Qin Official

Chen (hēn) County is the southernmost county in Changsha County. The word "chen" is a combination of the two characters "lin" and "yi" in seal script, which means "city in the forest".

It is located at the northern foot of Wuling Mountains, in the mountains, forests and valleys of the upper reaches of Lei River, with overlapping mountains and numerous streams and rivers.

However, there is also a vast dam area on both sides of the Lei River. After cutting down the trees, it can be enough to set up cities and build military fortresses, which can accommodate tens of thousands of troops.

After the failure of the first attack on Vietnam, the Lingnan road was cut off by the Yue people, and the army had difficulty in food and clothing. The remaining 30,000 people of the Central Route Army had to abandon Panyu, Longchuan and other territories and retreat to this place to eat. During this period, under the orders of the imperial court, while repairing and widening the roads, the three passes of Yangshan, Hengpu and Huangxi were built in the south, and a small number of soldiers were sent to guard them in order to fight again.

In early May of the thirty-fifth year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, a team arrived from Changsha Camp, surrounded by Heifu, the new commander of the Southern Expedition Army, and arrived at Qin Camp in Chen County.

"My subordinates pay their respects to the Lord!"

Jia He bowed down at the roadside. He was the assistant general of the middle route army and came to the intersection with several captains to greet him.

"General Jia, there is no need to be polite."

Heifu was different from the legendary black-faced evil man. He was very kind. He immediately got out of the car and helped Jia He up.

This Jia He was very knowledgeable and said with emotion: "I have heard that the Marquis of Changnan has outstanding military exploits and is victorious in every battle, especially in the south. Now that the general is here, Jia can feel at ease."

Heifu laughed: "General Jia, don't be humble. Although I have conquered Yuzhang, times have changed and I am no longer familiar with the situation in Lingnan. General Jia, on the other hand, first set off a fire, burning the Yue people to a state of embarrassment and beheading thousands." Moreover, when the Guilin and Cangwu armies were defeated and General Tu died in battle, it was really commendable that he was able to bring back the main force of the Central Army. If we fight in Lingnan again in the future, we will need General Jia's help."

General Jia responded cautiously. His fire actually injured a thousand enemies and damaged himself eight hundred. The Yue people set fire to several camps and burned down several camps. The beheading of thousands of people was also due to good luck. After destroying the Yue people's strongholds, , chopped off the heads of the old and weak, and even used the heads hunted by Yue people to make up the number, which was very watery.

The most terrible thing is that he was too hasty during the retreat and abandoned Heifu's old subordinate Xiao Tao in Longchuan. His life and death are still unknown...

But today, Heifu didn't mention it at all. Did he successfully cover it up, or did he cause it but not reveal it?

After testing each other, Heifu didn't waste any words and said with a serious face: "The supervisory troops and horses will not arrive until tomorrow. The military situation is urgent. General Jia, please tell us in detail what happened at Yangshan Pass."

"That's right."

Jia He did not dare to neglect and said: "More than ten days ago, a thousand Chu garrison soldiers who were ordered to garrison at Yangshanguan actually killed their officials and rebelled!"

…

"There is a hot spring six miles south of Chen County, and there are thousands of acres of fields downstream. Planting is often done in December, and new rice will be harvested in March next year. It will be harvested three times a year. Therefore, Chen County's annual rice production is 200,000 shi. It is enough to feed more than 10,000 soldiers. Including the millet from Changsha and Nanjun, it can barely feed the 30,000 people here. But if the army moves south and transports food over the Five Ridges, the food consumption along the way will be doubled, so on the road After being cut off and without the flanks protected by the West Route Army, the Center Route Army had no choice but to retreat if they did not want to starve to death."

Heifu smiled and said: "After all, not every general is like me. He will farm wherever he fights."

The next day, the supervisor Ziying also arrived in Chenxian County. With him, there were a thousand capable soldiers from the Changsha Battalion. After more than a month, these soldiers had only Heifu to follow his lead. After all, no one had ever Generals and captains are so concerned about the lives of sick soldiers.

Heifu also patiently explained to Ziying why the Central Route Army could not stay alone in Lingnan.

Without him, transportation is still too inconvenient and food support is not available. The reason why Zhao Tuo can stay in Guilin for a long time is because of Lingqu, but what is there? It's just a few trails among the five ridges crisscrossing the mountains.

"And guarding these trails are three checkpoints, Yangshan, Hengpu, and Huangxi."

Among them, to the south of Yangshan is South Vietnam, which is later Guangdong. Hengpu is the only way to Yuzhang, and Huangxi is further to the south, approaching Panyu, the area where the largest number of South Vietnamese people gather.

"Zhou Li" says that outside the Kyushu, it is called the Fan Kingdom, and Panyu means "the barbarian land of the Fan people". The name was given by the Chu people.

In short, building and controlling the three passes is the prerequisite for the Qin army to move south again. The road from Hengpu Pass to Huangxiguan was cut off by the Yangyue Mei family. It has been impassable for a year and has not been opened for a long time.

Now there is another incident at Yangshan Pass, which means that the Qin Dynasty's road to South Vietnam is completely cut off, let alone re-advancement, contacting those Qin army camps left everywhere when Jia He withdrew, and even the three thousand troops stationed at Huangxi Pass People are also isolated and isolated in a foreign land...

"So, Yangshan Pass must be recovered immediately."

Ziying also realized the seriousness of the matter. No wonder Heifu, when he heard about it on the way to Lingqu, immediately turned the carriage around and galloped this way.

According to Jia He, the group of Chu corvees and prisoners who were ordered to widen the road in the Wuling Mountains were all extremely vicious people who refused to obey the rules. They even colluded with the Yue people and intended to rebel, so they killed the officials and seized the prison.

Jia He believed that this move was unforgivable and he should immediately send troops to capture and kill the rebels!

It sounded fine, but Hei Fu shook his head: "I'm afraid that the army's worries are not at Yangshan Pass, let alone South Vietnam, but within this Xiao Qiang!"

Ziying was stunned: "What do you mean by this?"

"Didn't the supervisor find out?"

"What did you find?" Ziying didn't know why.

Heifu smiled and asked the charioteer Sang Mu to take people to guard outside the house and not let anyone get close. Then he asked Ziying: "The supervisors have just entered the camp. How do you think this place is different from Wuchang Camp and Changsha Camp?" "

"the difference?"

Ziying pondered, and after thinking about it carefully, there was something strange about it. For example, the camp was not very organized, and the soldiers he saw along the way were dejected. Even if he told them that the imperial court would grant each of them a first-class knighthood, no one cheered.

In short, the camp was filled with a gray and pessimistic atmosphere, which was not seen in the Wuchang and Changsha camps that Heifu had reorganized.

Heifu solved the mystery: "The ancients said that one drum will make you strong, and the second will weaken, and the third will be exhausted. The soldiers in Wuchang camp are new recruits, so they will have high morale. The soldiers in Changsha camp have been in the local area for a long time and are disturbed by diseases. , Recently, many people have been cured by taking medicine. The soldiers see hope and their morale has been slightly boosted, so we should use two drums. The morale is weakened but not exhausted, so it can still be used."

"Only this Chenxian battalion was stationed in Lingnan for a whole year. It was attacked repeatedly by Yue people and suffered heavy casualties. It happened that the army on the West Route was defeated and the food road was cut off. When they had to retreat, the losses were even more severe, with tens of thousands of casualties. After returning to Chenxian County, I was told that I could not return it. I was exhausted physically and mentally, and my teachers and teachers were resentful. Therefore, the soldiers in the Chenxian County camp had to use three drums to cheer up, and their morale was exhausted."

“An army with depleted morale cannot fight a war. If you use severe punishments to force your troops to control them, let them build mountains and build passes, and go south to fight to the death with the Vietnamese. Since advancing and retreating means death, there are only two outcomes. "

Heifu clapped his hands: "Either break up and flee, or trigger a backlash, just like the corvee mutiny at Yangshanguan. In my opinion, if this Chenxian camp continues like this, there will probably be chaos!"

"No...it doesn't stop there."

Ziying broke into a cold sweat after hearing this. There were more than 20,000 people stationed in the Chenxian camp, and they were still here. Once a mutiny broke out, the consequences would be disastrous!

Heifu Heiran: "Why not? When Master Fusu was a general, didn't he also have a Yingxiao mutiny? The current situation is much more serious than that. Supervisor, you and I are just sitting on a little spark. Pile any firewood you can!"

Ziying was horrified. For a moment, his buttocks really felt hot. He had the courage to drag his sick body around with Hei Fu and fulfill his duty of supervising the army, but it didn't mean that he died in the south without any clear idea.

At this moment, the door of the house was pushed open with a creak, which startled Ziying!

Fortunately, it was Sang Mu who was standing outside.

"Junhou, Li Cang is back."

"Let him in quickly!"

Li Cang, who was assigned to do something by Hei Fu, came in, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Supervisor of the Army, I walked around the camp in the name of sharing food to reward the army, and it turned out that the morale was low. It was not just the complaints of the Chu people who were doing the corvee work." Incessantly, even the Qin soldiers who came from Guanzhong were quite dissatisfied, shouting that they had been guaranteed by the government to return in one year, but now they have served for two years, and the war has not yet ended, and Paoze is still getting sick and injured..."

After briefly talking about his experience, Li Cang added:

"During this period, there was another person who secretly grabbed me and said that he had something important to report to the general and the supervisor!"

"Is it a Qin soldier?"

"No, he is a young scholar from Chu. He just distributed food to the corvees for me. He is very eloquent. I have brought him back."

Heifu nodded: "Bring it in, just in time to hear what else is unknown about this Chenxian camp."

Not long after, a man as tall and thin as a bamboo pole, dressed in soap clothes, walked in. Judging from his age, he was slightly younger than Hei Fu, but quite courageous. After standing still and sizing up Hei Fu and Ziying, at the urging of the soldiers, Then he smiled slightly, bowed his head, and his voice was in the familiar Huainan Shouchun accent.

"Young man Lu Jia, please pay your respects to the Marquis of Changnan!"