In the early Spring and Autumn period, China's population was 10 million, and in the later period, it grew to 20 million; In the early Warring States period, the population exceeded 30 million, and in the later period, the population rose to 40 million; The population of the Qin Dynasty was about 35 million.

In the 242 years of the Spring and Autumn period, there were 448 wars of various kinds. By the time of the Warring States period, there were 222 large-scale wars alone. During the Warring States period, the Qin people were fond of war, and they pursued and killed their opponents with their heads in their left hands and captives in their right arms. Sima Qian recorded: Qin killed 80,000 people in Wei, 10,000 in the war against the Five Kingdoms Alliance, 10,000 in Han, 80,000 in Chu, 60,000 in Han, 20,000 in Chu, 240,000 in Han and Wei, 40,000 in Wei, 100,000 in Wei, and 40,000 in Han. In 262 BC, he attacked Zhao Bai and killed 420,000 people, attacked Han and killed 40,000 people, and attacked Zhao and killed 90,000 people. According to the above incomplete statistics, the number of killings has reached as much as 1.3 million. In addition, the number of Qin people killed in battle has not been counted. Therefore, the official historical figures of ancient books and classics should be reliable, but don't compliment the romance of novels.

In short, no one can stop the trend of national integration. The idea of "great unification" advocated by Confucius has undergone a fundamental transformation of society and has become a fighting banner for people demanding unification. Confucius himself later had a change of thought, admitting that "all the four seas are brothers."

Under the guidance of the idea of "great unification," people's sense of national identity has been continuously strengthened. One of the important manifestations is that regardless of the distinction between China and the barbarian Rongdi, people have a common belief, that is, they unanimously worship the Yellow Emperor as the ancestor and deify him. The second is the emergence and continuous enhancement of the concept of a common territory. With the broadening of people's horizons, especially the Central Plains countries (including Zheng, Xu, Song, Wei, Qi, Lu, Chen, Cai and other countries) all disappeared in the annexation war, and Qin, Chu, and Yanqi were all pioneers in the border at that time, so the narrow concept of territory limited to the Central Plains in the past was gradually broken. "If there is one family in the four seas", why bother to split? Why not "great unification"?

All in all, due to the extensive establishment of political and economic ties among various regions and nationalities, especially the need for economic complementarity, the common mentality of all nationalities yearning for reunification and the concept of "great unification" of China's borders have emerged. And this kind of ideological concept is pushing forward the historical trend of unification. It can be said that a unified multi-ethnic country is a peach that has grown on the big tree of war and ethnic integration for more than 500 years, and it has matured. It's just that the Qin Dynasty plucked it from the tree.

At this time, the offensive of the Qin army continued unabated.

The Qin army camp, the commander's big tent.

"The city of Yi'an is profound, and there are already 50,000 remnants of Yecheng who have been defeated and retreated, and Handan of Zhao State urgently mobilized 50,000 elite soldiers to support Yi'an. The Mo family mobilized 4,000 ink men to help defend the city. Although there is not much grain and grass in Yi'an City, it is no problem to hold on for several months. Coupled with the backing of Handan, grain, grass and reinforcements will continue to arrive. It's not a good idea. Adjutant General Yang Duanhe recounted the information he had gathered.

"Ben Shuai never intended to fight Jiancheng to the death, and the attack on Yecheng was to take advantage of the shortcomings of the Zhao people's lack of food and grass. At this time, although the Zhao army in Yi'an has increased a lot, they can still survive by holding the city, what if we lure the enemy out? Qin State General Huan Qi smiled.

"Lure the enemy out? I don't know what the big handsome plan is? Adjutant General Yang Duanhe asked suspiciously.

Ben Shuai carefully asked the scout lieutenant and learned that most of the Zhao army was concentrated on the front line of Yi'an and Handan, relying on the defense of the Zhanghe River, while the defense of Pingyang in the lower reaches of the Zhanghe River was empty. Once we have conquered Pingyang, we can attack Handan from the southeast. If this is the case, how could Zhao Qian, the king of Zhao, let the generals of Zhao continue to defend Yi'an? Qin State General Huan Qi smiled happily, but his face was hideous, like a fierce beast that chooses people and devours them.

If this is the case, Zhao Qian, the king of Zhao, will inevitably be in a panic all day long, where will he think about the safety of Yi'an, and will inevitably force the general of Zhao to take the initiative to attack again. Then we can quickly defeat the army of Zhao as quickly as the battle of Yecheng. Deputy General Yang Duanhe was also very happy, thinking: As long as it is not a siege and a field battle, who in this world can be the opponent of the Great Qin Iron Army? This attack on Zhao is another rare great achievement!

The Qin general Huan Qi avoided crossing the river head-on, and instead crossed the river from the lower reaches of the Zhanghe River to the side of Yi'an, and attacked Pingyang southeast of Handan.

Zhao Guo Yi'an, the city guard.

"Father, we can't go and save Binh Duong! Yi'an only has a total of 50,000 elites, and the rest are old and weak wounded soldiers, how can they fight with the Qin army in the field? The lieutenant of the Chinese military academy dared to stop.

"As a father, how can you not understand the key! It's a pity that the king has panicked and strictly ordered our army to rescue Pingyang. Because the huge city of Handan was only guarded by 50,000 old and weak soldiers, if the Qin army was allowed to capture Pingyang, Handan would be immediately unprotected. The king has ordered the kings of Qin to be sent to defend Handan, and we are using them to delay time. General Zhao Guo had a sad look on his face, and thought: My Hu family has already donated an eldest son, do you want my father and son to fill in again?

"Father, since you can't do anything, why don't you learn from the old general Lian Po?" The lieutenant of the Chinese military academy dared to speak cautiously.

"Old General Xuelianpo? My son knows that the old general Lian Po was miserable in his old age, and he died alone after four years of wandering! "General Zhao Guo naturally understands that his son Hu dare not let him take 100,000 soldiers to die.

The time dates back to 243 BC, when the famous generals of Zhao State, Pang Xuan, Le Cheng, and Le Jian had all died, and only Lian Po was still in exile in Wei. Qin thought that Zhao was incompetent, so he attacked Zhao on a large scale, and the situation of Zhao was very critical. Some ministers suggested recalling the veteran general Lian Po and allowing him to continue to command the army against Qin.

However, Xiangguo Guo Kai disregarded the interests of the country, and in order to repay personal grievances, he strongly opposed the reappointment of Lian Po.

He said to Zhao Yan, the king of Zhao Mourningxiang: "Lian Po is nearly seventy years old, he is old and frail, and he can't even go up on a war horse, how can he still lead troops to fight?" ”

As soon as his words fell, someone in the court immediately stood up and said: "I am afraid that Xiangguo's words are not true, and a relative of the minister recently came from Daliang, saying that the old general is strong and strong, and his heroic strength has not diminished, so please send someone to investigate." ”

Zhao Mourning Xiangwang Zhao Yan originally wanted to listen to Guo Kai's words, but he thought that there was a real lack of good generals in the court, and if Lian Po could really fight, it would not be a bad thing for him to contribute to the court. So he sent an envoy with a pair of famous armor and four good horses rewarded by King Zhao to visit General Lian Po in Daliang.

In order to prevent Lian Po from returning to China, Guo Kai secretly invited the envoy into his home, rewarded him with four hundred taels of gold, and told him to report to the king when he came back, he must say that the old general's health had decayed.

The envoy made the money, and hurriedly promised: "Xiangguo rest assured, everything will be done according to what your old man said." ”

After the envoys of Zhao State saw Lian Po, Lian Po ate a bucket of rice and ten catties of meat for a meal in front of him, and put on iron armor and got on the horse, saying that he could still be appointed.

A few days later, the envoy returned from Daliang and reported to King Zhao: "Although General Lian Po is old and has a lot of food, there seems to be something wrong with his intestines. ”

Zhao Yan, the king of Zhao Mourning, shook his head again and again when he heard this, and said, "How can such a body lead troops to fight? Don't talk about it again. ”

Lian Po was very happy to see that Zhao Yan, the king of Zhao Mourning, had sent a special envoy to visit him. He thought that Zhao Yan, the king of Zhao Mourning, would summon him back to China and let him lead the troops again, but after waiting for a long time, he did not see any movement, and he was deeply disappointed.

In the winter of this year, Li Yuan of Chu Xiangguo sent a special car to Wei to welcome the old general Lian Po. After Lian Po entered Chu, he was worshiped as a general by King Chu You. But Lian Po can't get used to some people and things in Chu State, and he is unwilling to serve Chu State, but he is still worried about Zhao State in his heart. He often said to his generals: "I miss Zhao, I want to command the soldiers of Zhao." ”

However, Zhao failed to reactivate him, causing Lian Po to become depressed and unhappy, and in the winter of 243 BC, he fell ill and died in Shouchun of Chu.

This is the historical allusion "Lian Po is old, can he still eat?" Allusions!

To get back to the point, General Zhao still took 100,000 Zhao Guoshi, who had uneven combat effectiveness, to rescue Pingyang.

The Qin and Zhao armies engaged in battle under the city of Pingyang.

The Qin army had 200,000 men, while the Zhao army had only 100,000.

The Qin army is in a large array.

"The morale of our army is high, we should attack the Zhao army from the front, the two wings only need to defend, wait until the middle army of the Zhao army is defeated, and then the whole army will cover the past!" The general of the Qin State, Huan Qi, immediately decided.

"The commander is wise, the enemy is weak and I am strong, and the two wings of our army can kill and injure a large number of Zhao people by relying on defense." Adjutant General Yang Duanhe did not forget to praise.

The advance of the Qin army immediately launched an attack on the central army of Zhao.

The Zhao army is in a large array.

"Father, the last battle in Yecheng failed to rely on trebuchets and cavalry to tear apart the Qin army's Chinese army's large formation, we can't go head-to-head with the Qin army's Chinese army, their formation is too tight. It is better to cover the past from the direction of the cavalry, and perhaps be able to repel the Qin army. The lieutenant of the Chinese military academy dared to suggest, his eyes were full of hatred at this moment, and he was eager to immediately use the advantage of Zhao's cavalry to defeat the Qin army.

"It's okay, Pingyang City is low and can't be defended for a long time. It is better to use the advantage of Zhao's cavalry to tear apart the Qin army's large array. General Zhao simply let go of his hands and feet, determined to fight a bloody battle with the Qin army.

The Zhao army concentrated 30,000 cavalry to avoid the central army of the Qin army and attacked the left flank of the Qin army in a roundabout way. And the left flank of the Qin army was basically cavalry.

The cavalry of the Zhao army was like a sharp sword, directly into the cavalry formation of the Qin army. Going forward and seeing death as home, in fact, they have already regarded themselves as dead, will the dead still be afraid of death? As long as the Qin army's military formation is crushed and holds out until the arrival of the follow-up infantry, they will be considered to have died as they deserve!

Naturally, the Chinese army of the Qin army would not let it go, and immediately adjusted its direction and used crossbow arrows to attack the surging Zhao cavalry.

There were three rows of crossbowmen standing in the front row of the Qin army, which means that there were only three shots in battle. When the first row of crossbow arrows was fired, they quickly retreated, followed by the second and third rows. Seeing that the cavalry of the Zhao army changed from small to large in the field of vision, the crossbowmen of the Qin army also retreated to the rear. They had never seen such an outlaw cavalry, and I am afraid that only Zhao Guotie's cavalry today has this spirit of seeing death as home. But it doesn't matter, they've retreated to the rear. It can only be a projectile into the sky and hit the rear army of the enemy. However, the power of the crossbow arrow is naturally greatly reduced!