After making an agreement, the next thing is very simple.
Zhao Tuo directly moved his army to the open space around Zhongli City and set up camp.
Several black flags were fluttering in the barracks. Although the flags were dirty and damaged after thousands of miles of travel, the way they were fluttering in the wind, combined with the thousands of soldiers under Qin's banner looking at them eagerly, caused a great deal of trouble to the Zhongli people who saw this scene on the top of the city. Huge psychological pressure.
Although Zhongli is a large city nearby, it has only over ten thousand residents. The number of young men in the city is not even as large as the number of Qin troops outside the city. At this moment, seeing these thousands of Qin troops wearing armor and holding spears, the Chu people in the city were frightened. Terrified.
This was a show of force by the Qin army, telling the Zhongli people that if they dared to cheat on the contract, they would have to pay with blood.
Duke Zhongli was frightened and frightened, so he immediately fulfilled the treaty made by the envoy Zhongli Mei and the Qin army.
The county official did not leave the city, but he opened one side of the city gate and asked his county soldiers to organize the young men in the city to transport a quantity of grain and materials to the military camp outside the city and hand them over to the Qin people.
"Marquis, the food Zhongli brought out is enough to feed our army for ten days. There are also hundreds of pieces of clothing for high-ranking men to wear."
At dusk, as the sun set in the west, Shejian finished counting the supplies delivered by Zhongli City and came to report to Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Tuo nodded. Ten days of food was already the limit of what they could carry. It was enough for them to find another city for food after crossing the Huai River.
"Is the food okay?"
"I selected some and let those Zhongli people eat them. It seems there is no problem."
"Um."
Zhao Tuo nodded, thinking that Zhongli County Lord would not be stupid enough to tamper with the food. If the Qin army really noticed it, it would be more of a loss than a gain.
He turned his head and looked toward the Huai River in the distance.
Under the setting sun, there were more than ten ships parked on the river bank. From time to time, people from Chu drove boats up and down the Huaihe River. They must have received orders from the Duke of Zhongli County to collect ships for the Qin army to cross the river.
After all, the Qin army had nearly 6,000 men. If they wanted to cross the Huai River, they would need a lot of ships. Just looking for the ships would take them an entire night.
According to Zhao Tuo's calculations, the King of Chu in Shouchun City should be frightened for a few days by the 30,000 Qin troops he left behind and the plan of Mu Ren's suspicious soldiers. When the returning Chu army arrived in Shouchun, he would be frightened by the King of Chu for a few days. They were sent to pursue them, and they would probably have to travel several days later than the Qin army.
Therefore, the Qin army still has time. Even if it is delayed for one night in Zhongli, the danger is not very great.
Everything seemed to be going well, but Zhao Tuo still had a bad feeling in his heart.
This premonition came from the Chu man named "Zhongli Mei".
"Jian, you and Zhao Guang will alternately keep vigil tonight, and send more soldiers to patrol to guard against changes. We have arrived at the edge of the Huaihe River. At this important moment, we must pay more attention."
Zhao Tuo issued an order. Shejian and Zhao Guang were the two most capable generals under him. This time, he asked them to keep watch overnight, which shows that he attached great importance to this matter.
She Jian responded. He felt the worry in Zhao Tuo's words and said with relief: "I think the Zhongli County Duke should sincerely surrender, otherwise the small number of troops in his city will not be enough to pose a threat to our army. Especially me. When the army is on guard, even if he really dares to go out of the city to attack at night, he will only come back with a disastrous defeat, and our army will take advantage of the situation to seize the city, so please be at ease, military commander."
"hope so."
Zhao Tuo nodded and looked at the Zhongli City Wall in the distance.
At dusk, there were several dark figures walking around on the city wall. They should be Chu people guarding the city.
…
"The Qin army's camps are arranged in an orderly manner and the sentries are patrolled closely. Even if we attack at night, we will only fail and there is no possibility of success."
Zhongli Mei retracted his gaze from looking at the Qin camp in the distance, and turned his head to speak to County Duke Zhongli who looked expectant.
After being disappointed, County Duke Zhong Liran said with worry: "If the night attack fails, then we can only wait until the Qin army crosses the Huaihe River tomorrow to take action?"
"Mei, if the Qin people find out and this operation fails, won't my head be chopped off by the Qin people in exchange for military merit?"
"Otherwise...we will really surrender, right?"
Hearing this, Zhongli Mei rolled his eyes. The county official was already frightened by the thousands of Qin soldiers and actually wanted to turn the fake surrender into a real surrender.
Zhong Lizhen explained: "My lord, have you ever thought about what will happen to you if you really help the Qin army cross the Huaihe River without taking any action when the king sends his troops?"
Zhong Liran trembled, he naturally knew that the monarch in Shouchun City was not a good person.
In order to gain power, Xiang Chu killed his own brothers to ascend to the throne. Within a year, he killed many nobles and wealthy families who opposed him. His road to usurping the throne was already stained with blood. Even if he wanted to kill him, a small county magistrate, it would only be a short time. There is no need to hesitate at all about waving.
Zhongli Mei said calmly: "When the traitors of the Qu family led the troops to deceive the city, the reason why I asked the county prince to surrender and help the Qin army cross the Huai River was to avoid the disaster at that time. If I dared to say 'no' at that time, The county prince's head was probably hanging on the city walls, so he had to surrender to save his life."
"However, surrender cannot be real. Otherwise, when the king investigates, the county prince will be guilty of treason, and he will not escape death."
"So if the county prince wants to survive, the only thing he can do is to find an opportunity to attack the Qin army after surrendering, and make a gesture of attacking the Qin army while protecting himself."
"Even if the matter fails and the Qin army escapes. But when the king wants to punish him afterwards, the county prince will have something to say. At that time, the county prince will use the property to bribe the king's favorite ministers, which has its beauty. If you think about it, you can turn the crisis into safety."
Zhong Liran's face was full of bitterness when he heard this, feeling that he was really unlucky.
The Qin army approaches the city and will die if they don't surrender.
If you really surrender, you will die afterwards.
If you want to survive, I'm afraid you can only fake a surrender as Zhongli Mei said.
Of course, this false surrender is also very dangerous. If the Qin army sees the clues, I'm afraid he will also die.
The Huai River is so long, why on earth did the Qin army come to us?
Although he felt sad in his heart, Zhong Liran knew that if he wanted to survive, he could only do what Zhongli Mei said.
Take a gamble on this false surrender plan.
"For today's plan, this is the only way."
"Yi, your father is right. You are really smart and will definitely be a hero in the future. If you hadn't been advising me in the city, I really don't know what I would have done in this situation. You You should be honored by me."
As he spoke, Zhong Liran actually bowed to the young man in front of him, looking very sincere.
Zhongli Mei hurriedly avoided him and said, "Don't be like this, Lord County. Although Mei is a branch of the Zhongli family, he is still connected by blood. Moreover, the County Lord and my father know each other and are good friends. Such a kind of friendship, in the face of In this crisis, I must do my best, and I dare not accept such a great gift from the county prince. I really don't deserve it."
Although he did not dare to accept the gift from County Duke Zhongli, Zhongli Mei was still young after all. Seeing a dignified elder like the County Duke thanking him, he couldn't help but feel complacent in his heart.
He smiled and said: "My lord, you will have to wait and see tomorrow. If the Qin army wants to cross the Huaihe River, they must first let a group of people go over to explore the road. There will be at least one or two thousand people."
"The commander-in-chief, Xin Wu, should not board the ship until the vanguard has crossed the Huai River. Only in this way can they have troops on both sides of the river to ensure the safety of the head and tail."
"And this is our opportunity!"
"When the Qin general Xin Wu crosses the Huaihe River, the beacon smoke is ignited in the city. During the day, when we sent people to collect the ships, the boat masters who were ambushing upstream will receive the signal and sail down the river to sail directly to the Qin general. .”
"As I have seen, most of these thousands of Qin troops are land ducks who cannot swim. On the shore, I, Zhongli Erlang, are no match for them."
"But as long as they enter the Huai River by boat, they will be fish and turtles in our net, and no one can escape! In this way, Qin General Xin Wu will definitely be able to capture them!"
"When the Qin army's general is captured, the remaining Qin army left on the south bank will definitely be leaderless and in panic. At that time, the county prince may recruit young men and send troops to raid and catch them by surprise. Or he may close the city gate tightly and defend to the death. , using its general to threaten and delay, while waiting for reinforcements."
"At that time, half of the Qin army will be in Huaibei and half will be in Huainan, and their general will be in our hands again, hahaha..."
As he said that, Zhongli Mei smiled proudly.
(End of chapter)
