Chapter 24: Winnable
100,000 Zhao troops were laid out in the field, and before the Qin army advanced, the soldiers just sat down, except for the sound of the wind, the fluttering of military flags, and the sound of war horses, the military formation was extremely quiet. Thirty miles away from the flank, the direction of the Qin army's camp was blazing, and under the suppression of the Zhao cavalry, the Qin army's camp seemed to have been breached, but in fact, the resistance of the camp was fierce, and the Zhao army only lit a fire outside the camp.
The total Qin army has more than 200,000 troops, as long as it is delayed for a period of time, or the field battle fails, even if the 150,000 Zhao troops under Li Mu are not completely annihilated, they can only retreat to the nine gates north of Hutuoshui, and let the Qin army on the middle route go south to join the Qin army on the south route. There was a reason why they didn't attack before, and there is a reason for attacking now. At this time, Zhao Guo will never have a chance again if he doesn't gamble.
"Report!" Hou Ren rode his horse and came, "The Qin army is also entering, and they want to fight me." ”
"Revisit." Li Mu's face was expressionless, but Sima Shang's face was happy. Standing outside the shogunate together, Mu Ling, who had only arrived in Li Mujun's army yesterday, became nervous. According to previous reports, there were as many as 150,000 Qin troops to help, but only 100,000 Zhao troops were arrayed. The sun had risen overhead, and Mu Ling's whole body was bathed in sunlight, but he didn't feel a trace of warmth, only felt cold hands and feet.
"Report!" A quarter of an hour later, Hou Qi arrived, "The Qin army is five miles away from me, and it is already in formation. ”
To the east of Taihang and to the north of the Great River are plains. Even if you don't use Lu Lijing on the plain, the Qin army five miles away can be seen at a glance. Zhao Zu, who was sitting on his feet, also saw the Qin army coming by pressing the skyline at this time, and his skin couldn't help but tremble: The Qin army is here.
Mu Ling unconsciously looked at Li Mu, and there was a faint expectation in his heart that although Li Mu was not the king of Zhao, as a general, if he could go to the front of the battle to swear and use his actions to inspire the soldiers of Zhao, the morale of the Zhao army would inevitably be greatly boosted. The morale of the Zhao army was greatly boosted, and the Zhao army, which was at a numerical disadvantage, could win more with less.
The Qin army started as a black line, and slowly turned into a wall more than ten miles long. Seeing this wall getting closer and closer, Mu Ling's heart became more and more anxious. The suggestion to ask Li Mu to go to the battle to swear before the battle has been wandering in his abdomen, holding it in his mouth for a while, stopping when he wants to speak, and swallowing it again and swallowing it into his stomach. Over and over again, he was already sweating profusely with cold hands and feet earlier.
"Report! The Qin army is three miles away from me. "The Qin army is getting closer and closer, and the cavalry of both sides has been fiercely engaged in front of the battle. Every time a Qin cavalry was killed, the Zhao army was cheered. Mu Ling couldn't hold back any longer, he took a few steps forward and waved at Li Mu, and when he was about to make a suggestion, Li Mu took the first step to speak: "Ziling shipped silver coins yesterday?" ”
Mu Ling was ordered by the Four Kingdoms Gold Bank to escort the silver coins, and this order did not come from Handan, but from Yingdu.
"General Yu: The contemptible people brought 30,000 Chu catties of silver coins, a total of 1.71 million." Mu Ling's advice swallowed into his stomach.
"Good." Li Mu praised. "Command the silver chariots and horses, and sprinkle these 1,710,000 silver coins ten paces in front of the battle."
"Huh?!" Li Mu's order made Mu Ling stunned, he thought that these silver coins were used to buy military funds, but he didn't expect Li Mu to sprinkle them in front of the military array.
The 30,000 catties of silver were about 7.5 tons, and a total of ten four-wheeled carriages were shipped. When Mu Ling was stunned, Sima Shang had ordered people to bring five carriages each to quickly circle to the front of the formation from both sides. The carriage ran ten paces in front of the formation, and the back door of the carriage opened. Several of the officers poured down, and the silver coins splashed like water on the dry grass.
Mu Ling, who was already standing on the chariot, saw the actions of the military officials, and when he saw that the Qin army was getting closer and closer, he finally suggested: "Why don't the generals come to the front of the battle to swear an oath?" The king of Chu must come to the front of the battle every battle, and his morale will be greatly boosted every time, so the Chu pawn can be ten. ”
Although the Qin army was already very close, Li Mu still used the Lu Li mirror to carefully look at its array, in order to know the reality of the military formation. According to his habit, no one is allowed to disturb him during the battle, for the sake of Mu Ling is Chu people, and for the sake of the silver coins he sent, he smiled lightly, put down Lu Lijing and said: "The Zhao army is not the Chu army. The Chu people were easily angry, and the king of Chu swore an oath in front of the battle, and his morale was naturally greatly boosted. The Zhao people are brave and generous, but they don't do anything about farming, they rely on the opportunity to eat, and they just defend the city.
"General!" The big war was imminent, but Li Mu was distracted and wanted Mu Ling to explain, and the heartfelt fox baby had to call him. Li Mu had no choice but to smile at Mu Ling, and once again picked up Lu Li's mirror to take a closer look at the Qin army opposite.
Although Li Mu's words were not finished, the meaning was very clear: Zhao Jun was not the Chu army, the Chu people were hot-blooded, and they were angry when they were provoked, and their morale was naturally boosted. Therefore, the way to deal with the Chu army is 'don't go to war, its army can be defeated'. If you don't fight him when the Chu army is excited, he will cool down and be tired after a long time, and finally his morale will be greatly drained and he will be defeated.
No matter how martial and generous Zhao Zu is, he must also have money in his hands, and Zhao people have always been extravagant and spend a lot of money. The Sanjin War was endless, and the soldiers had been practicing the battle formation for a long time, and they had long been tired of war. After the Qin army pulled out the city, they beheaded it to win, so they had to fight to the death. Field battles are different, field battles can be broken and fled, and if there is no big reward, the soldiers will never fight to the death. Li Mu defeated the Hu people that year, chose cars and horses, raised hundreds of gold, and was rewarded on the day of the soldiers, all of which were rewards.
The difference between Zhao Hao and Zhao Kuozhi is that the gold silk is also rewarded in the army or returned to the Tibetan family. In today's field battle with the Qin army, Li Mu, as the main general, must reward the soldiers with gold, silver, pearls and jade, and if he does not reward them heavily, the soldiers will think that the main general will look down on him. Mu Ling arrived late, and the 30,000 catties of silver coins could no longer be distributed to the whole army, so they could only be dumped in front of the battle. If he wins, the silver will be the soldier's; If you lose, you will become Qin's.
All the 1,710,000 silver coins were spilled in front of the battle, and the commander of the army who had already received the order pointed to the silver coins and shouted to the soldiers: "The general borrowed 30,000 catties of silver from the king of Chu to reward you and others." Can this battle be won? Can you win the enemy? ”
Previously, Zhao Shu's eyes were all on Qin Jun, and with ten four-wheeled carriages dumping out more than a million silver coins in front of the formation, these silver coins were piled up in a mess on the dry grass, forming a silver belt as wide as the military array. No one looked at the Qin army on the other side, everyone stared at the silver belt ten steps away, and a few people began to swallow their saliva.
"Can you defeat the enemy? Can you win the enemy? The chief asked several times, and finally someone shouted, "Victory!" ”
"Can you defeat the enemy?" The pawn asked again.
"Win! Winning! Winning! Win!! "One shouted, ten shouted, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, and a hundred thousand shouted together. In the face of the silver belt ten steps away, no one took a step, and no one stepped forward to grab it. This is Zhao Jun, not a scattered brave wanderer, they do love money, but they need the respect of nobles, they can die, but they must die with 'value'.
And according to custom, the war dead also received a share of the reward. What they really want to do is to defeat the Qin people, as long as they defeat the Qin army, the military officials will divide these rewards equally, this is the rule in the army, the rule that cannot be changed.
When Zhao Shu's gaze turned from the silver coin to the Qin army again, the outcome of this war was almost decided. The commanders and soldiers in front of the battle read their gazes, and Li Mu and Sima Shang behind the battle also felt the death will of the soldiers. Only Mu Ling, who had been in Zhao for a long time but still didn't know Zhao people, didn't feel anything, he saw the Qin army getting closer and closer, and saw the Qin soldiers in the front row hurriedly release arrows, and then the two long walls slammed together. In the battle of the halberds, countless people fell to the ground in an instant, and the sky and the earth were dark.
From a moment ago, Li Mu was staring at the battlefield, and what he was most worried about was that the Qin army's sharp soldiers would use the long beryllium to break through their own army's battle formation, but his worries were obviously unnecessary. Zhao Zu, who is determined to die, fights for his life, and Ruishi can smash them, but every step forward will pay a heavy price. The Zhao army was small, and the thin array was crumbling under the onslaught of the Qin army, but it did not collapse.
"Zhao Jun" also stared at Meng Wu on the battlefield and said Zhao Jun, he never thought that Zhao Jun would be so brave in the field.
"Please general, brigadier general, and attack the Zhao army." Feng Qiji, who was in the rear army, couldn't wait. There are more Qin troops than Zhao troops, and more rear armies than Zhao troops, and now that the battle line is deadlocked, it is a good time to open up the situation with a flank attack.
"Can you see the cavalry of the Zhao army?" Meng Wu asked Hou Zheng beside him. He had seen the iron cavalry of the Chu army, and he had long been vigilant. Li Mu led the border army, the border army Benduo cavalry, and now all I see is the Zhao army scouts, and I don't see the cavalry army that defeated the Hu people at all.
"General Yu: I haven't seen the cavalry of the Zhao army." Hou Zheng confessed. "I'm afraid that the cavalry of the Zhao army is robbing my grain road."
"Order: Feng Qiji led the rear army of 30,000 to attack Zhao's right army." Yu Yu was finally sent to Feng Qiji, his chariot galloped away, and the 30,000 rear army followed his general banner and rumbled to the left flank of the battlefield, as long as the rear army bypassed the leftmost line, the Zhao army would be defeated.
"Report!" At the same time as the rear army rushed out, an urgent report sounded in front of Li Mu's shogunate, "The Qin rear army wants to attack our right army." ”
"Order the rear army to rescue quickly, there must be no mistake!" The Qin army had a rear army, and the Zhao army also had a rear army, but the number was only 10,000. After Li Mujun's order was given, the fox baby standing next to him immediately said: "Please general"
"No." Before he finished speaking, Li Mu stopped him. "The time has not yet come."
"Kill!" On the right flank of the Zhao army, the rear armies of the two sides collided head-on, 10,000 against 30,000, the momentum of the Qin army's swoop was stagnant, and the soldiers shouted and fought together.
"Order: Meng Tian led the rear army of 20,000 to attack Zhao's left army." Another order was issued. The Zhao army has no rear army, and at this time, the bypass attack is enough to kill, and Meng Tian never dreamed that his father would let him lead the army to complete the final blow.
"The last general respectfully obeys the order." In the envious eyes of the generals, Meng Tian took Yu Yu and drove away with some trembling, and finally the 20,000 rear troops followed him to the left army of the Zhao army.
"Report!" Zhao Junhou reported again, but Li Mu waved his hand to stop him, and only said: "Raise the flag!" ”
"The general has an order: raise the flag!" The military officer did not dare to delay for a moment, and shouted to the standard-bearer not far away. A three-foot-high banner was immediately erected by the soldiers, and the vermilion flag was dim and shabby, and only when you got close could you see that the flag was painted with a galloping horse with horns on its forehead.
"Why did Zhao Jun raise the flag?" The Lu Lijing produced by Shaofu was blurry, and Meng Wu saw that Zhao Jun suddenly erected a big flag, and immediately asked loudly. However, before the scout could report that it was He Qi, he faintly heard a burst of thunder.