In the modern Qin state, there were three generals who made the greatest contribution to the Qin state, these three people were Wei Zhang, Ying Ji and Sima Cuo.

These three famous generals of Qin are comparable in terms of merit.

Wei Zhang is the man standing behind Zhang Yi, and his cooperation with Zhang Yi represents an era, an era that belongs to Zhang Yi and the Qin State.

It was his great help that enabled Zhang Yi to "make the princes fearful with a single word", which is really unprecedented and unprecedented.

And Ying Ji is the hero who saved the Qin State.

When King Huai of Chu was deceived by Zhang Yi and devoted all his troops to attack Qin, if it weren't for Yingji and Wei Zhang defeating the Chu army, Xianyang, the royal capital of Qin, might have been broken by the Chu army, where would it still be strong today.

As for Sima Cuo, he laid down the entire rich land of Bashu for the Qin State, which greatly alleviated the embarrassment of the Qin State due to the lack of food.

In front of these three people, even if it is Gan Mao, who is also known as Qin's famous general, he is much inferior.

And now, with Wei Zhang and Zhang Yi being expelled by the Qin State and dying of depression in the Wei State, with the death of Ying's illness, the three famous generals of the Qin State are left with only Sima Cuo, which also makes Sima Cuo have a high reputation in the country.

Of course, among those who respect Sima Cuo, Bai Qi is not included.

Because Bai Qi felt that compared with Wei Zhang and Ying Ji, Sima Cuo's "bravery" had a certain amount of moisture.

Needless to say, Wei Zhang's ability is needless to say, during his assistance to Zhang Yi lobbying the countries, he defeated the armies of Wei, Han, Chu and other countries before and after, so that the princes did not dare to underestimate Zhang Yi who came to lobby alone.

And Ying Ji defeated Tian Zhang, a famous general of Qi State, and Jing Que, a famous general of Chu State.

Bai Qi has always believed that the value of a general is reflected in his enemies to the greatest extent.

is like Tian Zhang who defeated Qi State, even if he is white, he has to praise convincingly: Amazing!

But what about Sima Wrong? Has he beaten any of the world's most famous players?

Never!

In addition to conquering the land of Bashu, Sima Cuo's achievements are only the former Shu Prime Minister Chen Zhuang who defeated the rebellion, and the Qin Gongzi and Shu Marquis Yinghui who launched a rebellion in Shu County, but is there anything else?

No!

And he Bai Qi captured and killed the famous general Gongsun Xi of Wei in the Battle of Yique, and if it weren't for the fact that except for Meng Zhong in the Wei army, he would have been able to solve it with the famous Korean general Storm Kite in that battle.

However, the country asked him to assist Sima Co in organizing the Qin-Chu coalition army to crusade against Wei and Han together, which made Bai Qi a little unhappy in his heart.

Born thirty years earlier than him, but only one of his exploits in conquering Bashu is worthy of praise, and he has never had a record of defeating the world's famous generals, like this, why should he be the deputy general of the old guy in vain?

But because this is the order of the Marquis Wei Ran, even if Bai Qi is dissatisfied in his heart, he can only obey orders, after all, Wei Ran is his benefactor, if it were not for Wei Ran's weight, he would never have commanded nearly 100,000 Qin troops at this age.

After reading the letter, Bai Qi summoned the trusted deputy general Ji Hong and relayed Wei Ran's order.

Ji Hong was very surprised when he heard this: "The Chu people have succumbed? Obviously, our army has not yet broken through the Hanshui ......"

Hearing this, Bai Qi said a little sullenly: "It's Sima Wrong, Sima Wrong sent his troops out of Bashu, broke through Jiangguan, and his troops came to Wujun ......"

"Oh." Ji Hong suddenly realized, and then glanced at the sullen Bai Qi.

He could guess why Bai Qi was sullen, only because the reason why Chu gave in was not because of him, but because of Sima Wrong.

But Ji Hong thought to himself, their army was also a Warring States Commander this time, after all, they had captured the cities of the Six Kingdoms of Chu such as Lixian, Suixian, and Gaohu in just over ten days, and their own losses were minimal, which was enough to be worthy of Wei Ran and Xiang Shou's trust in them.

However, he also understood that the young coach in front of him was a very good and strong person, and naturally he would not be satisfied with just capturing six Chu Yi, not to mention that the main reason that directly caused the Chu State to surrender to his Qin State was not because of them.

Thinking of this, Ji Hong didn't say anything interestingly, just asked Bai Qi: "That'...... What are the next arrangements for our army? Waiting for that Sima wrong in Hanshui? ”

Bai Qi pondered for a moment when he heard this, and then said decisively: "No! Ordered the whole army to rush to Fangcheng! ”

"Huh?"

Ji Hong's face changed slightly when he heard this, and he asked with some puzzlement: "Bai Shuai wants to start a war with that Meng Zhong immediately?" ”

"Or else?"

Bai Qi glanced at Ji Hong, and immediately explained: "According to the detailed work I sent to Fangcheng and Yeyi, Fangcheng, where Meng Zhong is located, has only thirty or forty thousand troops at best, and Yeyi is also in the rebuilding stage. If we wait here for Sima Cuo and organize the Qin-Chu coalition to jointly attack Wancheng and Fangcheng, then according to my estimates, it will be at least July and August this year, or even August and September...... What if, during this period, Meng Zhong noticed that the Chu State had yielded to our Qin State, and stepped up his preparations for battle? You also know that guy's ability, give him a few more months, maybe he will be able to build Fang Cheng into a solid place...... Instead of forcibly gnawing a fortified city at that time, it is better to immediately lead the army to rush to Fangcheng, kill that Meng Zhong by surprise, and take revenge for the resentment of the hundreds of thousands of Chu people he took away from our army some time ago......"

Hearing this, Ji Hong nodded thoughtfully.

But then he frowned again and asked, "What about ...... In what name will you attack Fangcheng? ”

"Isn't that easy?"

Bai Qi smiled faintly when he heard this: "Let's just say that the cavalry of Youfang City killed the soldiers of our army, violating the agreement between Qin and Wei to repair the armistice, and ordered Meng Zhong to hand over the murderer immediately." If he refuses to hand over the murderer, then our army can justifiably send troops to fight. ”

"This name is also feasible...... Ji Hong lowered his head and thought about it, and then frowned and said, "However, what if Meng Zhong casually found a few people and handed them over to our army?" ”

"He won't." Bai Qi said indifferently.

Looking at Bai Qi's sworn appearance, Ji Hong was a little puzzled: "Why not?" ”

Listening to Ji Hong's rhetorical question, Bai Qi was stunned for a moment.

After thinking for a long time, he said: "Giving someone is showing weakness, so Meng Zhong has a straightforward personality, how can he swallow this kind of humiliation?" ”

『…… You've only seen him twice, haven't you? What is the conclusion that Meng Zhong has a righteous character?'

Ji Hong looked at Bai Qi with a strange expression.

But now that Bai Qi has already talked about this, it is too uninteresting for him to ask any more questions.

So he nodded and said, "In this case, the last general immediately issued an order to tell the soldiers to pack up and prepare to go to Fangcheng." ”

"Hmm."

The next day, April 16, seeing that the sergeants and soldiers of the army were ready, Bai Qi issued an order to pull out the camp and ordered his 70,000 troops to rush to Fangcheng.

The Qin army left the area of Yanxian in a mighty way, and the Yanyi Chu army on the other side of the Han River naturally would not be indifferent, and immediately reported to the general Zhaoju.

"The Qin army has retreated! The Qin army retreated! ”

At that time, the entire Yanyi army and people were celebrating and cheering, but only Zhao Ju couldn't laugh.

Because Zhao Ju had received Zhuang Xin's letter a few days earlier, it was clear that the reason why Qin General Bai Qi retreated was because Xiong Heng, the monarch of Chu State, had sent a letter of submission to Qin.

In other words, the retreat of the Qin army is not something to celebrate at all, it is a shame!

But there is nothing Zhao Ju can do about it.

He was even a little confused, confused about whether the country could still be saved.

I still remember that in the early days of King Huai's reign, his Chu State was still able to stand with Qin and Qi on three legs, but only one generation later, his Chu State had fallen to this point, which made Zhao Ju inexplicably sad and lamented.

On April 21, after a five-day ordinary march, Bai Qi led his 70,000 troops to arrive in the area of Wan and Fang, temporarily stationed in a triangular position with Wancheng and Fangcheng, and then sent several envoys to Fangcheng.

During this period, Meng Hu, Hua Hu, Mu Wu and other cavalrymen who were keeping an eye on the Qin army also sent people to report the movements of the Qin army to Fangcheng early, so that Meng Zhong could know in advance that the Qin army was coming towards his Wanfang land.

"How fast?"

During the discussion with Meng Zhong about countermeasures, Meng Sui was very shocked by this, and said to Meng Zhong with a frown: "The purpose of the Qin State to force the Chu State to submit to it is to unite the Chu army to crusade against Wei and Han. Shouldn't he have waited in Hanshui to join Sima Cuo and organize the Qin-Chu coalition army first? ”

In this regard, Meng Zhong also held the same view as Meng Sui, and felt quite puzzled that Bai Qi suddenly led the army to other cities, and after thinking about it, he shook his head and said: "Let's wait and see, tell Ah Hu and them to keep an eye on the Qin army, I want to know the movements of the Qin army at any time!" ”

Meng Sui nodded, and immediately sent someone to contact Meng Hu, Hua Hu, and Mu Wu to convey Meng Zhong's order.

In the afternoon of the same day, the envoy sent by Bai Qi arrived in Fangcheng.

After learning of this, Meng Zhong summoned those Qin soldiers in.

I saw that after those Qin soldiers entered the city and saw Meng Zhong, they said unceremoniously: "The foot must be the Fang Cheng Order." …… We came to convey the message on the order of the commander of our army, a few days ago, the cavalry of Fangcheng innocently killed the soldiers of our army, violating the agreement of not committing crimes against each other, Bai Shuai hopes that Fangcheng will hand over the murderer, otherwise, Bai Shuai will lead a large army to seek justice! ”

At this time, Wu Ying and his lieutenant Wei Xu were beside him, and after hearing the unceremonious tone of those Qin soldiers, Wei Xu was furious, and immediately prepared to draw his sword to teach these Qin soldiers a lesson, but was stopped by Meng Zhong raising his hand.

I saw Meng Zhong staring intently at the Qin soldiers for a while, and suddenly said with a smile: "Saying that my Wei army killed the Qin soldiers for no reason is a trumped-up slander, what is the truth, he knows it in his heart." …… In short, I understand his intentions, and the three of you go back and tell him that if he wants to start a war against our city, Meng will accompany him at any time, and there is really no need to play such a trick, which will make people laugh in vain. …… As long as he is not afraid to repeat the mistakes of Yique, he will attack our city at any time! ”

Seeing Wei Xu beside him with a fierce face, the three Qin soldiers didn't dare to say anything, so they just said goodbye and left.

Watching the three of them leave, Meng Zhong let out a long breath, turned his head to Meng Sui who was standing beside him and said, "It can be confirmed that Bai Qi really intends to attack our city. ”

"Hmm." Meng Sui nodded, and then frowned and said, "However, I still don't understand, why didn't he wait to attack with the army of Chu?" ”

Meng Zhong thought for a while and said, "Maybe you don't want to wait too much time for me to prepare for the battle." …… Do you think, wait until Bai Qi and Na Sima Co converge, and then form the Qin-Chu coalition army, I'm afraid it will take three or four months? Based on my understanding of Bai Qi, he definitely didn't want our city to get enough time to prepare for battle, so he led a lone army to drag us and the others first. ”

"That's how it should be......"

Meng Sui nodded, and then said with some annoyance: "It's a pity that the seeds were sown in the field, I originally thought that the Qin-Chu coalition army would invade our city in the second half of the year...... Knowing that he would be coming at this time, I simply didn't ask the soldiers to sow seeds, and I could save some grain......"

Hearing this, Meng Zhong didn't know what to say.

After all, he didn't expect Bai Qi to bring troops to other Fangcheng so early, as if he really regarded other Fangcheng as a big trouble.

But think about it, who let him Meng Zhong bring humiliation to Bai Qi several times during the Battle of Yique?

Subsequently, Meng Zhong immediately sent someone to invite Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu to discuss countermeasures with Meng Sui, Wu Ying, and Wei Xu who were present.

Zheng Zheng and Cai Wu were also taken aback when they learned that General Qin Bai took the initiative to attack, but fortunately, they trusted Meng Zhong very much, so they were not afraid, and immediately swore that they were willing to take Meng Zhong as the leader.

During this period, Meng Zhong Zhengse said: "Although Bai Qi has nearly 70,000 Qin troops under his command, there are currently close to 30,000 soldiers in our Fang City, and it is not so easy for Bai Qi to capture Fang City. ”

With that, he began to carefully assign tasks.

In fact, he had already told the generals a few days ago about these tasks.

Because of the terrain, there are only two places on Fangcheng that will be attacked by the Qin army, one is Fangcheng, and the other is the "Yangguan" guarded by Lejin, that is, the only main road that can lead to Yeyi from Wandi under construction.

Considering that the city of Yangguan was still under construction, and there was only one Wei camp there that could stop the Qin army, Meng Zhong thought about it and finally decided to entrust Cai Wu to lead his 8,000 soldiers to reinforce Yangguan and assist Lejin in guarding the important place.

As long as Yangguan was still in the hands of Fangcheng, the Qin army would not be able to attack Yeyi and Wuyangyi through the Great Dao, unless they crossed the nearby mountains - but on the mountains, Meng Zhong had already ordered Lejin to deploy a sentry post, and it was almost impossible for the Qin army to sneak in quietly.

But this arrangement led to a great reduction in the strength of the defenders on Fangcheng's side, and there were only 20,000 foot soldiers who mixed the old and the new, plus a total of 1,000 cavalry from Menghu, Huahu, and Muwu.

If Bai Qi ignored the casualties of the Qin army and forcibly attacked Fangcheng, Meng Zhong would not have the certainty of holding this city.

Therefore, Meng Zhong had already made the decision to abandon Fangcheng if necessary - once the battle situation was unfavorable, he led his army to retreat to Yangguan and defend this pass.

After the end of the military meeting, Meng Sui said to Meng Zhong in private: "In Fangcheng and Yangguan, our army has less than 30,000 soldiers, even if it is really reluctant to deal with Bai Qi, let alone face the Qin-Chu coalition army in the future, I propose to open the quota for Yeyi and Chu people to join the army." ”

Opening up the quota for Yeyi Chu Army to join the army is indeed a way.

As far as Meng Zhong knew, there were as many as 150,000 or 60,000 Chu people he took away from Chuyi north of Hanshui some time ago, and at least half of the population had not yet been allocated houses in Yeyi, and the preferential government decree of Ye Yi's withdrawal made the men among these Chu people rush to join the Fangcheng army, but Meng Zhong considered that these Chu people had just come to defect and had no sense of belonging to Yeyi, so he did not dare to recruit too many Chu people, so as not to cause any chaos.

But now, Fangcheng has become precarious, and Meng Zhong also feels that instead of being attacked by Bai Qi or the Qin-Chu coalition army in the future because of the small number of soldiers, it is better to open up the quota for joining the army and recruit all the Yeyi and Chu people who are willing to defect to the Fangcheng army.

It's just that the new soldiers of the Chu people who have been recruited in, can they be useful?

No, after hearing Meng Sui's words, Wu Ying raised this concern.

Seeing this, Meng Sui said: "It can be rotated to defend the city, and it should not be used as the main force, so it should be able to be used reluctantly." In this way, the strength of our army can at least be closer to the Qin army, so that the soldiers will not lose their morale due to the difference in strength between them. ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong nodded and said, "Okay, that's it." …… Sent someone to inform Xiang Yi to let Le Xu be in charge of conscription in Yeyi, and when he recruited a hundred people, he was immediately transferred to Yangguan and asked Le Jin to step up training, at least let those Chu people master how to protect themselves on the battlefield to reduce casualties. ”

"Good!"

As a result, Meng Zhong's order was quickly sent to the ears of Xiang Yi and Le Xu in Ye Yi.

When Xiang Yi and Le Xu learned that the Qin general Bai Qi intended to attack Fangcheng, they did not dare to slack off, so they immediately organized manpower and set up conscription points in various places in Yeyi City, calling on the people of Yeyi to join the army.

At the same time, Bai Qi sent the three Qin soldiers, who had also returned to the army, and relayed Meng Zhong's original words to Bai Qi.

Regarding Meng Zhong's ridicule, Bai Qi not only did not take it seriously at all, but laughed out loud.

He even smiled and said to the deputy general Ji Hong: "Don't look at that guy pretending to be calm, he must be flustered at this time." ”

Ji Hong smiled cooperatively, and then asked, "Bai Shuai, what should I do next?" ”

Seeing this, Bai Qi restrained the smile on his face, and after thinking about it carefully, he said in a deep voice: "In this way, you first camp here and build a camp, and tomorrow I will take Zhong Xu and Tong Yang to Fangcheng first to explore the reality of Fangcheng." …… Remember, beware of Han Xiao in Wancheng. ”

"Whoa!" Ji Hong clenched his fists and took his life.

In this way, Bai Qi divided 40,000 soldiers to Ji Hong, and the next day, with Zhong Xu, Tong Yang, and Wei Yuan, the three generals, led 30,000 Qin troops straight to Fangcheng, and temporarily stationed about 20 miles south of Fangcheng.

Along the way, Bai Qi also saw a lot of Wei cavalry, but considering that the cavalry formed for him by Marquis Wei Ran had not yet arrived, he did not want to provoke these cavalry for the time being, so he ordered the whole army not to pursue those cavalry without authorization.

He had fought with the cavalry under Meng Zhong's command, and he knew very well the combat methods of this cavalry, as long as they did not take the initiative to pursue those cavalry, and did not be distanced from the army by those cavalry, and exhausted their physical strength, those Wei cavalry would at best only dare to shoot arrows far away from his army, occasionally shooting a few unlucky guys.

It seems that this small loss is completely borne by Bai Qi.

After arriving at the periphery of Fangcheng, Bai Qi immediately ordered the construction of a camp, after all, the opponent he is facing now is not the kind of goods that analyze Jun Jinghao, even if he is Bai Qi, he must first build a good camp, and then find a way to attack Fangcheng after being invincible, otherwise, once he is countered by that Meng Zhong's design, it is inevitable that the whole army will be defeated.

That's Meng Zhong!

Suppressing him everywhere during the battle of Yique, so that he had no chance to recover the inferior opponent after a temporary defeat until the final game.

The thought of being able to fight this old enemy again, Bai Qi couldn't help but feel excited from the bottom of his heart.

Yes, it seems that Jun Jinghao's kind of goods are not worth his trouble at all, only Meng Zhong, only this guy, is worth his energy for nothing.

『…… When Lizi bumped into Kuang Zhang, I'm afraid it's the same mood, right?"

Bai Qi thought secretly in his heart.

In his opinion, Meng Zhong is his Bai Qi's Tian Zhang, and he is the best opponent who reflects his Bai Qi's value as a general.

On April 23, while Zhong Xu and Wei Yuan were still building a camp twenty miles south of Fangcheng, Bai Qi, who had made some preparations for the siege of the city, took his general Tong Yang to Fangcheng to prepare for a tentative attack on the other city.

Knowing that the Qin army had gathered to attack the city, Meng Zhong immediately took Meng Sui, Zheng Zheng, Meng Hu, Hua Hu, Mu Wu, Wu Ying and other generals to the city wall to look at the Qin army outside the city.

When he saw that the Qin army outside the city only had one army at most, and they were carrying long ladders one by one, and there were no other siege equipment, Meng Sui said to Meng Zhong: "It seems that Bai Qi is just here to test the reality of our city today......

Meng Zhong nodded, and then glanced at Zheng Zheng thoughtfully.

Zheng Zheng understood and took the initiative to ask: "Fang Cheng order, it is better to let the soldiers under his command defend the city today." ”

Meng Zhong hesitated for a moment, and finally shook his head and said, "Don't worry, the army in our city is not without the strength to fight. Zheng Sima is a guest from afar, how can there be a reason for the guest to block and the host to shrink behind? ”

As he spoke, he said to Meng Sui: "Send the old soldiers to guard the city, Wu Ying, the thousands of soldiers under your command, let them guard the city together, don't let Bai Qi see through the reality of our army." ”

"Whoa!"

Meng Sui and Wu Ying hugged their fists to receive their lives.

The old pawn refers to the nearly 5,000 soldiers who have been screened from the 8,000 defenders of Wei Chi in front of the city order, and the 1,000 Wei soldiers under Wu Ying's command are the 1,000 remaining after removing the 2,500 Wei soldiers under the command of Meng Zhong directly allocated by Tang to Meng Zhong.

There are less than 6,000 soldiers in total, which can be called the most elite soldiers in the Fangcheng Army, and the rest are newly recruited soldiers, and the mentality and combat effectiveness of the soldiers are far inferior to these soldiers.

The art of war says that when one's own side is weak, it can show the enemy to be strong and make the enemy confused.

And now Meng Zhong used this trick: since Bai Qi came to test the reality of the other city, he sent the most elite soldiers to the city wall, hoping to confuse Bai Qi, so that Bai Qi mistakenly thought that the army of Fang City was so brave.

In this way, Bai Qi would hesitate, and Fang Cheng would also get valuable respite for stepping up his training.

Of course, it is up to people to succeed, Meng Zhong can only make a good plan, whether he can deceive Bai Qi or not, it depends on what Bai Qi thinks.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo-"

Three military trumpets sounded, and the Qin army under Bai Qi began to attack the city.

At this time, Bai Qi couldn't take his eyes off the city in front of him, looking for a flaw that could defeat the enemy.

Ever since he was defeated by Meng Zhong at Yique that day, he has always wanted to wash away the humiliation of defeat.

And this time, it may be his chance to defeat Meng Zhong and redeem the defeat he once lost.