The last day, also known as the New Year, if you look at it from the perspective of a modern person, it will be the first festival. With the arrival of the previous day, in addition to the sprinkling of snow, even every household has to start sacrificing and celebrating. However, for war, such slackness will never be allowed.

Gongzihua handed the bamboo slip in his hand to Zhu Liji, rubbed his hands beside the brazier, and stared at the burning bonfire in contemplation. Zhu Li looked at the bamboo slip for a long time before putting it down, "The Zhao State has withdrawn its troops from the north, and the King of Zhao has not even had time to digest the occupied land, so he withdrew his troops from there." The intent is very obvious. ”

Gongzihua picked up a bonfire, threw in two pieces of charcoal, and tightened the fur on his body, "Does Zhao really want to win this war with our Qin State?" Not necessarily. Otherwise, more soldiers could have been sent to Hangu Pass. ”

"Maybe." Zhu Li took a sip of wine to drive away the cold, "King Zhao's vision is indeed very unique, not only to drive away the Hu people when the Five Nations Alliance Army attacked Hangu Pass, but now he wants to return to the division and fight a decisive battle with our Qin army at Hangu Pass." Although I know that King Zhao is also changing the law, but how strong Zhao Guo's strength is, you and I have never seen it in person, and we always dare not guess. He drank the wine, slowly filled it again, and continued: "However, Zhao Jun was able to solve the Hu people so quickly, and it should not be in vain. ”

"Speaking of which, I really remembered one thing." Gongzihua said, "Do you remember that when a certain king was ordered to attack Yanling in Korea, although he successfully occupied Yanling, he did not break through the city. ”

He thought for a while, nodded and said, "It seems that I heard you say that you also said that you were attacked by the opponent's cavalry at that time, and if it wasn't for our defense, I'm afraid it would have been captured by the other party." ”

"Not bad." Gongzihua did not hide his panic at that time, "You have also led troops for a long time, so you naturally know that the so-called cavalry is just the wings of the chariots, and the so-called interception of the opponent's uproar is just a purpose." However, the cavalry of the other side does not seem to be like this. Gongzi Hua recalled, "The cavalry on the other side seems to be well-trained, quite particular about advancing and retreating, and their actions are also uniform, and most importantly, their equipment is also roughly the same, whether it is a bronze sword or a bow and crossbow, almost everyone has a pair." ”

"On the other hand, the cavalry of our army, not only has different equipment configurations, long and short weapons, but even the action is almost nothing special, only when the chariots are impacted, the cavalry will attack and intercept, and it is just interception."

Zhu Liji nodded, as a person with troops, he naturally had to be very clear about the situation of his army, otherwise how to command and dispatch? The cavalry of the Qin army was tempered and grown in the battle with the Rong people, and many Rong tribes were also recruited as cavalry. The Rong people do not distinguish what formation they have when they fight, and they rush up in one go. That's it, but the cavalry that Gongzihua said is equipped with crossbow arrows, which is not normal. Any general knows that you can't even sit down on a bumpy horse, let alone shoot with a crossbow, and the powerful impact can even make a person fall off a horse. It is because the cavalry of many countries is equipped with long and short weapons, and it is all relied on the strength of the cavalry when it is engaged, and it is impossible to achieve the kind of crossbow arrows on the horse as Gongzihua said. If this remark hadn't come from Gongzihua's mouth, he would have listened to it as a joke a long time ago.

"Later, when a certain slave was counted, I heard one or two slaves say that there were Zhao cavalry troops in the city to help, but none of those slaves were from Zhao. At that time, I didn't care. Now, it only took Zhao a year to break up the Hu people, and apart from the cavalry, he couldn't think of any other army that could defeat the Hu people in such a short time. After speaking, he said heavily, "Even the Qin State is impossible." ”

Zhu Liji nodded, but frowned again and said, "It's just a little strange that when did the people of Zhao have a force comparable to that of the Hu people?" It's simply impossible. ”

Gongzihua pondered for a while and said: "This one has heard of it, saying that it is the Jianjian Ridge camp in the suburbs of Handan, which is very mysterious. Even though our army has heard a lot of secrets in Handan, there is very little news about Arrow Ridge. Maybe there's something wrong with that. ”

Zhu Lijian nodded, and also felt that the Arrow Ridge camp seemed to be hiding some secrets.

"Oops, that's muddle." Gongzihua suddenly said, "After talking so much, I forgot to get down to business." The king's bamboo slip urges you and me to hurry up and destroy the enemy in front of us, if King Zhao returns to increase his troops at Hangu Pass, it will be difficult to win. What's more, if Zhao State increases its troops, maybe the people of Chu State will also see the wind and rudder, and they will not fight with us in Wuguan. ”

He stood up, walked to the door of the main hall, looked at the snowflakes fluttering outside the window, and said, "Don't worry, it will only be a matter of time to break the enemy, and it won't be too long." ”

Heavy snow fell for two days, and as soon as it cleared, the five-nation coalition army once again launched an offensive against Hangu Pass. After a few months of closed doors, the Five Nations Alliance Army not only raised its body, but also fully repaired, especially during the closed war, whether the Qin army harassed or not, so that the soldiers were also holding their stomachs, and they just took this opportunity to completely release it. So, as soon as the battle began, the offensive of the five-nation alliance army surged up like a tide, all kinds of siege equipment appeared on the battlefield, a rain of rockets poured on the city, and the oppressed Qin people had no power to fight back, and the soldiers of Han and Wei flocked to Hangu Pass under the cover of rockets, and the ladders and battering rams also began to be erected under the city. Even if the weather was clear, the warmth in the air was terrible cold, and it was in this cold temperature that the soldiers of Han and Wei rushed under the city pass. Some soldiers had even climbed the tower, but they quickly disappeared from the blades of the Qin people. But more and more soldiers braved the bitter cold to climb the towers.

He stood under the tower, surrounded by soldiers, lest anything happen to the commander. However, he was not worried at all, he observed the battle situation under the city, and calmly commanded the Qin army to drop stones and rolling logs, delaying the pace of the coalition army's attack. At the same time, the troops were ordered to return fire at the coalition forces under the city in the interval between the bow and arrow attacks of the coalition forces.

The battle in front was in full swing, but in the Chinese army tent in the rear, Gongsun Yan was not happy.

"The coalition army is like a bamboo, and the breakthrough is only between the flips, why is the rhino head frowning? Seems to have something else on mind? The crown prince walked behind Gongsun Yan and said leisurely.

"Prince, it's not that the last general has other thoughts." Gongsun Yan saluted, thought for a while and said, "But the last general feels that today's siege seems to be too smooth." ”

"Haha, the rhino head is really a wonderful person." The crown prince laughed, opened the tent, looked at the white-hot battle in front of him, and said with a smile: "Wouldn't it be better if everything went well?" Doesn't the rhino head hope to be able to step on Xianyang and be ashamed of the snow? As long as this Hangu Pass is laid, Xianyang is like a bag. Our army has been recuperating for two months, isn't it normal to have such an offensive? ”

"Normal is indeed normal, but Qin Jun is not normal." Gongsun Yan analyzed, "Our army is recuperating for two months, and the Qin army is also recuperating, although there is occasional harassment, there is no large-scale offensive against our coalition army. , is not much to consume. And our army's food and grass were not ready until last month, and they were hungry before, if we talk about the state, I am afraid that the Qin army is even better than us. ”

"But today's Qin army doesn't seem to be in a state. Prince, you see, our army has been on the offensive from the very beginning, and it has been fighting fiercely under Hangu Pass for a long time, but it is still unable to climb the tower and fight against the Qin army. And the Qin army seems to have the intention of letting our army attack, unless they climb the tower, they don't have to go all out to deal with the coalition forces. Just rely on the stone rolling wood to damage the troops under the city. This does not seem to be the same as the Qin army that defended the right before. ”

The crown prince sighed slightly, feeling that what Gongsun Yan said seemed to have some truth. Qin Jun's performance today seems to be different from the previous group of tiger and wolf divisions, as if he is powerless.

"At the end of the day, I think the rhino head is a bit alarmist." Standing behind the crown prince, the veteran said contemptuously: "The words of the rhino head, the last general does not agree. No matter how powerful the Qin people are, they are also human beings after all. Since he is a human being, he must also be flesh and blood, and he must be afraid of death. Now that our army is on the offensive, it is obvious that the Qin army has been suppressed, and the opponent can only defend passively, and cannot organize an effective counterattack. If this is the case, it will also be said that there is some conspiracy, and I am afraid that it will have to be carefully considered. ”

According to Han Wangkang's meaning, if the organization of the Shencha is not effective, it will be replaced by the fish. But the prince came here for two months, and Shen Cha did all the work well, so he did not carry out this order. Prince Huan doesn't care, it doesn't mean that Kun doesn't care, he came here from Xinzheng, doesn't he want to make more military achievements? After all, when he got older, he gradually stopped engaging in specific command operations, and when Han Wangkang asked him to accompany Prince Huan to the front line, this veteran was ready to make a comeback. However, Prince Wan did not mean this. This made the fish sullen for a long time, and now that the coalition forces are on the offensive, it is the time to make meritorious contributions, if you can command the battle at this time, then this credit must be indispensable.

So, Kun continued: "Judging from the combat experience of the last general, now that the Qin army has undergone many days of repair, it must not have been expected that our army launched an attack before the weather was clear, which was really unexpected by the depositor party. In addition, the coalition army rested for many days, and the overall morale was very high, and it was slandered by the Qin army, and there was already a stomach of resentment that did not go out to vent. The siege of our army at the moment just gave them a chance. After speaking, he knelt on the ground and said to the prince: "Please give me a tiger talisman, the veteran is willing to lead the Korean army and take the lead in attacking Hangu Pass." ”

Gongsun Yan was already very angry when he saw that he was alarmist, and when he saw that he wanted to strengthen the attack, he hurriedly stopped him and said, "Absolutely not." The crown prince, the last general has been in the Qin State for many years, and knows that the soldiers of the Qin State are brave and good at fighting, and their morale is extremely high, and they will not admit defeat easily. What's more, due to the limitations of military law, they do not dare to be so slack. There must be some conspiracy and trickery, and please make a careful decision for the prince! ”

"Rhino head, I'm afraid it's because you've lived in Qin for a long time that you respect the people of Qin very much! In the face of such a smooth situation, instead of strengthening the offensive but being timid, wouldn't it cheapen the people of the Qin State in vain? In the end, the rhino head is still not good at military affairs, otherwise how could he not even understand such a reason? ”

"Although the last general is not familiar with military affairs, it can still be seen whether this is a conspiracy or not. As the liaison for this coalition, he must be accountable to all countries. ”

"I think the rhino head is still in charge of Wei first. I don't need outsiders to point fingers at me in South Korea. ”

Gongsun Yan was about to refute, but was interrupted by Prince Huan, who was already helpless on the side. "Say no more." Prince Huan ordered, "Old general, you come forward and command the siege of the city together with General Shencha." Be sure to take Hangu Pass as soon as possible. ”

"Yes!" He said, and walked away. Only Prince Huan and Gongsun Yan were left in the camp, and Prince Huan walked up to Gongsun Yan and said leisurely: "This matter is not sorry for the rhino head." ”

Gongsun Yan's face was full of regret, and he couldn't help but say: "The reason why a certain person suggested this matter is definitely not for himself, but for the sake of all the coalition forces. ”

"But you and I have to think about how long the country behind us can hold out?"

The crown prince woke up Gongsun Yan with a word, and the latter shook his head helplessly, because he thought of the agreement with Hui Shi two months ago, and now most of the two months have passed, but now there has been no progress, if he doesn't take Hanguan Valley, I'm afraid that his position as the head of the rhino will be in jeopardy.

"If that's the case, you and I can only wait and see what happens." Gongsun Yan said helplessly, "I hope everything is speculation." ”

(End of chapter)