The next day, Lian Po sent a sentry to patrol thirty miles away, and reported the situation to the rear like meteors day and night. Under the guidance of experienced elders, each battalion mounted the halberd head to the handle. The spearmen were ordered to complete three hundred stabs a day, the archers to complete the bow drawing training one hundred times, the shield men to raise their shields three hundred times, and the halberd soldiers to complete three hundred strikes. After completing the assigned training tasks, all soldiers should rest according to the battalion and should not make noise.

After another two days, the patrol of the Zhao army detected that the Qin army had entered Jianzi City, which was separated from Pigao by a mountain.

Jianzi City is the advance base built by Zhao Jianzi, the ancestor of the Zhao family, and the purpose of building the city is to attack Handan. After the capture of Handan, Jianzicheng no longer had a garrison, but with Jianzicheng as the center, a small gathering was formed around it, which became a place to rest between Shangdang and Handan. It was too far away from Handan to be within the scope of Handan's defenses, and Lian Po did not garrison troops here, but only monitored it as a necessary place for the Qin army to invade.

Lian Po also further struck out the deployment of the Qin army: the Qin army had a total of 30,000 troops, divided into three armies: front, middle, and rear, of which the rear army was mainly responsible for transporting baggage, and its combat effectiveness was very weak, and the Qin army that was really capable of fighting might only have 10,000 people in the front army. If you can defeat these 10,000 people, you can basically stop the invasion of the Qin army, and you can even arrange a counterattack.

After receiving the news that the Qin army was stationed in Jianzi City, Lian Po also stopped the army's technical and tactical training, and after conducting queue training every day, he was on combat duty; A thousand men will have to ensure that a battalion is ready to be dispatched at any time. The military envoys and sentinels shuttling back and forth like meteors added a tense battle atmosphere to the Zhao army's camp and reminded everyone that a big war was imminent!

After staying in Jianzi City for a day, the Qin army took the nearest road from the mountains and went straight to Pijiao.

Meteor-like sentinel returns: the Qin army is out of the city; The Qin army lined up; The Qin army of 10,000 men was divided into two parts, and the front part had already entered the mountain; The Qin army has appeared in the canyon between the mountains. The range of the patrol is getting smaller and smaller, showing that the Qin army is getting closer and closer. Eventually, even the 200 soldiers who remained in the abandoned pass at the west entrance of Pigao reported that a large number of Qin troops had appeared on the side of the mountain.

According to Lian Po's instructions, Zhao Gongzi ordered the 200 men to withdraw to the camp. Those 200 people were all halberd soldiers, and they failed to train with the combat some time ago, so Lian Po asked Zhao Gongzi to organize them as military envoys, specializing in sentry to spy on the military situation and deliver orders.

In just one day, the Qin army arrived at the leather prison from Jianzi City, and the speed was extremely fast, and he was obviously extremely familiar with the terrain in this area. Because most of the soldiers in this team had followed Wang Yi to Wu'an a few years ago, and they still have an impression of this road; Moreover, after Wang Ling accepted the task of attacking Wu'an, he also personally surveyed the terrain many times, and he was no stranger to the road.

Unlike Wang Ling's prediction, Zhao Jun did not send troops to block it where he thought it might be blocked, which also invisibly accelerated the speed of Wang Ling's advance. When Wang Ling reached the west entrance of Pigao unhindered and saw the burned pass, he knew that the real test was coming.

In Wang Ling's envision, the best strategy for the Zhao army should be to block the Qin army from Shangdang to Wu'an, constantly consuming the strength of the Qin army and killing the time for the attack. By the time spring comes, the Qin army's offensive should be over. Since there is only a narrow mountain road from Shangdang to Wu'an, and there is no fork in the road, this tactic of layered fortification is not very difficult. Every day the Qin army had to line up and conquer a defensive line, and repeat the process the next day. Nearly 200 miles from Licheng to Wu'an, with a camp set up at intervals of ten miles, can consume the Qin army for 20 days; At that time, there were only ten days left for the fried millet on the Qin soldiers' bodies. If some of the camps could last longer, it would have been possible for the Qin army to fight on this mountain road for a month. In order to avoid such an ending, Wang Ling thought of many ways to break through to the skin prison as soon as possible. But these plans ultimately failed, and the Zhao army did not fight a war of attrition with Wang Ling on this mountain road, but directly let Wang Ling reach the leather prison. Even, the Zhao army did not even repair the pass at the west entrance of the leather prison, and did not send troops to guard it. You must know that there were 500 people in this pass at the beginning, but it delayed the Qin army for several days.

Wang Ling didn't have to bother to attack this pass anymore, his first battle would be to fight the Zhao army on the other side of the pass. And because of the existence of this pass, Wang Ling actually didn't know anything about the situation on the other side of the pass. The mountains on either side of the canyon are not very high, let alone steep, but they perfectly block the view from both sides of the canyon. Unless Wang Ling climbed the mountain to the side of the mountain, it was impossible to get a glimpse of the strength and deployment of the Zhao army. But in such a mountainous area, the bright and secret sentinels of both sides are interspersed with each other, and if they are not careful, they will be attacked by sneak attack, so Wang Ling naturally does not dare to climb to the mountain and go there to reconnoiter - that is, to send the head of Zhao Jun.

The king's tomb set up a camp along the water. Send sentries along ridges and ravines to the opposite side, and squeeze the range of the opposing sentry with the camera. And the other soldiers ate by the water, and rested for the night.

The next day, after a routine drumming army, Wang Ling sent a thousand men along the canyon to the east entrance. Along the way, only sporadic patrols of the Zhao army were encountered, and a few arrows were fired at each other, and the Zhao army retreated. In this way, the thousand-strong Qin army smoothly crossed the canyon and appeared at the east entrance of Pigao.

As soon as the Qin army appeared at the east entrance, before they could see the surrounding terrain clearly, they heard the sound of bowstrings, long arrows broke through the air, and the Qin army, which had just poured out of the valley, hurriedly retreated into the valley and waited for it. After waiting for a long time, there was no movement of the Zhao army, so the shield soldiers lined up in a neat line and marched towards the valley mouth. As soon as they came out of the valley, shouts rang out from all sides, and the Qin army immediately stopped and established a defensive formation. Before the archers could see the enemy, they rushed in front of them and smashed their shields, causing some of them to suffer minor injuries. And under the counterattack of the spearmen, some Zhao soldiers were also wounded.

Just when the two sides were at a stalemate at Taniguchi, arrows were suddenly shot from the mountain. When Qin Jun looked up, Zhao Jun's archers appeared on the mountain at some point, shooting arrows down. Seeing that the situation was not good, Dr. Qin Jungong now had no idea the arrangement of the Zhao army, and how many similar traps there were in front of him, and he might suffer a big loss if he continued to entangle, so he immediately ordered the withdrawal of the army. The formation of the army was not chaotic, and it retreated step by step. The Zhao army did not chase too much, and watched the Qin army withdraw from the valley and Mingjin retreated.

The Qin army returned to Xikou with dozens of wounded and reported the battle to Wang Ling. When Wang Ling heard that there had been a loss in this battle, but he did not find any news, his heart was even more worried.

In the following days, Wang Ling successively sent additional troops to attack the east entrance, not only in the gorge, but also to occupy the mountains on both sides; After continuous efforts, he finally advanced to the east entrance of Pigao by virtue of the superiority of troops, but had already lost hundreds of soldiers.

After the Qin army steadily occupied the east entrance of Pigao, Wang Ling finally had the opportunity to see the topography of the east entrance with his own eyes.

The Qin army occupied the south bank of the Gukou River and confronted the Zhao army across the river. The south bank of the river is backed by mountains, although it is not steep, but after all, a hillside, whether it is camping or arraying, is very inconvenient. On the north bank occupied by the Zhao army, there is a small basin that is not big, but it is enough to garrison troops, surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the water flows through the south, which is a treasure of feng shui. The small basin is dotted with camps, which are scattered and take care of each other. There were about a dozen barracks, five or six thousand people. There are many small settlements on and below the mountain, and nearly 1,000 houses. In order to fully occupy this area, all the barracks and houses must be cleared one by one. Wang Ling had a headache when he thought of this tedious work.

The three battalions that the Qin army rushed over and built a fortification along the hillside, the process was very difficult, but fortunately, it finally succeeded. Up and down the hillside, it takes a lot more physical effort to do anything than on flat ground. The only thing that is gratifying is that it is located on a high place, and Zhao Jun's actions can be clearly observed. But this is not an advantage, because he is located on the hillside, and Zhao Jun also has an unobstructed view of Qin Jun's actions. There are no secrets on either side.

Wang Ling saw that the other party was ambushing archers at the mouth of the valley and controlled the entry and exit of the valley, and he could only go over the mountains and mountains if he wanted to contact the rear. Therefore, this place of the Zhao army must be completely defeated and firmly controlled, and it is possible to carry out the next move.

There were also quite a few wounded in today's fighting, and there were even a dozen seriously wounded. Due to the lack of communication with the rear, they could not be transported and could only be treated on the spot, which meant that there was basically no treatment, and they could only simply be wrapped up and placed in the highest part of the camp. Wang Ling visited them while inspecting the terrain.

The next day, both sides were more cautious, did not make major moves, and each strengthened its own strongholds. Wang Ling hoped that the Zhao army would find that his forces were weak and take the initiative to attack, so that he might kill the Zhao army by virtue of the condescending terrain. But if you go down to attack the other party, you have to line up on the hillside, walk down the hillside, go down the river, land on the shore, and then go up to a platform before you can come into contact with Zhao Jun. At this time, the Zhao army waited for work, and the Qin army would be in a disadvantageous position.

But the Zhao army did not attack. Zhao Jun can afford to wait, they are fighting on their own soil, and they don't have to worry about food, clothing, and housing; On the Qin army's side, it was difficult to find even a sheltered place from the wind, and the army was almost camped on the top of the mountain, allowing the cold wind of early winter to invade the muscles.

Wang Ling did not act for two days, and the three officials and doctors came to him and said, "We must fight quickly, and after a long time, the morale of the army will change." Wang Ling had no choice but to send a battalion to launch a tentative attack first to observe the reaction of the Zhao army. At the same time, the main forces were brought up, leaving only a thousand men at the west entrance to cover the safety of the passage.

Without waiting for reinforcements to arrive, Wang Ling pulled all three battalions out of the camp fence after breakfast and lined up on the hillside. After the formation was completed, the drums sounded, and the three battalions marched down the hill in unison.