Under the command of Zhao Kuo, two armies were invested in the south, and the battle was tied with one army of the Qin army. The fundamental reason why the Zhao army suffered so much was that the formation was slow and not neat enough; unlike the Qin army, as soon as the flag gate was erected, each battalion could immediately line up under the flag and go into battle with a little reorganization; Even if they are broken up, they can quickly be organized under their banners and quickly enter the battle.
Although Zhao Kuo knew the problem, it was related to the training level of the soldiers on both sides. In essence, the strength was inferior to others, and it was difficult to change in a short time. He could only make up for it through his own clever planning, but it could not be eliminated. Therefore, he generally always goes into battle with more troops than his opponents and tries his best to disrupt the opponent's formation. This time, he thought that adding one-third more strength might be able to change the situation of the battle. If the experiment was successful, at most three armies could be used as two armies. But the result was still not optimistic. The four battalions faced each other head-on and barely managed a tie with the Qin army; even if he hadn't sent out strange troops to interfere, the Zhao army might have been unable to cope with it after a few more battles.
Under the interference of the Zhao Army's extraordinary soldiers, it was indeed difficult for the Qin Army's 9th Battalion to match the Zhao Army's 12th Battalion, but when the new Qin Army entered the battle, the 12th Battalion plus the extraordinary soldiers was no match. If he hadn't sent out another 5,000-strong regular army in time to delay time, and used the war team to enforce battlefield discipline, this battle would have been completely lost!
Now on the battlefield, there are more than 10,000 people in the 21 battalions of the Zhao army, plus thousands of strange troops, facing the Qin army's 18 battalions with less than 10,000 people. This is almost the limit of operations on the southern front. If the front is extended further south, it will be out of the protection of the barrier. It must have the ability to fight independently, which Zhao Jun does not have.
Now the entire force of the Qin army has been put into battle, and the Zhao army still has thousands of troops at its disposal. It is probably difficult for these strange soldiers to cause trouble for the Qin army by launching a charge, because there is no longer enough distance for them to charge; but they can maintain the combat effectiveness of the front line by replenishing the battle losses on the front line.
The Qin army focused its main tactics on dealing with strange soldiers. Almost half of the thousands of strange soldiers were injured. The wounded were allowed to return to camp and be replaced by reserve troops.
At this time, reports came from Danzhu Mountain in the north that the Qin army appeared behind the mountain. Zhao Kuo was shocked. If the Qin army broke through Changping's first-line defense and entered Shangdang, what would be the point of Changping's defense? He asked a ten thousand general to take over the command of the battle in the south. He must persevere tenaciously and see what the final result of the battle will be. Except for the wounded, no one is allowed to leave the battlefield. Anyone who escapes will be beheaded immediately. After simple treatment of the wounded, Those who can fight should form a team and be ready to fight at any time!
Then Zhao Kuo took several retainers to Danzhu Ridge. Although Zhao Kuo was very concerned about the battle situation in Danzhuling, he told himself not to show panic. As if he was inspecting various battlefields, he came to the side of a ten thousand general, listened to him briefly introduce the battle situation, encouraged everyone, and then went to the next battlefield.
After inspecting three battlefields in succession, Zhao Kuo ascended Danzhu Ridge. Under the guidance of the ten thousand generals guarding Danzhu Ridge, we boarded the lookout post and saw a continuous stream of soldiers passing through a pass facing east on the opposite mountain. When they got off the pass, they were obscured by the mountains, but It can be seen from the direction that they are heading north, out of the valley and into Shangdang.
Thousands of people will ask nervously: "What will happen if the Qin people join the Shangdang?"
Zhao Kuo asked: "How many people are there?"
Ten Thousand People will answer: "Since the present day, there have been ten thousand people."
Zhao Kuo said: "The mountain road is rugged and difficult to navigate, and the Qin people are not afraid of it. Shangdang is desolate and uninhabited, and the Qin people have nothing to gain from plundering, so they will definitely return."
Thousands of people will ask in disbelief: "Qin people join the Shangdang and do nothing?"
Zhao Kuo said: "If it is always the case, it will be frightening. Now the people of Shangdang are all in Changping. Shangdang has no people and no food. Why do the people of Qin come in?"
Thousands of generals said: "They will attack my back."
Zhao Kuo said: "They have more than ten thousand people, and they are here with hard work. I will treat them with ease, and they will be defeated. They will not dare to fight! But you can take a peek!" He pointed to the hills to the north and said: " You can set up lookouts there to observe their movements, and I will order the generals in Shicheng to prepare them."
Thousands of people will mourn. Zhao Kuo sent people to Shicheng to report that the Qin army was approaching. Each army must occupy key areas and prepare for battle.
Although Zhao Kuo seemed to have a solid contract on the surface, he was actually very upset in his heart: he knew that this was the beginning of Bai Qi's fatal blow to him, but even so, he still couldn't see what was fatal about this blow. What can a mere 10,000 or 20,000 people be sent out to do? Especially without the rear, there is almost no combat effectiveness. If you engage in battle immediately, it may be worth being vigilant, but if you go around to the back, Zhao Jun has already arranged heavy troops behind the mountain! He believes that this Qin army can only play a role in interference and has no practical significance. The top priority now is to achieve a breakthrough on the southern front. As long as they break through the Qin army's defense line and advance to Duanshi, the battle will basically be won. The battle behind the mountain will not affect the overall situation.
Zhao Kuo did not even meet in person with the ten thousand generals defending Shicheng. He only sent people to report the enemy's situation and convey the order to prepare for battle, and then hurriedly returned to the south.
The battle in the south has come to an end, and neither side has the ability to continue fighting. Although they have not withdrawn their troops, they only formed a confrontation and did not fight anymore. Seeing the sun going down in the west, both sides ordered their troops to retreat.
The South still cannot open up the situation. Zhao Kuo believed that the key was that he did not prepare another twelve battalions of troops in advance. After the previous army was defeated, the troops sent were still insufficient. If both armies had twelve battalions, the results might have been different.
Zhao Kuo commented on today's battle. Since no victory was achieved, the combat troops were not rewarded with times of food. They returned to their camp, where two other armies of Zhao troops would arrive at night. We must give Qin Jun a hard blow tomorrow! Zhao Kuo swore in his heart. Since neither army could muster twelve battalions of regular soldiers, Zhao Kuo transferred six battalions from the neighboring army to strengthen them.
Tonight, Zhao Kuo did not patrol the battalions as usual, but came to Danzhu Ridge to inquire about the movements of the Qin army. Ten thousand people will tell him that the patrol posts he sent to the hills to the north were all driven away by the Qin army's sentinels. The ridge of the mountain to the north is currently controlled by the Qin army, and the movements of the Qin army cannot be observed.
Although the sun was approaching, the clouds in the sky were thick and the moonlight was not bright. Under the dim moonlight, the hills ten miles away to the north stretched the foot of the mountain to the foot of my own mountain. If the Qin army attacks along the ridge, it will hit the flank of Danzhuling Stone City's defense. Zhao Kuo pointed this out to ten thousand generals and asked them to find a solution; and told him that if the Qin army launched an attack on Danzhu Ridge from here, reinforcements would arrive as long as he could persist for an hour.
With an uneasy mood, Zhao Kuo ushered in a new day. At the moment when the army was ordered, Zhao Kuo was hesitant. Should he go to the south to command the attack, or should he take charge of the defense of Danzhu Ridge in the north, or simply not go anywhere and just sit in the main tent? But in just a moment, Zhao Kuo made up his mind: he could not let the Qin army lead him away, and he must resolutely implement his plan.
Zhao Kuo came to the south and once again formed a formation of twelve battalions and four rows. The Qin army had already formed a formation in front of their camp. Zhao Kuo noticed that the soldiers in formation this time were different from yesterday. It seemed that although yesterday's battle did not achieve any results, it tired the enemy troops. Today, the Qin army has new forces. Thinking that he was also a new force and had superior strength, Zhao Kuo believed that he might win.
The commander of this Qin army was more cautious and did not attack first. Instead, he slowly moved his army to look for Zhao Jun's weaknesses. After Zhao Kuo had the Second Army also prepare to go into battle, he ordered the First Army to attack. The first army's regular soldiers, consisting of twelve battalions and 6,000 men, advanced towards the 5,000 Qin army on the opposite side.
This was a very fierce battle. Both sides showed strong fighting will, and even hundreds of shields were smashed into pieces.
When the battle reached noon, Zhao Kuo sent his troops into battle; at the same time, the twelve battalions of the Second Army also came out to form formation. This is the lesson Zhao Kuo summed up from yesterday's battle. The Second Army should go out early.
The Qin army also sent out a second public vehicle, taking advantage of the fatigue and dispersion of the Zhao army's main soldiers to harvest Zhao Qibing. Seeing that Qin Zhengbing quickly entered the battle, Zhao Kuo restrained the Qin soldiers and did not need to rush forward too much. They only had to wander in front, back, left and right of the main soldiers. The basis for this was that it had just rained and the archers on both sides were not yet able to enter the battle.
During the battle in the south, the Qin army was indeed found on the Danzhu Ridge ascending the ridge and moving towards Danzhu Ridge along the foot of the mountain. Ten thousand people will beat drums immediately and send people to report to Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo only asked ten thousand generals to defend firmly. Reinforcements would surely come and the position would be safe.
Without bows and arrows, the defensive side loses its most important support, making it difficult for those barriers to function. In mountainous areas, unlike flat areas, large corps can be organized to fight. On the mountain, there are very few areas that can accommodate a hundred people fighting in formation, which is the focus of competition between the two sides. Ten thousand people had ordered people to gather all the barely usable bows at night, and found about a thousand bows in total. Although it is usable, it is still relatively loose and its range is greatly reduced. Thousands of people will only be able to concentrate them on the barrier as backup support in hand-to-hand combat. He gathered more than a hundred of the best shooters around him and personally pointed out the targets for them to hit.
In order to attack the back of Zhao Jun's Danzhu Ridge, the Qin army had to go up the mountain first, then down the mountain, and then upward to attack. They had to walk more than ten or twenty miles on the mountain road, which was actually very tiring. Moreover, the roads along the way are rugged and rocky, making it inconvenient to walk. Thousands of people will control their troops around the barrier, and the archers will focus on a relatively open area not far ahead. The Qin army could only bypass the strange rocks and when they rushed towards the barrier, they would naturally concentrate on the flat and open area. Ten thousand people will beat the drums and fire arrows. The Qin army fell to the ground one after another. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining Qin army dragged the wounded and retreated behind a rock.
