The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Upon learning that his son Xiang Rong had made several feints to lure the enemy, and that the Qin army, although raising flags and drums to warn, had retreated behind the fortress and had not come out in the end, Xiang Yan just sighed and talked to Zhao Hua in the tent about something that seemed unrelated.

"There is a tortoise room in Shouchun, in which is enshrined the shell of a divine tortoise. It is said that it was born in the time of Huangdi and Shennong, and lived for three thousand years. All the turtles in Jianghuai are its descendants. It is a pity that it was killed during the reign of King Yuan of Song. However, the tortoise shell is immortal for a hundred years. After the Chu State destroyed Song, it was wrapped in the finest brocade and silk and hidden in the temple."

"Zihua ruled in Jiangdong, so you must have seen many turtles?"

"I often see them."

Zhaohua replied: "The elders in Jiangdong often say that turtles swim on lotus leaves when they are a thousand years old. Where they are born, there are no tigers or wolves, and no poisonous grass. People living by the river often raise large turtles for food. When they grow to a foot in size, they present them to the fortune teller, and on an auspicious day, they remove the turtle's belly shell and use it for divination."

Xiang Yan said: "Yes, when the king deploys troops, he must first use the tortoise shell to divination in the temple to determine good or bad luck. This time is no exception. However, this time the tortoise shell was burned three times in a row. In order to reassure everyone, I can only learn from Dou Lian in the past. Divination is used to resolve doubts. If there is no doubt, why divination? I overturned the tortoise shell to reassure the soldiers. I dare not say a word to the soldiers about the result of the divination."

He smiled bitterly helplessly. The unfavorable divination cast a layer of haze on the hearts of the King of Chu and his ministers.

"It would be fine if this tortoise opposed me during divination, but when I came to the front line, I hit my head on a hard tortoise shell."

The tortoise shell that Xiang Yan mentioned refers to the barrier that Wang Jian built on the front line with the strength of hundreds of thousands of people. No matter how the Chu army challenged, it would shrink and not fight. It seems that it is determined to spend the winter here.

"Wang Jian, this old turtle."

Xiang Yan couldn't help but curse. He knew his opponent's mind. The only advantage of the Chu army was the psychological confidence after defeating the Qin army last year. However, the confidence will fade over time.

This is not the first time Wang Jian has used this tactic. A few years ago, Wang Jian led the Qin army to attack Zhao. Because Zhao's general Li Mu used the army like a god, he failed to achieve success. So Wang Jian led his soldiers to retreat for half a year and held a stalemate with Li Mu. Finally, Zhao became suspicious and killed Li Mu with a rift. Only then did he lead the Qin army, which had been holding back for half a year, to conquer Handan in one fell swoop.

Now, he used this trick to deal with Chu again. Xiang Yan asked himself that he would not end up like Li Mu, but the trouble was that the turtle's shell was extremely hard, and it was impervious to spears and swords. It also had a sharp mouth, and it would bite off a piece of meat if you were not careful.

If we had known this earlier, we would have launched an offensive even if our army had not yet fully assembled, so that the Qin army could not build barriers with peace of mind.

"There are actually many ways to kill a turtle."

Zhaohua said: "If you can't smash its shell head-on, why not try to cut in through the gap between the carapace and the ventral carapace?"

Xiang Yan thought: "Is Zihua's strategy to cut off its food supply?"

"Yes!"

Zhaohua pointed to the several roads on the map that the Chu scouts had risked their lives to find:

"When the armies are in a stalemate, the baggage and food are the first priority. The Qin army has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and consumes 30,000 stones of food a day!"

"There are three routes for their food supply, the Ru River, the Ying River, and the Honggou, all of which are waterways. This is why their food supply is more convenient and faster than ours. Food is transported downstream from Yangdi, Xinzheng, Xiangcheng, and Aocang in Qin Yingchuan County, docked in Shangcai and Ruyang, and then transported to the front-line fortress camps by carriages and human-powered chariots..."

"We are powerless against the Qin army's rear grain and water grain ships, but if Shangzhuguo can advance with a large army as if for a decisive battle, and then send chariots and cavalry to destroy their granaries at the wharves in Shangcai and Ruyang, the Qin army will be in chaos within half a month! Our army will take advantage of the situation to attack. Although we dare not say that we can completely defeat the Qin army, we can at least destroy their barriers and force them to retreat!"

Xiang Yan and Zhao Hua decided to attack the baggage first, but in early November, Zhao Hua and others led tens of thousands of chariots and cavalry of the Chu army and found that they thought too simply.

They went around a long way and approached the other side of Shangcai Wharf from the south bank of Rushui, which was not protected by barriers. They were shocked to find that the wharf was also protected by barriers and corner towers. When they saw the Chu army coming to the other side from afar, thousands of Qin soldiers came out of the barracks one after another, ready to fight!

What surprised the Chu people even more was that in addition to the strict defense of the wharf where the grain ships docked, the road from the wharf to the granary in the city, and then from the granary to the fortified military camp more than ten miles away, was also built with barriers on both sides.

This kind of road protected by barriers is called "Yongdao". It was built by Zhang Han and other military officials with civilians after the corner tower of the fortified camp was repaired in front of them, just to ensure the safety of the grain road.

"I never thought that Wang Jian would attach so much importance to the grain road, leaving no loopholes..."

Zhao Hua sighed at the river, and Xiang Yan's evaluation of Wang Jian flashed in his mind: old turtle.

...

Seeing the Chu army retreating again, Dongmen Bao lowered his hand holding the halberd in disappointment and said disappointedly: "These Chu soldiers are really cowardly, why are they retreating again?"

When they were guarding the front-line barriers, they also encountered several attacks from the Chu army, but they only challenged them. If the Qin army did not come out, they would retreat on their own.

Ten days ago, the Nanjun Corps received a new mission. Li You was ordered to return to Shangcai to guard the dock, granary and grain road. As the Qin army's fortress camp moved forward, this place was already in the rear. Dongmen Bao thought he would never see half of the Chu army again, but unexpectedly, a seemingly elite Chu army came from the other side today!

Before he could be happy! The Chu army left again? How could he not be angry?

Hei Fu said, "If we come here, we will be attacked halfway across the river. Even if we manage to gain a foothold, this dock has been built like a fortress, and the corner tower is rammed with rammed earth. How can we break through it? If we attack rashly, we may be wiped out. The Chu army dare not take this risk."

Another 500-man general Li Xian also came over and said, "Captain, our army will not attack, and the Chu army will be cautious. When will this battle really start?"

"It has already started."

Hei Fu said, "The contest between the two commanders is in full swing!"

Unlike his men who were a little anxious, Hei Fu was open-minded. In this confrontation of hundreds of thousands of people, the more than a thousand men under his command were not even a black soldier. The veterans of both sides just refused to cross the river. What can the soldiers do?

After speaking, Hei Fu ordered, "Let the Yuqi Li lead the cavalry to patrol along the river. Be careful that the Chu army has not retreated and crosses the river at night!"

Although Hei Fu was extremely cautious, the Chu army did not dare to take risks after all.

In the next half month, although the weather was getting colder, there was still a constant stream of grain ships on the Ru River, and grain carts were safely traveling in the tunnel, transporting 20,000 shi of grain every day to supply 150,000 soldiers and civilians of the Southern Army. The excess was stored in the Shangcai granary, because in a month or so, when heavy snow fell, the Ru River might be partially frozen, making it difficult to sail.

In December, it rained and snowed, and outdoor activities were basically extinct. The Chu army also stopped its meaningless harassment.

Unknowingly, the Qin army and the Chu army had been confronting each other on the front line for more than two months. During this period, the Qin soldiers had a good life. They were protected by barriers and were not afraid of the Chu army's rash attack. In addition, there was enough food, and winter clothes and bedding also kept them from suffering from the severe cold. They could wash and clean their personal hygiene every few days to avoid the breeding of diseases.

The only problem was that they were too idle. In addition to duty and training every day, they had a lot of time to spend.

The others were fine, but Dongmen Bao, Ji Ying and other active people were already restless. They complained to Hei Fu: "It feels like this is not a war, but idleness. If they stay at home, they will probably be sentenced to death!" Hei Fu had no choice but to let everyone find something to do. It was cold outside in December, so everyone could only play pot throwing or arm wrestling in the tent. Whoever lost would take off an outer garment and run outside. For a while, the Qin army barracks were full of philosophical atmosphere. In January, the ice and snow melted, everything revived, and the sun shone. Everyone shouted to go out for activities, but there were too few entertainment games these days. They were nothing more than archery practice or playing stone throwing... In Hei Fu's opinion, the so-called stone throwing was a competition of throwing stones and standing long jump. It was interesting in the first few days, but after a few days, everyone got bored. After finishing daily training that day, Dongmen Bao and others were basking in the sun boredly, when suddenly, something hit the back of their heads!

"Who did it?"

Dongmen Bao thought someone was teasing him, and turned around cursing, and found Hei Fu watching from a distance with a smile.

"It turned out to be the leader..."

Dongmen Bao's anger disappeared immediately, and when he looked at the rolling object on the ground, it was a ball-shaped object.

"Isn't this a ball!"

Seeing the leather ball, Dongmen Bao and Ji Ying and others did not show any interest. In this day and age, Cuju is mostly a personal game, similar to the later juggling or kicking shuttlecock. It is said that the people of Qi like it very much. There are often performers on the streets of Linzi. The powerful ones can kick for an hour, with technical movements such as foot kicking, knee push, double leg flying, single foot stop ball, jump and hook, etc., but this sport is not very popular in Qin. Perhaps the Qin people are clumsy and do not like this kind of tricks that require too many skills.

"It's not an ordinary Cuju."

Heifu stepped on the ball firmly, looked at his lazy subordinates, and smiled: "Aren't you complaining about having nothing to do all day? Today I will teach you a new way to play!"

...

"It's been cold these days, but the old general is here to patrol the camp. It's really hard!"

In the Qin State "Southern Army" camp, Meng Wu, a deputy general of the Southern Army who was nearly 50 years old, smiled and went to help Wang Jian, who was gray-haired and wearing a fur coat, get off the car, but was held by the old general's thick hand as hard and cold as iron.

"General Meng, am I so old?"

Wang Jian smiled, not at all the old and weak he was when he was recuperating in Pinyang a year ago. Instead, he was full of energy. He looked at Meng Wu, who was taller than him, and after a few greetings, he walked hand in hand with him to the military camp.

Military officers along the way bowed to Wang Jian one after another. Unlike the warm reception Wang Jian received when he inspected the northern and central armies, there was no trace of old friendship in the respectful and solemn expressions of these people.

Indeed, Meng Wu's subordinates were different from Wang Jian's old subordinates such as Qiang Wei and Yang Duanhe. The Meng family formed their own system, and together with the Wang family, they were the two most famous generals in Qin.

Although the Wang family reached its peak when Wang Jian and his son destroyed several countries in succession, they were already highly valued by King Zhao of Qin as early as his uncle Wang He (hé), and fought against Lian Po in Changping.

But in Wang He's later years, his limelight was completely overshadowed by another person, that is, Meng Ao from Qi.

Since the death of Bai Qi, the Lord of Wu'an, Meng Ao has been the most trusted general of King Zhao of Qin and King Zhuangxiang of Qin. He defeated Han, Zhao and Wei successively, established Sanchuan County, and seized 20 cities from Wei and established Dong County. When King Zheng of Qin succeeded to the throne, Meng Ao was ranked above Wang Xi and Duke Biao, and was the first general of Qin.

After his death, his son Meng Wu inherited his father's title. Because Meng Wu had an old injury, the Meng family gradually became inferior to the Wang family.

But King Zheng of Qin has always cultivated the Meng family as a force to check and balance Wang Jian and his son. He especially admired Meng Wu's son Meng Tian and made him a general in the last war against Chu. Unfortunately, Li Xin and Meng Tian failed at the last moment. Facing the humiliation of losing troops and territory, Meng Wu had to stand up with his injuries and clean up the mess for his son.

He led an army of 100,000 and confronted the Chu army in Shangcai and Yangcheng for a year, and did not allow the Chu army to continue to expand the victory, waiting for Wang Jian to lead the army.

Therefore, the relationship between Wang and Meng was delicate. Meng Wu was not only a junior and a subordinate, but also a competitor, and was arranged by the King of Qin to check and balance Wang Jian on the front line...

However, both of them were veterans who had been immersed in the battlefield and officialdom for decades, and they seemed to be close old friends, with laughter and joy all the way.

Wang Jian's patrol of the camp this time, according to convention, still asked the kitchen to give the soldiers extra meals, let them eat a bite of meat, improve their diet, and go deep into their barracks to comfort and chat, and eat with the soldiers in person.

Although the military officials treated him respectfully and lukewarmly, the soldiers admired this old general very much. Every time Wang Jian entered a camp, it would cause huge cheers.

Moreover, whenever he went to a place, Wang Jian would ask the local generals and captains a question.

"Are there any games in the army?"

Meng Wu was stunned, and then replied: "Recently, I often see soldiers playing games in the camp, mostly throwing stones over distance, but..."

Wang Jian raised his head: "But what?"

"But I heard that the Nanjun soldiers who were ordered to guard the Shangcai granary are quite different. Each camp likes to play a new game called football!"