"Have you heard? That despicable Qin general who used trickery to kill General Qu's brother won a great victory in Zhencheng and defeated a hundred thousand Qi troops!"
"Oh my God, the Qin army is coming, and Peiyi falls into the hands of the Qin people!"
"Qin General Zhao Tuo has taken over the city."
"General Zhao has arrived in Pengcheng with his army!"
Pengcheng in Chu, an important city that controlled all directions, opened the door and surrendered when the 30,000 Qin troops arrived, and fell into the hands of Zhao Tuo without any resistance.
Investigating the reason, in addition to the previous order of Yin Xiangyan to mobilize some troops to support the Huaiyang battlefield, which resulted in the weakening of Pengcheng's defense force, the bigger reason is that the leader of the Qin army is called Zhao Tuo!
The Chu people in Pengcheng will never forget that just about last year, the Qin general named Zhao Tuo led thousands of Qin troops to defeat the Chu general Qu Song in the north of Pengcheng. Not only did he kill the Qu brothers with arrows on the spot, but also beheaded them. He killed hundreds of Chu people and piled their corpses into a terrifying Jingguan.
The tall mounds of earth rising from the ground, with the hideous and terrifying heads emerging from them, made people's legs feel weak when they looked at them, making the Chu people in Pengcheng feel not only resentful, but also afraid.
In addition, the battle in Surabaya north of Pengcheng also shocked them inexplicably. The dignified Chu State Zuo Sima led an army of 10,000 people and was defeated by Zhao Tuo's thousands of men. Such a record is not surprising and shocking.
Therefore, when it was known that the Qin general named Zhao Tuo was leading 30,000 Qin troops to go south again, the Chu general guarding Pengcheng immediately fled in panic with his soldiers.
The local Chu people did not hesitate and immediately opened the door and surrendered in order to survive.
Just kidding, Zhao Tuo was able to defeat Surabaya last year with thousands of remaining soldiers, and now he defeated a hundred thousand Qi troops and marched south with the power of defeating Qi. How could their small Pengcheng be able to stop such power?
This was because he was overwhelmed by the power of Qin general Zhao Tuo and surrendered without a fight.
When the Qin army captured Pengcheng, Zhao Tuo did not go on a killing spree here. Instead, he gently comforted the surrendered local nobles and families, allowing them to maintain local rights while raising food and supplies for the Qin army.
However, Zhao Tuo also warned them that this time Qin's attack on Chu would destroy the state of Chu, so they had better work for Qin with peace of mind. If they behave repeatedly after the Qin army goes south, they will be killed when the Qin army destroys Chu. Give them an ending that will destroy their entire family.
The local dignitaries were very obedient and said, "General, don't worry, we sincerely surrender to Qin and we will never dare to rebel."
"This is very good. After our Qin State destroys Chu, you can continue to enjoy wealth and honor for generations to come."
Zhao Tuo felt relieved, made a promise, and let them leave. Then, in the general's newly built tent outside the city, he summoned his generals to hold a military meeting about the next battle plan.
"I think this march should go back along the road we took out of the Chu land last time. Our army built a large Jingguan in Fulisai last time. The Chu people there must be the same as the Pengcheng people. , I was so frightened that it was easier to cross the river from there than other places."
[In view of the general environment,
Black Buttocks chuckled and said, "What is this called? It's called using the general's reputation to defeat others without fighting!"
Zhao Tuo glanced at Hei Butt and saw a proud look on his face.
Black Butt's suggestion is not without its merits. If we go back the way we fought before, the Chu people along the way will definitely be under great psychological pressure, and it will be easier for the Qin army to attack the city and capture the territory.
However, Zhao Tuo did not come to a conclusion. He turned his head and asked the generals: "Marquis Heiyi proposed to take the Suishui River from Fulisai. Do you have any objections?"
Zhao Guang frowned and said nothing.
It was still Shebama who said, "There are risks."
"One is that the information about our army going south must have been passed to the Huaiyang camp by the Chu people. If nothing unexpected happens to the Chu people, they will definitely mobilize their troops to set up defenses along the Suishui River to prevent our army from crossing the Suishui River and going south. Our army wants to It is not easy to cross the river. The greater possibility is to face the Chu people across the river and look for opportunities to cross the river."
"Therefore, the section of Fuli Fortress is not suitable for our army to cross the river. The Chu army on the west bank can rely on the fortress for supplies.
It is easy to maintain a stalemate with our army, but the east coast where our army is located has a scarcity of cities. If you want to get the baggage, you have to transfer it from Pengcheng. The journey is long, so our army may not be able to maintain a stalemate with the Chu army for a long time in terms of supplies. "
As soon as Shejian said this, all the generals nodded in agreement.
Logistics is indeed a big problem.
Zhao Guang said: "Lieutenant She is right. Our army has reached 30,000 people, so we must consider the supply problem. In this case, the only places suitable for crossing the Suishui River are Xiangyi and Zhuyi. "
"Xiangyi is the border. Not only is it far away, but it is also guarded by a large number of Chu troops. Therefore, the best choice for our army is to capture Zhuyi and rely on the grain stored in Zhuyi and the transportation from Pengcheng to confront the Chu army across the Suishui River. , and then look for opportunities to cross the river, which will be more secure."
Shejian praised: "Captain Zhao's words are very good."
Seeing the two captains complimenting each other, the generals also agreed.
Hei Butt's mouth tightened, and he felt a bit disgusted.
Seeing his generals express their opinions, Zhao Tuo nodded slightly.
What Zhao Guang and Shejian said was correct. After capturing Zhuyi, they could camp based on the city and their logistics and supplies would be guaranteed.
But why do they always want to cross the Suishui River?
Ever since Zhao Tuo led his army southward and returned to Fengfei, both the generals and the lower-level soldiers in the army had one thing in mind.
That is to hope that Zhao Tuo will lead them to pierce the Chu land from behind, penetrate into the heart of the Chu country, raid the Chu capital Shouchun, and achieve world-shattering achievements!
It's like last year's Li Xin surprise attack again!
However, unlike Li Xin's beheading tactics, Zhao Tuo led his army into Chu territory to raid Shouchun, not really to capture Shouchun, but to mobilize Xiang Yantun's army in Huaiyang.
As long as the morale of Xiang Yan's troops is in chaos and the troops return to support Shouchun, Wang Jian will find a fighting opportunity and pounce on him to win a shocking victory.
It sounds wonderful, and has a high chance of success. Once realized, it will be a great success.
But Zhao Tuo didn't want this.
In war, there are always risks.
Why gamble desperately when there is a chance of winning?
"According to what the two captains said, our army will next send troops to Zhuyi and approach the Suishui River."
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Tuo's words suddenly changed and he said in a deep voice: "But our army does not need to cross the Suishui River. This time we go south, we just need to stay firmly on the east bank."
"After some time passes, the Chu army will cross the river on their own!"
Zhao Tuo smiled slyly, and he looked very much like the Qin general.
Compared with directly inserting Shouchun, Xiang Yan was attracted to return for help.
Zhao Tuo stationed his troops in Suishui, which could also achieve this goal.
You must know that the Chu army in the Huaibei battlefield has nearly 400,000 troops and consumes astronomical amounts of food and fodder every day. Now that the autumn harvest has just been completed, the Chu army is waiting for grain to be transported from various places to feed them.
At this time, Zhao Tuo went south to invade the Chu region and stationed troops along the Suishui River, completely cutting off the vast land with a radius of thousands of miles such as Fangyu, Pengcheng, and Lu. The large amount of newly harvested grain in these places could not be transported to Huaibei to support Xiang Yan. Army.
Chu's national strength was already worse than Qin's. Judging from the previous situation, relying on the autumn harvest, it could barely last another half a year with Wang Jian. Now that Zhao Tuo has done this, I'm afraid it can last for three months.
In this case, who would be more anxious?
Therefore, Zhao Tuo did not need to cross the Suishui River and go south. He only needed to follow Wang Jian's example, and he worked steadily and blocked the road for the Chu people to transport grain and fodder from the east bank of the Suishui River.
In this way, the other party would definitely not be able to bear it, and would even take the initiative to cross the river to attack the Qin army in order to open up a road for transporting grain.
This is what the art of war calls, so if you are good at moving the enemy, if you shape it, the enemy will follow it; if you give it, the enemy will take it. Use advantage to move it, use death to treat it.
If the enemy doesn't move, then I'll let him move!
At that time, the Chu army wanted to cross the river, but the Qin army had the home field advantage. Isn't this a beautiful way of playing?
…
The west bank of Suishui River.
The cold wind is getting colder and the red flag is flying.
Thirty thousand Chu troops have just camped outside Fuli Great Wall.
"General Xiang, the scouts from the east bank of the Suishui River have come to report that Qin General Zhao Tuo has captured Pengcheng and is leading his army south. The troops will reach the Suishui River in a few days."
Jing Tong walked into the camp and reported the information he had just obtained to Xiang Qu, the leader of the army.
"Well, I have Lao Zitong."
Xiang Qu nodded. He sat on the main seat in the tent and looked directly at the map in front of him.
Jing Tong hesitated for a moment, then walked over and whispered beside Xiang Qu: "General, the best place to cross the river on the east bank of the Suishui River is Zhuyi. If nothing unexpected happens, the Qin army should cross the river from there. General, also Please make preparations in advance and station troops nearby to prevent the Qin army from crossing the Suishui River."
This time, Xiang Qu didn't nod.
A ray of light flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Zitong's words are wrong. I am about to let the Qin army cross the Suishui River and then annihilate them!"
