The terrain of Yinshan Mountain is very high, even if you stand on the gentle slope of the mountain, the stars above your head are several times larger than in Changling, and it looks like a pearl, which is within reach.

Many sections of Yin Mountain are the natural dividing line of the territory of Qin and Chu, this hillside is on the side of Chu and belongs to the territory of the Chu Dynasty, but at this moment the hillside is already stationed in the Qin army, and the black camp tents are densely packed on the hillside, forming a formation of its own.

Twenty miles below the slopes of the mountains and in the desert area, countless bonfires were denser than the stars in the sky, and the black tents and red bonfires were connected until the end of ordinary people's eyes, like the legendary River Styx.

In the Chinese army camp of the Qin army on the hillside, the huge camp tent supported by felt woven from black yak hair is like a black sky, and dozens of candles as thick as children's arms shine on a sand table.

Sand table deduction, which is a tool commonly used by almost all generals in the big war before several dynasties, can most intuitively see the terrain of their own army and the movement of each army, so as to more intuitively judge the situation of each detail.

The battle between two huge dynasties with close strength, and the rare deployment of troops, also made the sand table in the middle of this camp very large, and between the mountains and rivers, a small flag representing the army was also extremely dense.

The general's operational deployment is over, and when the sun rises tomorrow, some of the small flags on it will move to new positions or disappear altogether.

In Nuoda's tent, only Sima Cuo and Fusu remained.

Standing in the flickering candle shadow, some marks marked on these small flags, thinking about the many fresh lives represented behind each of these small flags that looked insignificant on the sand table, thinking that when these small flags disappeared, the real battlefield was filled with corpses in the river valley, Fusu's mood could not be calm, and his breathing was always heavy.

Sima Coo looked at him, and a slight irony slowly appeared on the corner of his cold mouth.

"What is this?"

He asked, holding out a finger and tapping at the huge sand table in front of him.

Fusu's body shook slightly, and he subconsciously responded: "This is the life and death of countless people." ”

The slight irony on the corner of Sima Cuo's mouth became a little heavier, he shook his head, and said, "This is the whole world, the entire Great Qin Dynasty. ”

Fusu was stunned, unable to understand the meaning of Sima Cuo's current words.

"Most commanders may be powerful cultivators, but powerful cultivators may not be able to become commanders. Sima glanced at him and said slowly and coldly: "The difference between the commander and an ordinary powerful cultivator is that he looks at things from a different height. You are the prince most valued by the Holy Lord and the Empress, as long as you don't make big mistakes, the throne of the Great Qin Dynasty will naturally be in your hands in the future. So you have to look at things from the position of commander-in-chief, from the point of view of the empire as a whole. ”

"What is now evolving in this sand table is only a battle, but this great battle is put into action, and the outcome of victory or defeat will determine the fate of the empire. Compared with the entire empire, although each banner in this represents the life and death of thousands or even tens of thousands of people, rivers of blood and mountains of bones, it is still too small. ”

Sima Cuo's gaze detached from Fusu's face and the sand table in front of him, cast it into the night sky outside the tent, paused for a few breaths, and then said slowly: "In a sense, Zhao Mu is my most feared opponent, because he only accounts about the final victory and defeat, not the process. Tang Yu has a similar temperament to you, and he cares too much about the life and death of these people. ”

"Every dynasty has many powerful cultivators, countless fierce generals who can fight well. As the commander in chief and the position you are in, what you have to grasp is the direction of the overall situation, and these people will naturally fight in the war. ”

Sima Cuo laughed, "Just like now, you just need to be sure that Tang Yu will have any problems with commanding the entire army of the Great Chu Dynasty, can you see now that he is leading the army, and in this overall situation, the Chu army already has a fatal weakness? If you can't see it, then the commander is meaningless, and any orders given are meaningless." Perhaps the vast majority of the armies represented by these flags have won the battle, but in the end you will find that you have lost inexplicably. ”

"Weakness?"

Listening to Sima Cuo's teachings, Fu Su looked at the sand table in a daze, but he couldn't see where the Achilles' heel of the Chu army that Sima Cuo said was.

"The more complicated the battle line is, the longer it drags on, the more variables there are, and with the entry of Yan, Qi and those in the Bashan Sword Field, the more unfavorable it will be for us. Zhao Mu kept Chudu to stabilize the situation in the rear and elected Tang Wu as the commander, which was Tang Mu's way of leading the army, and he would naturally do this. ”

Sima Cuo restrained his smile and said slowly and coldly, "But the Achilles' heel of a leader like him is grain and grass. Although the Chu army has prepared for a winter, we have always been short of food and grass. The more fragmented the battle, the more routes there are for the transportation and storage of grain and grass, and the more likely it is to have problems. As long as this can be perceived, all commands need only be directed at this. ”

Fusu took a breath, and he finally understood.

Sima Cuo continued indifferently: "Grain and grass, grain and grass, there is also need grass, all the orders issued tonight, our side seems to be the 50,000 tiger army led by Lian Bo and the largest movement, but in fact, it is only to contain most of the Chu army, the key is only in those small banners, and many of the forage reserves of the Chu army will be burned." Even the march of the army led by Wei Wuji towards the Green River Meadow was just a trick to lure it. The role of many powerful cultivators in the battle situation is often to contain and protect some generals, and sometimes, the decisive victory does not lie in the battle between these people, but in the victory reaped by some inconspicuous army. ”

......

Snow Valley Pass.

A very inconspicuous place on the sand table.

A valley with no sunlight in Yinshan leads to this place, because there is no sunlight, so even in early summer, the valley is covered with a layer of snow.

This pass is located in the north of Daliang County, because it is too remote, just to prevent some rogues outside the pass, so only a stone city was established at the exit of the valley, originally only had a garrison of 400.

However, just a few days ago, some nobles of the Great Chu Dynasty and their retinue arrived here, plus the overseers in a total of more than 700 people.

These nobles are all from the surrounding areas of Chu Duying, and they all belong to the family gate and have some power, but the power is not strong enough to make Concubine Zheng Xiang merciful. All the people who could participate in the battle in these nobles were reorganized into an army, and only those old and weak women and children who could not accompany the army remained in the capital and were properly "cared for".

After rushing to the front, the army formed by these nobles was divided and distributed to various places, and the final group of people sent to Xuegu Pass was extremely poor, at least far inferior to the 400 garrisons here.

The original garrison here did not have a good impression of these nobles, and they were afraid that these people would defect, so after these people arrived here, they were led by a group of five and an old army.

Many ordinary veterans here have also suddenly become "captains".

Song Wei, the "captain" who was in charge of the outpost watch that night, was just such a veteran.

The so-called outpost was just a hidden tent on the slope of the mountain on one side of the snow valley, which could accommodate a group of six people.

Even though the six of them were crowded together in order to resist the cold, relying on the warmth of their bodies for warmth, Song Wei could still clearly feel the hostility of the five people under his control.

"As long as we keep our voices quiet, the sound of the wind in this valley is enough to drown out our voices, and even powerful cultivators can't hear it. If you don't say something, you'll be sleepy, so why don't you talk?"

The old soldier, whose skin was as damaged as tree bark by the wind and frost and the sun of the plateau, rubbed his hands and took the initiative to speak.

No one answered.

Song Wei didn't care, and then said: "I know that you are dissatisfied in your hearts, everyone wants to live a good life in peace, who wants to come here to suffer? It's not just that you don't want to, I don't want to." I'm not a cultivator, so where do I get the capital for military exploits? ”

"Then why did you join the army?" After a few breaths, a voice rang out.

"There is no choice. Song Wei smiled self-deprecatingly, "My father gave birth to two sons, I am the eldest son, my younger brother has been weak since he was a child, and his reading and literacy are better than mine, my family is poor, there is no acre, according to the law of Chu, I can't afford to pay the military tax, so someone in the family naturally has to join the army." If I don't come, who will come?"

"You are not the same as me, but you have no choice for the same. Song Wei turned his head to look at these people crowded with him, and said seriously: "What I mean is that if you come, you will be safe, since there is no choice, the only thought is to find a way to live, and it is better to live well than to die here." So resentment is of little use, and everyone is safe here, and it is good to pass this big war. ”

There was silence again in the tent.

Seeing that his words were obviously recognized, Song Wei smiled and said, "Fortunately, we are too remote here, and it is not a matter of battle, so there should not be a sneak attack from the Qin army, and we may survive..."

Naturally, he wanted to say that we certainly have a better chance of survival.

However, his words came to an abrupt end.

His Adam's apple froze, and his entire face froze, but his pupils contracted violently.

There are some subtle whites in the snow.

Several white figures appeared silently in the valley like ghosts.

Then more white figures spread densely into the valley behind.