The bridge originally erected over Yingshui River was burned and broken by the fleeing Chu people.
The Qin army used the captured ships as beams and put wooden planks on them to make a narrow and simple pontoon for the more than 20,000 people who occupied Huyi to cross the river.
Li Xin has more chariots and horses. When crossing the river for the first time, it seemed quite chaotic. People were neighing, and everything was in chaos. From time to time, horses were frightened and fell into the river, or someone stepped off the pontoon in the chaos.
Fortunately, the Chu army in Hu Yi had been annihilated long ago. With no enemy obstacles around, the Qin army could slowly cross the river. It took nearly two days for Li Xin's men to cross the Ying River.
Li Xin left 500 men to guard Hu Yi.
Dozens of miles west of Huyi, there is also a group of Li You's infantry escorting the food baggage collected from Pingyu and Qinqiu treasury. Although the food is not much, it is better than nothing. Maybe in It can be of some use at critical times.
In addition to the garrisons of Li You and Hu Yi, Li Xin's troops suffered many casualties in the sieges and field battles along the way. The actual number of people who have crossed to the east bank of Yingshui is only about 21,000. With more than 20,000 people, he will go straight to Chudu
Li Xin walked across the pontoon bridge and stood on a small hill on the east bank, watching the various units of the Qin army that had crossed the Ying River begin to reorganize and count their numbers.
Just this morning, he had received a reply from Juyang.
"Zhaoping wants me to go to Juyang?"
Li Xin looked toward the northeast where Ju Yang was, frowning.
He needs military rations.
Li Xin's idea of using war to support war was not a problem. The Qin army made a light attack and relied on attacking cities to destroy cities. They also moved grain from the treasury of various cities in Chu State to replenish military supplies. The army marched forward with only a few days' worth of rations, and Li You followed behind with his infantry escorting the captured grain and baggage. This configuration was enough to maintain the Qin army's ration supply for a long time.
But along the way, you will always encounter a few ruthless characters.
The Chu general who guarded Hu Yi was such a ruthless person. As an important city on the edge of Yingshui River, Huyi has a large amount of Chu army grain stored in the treasury, which far exceeds the previous storage in Qiu and Pingtan. But it was a pity that General Hu Yi saw that the Qin army was bound to break the city, so he became cruel and set fire to the treasury in the city, burning all the tens of thousands of stones and grain into ashes.
Although Li Xin later forcibly requisitioned some food from the Chu people in the city, it was only enough to supply the 20,000 troops for more than half a month. This time might be enough for him to raid Shouchun City, but he would not be able to defeat Shouchun in one battle. If the Qin army stops outside Shouchun City, it will fall into a situation of shortage of military supplies.
Therefore, Li Xin needed new sources of military rations.
Zhaoping's reply was somewhat beyond Li Xin's expectations, which made Li Xin think.
The Chu King's cronies came to Juyang City to supervise the army, and Zhaoping was unable to leave the city to support the Qin army under his supervision. However, you can open the gate of Juyang City for Li Xin and assist the Qin army in capturing Juyang City. Once the city is successfully captured, Li Xin will no longer be short of food and supplies, and can also control Juyang, a large city in the Chu Kingdom.
This statement may not sound problematic at first, but the scene outside Pingyu City that night always appeared in Li Xin's mind.
Zhao Tuo lay on the ground and told himself that Lord Changping would most likely reveal his plan for a surprise attack, and there might be traps waiting on the road ahead.
[Currently used, it is the most complete and best-used app for listening to books. It integrates 4 major speech synthesis engines, over 100 kinds of sounds, and supports offline reading.
Senior, on the contrary, he also has high military qualities.
Now that Zhao Tuo was warning him, although Li Xin didn't quite believe Zhao Tuo's "alarmism", he still couldn't help but consider this possibility in his mind when faced with the situation at hand.
With the possibility of a trap ahead, Zhaoping suddenly changed his mind and invited him to lead an army to attack Juyang City. With Li Xin's many years of battlefield experience, he smelled something unusual.
"Junhou... Zhaoping surrendered to our Qin country because of the information given by Junhou. If what Zhao Tuo said is true, Junhou really..."
Li Xin's eyes narrowed into slits.
A sense of danger rose within him.
"Ask the messenger to reply to Zhaoping. I will make a surprise attack on Juyang in five days and ask him to cooperate in opening the city gate."
Li Xin murmured, but his head turned to the southeast.
"Regardless of whether Juyang is a trap or not, I will not go. I will take the opportunity to lead the army to attack Xia Cai. I do not believe that the Chu generals under Xia Cai are like Hu Yi and can be cruel enough to burn all the grain and grass. I will seize Xia Cai's grain and grass. , I will force the Chu people there to store food in their homes, and this will last for a while."
"Crossing the Huaihe River from Xiacai is Shouchun!"
"As for Juyang, let them wait."
…
Four days later, Juyang City.
Xiang Yan and Zhaoping walked to the top of the city together.
"Zhaoping, the terrain in Juyang is really good. It's a good place for fishing."
Xiang Yan looked around and saw that a few miles east of Juyang was a vast dense forest. This was also where the Chu people in the city collected firewood and cut wood. More than ten miles west of Juyang is the Yingshui River flowing from north to south. Relying on Lin Yishui, this city can be regarded as a geomantic treasure.
Zhao Ping smiled and said, "That's what Shangzhu said. We will ambush ten thousand people in the forest, and we will ambush ten thousand people in the city, and then send ten thousand people around. Just wait for the fish to take the bait and come forward. Shangzhu Guo gives an order, and the city Thousands of people will be killed, and ten thousand more will be killed in the forest, and the ten thousand people who took the detour will attack from behind. Attacked from three sides, the Qin army will be defeated and all of them will run west. In this way, we can pursue them all the way. Drive north and drive all the Qin people into the Ying River."
Xiang Yan also smiled and said: "This fish from Longxi is indeed beyond my expectation. If that person hadn't warned me, I would have been shocked by his surprise attack. But this fish is too naive. , show him some fragrant bait, and he will swim over and bite the hook, haha."
While the two were chatting and laughing, they saw several cavalrymen coming in the distance.
"Oh, the exploring rangers are back. I guess they have discovered the Qin army coming to Juyang."
Zhaoping pointed at the cavalry riding into the city and smiled.
However, his smile did not last long, because after hearing the news that the ranger brought back, it turned into a cry of surprise: "What! No Qin army was found on the road? Three days ago, Li Xin led his army towards Xia Cai went?"
"Damn it, didn't Li Xin say he was coming to Juyang before? Why did he go to defeat Cai!"
"Shu Zi lied to me!"
Zhao Ping's face twisted. Things had changed beyond his expectation.
The fish, which seemed stupid to him, actually abandoned the bait of Ju Yang and swam in another direction, and even gave him the illusion of biting the hook before leaving.
The fisherman was tricked by the fish.
Xiang Yan looked stunned.
Then, he smiled: "It's interesting. I thought it was a stupid fish, but I didn't expect it to be quite cunning. I could actually see some clues. It seems that the King of Qin did not choose the generals blindly with his eyes closed. This Li Xin is still Somewhat capable."
"Zhaoping, don't be angry. If the fish didn't come to bite our hook, wouldn't it also bite Shouchun's big hook?"
"A greedy fish cannot escape."
Speaking of this, a cold light flashed in Xiang Yan's eyes.
"Rally the army immediately. In an hour, 30,000 soldiers will set off southward!"
"If Li Xin doesn't come, then we will chase after him. On the shore of Huaihe River, we will peel off the scales and armor of this fish and take care of it!"
…
The coast of Huaihe River.
one
The Qin army, which had marched hundreds of miles eastward along the Huai River, also stopped.
Zhao Tuo stood on a gentle and wide river bank and looked at the other side.
Behind him is a vast bamboo forest.
In front is the water of the Huaihe River hundreds of meters wide.
"This is it."
Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes slightly, and along the way, he finally found the right place.
He wants to cross the Huaihe River!
