Qin Official

"In the 21st year, General Wang Ben defeated the Chu State and captured Huaiyang. In the 22nd year, Wang Ben led an army of 200,000 to flood the beams and destroy the Wei State. In the 25th year, he captured Liaodong and destroyed the Yan State. , and returned to his army to capture Dai Wang Jia. In the twenty-sixth year, he sent his army southward, destroyed the Qi State, and was granted the title of Marquis of Tongwu..."

"The four wars that destroyed four kingdoms were never without purpose. Just looking at the number of kingdoms destroyed, it even exceeded his father. Therefore, after the death of the old general Wang Jian, people often praised Wang Ben as the best general in the world!"

Dongting County has been conquered, and at the celebration banquet, Quji, who had just been appointed as the "Dongting Shou", drank some wine and started chatting, but for some reason, he slapped Wang Ben violently in front of Zhao Tuo. boast.

Zhao Tuo became anxious and began to belittle Wang Ben:

"Qu Ji, you are just letting other people's ambitions destroy your own prestige. In my opinion, although Wang Ben destroyed many countries, when it comes to the real war, he only destroyed Wei. The rest mostly relied on the strength of Qin to defeat the army. Strong, but rarely rely on military tactics to win. I am not disparaging Wang Ben, I just think that anyone who is the commander in chief of Wei, Yan, Dai, and Qi can win a great victory. Without him, the enemy country will be defeated... "

"Wu Zhonghou is not like that. Although he is always modest and says that his military skills are learned from the old general Wang Jian, he can take advantage of the situation to win. But whether it is the battle of Linyang, the battle to capture Anlu, or the battle to capture Jiangling, Therefore, the weak defeated the strong. In commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, he also relied on a group of newly defeated soldiers to defeat Baiyue in less than two years. If we want to talk about the best general in the world, it must be Wu Zhonghou, so the Northern Expedition The army will win!"

Seeing Zhao Tuo trying so hard to defend Hei Fu, even going as far as to put the title of "No. 1 General" on his brother, Qu Ji couldn't help but laugh. Just from the conversation, one couldn't tell what Zhao Tuo had in mind.

So he continued: "This is natural, but the meaning of what I just said is that Wang Ben marches his troops steadily and likes to win by force. Therefore, since he left Wuguan last month, he has not been in a hurry to attack the south. The shogunate was set up in Wancheng, and troops and generals were mobilized everywhere. Now we have gathered more than 100,000 troops and deployed them in Hanzhong, Nanyang, and Chenjun."

"Since the king's march and use of troops are also the Wang family's style, our army also avoided fighting and only guarded the dangerous passes. The two sides only had small conflicts with the scouts and troops, and no major war broke out yet."

He smiled and said: "Don't forget, how long did the stalemate last when General Wang Jian attacked Chu? It's only been two months now, and the war has just begun!"

Qu Ji was right. The Northern Expeditionary Army was indeed prepared for a long-term war. After capturing Nanjun in April and controlling Yan, Suixian and Ming'e in May, they did not rush to march north and ran into Wang Ben's army. The trap set by Nanyang was to build high walls and store grain widely, as if waiting to harvest grain for the winter in the south.

Today, the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army is concentrated in the north. As the core of the defense line, Yan County is dominated by Han Xin, with a total of 30,000 troops stationed as deputy.

The three passes of Ming'e are presided over by Dongmen Bao and Li Cang, with 20,000 troops stationed.

Sui County was presided over by Ji Ying and Zhou Chang, with 10,000 troops stationed.

In addition, Heifu was stationed in Anlu with 10,000 short soldiers, and the 80,000 Northern Expeditionary Army was facing an enemy army twice his own, unable to move at all - against a powerful enemy like Wang Ben, Heifu had to use Go all out!

However, seeing that both sides were dominated by Gou and would not take action easily, it was difficult to see the outcome on the northern front, so Heifu and his staff formulated a third plan after "taking Jingzhou as their home first, and then seizing the dangerous pass as a fortress":

"Take the corner!"

The so-called corner-taking is a term used in chess, which means writing in the four corners of the chessboard.

It is said that the famous "Yi Qiu" summed up that when playing chess, it is easier to get a basis at the corners than at the sides and midsection. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the start of a game of chess is often from the corners, that is, " Take the corner."

Occupying corners and expanding territory became the core of the Northern Expedition's operations in June and July. If the first-line troops cannot be mobilized, then the best second-line troops coming from Lingnan and north will be used.

Qu Ji knew that Weiyang and Wu Rui had captured Kuaiji, and Anpu also led 5,000 men to attack Zhangjun. Both sides crossed the river with the Huainan Chu bandits to rule.

Zhao Tuo, although it took two months, successfully captured Dongting. South of the river, the Northern Expeditionary Army no longer had any worries - or so it seemed.

But things were not going well in the west. In May, Wu Chen, under the orders of Heifu, set out from Yiling with 5,000 men. He conquered Zigui and Wu counties along the way, but when he marched to Jiangguan, he was defeated by Bajun. Blocked by the county captain, it is difficult to move forward even half a step...

"Your Majesty wants to take Bashu?"

Zhao Tuo leaned forward. This news was very important to him.

Qu Ji smiled and said: "As early as the fifth month, Lu Jia said to the king that the Liangzhou of Bashu is also a dangerous place with fertile fields for thousands of miles. If Qin wants to unite the princes, it will first annex Shu. After merging with Shu, Qin will become stronger and richer. Take the princes lightly."

"The situation between the north and the south today is very similar to the confrontation between Qin and Chu a hundred years ago. Bashu is located in the upper reaches of Jingchu. In the past, during the reign of King Zhao of Qin, Sima Cuo used large ships to accumulate millet. He started from Wenshan and went down the floating river to Chu for more than three thousand miles. "

"The boats carried soldiers, and each boat carried fifty people and three months' worth of food. They were launched into the water and floated. They traveled more than three hundred miles in one day. Although the miles were many, it did not require the effort of oxen and horses. It took less than ten days to reach the river pass. . Jiangguan was not owned by Chu, and then Yiling fell. At that time, Wu'an Lord Baiqi raised his armor and came out of Wuguan. He attacked from the south and defeated Yan City. Jiangling could not be defended. The king of Chu fled eastward, and the witches of Guizhou did not belong to Chu... "

"Therefore, Xiao He, Han Xin, and Lu Jia all thought that if they did not want to repeat the mistakes of King Qingxiang of Chu, Bashu must fight for it! Rather than being controlled by the enemy's old tricks, it is better for the Northern Expedition to capture it first!"

But Jiangguan (Fengjie, Chongqing, later Baidi City) became a hurdle that the Northern Expeditionary Army could not overcome.

More than ten years ago, before Zhao Tuo met Hei Fu, he worked as a small boat clerk in Bashu to transport grain for Lieutenant Tu Sui. He had the experience of traveling to and from the Three Gorges and Jiangguan. I know that there are mountains on both sides of the river in that area, with no gaps at all. The mountains are stacked on top of each other, hiding the sky and blocking out the sun. At midnight, there is no bright moon in the pavilion.

He then said: "I have heard that two hundred years ago, when Bachu and Bach were attacking each other, Jiangguan was built as the boundary between Bachu and Bachu. This place controlled the Three Gorges and was separated by five streams. It was located in the upper reaches of Jingchu and was the throat of Bashu. , this place not only has high banks and deep gorges, but also has many cliffs, which are difficult for apes and monkeys to cross. Moreover, the water flow is very fast, and if there are no trackers against the current, it is absolutely impossible to go upstream. No wonder Wu Chen was unable to attack..."

Quji nodded: "If we attack by force, Jiang Pass is indeed difficult to enter. Therefore, if you want General Zhao, you should find another way to bypass Jiang Pass and go deep into Ba County!"

Zhao Tuo understood: "Would you choose another way? Do you want me to take the Bayan Road?"

The so-called Bayan Road is the dangerous trail that Heifu and Bazhong took starting from Yidao (Yidu, Hubei Province) and heading west when they encountered the Ba people's rebellion ten years ago.

Going westward along the narrow Yishui River Valley, you must first pass through Wuluo Zhongli Mountain, the earliest stronghold of the Ba people, and then Yanyang (Enshi, Hubei) and other places. Until the source of Yishui, Yicheng (Lichuan, Chongqing), a thousand or two thousand years ago, the Ba people entered Badong along this road, and then dispersed and multiplied. It can be regarded as a remote path into Ba County. After exiting the ancient road, they arrived The river west of Jiangguan is not far from Zhi County, Ba's hometown.

Zhao Tuo, who had just walked out of the steep mountains of Dongting, hesitated: "But this road is dangerous and you can't drive. You can only rely on mules and horses to walk with people. It is difficult to walk side by side. Moreover, there are Ba tribes along the way. If they are attacked, , I'm afraid it will ruin the king's affairs..."

Qu Ji's mission this time is to convince Zhao Tuo, because Heifu needs to fight against Wang Ben's 200,000 troops and has no extra troops on hand. The Guilin soldiers in Zhao Tuo's hands have become extremely important, and they are the first to attack Bashu. One choice...

He then said: "Don't worry, General Zhao. Lu Jia has already gone one step ahead and went to Ba County along the Bayan Road. He spread a lot of money along the way and bribed the Ba people along the way to ensure the safety of the general's march. Now Lu Sheng should have arrived in Zhi County. He This time on my journey to the west, I not only shoulder the responsibility of welcoming back the prince’s wife and heirs, but I also want to persuade the Ba clan to join the Northern Expedition!”

"Bashi is the head of the old clan of Bazhong Emperor, one of the richest men in the world, with a family of tens of thousands of gold and thousands of servants. Once he is willing to respond, it will be easy for General Zhao to take over the land of Bazhong!"

"That's very good, very good." Zhao Tuo seemed to be relieved, but there was mostly reluctance in his heart.

When Qu Ji saw this, he thought to himself: "As the prince expected, Zhao Tuo didn't know the outcome of the Northern Expedition and the Qin court. He always felt that the south was inferior, so he hesitated."

So he smiled and said: "By the way, there is one more thing."

"At the end of April, didn't the monarch change the name of the Southern Expeditionary Army?"

Zhao Tuo nodded: "I already know that the entire army has changed its flags..."

"not only that."

Qu Ji said: "The prince also built the Generalissimo Shogunate in Jiangling, and he was the Generalissimo of the Northern Expedition. From now on, we should no longer call him a general, but a marshal!"

The title of marshal has existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin Wengong once "sought marshal", that is, he considered candidates for the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army. However, it was only a title for "chief of the general" and not an official title. Heifu was the first person to be called "marshal". "For the title.

Zhao Tuo thought to himself: "Commander Wei? This title is quite new."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished complaining, Quji took out the long-prepared Ren Zheng from his sleeve.

"Jun Zhao, the Generalissimo has an order!"

Although he was not welcoming the emperor to issue an imperial edict, Zhao Tuo still showed his full gesture and prostrated himself to the ground!

Qu Ji quickly helped him up and coughed lightly: "Does Mr. Zhao want to kill Qu Ji because of his shame? This is what Mr. Zhao asked me to convey to him."

"The prince said that there were three generals in the Southern Expedition Army before, and the remaining two generals, Yin Tong and Xin Yi, were both at the head and the ends of the rat. Therefore, after the prince established the Northern Expedition Army, he had reduced the position of his generals."

"Only Mr. Zhao is different. He is the sworn brother of the prince, his right-hand man, and he has done his best to obtain the Dongting for the prince. Now he has to go into danger and go deep into Ba County. It is not only meritorious, but also hard work. Therefore, this title can only be promoted, not drop!"

These words seemed to be encouragement, but to Zhao Tuo's ears, they sounded like Heifu's warning to him!

But after beating it, it was the turn of the dates to be eaten. Quji had already smiled, bowed and congratulated Zhao Tuo and said:

"The Lord has appointed Mr. Zhao as the deputy commander-in-chief!"