Chapter 160: Chapter 161 The war is on again
"After the Qingyang incident, Qin and Chu have already started a war! But the general forbids us to go out of the border to attack the enemy?"
In late June, an angry question was raised in the Dark Pass in the western border of Chu.
Zhongli Mei is no longer dressed as a hired farmer when he was a spy in Anlu County a year ago. He is now wearing a red-painted Chu-style leather armor, just like a Chu military officer, although he is only the lowest-level "two Sima" with only 25 people under his command.
But this insignificant military officer in the eyes of his superiors suppressed his anger at this moment and questioned the decision of the general Yin.
The "Qingyang incident" that Zhongli Mei mentioned was a major event that happened in the south of the Chu State in early June.
Last year, the Qin State sent Wang Ben to lead an army to attack Shangcai and Chenying of Chu. Chu had just experienced the incident of regicide and seizure of the throne. For a time, it was in a mess and it was difficult to mobilize troops to resist the enemy, resulting in the fall of the two places. At that time, if the Qin army was willing, it could go south along the Ru River, break Juyang, and threaten Shouchun, the capital of Chu.
King Fuchu of Chu had no choice but to propose to Qin to offer the land west of Qingyang (now Changsha, Hunan) to seek peace under the advice of the peace faction.
The Qin army attacked Chenying in order to cut off the connection between Chu and Wei, so they agreed to Chu's request for peace. After Wang Ben returned to destroy Wei, in May, the envoy of the King of Qin also arrived in Shouchun and asked Chu to hand over the three towns of Linyuan, Gaocai, and Lingyang west of Qingyang in accordance with the previous agreement.
The Qin people carried the power to destroy Wei, and Fuchu did not dare to refuse, and immediately asked people to do it.
However, things went wrong here. To the west of Qingyang was the territory of the Qu family, one of the "three households" of Chu. Because of Qu Yuan's incident, the Qu family was the most hostile to Qin among the royal families of Chu. Although the King of Chu ordered the Qu family to give up the west of Qingyang, the Qu family actually disobeyed the king's order.
When the Qin people sent envoys to take over the city, the Qu family not only refused to hand it over, but also killed the Qin envoys, and even led the Qu family soldiers to counterattack the city of Chanling County, Nanjun, Qin, and almost broke into the city...
After this incident, Qin was furious and claimed that Chu had broken the agreement. The two countries of Qin and Chu, which had already returned to peace, were once again on the verge of a war.
At the order of Teng, the governor of Nanjun, all counties in Nanjun, Qin were on alert, and almost all young and strong men were mobilized to intensify military training.
The same was true for Chu. In the court, the war faction led by Xiang once again raised its head and urged the King of Chu that since the peace treaty had been abandoned, it would be better to counterattack Qin and regain the lost territory.
Not only must Chen Ying and Shangcai be recovered, but also the land of Nanjun must be recovered!
Affected by this incident, the Ming'e Pass located in the western border of Chu was also heavily guarded, but it prohibited General Yin from entering Qin without authorization, because the indecisive King of Chu still had not made up his mind.
This is what confused Zhongli Mei. In the past few years, he was not the only one who was sent to the Nanjun of Qin to lurk as a spy. This was all General Xiang Yan's preparation for a rainy day. After finding out the truth about Anlu, Zhongli Mei returned to Ming'e Pass to report.
But General Yin of Ming'e Pass thought that he had made too much of a fuss. Not only did he not reward him, but he also reduced Zhongli Mei's position from the chief of the sergeant to the two Sima. Zhongli Mei had no complaints. He only hoped that the armaments, roads, and realities of the border counties that they had found out after risking their lives to enter Qin could be used in the counterattack!
However, facing the request of this troublesome subordinate to fight, the general Yin of the Dark Pass just smiled contemptuously and ordered Zhongli Mei to be beaten out with sticks.
"In ancient times, Wu Helu taught war for seven years, holding armor and weapons, with Sun Tzu and Zixu as generals, running 300 miles and then giving up, entering the Dark Pass, fighting at Baiju, and then taking Yingdu in one fell swoop."
Zhongli Mei sighed to his colleagues who came to comfort him: "If the general can follow the example of the Wu army back then, get out of the Dark Pass, take Sui and Tang, and then go straight to Jiangling; the navy goes to Yunmengze and advances west, and Qu's troops go out of Qingyang, cross the Yangtze River and approach Jiangling, then Yingdu can be recovered and Nanjun can be obtained!"
Everyone looked at each other, but they all felt that this was not something they should be concerned about.
Seeing that everyone was unmoved, Zhongli Mei had to hit his fist hard on the wall and said in frustration: "How can we be indecisive and indecisive? In this way, not only will we lose the opportunity to strike first, but we may also be controlled by Qin!"
...
"Qin and Chu are at war again?"
In early July, after learning the news, the garrison soldiers who were on their way home but suddenly received an order to return to Chenliu to wait for orders were immediately shocked.
When they learned that the Chu people attacked Nanjun, the people from various counties in Nanjun exclaimed.
"Is there something wrong in Nanjun!?"
"Which county did the Chu people attack?"
Fortunately, they received follow-up news later. It turned out that it was just a border friction south of the Yangtze River. There was no big fight. The Chu people only besieged Chanling County, and the war did not burn to their hometown Anlu.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Ji Ying smiled optimistically: "Since it's just a small conflict, maybe it will be over in a few days, and we can still go back."
So the only remaining worry for everyone was that after so many days of delay, they might miss the autumn harvest at home.
Only Hei Fu felt that things might not be that simple. When everyone breathed a sigh of relief again and began to look forward to the return date, he quietly squeezed out of the crowd and returned to the tent to check his weapons and armor.
The sword is an old friend and needs to be sharpened from time to time. Even a bronze sword needs to be rubbed with leather. If it is not used for a long time, it is easy to rust.
At this time, Li Xian opened the tent and walked in, just in time to see Hei Fu wiping the blade.
"Doctor, do you think this matter is not that simple?"
Li Xian is the most careful among Hei Fu's subordinates, and often makes some small suggestions. He also realized that the order for them to stay on the spot was a bit unusual.
"I do think something is wrong."
Hei Fu did not hide it. He asked Li Xian to sit down and analyzed it to him: "Qin and Chu had a conflict in Nanjun, and now everyone's attention is focused there. Logically speaking, the soldiers from Nanjun should be quickly dismissed and return to Nanjun to participate in the defense, but the order from Chen Ying asked us to return to Chenliu County to wait for orders..."
At present, tens of thousands of Qin troops have been asked to stop disbanding and stationed in Chenliu, Suiyang and other places, but Chu outside the border has no signs of sending troops to attack Chenying and Wei. The two sides are just in a cold confrontation.
However, Hei Fu has smelled the breath of war again...
A full-scale war may break out at any time.
He vaguely felt that the reason why the garrison soldiers from all over the country were stationed in place was probably because someone in the upper echelons of Qin wanted to take this opportunity to launch a war against Chu. At that time, the main direction of attack would be from Wei to Huaibei.
Although Hei Fu was not a historian in his previous life, he knew that Qin had fought against Chu twice. Once, it attacked Chu with an army of 200,000, but suffered a miserable defeat and lost many soldiers and generals. After learning from the lesson the second time, it mobilized the whole country and sent 600,000 troops to attack Chu, and finally successfully destroyed Chu.
Now it is the 22nd year of Qin Wang Zheng, and the first attack on Chu is probably just around the corner.
"I won't really run into the first attack on Chu!" If that's the case, Hei Fu will really want to cry without tears.
Historically, Hei Fu himself died in the second attack on Chu, which was something he tried to avoid. He had been working hard to climb the title and official position, just so that he could lead enough soldiers at that time, so that he would not have to charge into battle and avoid death.
Unexpectedly, as if it was fate, he would now be involved in the first attack on Chu! There were casualties in victories, and countless casualties in defeats. Thinking of this, Hei Fu felt a chill down his spine.
Of course, this is all his guess. The final result still depends on the decision of Qin Wangzheng on war or peace in Xianyang!
After listening to Heifu's analysis, Li Xian was also shocked, but as a grassroots Qin official, if things really develop to that point, he can only follow orders, pick up weapons and armor again, and go to the battlefield again...
The king is raising an army, and he will repair his spears and halberds. The soldiers could only complain secretly while packing up their spears and halberds.
Li Xian was not as eager to go home as Dongmen Bao. He even felt that it would not be too late to return after getting another level of nobility. Unlike Heifu, he didn't know the outcome of this war, so he speculated with some excitement: "If they really want to attack Chu, will General Wang be the commander?"
After conquering Yan and Zhao, Wang Jian's reputation was known to almost everyone in Qin. Everyone said that although not everyone who followed General Wang to fight would have military merit, most people would survive because General Wang was as steady as a mountain in battle...
From senior officers to grassroots soldiers, they all felt that if the King of Qin wanted to destroy Chu one day, Wang Jian would undoubtedly be the commander-in-chief.
"I hope so."
Heifu responded ambiguously, but said in his heart: "If the King of Qin really decided to use troops against Chu this year, the commander-in-chief would probably not be Wang Jian."
"But Li Xin!"
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