The line of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River is the real north-south dividing line of Chinese geography. In order to cross the Qinling Mountains, from west to east, there are Chencang Road, Bao Slope Road, Fu Luo Road, Meridian Road, Yugu Road, Wuguan Road. These trails are all rugged and follow the river. There are seventy-two rivers in the Qinling Mountains, but there are only a few valley roads that can really be passed.

The Qin people blocked the three rivers that could be passed, and the Chu army had no way out. Although the soldiers could travel through the mountains, artillery, baggage, and chariots could not pass. Even if the soldiers traveled through the mountains, they would not be able to walk many miles in a day. By the time the Chu army came out of the valley, the more than 200,000 Qin troops led by Meng Tian had already arrived in Lantian.

Early this morning, the news of the Qin army's rush to help Guanzhong came over, including: First: the Qin army did not all rush to help Guanzhong, but only 200,000 and no more than 250,000 people; Second, the Qin general who led the army to aid Guanzhong was not Li Xin, but Meng Tian, the son of Meng Wu; Third, Meng Tian did not take the expected Kunhan Valley Road, but crossed the river from Maojin and entered Guanzhong from the Pusaka pontoon bridge.

The timely delivery of the news allowed everyone to peek into the corner of the black box of the Qin war. The Qin army did not all rush to the aid of Guanzhong, and the leader of the army would naturally not be Li Xin. You must know that Li Xin is Zhao Zheng's favorite general, and where he appears, it shows where the main direction of the Qin army is. Even though Xianyang was in danger, Zhao Zheng, the king of Qin, was still unwilling to give up Nanyang and Nanjun, which contributed to this division of troops. Even if the troops were divided, rescuing Nanyang was still a strategic priority for the Qin army.

Meng Tian, who led the army, did not choose the closer Kuohan Valley Road, but chose the Pusaka Road, which was more than a hundred miles away, and the Operations Division could probably judge the speed of the Qin army's march

The Qin army marched on the inside line, and there was no need to care about the long path of the march. If the long march path is too long, it can be hundreds or even hundreds of miles.

In the era of cold weapons, there were few equipment and vehicles, and the queues were dense. According to the calculations of the Operations Division of the Great Sima Mansion, the marching distance of a standard Chu army division is sixteen li, and that of a Qin army captain is about fourteen li, but ten divisions are hundreds of li. Such a long march cannot be quickly launched once it is attacked by the enemy, and it is easy to be broken by the enemy army individually.

Therefore, when fighting on the outside line, both the general and Sima will try to shorten the long march path. To do this, of course, is to increase the marching columns, and to increase the marching columns, it is necessary to choose a wider road. The Qin army marched in its hinterland and was not likely to be ambushed, and the only reason why it chose Pusaka Road instead of Kuohan Road was to increase the marching column.

And the reason for increasing the marching column can only be that Meng Tian is ready to lead the Qin army to a wild race. Hurricane will pull into a long marching path, increase the marching time of the soldiers, by increasing the marching column can avoid too long marching time, slow down the fatigue of the soldiers.

According to many calculations of the Operations Division, the daily march mileage of the 200,000 men of the Mongolian armed forces must exceed three quarters, and it should reach four quarters. This is a journey of 680 miles in five and a half days. The day before yesterday, yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, even if the day before yesterday was only half a day, half of today's day is over, and there are only four days left.

This is, of course, bad news, the worst of the worst. Even if the valley road trestle bridge out of Lantian was not burned by the Qin people, it would take three days for the Chu army to cross the Qinling Mountains, and now there is no way out, and it is estimated that it will take at least five days to cross the Qinling Mountains. At this time, Meng Tian's 200,000 men had arrived and rested briefly, and the Chu army would face a battle of 100,000 against 500,000.

After Cheng Kui and Douzang retreated, no one in the shogunate spoke. Xiong Jing tightened his lips, as if he didn't like this kind of result, Zhuang Wudi and Nao Xin beside him lowered their eyes, and their eyes stared blankly at the ground not far away; Dou Yu Pheasant with both hands in his arms, the whole body is quiet, but the thumb turns the thumb; Cheng Tong and Dou Chang had regret on their faces. Especially Chengtong, he is regretful and unwilling.

The state of Qin was actually extremely vulnerable, and this vulnerability was reflected in the fact that the Chu army had never been harassed by the common people after entering the Qin territory, and it was also reflected in the fact that the people of Jiuying, Nanyang, and even Shangluo, who had just occupied, welcomed the Chu army.

Eat pot pulp to welcome the king. This is not an exaggeration of Mencius, this is a real scene. Shangluo was not pulled out by the Chu army, but the officials of the Qin State abandoned the city and fled, and the people welcomed Concubine Jing and others into Shangluo City. The movement of the mountains and rivers on the sand table is so accurate, which is indispensable for the help of the local people. Most of the corn and weeds in the warehouse were burned, but the people put together a lot of grain, and the grain and straw that were scraped together could supply most of the twelve and a half divisions.

"The minister thinks," Cheng Tong solemnly waved and said with some excitement: "Our army will destroy Qin!" ”

"No nonsense." Xiong Jing's heart was irritable, what he wanted was a plan, not a determination or a teaching.

"The king, the minister has a plan." Cheng Tong is deflated, and Dou Chang immediately deeps.

"Words." Xiong Jing nodded, waiting for his plan.

"You can ask the hunters in the mountains to guide the way, and they may know the trails in the mountains." Dou Chang is also talking nonsense, this order was conveyed to the 1st Cavalry Division led by Yu Jing very early. As a staff officer, Dou Chang certainly knew this, and before Xiong Jing turned his lips, he quickly said: "The minister thinks that it is not enough to rely on the generals to explore, and this is all told to the people of Shangluo, there must be someone who knows." ”

"The king, the minister thinks otherwise." Zhuang is not authentic. "The valley road in the mountains is rugged and difficult to walk, and the five divisions have seen each other for hundreds of miles before and after. The Qin people have been equipped, and if they set up an ambush at the Gukou Mountain Pass, our army will be lost. ”

Zhuang Wudi was worried that the march was too long and was ambushed by the Qin. In addition, his position is often different from that of Cheng Tong, Dou Chang and others. It's not a personal grudge, but a different understanding of the strategy of the Chu army. Just like a branch, Xiang Yan and Cheng Jie are the difference between saving Zhao and attacking Qin, and Zhuang Wudi and Cheng Tong are on the same big branch of attacking Qin, the difference between radical and conservative.

Radical such as Dou Yu Pheasant, Pan Wuming, Cheng Tong, Ruo Ao Duxing, Fei Fang and others, conservative such as Dong Yegu, Chen Bu, E Le, Lan Hao and others. The former naturally wants to destroy Qin, at least to break Xianyang, and set up another king of Qin, so as to prevent trouble; All the latter hoped for was to restore the old Chu land. If the Qin State really planned to divide the two counties in order to make peace, they were actually willing in their hearts.

Does the state of Chu want to dominate the world? Even in the period of the powerful King Wei and King Huai, unifying the world has never become the consensus of the government and the opposition of the Chu State. In the world, it was not until Mencius that the world was re-established in oneness, and what Confucius hoped for before was only to persuade the nobles to re-abide by the etiquette system and not to spoil the etiquette.

Now that the state of Chu is reunited, the courtiers and doctors also have no idea of one day. The recovery of the old Chu land was their greatest expectation. Qindi, Zhaodi, Yandi, what do those places have to do with the Chu people? The warm and comfortable south does not wait, and runs to the dry and cold northwest and north, who would be so stupid?

NOTE 12: Joint Combat Command in Informatization Conditions, P207.