The first glimmer of dawn appeared in the distant horizon, and the soldiers who had been stationed on the city wall all night finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They were the soldiers who originally stayed in Zhencheng. They had witnessed the high-spirited Grand Sima marching onto the battlefield with an army of 150,000 men.
They also watched Da Sima fleeing back to the city in embarrassment. Looking up, they saw outside the city all the fleeing Pao Ze who were being chased by the Qin people. I also saw with my own eyes the scene of tens of thousands of Qi troops surrendering to the Qin people under the city.
Those scenes had already frightened these Qi people, and the words General Tian Dan said during his inspection in the evening only aggravated this emotion.
"The Qin people are bloodthirsty and love killing, and they take beheading as merit. Those defeated soldiers who surrender to them will definitely die, and will be beheaded by the Qin people as military merit. If the Qin army breaks the city, you will also have your heads chopped off. There is absolutely no reason to survive. If you want to survive, you must fight to the death!"
Tian Dan's words were in line with the Qi people's impression of the Qin army, which was cruel and bloodthirsty and had the first merit.
Therefore, although the Qi soldiers in the city were frightened to death by the Qin army's performance, they still mustered up their courage and decided to use the city defense to fight the Qin people until the last moment.
There is still hope of survival in the fight to the end, but once the city is defeated, they will definitely be killed.
That night, they did not dare to take it lightly. They held the weapons in their hands tightly and watched the movements outside the city, fearing that the Qin army would take advantage of the darkness to attack the city overnight.
Fortunately, the night passed peacefully.
"We can finally go down and sleep."
One of the soldiers let out a grunt and let out a long breath.
The others nodded.
At this moment, a Qi soldier suddenly shouted: "The Qin army is attacking the city!"
All the soldiers were startled and quickly looked outside the city wall. Sure enough, they saw a black shadow in the distance running towards Zhencheng in the morning light.
"Enemy attack!"
"The Qin army is attacking the city, and the crossbowmen are ready!"
General Qi, who was guarding the city, ordered people to sound the alarm and asked the crossbowmen on the city wall to prepare.
It was still dark at this time. Under the morning light, they could only see running shadows in the distance, but they could not see the specific appearance of those people.
The Qi general who was guarding the city felt that this Qin army was a little strange.
These Qin people wanted to sneak attack and siege the city at dawn, but they did not have the ladders to carry or the siege equipment to move. Could it be that they could climb the city wall with bare hands?
Moreover, these people were running too scattered. They didn't even have a formation. They were worse than a unified army.
"Can such an army defeat Da Sima?"
The generals who defended the city thought so, and saw that those figures had entered the range of the crossbows, and decisively issued the shooting order.
In an instant, arrows rained down, knocking down the figures running outside the city.
"Qin Jun, that's all."
Just when General Qi was proud, their familiar Qi language rang out among the screams outside the city.
"Stop cumming, one of our own!"
"It's Paoze! It's an ally!"
A moment later, Tian Chong, who looked exhausted, hurried up to the city.
The scene he saw was the dense crowd of tens of thousands of people standing outside the city, returning with only single clothes.
"Da Sima, let us enter the city, we are hungry!"
The people wailed and cried, begging the great Sima in the city to open the city gate and let them in to have a hot meal.
Tian Chong's face suddenly turned pale.
"Da Sima, can we open the door?"
…
Ayi, also known as Dong'a in later generations, is located in the northeast of Zhencheng.
The geographical location of this city is very important. If Zhencheng is the first gateway to the western border of Qi State, then Ayi is the second.
Because the city depends on Jishui, as long as the Qin army captures Ayi, they can rely on Jishui to transport soldiers and grain, and can reach the north of Linzi through water transportation, which is very convenient.
If this city falls into the hands of the Qin army, Linzi will be in real danger.
Therefore, in addition to deploying a large army in Zhencheng, Da Sima also deployed 20,000 troops along the Ayi route, led by Qi general Zou Bai.
Guard this line of defense.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, and it was already dusk on the second day after the war.
Tian Rong and several of his followers finally arrived at the outskirts of Ayi after running wildly for a whole day in the middle of the night.
On his body was not only an order from Grand Sima to Qi General Zou Bai to strictly guard the city, but also a document to accuse Qi Wang Jian and request support.
"After passing the order, I will go to Linzi to tell the prime minister and the king personally about the ferocity of the Qin army and the dangers that Qi will face. After the king understands the situation, he will definitely recruit another army to resist the Qin people. As long as there is another attack With one hundred thousand people, our Qi country will definitely be safe this time."
Just as Tian Rong was thinking in his mind, a short-distance soldier beside him shouted: "Oh my god, Ah Yi was attacked!"
Ah Yi was attacked?
Isn’t the Qin army still in Zhencheng?
Tian Rong was stunned for a moment, but then he saw it.
In Ayi City in the distance, there were beacon smoke everywhere, and at the same time, there were figures shaking everywhere.
Tian Rong trembled and rushed forward. When he got closer, he finally saw it clearly.
Outside Ayi City, there are really countless black-armored Qin troops. They have now occupied the Qi army camp originally stationed outside the city, and are still attacking the city.
At this time, it was the end of the battle. Tian Rong clearly saw a Qin soldier planting a flag on a city wall. The black Qin flag fluttered in the wind, announcing the new ownership of the city.
At the same time, the remaining city gates of Ayi were all opened, and fast horses and vehicles rushed out of the city and fled into the distance.
"Ayi is finished..."
Tian Rong took a breath and felt sweat on his forehead.
The fall of Ayi not only opened the door to Linzi, the capital of Qi, but also meant that the escape route for the great Sima of Zhencheng was cut off.
As long as Ayi is in the hands of the Qin army, Zhencheng will no longer be able to receive any support from the Qi mainland.
"You two, return to Zhencheng quickly and inform the Grand Sima of the fall of Ayi, so that the Grand Sima can make preparations in advance. I will go to Linzi to inform the king of this important news! Request the king to summon troops for support immediately!"
The two short soldiers named by Tian Rong immediately agreed and rode back towards Zhencheng.
Tian Rong took a deep breath, took the remaining short soldiers, bypassed Ayi, and ran towards Linzi.
Before he left, he couldn't help but turn his head and look at the still smoking city in the distance.
"Where did this Qin army come from?"
…
Outside the city of Ayi, Meng Tian, who had a weathered face, looked at the Qin flag flying on the city wall, and his tense cheeks relaxed.
"The Qi army garrison in Ayi only sent sentries to patrol the west, but ignored the east. I came from the east, so I hit him unprepared and caught him by surprise. Now that I have captured Ayi, I will cut it off. It is a great achievement to have secured the Qi army's retreat in Zhencheng."
Meng Tian's eyes flashed with joy. He had a strategic vision and naturally knew the significance of his move.
"General Meng, what should we do next? Should we lead the army to Zhencheng and join forces with General Zhao to annihilate the Qi army?"
Su Jiao, his capable subordinate, came up and asked.
Meng Tian shook his head and said: "We don't need to worry about the battle of Zhencheng. With General Zhao's ability, it is easy to defeat a Qi State Sima. You can send someone to the west to inform the general. Before the general's order arrives, our The mission is to defend this city and prevent the Qi army from counterattacking. As long as this city is in our hands, the Qi army west of Ayi will have nowhere to escape. This is a great achievement!"
…
Zhencheng, early morning the next day.
Da Sima Tian Chong, along with Tian Dan, Xiang Fuji and other generals, walked up the city wall early in the morning and looked at the camp in the distance.
Just two days ago, the camp was owned by the Qi army, but now it has become a garrison for the Qin army.
Looking from afar from the city wall, I could see that the camps were crowded with people, their eyes covered by black armor, and it was very crowded.
If you look over the camp and look into the distance, you can see a group of birds flying high in the mountains and forests further away.
That was the Qin army cutting down trees and building siege equipment.
"In the past two days, the Qin army has been busy counting their harvests and building weapons.
There was no siege. But it's just peace for the past few days. Soon there will be a bloody battle. "
Tian Chong sighed lightly.
Xiangfuji said: "Don't worry, Sir. Our army has reinforced the city defenses in the past two days and prepared all kinds of defense materials. The food stored in the city is enough to feed our army for several months, which is enough to last until the king calls for it." Reinforcements are coming."
Tian Chong nodded. Zhencheng was a border city of Qi State. Faced with a war that could break out at any time, there was a huge granary built in the city, which stored a huge amount of grain and grass. This was supposed to provide food for his army.
Now that the army has been defeated by the Qin people, the remaining people can survive longer by eating the food in the city, so there is no need to worry about this.
Thinking of food, Tian Chong's face turned gloomy again.
"Tian Dan, are you sure there are no Qin women among the ten thousand people?"
Tian Dan smiled bitterly and said, "The general sent someone to check carefully. These ten thousand people are indeed from our Qi country. They can all speak the same language, and can tell their local origins. They know each other, and there are no Qin people mixed in." in."
Tian Chong's expression softened slightly, and he whispered: "Looking at it this way, Zhao Tuo can be considered a gentleman. There was not enough food in the army, so he did not kill prisoners. Instead, he returned them to Zhencheng. He was thoughtful."
Hearing Da Sima say the word "gentleman", the expressions of everyone around him changed.
Tian Dan frowned and said: "The general thinks that there may be a trick of the Qin people, because although those ten thousand people are genuine soldiers of ours. But according to the general's observation, after they returned to the city, they went around preaching that the Qin people would not kill. Regarding the prisoners, some people actually said that Qin general Zhao Tuo was merciful."
"Before, we said that the Qin army killed brutally to encourage the soldiers to fight to the death. Now that this incident has disturbed the morale of the army, I am afraid that the morale of the army will be unstable again."
Tian Chong's expression changed slightly. After being reminded by Tian Dan, he immediately figured out the joint.
"What a great Zhao Tuo. I thought he was a gentleman, but I didn't expect it to be another trick. He is trying to destroy our military morale!"
Tian Chong gritted his teeth, but he had no choice in the face of Zhao Tuo's conspiracy.
After all, facing ten thousand people wailing and begging outside the city, he had no way to keep them out. In addition to his conscience, he also had to consider the psychology of the soldiers in the city.
He was chased by the Qin army before. In order to prevent the Qin people from taking the opportunity to seize the city, he abandoned tens of thousands of defeated soldiers and forced the city gates to be closed.
But in the face of the situation where there are no Qin people on the side and ten thousand of his own children are begging for help, if Tian Chong dares to refuse, I am afraid that the already unstable military morale in the city will fall to the lowest point.
So he could only hold his nose and let the ten thousand people enter the city.
"I have issued a strict order to forbid the soldiers from talking about this matter with each other. Mr. Xiangfu, you are extremely eloquent. This time I ask you to go to the soldiers in the city to preach that the Qin army will release the prisoners. This is to incite the morale of the soldiers in our city, so that the soldiers must not Fooled!"
"And encouraged the soldiers, telling them that as long as they can fight to the death and defend the city, they will be able to wait for the king's reinforcements, and then they can drive the Qin people out of our Qi country!"
Tian Chong spoke to Xiang Fuji.
Xiang Fuji immediately held up his hands and said, "Don't worry, Great Sima, I will use my words to encourage the soldiers to fight to the death!"
Tian Chong nodded and said: "Although Zhao Tuo's strategy can damage the morale of our army, the soldiers in my city will not surrender to him. After all, our Qi country still has strength, and the king can still recruit troops to come to support. There is hope. Now, no one in the city is willing to be a prisoner in his Qin camp. So Zhao Tuo let these ten thousand people back, but it will increase our strength to defend the city!"
Xiangfu Ji then laughed and said: "What Da Sima said is that with these ten thousand more people defending the city, the Qin army will have to spend more time and casualties if they want to attack the city. From this point of view, what Zhao Tuo did, It’s really a mistake.”
[An app that has been running stably for many years, comparable to the old book-chasing tool, used by all old bookworms.
A group of soldiers came to report that they had brought news about Ayi. "
"Brother Rong sent someone to reply?"
Tian Dan was stunned for a moment. Their brothers captured Lord Hengyang of South Korea. Not only were they favored by Da Sima, but they also won the title of doctor of Qi for their merit. The doctor Tian Bing was talking about at this moment was Tian Rong.
"Ayi?"
Tian Chong raised his eyebrows and said, "Zou Bai has always been talented. With him guarding Ah Yi, I feel more at ease. I just want to see what news can come from Ah Yi."
