None of the cavalry scouts sent out returned, but the news did. If it weren't for the Qin army's troops coming out of Jiyi, how could this be the case? Although the scout was lost, Xiang Yan was happy in his heart, he judged correctly, and the big victory may be permissible.

Judging from the available information, the Qin army on the northern road entered the Magu with great fanfare to lead the army to the big battle, and the troops of Chengyang City were empty at that time, and the Qin army sneaking on this road in Jiyi just cut off their own back road, and then besieged Chengyang.

If they did not go out of the city to meet the Qin army on the northern route, they could also attract their attention and relax their vigilance against the Huaishui ferry port Xie Yi (now Pyeongchang Pass). Jiyi to Chengyang, all the way to the hills, the only dangerous place is Xie Yi on the east bank of Huaishui. If the Qin army on the southern route grabbed the Xie Yi ferry, and the Qin army on the northern route did not go south but advanced eastward after leaving the valley, occupying Xiaoyi (now Minggang), fifty miles north of Chengyang, they could calmly transport grain from Daoyi in Wei.

In short: you are fooled out of the city, the north road is a lure, and the south road is a hook; If you don't go out of the city, the north road is empty, and the south road is real. The strategy wasn't brilliant, but it worked. Based on the 20,000 people found by the Qin army on the north route, the Qin army on the south route is estimated to be no less than 100,000.

Lakh! Xiang Yan gasped - the army was in the hilly area at the junction of Chu and Qin, and this rectangular area was sandwiched into a rectangle by the twists and turns of Huaishui and Tongbai Mountain. Behind (east), in front of the body (west), on the right (due north) is Huaishui, and on the left is Tongbai Mountain. It is more than 60 miles long from east to west and about 30 miles wide from north to south, and two armies facing each other will collide if they are not careful.

"Pass the order, and you can pull out the camp and go north." Xiang Yan couldn't sit still, he was not only worried about running into the Qin army, but also about the Qin army's scouts. There are many places to raise horses in the Qin realm, and it is an innegligible fact that the military horses of the Chu army are inferior to the military horses of the Qin army.

"General, it's getting dark, and it's ...... to pull out the camp at this time" Army Sima Pengzong also brought the joy of discovering the Qin army, and he didn't know why Xiang Yan wanted to move the camp.

"It's getting dark, and we're going to pull out the camp." Xiang Yan had already gotten up, "The Qin army is less than twenty miles from me, so why don't you pull out the camp?" Not only did they pull out the camp, but they also had to cover the pillar holes at the foot of the tent with weeds to prevent the Qin army from scouting them. ”

"Twenty miles?!" Peng Zong came to his senses, but said, "Why shouldn't our army attack it head-on?" ”

"No." Xiang Yan had already thought about this. "The Qin army has entered our territory, and the guards must be tight, and the scouts are also out in all directions. I haven't arrived at it, he has a heavily armored chariot, I'm just an unarmored foot soldier, how can I hit it? ”

Xunzi and Pang Nuan discussed the army before Zhao Xiaocheng became king, and once said that the characteristics of the Chu army were 'light and profitable, and the pawn was like a fluttering wind'. Windswept is not without a price. The Chu army led by Xiang Yan now has no cars and less armor, and it is okay to attack Jiyi, the logistics center of the Qin army, by surprise, and if it fights against the Qin army, it is simply looking for death.

Peng Zong was stunned by Xiang Yan's question, but he still didn't give up, and said: "If you attack halfway, is it okay?" ”

"No." Xiang Yan still shook his head, "The Qin army may have 100,000, but our army is only 16,000, even if it is attacked halfway, the Qin people will only lose two or three thousand people." Once he crossed the river, I had to retreat to Chengyang. If you can avoid its edge and hit it behind, you can kill the enemy without counting, you can burn its food and destroy its weapons. The siege of the city is not better than the battle, the lack of food and the lack of weapons, and the empty army cannot be pulled. ”

Xiang Yan, who was in sight of victory, couldn't help but say a lot, but he returned to normal after a while, and said: "Quickly pull out the camp, hide your tracks, and go north at night." ”

*

"Kill! Kill! Kill!! "In the palace of Yingdu, the armor soldiers either raised spears or carried large shields, lined up to familiarize themselves with weapons and practice military formations.

The problem of the inability of the spearmen to carry shields has been solved in the same way as the Macedonians: the shield is worn around the neck and on the left arm, so that the soldiers can hold the spear in both hands. This problem is solved, and the 5x10 Yispear phalanx has some appearance. However, this does not mean that Xiong Jing will let the Chu army use this kind of phalanx in the future, this is just for exercises

-- In order to reorganize and train an army, it is necessary to establish military academies to train enough officers, and officers are the core of the army. However, before opening a military school, it is necessary to study the tactics of the military system. In modern China, whether it was the Beiyang Army or the Northern Expeditionary Army, they all followed the ready-made military system and tactical system in Europe.

Xiong Jing can't pick up such a bargain. He had to experiment with a set of tactics that were effective and suitable for the Chu army, and then set up a military academy or a teacher. During this period, in addition to continuous exercises, it is necessary to practice with real swords and guns, otherwise, everything will be useless on paper.

Alexander's phalanx, Roman tortoiseshell formation, Qi Jiguang's mandarin duck formation, English longbow (unfortunately he has only heard of the British commander, but does not know the Turkish flying bow), Mongolian cavalry, the heavy cavalry of the Lord of the Rings, as well as ballistas and trebuchets...... All the military formations and weapons that he has seen and thought are good, or that are famous in history, must form a small army of about 1,000 people to try and fight, and then make a choice.

Originally, Xiong Jing set the time for this trial exercise to be two years, but now he didn't want to wait for a moment. On the day he returned to the palace, he called Gong Yin Dao and Deng Sui: Gong Yin Dao asked him to speed up the production of spears, large shields, short blunt swords, javelins, and long bows.

The current assignment is that the East Palace armor warrior practiced spears; The palace sanitation practiced swords and shields; The Mandarin Duck Array did not know the specific weapons and put them on hold for the time being; Because the archers of England longbow have gone out with the army, there are only 100 people who can shoot arrows in the East Palace and the sanitation, and the purple shirt wood found is not much better than the mulberry wood, and the mansion has doubts about the use of a large bow of one meter eight (the Chu bow is only one meter six, and the bow and arrow need to be made separately), so it failed to form an army; The cavalry was the worst, all of them went on the march, and there were only a dozen or so people left who could ride horses; Balistas are also on the march, and trebuchets are still being built.

"Your Highness, this shield is really heavy, and it is inconvenient for the soldiers to stop." Deng Sui was carrying a large Roman shield, and his face was a little struggling. "Can you make it smaller?"

The big shield was made in 100 pieces before, and the dimensions were the sum of Xiong Jing and Gong Yin Dao: 1.1 meter long, 0.65 meters wide, and 1 centimeter thick. This is seventeen centimeters longer and ten centimeters wider than the existing Chu State Great Shield. It is also heavier, the big shield of Chu is only seven kilograms, and this large shield with an arc weighs ten kilograms, which is indeed heavy for ordinary soldiers.

"Make small?" The soldiers raised their spears and shields, and Xiong Jing also had a small sword in his hand. This is Ou Chou made of the remaining steel materials of the five-foot king sword, the sword is no more than thirty centimeters long, and it still feels heavy when you hold it. "If you make a small one, can you form a formation?"

The tortoiseshell array is indeed a must, the day before yesterday under the guidance of Xiong Jing, the sanitation formed this array, whether it was Deng Sui, Cai Bao, or the soldiers, they were all shocked. The first reaction of everyone was that this formation was not afraid of arrows, and the military formation shrunk into a group could move freely from front to back, left and right, and felt that this formation was most suitable for mountain foot combat. It's a pity that the sanitation is good at making the sword but not the sword, and it will take some time to sharpen it to form a formation.

Deng Sui knew the benefits of the tortoiseshell array, so he naturally calculated the size of the shield of the formation, and said: "Your Highness, the big shield can also be formed by three or four inches, but the gap between each other is a little small. However, the soldiers of our Chu State are mostly about seven feet high, and the shield is useless, and the soldiers can't lift it. ”

Sanitation and palace armor have been selected, and most of them are 1.7 meters tall, and ordinary soldiers are only in their early 1.6 meters, and many are below 1.6 meters. The diet of ordinary people in Chu is better than that of the poor people of the Three Jin Dynasty, but it is difficult to eat meat several times a year. Can you fight without meat? During the siege, the ants consume the enemy's arrows and roll wood, which is almost the same.

"The shield can be made small, but the common people should eat more meat." Thinking of this, Xiong Jing replied inexplicably. His first thought was to raise pigs, but pigs eat grain, and it is difficult to raise them without sweet potatoes and corn; The second thought is fishing, preferably whales, but you need a sea boat, and you need ice.

"Your Highness is benevolent." Deng Sui praised. The king went on an expedition, and Xiong Jing seemed to be the king of Chu.

"How's this formation?" Xiong Jing thought of a lot of things in an instant, but now he had to retract his thoughts.

"It's wonderful." Deng Sui praised again. "Only the soldiers are not good at making swords, and the swords are too short, and the ministers can make five-foot swords when they hear that they can build a mansion......"

"Too short?" Xiong Jing disagreed with his point of view, "The sword can be made long, but the long sword is inconvenient to wield during a fight, and three feet is enough." Don't you know how to fight? ”

"Minister," Deng Sui embarrassed, "The ministers have not yet been able to comprehend the subtlety of this formation. ”

"Nothing subtle." Alexander's phalanx has only seen a movie, and the Roman army has seen more than just a movie. "It's just a three-line battle, and they rotate each other during the battle, but I have already drawn a sketch last time."

"Your Highness, many of the soldiers are illiterate." Deng Sui was not only embarrassed, but also sweated on his back: "The minister is also illiterate." ”

"You can't read either?!" Xiong Jing looked up at him for a while, he remembered that after the last exercise, Deng Sui made a lot of suggestions, and there were two volumes of books to be served, which was very straightforward, but he didn't expect to be illiterate.

"Minister...... Ashamed. Deng Sui's old face was flushed, he was a Qing clan, not that he was unconditionally literate, but he didn't like it, and he forgot what he had learned.

"Okay. I know. Xiong Jing nodded helplessly and muttered, "It seems that not only do you need to eat meat, but you also need to be literate." ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill ......" The soldiers in the open space were still practicing, the sword and shield hand carried the shield and swung the sword, and the spearman stabbed forward, the sweat had soaked through their clothes and leather armor, but at this time, Xiong Jing's eyes were completely different when he looked at them.

'An army without culture is a stupid army, and a stupid army cannot defeat the enemy. 'Frail and stupid, this is probably the current situation of the Chu army, if it weren't for the fact that when he sent his father out on the expedition that day, he personally felt the people's enthusiasm for his father and the Chu country, Xiong Jing was afraid that he would have given up.

"Excuse me, teacher, how many people in my Chu country are literate?" In the afternoon, Huang Xie's class was held, and after class, Xiong Jing bowed down to ask for advice.

"Literacy?" Huang Xie looked at his student, he no longer regarded Xiong Jing as a child. "What does Zijing want?"

"I don't want to do anything, but I want to know how many literate people there are." Xiong Jing replied.

"Zijing, do you know how illiterate the courtiers are?" Huang Xie asked rhetorically, "Many officials are also illiterate, especially hereditary nobles. But there are scholars without official positions, and soap officials with official positions......" He saw the temple maids in the East Palace again, and added: "Oh. There are also temple people, palace maids, and maids in the palace, and most of these people are literate. ”

"Ask the teacher again, how can Chinese people eat meat every day?" Xiong Jing asked the second question.