The result of the Zhao army's inspection was that the Great Wall had been occupied by the Qin army. The Qin army had collected hundreds of ships and was ferrying them across the river day and night.
Lian Po was shocked when he heard the news: The Great Wall was Handan's first line of defense. It used the Zhang River as a pool and was ten feet high. There was Yecheng on the other side of the river as a barrier. Normally it would be difficult to conquer from the south. But if compared to the north...the north is Handan, the target of the Great Wall guard! Who will guard against the attack from Handan? ! Lian Po's hair exploded, his whole body became cold and he was sweating profusely. In any case, Zhao State lost miserably in this battle: Qin State had obviously found another way to attack Zhao State: from Shangdang Zoulan to Wu'an, heading straight to the outskirts of Handan! On this road, Handan has almost no danger and is completely open! Hu Yang only used 20,000 troops (this was the news he got from Zhao She), and successfully disrupted Handan, and he was about to retreat completely!
Fortunately, the Qin army is crossing the river. If we rush to the Great Wall quickly, we can attack it just in time. That is the moment when the Qin army is at its weakest!
Lian Po ordered his troops to advance rapidly, and they must arrive outside the Great Wall before dusk.
The place where the Great Wall garrison troops were stationed was called Wucheng, which was a huge city with a circumference of ten miles. It is used to station troops in peacetime, and in wartime it is a stronghold guarding the Great Wall along the Zhangshui River. There are dense lakes, swamps and crisscrossing rivers around Wucheng, making it extremely inconvenient for large armies to fight. If there is a strong enemy, even if they continuously conquer Yecheng, cross the Zhang River, and break the Great Wall, they will fall into the river branches and lakes. The Wucheng built on the hills is the first nail that the enemy must remove. The so-called Great Wall area is actually a lake and swamp area surrounded by half of the city wall. For the enemy troops coming from the south, this is a trap.
However, the Qin army that attacked along the Fu River from Wu'an did not have such trouble: they went down the river and rushed straight into the city. The surrounding water swamps hindered Zhao Jun's maneuvering and concentration. Although the guards of Wucheng discovered them and raised the alarm, they were unable to shrink enough troops. Even though Wucheng was strong and unguarded, it was just a decoration. In Qin's case, Under the attack of the superior strength of the army, Wucheng collapsed without any actual fighting.
Sima Jin set up his large tent in Wucheng and controlled all the ships on the Fu River and Zhang River, making them his own maneuvering tools. The Qin people from both sides of the Jingwei and Yellow Rivers have many rowing experts, and they are now elected to be responsible for driving boats. If the original ship owner is willing to serve, he is also allowed to serve as second-in-command. After Sima Jin mobilized enough ships, he quickly transported 5,000 people to the other side of Zhangshui River and formed a formation across the river.
At dusk, Wang Hao arrived with 5,000 men from the front army; two hours later, a male official came with 2,000 men. In the team were Gongzi Zhen and his other sons, as well as soldiers and some lurking soldiers. Qin people. Sima Jin sent an envoy to look for Hu Yang and reported the arrival of Wang Lu, Gongzi Zhen, and Bing Cao. He also said that he had sent troops to seize the other side of the Zhang River and that our army's retreat had been opened.
Wang Hao conveyed Hu Yang's opinion: to attack Zhao Jun at the front line of the Great Wall before crossing the river. The strengthened Qin army has now reached 17,000 men. Except for 5,000 who are on the other side of the Zhang River and are not suitable for mobilization for the time being, the remaining 12,000 are waiting to work to deal with the 30,000 Zhao army. Everyone feels that they are still confident.
In the Great Wall area, the water flow is an important geographical factor. It crosses the entire lake and swamp area and is navigable. It is the center of gravity of the entire Great Wall area. Needless to say, everyone's thoughts naturally revolved around drinking water.
Bingcao had been lurking around Handan of Zhao State for half a year, and the focus of his reconnaissance was naturally Handan and the Great Wall. Despite repeated investigations, Bing Cao still had trouble grasping the mystery. He spread his sketch of the area around the Great Wall among everyone for everyone's reference. But to be honest, it is not easy to read the map in a short period of time. Therefore, everyone still looked at Bing Cao and prepared to listen to his opinion.
Bing Cao said: "Wucheng faces the south, so it can be said to be solid; but the north is not strong enough to defend it. Sima's journey can prove this! I think it is the best strategy to welcome the center across the Fu River, enter Wucheng, and cross the Zhang River to the south." Forming along the Fu River and attacking the Zhao army at Banji is the middle strategy. Crossing the Fu River and attacking the Zhao army is the worst strategy."
Sima Jin said: "Sun Tzu said that if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger. I think about this, if the Zhao army comes from the north, what plan will it take to attack the southern army?"
Bing Cao said: "I would like to hear the opinions of the five great masters."
Sima Jin said: "It's not something I can know. However, I have ordered my family and officials to select all the books and slips in Wucheng and look at them. Maybe I can gain something." He took out a picture from his arms and spread it on the mat. In front of him, he said: "Everyone, take a closer look, what is the meaning of this picture?"
Bingcao, Gongzi Zhen, and Wang Lu all came close to him, but no one could understand. This is a map, and it is a topographic map around the Great Wall. Everyone knows this. But for one thing, everyone is not familiar with the terrain, and it is difficult to match the mountains and rivers on the map with the real world. For another, the text in the picture is Zhao Shu, which is very different from Qin Shu. No one here has ever learned about Zhao. book, so no one can understand it. I once thought about finding a translator from Zhao, but it was not easy to find one who could understand the voices of Zhao and Qin. Although Bingcao, Gongzi Zhen and others had been lurking in Zhao for half a year, they were almost illiterate. They could only speak Zhao Yin but not Zhao Shu. Bing Cao suddenly thought that Zhonglang was "Zhao Guotong" and suggested inviting him over to discuss, and the problem was solved.
After Dianke Zhonglang came over, he glanced at the map and said, "This is the situation map of the Great Wall." Then he read out the annotations on the map one by one. Everyone vaguely felt that this might be a military deployment map. Everyone guessed at what they said until early in the morning, and they finally figured out the general meaning of this picture: this is the plan for Handan's reinforcements when the Great Wall is attacked.
Everyone was very excited to figure this out, which meant that Lian Po might also mobilize his troops according to this arrangement. During the discussion, a sentinel came to report that there was a fire in the distance and there seemed to be shouts. Wang Hao asked additional sentinels to patrol the place where the fire started. If support is needed there, he would report back immediately.
The soldier Cao pointed to a corner of the map and said, "The Zhao army may be coming out of here, so go there immediately to observe the terrain and prepare for battle."
Everyone agreed. So everyone headed forward regardless of the fatigue of not sleeping all night.
Since most of the Great Wall is wetland, which is not suitable for large forces to fight, there are actually only a few battlefield options. When the Zhao army was in a defensive position, it was preparing to seal these exits and trap the invading enemy forces in this lake and swamp, unable to move, and then gradually mobilize troops to annihilate them. In the case of the Qin army, if they wanted to attack the Zhao army who came for reinforcements, the offensive and defensive momentum was completely reversed. However, the generals of the Qin Army were limited by their understanding of the terrain surrounding the Great Wall. They could not comprehensively consider the problem in a short period of time. They could only seize one point and make a breakthrough. Therefore, they chose the location along the avenue among the several assembly points marked on the map. The reason was that Hu Yang would definitely enter the Great Wall along the most obvious avenue, and Zhao Jun would definitely follow Hu Yang.
When we arrived at the Fushui River, it was already dark. Sima Jin sent troops to contact Hu Yang to report back. The rear army was currently about ten miles away from the Zhao army and about ten miles away from the Fu River. Hu Yang kept harassing the Zhao army at night and prepared to fight the Zhao army in the early morning before returning to the Great Wall and asking Sima Jin to wait for them. Prepare boats and pontoons on the Fushui River.
The facilities for crossing the Fu River are all ready: because this is the main road from Handan to the Great Wall, there are solid bridges built on the Fu River. The ship has been controlled by Sima Jin and is ready-made, and the pontoon is easy to build. But Hu Yang did not mention where the most important thing was to attack Zhao Jun. After on-site exploration of the terrain, it was found that there was no terrain concealed enough to set up an ambush, and there was no commanding height to seize. In the end, everyone reached a consensus: set up a formation by the Fushui River, and kill Zhao Jun when he crossed the river. This would definitely severely dampen Zhao Jun's morale.
After the plan was generally determined, everyone began to mobilize their troops: one thousand people were responsible for supporting Hu Yang across the river. After crossing the river, Hu Yang's troops retreated to Wucheng; 10,000 troops were arranged along the river, leaving 2,000 to defend Wucheng. Wucheng is about twenty miles away from the shore of Fushui. Hu Yang's troops can arrive in about an hour, which brings the defensive strength of Wucheng to 5,000 people, which is absolutely foolproof.
Since Sima Jin's 5,000 men had already arrived on the other side of the Zhang River, these operations were mainly carried out by Wang Lu's front army of 7,000 men, and Sima Jin's rear army of 3,000 men as backup.
Wang Lang's former army arrived at the Great Wall yesterday evening and did not garrison Wucheng. Instead, they set up camp on the road from Fushui to Wucheng. After daybreak, the troops gathered together and ordered to set off after breakfast. Wang Hao's personal camp of 500 people set out in advance to meet Hu Yang and guide his retreat; Sima Jin's personal camp of 500 people were responsible for guarding the bridge, supervising the erection of pontoon bridges, and preparing ships.
Wang Lang's camp had just crossed the Fushui Bridge, and the sound of drums could be heard faintly in the morning fog. The retainers immediately ordered the pro-camp to speed up the march and rush in the direction of the drum sound. After about five or six miles, the drumming in front stopped. The retainers did not know the details and did not dare to advance rashly. They ordered the entire battalion to stop advancing and sent a hundred men forward to explore and understand the situation; the rest were ready for battle.
The morning fog gradually dissipated, revealing a ray of sunshine on the horizon. The mountains in the distance were illuminated by the sun and dressed in red. A military envoy ran back quickly and reported that Zhong Geng's troops had won, beheading more than 500 people and killing countless enemy troops; the Qin army had suffered casualties of 300 to 400 people; he ordered his troops to wait where they were without moving forward.
Not long after, the pro-camp saw a team appearing in the distance. When Shao Shi approached, the one hundred people he sent walked at the front to avoid misunderstandings. There were about 2,000 people in this team, many of whom were injured, some seriously, and were being helped forward. The retainer ordered the whole army to move out of the way and let the Qin army pass. The two armies met, felt cordial to each other, and shouted to each other.
Someone from the camp said: "The injury is serious! Don't worry! The enemy will not be able to pass!"
Someone in the rear said: "How dare you chase him when his courage is gone! You will have to do it!" They laughed, cursed and joked with each other.
The retainer asked: "Where is Zhong Geng?"
Qian Jun said: "Zhong Geng personally cuts off the rear!" Pointing backward. When the retainer looked forward, he saw another team appearing in the distance.
