On the south bank of Huaishui, in a gentle area between the swamps and marshes, sits a small city.

A large number of Chijia Chu troops set up camp outside the city, and everyone was elated. Originally, due to the fall of Shouchun, the low mood brought about by the surrender of the King of Chu was swept away, and the eyes of every Chu pawn flashed with hope.

"Ling Yin is worthy of being a famous general of my Chu country, and he is like a god in his army!"

"Our army raided this time, killing nearly 1,000 Qin troops and capturing more than 2,000 people, except for a part of the Qin army that broke through the block and fled back, there were also a large number of Qin people who jumped into the water on both sides, and these people don't know how many people will be killed or injured."

"Hehe, most of the Qin people don't know the nature of water, so they just wait to feed the fish, turtles, turtles, and dragons when they go into the swamps. But the captives in front of us, what should we do, do we still have to feed them with food? ”

In the midst of the discussion of many Chu soldiers, in a clearing outside the city of Shandao, more than 2,000 Qin people who had been confiscated squatted on the ground, their faces were full of frightened expressions, and they didn't know what fate they were going to fall into.

From the victor of the extermination of the human society, to the captive of slaughter overnight, this contrast makes many of them still feel that they are still in a dream.

This is the cruelty of war, no one can imagine when the butcher's knife of death will fall on their heads.

On the edge of the Huaishui in the north of Shandao City, there are several figures.

"Ling Yin, although our army plundered a lot of grain from Huaibei and went south, it was only enough for our army to eat for a few months. Keeping these Qin prisoners will only consume our army's food in vain, so it is better to slaughter them. ”

General Qu Mao spoke, his eyes shining with a cold light.

Xiang Yan turned his head and saw that Jing Tong on the side also echoed Qu Mao's proposal, and said with a smile: "That is the case, kill it." The fall of Shouchun happened to be memorial with the heads of these Qin people. Cut off their heads, find a place to pile up into a Jingguan, if that Wang Jian can attack here, you can also see the gift I gave him. ”

"Okay, I'm going to cut off the heads of these Qin people to build a Jingguan, and let the people of the world know the bloody nature of my Jing Chu man, and I will never lose to his Qin people."

Qu Mao said murderously, his Qu fiefdom basically fell into the hands of the Qin people, and the clansmen did not know where to live and die, and he had great hatred for the Qin people.

There are not a few people like him who have a deep hatred for the Qin army, and he is also the most staunch anti-Qin person in the Chu army.

Seeing that Qu Mao was leaving, Xiang Yan said again: "By the way, those armor stomachs and weapons on the Qin army, select some intact ones, and they may be useful later." ”

"Yui."

Seeing Qu Mao leaving, Xiang Yan looked at the other side of the Huai River again, and his deep gaze seemed to be able to pass through the water of the Huai River, which was hundreds of meters wide, and see the Huaibei land opposite.

There, black Qin flags have been planted everywhere, and they no longer belong to their Chu State.

Jing Tong did not leave, but asked worriedly: "It is indeed a good strategy for Ling Yin to use this water swamp to contend with the Qin people, our army has this advantage, as long as the Qin army dares to come, they will definitely have no return." But I'm worried that if Wang Jian wants to repeat his old tricks, like in the battle of Chen Ying, he didn't attack, but instead stationed troops on the side, dragging down with our army, then what should we do? ”

Xiang Yan turned around and saw Jing Tong's face full of worry.

This gentleman of the Jing clan in his twenties, after experiencing the battles of Surabaya and Suishui in a row, looks quite vicissitudes, and it seems that he is in his thirties, and some people will believe it.

"Zitong rest assured that Wang Jian will definitely attack this time."

Xiang Yan sneered and said, "Have you listened to what these captives said, King Qin has already left the customs and is going to Chen Ying?" ”

"Hehe, the battle of his Qin State against Chu has been fought for a year since last year, and now the King of Qin is coming to the east, although he may not necessarily urge Wang Jian to attack immediately, but the generals and soldiers under Wang Jian will definitely not be able to bear it, and each of them will think in their hearts to break our army before the arrival of the King of Qin, capture and kill me and the king, and repay the King of Qin. Under such a struggle for merit and profit, even if Wang Jian didn't come, those generals of the Qin army would urge him to come. ”

And Wang Jian used 600,000 troops to attack Chu for a year, which cost a lot of manpower and material resources. If he dares to go down again, how much grain and grass will he cost? Will the Qin people in the Qin State allow it? And hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command have been away from home for a year, if they continue to be wasted in vain, everyone will think of returning, and his Qin army will be defeated without a fight! ”

"Moreover, Wang Jian is old, he can't wait long."

"He's going to attack!"

Xiang Yan's voice was categorical and full of affirmation.

After Jing Tong was stunned, he said in a low voice: "Ling Yin, according to what you said, since Wang Jian can't afford to wait, the best way for us to deal with it should be to consume him, and not to engage the Qin army." Our army might as well give up Huaiyin, lead the army south, and lure the Qin army deeper. As long as we are undefeated, sooner or later we can drag it out until the Qin people can't afford to wear it out, and we can withdraw our troops to the north and return to the north, and we can lead our army north to recover our homeland at that time! ”

Xiang Yan's expression was calm.

Jing Tong said, He Zeng was not what he thought before.

With Huainan, Jiangdong, and even the land of Baiyue further south, and Wang Jian was consumed, and after Wang Jian was consumed to death, it was the time for him to launch a large-scale counterattack.

But the situation is very different today.

Now that the Chu army supports the establishment of a new king, it is the time when the morale of the army is greatly rising, if the first battle is not fought, they retreat south, and give up Huaiyin, Shandao and other places to the Qin people, it will inevitably cool the hearts of many warriors of the Chu army, which is not good for the morale of the army, and will also make some Huainan and Jiangdong feudal monarchs who are still waiting to give up supporting them.

Second, it is because the Chu army finally gathered nearly 100,000 troops, many of which are elite. But they only had enough food and grass for a few months. If Xiang Yan chooses to retreat south, then not only the Qin army will not be able to hold it, but his Chu army will also not be able to hold it, and when the food runs out in a few months, the 100,000 troops under his command will be scattered due to lack of food.

It is easy for the army to disperse, but it is difficult to gather again, especially now that most of the Chu State has fallen into the hands of the Qin army, perhaps this will be the last time that Xiang Yan will control the 100,000 army.

Instead of waiting for the army to disperse, it is better to fight with Wang Jian when the army is still alive and fight for a big victory.

】

Xiang Yan's eyes flashed with excitement.

In addition to the reasons mentioned earlier, there was a more important factor that made him give up retreating south and stay on the south bank of Huaishui to fight with Wang Qian.

Because Xiang Yan is a nobleman of Chu State, he is a well-known Jing Chu man.

"Chen Ying's defeat is not because I am incompetent, but because the national strength is inferior, and the containment of the mediocre lord."

"And today, you have the advantage of forces, and I also have the advantage of geography. You have the trust of King Qin, and I also have King Shengming. In this way, you and I can fight in a dignified manner, and compare who has higher military skills! Have a fair duel! ”

Xiang Yan held his head high and looked in the direction of Huaishui again.

He had already sent sentry sentries and mobilized Chu civilians along the coast to patrol along the Huaishui day and night to monitor the Qin ships that might appear at any time, and set up beacon fires at intervals.

If Wang Jian chooses to use boats to load soldiers to cross the Huai and land from the rear of the Chu army, then as soon as the Qin army's ships are discovered, the Chu people will immediately light beacon fires to guard the surroundings, and then the nearby Chu troops will quickly arrive and attack the Qin army crossing the river.

Xiang Yan turned his head and looked to the south of the good road.

If Wang Jian chooses to avoid the large area of water swamp of Shandao and make a detour south from the direction of Dongyang to attack Huaiyin, it will not hurt.

Although the terrain in the south tends to be flat, the water is reduced, which is not suitable for the Chu army's water ambush tactics.

But if the Qin army chooses to take a detour to the south, then they will also lose the supply line of Huaishui.

That's nearly 200,000 Qin troops, and they can only rely on the people to transport grain from the rear in the form of oxen, horses, and vehicles, and the grain road will be very long. The Chu army didn't even need to fight with Wang Qian's main force, as long as the grain route in the rear of the Qin army was cut off, it could also be victorious!

"So, Wang Qian, you can only attack head-on."

"I'm waiting for you here."

A smile tugged at the corner of Xiang Yan's mouth.

He and Wang Jian are already fatalistic enemies.

……

In the wide area west of Shandao, with the arrival of the Qin army, the camps were endless.

In the main tent, Wang Jian sat high, and the generals were divided into left and right.

Meng Tian, the commander of the Xing army, stood in the tent and reported the military situation with a bitter face.

"10,000 Xing troops, the loss of troops reached as many as 5,000 people. Meng Tian, Meng Tian, you kid can't fight! ”

Qiang, who has the most impatient personality, opened his mouth, his eyes widened, and his face was full of unhappiness.

Meng Tian's face turned red, and in the face of ridicule, he could only bow his head silently and bear the humiliation.

Zhao Tuo couldn't stand it, and defended: "It's not to blame Captain Meng for this matter, the terrain near the good road is complicated, and the water is contiguous, and our Qin people have never been accustomed to water, and they don't know the depth of the water here, and it is normal for the Chu people to use the reed road to ambush them." Not to mention Captain Meng, I'm afraid that even if the veteran generals in the army lead the army, they will not be able to escape this defeat. ”

Meng Tian raised his head and glanced at Zhao Tuo gratefully.

Qiang Qi was furious: "Zhao Tuo, who are you talking about?" ”

Zhao Tuo smiled slightly, and said: "Naturally, I'm not talking about General Qiang, the general has always been resourceful, and in the face of this predicament, he has his own way." ”

In the face of Zhao Tuo's ridicule, Qiang Tuo laughed out loud and snorted: "Count you Zhao Tuo right, I have a way to solve it." ”

"Oh? Does General Qiang really have a solution to the Chu army's ambush with Mizusawa reeds? ”

Not only Zhao Tuo was surprised, but the generals also looked over, and even Wang Jian on the main seat looked at Qiang Qiang with curiosity.

Feeling the surprised or curious gazes of everyone, Qiang Qi, who became the center point, said triumphantly: "The method is very simple, wouldn't it be good to burn these reeds directly with a fire." There were no reeds along the way to block the view, and those Chu people were able to ambush our army, and I am afraid that before they could get close, they were shot into the water by our army's crossbow arrows. ”

Fire attack?

The generals stared wide-eyed.

Wang Jian rolled his eyes.

He turned his head to look at Zhao Tuo.

"Zhao Tuo, what do you think of General Qiang's words?"

Zhao Tuo frowned and replied: "Deal with the reeds blocking the way, and the Chu army is ambushed in it." It's good to burn it out with a fire. However, if the reeds are burned, when the fire goes down in autumn and winter, they can be burned in pieces. ”

"But now it's the turn of spring and summer, and the reeds have their own water, and the weather is moist and humid, and there are all water depressions below, and even if they can really burn, I'm afraid it will be very slow, and you need to worry about the direction of the wind. How difficult it is to burn all this road that stretches for twenty or thirty miles, even if the Chu army does not attack and disturb all the way, I am afraid it will take ten months. ”

"And even if our army burns all the way to Shandao City, what if the Chu army in the city retreats to the rear and continues to use this method to deal with us? There are still nearly 100 miles of water swamps between the good road and Huaiyin, and it burns all the way, when will it get? ”

Hearing this, the generals nodded one after another, and Qiang Qi made a big red face, and said unconvinced: "You Zhao Tuo said that I can't set fire, so what should you do?" ”

Seeing everyone's eyes looking over, Zhao Tuo hesitated for a moment and said: "The water here is difficult to attack, and it is really a god-sent dangerous place. Instead of risking it here, our army will put itself at a disadvantage and confront the Chu army. It is better to avoid this dangerous place, go south to Dongyang, and make a detour to attack Huaiyin. ”

"Hahaha, laughing to death. What you said is simple, if it is a detour, how can our army's logistics be guaranteed. And how can I prevent the Chu army from attacking my grain road? Qiang immediately laughed.

Zhao Tuo turned his face sideways and didn't bother to pay attention to him, and secretly scolded "barbarian" in his heart.

However, what Qiang said also makes sense, once the army detours, logistics are a problem.

But Zhao Tuo thought that even if he found a way to logistics and grain routes, it was much better than fighting with the Chu people in this watery land.

At this time, the generals also expressed their opinions. Among them, some people mentioned that they used the fleet of the Qin army on the Huai River to transport the soldiers to the rear of the Chu army, directly bypassing the Chu army of Shandao, and killing them from behind.

But immediately some people said that the Chu army would definitely be prepared for this, and the number of people transported by the ships at one time was small, and it was easy to be attacked by the Chu army in one and a half crossings, and they were defeated in vain.

The generals expressed their opinions, but never found the perfect solution.

However, everyone unanimously did not mention the strategy of "using national power to consume the other party".

Now that the King of Qin is about to rush to Chu, everyone wants to exterminate the puppet kings Xiong Qi and Xiang Yan as soon as possible, and offer a great victory when the king arrives in Huaiyang, so that the reward will be rich.

After discussing like this for a long time, everyone finally looked at Wang Jian on the main seat.

"Please also ask the general to decide, how we should destroy the enemy."

All the generals looked at Wang Jian with blazing eyes, this real famous general in the world, in the face of the Chu army's advantageous geographical situation, must have a high theory.

Wang Jian smiled slightly, and asked rhetorically: "The Chu people have the advantage of terrain, so what advantages does my Qin army have compared with the Chu people?" ”

The generals frowned, and someone replied: "Compared with the Chu army, our army is numerous. ”

"However, compared with the Chu people, the biggest advantage of our army is the crowd!"

Wang Jian laughed, he stretched out his hand to stroke the white beard under his chin, looked around at the generals and said: "I am outnumbered, so we should give full play to the advantages of this manpower." ”

"There are pros and cons to the fire of the reeds, the detour to Dongyang, and the transportation of the boat to Huai, but what if they are all combined?"

At this point, Wang Jian stood up and looked out of the tent.

His face was full of furrow-like folds, and the hair on his head was gray, but his eyes were full of sparkle and wisdom.

"I want them all!"

"I want to use absolute strength to suppress the Chu people on all sides!"

"I'll see how he Xiang Yan resists!"