The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

In early October of the fourth year of King Fuchu of Chu, Xiang Yan felt as if his chest was oppressed by a dark cloud, making it hard to breathe, as he watched the black mark of the Qin army on the map approaching the border of Chu.

In the past half month, the intelligence sent back by the frontline scouts has been constantly updated. The number of Qin troops has been rising from the initial 200,000 and 300,000 to the recent "suspected to be 500,000 or 600,000"!

"More than 600,000 people..."

Xiang Rong, the son of Xiang Yan, exclaimed just by hearing this number.

"The Huaibei, Lu, Huainan, Jiangdong, and Jiangnan of Chu State, together, have only more than 600,000 households..."

This number is of course inflated. Many of the Yue people and barbarians in the Jiangnan and Jiangdong areas cannot be counted, and there are also many dependent populations including the Xiang family, Zhao, Jing, Qu and other nobles, but in general, the total population of Chu is no more than 5 million.

"Qin is attacking with all its strength and troops, and Chu can only use all its troops to resist Qin."

If you want to fight the Qin army with the same army, then each household will have to recruit one soldier, which means that Chu will have to let at least one-tenth of the population leave labor and rush to the front line. In Qin, this may not be difficult, but in Chu, it is absolutely impossible!

Because the system of Chu is very different from that of Qin, its army is composed of three parts. The essence is the "left and right Guang" stationed in the capital. This 20,000-man army is the standing army of Chu. The King of Chu only transferred the right Guang to Xiang Yan for use.

In addition, there are county divisions, which are local troops of Chu. They are mainly deployed in the border areas of Chu, led by county lords, mostly in Huainan and Huaibei. These county divisions constitute the main force of the Chu army.

But more of them are private soldiers of nobles from all over the country. After receiving the call from the King of Chu, the feudal nobles gathered together with the temporarily recruited territory armed forces. Although the fighting power of Xiang, Zhao, Jing, and Qu's soldiers was no less than that of the county division, most of the private soldiers were of complex composition and their fighting power was worrying. In addition, due to the different enthusiasm of the nobles for the war, some supported the whole clan, while others hid half of their weapons.

So at present, Xiang Yan only had more than 100,000 soldiers and 200,000 civilians available, which was already the limit of Chu's load.

At this moment, with a notification, the door of the big tent was opened, and a middle-aged noble in his thirties entered the tent and bowed to Xiang Yan.

"Zhaohua has come here with his private soldiers at the order of the king! I haven't seen you for half a year, but you are still in high spirits!"

Xiang Yan quickly helped him up: "Zihua, you have worked hard! I wonder how many people did you bring from Jiangdong?"

Zhaohua replied: "30,000 people!"

"30,000..."

Xiang Yan nodded. The three major clans of Chu are Zhao, Jing, and Qu. The Zhao family is descended from Ziliang, the son of King Zhao of Chu. Many famous officials of Chu, such as Zhao Xixu, Zhao Yu, Zhao Ju, and Zhao Yang, are from the Zhao family. It has been passed down for 300 years, but it has declined after moving eastward. It is no longer as prosperous as the Jing family, and its territory is not as large as the Qu family. However, Zhaohua brought more people than the Jing family.

Zhaohua knows military affairs and is a young general that Xiang Yan is very optimistic about. So he pulled him to the map and pointed to the situation on it and said, "What battle does Zihua think of in this situation?"

Zhaohua looked at the situation of the two armies on the map and was a little worried: "It is very similar to the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao..."

Both are battles that determine the fate of the country. Both sides gathered their armies at the border and fierce battles may break out at any time.

"Yes, but when Qin and Zhao fought in Changping, the Qin army was far less than today, and Chu couldn't even gather 450,000 people." Xiang Yan shook his head helplessly.

Qin and Chu were relatives for 18 generations and were originally evenly matched, but over the past hundred years, one has grown while the other has declined. Now the strength of the country can be seen from the strength of the army.

Military tactics: one is measurement, two is quantity, three is number, four is comparison, and five is victory. The degree of a war is determined by the size of the land. The size of the land determines the amount of materials, the amount of military taxes determines the number of soldiers, the number of soldiers determines the combat effectiveness of the troops, and the combat effectiveness of the troops determines the outcome. Therefore, the victorious army is like a tael against a zhu, using strong military strength to attack a weak enemy; while the defeated army is like a zhu against a tael, using weak military strength to fight against a strong enemy.

Last time Qin hastily attacked Chu, the two sides were still fighting against each other, but now, they are fighting against each other...

The past cannot be changed, Xiang Yan can only hope that this battle can repeat last year's miracle, so that Chu can get a chance to revive and slowly reverse the disadvantage!

So he smiled and asked Zhao Hua and Xiang Rong, two juniors: "Then according to you, how should our army respond now? Should we learn from Lian Po to defend? Or should we learn from Zhao Kuo to attack?"

Xiang Rong replied: "At present, the Qin army is large and the Chu army is small. In my opinion, we should concentrate our forces on Chen Ying and other important places for defense, and wait for a few months until the snow falls and the Qin army retreats..."

Zhao Hua thought otherwise: "The area around Shangdang and Changping is full of mountains, gullies, and many passes, so Lian Po can build barriers and defend for several months. However, Qin and Chu are facing each other in the north of the Huai River, which is flat and has smooth transportation. As long as the Qin army is willing, it can march straight in at any time like last time, so Shangzhuguo cannot imitate Lian Po and has nothing to defend!"

"Furthermore, the Supreme State ordered me to coordinate the grain and grass in the country. If there are 400,000 soldiers, the grain stored in Huainan, Huaibei, and Jiangdong is only enough for 400,000 soldiers to eat until February or March next year. Perhaps before the Qin army retreats, our army will run out of food..."

This is also one of the reasons why Xiang Yan is worried. A large amount of land and population are concentrated in the hands of various royal families. Not much is handed over to the treasury. In addition, the king and ministers of Chu are extravagant, so there is always not much grain stored. This time, the soldiers of each family have to provide their own food and weapons.

"On the other hand, Qin has cattle fields and water supply, and has implemented strict policies. It has also rested for a year and waited until the harvest at home before sending troops. If we fight with it for a long time, Chu will be the first to give up!"

Xiang Yan pondered, and Xiang Rong asked: "What do you think, Zihua, should we attack?"

"There is no place to defend, and there is no place to attack. Although the Qin army's front line is long, it echoes from beginning to end. If we attack Shangcai, Yangcheng can be saved. No matter which point we attack, the Qin army has more people than our army. It would be bad to attack rashly."

"What should we do?"

Under the current situation, Zhaohua has no good solution: "We can only hope that the Qin army will take the initiative to attack. The advantage of our army is that we can wait for the enemy to tire out..."

To put it bluntly, the initiative of this war is not on the side of Chu.

"Zihua is right."

Xiang Yan first affirmed Zhaohua's suggestion, but shook his head and said: "It's a pity that Wang Jian is not Li Xin! He will never attack rashly!"

Xiang Yan's prediction was soon confirmed. A few days later, scouts reported that Wang Jian had divided his 600,000 troops and stationed them on a 200-mile battle line from Yangxia to Shangcai. After those troops arrived, they did not immediately attack Chu. Instead, they spent the whole day repairing the fortifications outside the city camp on the border between Qin and Chu, as if they were going to stay there for a long time...

"Sure enough."

Although Xiang Yan saw through Wang Jian's plan, he could do nothing about it and could only say bitterly:

"It seems that old Wang Jian is not going to compete with me in military skills this time. What he wants to compete with me is the national strength of Qin and Chu, and each other's patience!"

...

In the first month of the 24th year of Qin Wangzheng (October), after several days of rushing to build, the Qin army camp outside Shangcai City has begun to take shape.

The people led by Hei Fu were all ready to enter the Chu territory to start the war, but unexpectedly, Li You issued another order from General Wang Jian: "Each of you should lead the supervised civilians to build a barrier in front of the camp..."

The so-called barrier is a defensive wall. After learning of this order, the impatient Dongmen Bao was a little crazy: "Are we here to attack Chu or to defend against the enemy? Why do we have to build a barrier before we even see the shadow of the Chu army? Isn't this showing cowardice?"

"The art of war says that the invincible is to defend."

Hei Fu seemed to have expected everything, and smiled: "Choosing to defend first when the opportunity is not ripe is a safe method, which is better than the last battle, when General Li Xin rashly divided his troops to attack, and ended up defeating the army and killing the general."

It was not only the soldiers of Nanjun who were ordered to build the fortifications. The entire "Southern Army" led by Meng Wu, with 150,000 soldiers and civilians, had to complete the construction of a fortification of more than ten miles this month, forming a pincer attack with the "Central Army" stationed in Yangcheng and Ruyang, and the "Northern Army" stationed in Yangxia.

Such matters were naturally commanded by professional officials. The person in charge of the general project was a "supervising censor" from Xianyang named Linglu, and under him was the "Sikong", an official of Qin State who was specifically responsible for civil engineering. The 10,000 soldiers of Nanjun were ordered to protect the work of 10,000 civilians, and there was also a military Sikong to supervise the work...

Heifu was not unfamiliar with the position of Sikong, because the county Sikong was under the jurisdiction of the county lieutenant's office and was considered his subordinate. There was also a "military Sikong" in the army, who was responsible for earthwork during marching and camping and siege and defense.

The Qin army was very efficient. Wang Jian's order was issued in the morning, and by the evening, a military commander had come to the camp.

It was getting dark outside. Hei Fu was delivering military affairs in Li You's tent. At this time, a short soldier came in and whispered a few words to Li You. Li You threw away the small chess piece used to mark the enemy and our forces and said with a smile: "I never thought I could meet an old friend here. Hei Fu, follow me to meet this military commander!"

When he left the tent, Hei Fu smiled and said: "Could it be that the person who came is an old acquaintance of the captain?"

"More than an old acquaintance."

Li You did not need to hide anything from a confidant like Hei Fu. He whispered: "He is a talent discovered by my father and recommended to the Shaofu as an official. When he was in Xianyang, he often came in and out of my house..."

While talking, a man came up with the short soldier guards. Hei Fu saw that although he was tall and burly, he looked like a warrior, but his face was very gentle, like a clerk. He wore a double plate crown on his head. His title was at least an official doctor. Because he was responsible for earthwork and camping for many days, his black official uniform was gray.

The man took a few steps forward, bowed to Li You, and said in a pure Guanzhong accent: "The humble official greets the commander!"

"Mr. Zhang, what is the relationship between you and me? Why do you call me humble official?"

Li You laughed, helped the military commander up, pointed at Hei Fu, and introduced them to each other.

"This is the most capable commander of this commander, Hei Fu!"

"This is the military commander from the Shaofu of Xianyang, Zhang Han!"