In late September, Sima mistakenly ordered the Qin-Chu coalition army to gather on the north bank of the Han River, and once again summoned Bai Qi and Zhaoju to discuss the battle.

At that time, Bai Qi and Zhao Ju realized that Sima Cuo was about to make a move on Wancheng and Fangcheng.

Why did Sima Cuo use troops against Wancheng and Fangcheng during this time period?

The reason is very simple, firstly, after a few months of running-in, the Qin-Chu coalition army is basically running-in, and secondly, the crops in the farmland around Wancheng and Fangcheng are about to mature, and Sima Cuo decided to loot a wave to alleviate the current shortage of military rations of the coalition army.

I have to say that Sima Coo's point is very much in line with Bai Qi's appetite, after all, Bai Qi originally planned to wait until early October at the latest, whether Sima Cuo allowed it or not, he would take his subordinate general Hu Yu to lead the more than 2,000 Qin cavalry to Fangcheng for a trip and burn the crops in some farmland around Fangcheng - you can't watch Meng Zhong's group of people collect this batch of grain and use it to resist their Qin-Chu coalition army, right?

But now, seeing that Sima Cuo took the initiative to raise the idea that he could go on the expedition, Bai Qi was not in a hurry.

He had already made up his mind, unless Sima Cuo lowered his head and admitted his mistake and begged him to help, otherwise, he decided to watch Sima Cuo eat deflated in front of Na Meng Zhong with a cold eye.

All in all, he would obey Sima Cuo's orders, but he would never remind Sima Cuo of anything, let alone provide additional help to Sima Cuo, such as informing Sima Cuo of what he knew about Meng Zhong.

He wants to make this old man realize his mistake!

No, when Sima asked Bai Qi expressionlessly if he had any objections, Bai Qi said with a smile with the most kind face in the past few months: "Bai has no objections, everything is under the orders of the national captain." ”

I have to say that the white rise of this posture also surprised Sima Cuo.

But as the so-called people are old and cunning, Sima Cuo, who has lived for most of his life, how can he not see through the mind of this little hairy child who is only in his twenties? I snorted softly in my heart, but I didn't care.

Anyway, for Sima Cuo, as long as Bai Qi doesn't follow him, it's fine.

Seeing that the two generals of the Qin State had reached an agreement, even if Zhao Ju still wanted to delay some time in helping Wancheng and Fangcheng, he could not do anything, so he reluctantly led the Chu army and followed Sima Cuo and Bai Qi on the journey to conquer Wei and Korea.

Originally, before going on the expedition, he must first denounce the attacked country, which is called a famous division, but considering that Bai Qi casually used an excuse to attack Fangcheng half a year ago, Sima Cuo didn't bother to make any more moves - partly for this reason, Sima Cuo brought forward the original plan of going out to attack Wei and Han at the beginning of next year to the end of September this year.

As for the reason for the advance, it is nothing more than that they do not want Wei and South Korea to be fully prepared.

However, if you think about it carefully, half a year has passed since Bai started attacking Fangcheng in early April, and Wei and Han are basically ready to resist the army.

Every time he saw this, Sima Cuo felt inexplicable in his heart, and his impression of Bai Qi became worse.

Think about it, what general in the world would accept subordinates who disobey orders and make assertions?

On the way out, Sima Cuo invited Bai Qi and Zhaoju again and determined the first target to attack, that is, Wancheng.

Bai Qi also acquiesced in this matter and did not refute anything.

However, Sima Cuo assigned Bai Qi a task during the meeting, and he hoped that Bai Qi would send his cavalry to Fangcheng to take a step forward to prevent Fangcheng's soldiers and civilians from harvesting crops in the surrounding fields.

“…… If our army can't arrive in time, we will simply burn the rice and wheat in the fields outside Fangcheng, so as not to make it Fangcheng's military rations. Sima Cuo commanded Bai Qi.

For this task, Bai Qi was a little surprised.

Sima Cuo, also know the power of cavalry?

In all fairness, this is too underestimate Sima Wrong, you must know that Sima Wrong is the elder of the Three Dynasties of Qin, an old minister during the reign of King Qin Hui, at that time the Qin State and Yiqu were in full swing, how could Sima Cuo not know the power of the Yiqu cavalry?

It's just that in the eyes of most Central Plains generals, the cavalry is a little flashy, and it is not like a chariot that can be just frontal.

A hundred chariots can play a pivotal role on the battlefield to launch a charge against the enemy, and if you try to change a hundred cavalry, I am afraid that in the blink of an eye, most of the casualties will be killed and wounded by the enemy's foot soldiers, which are one and a half feet long.

To be honest, this point of view is not wrong, after all, the chariot is a tactical class, and it is extremely powerful on the battlefield, while the cavalry is a strategic class.

Unless the number of people is large enough to the extent that they are together, such as the war between Zhao and the Xiongnu, it is often a duel of tens of thousands of cavalry, which can run and fight, and it is difficult for short-legged foot soldiers to survive on such a flexible battlefield.

All in all, Sima Cuo's evaluation of the cavalry is, at best, "worthwhile" and "unusable", and it is not used as the main force but as an agitated army to prevent harassment, and it is purely used to deal with the cavalry in Fangcheng - there are cavalry in Fangcheng, and this is also clear to Sima Cuo.

In view of the fact that Sima Cuo's order did not go beyond his own decision, Bai Qi agreed after a little hesitation.

But afterwards, Bai Qi told Hu Yu that Hu Yu didn't have to fight with Fangcheng's cavalry, as long as he was optimistic about Fangcheng's farmland, and didn't let Fangcheng's army secretly harvest the ripe rice.

Yes, although he had the intention to put his cavalry in a competitive position with the cavalry under Meng Zhong's command, it was not yet the time - why should he cause his cavalry to suffer too heavy losses for the sake of Sima Mistake?

Unless Sima is willing to bow his head and admit his mistake.

Around September 25, 230,000 Qin-Chu allied troops approached Wancheng in a mighty manner.

During this period, the Fangcheng cavalry wandering in the vicinity not only immediately informed Fangcheng of the movements of the Qin-Chu coalition army, but also informed Han Xiao, the defender of Wancheng.

When he learned that there were as many as 200,000 Qin and Chu coalition troops on the opposite side coming straight to Wancheng, Han Xiao, the defender of Wancheng, was also panicked.

He only has one army under his command, and he is full of 10,000 people, how can he parry the coalition army of as many as 200,000?

If the number of coalition troops is about 100,000, then he still has a heartbeat to see if Meng Zhong, who cooperates with Fangcheng, can hold Wancheng, but more than 200,000......

He didn't even have the heart to fight.

can run away without a fight, which is not in line with Han Xiao's character.

And just when he hesitated, his subordinate general persuaded him: "General, anyway, the people of Wancheng have moved to the country, and this city has become an empty city, why let his sons and daughters sacrifice in order to defend an empty city?" It is better to set fire to the buildings in the city, retreat to Rushui, and join forces with Da Sima to resist the Qin-Chu coalition army. ”

Han Xiao frowned and thought about it carefully, feeling that the general's proposition was very reasonable.

Yes, as early as the beginning of April, after Bai Qi attacked Fangcheng, Han Xiao and Meng Zhong both realized that Qin and Chu would inevitably organize a coalition to attack Wancheng and Fangcheng next, so Han Xiao also moved the people of Wancheng to China early, but Han Xiao himself still did not want to lose Wancheng easily.

After all, Wancheng is also a large city, whether it is the city walls, canals, or various buildings in the city, it is very perfect, there is no reason to abandon such a city in vain.

Of course, the main reason was that Han Xiao wanted to see if he could have a chance to defend this city.

But now in the face of the more than 200,000 Qin-Chu coalition troops, he really didn't dare to be optimistic.

When hesitating, he said to his generals: "If I abandon Wancheng, the Qin army will definitely occupy this city and use troops in the other city, Wancheng is only a hundred miles away from Fangcheng, and the surrounding areas are flat, there is no danger to defend, if I retreat, Fangcheng will be captured by the Qin army." ”

Hearing this, the general was also anxious, and said in his heart that we are already unable to protect ourselves, and we can still take care of the Wei army in the upper city?

After persuasion from left to right, Han Xiao finally said: "Let me write a letter to Meng Zhong......"

With that, he wrote a letter in his own hand, sent someone to Fangcheng, and immediately ordered his army to burn down the entire buildings in the city, as well as the rice grains that would soon ripen in the farmland outside the city.

Subsequently, Han Xiao led his army to retreat to Xibei, preparing to return to China and retreat to Rushui.

Only half a day later, Han Xiao's letter was delivered to Meng Zhong in Fangcheng.

After Meng Zhong received the letter, he spread it out and took a look, only to see that there were only a few lines in the letter, and the gist of the letter was nothing more than that Han Xiao apologized to him, and withdrew without a fight in front of the more than 200,000 Qin-Chu coalition troops, leaving him Fangcheng alone to face the 200,000 coalition troops.

After reading the letter, Meng Zhong sighed secretly.

From the perspective of Fang Cheng's interests, of course he hoped that Han Xiao could defend Wancheng, and even more hoped that Han Xiao would retreat to Fang Cheng with the troops under his command, but these were just extravagant hopes, with Han Xiao's position, he naturally gave the highest priority to the interests of South Korea, which was understandable.

With a long breath, Meng Zhong summoned Meng Sui and Wu Ying, and said to the two: "I just received a letter from Han Xiao, Han Xiao has set fire to Wancheng and retreated to South Korea with his soldiers. ”

"What?" Meng Sui frowned when he heard this, and after being silent for a while, he spoke: "Although it is understandable, but in this way, the situation of our city is even more dangerous. ”

Meng Zhong nodded silently and advised, "Let's prepare for the worst." ”

The so-called worst plan is to abandon Fangcheng and retreat to Yangguan.

If even Yangguan was broken by the Qin army, it would be a complete defeat.

At this time, Wu Ying spoke: "I mentioned it two days ago...... In recent days, there are suspected Qin cavalry activities in the vicinity of our city, Menghu and Huahu said that these cavalry's equestrian skills are also skilled, but they have not fought with our cavalry, and it is not yet known what the other party's intentions are. ”

"Cavalry, ......"

Meng Zhong folded his arms and pondered for a moment.

Is there a cavalry under the command of the Qin general Sima Cuo? To be honest, Meng Zhong didn't know.

But he intuitively believed that these Qin cavalry were cavalry under Bai Qi's command, after all, Bai Qi suffered a big loss from his cavalry during the Battle of Yique, so after returning to China, he formed a cavalry to prepare to fight him, which is not an unreasonable reason.

The evidence lies in the fact that those Qin cavalry are very similar to the cavalry of other Fang cities, and they also carry crossbows on their backs, and use long ges and short swords as weapons, as if they are carved out of the same mold as the cavalry of other Fang cities.

The only difference is that the stirrups of those cavalry are still only unilateral stirrups, not the bilateral stirrups on the side of the Fangcheng cavalry.

I remember that Meng Hu laughed at this, and he couldn't finish learning by stealing, and he obviously planned to build a cavalry like the cavalry of other cities, but he missed the most critical thing.

Indeed, the gap between unilateral stirrups and bilateral stirrups seems to be worlds apart, and if it is not for an old rider who has a deep understanding, it is indeed difficult for ordinary laymen to pay attention, and even if they do, they may not be taken seriously.

But in fact, it was the most important thing for cavalry.

It is precisely because of this that Meng Hu made a lot of nonsense a few days ago, as long as he is willing, he can hit those Qin cavalry all over the ground at any time.

It may be that Bai Qi confidently thinks that the 2,000 cavalry under his command can eat more than 1,000 cavalry under Meng Zhong's command, but the problem is that Meng Zhong now has a full 6,000 cavalry!

Just as the battle was about to start, Fang Cheng's side would lose a few hundred cavalry at most, and he would be able to annihilate Bai Qi's 2,000 cavalry.

But Meng Zhong stopped Meng Hu, because he suddenly realized that Bai Qi, or the Qin army, did not know that the cavalry under his command had soared from 1,000 to 6,000, so this could be used as a hole card to be launched at a critical time.

Although the new 5,000 cavalry can only be regarded as new in the eyes of Meng Zhong, Meng Hu and others, no matter what, it is 5,000 cavalry after all, with bilateral stirrups, an artifact that can strengthen equestrianism, and after several months of training, it may not be impossible to use as a killer weapon.

Because of this, Meng Zhong restrained Meng Hu, Hua Hu and the others, so that they did not clash with those Qin cavalry.

But what made Meng Zhong feel a little strange was that the cavalry of the Qin State on the opposite side did not mean to fight with them, for example, there were several times when the cavalry of the two armies collided in the wilderness, and after the two sides tried each other with bows and crossbows a few times, they both retreated very tacitly, and did not rush up as if they had caught the enemy who killed their father, and rushed up desperately with a hideous face.

To be honest, this seems a bit unreasonable to Meng Zhong.

In other words, he suffered a big loss in the hands of Fangcheng's cavalry before, and now he has twice as many cavalry as Fangcheng on the surface, so he must be beaten to the death if he touches it, in revenge for the grievances he received before?

But the Qin cavalry did not.

There are only two explanations for this: first, it was the cavalry under Sima Cuo; Second, Bai Qi did not intend to fight to the death with the cavalry of other cities at this time.

The first explanation is reversed, and the second explanation is worth pondering for Meng Zhong.

Why?

Why do you want to release water in Baiqi?

Thinking about it, there is only one possibility, that is, Bai Qi and Sima are at odds, and they disobey the latter's orders.

After thinking about it, Meng Zhong said to Wu Ying: "According to my guess, those cavalry of the Qin State are the cavalry under the command of Bai Qi, who came to our city on the order of Sima Cuo...... These Qin cavalry could have forcibly approached and used fire arrows to burn the rice in the field, leaving our city without a harvest, but they didn't do so, and if you think about it carefully, there is only one explanation, that is, the Qin army intends to grab these rice grains and replenish their military rations......"

"Well, it's possible." Wu Ying nodded and agreed: "The Qin State fought with Wei and Han last year, forced the Chu State to surrender this year, and also formed a coalition army of more than 200,000 with the Chu State, the grain and grass should not be abundant, although the rice in our city is not enough to feed the entire coalition army, but it is also food, if there is a chance, I think the Qin army will not let go." ”

"That's what I mean, too." Meng Zhong nodded.

At this moment, only Meng Sui gritted his teeth with hatred.

It's no wonder, after all, Fangcheng's military tuntian is basically in charge of Meng Sui, and he has worked hard for more than half a year with his soldiers, but when the harvest is approaching, Qin Jun licks his face and prepares to come to grab the grain, I believe that no one can swallow this breath.

On September 27, Sima Cuo, Bai Qi, and Zhao Ju each led their armies to Wancheng.

As far as the eye can see, Wancheng has long been burned by a fire, and the charred black farmland outside Wancheng City that has accumulated a thick layer of grass and wood ash.

Other than that, there was not a single Korean soldier in sight.

A Qin pawn who had entered the city in advance to inquire about the situation came back to report Sima Cuo: "Captain Qi, the defenders here have burned the city and fled. ”

At this time, Bai Qi was also beside him, pouting when he heard the words, and muttered a few words in a low voice, probably a sarcastic word like "run fast".

Sima Cuo frowned slightly and looked at the empty city in front of him, and when he saw the charred black farmland outside Wancheng City, which had accumulated thick grass and wood ash, a few traces of regret flashed in his eyes.

To be sure, this result was not unexpected, but he still regretted the food that had been burned by the fire.

After all, the grain in the land of Bashu, Sima miscalculated that it would probably not arrive until it was close to November, before he commanded more than 200,000 coalition troops, and had to rely on Wuguan and Chuying to supply food, although it was not enough to lack the rations of the sergeants and soldiers, but to be honest, it was really reluctant, and he had to make careful plans.

If you can grab the grain to be harvested here in Fangcheng this time, then the grain and grass of the coalition army will naturally be much more abundant, but obviously, Han Xiao, the defender of Wancheng, is not the kind of fool who will feed the enemy with food, and before leaving, he burned everything to the ground, leaving only a Wancheng with empty walls for the Qin army.

"What about Wancheng? They should have heard of the dispatch of our coalition forces, too. Sima asked Bai Qi wrongly.

Bai Qi didn't react at first, after all, he was the only one who asked his generals like this in the past two years, how could anyone ask him this? It wasn't until Sima mistakenly called "Bai Zuo Geng" that he reacted, a little discomfort flashed in his eyes, and he said truthfully: "On the side of Fangcheng, Meng Zhong did not retreat, nor did he set fire to the rice that was about to be harvested. ”

"Oh?" Hearing this, Sima Cuo's eyes flashed a little different, and he stroked his beard and smiled: "It seems that I plan to stay in Fang City for a while...... Knowing that there are more than 200,000 people in our coalition army, they still dare to defend the city, and they are bold! Worthy of ......"

Speaking of this, he glanced at Bai Qi beside him, and his praise for Meng Zhong came to an abrupt end.

Of course, Bai Qi knew that Sima Coo's halfway closing was due to his face, but in all fairness, he didn't mind Sima Coo's praise of Meng Zhong in front of him, even if Meng Zhong's reputation in the Qin State was obtained by stepping on his Bai Qi's head.

On the contrary, he was proud and proud of Meng Zhong's attitude of defending the city—although it sounded strange, Bai Qi was indeed very happy about it.

In front of his more than 200,000 coalition troops, Han Xiao, the defender of Wancheng, was so frightened that he fled without a fight, but his approved opponent Meng Zhong lived firmly in Fangcheng, showing his carriages and horses, as if silently expressing a message to his 200,000 coalition troops: You come! I'm not afraid of you!

"This is my white nemesis! It's not the kind of goods like Shu Xiang Chen Zhuang and Shu Hou Yinghui!"

Bai Qi glanced at Sima Cuo with full of deep meaning.

『……』

Noticing Bai Qi's gaze, Sima Cuo felt inexplicable.

Thinking about it, even if Sima Cuo was a wise general who could debate with Zhang Yi in the palace at the beginning, I am afraid it would be difficult to guess what Bai Qi was thinking at this time.

After thinking for a while, Sima Cuo ordered: "Although the buildings in Wancheng City have been burned, there are still city walls to defend, so according to the original strategy, enter Wancheng, use this city as a defense, and then use the opponent's city to ...... troops."

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Bai Qi and said, "Bai Zuo knows a lot about Meng Zhong, the defender of the other city, so Bai Zuo will lead your army to attack Fang Cheng, can Bai Zuo have any objections?" ”

Bai Qi had been waiting for this stubble for a long time, and after listening to Sima Cuo's words, he chuckled lightly and said deliberately: "At the beginning of April, I led the army to attack Fangcheng, and at that time I was ten percent sure that I could capture this city at a very small price...... At that time, I saw that the national lieutenant was talking about the truth, as if it was not enough to worry about it, so it was better to open my eyes this time. …… Captain, why don't you go and conquer Fang Cheng in person, how about it? ”

Upon hearing this, Sima Cuo immediately frowned.

Even though he didn't expect that Bai Qi had only been honest for a few months, he sang against him today.

He said with a straight face: "Bai Zuogen, this is a national event, not a child's play, don't bring personal grudges into it." ”

Bai Qi smiled when he heard this: "Everyone can testify, how dare you bring personal grievances into national affairs?" I made it very clear, a few months ago, I was completely sure, but now Fang Cheng, sorry, I don't know anything......"

Sima Cuo frowned deeply when he heard this, and said unhappily: "You want to say that you have 70,000 soldiers under your command, but you can't take a square city?" ”

"That's right! Can't beat it! The national lieutenant or please be smart! He folded his arms around him and admitted without any shame.

Seeing Bai Qi's attitude, Sima Cuo's heart was also angry, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm afraid you can't beat it, but you are counting on seeing the old man's jokes, right?" ”

"Hahaha." Bai Qi laughed three times, and then said sarcastically: "How come, you are a famous general who has captured the entire Bashu, how can you not capture a mere square city?" I still remember that at the beginning, the national lieutenant swore that Fang Cheng was not worth mentioning. ”

On the side, there were generals under Sima Cuo's command who came forward to accuse.

"Bai Zuogen, you are too rude!"

"Yes! Even if you get the dignity of a marquis, you shouldn't be rude to the lieutenant! ”

Hearing these accusations, Bai Qi's subordinates, such as Ji Hong, Zhong Xu, Tong Yang, Wei Yuan and others, also came forward to help Bai Qi.

"You're not right, right? A few months ago, our army was likely to attack the lower city, but it was not the national captain who forcibly ordered us to retreat......"

"Since you don't have Fang Cheng in the slightest, why don't you attack Fang Cheng in person?"

"On the day of the break, we will definitely celebrate you and others, but I don't know how much it will cost you this time compared to the beginning......"

Seeing that the two groups of Qin army generals were arguing over there, Zhao Ju and other Chu generals did not participate, so they simply watched the play from the sidelines.

Even they did not expect that the Qin army, which had always been known for its strict military discipline, would have such a discordant situation internally.

To be honest, this kind of thing is indeed extremely rare in the Qin State, and if it were someone else, it would have been taken down by Sima by mistake and questioned.

It's just that Bai Qi's identity is a bit special.

"Enough!"

Stopping the generals' arguments in a deep voice, Sima Cuo took a deep look at Bai Qi, he knew that if he didn't do something, the young general would not obey him.

Thinking of this, he nodded and accepted Bai Qi's provocation.

"Good! Since this is the case, then the old man will lead the army to attack Fangcheng...... The old man also wants to see how much ability Meng Zhong has! ”

"Oh, you've met ......."

Secretly sneered, Bai Qi hugged his fists, and immediately raised his eyebrows.

"Then ...... I wish the national captain a victory? ”