Fortunately, the Qin army did not continue to advance after occupying the front line of Shicheng, and the defeated troops obeyed the defenders' call and did not attack the foot of the mountain, but went directly down to the valley. The military camps in the valley that were ready for battle gave way to these defeated troops and did not let them break up their formation. The battle situation stabilized slightly.
The defense of the Danshui line was handed over to the ten thousand generals of each army. Zhao Kuo immediately sent envoys to order the defenders at the foot of the mountains to immediately dig trenches and build forts to prepare for the Qin army's attack. When Bai Qi climbed up to the stone city under the moonlight, Zhao Kuo had already arranged to dig out the two mountain bases and build high fortresses to resist the top-down impact of the Qin army. If the Qin army directly attacks the troops in the valley, it will be trapped in the quagmire, and the troops guarding the foot of the mountain will have the opportunity to attack and retake Shicheng.
Zhao Kuo's job is heavier than Bai Qi's. The sudden influx of nearly 200,000 Zhao troops made it difficult to maneuver around the already crowded camp in front of the mountain. Freeing up the necessary space for troops to assemble and dispatch became a task that must be completed tonight. Zhao Kuo ordered all soldiers without weapons to go to the granary to transport grain, and then stay in the camp to serve as supplementary soldiers. The soldiers who still had their weapons gathered in the camp in the south, were unified into groups, and the combat areas were redistributed. In this way, each battalion sent away the defeated troops crowded around their own camps, leaving room for combat.
In front of the granary, those who could not carry a stone of grain were moved to the valley outside the foot of the south mountain. Every ten people were assigned a stone of grain, which they carried on their backs and camped outside the barrier. Soldiers who can carry grain will transport the grain to the camp, and each camp will cost 500 shi. During the night, the porters made two trips to finish the picking. The soldiers in each battalion looked at the 500 shi of food and the more than 200 additional soldiers, and an ominous premonition came to their hearts.
Sure enough, Zhao Kuo issued an order: Each camp should receive ten days of rations to defeat the Qin Dynasty within ten days!
There are about 20,000 to 30,000 Zhao soldiers concentrated in the southern camp. Most of them are halberd soldiers, with only a few shield soldiers and archers, and almost no spear soldiers. They only got three days' worth of food!
Zhao Kuo stayed up all night, inspecting, training, and rectifying the positions. Now his voice is hoarse and his eyes are red, and he appears in the southern camp again! These are not organized troops, but defeated troops that have broken down from behind the mountain. Unlike the others, they carried weapons when they fled. Seeing Zhao Kuo and his entourage approaching, everyone knelt down in confusion.
Zhao Kuo walked among them and shouted in a hoarse voice: "The day before yesterday, there were those who fought here. They planted their halberds, straightened their stems, and raised their bows!"
About half raised their weapons.
Zhao Kuo shouted again: "Stand up, front! Right column!"
The men stood up, took a step forward, and lined up on the right.
Zhao Kuo shouted again: "The rest stand, stand on the left!"
The rest also stood up and formed a line on the left.
Zhao Kuo said: "Everyone above the level of the corps commander is here!"
Only a very small number of people did not come out. Those who can carry weapons when escaping in an emergency are usually corps commanders.
Zhao Kuo said: "All the hundreds of generals will come out!"
This time only a dozen came out. More than a hundred people either broke away from the army or fled back by taking a safe road. They followed the rebels in confusion and ran around, and few of them even carried weapons with them.
Zhao Kuo said: "It's a shame! Qin people only have 20,000 people. They drive you 200,000 like wild pigs. Since the feudal period of Zhao Dynasty, there has never been such a humiliation! My father is carrying grain, my wife and children are leaning against the door. Why don't you rather look at this?" Huh? All my men must avenge this shame!"
The Zhao army below was encouraged, waving their arms and shouting: "I swear to avenge this shame!"
Zhao Kuo pointed to the Qin wall opposite and said: "The Qin people are over there. I will attack them and avenge them with blood! Anyone who cherishes his life must put aside the fight and return to the outside of the wall!" Of course, no one will really put down their weapons and leave, even if I didn’t even dare to have this thought in my mind.
Zhao Kuo said: "Everyone who fights will swear an oath!"
A retainer stepped forward and held up a big flag. Zhao Kuo said: "Anyone who fights will swear to die with him! Those who return will be abandoned by their descendants and will never be able to eat blood for eternity!" He cut a line on his finger. Blood mouth, squeeze the blood on the flag.
The officers on the left came first, and each cut his fingers and sprinkled blood. Then there are officers on the right, soldiers on the left, and soldiers on the right. Some are determined and decisive, while others are timid, but they all fulfilled their bloody oath! For some reason, after everyone finished bleeding, everyone felt full of strength.
Zhao Kuo asked a dozen generals to raise their weapons in front and ordered: "Anyone who shares the same weapon will stand behind!"
The various arms were separated.
Zhao Kuo ordered: "After eating, everyone fights!"
All the troops immediately set up fires and cooked food in the camp so that everyone could have their fill. During this period, Zhao Kuo called the dozen or so hundred generals together and instructed them on the specific battle plan and each person's tasks. Everyone waited patiently and looked at the full moon in the distance, knowing in their hearts that they would never see the moon rise again. It would be the brightest and roundest moon of the year.
As the drums sounded, each battalion began to order troops. In fact, no one had a good rest that night. The loss of Shicheng left the Qin and Zhao armies no longer separated by barriers, and they faced each other directly.
Where to place the main attack point? Zhao Kuo asked himself this question more than once that night. It stands to reason that without the Shicheng defense line, Shangdang and even Handan would be directly exposed to the Qin army. The key is to seize Shicheng with all possible strength. But Zhao Kuo believed that the Qin army's behavior was actually to contain his attack in the south. He believed that as long as the Qin army's camp at the mouth of the valley was breached and the Duan family was threatened, the Qin army would collapse. But at this time, they turned around to recapture Shicheng, playing into the Qin army's hands!
He sent people to sneak out separately and ask for help from Handan. At the same time, it was decided that the determination would remain unchanged and resolutely attack the Qin army at Taniguchi! He believed that the Qin army at Taniguchi was at the end of its battle, and as long as they exerted more force, they would be able to break through! Although the Qin army blocked Zhao Jun's retreat from behind and isolated Zhao Jun's line of communication, it seemed to have an advantage. But Zhao Kuo knew that, first, there would be no reinforcements; second, there would be no food and grass shipments; third, there was no way he could return to Handan. With these three "don'ts", it is not that meaningful for the Qin army to cut off their retreat. Instead, it gives Zhao Kuo the opportunity to attack the Qin army from all sides. When the Qin army was huddled in the barrier at the entrance of the valley, the Zhao army could only send out 10,000 to 20,000 people to attack the barrier every day, unable to take full advantage of its military strength. Now, isn't this an opportunity to take advantage of our military strength? Whether attacking or defending, at least the troops on the front line of Shicheng have a place to use and no longer waste food and grass in vain! If he tried his best to open the road to Duan regardless of being cut off, the Qin army would be defeated in capturing Shicheng!
He sometimes thought, if he took advantage of the opportunity of Gaodu's troops to be transferred to Shicheng and sent out surprise troops to attack Gaodu, would it have a miraculous effect? But the thought was just a fleeting thought. He did not have the ability to control this surprise attack, and it seemed that no one under his command could take on this task.
Today, Zhao Kuo will use his super-saturated troops to fight the Qin army to the death!
The temporarily formed battalions on the south side were guided by the temporarily found flags and marched out of camp to form formations. This time, the Zhao army did not place the strange troops in the camp and only attack when necessary. Instead, they placed them on the two wings. Due to the lack of depth for the formation, the front of the entire battle formation was stretched to nearly ten miles long.
The Qin army in the south also quickly came out of camp and formed a formation. At this time, Zhao Jun had already begun to force Xiao Shanbao. It was not the regular soldiers who occupied the hillock, but the surprise soldiers on the right wing. There are nearly ten thousand people in this wing alone.
Since all those attacking were halberdiers, the Qin army adopted a normal formation. When a hundred steps away, the formation stopped, and the archers in the rear row fired the first arrow. Three hundred arrows only caused some confusion for this 10,000-person brigade. Zhao Jun accelerated his pace, passed the hundred steps in a very short time, and then pounced on Qin Jun's shield soldiers. --at a cost of hundreds of wounded soldiers.
The halberdier and spearmen of the Qin army put their weapons on the shoulders of their companions in front and stretched out their shields. When Zhao Jun rushed over, countless halberds and spears struck out. Zhao Jun raised his halberd in front of him and spun towards the shield. This is a life-threatening style of play. As a result, most people avoided the first round of thrusts and threw themselves in front of the shield soldiers, pressing their bodies against the shield soldiers while slashing the weapons in their hands at the enemy. ——Without exception, they were all stabbed by the opponent's spear or halberd, but their casualties opened the way for their comrades behind.
The Qin army was on the defensive, with everyone kneeling on the ground in each formation. When the Zhao army pressed down, the Qin army could not get up. The Zhao army behind them swarmed up and hit the Qin army with various weapons. Zhao Jun's desperate fighting style put great pressure on the Qin Army. A piece of the Qin Army fell down, and almost all of the others who had time to stand up were injured. Because their companions were injured, they could not retreat and had to fight desperately in the hope of rescuing their companions. But more Zhao troops came up and almost surrounded them. Officers at all levels were anxious, shouting loudly, and fighting desperately. On Zhao Jun's side, most of them were military commanders. They also shouted loudly and faced the edge tenaciously.
While this group of people was fighting, the second formation of the Qin army arrived and jumped into the battle with a shout. Spears and halberds came out, stabbing down a group of Zhao troops. The surrounded Qin army shouted and rushed out of the encirclement and retreated. There was still a body left behind.
The second formation witnessed the lessons of the first formation's losses, took an offensive stance, and stabbed flexibly with spears and halberds. After rescuing their own soldiers, they occasionally shot with bows and arrows. The Zhao army's vanguard was unable to get close despite several turns, and instead suffered serious injuries. The injured vanguard was so anxious that he simply threw away his halberd and held on to the spear or halberd that was stabbing him with both hands, letting them pierce back and forth on his body and using his own weight to hold them down. The soldiers behind rushed forward again, and the Qin army, which had lost its weapons, suffered a severe blow and collapsed. And many of the fallen Zhao troops were still holding the enemy's weapons in their hands.
Zhao Kuo stopped the drums and used the trumpet to ask the soldiers to form a team to prepare for the third formation.
The third formation shot arrows from far away, and the Zhao troops who were forming their formation fell one after another, but the others continued to line up seemingly indifferently, and then rushed towards the Qin army's third formation amid the sound of drums.
