been destroyed, how can we say we are old?"

…

In the Nanjun soldiers' camp, Wang Jian still had people kill pigs and dogs, provided high-quality meals to appease the soldiers, and personally drank and ate with them, which moved the soldiers very much. He even ignored his sixty-year-old age. As the server of a ball match, he kicked the ball to the soldiers of the two teams, which caused another burst of cheers...

Wang Jian can be said to have the strongest aura among the people he has seen since Hei Fu arrived. He is even stronger than the authority of Ye Teng, the governor of Nanjun County. He is not angry but asserts himself, and treats his soldiers kindly He is as kind as an elder, but he also makes people admire him from the bottom of his heart. This attitude of being close to the soldiers has won the love of everyone.

After General Wang made his inspection tour, the Nanjun soldiers, who were already in good morale, became even more energetic. So, just as he was about to board the vehicle and leave the place, among the more than 10,000 troops seeing him off, someone suddenly shouted loudly: "Dare you ask me?" General Wang, when will we go to war? We are willing to fight!"

"Yes, we can't wait for when the battle will begin. We want to kick the Chu army's head like a ball!" someone agreed.

After a burst of laughter, everyone's hearts seemed to be united. Ten thousand people knelt down to Wang Jian at the same time, struck the shield with their swords, and asked in unison: "General, please lead us into battle!"

Wang Jian was very satisfied with the spirit of the people, so he supported the carriage and asked the ordering soldiers to loudly reply to the soldiers.

"The war opportunity is coming, there is no need for the second and third sons to wait any longer!"

The reason why Wang Jian delayed this battle for so long and only defended but not attacked was because he considered that the Chu state was large and the people were vast. If he led the army deep, the Chu army would be scattered everywhere and it would be difficult to capture its main force. If you divide your troops, you may repeat Li Xin's mistake. He doesn't like playing hide and seek with Xiang Yan.

With a large army standing here, the Chu army will definitely be able to attract the Chu army to the front of Qin and hold it for several months. Seeing that the farming season is approaching in February, the Chu army will be short of food, and the Chu soldiers will also have lice on their armor and be in a hurry to go home. Farming!

Sitting in the car returning to the camp, Wang Jian thought to himself: "When I saw Hei Fu, I knew that the military officials were available; and now, I also know that the soldiers are available...The opportunity to take advantage of the Chu army's momentum and destroy it in one fell swoop is almost here. !”