The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"Military competition is beneficial, but military competition is dangerous."

Meng Wu vaguely remembered what his father said to him many years ago when he was young and asked his father Meng Ao about this passage in the Art of War.

"Wu'er, the way to use troops is to fight for the first place. When a general receives an order from the king, from summoning troops, setting up camp, to going to the battlefield to confront the enemy, there is nothing more difficult than being the first to fight for the opportunity to win."

He cited the example of the rebellion in Jinyang in the first year of Qin Wangzheng. At that time, Jinyang surrendered first, and then rebelled again and returned to Zhao State, but Li Mu had not had time to receive it. The local Zhao people believed that Hedong and Taiyuan were two hundred miles apart, and the round trip would take at least ten days. At that time, the city of Jinyang had been repaired and the troops were ready.

However, it took Meng Ao only three days to lead his troops from Hedong to Jinyang, catching the local Zhao people off guard. He put down the rebellion before Li Mu sent troops from Yunzhong Yanmen to take over, thus establishing his position in the army.

But this kind of military struggle for the first opportunity, rolling up armor and marching day and night, doubling the speed, has benefits and dangers.

As the art of war says, if you fight for profit for a hundred miles, you will capture three generals, the strong ones go first and the tired ones go last, and the rule is to arrive in eleven. Soldiers who can only walk thirty miles a day, if they walk more than three times the distance day and night, they will be exhausted physically and mentally, not to mention joining the battlefield. Among the people, it would be good if one tenth can arrive, and the others will be exhausted halfway. Such an army will most likely be defeated by others who are waiting for the fatigue and the whole army will be annihilated.

Meng Wu remembered this. After crossing the Yingshui River, even though Wang Jian urged him to hurry, he only advanced at a speed of 50 miles a day. On March 15, he arrived 40 miles south of Qicheng and set up camp to wait for the follow-up troops. Because of the 50-mile battle, only half of the army could arrive in time, and the 30,000 Nanyang soldiers were still far behind!

The Nanjun soldiers were the ones who never fell behind and always walked in the front as the vanguard of the army. This made Meng Wu look at them with new eyes, because in the last war, the Nanjun soldiers were used as miscellaneous troops by his son Meng Tian to do things like luring the enemy and defending the city. Now, only a year has passed, why have they become so elite?

One reason is that Li You was well trained this year, and the other reason is that the Nanjun soldiers were generally equipped with "leg bandages". When the Nanyang soldiers who were not used to leg bandages were pounding their sore legs and wailing, the Nanjun soldiers picked the blisters on the soles of their feet, rested a little and could continue on their way.

Even at the temporary camp, Meng Wu also learned about the battle situation ahead: General Wang Jian sent someone to tell him that the Chu army had been harassing the Qin camp last night, and they must want to have a decisive battle today, so that Meng Wu could strive to reach the battlefield ten miles southwest of Qicheng today!

It was not difficult to rush for thirty miles, but they had just packed up when the scouts came to report that a 20,000-man Chu army had also broken away from Xiang Yan's army and approached ten miles away, forming a battle formation and blocking the Qin army's only way...

"Xiang Yan really wants to have a decisive battle today."

Meng Wu laughed. After half a year of waiting and half a month of pursuit, the outcome was finally decided at this time!

As far as he knew, the Qin Central Army led by Wang Jian was almost the same in number as the Chu Army that Xiang Yan had been avoiding battle with, and the Chu Army was fighting in danger, so the Qin Army might not be able to gain too much advantage.

Therefore, the outcome of this battle is determined by when the northern and southern divisions of the Qin army arrive at the battlefield!

If the Chu army with the word "Jing" stops Meng Wu, and the northern army will arrive in a few days, then even if Wang Jian wins, it will only be a miserable victory. If Meng Wu quickly defeats the Chu army in front of him and arrives at the battlefield, and attacks the Chu army from the front and back with Wang Jian, then this battle may be the last battle between Qin and Chu!

Thinking of this, Meng Wu was somewhat high-spirited. Just as he was about to order the more than 30,000 people who had arrived to attack the enemy, one of his staff members advised him: "General, now is a good opportunity to suppress Wang Jian!"

"What do you mean?"

Meng Wu narrowed his eyes and looked at the Qi staff member who had been serving the Meng family since his father.

The staff said: "General, you marched 50 miles yesterday, and only 30,000 soldiers have arrived at the camp. The 30,000 soldiers from Nanyang will arrive in half an hour. You might as well use this as an excuse to slowly confront the Chu army. When the Nanyang soldiers arrive, you can annihilate them completely, so that you can kill more people. At the same time, observe the situation on the battlefield in Qicheng, and wait until the Qin and Chu armies are tired before joining the battlefield. In this way, Wang Jian suffered many casualties, and it was all thanks to the general that he turned the tide of the war. Wang Jian asked for 600,000 troops before the war, but failed for half a year. Now there are more casualties, and he will definitely lose the king's heart..."

"Is this your brilliant plan?"

Meng Wu looked at the staff coldly and said, "Do you think Meng Wu is a person who forgets the public for personal gain? What if I am late for an hour, causing the Qin army to retreat, or letting Xiang Yan escape again, and missing the opportunity to annihilate the Chu army, what should I do? If the king knows about this delay in military affairs, how will he view the Meng family?"

Because of the last war, the eldest son Meng Tian had been banished by the King of Qin to lead troops in the border of Shangjun. Meng Wu endured the pain of his old wounds and went to the battlefield again, just to win another chance for the Meng family.

But it was definitely not to be obtained in this way.

"In the Battle of Yique, Wu Anjun faced the 240,000-strong coalition army of Han and Wei with 100,000 men. Han general Bao Yuan and Wei general Gong Sunxi both felt that they would win this battle and wanted to preserve their strength to let the other side and the Qin army consume their strength. So they watched each other and no one was willing to attack first. As a result, they were defeated by Wu Anjun one by one and the whole army was annihilated."

"Do you want me to be Bao Yuan and Gong Sunxi now?"

After dismissing this short-sighted staff, Meng Wu also had a clear response plan in his mind.

"Pass my order!"

He quickly wrote the order on the wooden slip, stamped it with his seal, and ordered: "Order 30,000 Nanyang soldiers to speed up and join me, and defeat the Chu army in front of us together."

"And the Nanjun soldiers Li You's unit can set out from the west to bypass the Jing family's defense line and go straight to the battlefield while I personally lead the soldiers to fight the Chu army! Rush to support General Wang!"

The Nanjun soldiers were responsible for the rescue, not only because they were equipped with leggings and had fast speed, but also because there was a grudge that Meng Wu wanted to write off.

"In the last battle, my son Meng Tian asked Li You to cover the rear, which made Li Si and his son quite criticized. In order to appease Li Si, the king demoted my son to Shangjun and no longer used him. Now I am giving Li You a credit, which may make the Meng and Li families put aside their past grudges..."

...

In the northwest corner of the Qinnan military camp, after receiving Meng Wu's order, Li You was overjoyed. Like Meng Wu, he was choosing his own vanguard officer. Because of the continuous rain and the many streams in this area, the speed of the hundred chariots of the Nanjun soldiers might not be fast. In order to deal with such complex ground conditions, they still have to rely on infantry.

"Meng Jia!"

The county lieutenant of Yu County, led by the chief Meng Jia, stepped out, but heard Li You ask: "It's thirty miles to the battlefield. How long will it take for the Yuxian soldiers to walk?"

Meng Jia hesitated and said: "Two... two hours..." This is twice as fast as the normal march.

But Li You was very dissatisfied: "Now that the time is almost over, you have to walk for two hours and arrive at the end of the market (15:00 to 17:00)?"

Li You was very dissatisfied and called another person: "Hei Fu!"

"The subordinate is here!"

Hei Fu was startled and took a step forward to answer the order.

"How long will it take for you, the Anlu soldiers?"

Hei Fu bowed: "We can arrive as long as the captain wants me to arrive!"

"Is it possible to arrive at the battlefield in one hour and plant my general flag on the side and rear of the Chu army?"

Qin had 300 steps per li, 1.38 meters per step, 400 meters per li, and 30 li is 12 kilometers... The walking speed of ordinary people in later generations is about 5 kilometers per hour. On this rugged and muddy road, walking seven or eight kilometers in one hour is already good.

But Hei Fu still gritted his teeth: "Yes!"

"Good!"

Li You was very happy and had decided on the candidate in his mind.

"Heifu is my vanguard, clearing the way for our army, cutting through thorns and repelling the Chu army's cavalry scouts. If you can reach the battlefield on time! This captain promises that after this battle, the thousand men of Anlu will be given priority in merit!"

Soon, Meng Wu ordered the other 20,000 troops to move forward and fight with the Jing clan soldiers of the Chu army who blocked the road. It would take a while to determine the winner, but it also bought time for Heifu and his men to march westward.

When Heifu said goodbye and left first, Li You stopped him again, gave him his chariot and horse, and encouraged him:

"Heifu, after the war, whether you can enter Xianyang as an official and enter the king's eyes depends on this battle!"

...

Although the chariot and horse that Li You gave Heifu were good, they were useless. After walking a few miles, they got stuck in the muddy road and could not move.

"What a horrible weather, what a horrible traffic."

The road they were on was already a thoroughfare in Huaibei, but it was only equivalent to a village-level road without cement in later generations, and it would be muddy when it rained.

"Leave the carriage behind."

Hei Fu simply got off his horse, stepped into the mud that had not yet dried, and ordered: "Abandon all superfluous things, only carry armor and weapons, and move forward lightly!"

In Hei Fu's eyes, this march was actually nothing. You know, in later police academies, there was also a "10-kilometer cross-country" project, which generally recorded collective results, carried individual equipment, and the last person to reach the finish line within an hour was qualified...

They walked 12 kilometers in two hours, which was already very easy, and any army in later generations could easily complete it.

But in this era, being able to reach this speed was already amazing, after all, the army of that time used thirty miles as a stop.

The road was sometimes dry and sometimes muddy. In the muddy places, although Li Xian and his group laid wooden boards in front, they still had to walk one foot deep and one foot shallow, and the speed was like a turtle crawling.

Looking up at the sun, Hei Fu found that half of the time had passed, but they had only walked less than fifteen miles...

In this way, they could not reach the battlefield on time!

"Just walking is not enough, we have to run, trot!"

Hei Fu set an example, carrying his own equipment, and trotting forward from the middle of the team, with Mu carrying the big flag behind him.

So, a thousand Anlu soldiers were surprised to see their leader, carrying a sword and shield on his back, with a heavy helmet on his head, running past them!

While running, Hei Fu also asked Ji Ying and several messengers to convey his words to the soldiers.

"My dears, this battle is under the command of General Wang. We will surely win the battle against the Chu army, which has been defeated many times!"

"Captain Li promised that after the battle, the vanguard will be given priority in merit, so I went through a lot of hardships to win the vanguard flag for us. Therefore, as long as we can arrive at the battlefield in time and become the first to be assisted by General Wang, it doesn't matter if each person gets one level of nobility?"

Ji Ying shouted very down-to-earth: "Yes, the front is not a battlefield, but a piece of good farmland and houses!"

"The road under your feet is not a road either, it is a ladder to climb to merit and nobility!"

"Noble title! Land!" The five hundred masters Dongmen Bao also shouted at the right time.

In the team, Shiwu Wanggua took a step forward with his short legs and began to move forward with gritted teeth. Qianshou Dongkui also felt that his feet had added infinite power!

Thinking of the title and the land, everyone burst out with infinite power, shouted in unison, and under the example of Heifu, they all began to trot.

In the past six months, in addition to playing ball, everyone was urged by Hei Fu to run around the camp, so there was no need to worry about physical strength. For a while, the speed of the troops increased a lot.

At this moment, Hei Fu had run from the middle of the team to the front! Xiao Tao followed Hei Fu closely with a hundred short-armed guards holding bows and crossbows or swords and shields. The only scout who had a horse also struggled to pass the soldiers and searched for the enemy in all directions to eliminate the possibility that the Chu army would leave people to set an ambush halfway.

However, at this moment, the Chu army, which had been fighting with the Qin army for two hours, could only believe that the Jing brothers could stop all the enemies. Where would there be extra troops to stop them?

Thousands of people from Anlu left a series of footprints on the muddy road. They crossed the gullies, trampled the spring flowers and plants, scared away the elk and wild foxes, and finally heard the shouting and killing from a distance beside a hill a few miles away from the battlefield!

Amidst the faint clashes of swords and shouts, they also heard a faint singing voice...

"Captain, there is singing!"

Li Xian, who had led his men to lay another ditch, raised his head and looked at Hei Fu in a daze.

Hei Fu's face also changed.

People from Nanjun and Anlu could understand this song, which was a familiar yet unfamiliar sound to them.

Familiar, because this was the sound of Chu, the dialect of Jingchu that they also spoke.

Strange, because since Anlu returned to Qin, the people of Qian had almost no chance to hear this song from birth to death.

It was a roar from tens of thousands of people! So they could even hear the words clearly.

"Holding Wu Ge and wearing rhinoceros armor, the wheels of the chariots were crossed and the short weapons were engaged!"

Hei Fu was startled and asked everyone to continue moving forward. He climbed up the hill covered with thorns and looked up.

The sky was gloomy and cloudy, the ground was muddy and green, and a few miles ahead, a vast battlefield stretching for more than ten miles, like a magnificent oil painting stained with red and black, suddenly appeared in front of him!

The red is blood, red soil, or the color of the Chu army.

The black is stone, mud, or the color of the Qin army's battle formation.

Because it was too far away, Hei Fu could not see the flags of Wang Jian and Xiang Yan, nor could he see the specific details of the battle. He could only see the red and black colors, fighting in the center of the battlefield...

And the loud singing they heard was coming from the back of the Chu formation, which was cheering for the charging Chu people, and the sound shook the four fields!

"The flags cover the sun and the enemies are like clouds, the arrows are flying and the soldiers are vying for the first place!"

Hei Fu heard it, this is "National Mourning", the battle song of the Chu people!

Along with the song of Chu, Heifu saw waves of red sea tides surging again, from east to west, hitting the black reefs fiercely!