The day after he learned that Li Xin had defeated Chu's plan, Zhao Tuo stayed in his camp and asked several of his two to five hundred commanders to train soldiers outside.
He leaned on the desk, touched his chin, and kept thinking in his head.
"Li Xin's surprise attack strategy is too risky. Although he asked Meng Wu to hold his big banner outside Xiang City to confuse and contain the Chu army, as soon as Li Xin starts attacking Pingyu, the news will be exposed, and Xiang Yan will know A Qin army's surprise troops circled behind him."
"Even if Mengwu storms Xiangcheng to cover it, Xiang Yan will definitely react. The Chu army in Xiangcheng cannot move and needs to resist the main force of Mengwu's command. But Xiang Yan will definitely mobilize the Chu army from other places to besiege and intercept Li letter."
"Li Xin is galloping with elite chariots, and his speed is definitely faster than the Chu army. As long as the journey goes smoothly, he can reach Shouchun City before the Chu army intercepts him."
Zhao Tuo smiled bitterly when he thought of this.
Under normal circumstances, the first half of Li Xin's strategy is not a big problem.
Chariots and cavalry raid, as long as the Chu army is not prepared in advance, he is likely to pass through the empty Huaibei land as planned and drive directly to Shouchun City.
This is where the real problem lies.
Even if, as Li Xin said, the Qin army relied on grabbing grain to maintain supplies, what about when they got to Shouchun City?
As the current capital of Chu, Shouchun has been continuously reinforced for more than ten years. Its city walls are high and its walls are thick, and its defense is absolutely strong. According to what Li Xin said, it would be great if he could frighten the Chu people with a surprise attack and defeat the city in one battle.
This will directly take away the Chu State's background, break the Chu capital, capture the King of Chu, and decide the outcome in one battle.
His name as Li Xin will be resounding throughout the world, comparable to that of Bai Qi, the former Lord of Wu'an.
Even thousands of years later, the strategies and tactics used by Li Xin in this battle will be written in military textbooks for countless people to learn and worship.
But what if the raid fails?
Thirty thousand chariots and cavalry stopped at the foot of Shouchun City, and the army went deep alone. How to supply food and fodder?
If Shouchun cannot be defeated for a long time, the Qin army will be in a dilemma.
After receiving the order, the reinforcements of the Chu army will also follow. Li Xin's 30,000 men are instantly surrounded by the enemy. If the King of Chu in Shouchun City is more bold, he sends the defenders in the city to join forces with the reinforcements outside the city to attack Qin. If the army comes to attack from both inside and outside, wouldn't it be a complete defeat on the spot?
Zhao Tuo started to break into a cold sweat when he thought of this.
Li Xin is playing a game!
Either make a great achievement that will shock the world and destroy Chu in one battle.
Either suffer a shocking defeat and finish the game directly.
"With General Li's current arrogance, even if we analyze the situation to him, he will be nonchalant about it. He might even make bold claims, saying that he can defeat the pursuing Chu troops one by one."
Li Xin's passionate face appeared in Zhao Tuo's mind. This was Li Xin's character.
And Zhao Tuo also roughly guessed why Li Xin came up with this strategy.
"When Wang Jian destroyed Zhao and occupied Zhang and Ye with hundreds of thousands of troops, Li Xin led partial troops out of Taiyuan and Yunzhong to flank Zhao."
"Wang Jian destroyed Yan and led a large army to fight with the Yan Dynasty coalition forces to the west of Yishui. Li Xin led his troops to surround the Great Wall of Yishui and steal the Yan army's retreat. Later, in the battle of chasing Yan and Dan, Li Xin followed my strategy again. Detour west of Liaoning to intercept and kill the Duke of Yan."
In both battles to destroy the country, Li Xin led a side attack from the side, and both achieved great success!
Li Xin was accustomed to chariots and cavalry, and was used to surprise attacks with partial divisions. He looked down upon the rigid siege warfare and disliked the rigid and slow way of fighting, which made it difficult to accomplish extraordinary feats.
Even after becoming the commander of an army of 200,000, Li Xin still used his previous experience of leading partial divisions to apply the same tactics, without realizing that his responsibilities were different from those of the partial division generals of the past.
Coupled with the so-called "internal support" of Lord Changping, Li Xinxin was extremely proud and looked down on Chu State at all, so he came up with such a strategy that was similar to gambling.
A bet determines whether you win or lose!
I, Li Xin, can definitely win!
"And there's a mole."
Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes slightly. The above deduction is based on normal development. If there is also the involvement of moles in the army, the outcome may be even worse. Li Xin may not even be able to reach Shouchun City before being blocked by the Chu people.
Zhao Tuo didn't know whether Li Xin's attack on Chu was like this in history. Anyway, the battle he was about to participate in was, judging from the current situation, a sure defeat.
"I can't persuade him anymore. I can only wait and see if Meng Wu can persuade him when making the final decision. All I can do now is to control this unit."
Zhao Tuo sighed, stood up, and walked outside the tent.
The future is uncertain, and if he wants to seek more chances of survival in this uncertain war, he must firmly hold his five thousand men in his hands.
This army is what keeps him alive.
"Marquis."
Zhao Tuo walked out of the tent, and the five hundred short soldiers standing at the door, Lord Xiqigu, immediately bowed his head and said hello.
"I haven't been back in camp for a short time. I wonder what the soldiers and sergeants think about this attack on Chu. Do they have any complaints?"
Zhao Tuo glanced at the five thousand soldiers who were training in the distant school field. He needed to understand the hearts of these soldiers.
Xiqigu thought for a while and then said: "Come on, sir, there are some complaints from the soldiers. After all, we just finished the battle in Wei. Everyone has made a lot of contributions and has been promoted to some degree. The second and third sons are all thinking about it." Go home as soon as possible. Or you want to see if your family will be allocated corresponding land after your title is promoted, or you miss your relatives and children at home, thinking that if you haven’t heard back for a long time, your family must be worried about their life and death. Others are worried If I haven’t been home for a long time, the newly married woman at home will be unable to restrain her loneliness..."
Zhao Tuo suddenly asked: "Do you want to go home?"
Xiqigu was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Yes. I also want to go home."
Zhao Tuo nodded, this is indeed human nature. These five thousand people went on an expedition after spring plowing, and now they have passed the autumn harvest. They have been away for nearly half a year. How can anyone not miss their relatives at home?
After the war to destroy the Wei Dynasty, they already had the idea of returning home. However, before receiving news of returning home, they were recruited here again to participate in a new round of the war to destroy the country.
Who wouldn't be bored with such a situation?
There was nowhere to vent their homesickness, so the soldiers could only live like a year, dreaming all day long, which made them lose their fighting spirit and become more and more tired of war.
This is because the old soldiers are homesick and their morale is low!
When such soldiers go to the battlefield, their combat effectiveness is very limited.
This is a problem that needs to be solved.
Zhao Tuo paced outside the tent, thinking about ways to improve morale.
Now he has 5,000 people under his command. They have just experienced the Great War in Wei, and basically everyone has been awarded a title. After the destruction of Daliang City, everyone has received more or less money.
In this case, the effect of material rewards is not great. If you want to boost military morale, you can only start from the spiritual point of view.
I miss my loved ones.
Zhao Tuo raised his head and looked to the west.
There was no one in the distant Xianyang Palace that Zhao Tuo missed.
When he was in Xianyang, he met the princess very rarely and could only convey his love through letters. The girl who lived in the deep palace often wrote down various emotions of her daughter's family in letters to let him know.
letter!
Zhao Tuo had an idea.
Got it!
"Gu, tell all the soldiers in the army that I want them to write letters home! Tell your family that you are safe and express your heartfelt feelings to relieve the pain of missing you!"
"ah?"
Xiqigu blinked and asked five thousand people to write letters home?
But most people are not literate at all!
Zhao Tuo saw Xiqigu's expression and knew what the other party was thinking, so he explained: "Call all the literate officers in the army. Let the soldiers who want to write home prepare wooden slips by themselves, and then the soldiers will dictate it and the officers will write it on their behalf. Write it, so it will be fast enough to finish before the army sets off.”
"Then I will ask General Li to transport their family letters back through official channels, so that their respective families can receive their letters and know everyone's situation. In this way, everyone's homesickness will definitely be alleviated, and everyone's homesickness will be relieved. It can make the second and third sons in the army feel at ease. Although I, Zhao Tuo, cannot take everyone home right away, I will definitely do whatever I can."
After hearing this, Xiqigu's eyes turned dim. He knelt down on the ground and kowtowed: "Xiqigu knows that all the sergeants and soldiers in the army are homesick. It is really a great kindness for the military commander to do this. On behalf of all the soldiers in Ququ, I thank you." Military Marquis."
"Go ahead."
Zhao Tuo said lightly.
Xiqigu got up and immediately ran to the school ground.
After a while, as the news spread, bursts of cheers erupted throughout the school grounds.
"Marquis Zhao!"
"The military commander is so kind!"
"I love the military commander!"
…
Waves of cheers rang out, and although a letter home had not yet been written, the news alone was enough to boost the morale of the army a little.
Zhao Tuo looked at the scene of everyone on the campus jumping for joy. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even senior generals such as Shejian and Heiyi were all excited.
Who among them doesn't want to go home?
"The heart of one person is the heart of thousands."
Zhao Tuo sighed lightly.
Then his expression darkened again.
“I don’t know how many of the letters sent home this time will eventually become their suicide notes.”
(End of chapter)
