Qin Official

Three days after the Battle of Xingleshui, when Han Xin arrived at the south of Linxiang City with an army of 10,000 soldiers with high morale after his new victory, Li Cang, who had already led the leading cavalry troops to pursue Li You here, came out of the camp in person.

As a leader in the second generation of the old gang, Li Cang changed his previous confusion about Heifu appointing Han Xin as the enemy commander and welcomed him with a smile.

"Captain Han, Li Cang is finally convinced."

It turned out that on that day, after Han Xin became aware of Li Youyi's plan, he first moved his camp to the east bank of Xingle River, occupying a favorable location and choosing the battlefield in advance.

Xiao He had been in Changsha for two years and had already become familiar with the map, terrain and roads of the county. He said that dozens of miles upstream from the confluence of the Xingle River and the Xiangjiang River, two small mountains stood side by side, forming a canyon. The river suddenly narrowed here. It forms a throat area only more than ten feet wide, which is most suitable for building a dam to collect water.

Therefore, Han Xin asked Xiao Tao to lead people to use Nanhai County's method of controlling the spring tide of the Pearl River. They filled the bags with sand and blocked the upstream of the Xingle River, causing the water to accumulate in the gorge. Immediately after Li You's army first arrived and had no time to investigate more than ten miles upstream, he led his army halfway across the river, pretended to be invincible, and was defeated on the east bank, inducing Li You to send half of his army to pursue.

At this moment, the "Yinghuo Lantern", an artifact of communication in the military, was released. When a string of bright lanterns rose into the sky, Xiao Tao followed the agreement and opened the sand bag filled with river water in the canyon. .

Suddenly the flood came, and Li You's army was cut off. Thousands of people were swept into the water. Li You's headquarters on the west bank were not allowed to cross the river. Thousands of people on the east bank were besieged by three times as many people. Their positions were in chaos, and most of them were captured. Rushed into the water, there were heavy casualties.

Seeing that his defeat was certain, Li You had no choice but to evacuate northward with the remaining 5,000 men.

Han Xin was not in a hurry to pursue, and only let Li Cang hold on with his chariots and cavalry to increase the enemy's casualties. I waited for him to leave, crossed the Xiang River on a bamboo raft, and surrounded Li You's suspected soldiers in the east. The three thousand Changsha County soldiers were all locals and did not want to go to war with the Southern Expeditionary Army. After hearing that Li You Defeated, he surrendered.

In the end, Xiao Tao cleaned up the battlefield and took care of thousands of prisoners at the same time, while Han Xin and Xiao He headed north, arriving in Linxiang on the last day of February.

At the moment, Li Cang is full of praise for Han Xin’s clever plan:

"The captain first feigned defeat and retreated, luring the enemy halfway across, and leading the enemy into submission. Then he broke through the water, divided and annihilated the enemy, all in one go, and defeated the enemy to death. The ancients only knew how to attack halfway across, but they did not know that they could lure the enemy halfway across. Attack! The Art of War says that those who are on the battlefield first and wait for the enemy are useless, and those who are behind the battlefield and rush to fight are tired. Therefore, those who are good at fighting will hurt people without killing them. Captain, you are also a good at fighting. No wonder the princes are like this. Watch out for the Captain!"

Han Xin was not a sociable person to begin with. He was both proud and shy. He was a little embarrassed by Li Cang's flattery, so he only said: "I was born by the water, so I know the nature of water..."

He was born in a water town, and has seen the horror of summer floods and the entire Huaiyin being turned into a swamp. He has also seen the convenience brought by the canal, and even the turbulent surge when the dam bursts. Therefore, he has always thought that if the water can be used well, it will be a disaster. It is as wonderful a weapon as fire!

The one who attacks with fire is wise, the one who attacks with water is strong. This is Han Xin's understanding.

Li Cang nodded: "That's why Captain Han dared to say that "Wu Sun Tzu's Art of War" is missing an article about water attack."

"Actually, Sun Wuzi also used water attacks."

Han Xin said: "Sun Wu attacked Xu State for King Wu Helu, which is now the Prime Minister of Donghai County. It is not far from my hometown of Huaiyin. Sun Wu blocked the mountains and rivers to irrigate Xu. After a few months, the city of Xu was destroyed, and Lord Xu surrendered..."

Since then, similar methods of flooding the city with water have been repeatedly used. For example, Zhibo used the Fen River to flood Jinyang and almost drowned Zhao Wuxie, but because of his complacency and arrogance, Wei and Han counterattacked his army.

The more famous water attacks in modern times are undoubtedly Bai Qishui's irrigation of Yancheng and Wang Bian's irrigation of Daliang, both of which played a decisive role.

However, it is still too monotonous, and due to the limitations of the times, Sun Tzu is a military strategist who prefers "conquering the enemy first, then attacking the enemy, then attacking the army, and then attacking the city." He prefers mobile warfare and avoids siege warfare as much as possible. That’s why I didn’t include a separate article on “Water Attack”.

And Han Xin is the first person who can lure the enemy through repeated maneuvers, use sandbags to flood the water, and artificially create field water to attack since the beginning of military warfare in the Central Plains!

If Sun Wu were still alive, he would be amazed when he saw that his disciples had such great talents...

However, this conversation reminded Li Cang. He pointed to Linxiang with the city gate behind him and said, "Captain Han, can Linxiang City be filled with water?"

A few days ago, most of Li You's cavalry and cavalry troops were wiped out by Han Xin's water attack on the east bank. His troops didn't know that this was Han Xin's plan. Seeing the rising star, the flood came and they thought it was the opponent. What kind of ghosts and witchcraft have been used, and I have lost my fighting spirit.

Li You could only retreat in a hurry with 5,000 people, and was fiercely pursued by Li Cang. He panicked and suffered a lot of losses. In the end, he only took more than 4,000 people to escape into Linxiang, and resisted stubbornly with the county guard and Wei Fuyu.

After all, it is the capital of a county. Linxiang is located on the east bank of the Xiang River, near the May Day Square in Changsha in later generations. On the bank of Orange Island, on the other side of the river is Yuelu Mountain, and to the north is the Liuyang River. The water is diverted into a moat, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The Southern Expeditionary Army marched northward and suffered considerable losses in the battles of the past few days after a long journey. A storming attack would surely result in heavy losses.

So Han Xin took a boat to the west bank and climbed to the Yuelu Mountain. After looking at the terrain from a distance, he saw the Liushui flowing into the Xiang River in the northeast of Linxiang, and his eyes suddenly brightened.

"I once heard a prince say that in the past when King Wu'an of Qin attacked Chu, he built a dike a hundred miles west of Yan City to store water, and built a long canal directly to Yan City. Then he opened canals to irrigate the city, and the water entered the city into an abyss. The northeast corner of the city was soaked and destroyed by the river, and the city was destroyed."

"If we repeat our old tricks and build embankments on the Liu River to store water, we might be able to turn Linxiang into a land of marshes, destroy its city walls, and allow our army to win without a fight!"

Both he and Li Cang thought this was a good idea, but Xiao He, the captain of Sosu who arrived here later to escort the army rations, did not agree with this approach.

"Don't flood unless absolutely necessary!"

"Bai Qi irrigated Yan, and Wang Ben irrigated Daliang. There were heavy casualties in the city. I still blame the Qin people. If we irrigate Linxiang, we can make Li Youjun hang the cauldron for cooking, but it will also cause many people in the city to die. Linxiang is The most populous city in Changsha is very friendly to the Southern Expeditionary Army. If we make them enemies, it will be detrimental in the long run."

Li Cang said: "Then according to Captain Xiao, how should we break the city? If we want to go north, we must get to Linxiang, especially the rice and millet from Changsha in the warehouse. Otherwise, within half a month, the three armies will be starved!"

Xiao He smiled and said: "Maybe we can defeat others without fighting."

Although his status is high now, Han Xin still respects Xiao He very much: "Please also ask Mr. Xiao to teach him."

Seeing that Han Xin defeated Li You and the situation in the south changed suddenly, Xiao He also changed his worries from the previous few days and began to actively make plans for the southern expedition. He stroked his beard and said:

"The Southern Expeditionary Army has been stationed in Changsha for two years and has been friendly with the people. General Wei ordered the soldiers to do no harm to the people. He even sent people to help Linxiang renovate the city. He asked military doctors to teach the locals medical skills, and Dr. Ling led the Southern Expeditionary Army. With his salary, he traveled to various counties in Changsha to do good deeds, and he was as kind to the soldiers and corvees from his hometown in Changsha as he was to the township party members."

"Therefore, the people of Changsha like to march south, but they don't like Li You's army. Now, although Li You and his guards and lieutenants have taken him hostage and closed the city to defend him, all his sons have been captured by our army. The tens of thousands of people in the city will not really help Li You. Defend the city!"

"It is better to pretend to build embankments to flood the city and spread the news at the same time. According to what the princes said, everyone in the city will know that the First Emperor has collapsed, Li You is a party of traitors in the court, and the Southern Expeditionary Army is an army of justice, and With the help of ghosts and gods, we have already been defeated, and we can make people's minds calm down, and we can cooperate internally and externally, and we can win Linxiang with minimal losses!"

After finishing speaking, Xiao He added: "This is also what Captain Tao meant."

"That's all we can do..."

Both Han Xin and Li Cang wanted to conquer Linxiang quickly and go north to support Heifu, but it was six to seven hundred miles from Changsha to Wuchang. It would be at least a month before they could capture the city and reach Dajiang.

"The distant water cannot quench the thirst of the near, and now we can only fight on our own. What you can do is to fight steadily, capture Linxiang and Changsha counties for the king, recruit people, and hoard food. At the same time, wait for the rest of the southern expedition to go north. Convergence.”

Xiao He felt that Han Xin and Li Cang were still too young. Could what Heifu did be accomplished in a short time? We must plan ahead and be prepared for the long term!

This is also what he is best at. Xiao He feels that now he can rely on this skill to compete for the top position among the civil servants in the Heifu Shogunate.

Lingnan is too wild and barren to be relied upon, and the population of Changsha is less than one-tenth of the major counties in the Central Plains. However, after a hundred years of development by the Chu people, it has a vast territory with nine counties, which can be used as a temporary base camp.

"Prepare for the worst, even if General Wei's progress in the north is unfavorable, at worst he can retreat to the south of the Yangtze River, occupy Changsha, Yuzhang, and Lingnan, and then take central Guizhou, govern across the river, and watch the changes in the Central Plains!"

But what Xiao He is most concerned about is how to bring his clan to the south...

…

Xiao He, who acted more conservatively, didn't know that at this moment, the boat Heifu was riding in had crossed the vast Yunmengze and was approaching a remote lakeshore full of reeds in the south of Anlu County...

The paddle-driven boat broke through the fog and slowly docked. Hei Fu refused the help of his fellow boaters and stepped on the muddy shore, one foot deep and one foot shallow.

The sun dispelled the fog. He pushed aside the reeds and walked forward, and saw a familiar plant.

It is thick and big and grows in the mud.

It is yellow-skinned wild sugarcane.

Heifu chopped one with his knife, peeled off the outer skin skillfully, threw a juicy stem into his mouth, and immediately smiled.

"I felt bitter when I was young."

"Now it feels sweet."

This is the taste of hometown...

"Who is it? Don't come here again!"

At this moment, a warning sounded from the front. Without waiting for Heifu's order, more than a dozen short-distance guards quickly stepped forward. Following several screams of pain and muffled grunts, the sound stopped.

When Heifu walked to the front, he discovered that there were shacks like refugee camps in the reed marsh. Hundreds of men, women, old and children gathered here. A few young men had been subdued by hand-to-hand soldiers, but more people came out after hearing the news. , pick up the guy and fight against the villains who broke into their shelter!

When the Qin army Feng Jing's troops invaded the entire county, they were unwilling to leave their hometown and took care of the old and young, and fled to Yunmengze to avoid disaster. Among them were a few old people who the black man thought were kind...

"Back off!"

With a loud shout, Heifu stepped forward. He was not wearing the robes of a monarch or the armor of a general today. He was only wearing the clothes he wore when he was walking on the bank of Yunmeng Ze many years ago when he went to Anlu for military service. Yes, he wears rough brown clothes, and even his hair is styled into a flat bun.

The soldiers let go and stepped aside. A few young men who wanted to protect their families looked at the black-faced man warily. There were two bold young men who winked at each other and wanted to kidnap the leader with bare hands. But those who grew up listening to the legend of Wu Zhonghou and heard the story of him surrendering three bandits with his bare hands on the edge of the river. Although Wu Zhonghou has passed away, his spirit will be inherited by every Anlu descendant!

Do whatever it takes to protect your family!

The young people didn't know that the old people behind them, those older people, looked at Hei Fu's appearance with surprised eyes. As he got closer and closer, everyone stood up involuntarily, and their hands trembled. , and immediately grabbed the impulsive disciple...

Heifu, who was dressed in Guizhou attire, had walked to the center of the open space and bowed heavily to everyone.

"Anlu's father, brothers and brothers, Hei Fu, are back home!"