"Thieves!"

"Villain!"

"This is my family's lifefood! I beg you, for the sake of the same Chu people, don't snatch them all. ”

"The Qin army will give us money if they want food, why does the army of my Chu State come and rob it empty-handed?"

"Money? You still dare to accept the money from the Qin people and hand over the money together, otherwise you will be the lackeys of the Qin people, and Naigong will cut off your heads! ”

"Woo woo, you just grab the food, why don't you even snatch the kettle!"

……

In the city of Zhuyi, mourning was everywhere, and the city was full of wailing.

After the Qin people withdrew and the Chu army recovered this place, the Chu residents of Zhuyi did not usher in a free and happy life.

On the contrary, tens of thousands of Chu troops gathered outside the city actually sent people into the city to loot grain from them.

It stands to reason that only two or three months after the autumn harvest, there should be plenty of food in the city.

But unfortunately, as soon as the autumn harvest was over, the Chu army requisitioned most of the grain and transported it to the front line to supply Xiang Yan's army.

After the Qin army arrived, Xiang Qu moved most of the grain stored in Zhuyi in advance, and burned the rest of the fire, leaving nothing for the Qin army, intending to let the Qin army loot the Chu people here and arouse public resentment, and when the Chu army counterattacked, these people could raise their flags to greet each other.

As a result, the Qin army did levy the grain of the Chu people in the city, but the grievances of these Chu people were not much, first, the Qin army still left the minimum life food for these Chu people, and the province was still able to survive as a family.

If you can survive, naturally no one is willing to fight with your life.

The second is that the Qin people gave money, and forcibly buying with money and grabbing it empty-handed are two concepts, so although the Chu people here don't say it, they don't have much disgust for the Qin people in their hearts.

Especially compared to the Chu army that has now recovered this place, these so-called compatriots of a country have begun to rob the last bit of food from the local Chu people.

A hot-blooded warrior resisted and guarded the food stored at home, but was killed on the spot by the Chu soldiers.

There were also people who opened their mouths and cursed, and were pressed to the ground and had their tongues cut off, and they could only whine, and their mouths were full of blood.

There are also all kinds of wailing and crying of women, children, the old and the weak, and there are endless ears.

"General, our army has requisitioned military rations from the city, which can be used for our army for seven or eight days, and all necessary equipment such as kettles and retorts have also been replenished."

"Well, this food is enough to rush to Pengcheng, and quickly send scouts north to find out the location of the Qin army. At the same time, let the soldiers rest here for the night, and they will set off tomorrow. ”

Xiang Qu's face was full of indifference, and he naturally heard the wails of those Chu people in Zhuyi crying and grabbing the ground.

But he didn't care.

What is the lack of food to eat, now the entire Chu country is short of food.

If he can't quickly break through Zhao Tuo, recover Pengcheng, and open up the grain transportation channel in the northeast, it won't be long before the hundreds of thousands of Chu troops in the Huaibei battlefield will all be slaughtered by the Qin people hungry.

Compared to this, what is the Chu people who sacrifice a small bamboo yip?

Only by providing enough food for the army under his command and allowing Xiang Qu to defeat the Qin army of Zhao Tuo can he save the danger of the overthrow of the Chu State, which is for the sake of the real overall situation.

Under the overall situation, the livelihood of small people does not need to be considered.

"General, do you really want to send troops to pursue Zhao Tuo?"

Jing Tong's face was full of melancholy.

Although Xiang Qu ordered the burning of boats and boats twice, the Chu army now occupies both sides of Suishui, and as long as it takes a little time, a large number of ships can be built in two or three days to receive grain and grass supplies from the west bank of Suishui, and there is no need to rob the people of Zhuyi like this.

But Xiang Qu couldn't wait, and after knowing that Zhao Tuo led his army to flee north, he was ready to pursue.

In addition to leaving 5,000 people to build ships and transfer follow-up grain and straw from the other side of Suishui, Xiang Qu wanted to lead the remaining 30,000 people to carry the military rations looted from Zhuyi and quickly go north to take Pengcheng.

At this moment, facing Jing Tong's inquiry, Xiang Qu sighed lightly.

"Zitong, do you think we still have a choice?"

Jing Tong bit his lip, this young talent from the Jing family also understood in his heart.

They don't have a choice.

Zhao Tuo led the Qin army to escape, allowing them to successfully recover Zhuyi, but what use was this?

The strategic purpose of Xiang Qu's Chu army was to defeat the Qin army, recover Pengcheng, open a passage connecting Lu Di and Qi State, transport Lu Di's grain to the Chen Ying battlefield, and even borrow grain from Qi State in order to keep Chu sustained.

All of this requires a clear road.

Although Zhao Tuo has fled now, his troops still exist, and he can still firmly occupy Pengcheng and cut off east-west traffic.

As long as the Qin army defends Pengcheng, the situation will be the same as before, enough to consume the Chu army here.

"Pengcheng must be taken, and it must be fast."

"If it's late, even if we take Pengcheng, we won't be able to wait for the grain from the east to be transported to Chen Ying, and the army under my father's command may not be able to hold on. So I have to follow closely behind the Qin army, pursue all the way, and defeat Zhao Tuo! ”

"We don't have a choice in this battle!"

Xiang Qu whispered hatefully.

And he still has something to say.

After receiving his message, the prime minister sent 5,000 troops, led by his brother Xiang Yue, and attacked Pengcheng, although it was a key attack on the enemy, but in fact it was also in a dangerous situation.

If Xiang Qu didn't follow closely to support Xiang Yue, the 5,000 people of Xiang Yue would probably be surrounded and annihilated by Zhao Tuo's Hui army, and the strength of the Xiang clan would be lost to Pengcheng.

Whether it is for the Xiang clan or for the survival of the Chu State.

Xiang Qu didn't have a choice.

He must go north, he must take Pengcheng!

"The general's mind, Jing Tongzhi. It's just that Zhao Tuo has always been cunning, I'm afraid that the Qin army will ambush our army on the road, and when we go to Pengcheng, our army must be cautious. ”

Jing Tong spoke, his face full of worry.

Especially looking at the appearance of Xiang Qu in front of him, he felt that this scene was familiar.

Yes, last year, Jing Tong followed Zuo Sima Zhaoping, and also pursued north after crossing Suishui, and followed the Qin army led by Zhao Tuo all the way.

Then, they suffered a major defeat in Surabaya.

Zuo Sima was defeated and killed himself.

Thinking of this, Jing Tong couldn't help but shudder.

……

Thirty miles south of Pengcheng.

There is an earthen wall rising from the ground, the whole road is divided into two sections in the north and south, although the earthen wall is in a hurry, but because its length is less than ten meters, the amount of work is limited, it is repaired by the Qin army, and it is very strong.

In front of the wall there was a deep trench, a wooden fence with antlers, and the ground and ditch were sprinkled with thistles.

Behind the wall, there are steps for soldiers to stand on it and hold weapons for defense, and more than ten meters back, there is a higher earthen platform, which can be used for soldiers to stand on it and throw bows and arrows out of the wall.

This style of defensive barrier, all the way to the direction of Pengcheng, there is one every one or two miles, there are as many as seven in a row, and there is also a narrow passage next to the follow-up barrier for the soldiers in front to retreat.

On the side of the passage, there are soldiers with large axes and halberds to guard, and if any enemy dares to follow in, they will kill one by one.

Behind the seven barriers, there is an open area, with a large Qin military camp, at this moment there are wisps of cooking smoke, and the Qin soldiers are boiling water to make food, and have a full meal.

"If you want to go to Pengcheng, you have to break my seventh base."

Zhao Tuo led his generals to inspect the defense of this section of the road and was quite satisfied.

This path was a battlefield he had specially chosen.

The road is actually quite wide, seven or eight meters wide.

It's just that on the east side of this road is a small river. The river is not very big, and the water is not too deep in winter, but the enemy army must not bypass the barrier from the river, because if they dare to bypass it from the waterway, the crossbowmen of the Qin army who are waiting after the barrier can shoot the enemy in the river into hedgehogs. Moreover, the other side of the river is also a cliff and a bad road, even if the Chu army crosses the river, it is impassable.

On the west side of the road, there is a steep slope, the trees and weeds on the slope have been cleared by the Qin army, revealing a bare patch, and the ground is full of pits dug by the Qin army, which is difficult to walk, and if you are not careful, you will have to fall. The pit was also sprinkled with sharp and piercing thistle pears, and I felt my feet hurt just by looking at it.

If the enemy wants to pass through the steep slope from the west, it is difficult to walk on the slope full of potholes, second, he must be careful not to pierce his feet with iron thistles on the ground, and third, he must be shot by the Qin archers behind the barrier.

Those who were able to successfully pass through a section of the steep slope and bypass the barrier were the lucky of the lucky ones, and the army could not pass at all.

Therefore, if the enemy wanted to let the army pass through this road, he could only attack the Qin army barrier head-on.

It's just breaking through a layer of barriers, and then another layer of barriers.

One layer after another, there are as many as seven layers.

The enemy army must break through the seven bases of the Qin army in a row and defeat all the defending Qin army guards before they can reach the real Qin army camp.

In front of the Qin army's camp, there is a wide area, which can be used for the main force of the Qin army to line up to meet the enemy, set up strong bows and crossbows, and face the enemy who arrives here after breaking through the seven barriers.

"That canal not only allowed the prime minister to send troops to attack Pengcheng, but also let Xiangyi raise troops to attack, naturally it was to disperse the strength of our army, so that he could form a situation of outnumbering our army with the crowd defeating the outnumbered, so he must have smuggled across Suishui to fight with our army this time."

"It's just that he Chu people have an advantage, so why should I fight him on the shore of Suishui?"

"The enemy advances and I retreat, he comes to attack me, I leave, the initiative has always been in the hands of our army."

Zhao Tuo walked up to an earthen platform, looked at the scene of the camp in front and behind, and saw that the Qin soldiers were still strengthening the earthen walls and creating defensive measures, so he couldn't help but say: "What Sun Tzu Wu said, the terrain is the help of the soldiers." Expect the enemy to win, calculate the danger far and near, and the way of the general is also. Those who know this and use war will win, and those who do not know this and use war will lose. ”

"When fighting a war with soldiers, you should hold the choice of the battlefield in your hands. The situation in Suishui is not favorable to our army. Then I will look for a battlefield that is advantageous to our army. ”

Zhao Tuo glanced at Lu Xuan, Zhong Liyi and the others who were listening carefully, and asked: "Ah Xuan, I have read the Art of War with your grandson Wu, do you still remember the six types of terrain that Sun Tzu Wu said. ”

Lu Wan thought for a while, and replied: "General Hui, there are six types of terrain mentioned by Wu Sun Tzu, there are those who are passable, those who are hanging, those who are branched, those who are narrow, those who are dangerous, and those who are far away. ”

Zhao Tuo bowed his head, turned to Zhongliyi again, and said, "Zhongli, then tell me about the terrain here." ”

Zhong Liyi smiled slightly, naturally he would not be stumped by this question, he stretched out his hand to both sides of the road, and said: "This road is blocked by the river in the east, and there is the danger of a steep slope in the west. The so-called narrow-form, I will live in it first, and I will wait for the enemy; If the enemy lives first, do not obey it, and follow it if you do not make it. ”

"Now the general is guarding the pass first, and the battalion is waiting for seven bases. If the Chu army comes, on this pass, it will not be able to give full play to its superiority in strength, and can only attack our seventh base head-on with limited troops, and the Chu people will surely suffer heavy losses under the attack and defense. ”

"Even if they can win consecutive victories and break my seventh base, it will inevitably be demoralized and exhausted, how can they defeat the Qin army that we are waiting for work, so although the Chu army is numerous, although our army is outnumbered, but the final victor must be the general!"

Zhong Liyi said to the end, his expression was slightly excited.

"However, this place is a narrow road, and our army is the first to live in it, so the advantage is mine!"

Zhao Tuo nodded in approval.

Lu Juan and Zhong Liyi are both studying the art of war seriously, and they are the way to say it.

Lu Juan hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "But general, if the Chu general Xiang Qu really chased after him, would he really attack after seeing our army set up such a battle?" What if the Chu army retreats without a fight? ”

Zhao Tuo turned his head sideways and looked in the direction of Suishui in the south.

"He's going to storm it. Only by breaking through our army and capturing Pengcheng can the Chu State have a chance to survive. If he retreats, the state of Chu will perish. ”

"This is the place where I and his Xiangqu will fight!"

At this point, Zhao Tuo's eyes were full of surging war intent.

"Xiang Qu, I'll be waiting for you here."