"Fish?"

Sima Cuo, who had just walked into the tent, seemed to hear Bai Qi's muttering lying on the straw bunk, and after being slightly stunned, he couldn't help laughing.

Bai Qi turned his head to look, only to find that Sima Cuo had come to his tent at some point, so he sat up on the straw couch, and looked at Sima Cuo for a long time but did not speak.

It's not that he has any contradictions with Sima Cuo, it's just that he is ashamed to open his mouth at the moment: it is obvious that Sima Cuo has handed over all the matters of attacking Fang Cheng to him, and he has also confidently said that he will be able to break through Fang Cheng and defeat Meng Zhong, but as a result, because of a bad move, he was defeated in the hands of Meng Zhong again, which made Bai Qi feel very ashamed.

And at this moment, Bai Qi's mood, Sima Cuo, who has lived for most of his life, can probably understand it, only to see Sima Cuo sit down on the white straw couch, and said after a moment of silence: "The army lost last night, and the morale of the army is turbulent at this moment, Bai Zuo doesn't even want to motivate morale, why is he hiding here?" ”

Seeing that Sima Cuo's tone seemed to be a little ridiculous, Bai Qi's face sank, and he said expressionlessly: "I'm just reflecting on it...... Reflect on the reasons for the failure. ”

"Oh?" Sima Cuo smiled when he heard this, stroked his beard and said, "What do you know?" Let's hear it. ”

“……”

Hearing this, Bai Qi's face became even more ugly, but at this moment, he didn't dare to contradict Sima Cuo.

The reason is nothing more than that he lost for a while, and he has no confidence in front of Sima Cuo.

After thinking about it, Bai Qi still truthfully told Sima Cuo what happened last night, only to see Sima Cuo listening to Bai Qi's narration while brushing his beard, without interjecting from beginning to end, and showing a thoughtful appearance from time to time.

About a moment or so, Bai Qi told Sima Cuo everything that had happened, but to his surprise, Sima Cuo did not take the opportunity to make fun of him or mock him, but stroked his beard and squinted his eyes.

Just when Bai Qi was suffering from gains and losses, he suddenly heard Sima Cuo sigh with emotion: This Meng Zhong is really not to be underestimated.

Hearing this, Bai Qi couldn't help but be a little surprised.

He couldn't guess Sima Cuo's intention at this moment—didn't the other party come to take the opportunity to withdraw the previous agreement between the two?

I have to say that if Sima Co retracted the previous agreement between the two at this moment, then Bai Qi would have nothing to say, after all, he really did not fulfill his original promise, even if Sima Co used this as a handle to ask him to obey his orders in the next battle, then Bai Qi had to bow his head.

He is proud and does not allow himself to deny and evade.

However, it seems that Sima Cuo did not mean this?

Just when Bai Qi was secretly guessing Sima Cuo's intention, he saw Sima Cuo turn towards Bai Qi slightly, and said with a slight smile on his face: "On the way to withdraw the army, the old man asked Ji Hong and learned that you had anticipated the tricks of the Wei army in advance...... Therefore, the old man came to listen to your opinion, but he didn't expect to see that Bai Zuo seemed to be crushed by that Meng Zhong's confidence......"

Hearing this, Bai Qi couldn't bear it, and immediately retorted in a displeased tone: "When was my faith crushed? ”

His unceremonious tone did not make Sima Cuo feel displeased, and even the latter teased: "Since it's not, why is Bai Zuo hiding here?" ”

"I ...... I just want to be quiet and think about how to break the enemy......"

"Oh?" Sima Cuo's eyebrows raised when he heard this, and he asked along the lines: "Then, have you come up with any countermeasures?" ”

Bai Qi was speechless, but still defended himself: "As long as I am given some time, I will naturally be able to come up with a strategy to break the enemy, as long as the national captain ...... Just give me some more time. ”

When he said this, Bai Qi was no longer as flamboyant as before, and he seemed to be suffering from gains and losses, obviously very worried that Sima Co had withdrawn the previous agreement between the two because of his defeat at the moment.

But to Bai Qi's surprise, Sima Cuo just stroked his beard and smiled: "Of course." ”

"Huh?"

Slightly stunned, Bai Qi cautiously probed: "Captain Guo...... Allowed to continue to be in charge of the war with Meng Zhong? ”

"Why not?"

Sima Cuo smiled and spread his hands, and in an instant, he slowly retracted the smile on his face, and said: "Bai Zuo doesn't have to be suspicious, if Bai Zuo is defeated by the Wei army because of other mistakes, the old man will rethink whether Bai Zuo is more suitable to lead the army, but last night's defeat ......" He paused for a moment, as if he was considering the words, and after a few breaths, a word burst out of his mouth: "Extenuating circumstances." ”

I have to say that this is indeed Sima Cuo's heartfelt words.

From Ji Hong and Bai Qi's own accounts, Sima Cuo had learned that the main reason for his Qin army's defeat last night was that Bai Qi was reluctant to give up an intact Fang City and the sufficient firewood reserves in Fang City.

It is true that this is the bait that Meng Zhong deliberately threw to his Qin army, but what can Bai Qi do?

His Qin army was burned by the Wei army A large number of baggage, resulting in more than 200,000 Qin and Chu coalition troops could not survive this winter, if he could get an intact Fang City and sufficient firewood reserves in the city at this moment, his Qin army naturally did not need to worry about this winter.

So, why did he, the Qin army, lose a large amount of baggage?

This involves Sima Cuo, it was Sima Cuo's misjudgment a few days ago that gave the Wei army the opportunity to sneak attack the main camp of its Qin-Chu coalition army, if it weren't for this, how could Bai Qi "covet" that square city?

Thinking about it this way, he Sima Cuo is actually responsible, and even, the responsibility is actually greater than that of Bai Qi.

In this case, how could Sima Cuo be embarrassed to blame Bai Qi?

"Last night's defeat, half of it was Bai Zuo, and the other half was the old man, so Bai Zuo didn't have to care too much about last night's loss, if the country blamed it, you and I would each bear half of the responsibility for it......"

"Captain ......"

Hearing Sima Cuo's words, Bai Qi was moved, and he couldn't help but feel a little touched in his heart.

Once upon a time, he had always looked down on Sima Cuo, and after the two met, Sima Cuo's stubbornness made him extremely disgusted, but at this moment, Bai Qi couldn't help but be moved by Sima Cuo's integrity and frankness.

Even if he still doesn't think that Sima Cuo can be above him in leading troops to fight at this moment, Sima Cuo's personality is indeed enough to make him admire.

Thinking of this, Bai Qi said in a deep voice: "Last night's defeat was due to Bai Qi, and it has nothing to do with the national captain...... At that time, I could have ordered our soldiers to withdraw outside the city first, but I was greedy......"

"Alright." Sima Cuo interrupted Bai Qi's words with a smile, and said with a smile: "Isn't it a meritorious achievement, is it worth fighting for?" Instead of fighting for responsibility here, you and I should think about how to defeat the enemy. …… That Meng Zhong, it's really not simple, the old man only realized last night that he attacked the main camp of our army a while ago and took the opportunity to burn our army's baggage, it was definitely not his heart ......"

Bai Qi was stunned, and then he understood what Sima Cuo meant: Isn't Meng Zhong's attack on his Qin army that day just preparing for last night's fire attack?

After thinking about it, Bai Qi said in a deep voice: "Anyway, Fangcheng has now become an abandoned city, and it can no longer be an obstacle to our army...... As far as I know, Yangguan is a pass that Meng Zhong only started to build at the beginning of this year, and it has not yet been completed, and its defensive ability is far inferior to that of Fangcheng......"

"The old man doesn't think so." Shaking his head, Sima Coo stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "Although the defense of Yangguan is not as good as Fangcheng, but now the Wei army only defends this place, although the strength is far below our army, but I am afraid it will be difficult to break through in a short time, not to mention, the Wei State must be organizing reinforcements at this moment to support Meng Zhong, once the war drags on next year, I am afraid it will be even more difficult to open up this important road when the time comes......

Hearing this, Bai Qi couldn't help but be silent.

Originally, according to Sima Cuo's strategic arrangement, his Qin army wanted to lay down the land of Wan and Fang before the arrival of this winter, and use troops against South Korea after the spring of next year, but the existence of Meng Zhong broke the strategic arrangement of his Qin army, even if Bai Qi did not think that they could break through Yangguan before the arrival of this winter.

"Get ready for another fight next year."

After discussing for a moment, Sima Co said to Bai Qi.

Bai Qi nodded slowly, and then clasped his fists and said to Sima Cuo: "Having said that, I still hope to try it in Yangguan, even if it is purely to test the reality of Yangguan." ”

Hearing this, Sima Cuo did not object, nodded and said, "That's fine, old man, ......"

As soon as he said this, a Bai Qi's guard walked outside the tent, and reported to Sima Cuo and Bai Qiyu with his fists: "Captain, Bai Shuai, there are scouts who have found out that the Chu army has withdrawn to its main camp. ”

Glancing at Sima Cuo, Bai Qi waved his hand and said, "Got it, stand down." ”

"Whoa!"

After waiting for the Qin pawn to retreat, Bai Qi turned his head to look at Sima Cuo, and muttered: "Captain, the Chu army ......."

"Hmm." As if guessing what Bai Qi wanted to say, Sima Cuo stroked his beard and nodded, and said, "Excuse me...... Let's do this first, this Zhaoju, although there are all kinds of signs that he disobeys our army on weekdays, but last night he led the army to break off for you and me, and if the king of Chu deposes him, you can't find a few people from Chu who can replace this person, so that in the spring of next year, the old man will send him to Korea first and tell him to fight with the Koreans......"

Hearing this, Bai Qi nodded slightly.

It's not just that Sima Cuo has an opinion about Zhao Ju, in fact, Bai Qi also has a prejudice against this person, the reason is very simple, who let him lead the army to storm Fangcheng in the daytime yesterday, but Zhao Ju secretly showed mercy to Fang Cheng - you must know that there were 50,000 Chu troops under Zhao Ju at that time, even if it was a general who didn't know anything about military affairs, and drove all the 50,000 Chu troops to Fangcheng without any rules, it was enough to pose a great threat to Fang Cheng, and he could share the pressure on his Qin army in disguise.

But what about the Chu army at that time?

According to the detailed report that was snooping on the side at the time, the 50,000 Chu army did not attack the upper city at all from beginning to end.

But for the sake of this person who broke off for his Qin army last night, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi let it go, after all, the current Chu State really can't have any generals who are good at fighting.

The next day, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi counted the casualties in the army, and at this time they learned that in the battle last night, they had lost more than 4,000 soldiers, who were either buried in the fire of Fangcheng, or buried in the internal strife with the Chu army, or were attacked by the Wei army after leaving the city and were killed by the Wei army.

In addition to the death of more than 4,000 soldiers, there were more than 20,000 people who were wounded last night, most of them were burned by the flames, or were shot by the arrows of the Wei army, which were not fatal, but there were also some who were seriously injured and difficult to treat.

After learning of this number of casualties, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi were silent.

You must know that at the beginning of this year, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi each led an army to attack the Chu State, during which the casualties of the two soldiers were all combined, and there may not be 4,000 people, but in Fangcheng, just a Fangcheng, his Qin army has so far paid nearly 10,000 casualties - a while ago, the Qin general Jin Kuang was ambushed by the Wei army on the night, the Qin army lost about 3,000 people before and after, and yesterday during the day, Bai Qi led the army to storm Fangcheng, and paid more than 6,000 casualties for this, plus the 4,000 soldiers killed in the battle last night, just in this Fangcheng, His Qin army had already lost more than 12,000 Qin soldiers.

According to the calculation of the strength of an army of 12,500 people, the Qin army has lost enough troops on the side of Fangcheng.

In this regard, Sima Cuo sighed with emotion: "This Meng Zhong ...... It's no less than Gongsun Xi. ”

Hearing this, Bai Qi snorted lightly, obviously thinking that Gongsun Xi was not enough to compare Meng Zhong.

But it is undeniable that before the Battle of Yique, Gongsun Xi, who was stationed in Hedong, was indeed the biggest obstacle to Qin's eastward advance, and Meng Zhong's military exploits so far were not enough to compare with this famous general of Wei.

After counting the losses, Sima Cuo immediately sent someone to invite the Chu general Zhaoju to inquire about the casualties of the Chu army.

After asking, Sima Cuo learned that the casualties of the Chu army last night were almost twice that of the Qin army, which is no wonder, after all, it was the Chu army that broke off for the Qin army last night, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was the Qin army that passed on part of the battle losses to the Chu army, if it were not for the Chu army, the Qin army's losses last night were far more than more than 4,000 people.

After learning of the casualties of the Chu army, no matter what Sima Cuo's heart was, of course, he apologized to Zhao Ju with a guilty look on his face, and thanked the Chu army for his "help" last night.

In this regard, although Zhao Ju showed no expression on his face, he said in a loud voice: "Since Qin and Chu have concluded an alliance, they naturally attack and defend together and assist each other. ”

"I'm afraid this guy is scolding the two of us in my heart."

After Zhao Ju left, Bai Qi sneered and said to Sima Cuo.

Hearing this, Sima Cuo smiled slightly, and said indifferently: "If you are an old man, the old man will also scold in his heart, but as long as this Zhaoju is honest, there is no need for you and me to tear the skin with him." ”

"That's right."

Bai Qi chuckled and answered.

Not to mention, since he withdrew to the main camp in the early hours of yesterday morning, he talked with Sima Cuo, and Bai Qi's attitude towards Sima Cuo has greatly improved, and he has more or less brought some respect.

Of course, this respect is not because of Sima Cuo's talent in leading troops into battle, but simply because of Sima Cuo's personality, or to put it simply, because of Sima Cuo's integrity.

In the evening of the same day, when Sima Cuo and Bai Qi were discussing the strategy of attacking Yangguan in the tent, a soldier walked into the tent and reported: "Captain, there is a letter from Xianyang. ”

Hearing this, Sima Cuo took the letter and looked at it carefully, but just by scanning it twice, his face sank entirely.

Seeing this, Bai Qi asked curiously, "Is it an order sent from China?" Could it be a marquis? ”

"Nope." Sima Coo shook his head, his old face full of anger and shame: "It's a letter sent by Tingwei. ”

"Tingwei?" Bai Qi was stunned, and didn't react for a while.

You must know that Tingwei is the official in charge of the criminal prison in the Qin State, and he can't fight Sima Cuo, so how can he send someone to send a letter to Sima Cuo?

"Could it be that the captain's family has done something?"

Thinking of this, Bai Qi couldn't bear the curiosity in his heart.

Under his questioning, Sima Cuo told the truth with a ashamed face, it turned out that his second grandson Sima Jin took a group of people to Xianyang to play, but he had a quarrel with someone in the wine shop, and then the two sides fought, so that he was finally arrested by Tingwei Someone, and after asking, he learned that it was actually the second grandson of Sima Cuo, the national lieutenant, and hurriedly wrote to Sima Cuo and asked Sima Cuo to deal with this matter.

After all, Sima Cuo still had a very high status in the Qin State, and Tingwei did not dare to offend.

Seeing that Sima Cuo, the famous general of Qin, was full of shame for his grandson's crime, Bai Qi also felt funny in his heart, and he asked with a smile: "I heard that Sima Jin is only a teenager, right?" Dare to scuffle with a few middle-aged men on the street, this courage is not small. ”

Sima Cuo sighed, shook his head and said, "It's because the old man used to be too spoiled. …… This man is smart and clever, but ...... Hey, it's because the old man lacked discipline in the past...... Take advantage of this opportunity to ask Tingwei to severely punish him, and let this son suffer hardships. ”

Bai Qi was stunned and said, "Strict punishment? I heard that Tingwei's punishment was very cruel...... If the lieutenant insists on not interfering, Ling Sun may be sent to the army...... If the lieutenant neglects to instruct his subordinates, he will be punished in case he is punished......"

Torture, the punishment of tattooing words on the face with ink, was one of the lightest punishments in the Qin state.

Hearing this, Sima Cuo also showed hesitation.

Thinking that he was a dignified captain of the Qin State, but his grandson was tortured, and he was ashamed to see people with his face all his life, so he naturally felt uncomfortable in his heart.

But to let him rely on his own connections to send people to Tingwei's side to fish for people, Sima Cuo also felt that this move was ashamed of King Qin's trust in him.

After hesitating for a while, Sima Cuo gritted his teeth and said, "That's also his own fault!" ”

"Huh."

Bai Qi obviously saw that Sima Cuo's words were insincere, thought for a while and said, "Guowei, why don't you let me discipline Ling Sun for you, okay?" The face of the marquis, I think Tingwei will also give it. ”

"......" Sima Cuo glanced at Bai Qi in surprise, as if he had guessed Bai Qi's thoughts, shook his head and said, "Bai Zuo doesn't have to be like this. Yesterday, our army was rude, but the old man felt that half of my responsibility was in it, not ......"

"Is it because of that?" Bai Qi interrupted Sima Cuo's words, and said with a smile: "I just think that Ling Sun is quite bold, if he cultivates it, he may be able to become a strong general of my Great Qin in the future......

Having said that, Bai Qi actually just wanted to repay Sima wrong, otherwise, how could he care about a teenager?

Listening to Bai Qi's words, Sima mistakenly stroked his beard thoughtfully.

His relationship with Bai Qi, how to say it, is complicated to various degrees, but it cannot be denied that Bai Qi is indeed the best among the young generals of his Qin State, and looking at the entire Qin State, Sima Cuo does not think that anyone can match Bai Qi.

If his grandson Sima Jin could be taught by Bai Qi, Sima Cao would not think it was a bad thing.

The only problem is that Sima Cuo is from the side of Empress Dowager Xuan and Marquis Wei Ran, while Sima Cuo is loyal to King Yingji of Qin and has different positions with each other, which makes Sima Cuo a little hesitant.

At this time, Bai Qi saw that Sima Cuo had already moved, so he smiled and said, "Then it's decided." ”

After that, he turned around and left, Sima Coo shouted a few times and failed to stop Bai Qi, so he had to acquiesce.

That night, Bai Qi wrote a letter to the Marquis Wei Ran, entrusting Wei Ran to send someone to the Tingwei Mansion to fish out Sima Jin and then send him to his army.

This matter couldn't be easier for the Marquis Wei Ran, after all, Wei Ran is the head of the "four nobles" of the Qin State today, who dares not to sell his face?

This little episode made the relationship between Sima Cuo and Bai Qi closer and closer.

Of course, even so, Bai Qi still doesn't like someone above to give orders to him, even if this person is Sima Cuo, who has gradually changed his outlook in recent days, and Sima Cuo, he will not look at Bai Qi differently because Bai Qi has done him a favor, but in general, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the relationship between the two has been greatly eased, even if they still quarrel sometimes because of disagreements with each other, but it will not be as full of gunpowder as before.

At the same time, on the Yangguan side, Meng Zhong and the others were discussing how to deal with the surrender of those Chu troops.

In Zhaoju's report to Sima Cuo, the casualties of the Chu army the night before were nearly 10,000, but in fact, only about 4,500 of these nearly 10,000 people did die, and the other half survived by surrendering to the Wei army.

But how to deal with this batch of surrendered troops has become a headache for Meng Zhong and others.

Kill? That's definitely not going to kill.

You must know that nearly seventy percent of the Wei army in Fangcheng are Chu people, and if the two armies are fighting, the Chu army in the Wei army will not have any ideas, but kill the prisoners...... If Meng Zhong really gave such a cruel and unkind order, I believe that the Chu people in the Wei army would definitely have some ideas, which was not conducive to the stability of the army.

And release these surrendered troops, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not return to the Chu army and become the enemies of his Wei army again, even if Meng Zhong ordered these people to be stripped of their armor and weapons.

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong decided to let these troops contribute to the construction of Yangguan, after all, Fangcheng has become a ruined city, and Yangguan has become their last line of defense, if they can't hold this pass, but everything will be over.

Therefore, in the past two days, when the Qin and Chu armies were busy licking their wounds and recuperating to continue the attack on Yangguan in the coming day, Meng Zhong ordered his troops to consolidate their defenses at Yangguan, as well as Yingshan on the north side of Yangguan and Yingshan on the south side, and prepare to resist the next offensive of the Qin-Chu coalition army.

However, at this moment, Sima Cai Wu of the Yuncheng Army hurriedly found Meng Zhong with a letter and reported an important matter to the latter.

"Fang Cheng order, something is not good, Yuncheng sent someone to send news, saying that a cavalry invaded my Yuncheng from the direction of Shangcai, attacked several local villages, and robbed a lot of food and clothing......"

Meng Zhong was slightly stunned when he heard this: "Cavalry? ”

"Hmmm! cavalry, and at least a thousand or more people! Cai Wu said with a serious face.

Hearing this, Meng Zhong's brows suddenly furrowed.

There was no cavalry at all in the Chu State, and the only cavalry on the enemy side was the two thousand Qin cavalry under Bai Qi's command.

"I said how could I not see the cavalry under Bai Qi's command a few days ago, it turned out that they sneaked behind our army and intended to sneak up on the rear of my Yeyi......"

Muttering a few words, Meng Zhong touched his chin and fell into deep thought.

He didn't really care about his two thousand Qin cavalry, after all, he had a total of six thousand cavalry under his command, and as long as he wanted, he could trap and kill that Qin cavalry at any time.

He was just thinking about how to use this incident to expand the results of the war.