Vol 2 Chapter 2525: Qin, Wu, Wei VS Shu and Chu

Chapter 2525 Qin, Wu, Wei VS Shu and Chu

Chapter 2521: Qin, Wu, Wei VS Shu and Chu

 “General Zhang, I’m so happy.” Shen Shiqi said with a smile.

 “Where does happiness come from?” Zhang Ren asked.

"The casualties have been calculated. Our army has killed 5,532 people and killed 3,764 Qin soldiers. The Qin army's swords and armor captured are enough to equip an army of tens of thousands. " Shen Shi laughed.

“Thirty thousand people beat eight thousand, but the casualties were nearly 30% higher than the Qin army. What’s there to be happy about?” Zhang Ren asked rhetorically.

“Well, is that wrong? But if the general knows that fighting against the violent Qin, there are only a handful of people who can cause more than three thousand casualties to the Qin army in one battle.

Moreover, the cost of raising an army for the Qin army is much higher than that of the Han Dynasty.

These 3,700 Qin troops, including pensions, can outnumber our Shu army of 15,000 troops.

Calculated in this way, our army only suffered 5,500 casualties, but used 15,000 resources. This is certainly considered a victory. "

Shen Shiqi also knew that this was not the case in a battle, but if he could not fight head-on, he could only find excuses to boost morale from other aspects;

Seeing that Zhang Ren ignored him and looked dazed, Shen Shi shouted: "General? General Zhang?"

 “Uh, sorry, I got distracted.” Zhang Ren sighed.

“General Zhang, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Military advisor, why do you think the Qin soldiers’ fighting will is so tenacious?

The last thousand Qin troops left behind were reduced by 80% but still fought to the death.

If all the Qin troops are like this, then is there any hope for me, the Han Dynasty? "

Zhang Ren was a little frightened by the Qin army. He had been on the battlefield for a long time and had never seen such a tenacious army. Liu Ji's army and Chi You's army were all incompetent in front of the Qin army.

Hearing Zhang Ren's words, Shen Shi was silent for a moment, and then said: "I'm sorry that I can't answer the general's question, but as a minister of the Han Dynasty, receiving a salary from the Han Dynasty, I should fight for the Han Dynasty until the last moment."

“What the military advisor said is true. Since the Qin army was able to set up an ambush in Zhushan, it means that Fangling must have fallen. What should the Japanese army do next?” Zhang Ren asked.

“Fangling City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Since it was captured by Han Xin, it will be extremely difficult to recapture it.

According to what I see, it is better to retreat to the west city first, wait until the Chu State sends troops to Jingbei, and then see if there is a chance to recapture Fangling City. "Examine the way to eat."

 “That’s all it can do.” Zhang Ren sighed.

If he had a hundred thousand troops, he would definitely attack Fangling City directly.

But now he only has 24,000 troops in hand, so he can't attack Fangling City with 30,000 to 40,000 defenders, right?

 After Zhang Ren cleaned up the battlefield, he led his army back to Xicheng.

On the other side, after Han Xin learned that the ambush failed and more than 3,000 soldiers were lost, he was not ignored by Jintai and Gao Lan.

Although nearly half of the soldiers who set up the ambush were lost, the casualties of the Shu army were even greater.

It should be noted that Da Qin has a population of 38 million, and the damage to several thousand soldiers is not considered a loss at all to Da Qin, and can be replenished in the blink of an eye.

 Shu and Da Qin are destined to fail in their battle for consumption.

“Zhang was appointed as this general and had few victories. He thought he was a mediocre general, but now he saw through the governor’s ambush plan.”

Han Xin looked surprised. He never expected that Zhang Ren, who had been defeated many times, could be so calm in seeing through his ambush when he was eager to support Fangling. This was not the behavior of an incompetent person at all.

Han Xin is a very proud and confident person. In his eyes, what kind of famous generals can a poor and remote place like Shu produce?

Other than Liu Yu, no one in Shu was qualified to be Han Xin's opponent in terms of military use.

But he didn't expect that Zhang Ren, who had a dismal record, would see through the plan. This also made Han Xin realize that he underestimated the heroes of the world.

“It was the governor who underestimated Zhang Ren that led to the setback in this battle. It was not the fault of the two generals.”

Although Han Xin is proud, he is not arrogant. When he recognizes a mistake, he will correct it in time instead of gritting his teeth and holding on until the end.

Han Xin took the initiative to take the responsibility and attributed it all to himself for underestimating Zhang Ren, which actually made Jin Tai and Gao Lan a little embarrassed.

"No, it is the responsibility of the general. After being discovered by Zhang Ren, if the general chose to retreat directly, he would not have sacrificed so many soldiers." Jin Tai said with an annoyed look.

Gao Lanze said: "At that time, the general also wanted to wait for work. If my 8,000 elite army might not be able to defeat the 30,000 Shu army head-on, I didn't expect that I still underestimated the Shu army."

“After this lesson, we should all remember that we should not underestimate the heroes of the world just because our country, Qin, is powerful and powerful.

Your Majesty also said: Strategically, you should despise your opponents, but tactically, you should pay attention to them." Han Xin said sternly.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　)

 Jintai, Gao Lan and others will all say in unison.

Han Xin nodded, and then said: "Since Zhang Ren's reinforcements have arrived, and there are many fierce generals in the army, it will be more than ten times more difficult to capture Xicheng, so I have decided not to attack Xicheng now."

If Zhang Ren does not return to Xicheng to defend it, but comes to Fangling for a decisive battle, Han Xin will naturally be absolutely sure to capture Xicheng.

But after Zhang Rencai fought a battle, he immediately retreated to Xicheng. He clearly did not want to fight the Qin army head-on, and Han Xin would not waste his troops on attacking the city, so he could only give up the attack on Xicheng temporarily.

"Deputy Governor, if we don't attack Xicheng, where should we attack?" Mi Houwang asked.

Han Xin glanced at Mi Houwang lightly and thought to himself: The governor is just the governor, why do we need a deputy? Fortunately, you are still from the Mi family and don't even understand this etiquette.

"Fangling has been conquered, and Shangyong County is already fat. However, Jingbei is now empty. Considering that the Chu Kingdom may take advantage of the opportunity to invade, it is better to completely capture Shangyong County as soon as possible to prevent long nights and dreams." As soon as Han Xin finished speaking, soldiers came to report: "Inform the Governor, the State of Chu has raised an army of 100,000 by water, and will attack Xiangyang County in two ways.

Deng Yu, the leader of the left army, led an army of 55,000 people and attacked Xiangyang from Jiangling;

 The leader of the right army, Wei Zhang, led an army of 45,000, and led Jiangxia to attack Xiangyang;"

Before Han Xin captured Fangling City, Zhang Su, the envoy to Chu and Shu, met Liu Xiu, explained his interests to him, and asked Chu to fulfill its responsibilities as an ally and send troops to Jingbei to help Shu share the pressure.

 After discussing with all the counselors under his command, Liu Xiu decided to send troops to attack Jingbei.

Even if Xiangyang cannot be captured, the Chu State will still send troops to enhance the prestige of the Qin army and let other countries know that there are still people who dare to show their swords against Qin, thereby stimulating the anti-Qin hearts of all countries.

With the demise of the Tang State, Chu State, the most active anti-Qin state among the eight states in China, basically supports everything related to anti-Qin.

After the Second Battle of Guanzhong began, the Chu State immediately supported Li Tang after receiving Tang's request for help, and deployed heavy troops in Jiangling to contain the Qin army in northern Jing and prevent it from intervening in the Guanzhong War. go.

 This is why the Chu army was able to send troops so quickly this time.

The 100,000-strong army had already been mobilized. Liu Xiu gave an order, and the two armies of Deng Yu and Wei Zhang began to march. This directly eliminated the process of dispatching troops and generals, and the movement speed was naturally faster.

The Chu army had been waving flags and shouting before, which also gave the Qin army in northern Jing the illusion that the Chu army only dared to support the Qin army and did not dare to confront the Qin army head-on. However, they did not expect that the Chu army would actually attack now.

If all the 100,000 Jingzhou Qin troops were present, let alone the 100,000 Chu troops, even the 150,000 troops would not be afraid at all. After all, the defenders had the advantage.

What's more, it is impossible for Chu State to send out 150,000 troops to attack Jingbei. After all, after disarmament, Chu State's total military strength is only 200,000, and there is still a big enemy of Wu State in the east.

With Chu's current total military strength, it can only dispatch a hundred thousand troops to attack Qin at most. If there are any more, once Wu invades, they may not be able to defend it.

It just so happened that in order to seize Shangyong County, Qin transferred 50,000 Jingzhou troops and took the initiative to give the opportunity to the Chu army.

Given the combat effectiveness and resilience of the Qin army, if the 50,000 Qin army faces the 100,000 Chu army, it cannot be said that it cannot be fought, but there is definitely a certain risk.

Han Xin was naturally aware of this, but fortunately he had already captured Fangling City, completely cutting off the connection between Shangyong and Hanzhong.

With the strong city of Fanling and Xincheng County in hand, Shangyong County can no longer afford to make waves, so the attack on Shangyong can be slowed down.

Han Xin can first detach an army to support Xiangyang, and after repelling the two armies of Chu, he can then attack Shangyong. After all, as long as Fangling is not lost, Shangyong will not be able to escape.

"General Jintai, I order you to lead an army of 15,000 to support Xiang..."

 “Report... Governor Xue has an order.”

Before Han Xin finished speaking, he received an order from Xue Rengui, the governor of Jingzhou.

Han Xin couldn't help but frown after opening it.

When all the generals saw this, they were all a little confused. Jintai asked: "Commander, Commander Xue Da is the commander of him. What order did he send?"

“We are not asked to abandon Fangling and return to Xiangyang, right?” Chen Qi said.

"How is it possible? Governor Xue, as a famous general who has been on the battlefield for many years, could give such an order." Gao Lan said.

“Yes, the strategic significance of Fangling is too important. As long as Fangling is in hand, we, the Qin Dynasty, can advance, attack, retreat and defend, and we will be in an invincible position.

And once we abandon Fangling, our battle will be in vain, and the sacrifices of the soldiers will also be in vain.

It is impossible for Governor Xue to know this, so how could he issue such an order? "Jintai said.

“But what if Governor Xue feels that defending Xiangyang is more important?” Zheng Lun asked.

 “Alright, don’t make blind guesses.”

As soon as Han Xin said this, all the generals immediately shut up.

“The Governor said in the letter that 50,000 troops are enough to protect Xiangyang. Not only does it not require us to withdraw our troops and return to Xiangyang, but we are allowed to continue to attack Shangyong and minimize casualties.”

Hearing Han Xin's words, all the generals were dumbfounded and didn't understand where Xue Rengui's confidence came from.

You need to know that there are 100,000 Chu troops attacking this time. With only 50,000 Qin troops, no matter who leads the army, they may not be sure of victory.

The same goes for Han Xin. If he was given command of an army of 50,000, he would be absolutely sure to defend Xiangyang, but he was not absolutely sure to win. After all, the Chu army generals Deng Yu and Wei Zhang were not ordinary people.

Han Xin didn't know where Xue Rengui's confidence came from, but since Xue Rengui, the governor-general, had given him an order, naturally his subordinate could only obey the order.

 At the same time, in Xiangyang County, in the Governor's Mansion.

Xue Rengui, the governor of Jingzhou, was sitting on the main seat. The governor Zhang Jiuling and the newly appointed governor Guan Zhong were sitting on his left and right respectively.

  In addition to the force of force, Guan Zhong's other four dimensions have exceeded 100. Such an all-round talent, Ying Hao naturally has to reuse it.

But Guan Zhong was implanted in Bingzhou as a farewell, and Bingzhou is now extremely stable, with no wars and no natural disasters. Guan Zhong has no chance to make great achievements in Bingzhou.

It would be too slow to be promoted based only on political achievements. Guan Zhong himself was willing to wait, but Ying Hao was not willing yet.

So Ying Hao used some selfish motives and transferred Guan Zhongping to Jingzhou to serve as a special commander and the leading division.

Why Xue Rengui was clearly at a disadvantage when it came to fifty thousand versus one hundred thousand, but he was still confident in this battle? It was because he adopted Guan Zhong's strategy.

 Guan Zhong proposed advice to Xue Rengui and sent eloquent people as envoys to lobby the monarchs of Wu and Wei, claiming that 50,000 reinforcements from Sizhou had set out to strengthen the positions of the two countries.

In addition, he invited Wu State to send troops to attack Jiangxia County, and invited Wei State and Qin State to attack Jiangling County together. He claimed that the other country had agreed to send troops, and made a written promise. No matter whether he succeeded or failed, he would receive heavy gifts in return.

This was used to mislead Wei and Wu, making them think that Qin was determined to completely expel Chu's forces north of the Yangtze River. In order to gain profits, the two countries would definitely send troops to help Qin.

 (End of this chapter)