Zhou Wen led the rebel army all the way to Xianyang, but encountered only weak resistance. When they arrived at Liyi, suddenly the meteor horse came to report that the Qin army was arrayed on the west bank of the river to fight. Zhou Wen asked who the general was. The sergeant replied: "I saw the word 'king' written on the commander's flag. I don't know who the general is." Zhou Wen then asked Han Qi: "General, does he know who among the current generals of Qin is named Wang?" Han Qi said: "Those who are ordered to resist at this moment , must be a pillar-level figure, could it be the old general Wang Ben?" Zhou Wen said: "What position does he hold in the court?" Han Qi said: "This man was granted the title of Tongwu Marquis by the First Emperor. Due to the influence of his father, he was idle at home for a long time. , now because Zhao Gao is in power, he has long ignored state affairs. If Qin uses this person to lead the army, we will have a strong enemy." Wang Wu happened to be by his side and said angrily: "This thief attacked Chu more than ten years ago. Wang Jian, his father, is also an enemy of the Chu people, and now he is here to seize his cramps and skin him, to avenge my thousands of dead souls of the Chu country!" Zhou Wen ordered the army to continue advancing.
Zhou Wen came to the water-playing pavilion to camp the men and horses, and then went to the river bank to watch. He saw that the Qin army had demolished all the bridges on the river, and then stood ready on the other side. I boarded an observation car with Han Qi and other generals to watch carefully. From a distance, I saw the Qin army arranged its troops into five large legions. A legion is a huge military formation, consisting of a military formation and a military command post. Each military formation is roughly the same, with three forwards and two rearguards. The forwards are the right square formation, the left curve formation and the Chinese square formation. The right square formation is backed by Lishan Mountain, the left curved formation is by the Wei River, and the Chinese square formation is spread out horizontally. The two rearguard formations gathered at the junction of the forwards to provide support. Each military formation has about 10,000 people and forms an independent combat system.
It turns out that the right formation of the Qin army was arranged in a rectangular shape and had about 6,000 people. It was the main force composed of crossbowmen, infantry, and chariot troops. At the front of the phalanx are three rows of crossbowmen, each with 68 people, for a total of 204. The sergeants do not wear armor, holding crossbows and carrying quivers at their waists, forming the vanguard of the military formation. Behind the forward came the thirty-eighth column of chariots and infantry. The chariot soldiers wear armor and hold long weapons such as spears, spears, halberds, and halberds, and drive a chariot respectively. Infantry includes unarmored and armored infantry, light and heavy infantry respectively. They hold weapons of different lengths. On both wings of the right phalanx, there is a row of crossbow troops, arranged outwards respectively, serving as the wings of the right phalanx to prevent the enemy from attacking from both wings. At the end of the right square formation, there is a row of crossbowmen arranged backwards. It is the rear guard of the right square formation and prevents the enemy from attacking from behind. The formation of the right square is based on the formation of long troops in front and short troops in the back. It takes into account both offense and defense and is watertight.
The Zuoqu Formation is a curved military formation composed of four divisions, composed of 900 crossbowmen, infantry, chariot soldiers, and cavalry. The four divisions are crossbow formation, cavalry formation, mixed formation and chariot formation. The crossbow formation protrudes from the front of the Zuoqu formation and consists of 332 crossbowmen. The formation of the crossbow formation, that is, the four sides of the formation are composed of 172 standing crossbowmen, and in the center of the formation are 160 kneeling crossbowmen, arranged in eight columns. Behind the crossbow formation is the cavalry formation, which is a rectangular military formation composed of six chariots and one hundred and eight cavalry. The chariots are in front and the cavalry is behind. The chariots are arranged in three columns and the cavalry is arranged in four columns. as a group.
Behind the crossbow formation is the mixed formation, which is a rectangular military formation composed of chariots, cavalry, and infantry. Nineteen chariots are arranged in three columns, and 264 infantry are formed into a group to follow. , there are eight more cavalry behind the formation. The chariot formation flanks the mixed formation, and the forward converges to align with the right square formation. It is a square formation composed of sixty-four chariots and one hundred and ninety-two soldiers. Sixty-four chariots were arranged in eight columns, with eight chariots in each column. Each chariot was drawn by four horses. There was a driver and two soldiers on the chariot, all of which were heavily armored. The formation of the Zuoqu formation is complex, forming a so-called large formation within a small formation, with a formation within the formation. The combination and transformation of the four formations are flexible and easy, especially the maneuverability of the cavalry, which is rare in the world.
After the left curve formation is the Chinese square formation. The composition of the Chinese phalanx is similar to that of the right phalanx, consisting of 3,000 crossbowmen, light and heavy infantry, and chariot troops. The Chinese phalanx is also a rectangular military formation. Different from the right phalanx, the Chinese phalanx is arranged horizontally, with the rear guard turning to the left and the right wing forming a right phalanx, which is the support force of the legionary phalanx. The legion's headquarters, chariot curtains, ceremonial drums and flags are arranged in the depth of the left and right squares, behind the entire legion square.
The main camp of the Qin army is behind the three forward armies and relies on the two rear armies to move. They are all decorated with clear honors and tightly guarded. If during the battle, the sergeants delivering orders will come in and out freely. The changing of the golden drum flags has a certain procedure, just like the hand pulling strings behind the scenes in the lantern shadow play, directing the legions and military formations to move according to the law, following each other like a shadow.
Zhou Wen was shocked when he saw this situation and said: "Although the Qin army is small in number, its formation is strict and orderly. Qin still has such an army! The general must be a military genius!" Han Qi said: "This army Few but fine, strong and neat, majestic and strange, they must be the imperial guards of the capital, also called the Lieutenant Army. They are the most elite troops of the Qin State. It seems that the Qin State has shown its final trump card." Zhou Wen said: "I Although the army used chariots to clear the way, due to the narrow terrain and water barriers, it was unable to launch a full-scale offensive." An order was sent to move the crossbowmen to the front, about five to six thousand people. After the crossbowmen came the armored soldiers with long weapons and shields, divided into two rectangular battle formation legions, each legion had ten thousand people, everyone was protected by armor and shields and was well prepared. Behind them are the chariots, the cavalry, and then the unarmored sergeants. Because the rebel army already had 300,000 troops at this time, everyone had to follow slowly from a dozen miles behind. Wen Chujun at the rear also collected food and wages in Zheng County, arranged food and accommodation for the soldiers, and did logistical work.
After Zhou Wen arranged the military formation, under the protection of the soldiers, he drove to the front and asked loudly to the other side: "Who is the general who is blocking the road ahead? Come out and talk to me!" At this time, Qin's central army A solid chariot galloped out of the phalanx, with a driver on board and two heavily armored soldiers holding shields and halberds, protecting a gray-haired veteran. The veteran has a medium build, a bronze face, high cheekbones, slender eyes, a fluttering silver beard, gold armor and a golden helmet, and a black robe and jade belt. He is none other than Wang Bi, the famous general of the Qin State. Wang Ben came to the front of the battle and was shocked to see the huge crowd of rebel soldiers. It turns out that this group of thieves called thieves are not thieves at all, but a powerful armed force. At this time, he was completely angered by Zhao Gao's actions that harmed the country. He felt infinite indignation about the state affairs because he had no idea about the uprising in Shandong at all. Now that the matter has come to this, he showed the magnanimity and qualities that a seasoned veteran must possess. He suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed loudly: "You are all from Chu, right? There are quite a lot of them, aren't you? Seventeen years ago, The First Emperor once sent Wang Jian's son Wang Ben to attack Chu. He defeated the Chu army and captured more than a dozen cities. Those of you over 30 or 40 years old must still know what happened back then, right? I was the one who led the troops that time. General Wang Ben!"
At this time, Wang Ben brought up what happened back then and reported his name again. The purpose was to make the other party fearful. This was also a psychological tactic. At this time, Zhou Wen also remembered the Qin army's attack on Chu, and said loudly: "It's you!" Wang Ben laughed and said: "Since you know my name, why do you dare to rebel?" Zhou Wen said: "I am the same person back then. Zhou Wen, the astronomical officer in Xiang Yan's army, I am also very aware of the cunning of you Qin people. Today I still obey the order of the King of Chu and come to destroy your unscrupulous country!" Wang Ben laughed and said: "Bold Zhou Wen! Since you are an official of Xiang Yan, you know better how your Chu country suffered a disastrous defeat back then? Why are you raising troops to rebel today?" Zhou Wen said: "General Wang, you are also an old man. You should know who King Huai of Chu is. How come you were tricked by Qin? Can this matter be settled? You Qin people, no matter you are old or young, are all sinister and scheming. Take the current boy Hu Hai, for example, he and Xia Jie, What's the difference between Yin and Zhou? Everyone in the world knows that the eldest son Fusu succeeded to the throne, but that boy conspired to usurp the throne, and later killed Fusu, Meng Tian, Meng Yi, and mutilated the clan. How could such a madman become the emperor? ? He not only harmed your Qin country, but also harmed the people of the world. You are loyal to such a tyrant. You are so confused! Now I want to avenge King Huai of Chu, and I want to avenge thousands of Chu people! So don’t Anyone who stands in my way or goes against me will perish! I will attack Xianyang, seize that bad boy, and cut him to death with a thousand knives! But at your age, you are still indiscriminate, confusing right and wrong, and continue to help the evildoers. I really do it for you. You are ashamed and ashamed of your father!"
Wang Ben laughed loudly after hearing this and said: "The grievances between Qin and Chu have become a thing of the past. Success or failure will be judged by future generations. Now success or failure is a foregone conclusion. Qin unified the world more than ten years ago. Now the throne of Qin is also It’s a foregone conclusion, who takes the throne and who doesn’t is the Qin people’s business, and you don’t need to worry about it! I advise you to beg for mercy quickly and see how I deal with you? Otherwise, I will kill you across the river and cut you into pieces. Duan!" Zhou Wen said angrily: "In this case, we have no choice but to fight! I am here today with 500,000 martyrs. How can you stop my rolling wheels that flatten Xianyang?" At that time, the rebel army was estimated to be about 300,000, and Zhou Wen The false statement of five hundred thousand was also to scare the Qin army. So he ordered the crossbowmen to prepare. Seeing that Zhou Wen was determined to fight, Wang Ben ordered his driver to gallop back to the Chinese army headquarters.
After hearing Zhou Wen's order, five thousand nominal army crossbowmen fired at the Qin army's position on the other side. In one moment, thousands of arrows were fired, like locusts. The Qin army hurriedly used their shields to cover themselves. After a barrage of arrows were fired, the Qin army's position remained unchanged. In terms of numbers, the rebels did have an absolute advantage, but due to terrain restrictions and water barriers, the rebels were unable to launch a large-scale attack. Zhou Wen ordered the engineering soldiers to immediately push the folding bridge to the edge of the water, preparing to cross the river to attack the Qin army's position. After a while, they built several short bridges. Some soldiers with halberds rushed over first, and then attacked the junction of the Qin army's forward formation, followed closely by fifty chariots. At this time, the Qin army's positions changed together, unfolded the nine formations, closed the joints, and began to counterattack. The Qin army first took turns shooting with crossbowmen who were upright and kneeling. At that time, they also fired a volley of thousands of arrows. Then the crossbowmen moved out of the way and retreated to the two wings. The gates of the formation were opened, the chariots were dispatched, and the infantry followed up. They broke into the Chu army's formation and attacked the rebel soldiers who were shot. Just as the chariots and soldiers exchanged blows and the infantry fought, the Qin army dispatched cavalry again, preparing to rush to the bridge and cut off the rebels' retreat. Seeing this scene, Zhou Wen immediately ordered the crossbowmen to cover, and ordered the closing horn to be blown. The rebels retreated to the west of the bridge, but the Qin army's offensive was so fierce that more than half of the rebel soldiers were lost. Zhou Wen was very unhappy when he saw that he had lost the first battle. It was getting dark at this time, so the two sides had to return to camp to have a truce.
After breakfast the next day, Zhou Wen was inspecting the river bed and embankment when he suddenly saw Wang Ben's chariot galloping out again, followed by two cavalrymen. When they came to the river, they beat drums to challenge. Zhou Wen led his soldiers to the front of the battle line to fight. I saw the cavalryman on Wang Ben's right galloping out of the formation. He was fully armored, holding a square-headed machete in his hand, with a red face, yellow beard and broom eyebrows, and a golden-maned flame horse under his crotch. He came to the front of the formation menacingly and shouted: " I am Yang Xiong, the general of the Qin State. Yesterday you charged into battle, today I want to challenge you!" He ordered the sergeants to build a bridge, rode across the bridge alone to the front of the camp and shouted loudly: "Who dares to duel with me?" Zhou Wenyi He knew he was a bold man, so he said: "I will fight with you!" When the rebel generals heard that Zhou Wen was going to fight again, they rushed to go. Zhou Wendao said: "The general will set an example for the whole army. Duel with the enemy's warriors can boost morale!" So he rushed out. The two fought for fifty rounds on the east bank of the water, with no winner or loser. Suddenly the Qin army called for gold to retreat. When Yang Xiong heard the retreat signal, he turned around and ran back. Zhou Wen shouted on his horse: "I won't send anyone capable in a duel!" I saw the cavalry commander on Wang Ben's left shouting: "Qin State General Sima Yi is here!" Zhou Wen looked up and saw a yellow man A big man with a purple face and a purple beard, wearing silver armor and a silver helmet and a purple python robe, sat down to chase the wind and cross the wheel. He held a large bronze ax in both hands and rushed towards him across the bridge.
Zhou Wen didn't even answer, he raised his gun and stabbed him. The two fought another fifty rounds in front of the camp. The Qin army blew the call to retreat again. When Zhou Wen saw that the Qin general had run away, he said angrily: "Soldiers! Get ready to build a bridge. We will completely defeat the Qin army! March to Xianyang!" The rebel army shouted in unison on the other side: "Defeat the Qin army! March to Xianyang!..." Roaring Xiao Xiao was almost so shocked that the river flowed backwards.
When Wang Ben returned to the camp, he immediately summoned Yang Xiong and Sima Yi and said: "Now the enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. If the rebels build a bridge and attack, it will be difficult for our army to resist. We must prevent them from crossing the river." He immediately sent They rushed to Lishan and asked Zhang Han to attack the rebels overnight. After the sergeant left, Wang Ben said again: "Now that the rebels are at their peak of arrogance, it is not suitable for a head-on confrontation. If I want to defeat them, I have to take action myself!" Yang Xiong asked: "Old General, do you have any good ideas?" Wang Ben was silent for a while. , he firmly said: "I will fake a surrender!" The generals said together: "If you want to fake a surrender, just send someone else. You are the commander-in-chief of the army, how can you go to the dangerous situation yourself?" Wang Ben said: "They will never fake a surrender if others do. Believe it. Only I will go!" Sima Yi said: "When the two armies are fighting, how can there be any precedent of a general pretending to surrender to the enemy? This move is too risky. If something unexpected happens, it will be too late to regret!" Wang Ben said: "Because there is no Only with such a precedent can the enemy believe it! As long as the rebels can be held back, Zhang Han will definitely be able to achieve great success. My king, Ben, has been blessed by the country and is now over 60 years old. Even if he is messed up, he has no regrets!" After everyone heard this, they felt sad. Wang Ben gave these instructions to Yang Xiong and Sima Yi.
In the rebel camp, that night, Zhou Wen arranged for the soldiers to have dinner early, and then gathered the crowd to discuss: "Wang Ben led the lieutenant army to resist. This is Qin's last line of defense. If they are not given a chance to breathe, We can hit Xianyang in one fell swoop." So the engineers were ordered to build a bridge overnight and launch a general attack early the next morning. Suddenly someone came in and reported: "General Zhou, an envoy from the Qin army came to pay homage to the camp." When the rebel soldiers heard that an envoy from Qin was coming, they all drew their swords angrily and prepared to kill the envoy. Zhou Wendao said: "When the two countries are at war, we will not kill the envoy. Since they have sent an envoy, let him come in and listen to what the envoy has to say. Then it is not too late to fight again." He asked the soldiers to stand on both sides of the military camp. , and then sent an order to the Qin envoy to see him.
After receiving permission, the envoy of the State of Qin strode over on the built bridge and came to the gate of the rebel camp. Then he stood proudly. After looking around the camp of the rebel army, he said loudly: "I am the general of the Qin State. Wang Ben, I’ve come to pay my respects to the camp. Please quickly inform General Zhou to come out and greet him!” After saying that, he walked towards the Chu camp. When the rebels heard that Wang Ben was coming, they were all stunned and some hurriedly reported to Zhou Wen. It turned out that most of the people in the rebel army were from the Geng soldiers. They all knew that Wang Ben was a famous general of the Qin State. When he attacked the Six Kingdoms in the past, Wang Ben conquered three countries and made great military exploits. His fame shocked the world, but he He is still the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, but why is he suddenly acting as the envoy? The sergeants were all shocked. Some slowly came forward to watch, while others held torches and came to Wang Ben's eyes to examine carefully. Wang Ben suddenly laughed loudly and said: "I look exactly the same as you, right? I also have the same nose and mouth, and two eyes under the eyebrows. I am just more resourceful. My martial arts is far inferior to yours. General Zhou! Hahaha!"
At this time, Zhou Wen received the report and led his soldiers out of the tent to greet him. When Zhou Wen and others saw that it was General Wang Ben who came, they were all stunned. When Wang Ben came to Zhou Wen, he smiled and said, "Old friends meet again!" Seeing Wang Ben's neat appearance and awe-inspiring loyalty, Zhou Wen saluted and said, "General, your name is like thunder, but when the two armies are fighting, you suddenly I came here to pay homage to the camp, but I don’t know what my mission is?” Wang Ben said with a smile: “I am here to surrender on the orders of the emperor!” Zhou Wen was shocked and said: “Isn’t this a false surrender?” Wang Ben said: “Xianyang no longer has any troops to fight. , so the emperor decided to surrender to the Chu army to settle the grievances of the past!" When the rebel soldiers heard that Qin was about to surrender, they asked in disbelief: "We are still fighting during the day, and suddenly surrender at night, who are you kidding?" Wang Ben laughed and said : "Yes, I originally wanted to resist, but when the emperor heard that you had an army of 500,000, he changed his mind, because resisting was in vain. Think about it, if the Qin army surrenders, you can march into Xianyang with drums and gongs. The city is over, and the people of Xianyang are safe, why not do such a thing? But we have a purpose." Zhou Wen asked what the purpose was. Wang Ben said sonorously and forcefully: "Don't hurt the Second Emperor!" All the rebel soldiers looked surprised.
Zhou Wen asked: "Are all the sergeants willing to surrender?" Wang Ben said: "Yes. Zhao Gao deceived the emperor and manipulated power to harm the country, which caused the trouble. You came from Shandong, and the emergency documents were like snowflakes, but Zhao Gao covered the sky with one hand and refused Not reporting it made the Qin State ignorant of the situation in Shandong, and you entered the pass. And the Qin State's army was in the south and north, and there was no time to come to defend the capital? Why not surrender to prevent the lives of people from being ruined? Although the second emperor is fatuous, he has a good heart, so after the discussion of the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, he came up with the idea of protecting the people, so the imperial edict sent me to make an appointment. Please don't doubt it." Everyone felt very much. Unexpectedly, he said: "Emperor Qin is cruel and unkind and has caused us suffering. Even if he surrenders, he will kill the second generation!" Wang Ben said: "He is still young. The fault lies with Zhao Gao. If you kill Zhao Gao, Qin will People really want it, but please don't kill the second generation. I came to discuss with you heroes today just for the second generation. Otherwise, as the commander of the Qin army, how could I dare to risk coming to your army? Please put your benevolence and righteousness first, For the sake of the second emperor's sincerity and willingness to surrender, why don't you hurt him? He is only a twenty-year-old boy after all!" After Wang Ben finished speaking, he bowed deeply to the rebel soldiers. Although all the rebel generals were very excited, they were speechless when they saw an old general being so humble for their emperor. Zhou Wen then thought deeply: "The general and his family are all loyal to the Qin State. As the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army, you are now willing to surrender regardless of your family and life. I really admire you! Please wait here for a while and let me go in to discuss this matter." Zhou Wen led the rebel generals into the military camp.
When everyone came to the camp, Zhou Wen discussed the matter with everyone. Han Qi analyzed: "There are not many Qin troops in Guanzhong. They are either deployed to escort the transportation of grain and grass, or to supervise the people's construction of palaces. It is true that there are no troops to send. Moreover, the second generation is incompetent, Zhao Gao is monopolistic, and some loyal ministers Either being dismissed or expelled, they no longer want to work for the Qin State. This is also true. Now Xianyang does not have an army for them to send except the prisoners they can drive. From this point of view, Xianyang is really an empty city. However, Wang Ben is a general of the Qin State. How could he surrender so easily? Is this questionable?" After hearing Han Qi's analysis, Zhou Wen felt it was reasonable, but then thought again and said, "Wang Ben is the commander-in-chief of the Qin Army. If he doesn't really surrender, how dare he come to ask for surrender?" At this time, many generals said: "We have been fighting all the way, and everyone is exhausted. Why not agree to Wang Ben's conditions and have a good sleep tonight? , we will decide this matter tomorrow. Whether they surrender or not, when we get to Xianyang, we will first capture the second generation, and then occupy the Xianyang Palace, everything will be settled!" Deng said: "It doesn't matter whether the second generation boy dies or not. , the most important thing is to capture Xianyang first, all the good things in it will belong to us!" Han Qi hesitated: "If we don't send troops tonight, what will happen if Qin sends reinforcements from elsewhere tomorrow?" Wang Wudao said : "According to the reports from various scouts, the Qin State really has no troops to send. Why not summon Wang Ben to try. If he takes the initiative to stay, it means he is sincerely surrendering; if he is eager to leave, it means he is pretending to surrender. We will kill him. After defeating him, launch another attack and capture Xianyang City in one fell swoop!" Everyone said yes. Zhou Wen immediately summoned Wang Ben.
After Wang Ben came in, Zhou Wen asked: "Since Qin is ready to surrender, will the Qin army hold a disarmament ceremony?" When Wang Ben heard that Zhou Wen had been fooled, he said: "Of course, I will discuss with the general first. If you agree to Qin If the country surrenders, I will ask all the Qin army to come and surrender tomorrow." Zhou Wen said: "Then what other plans does the general have tonight?" Wang Ben said: "Since the generals of your army agree to Qin's surrender, I will fight with you tonight. Let’s celebrate! What else can happen? I’ve been fighting all my life, and now I’m finally done with it. Haha, is this something worth celebrating?” Zhou Wen said happily: “We Chu people have always been known for our benevolence and righteousness, okay? I accept your surrender." After hearing this, Wang Ben was overjoyed and said, "That's very good. You can get drunk and then rest tonight!" Zhou Wen also said, "Get drunk and then rest!" Then he sent an order to arrange a banquet. The rebel soldiers were all very happy.
