In the land of Huainan, there is an orange grove about ten miles west of Shouchun City.
Zhao Tuo peeled open an orange, and a sour smell hit his nose.
He gritted his teeth, stuffed the orange meat into his mouth in one breath, puffed out his cheeks and chewed it. The sweet and sour juice spread between his lips and tongue. Soon Zhao Tuo's facial features were twisted into a ball, and his stomach began to twitch slightly.
Not only Zhao Tuo, but most of the more than 4,000 Qin soldiers in the forest looked like this. From time to time, someone couldn't bear it anymore, and with a "vomit" sound, he vomited the orange he had just eaten along with the acidic water in his stomach. out.
In the Qin State, the Huainan tangerines that only the nobles and wealthy men could eat, and the high-quality fruits that were placed on the King of Qin’s political table, were now all allowed to be eaten by these low-level soldiers until they vomited, and would suffer from them for the rest of their lives. No longer want to eat.
"My mother! I'm going to vomit acid water again. Military Marquis, when are we going to attack his mother's Chu city? Let's attack Shouchun quickly and grab some rice and meat to eat. I don't want to eat oranges anymore! "
Black Butt said with a wrinkled face.
After the Qin army crossed the Huaihe River, the road they traveled was not a densely populated area, there were no large cities, and Chu villages were also extremely rare. Although everyone had paid great attention to saving food along the way, after all, it was still the fourth With more than a thousand mouths, the little military rations they carried could not withstand daily consumption. Their food ran out last night, and today they could only rely on fruits in the forest and some wild vegetables dug to satisfy their hunger.
When they first ate oranges, the Qin soldiers who had never seen this kind of fruit were all very excited. They picked them from the tree one by one and stuffed them into their mouths. Give some to your family to try.
However, by now, the Qin soldiers already wanted to vomit when they saw this yellow fruit, and they no longer had any appetite. But when they are hungry, everyone can only grit their teeth and stuff it into their mouths. If they don't eat, their stomachs will really be empty and they will have no energy left.
Zhao Tuo raised his head, holding back the discomfort in his stomach, and said, "We'll wait until Shejian comes back first. Let's see what the situation is like in Shouchun now. I'll act accordingly when the time comes."
Although he has led his army very close to Shouchun City, he can reach the city in one day at most. But Zhao Tuo would not just emerge from the forest and rush to Shouchun City. That would be something only a fool would do. If there are tens of thousands of Chu troops stationed under Shouchun City, wouldn't you be dead if you come out? . In everything, it is only right to obtain information first.
"Hey, why hasn't Shejian come back? Maybe he got some food and secretly enjoyed it himself. No wonder he, a dignified man of two or five hundred, asked for orders to catch people. It turned out that he had this intention. If I had known, I would have Gone." Black Butt muttered, wiping the acid water flowing out of the corner of his mouth.
Zhao Tuo ignored him. It took a lot of effort to scold this idiot. After scolding him, he had to eat a few more oranges to make up for it. It was not cost-effective.
At this moment, the figure of Shebama walked from the woods not far away.
"Hey, didn't you go capture someone? Where are the prisoners? Did you get any food?" Black Butt asked impatiently.
Shejian ignored him, but looked at Zhao Tuo seriously.
"Something serious has happened."
Zhao Tuo's heart skipped a beat.
Hearing Shejian's words, his breathing became disordered. But soon, Zhao Tuo calmed down and said softly: "It seems that General Li has been defeated."
"Ah? How could General Li be defeated? Didn't he lead a surprise attack on Shouchun with 30,000 people? The main force of the Chu people have all gone to Xiangcheng. Who in the hinterland of Chu can defeat him?" Black Butt said in surprise.
"Shut up and go eat this orange."
Zhao Tuo glared at him and threw a big orange in his hand at him.
Black Hips: "Huh?"
"This is a military order."
"Woo..."
After driving the black buttocks away, Zhao Tuo turned back to look at Shejian.
"The military commander really knew what was happening. General Li was indeed defeated."
Shejian glanced at Zhao Tuo with admiration, and then explained: "I took people to squat at a nearby intersection for half a day, and finally captured a group of merchants. Although there were not many people, they happened to have just come out of Shouchun City, so they knew the city very well. Information."
Speaking of this, Shejian's face turned gloomy.
"General Li led his army to attack Xia Cai. When he was about to cross the Huaihe River, Xiang Yan led 30,000 Chu troops from the rear. General Li could only lead his army north to fight. Then he was defeated by Xiang Yan. General Li We can only lead the army to flee westward. Xiang Yan led the Chu army to follow behind and kept pursuing and defeated our army. It seems that Xiang Yan will not give up until he captures General Li. Alas, General Li is in danger this time."
Sure enough.
Hearing this, Zhao Tuo closed his eyes tiredly.
He had reminded Li Xin repeatedly, and even took the risk to warn Li Xin that Lord Changping might have revealed the marching route of the surprise attack. Zhao Tuo had already opened the matter up to this point, but Li Xin still refused to listen and continued to sullenly fall into Chu Ren's trap.
This Li Xin is really a stubborn cow!
"If you do evil in heaven, you can still live. If you do evil on your own, you can't live."
A famous saying that he often heard in his previous life came to Zhao Tuo's mind, and it really matched Li Xin's actions.
He couldn't help but sigh.
With Li Xin's defeat, not only did his 30,000 cavalry generals perish in Chu, but even the 70,000 Qin troops under Meng Wu's command outside Xiangcheng were probably in trouble.
When Xiang Yan captured Li Xin and led his troops north to support Xiangcheng, the Chu army in Xiangcheng took advantage of the situation to rush out, and Lord Changping in Huaiyang City behind also followed suit.
With enemies on three sides, can the 70,000 men in Mengwu be safe?
In addition to the disastrous defeat of the army, the cities such as Huaiyang, Qiuqiu, and Pingyu that the Qin army had previously captured will probably fall into the hands of the Chu people again, and the Qin soldiers stationed in those places will naturally be in trouble.
I wonder how many of the 200,000 Qin army can return home?
no one knows.
Instead, Zhao Tuo's five thousand men jumped out from the frontal battlefield. Although they seemed to be in danger when they went deep into the enemy's rear, they were actually much safer than being chased by the Chu army on the battlefield.
"Isn't that Xiang Yan in Xiang City? Why did he lead his army to pursue him? Judging from his marching speed, it doesn't look like he rushed there after knowing that his flank was under attack. Rather, it's more like he knew that General Li would take a detour. We raided Shouchun and gathered our soldiers early to intercept and kill them on the way. Commander, you seem to have expected this?"
She Jian stared at Zhao Tuo in confusion. They followed Zhao Tuo to Huainan. At first, they thought that Zhao Tuo wanted to perform a miraculous feat, so they asked Li Xin for orders to go deep behind enemy lines and become a surprise force.
In such a very dangerous matter, the five thousand soldiers chose to support Zhao Tuo out of gratitude and silently followed him all the way.
But now that Shejian knows the news of Li Xin's fiasco, looking back, the whole thing seems not simple.
This Zhao Junhou seemed to be leading everyone into dangerous territory, but in fact he saved everyone's lives.
Zhao Tuo smiled faintly. Before Changping Jun officially rebelled, he didn't want to mention the matter anymore, so he turned to say: "It's just a premonition. Now General Li is being chased by Xiang Yan very urgently, and his life is in danger. If we are A surprise attack on Shouchun may force the King of Chu to recall Xiang Yan and save General Li and many people. So, how is the defense in Shouchun City?"
Shejian's expression became serious and he replied: "There were more than 10,000 soldiers guarding Shouchun City before. Later, in order to prevent General Li from crossing the Huaihe River, the King of Chu sent 5,000 people to guard the south bank of the Huaihe River. There are still about 6,000 soldiers in the city. Chu army."
"But according to what the businessman said, the King of Chu has already mobilized the five thousand people to escort the prisoners captured in the Battle of Xia Cai back to Shouchun. They want to parade to show their power and merits. They may arrive tomorrow. By the way, I heard Among the prisoners, there was also a general under General Li, who was captured by the Chu people on the battlefield."
Hearing this, Zhao Tuo's eyes widened.
Among the 30,000 people led by Li Xin, there was only one general following him, Xin Wu.
…
The second day.
The King of Chu was planning to parade the Qin prisoners captured in Shouchun City today. Let all Chu people in the entire capital see how the Chu State has become more and more powerful under his leadership. Even the invincible Qin army was defeated in front of him, and even General Pi, who was subordinate to the chief general, was reduced to for his captives.
This is the most glorious moment of Chu State in decades.
In this way, he demonstrated the ability and prestige of King Chu of Chu, and at the same time calmed the panicked people in the city.
Secondly, it can eliminate the impact of his regicide and usurpation of the throne, and let the people of Chu know that he, the king of Chu, is much more powerful than the wasted brother who was killed. Only by carrying the cud can the Chu country become stronger.
So this parade was very important to King Chu of Chu.
But God seems to be unfaithful. At noon, there is still a layer of light white winter mist near Shouchun. The mist is very thin. You can’t feel anything close to you. But if you look further away, you will find that you still have some blurry vision. Influenced.
At least the eight hills in the northern part of Shouchun look hazy in the fog, like eight towering giants.
This is because Shouchun is close to the Huai River and is filled with winter fog. In the eyes of local Chu people, this is a normal sight.
At this time, an army was marching towards Shouchun City.
Qu Ming was in his thirties and was a military general from the Qu family. He was deeply loved by the King of Chu. When Li Xin came to the Huai River, he was ordered by the King of Chu to lead 5,000 soldiers to guard the south bank of the Huai River and resist Li Xin's crossing of the Huai River. .
Now, he received another order from the king to escort a thousand Qin troops captured in the Huaibei Battle southward and march to the city to show the king's illustrious martial arts and inspire the hearts of the Chu people.
Among the thousands of prisoners of the Qin army, the captured General Pi Xin Wu was the most important.
Xin Wu leaned tiredly in the carriage, breathing in the slightly humid air and staring blankly into the distance. The injuries on his shoulders and arms were still aching.
With Xin Wu's status, he shouldn't have become a prisoner.
But unfortunately, if people are unlucky, their teeth will get clogged even if they drink water.
When the Qin army was defeated, Xin Wu followed Li Xin and fled westward. As a result, he was unlucky. One wheel of the chariot he was riding in ran into a large pit and overturned on the spot. He was thrown out and his arm was broken directly.
Before the soldiers could help him up, he was dispersed by the defeated Qin army who followed him, and then the chasing Chu army also followed.
The mighty crown on Xin Wu's head and the exquisite armor on his body saved his life.
Chu soldiers did not kill him.
It just made him the highest-ranking military commander in the Qin State who was captured by the armies of princes in decades, which was enough for him to be recorded in history books.
"Qin sent Li Xin and Meng Wu to attack Chu, and Chu sent Xiang Yan to resist. Xiang Yan defeated the Qin army and captured Qin general Xin Wu."
Xin Wu whispered and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Haha, General Xin is in such a good mood. He is still smiling all over his face now. Maybe he has fallen in love with me after seeing the beautiful scenery in Chu."
There was a joking voice, and a Chu general in his thirties came on horseback, riding side by side with Xin Wu's chariot.
Xin Wu immediately showed no expression on his face, knowing that the general of the Qu family was teasing him and intending to make fun of him.
"Since General Xin likes the scenery here, why not join our Chu Kingdom and live here permanently so that you can enjoy the beautiful scenery every day? Wouldn't it be beautiful?"
Qu Ming didn't care about Xin Wu's reaction. He pointed to the scenery shrouded in mist in front of him and smiled at Xin Wu: "Come, let me introduce you to General Xin. The name of the water in front is Feishui, which is cold. It's refreshing to drink. From here, you'll reach Shouchun after passing the Feishui River."
Xin Wu squinted his eyes and saw a river flowing in the mist ahead.
Qu Ming turned to point north again.
"General Xin, please look, there is another strange mountain here."
"The mountain is called Feiling. It is located to the north of Shouchun and is also called Beishan. Because of this, the mountain has eight hills, and the nearby savages also call it the Eight Mountains!"
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(End of chapter)
