After Bai Qi left, the swordsmen of Shicheng organized hundreds of archery teams according to Bai Qi's arrangement. Each team had ten people. They went down the mountain under the moonlight in the middle of the night and sneaked into the old and weak Zhao army camp outside the wall. Shout and shoot arrows. When given the opportunity, they set fire to the camp. Although the people here are mostly old and weak, it is still a military camp and basic military systems are in place. As soon as something happened, they would immediately bang their clappers to warn, and the drums would be beating loudly on the ramparts, and the soldiers would go up the ramparts to prepare for battle. Night after night.
After a night of toil, the people in the south are exhausted, and the so-called old and weak who sleep outside the barrier have been hit repeatedly. It is impossible for them to fill in the trenches today like yesterday! Zhao Kuo could only ask them to dig the soil immediately. Those who were relatively strong yesterday had been sent to fill in the trenches and narrowly escaped death. The remaining people were even weaker. ——The basket is also shabby than yesterday, and the soil is not as easy to dig as yesterday. Until noon, the 2,500 baskets of soil were not ready. Zhao Kuo sent out the first batch of 6,000 regular soldiers of the Zhao army in four formations, and 4,000 surprise troops who were not in formation and ambushed in the barrier. They stood in the autumn mountains and fields all morning without giving any battle orders; As a last resort, I had to sit down and rest.
Not long after the order was issued, Zhao Kuo saw a large crowd emerging at the eastern foot of Jushan Mountain more than ten miles to the south. Zhao Kuo was shocked and immediately sent people to the sentinel. After a while, the sentinel reported that it was the reinforcements of the Qin army that poured out of the mountain pass! They seemed to have discovered the Zhao army's camp more than ten miles away and were preparing offensive and defensive tools.
Zhao Kuo felt despair in his heart: Qin army came to reinforce again. The Qin army in front of him was enough to embarrass him. Another group came. How long will it take for this to end? He dispatched a team of strange soldiers from the barrier to check and asked them to find out how many people the Qin army had.
When Qianqi soldiers were advancing towards the eastern foot of Jushan Mountain, the lookout post reported that a large number of people also appeared at the western foothills of Jushan Mountain. Zhao Kuo's sight was blocked by Jushan and he couldn't see clearly. He also climbed up to the lookout post and looked into the distance, and saw that there were more and more figures moving around at the foot of the mountain. Zhao Kuo was even more furious. The formation put up by the Qin army effectively contained the Zhao army's troops attacking the Qin wall: the troops in the east pointed at Zhao Jun's attack position, while the troops in the west pointed at the side and back of the attacking troops. It can be said that no Eliminate the threat of these two Qin armies, and it is no longer possible for the Zhao army to attack Qinbi!
But, food, food, food! Zhao Jun's food reserves did not allow him to fight step by step and in a planned manner. He must defeat the Qin army before the end of the month, otherwise, he will be the loser! He distributed food to the combat troops for ten days. This was the bottom line. Now two days have passed, and the war has made no progress. The Qin army has also strengthened its strength. The most frightening thing is that the Qin army actually adopted a defensive posture: the two Qin armies were obviously attacking and defending, with the purpose of thwarting the Zhao army's attack on the Qin wall!
Zhao Kuo made a simple calculation: to defeat the two Qin armies, even if everything went well, it would take five days; it would be completely impossible to break through the Qin wall in the remaining three days. If fighting multiple Qin armies at the same time... Zhao Kuo also hopes to be able to do it, but the problem is that the battlefield in front of him cannot accommodate the troops fighting on multiple fronts. He can only complete one goal after another, and there is no way to complete each goal. Overwhelming force advantage!
The thousand strange soldiers approached the Qin army camp. When about a mile away, a group of people poured out of the camp, and the sound of drums seemed to be heard in the distance. The group of strange soldiers retreated and were pursued by the Qin army for thirty or fifty steps without suffering any losses.
This is the army transferred from Gaodu! Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up. If Bai Qi transferred all Gaodu's troops to Changping, would he have a chance to attack Gaodu? If we simply abandon Shangdang and attack Gaodu with all our strength...
Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo called over the thousands of generals and officials who were already in formation, and discussed with them the possibility of attacking the Qin army at Shankou.
Now, the traces of the Qin army under the foothills of the surrounding mountains have become increasingly clear. Several doormen stretched out their thumbs to measure, and said: "The distance between our place and the two places is similar, about twenty or thirty miles..." Then they glanced at the direction of the Qin army at the entrance of the valley, and said: "It is also twenty or thirty miles away from the Qin wall. "
The ten thousand people will say what they are watching: "The three enemies are as far away from me as horns. If I attack them, the remaining two will surely come."
Zhao Kuo said: "Please tell me the details!"
The ten thousand generals listed them one by one: "I attack the east road, the west road cuts off my side, and the Qin wall cuts off my rear; I attack the west road, and the east road and the Qin wall all cut off my rear; I attack the Qin wall, and the west road cuts off my rear. Attack me on the side and intercept my rear on the east road. This is why it is difficult."
Zhao Kuo said: "I am approaching with a large army, what can I do?"
The ten thousand general said: "The distance between the formation and the army is a hundred steps, and the distance between the armies is ten miles. That's the rate. Now twenty or thirty miles, three armies are enough. If there are too many, nothing can be done!"
Zhao Kuo said: "I will attack them while they are coming. What can I do?"
The ten thousand general said: "When the enemy arrives and the wall is fortified, there is nothing to take advantage of. I hope the general will kill him!"
Zhao Kuo said: "I hope you will gather your troops and go to fight, and the lonely general will continue to send reinforcements, thinking that you will be able to respond later. If the encounter is not satisfactory, just retreat and do not get hurt."
Ten thousand generals said: "Here!" Immediately gave instructions to each thousand generals and five thousand generals to change formations.
It is very difficult for the army to change the direction of attack, especially in such a narrow place. The 10,000-man general was quite experienced. He adopted the method of each team advancing in turn. After advancing five miles, he adjusted his front from west to south and headed downstream along both sides of the Dan River.
When the ten thousand men were about to set off, Zhao Kuo immediately sent an envoy to the city to deliver the order. The second Zhao army went out of the city to form a formation, targeting the Qin army in the south.
The mountains within the barrier were higher than the hillock where Zhao Kuo was. The movement of the Qin army out of the mouth of Danshui Valley was immediately observed by the soldiers on the city and reported to their ten thousand generals. The tens of thousands of generals also sent people to report the matter to Zhao Kuo, but Zhao Kuo saw it himself before getting the report.
When the first batch of Zhao troops set off, Zhao Kuo also entered the barrier and observed the movements of the Qin army from inside the wall. He called several tens of thousands of nearby generals over and discussed with them how to adjust the battle plan. Those tens of thousands of generals felt uncertain, but they did not refuse. After a little controversy, the matter was settled.
Zhao Kuo has already prepared 30,000 Zhao troops for today's battle. The first batch of four formations is targeting Qinbi. Now turning to the south, Zhao Kuo ordered to form a formation on both sides of the mountain to cover the Zhao army's flanks. If the Qin army came over, they could resist it for a while and buy time for the troops in the barrier to retreat and attack. The second batch of Zhao Kuo formed five formations and followed up ten miles behind the first batch of Zhao troops as backup. If the front army is having trouble fighting, cover their retreat back to their own formation.
The arrangements were made, and Zhao Kuo returned to the hilltop to command the battle. After all, the view here is wide and the communication distance to everywhere is short.
Zhao Jun's front army has advanced for fifteen miles, and Zhao Jun's rear army has also been organized and started to advance. Zhao Kuo saw the flags fluttering inside the Qin army, and there seemed to be drums coming. After a while, the Qin army all came out of the camp and lined up between the two mountains.
It is mid-autumn, the days are short and the nights are long. As the Qin and Zhao armies gradually approached, the sky was getting dark, and the situation over there was somewhat unclear. Zhao Kuo felt something ominous in his heart, but he couldn't tell what it was. He saw that the Zhao army seemed to have shot arrows, while the Qin army seemed to lack shields and retreated step by step, as if to avoid the arrows; the Zhao army advanced step by step, constantly attacking the Qin army with bows and arrows.
Zhao Kuo felt even worse. Why didn’t the Qin army have shields? A crossbow and a shield are the most important equipment for the Qin army!
While Zhao Kuo was still confused, Zhao Jun had advanced more than thirty steps, and Qin Jun had already turned into the valley and lost sight of it. Then I saw Zhao Jun suddenly retreating, and a large number of Qin troops appeared on both sides of Zhao Jun. Zhao Kuo suddenly understood the Qin army's tactics: retreat from the front and ambush the troops on both wings; when the Zhao army entered, they attacked the Zhao army from three sides. It seemed that Ten Thousand Generals still had experience and was not fooled, and withdrew the first group in time.
This Qin army did not abide by the basic tactical principles at all. The two wings that came out actually went around the side of the Zhao army and did not make direct contact with the Zhao army. Zhao Jun was forced to extend to both sides to avoid being outflanked by both wings. At this time, the retreating Qin army rushed out again and broke through the Zhao army that was changing formation. Fortunately, the fourth formation of the Zhao army arrived in time, and a shower of arrows blocked the Qin army's attack, but the Qin army still retreated to avoid the arrows.
However, the two wings of the Qin army were still pulling to both sides, as if they were avoiding the battle with the Zhao army, and seemed to be luring the Zhao army into a trap.
The tens of thousands of generals in the First Army promptly stopped their actions and retreated their troops. Under the cover of bows and arrows, the army fought and retreated. The Qin army stopped pursuing, and the two armies broke away from contact. Only then did Zhao Kuo feel relieved.
Seeing the troops returning to camp in an orderly manner, Zhao Kuo couldn't wait to find two generals with ten thousand soldiers to ask about the situation.
The ten thousand generals of the first army said: "He is not from Qin, but from Chu! The people who have been deployed are trapped in the formation. If you can't recognize it and go deep into the hole, you can't get out. So I don't dare to enter. When I retreat, The Qin army came out on both sides, and our army was quite wounded."
Zhao Kuo said: "Fortunately, you have great wisdom, otherwise it would have been dangerous!"
Another 10,000 people were to meet him ten miles away. They did not understand the situation on the battlefield. They only felt that the Qin army was not marching in order and the flags were not strict, which seemed to be very different from the Qin army. Now I am relieved to hear that thousands of people will talk about Chu people.
While Zhao Kuo asked about various battle details, he was very puzzled when the Chu people entered the battlefield. With Qin and Chu having such a good relationship, the Chu people actually sent troops to help the Qin people fight? Of course he had heard that the Prince of Qin married a daughter of the Prince of Chu, and that the Prince of Qin also married the Prince of Chu. The two families were even closer to each other. Qin occupied Chu's Ying and destroyed his ancestral tombs. How could he tolerate this? And send troops to help the Qin people fight? Zhao Kuo was puzzled.
The matter should be reported to King Zhao and strive for a diplomatic solution. Zhao Kuo decided in his heart. But the problem at hand is that the road from Changping to Handan is almost cut off by the Qin people. How can this information be sent back to Handan?
