After more than two years of construction, the scale of Taocheng has tripled, and other industries are also booming, driven by the papermaking, printing and cotton textile industries!

The King of Qin and his ministers inspected the large-scale cotton spinning workshop, paper mill, and printing workshop. He touched the quilts that had just been produced, the neatly cut paper, and the neatly printed books. It is jokingly said that this is the three mints of the Great Qin Empire.

The King of Qin lived in a newly renovated palace from the former Song Palace, and still had to summon ministers every day to take care of heavy government affairs.

King Qin said: "I just received the battle report, Li Xin's army successfully captured Juyang Pass yesterday, and the road to Yingshou, the capital of Chu, has been opened. The army is preparing to attack Yingshou with all its might! Chen County has also made great improvements, and the stragglers who are hiding in the mountains to harass the Qin army have fled or surrendered, and the rear transportation line of the army has been very stable this month. Changping Jun is indispensable! ”

Everyone seemed to have seen the impending victory, and even the scheming lieutenant was optimistic that the battle would be foolproof.

Montenegro was full of sorrow, because this was a great defeat in history, and he had many old subordinates in Li Xin's army.

"General Montenegro, why are you so worried?" Wei asked puzzled.

Montenegro thought for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, there must be a demon when something goes wrong. Xiang Yan is by no means a mediocre person, and the old general Wang Jian also has a high opinion of him. But Juyang Pass is so important, why only for ten days? This is very abnormal, either the old general Wang Jian is looking away, or Xiang Yan has a big conspiracy! And I'm more inclined to Xiang Yan to have a big conspiracy! ”

Montenegro's words immediately attracted everyone's attention. The King of Qin ordered someone to hang the map on the wall and mark the situation of the two armies on it!

"How many Chu troops does Xiang Yan have in his hands? It is estimated that there will be at least 400,000. Since the start of the war, except for Juyang Pass, the state of Chu has hardly fought head-on with the Qin army, although it has lost more than 20 cities such as Yingchen, Xuecheng, and Hengshan, but his military losses are very limited. Abandoning these more than 20 cities made Xiang Yan concentrate most of his army. Let a small part of the army contain our army in the Yingchen and Hengshan areas and attack the supply lines of our army. On the whole, it seems that our army is winning one after another, but in fact, the battle is going on with Xiang Yan's plan from the beginning. It's just that we don't know what Xiang Yan's plan is yet! Montenegro analyzed.

"Your Majesty, what General Montenegro said makes sense! In the past, we fought with the Chu State, and the Chu army only sent envoys to sue for peace as soon as it lost, but this time, the army even went down more than 20 cities, and even the Juyang Pass, the barrier of Yingshou, fell into the hands of our army! But there was no movement in the state of Chu. Judging from this, Xiang Yan must have a big deal! Wei Yu analyzed.

It's already late autumn, but everyone is still in a cold sweat when they hear it, and they no longer have the optimism just now!

"Bird, the old general Wang Jian once said that in the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are floating clouds! The widow immediately sent a letter to Li Xin, asking him to be more cautious and make every effort to ensure the safety of the backline. As long as our army can advance and retreat freely, and the logistics supply is continuous, Xiang Yan wants to eat Li Xinbu, and he must have a good tooth! King Qin said.

Returning home from the palace at night, Montenegro pondered Xiang Yan's plan in his study, and he didn't figure out where the danger of Li Xin's army was in the middle of the night. suddenly remembered that Chen Ping had been here for a few months, and he could ask him for his opinion, so he asked people to invite Chen Ping overnight.

Chen Ping soon came to the study, and when Montenegro saw that he was radiant, he jokingly said: "I called you in the middle of the night, your wife has no opinion, right?" ”

"My brother and sister are pregnant, so why don't we sleep in separate rooms now? When adults call me late at night, there will be important matters to discuss, so let's hear about it. Chen Ping sat opposite Montenegro, drank a cup of hot tea, and said.

Montenegro will share the content of today's small court meeting with Chen Ping, and want to hear the views of this military advisor.

Chen Ping only pondered for a moment, and then said, "Since we don't know Xiang Yan's plan! Then we can beat him out. Li Xin's army captured Juyang Pass, and it will definitely take advantage of the victory to storm the Chu capital Yingshou. I conclude that Xiang Yan thinks the same way. All the intrigues and tricks revolved around Li Xin's attack on Yingshou. If Li Xin is not in a hurry to attack Yingshou now, but turns around and goes north, and Zhao Tuo's army attacks Pengcheng in the north and south. As long as Pengcheng is taken, no matter what tricks Xiang Yan makes, he will fail. ”

"Wonderful!" Montenegro exclaimed, "Wonderful! He is worthy of being my military advisor. I will immediately enter the palace to meet the King of Qin, you think about it, how to defeat Pengcheng. ”

After Heishan finished speaking, he didn't wait for Chen Ping to get up, but left first. Chen Ping looked at Montenegro's hurried back and sighed: "What kind of king there is, what kind of minister there is." In the middle of the night, he also entered the palace to see the king, and they all said that how the king of Qin was diligent in government was true. ”

In the study room of King Qin in the palace, King Qin was reviewing the chapters, and the princess added incense on her red sleeves on the side, and when she saw Montenegro returning in a hurry, she smiled and said: "Originally, the widow thought that he was going to be sleepless tonight, and Montenegro returned in a hurry, there must be a clever plan!" It seems that the widow can sleep peacefully. ”

Montenegro gave a salute to the king and princess of Qin and said, "The minister has a man named Chen Ping. He said that no matter what strategy Xiang Yan had, it would definitely revolve around the Qin army's attack on Yingshou, as long as the army gave up attacking Yingshou and turned north to attack Pengcheng with Zhao Tuo! Capture Pengcheng, no matter what Xiang Yan does, he will be in vain. ”

When the king of Qin heard this, he immediately got up, and while walking towards the map, he also summoned the captain.

After a while, Wei Yu came, and the three of them discussed for a while, and decided to send a document to Li Xin overnight.

At the cost of more than 5,000 casualties, Li Xin's army used a strong bow and a crossbow to capture this dangerous pass. The army rested for three days, and the morale of the soldiers was very high, and they were preparing to march to Yingshou in the coming days. In the tent of the commander of the Chinese army, the national captain's office transferred the views of Montenegro, and the generals discussed a lot.

Meng Tian said: "Our army has occupied more than 20 cities in Chu State, if we stick to Juyang at this time, and wait for the stability of Chen County next year, we will gather a large army and attack Yingshou, so Xiang Yan will be tricky, and we will not be able to do it!" ”

Meng Tian's words were immediately supported by several generals such as Bai Tao and the carpenter.

Li Xin was a little unrelenting and said, "Is Xiang Yan so terrible? Didn't Montenegro easily capture his lair and kill his eldest son last year? As long as we defend the Juyang Pass, we can attack and retreat, how can he withstand me? 20,000 infantry troops, 5,000 crossbowmen will hold Juyang, and tomorrow's army will march to Yingshou. ”

As soon as Li Xin finished speaking, he received a second letter from the king. Wang Shu suggested abandoning the attack on Yingshou, and the army went north to attack Pengcheng with Zhao Tuo's army.

"Xiang Yan has a conspiracy, that's for sure, it's nothing more than copying the back road of our army, using the Chu army's sailors to be superior to our army to force us to fight with him on the water, but after all, the waterway is limited, as long as we stick to the Juyang Fortress and have cavalry to respond, what tricks are we afraid of him? The general will not give the order of the foreign monarch, and the order will be sent to the soldiers tomorrow. Li Xin said very confidently. Born as a famous general of this era, if there is no victory in the war to destroy the great powers, Li Xin will think that it is his own shame! Teng Yue destroyed Han, Meng Tian destroyed the Xiongnu, Wang Jian destroyed Yan Zhao, and Wang Ben destroyed Wei. Only when Li Xin won the state of Chu could his achievements be compared with Wang Jian and Meng Tian.

Dongting Lake, known as Yunmengze in ancient times. It is a dense water network and has many islands. Xiang Yan was dressed in cotton blue, wearing a hat, and her hair was white. Anyone who saw him thought he was a self-fisherman.

The war proceeded according to Xiang Yan's plan at the beginning, if he wasn't afraid that the water would be released too obviously, he might not even bother to guard Juyang Pass. The blitzkrieg between Montenegro and Wang Ben two years ago woke up the state of Chu. The monarchs and ministers of Chu were unprecedentedly united, and the major nobles were crowned kings, and Xiang Yan was promoted as a general by sending money and troops. As early as when the Qin State besieged Wei, they began to prepare for this war. The fast boats from all over the country kept coming and going, and the small bamboo pipes with thick fingers were sent to Xiang Yan, and he calmly took out a piece of paper from the tube, on which was a military newspaper written in the birds and beasts of the Chu State. Hundreds of such military reports were delivered every day, and he knew every move of the Qin army well.

"Grandpa, did the Qin army attack Yingshou as you wished?" It was a sturdy boy who spoke with a strong body, a seven-year-old who looked stronger than a boy of eleven or twelve, but at this time he was holding a two-foot iron sword in his hand, and he was sweating profusely. Apparently he had just come back from practicing swordsmanship.

"Yu'er, how is your grandfather teaching you swordsmanship? Will you memorize "The Art of War"? Xiang Yan caressed his grandson lovingly, since the child's father Xiang Rong was cut off by Qin Jun's head, he took this grandson with him and taught him by word and deed. Xiang Yu is not only very smart, he never forgets to read military books, but also has infinite strength, and he is definitely a peerless hero in time.

"I'll have it back early, and when I start a war with the Qin army! Take me, I'm going to cut off a few heads with my own hands to avenge my father. Xiang Yu said seriously.

"My grandson is still young, you have to practice your skills first, and when you grow up, you can cut off the Qin people's heads, and your father will take revenge." Xiang Yan said.

At this time, a small bamboo tube with chicken feathers was sent to Xiang Yan's hands, which was an urgent secret letter. Xiang Yan took out the paper, laughed after reading it, and immediately ordered: "Order all the generals to raise their accounts at the right time!" ”

Li Xin's army marched to Yingshou, and opened the road and built a bridge in the mountains. Along the way, except for the old and weak people who fish and farm, not to mention the Chu army, not even a single young man has been encountered!

"General, this is not right, I suggest withdrawing the Juyang Officer first. This way, the waterways of Chu State are not intercepted, and the dangerous roads are not ambushed. All the places are fortified and clear, which proves that the Chu army has been fully prepared, and there must be a conspiracy to lure our army deeper, and it will be very dangerous to advance further. Meng Tian said.

Li Xin also felt that something was wrong, and always felt that someone was staring at him around. He asked the scouts to look around, but they couldn't find half of them. At noon, the carpenter led people to catch a Chu scout from the top of the mountain in the distance. At the first interrogation, Chu Bing said that there was no Chu army within a hundred miles, and Xiang Yan's army was waiting for him outside Shouchun City.

Li Xin hesitated again and again, and finally decided: "The three armies continue to march towards Yingshou, and they can reach tomorrow, even if they can't attack Yingshou, they must fight with the main force of the Chu army and then retreat!" ”

The army continued to advance, and the Qin army lost the last chance to retreat with its entire division.

The army arrived at Tate-eup the next morning. Forty miles west of Yingshou, it was originally a small city, with a small river in the west, a mountain in the north, a water gate in the south, and a thousand miles of Yunmeng Lake outside the door. The city wall is next to the mountain, it looks very tall, Xiang Yan will also build fortifications on the mountain in the north, and 50,000 soldiers will be stationed here, this inconspicuous small city of 10,000 households is like a tall and mighty guard at this time, guarding Yingshou. Li Xin led the army to the city, but saw that the banner of the word "Xiang" on the city was waving in the wind, and there were many armor soldiers on the city wall.

"Flatten this little city and have lunch. In the evening, we went to Yingshou City to drink and celebrate! Li Xin took out the sword of King Qin, pointed to the small city of Tateyi, and ordered.

The soldiers of the Qin army, who had already been on fire in the past few months, immediately set up a wooden bridge on the small river, and rushed over with a roar. Suddenly, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the arrows on the city rained down, and the Qin soldiers braved the rain of arrows to rush to the bottom of the city, set up a cloud ladder, and a wave of strong crossbows behind them covered the attack. Before he could climb to the wall, the stones and trees on the wall were thrown down one after another, and the big stuff was mixed with fierce fire oil, which burned the Qin soldiers to cry and cry for their mother, and after a while, the city was full of corpses of the soldiers, and there were countless wounded.

Li Xin immediately found that something was wrong, the Chu army in the city had already put on a state of stubborn defense, and immediately ordered all the armies to take turns to attack, covering with large bed crossbows.

The bows and crossbows of the Qin army quickly suppressed the Chu army at the head of the city, and the infantry immediately ascended the city. But the state of Chu was very tenacious, and as soon as the rain of arrows stopped, he immediately counterattacked, and saw that many Qin troops turned into the city wall and were also killed! The two sides attacked and defended again, and fought for another afternoon, both of which suffered heavy casualties, and the small Tateyi became a nightmare for the Qin army.

As the sky got dark, Sima came to report: "Today, the grain transporters did not follow, and the scouts were not returned." ”

Li Xin heard this and said, "It must be that the Chu army sent a small force to attack the rear!" Let the carpenter general go and find out, what's going on. A truce of one night, tomorrow we will definitely take Tateyi! ”

At night, the Chu army withdrew the dead from the waterway, and Xiang Yanqin led the army to retreat to Yingshou by land.

At dawn, the Qin army found that the Chu army had retreated. Tatecheng is an empty city, and there is not even the corpse and half grain of grain left in the Chu army.

"General, the Chu army must have a greater reliance on abandoning Tatecheng and leaving, they must have thought that there is no need to defend it! I suspect that our rear may have been cut off. If the grain and grass cannot be transported, our army will be defeated without a fight! Meng Tian said.

At this time, a wounded scout returned to the camp, none other than the carpenter's men. The person who came was hit by a few arrows in his back, and he saw that he couldn't do it. I only heard him say weakly: "General, all the land bridges have been destroyed, General Mu is besieged, and his life and death are unknown." The waterway transport fleet was besieged and killed by a large number of Chu naval troops, and the grain could not be transported. ”

When all the generals heard this, their heads banged! Li Xin immediately decided: "Concentrate all the grain army and withdraw to Liyang City." "This time, each soldier carried three days' rations, and the attack on Tateyi went for one day, and the remaining two days' rations were barely enough to eat for four days, just back to Juyang City.

Meng Tian said: "The army is heading towards Juyang, along the way, the Chu army is setting up an ambush waiting for us, we should open the waterway and go straight north to Pengcheng!" The court knows that we are out of food, and will definitely send a large army to storm Pengcheng and meet us. ”

Li Xin said: "At this time, if we go north in embarrassment, our unfavorable identity is determined. It's better to withdraw to Juyang Pass first, and you can also reorganize the army and fight again! ”

Li Xin's words immediately drew a response from the other generals. The Qin army won many battles, and a tie was a failure. This is the most difficult for everyone to accept.

Li Xin is too confident! He calculated that Xiang Yan would not dare to engage the Qin army head-on, and would only be disturbed by a small force, and as long as he returned to Juyang Pass, everything would be fine. Along the way, building bridges and building roads, the small units of the Chu army were constantly harassed, and they were all repelled by Yan Han's strong crossbows. Two days later, the army was only half a day's journey away from Juyang Pass, and the carpenter returned with the few remaining men! After he was dispersed, he ambushed the messenger of the Chu army and obtained the news that the commander of Chenjun had rebelled and that Juyang Pass had been lost.

This news was like a bolt from the blue, and all the generals looked at Li Xin. Li Xin knew that something was wrong, so he could only force his composure and ordered: "The army will attack north immediately and move closer to Pengcheng." When the court received the news of Changpingjun's rebellion, it would definitely attack Pengcheng as soon as possible. ”