The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Chaos, this is how Heifu felt about the battle to defend Yidao that night.

First of all, the Ba tribes under the city attacked without order. They started hastily, without any siege equipment, and could only rush forward with wood and simple bamboo ladders.

These attackers first ran to the Yishui River and smeared white mud on their faces. In the night, with their dark skin, they were particularly conspicuous.

Unlike the Qin army's siege method in the battles of Chenliu and Waihuang, which Heifu had participated in, they did not divide into queues, did not arrange attacking squares, and had no drums and flags. Whoever wanted to go up could go up. They came roaring like a reckless herd of beasts, each holding a shield and a sword, and kept breathing, as if they had endless energy, and even when climbing the bamboo ladder, they could not stop breathing.

This disorderly attack, although occasionally a few brave Ba people jumped onto the top of the city, most of them were stabbed down by the spears and bamboo poles of the people on the top of the city halfway up...

The archers who came to help under the city did not form an array, three stood in the east, five in the west, and they could not release their bows and arrows at the same time. At night, those sharp-eyed Ba hunters could not aim and could not use their special skills, so the arrows were like scattered raindrops, not threatening much.

That was fine, hundreds of people in front were attacking the city, and the Ba people behind burned several piles of fire on the ground, sitting or standing, with a few accompaniers playing drums and flutes in the middle, like a bonfire party, everyone sang and danced.

I don't know if it was to cheer up their companions, or if they had forgotten that this was a battlefield and just thought it was a tribal gathering! Not only did the leaders not stop them, they even joined in, staggering as if they were drunk.

Hei Fu saw this scene and was secretly delighted: "The Wu Sun Tzu says that a weak general, unclear teaching, inconsistent officers and soldiers, and disorderly deployment of troops are one of the six major mistakes that lead to failure. Although these Ba people are all brave and good at fighting, most of them have no concept of order. They rose up in a hurry, with incomplete weapons and armor, and rushed in a swarm, and only attacked one side. The threat to the city is actually limited..." Hei Fu guessed that this was because the Ba people usually only participated in tribal fights and were rarely organized to attack cities. The only thing worth mentioning was that this group of Ba people were fearless and died. A group of them rushed up again, as if they would not stop singing and dancing. However, looking at the people on his side, Hei Fu's secret joy was offset. Because the defenders on the top of the city, except for the hundreds of county soldiers who were still in order, the petty officials and the people were also in a mess, and they were no different from the Ba people who were fighting randomly...

First of all, the archers on the top of the city, except for a dozen county soldiers, the rest were young and strong men who claimed to be "good at shooting". This group of people can indeed shoot bows, but when they saw the Ba people shouting and rushing over, they rushed to the battlements in a disorderly manner, and couldn't help but let go and shoot arrows from a long distance, but in the end, no one was shot down, and there was even a tall and long-armed young man who shot arrows directly with his eyes closed. Hei Fu could only pull him back and let him help send arrows.

Looking at the miserable performance of this group of people, Hei Fu couldn't help but miss Xiao Tao.

"If Xiao Tao were here, he would definitely teach them what it means to be a qualified archer."

Don't be afraid of danger, don't shoot arrows easily, don't shoot too many arrows, shooting too many arrows will make your arms sore and your strength will decrease, but strive to hit every shot!

The same was true for the young men who were given spears and halberds. Under the order of the county soldiers, they stood in formation behind the archers, but they stood crookedly, with their legs standing still and swallowing saliva constantly. Some even took a step back involuntarily and made room when the fierce Ba people quickly climbed up the city wall. Although these young men had a month of training every year, they had never experienced a real battle and their performance was not satisfactory.

In fact, when defending the city, experience is not the most important thing, but courage. These local young men may know that the Ba people are brave, but they are not brave enough when facing them.

"If Dongmen Bao was here, he could use his fearlessness and fearlessness to set an example." Hei Fu thought so.

At this time, two clerks who were ordered by him to pass orders back and forth on the city wall bumped into each other and fell to the ground immediately.

Hei Fu shook his head helplessly. It would be great if Ji Ying was here. This guy is the most suitable person to be a messenger. Not only is he fast, but he can also say a few witty words from time to time to relieve the tension of the crowd and boost morale.

And Li Xian, if he were here, he would definitely come up with several vicious ideas to deal with the Ba people.

The key is not the order, but the person who executes it.

Looking at the people in Yidao who performed horribly, Hei Fu felt helpless and began to miss his men who were still in Anlu County.

"The strong wind reveals the strong grass. I didn't feel it when I just left Anlu, but once the war comes, the soldiers and officers trained by myself are still reliable. Before the second attack on Chu, I have to find a way to return to Anlu County and continue to lead the soldiers from my hometown."

That's a matter for the future. While thinking, Hei Fu dodged an arrow blown by the night wind and stabbed a screaming Ba warrior in the chest with a spear...

The attack and defense of this night ended in a mess. The Ba people seemed to be tired of jumping and retreated. The people on the top of the city didn't know how they repelled the enemy, and they all cheered...

...

"Left Military Officer, I see that this group of Ba people neither set up camp nor formed a battle array for protection, but are all sleeping with their heads covered. They are really careless. Why don't we go out of the city to attack them?"

On the morning of the second day, at sunrise, unlike the noise of yesterday, there was silence outside the city. Heifu, who was dozing on the top of the city, was also awakened by the remaining 100 generals of Yidao, and offered his "brilliant plan".

"Who gave you the courage?"

Heifu cursed in his heart, but smiled and affirmed the courage of the 100 generals. He stood up and observed the group of Ba people sleeping in a mess under the city with their shields as pillows.

"General Bai, do you see the red Chu flag in the front row?"

General Bai nodded, and Hei Fu smiled and said, "There are more than a hundred Chu soldiers there, probably led by the envoys who asked the Ba people to rebel against Qin and join Chu. They did not participate in the attack last night and were resting, but this morning they were watching the movements in the city, which shows that the other side is prepared."

General Bai was still unwilling: "I heard that Zuo Bingcao Shi attacked 2,000 Chu troops with hundreds of troops last year and defeated them in one fell swoop. There are more than a thousand people in the city today, why not imitate that day?"

Hei Fu shook his head: "That time is different from this time, and it is not the same. You said I have a thousand people available, but in fact, nine hundred young and strong can be used to defend the city, but cannot be used in field battles. Only more than a hundred county soldiers can go out of the city to attack the enemy."

"The current situation is that the enemy failed to make a strong attack, and now the second drum has weakened. I am afraid that they no longer have the momentum of yesterday; our army is not good at attacking, but good at defending. It is not difficult to hold on for a day and a night. If we go to war rashly, we may fail. Once we fail, it will cause instability and boost the morale of the enemy."

After saying so much, what Hei Fu was actually thinking was that at that time he was leading a group of pitiful soldiers who had no way out and just wanted to defeat the Chu people and go home. Among them were soldiers and officers trained by himself, so of course they were not in vain. But now, taking these young and strong Yidao who have not been trained for a long time out of the city to fight the brave Ba people in the field? Hei Fu asked himself if he was crazy enough.

If Xiao Tao, Dongmen Bao, Li Xian, Ji Ying, and even Huai Mu who had died in the battle were all here, Hei Fu might lead his men out of the city to attack immediately...

"We will go out of the city to attack the enemy."

He didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of the hundred generals, and said, "When the time comes!"

"When?" The hundred generals were looking forward to it.

Hei Fu turned his head, crossed the streets and alleys of the small town, and looked at the northern wall of Yidao.

"When the reinforcements arrive, it's time for us to fight back!"

...

As Hei Fu said, although the Ba people were very excited and brave on the first day, they were much more sluggish on the second day. Not only did they retreat hastily after being shot with two waves of arrows from the top of the city wall, but even those behind them could not sing and dance anymore.

Although the Ba people leader Fan Qin killed several people in a row, it was of no avail. In the afternoon, Hei Fu and his men even saw two teams of hundreds of people on the top of the city wall arbitrarily leaving the main force and evacuating to the north.

After all, they were a few tribes that had come together temporarily. If things went well, they could still cooperate sincerely. If things went wrong, they would scatter like birds and beasts.

I guess the Chu envoy under the red Chu flag must have felt helpless when seeing this scene. The Ba people were good at fighting in the mountains and forests, and they could also be used as "trapped soldiers" to disrupt the enemy's formation, but they really couldn't attack the city.

The next day passed without any danger. In the early morning of that night, under the urging of their leader Fan Qin, the Ba people launched another fierce attack, but they were already exhausted and could not penetrate the white cloth. After a random attack, they retreated again...

"One effort, two weakened, three exhausted, Yidao was considered to be defended..."

Hei Fu touched his arm that was scratched by a stray arrow and breathed a sigh of relief.

When the third day dawned, he immediately observed the Ba people outside the city. There were fewer than yesterday, and nearly a thousand people were gone. Only more than two thousand were left. They were still stationed in the same place, but they were all crooked and their morale was completely different from when they first arrived!

At this time, the generals hurried over from the wall and said to Hei Fu in surprise: "Left Army Cao Shi, reinforcements, reinforcements are seen!"

Hei Fu hurriedly asked people to watch the enemies outside the city, and asked the generals to wake up the county soldiers and the young and strong who performed well and gather them together. He ran to the north wall, but saw that two miles away was the mighty river, with more than a dozen large and small wooden boats heading this way. At this time, the north wind was blowing, and the boats all opened their hard sails, like a group of gray geese entering the water, stretching their wings.

Look at the speed, it will reach the south bank in a moment...

They saw the sails of the reinforcements, and the enemy's scouts on the shore must have seen it too.

"Let the people in the south city keep a close eye on the enemies outside the city. Once they want to withdraw, be ready to go out of the city to chase them!"

Hei Fu, who had been timid for two days, was overjoyed. He immediately walked down the city wall and looked at the young and strong people of Yidao Qin who gathered on the street with eye mucus in the corners of their eyes. He rode on his horse and raised his sword high so that they could all see him.

"The reinforcements sent by the county governor have arrived!"

When everyone heard that the reinforcements had finally arrived, they were overjoyed at first, and then their eyes became eager under Hei Fu's loud encouragement.

"You two have defended the city of Yidao and your homeland, but is that enough? Now that reinforcements have arrived, if you are a man, follow me out of the city to fight the enemy and chase them north!"

"Your burned houses, destroyed crops, and delayed livelihoods, all of these must be compensated today with their heads!"