The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"That Dun Yin is talking nonsense."

Looking at Xiangcheng in the distance, Zhai Chong said to Heifu: "Even if this small city is full of people, there can be at most 30,000 or 40,000 people. Where does the 100,000-strong army come from?"

Xiangcheng was an independent Xiang State in the Spring and Autumn Period. It was destroyed by the State of Lu during a meeting of princes. Later, it was acquired by the State of Chu. The King of Chu granted this place to a royal family, so they took Xiang as their surname. This is the origin of the Xiang family of Chu. The Xiang family was not prominent in the Spring and Autumn Period, but after the State of Chu moved east, it became more and more prominent. Now Xiang Yan has become the real "pillar of the state" of Chu. If Xiang Yan is there, Chu is safe. If Xiang Yan is not there, Chu is in danger.

As the end of the Honggou, Xiangcheng is a busy trading center in peacetime. In wartime, it is a battleground for military strategists traveling from south to north. After hundreds of years of management by the Xiang family, the city here is larger than the average county, with higher walls, and with the Yingshui River as a shelter, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The city walls are already full of soldiers, ready to fight the enemy at any time.

"Even if there are only 30,000, it's not a small number."

Hei Fu looked back at his own troops, which were only 3,000.

After conquering Dun County, they rested for two days, leaving a few soldiers to guard, and continued to move south. Today is October 7th. The 3,000 soldiers arrived seven or eight miles away from Xiangcheng and began to stop and set up camp. This is the plain where the Yingshui River flows, and it is flat. Standing on the top of Xiangcheng, you can see their behavior clearly.

"What does the captain mean?"

After receiving the order to help set up camp, his colleague Zhai Chong whispered to Heifu: "He already knew that there was a large army of the State of Chu in Xiangcheng, but he dared to bring only 3,000 of us to set up camp nearby, and didn't wait for the main force of Huaiyang?"

This was the strangest thing about Zhai Chong. There was obviously no pass of the State of Chu from Huaiyang, but looking at the north bank of Yingshui River, General Li Xin's main force was nowhere to be seen.

Heifu smiled. Although Li You did not explain the battle strategy issued by Huaiyang to his subordinates for the sake of confidentiality, Heifu had already guessed it roughly.

"The Art of War says that it is beneficial to make the enemy come by himself."

Since borrowing a few volumes of "Wu Sun Tzu" brought by Li You to read, Heifu can also occasionally say a few sentences of "The Art of War says" and "Sun Tzu said". In order to get a promotion in the future, Heifu is trying his best to package himself as a cultured military officer.

He pointed to Xiangcheng, where soldiers were standing and observing the movements here, and then pointed to themselves: "We are just a small benefit to lure the enemy!"

"Hiss..." Zhai Chong took a breath of cold air when he heard it, and he also understood. No wonder the captain only brought so few soldiers and blatantly camped not far from the city. It turned out that these Nanjun soldiers were just bait.

But the bait is there, where is the hook?

"We only have 3,000 people, and we have been traveling for two days. If Xiangcheng sends tens of thousands of soldiers to attack, wouldn't it be..."

Zhai Chong looked around and didn't see where his ambush troops were, especially the north bank of Yingshui River, which was empty, and he couldn't help but worry.

Hei Fu comforted him, "Have you forgotten that after leaving the city the day before yesterday, a leader with a thousand soldiers, along with two thousand civilians and prisoners from Yingchuan County, disappeared? By the way, that Qin Mo Chengshang was also among them. What do you think they went to do?"

"Escorting food and fodder?"

"How much food and fodder would require so many people to escort."

Hei Fu smiled and said, "I looked back and saw that they were heading towards the Yingshui River. If I'm not mistaken, there is already a detachment in Huaiyang that has relied on these civilians to sneak across from near Dun County. Now, they have been following us far behind."

Otherwise, how could they, with only three thousand people, dare to be so unscrupulous?

What happened later proved Hei Fu's guess. Qin cavalry kept in touch with Li You on horseback, and Li You became more and more chaotic with the friendly army behind him. He chose a damp hilly place that cannot be used as a camping site according to military tactics, and asked the soldiers to move stones and cut wood to build a camp. The military flags were also crooked, which made the commander look like a general who could not use troops and whose morale was low.

However, the gates of Xiangcheng in the distance were closed, and it seemed that they had no idea about the Qin army that had rashly come to the city.

The first attempt to lure the enemy failed, so Li You had to stop the performance and let everyone rest when night fell, but secretly ordered that half of the people should be awake on duty tonight, and the soldiers who were waiting for their weapons inside the camp walls would immediately rise to meet the enemy as soon as there was any movement outside.

This time, even Heifu, who was sure that there were reinforcements behind him, broke out in a cold sweat.

"Captain is too desperate. If Xiangcheng really sends people out to raid the camp at night, they may fall into the trap and be attacked by the ambush troops dozens of miles behind us. But before that, the soldiers of Nanjun will also suffer heavy losses..."

Fortunately, Heifu and his men, as short-soldier soldiers, only need to guard around Li You's tent. Heifu has made up his mind. If the Chu army really comes to attack at night, he will protect Li You and retreat first. Don't let their Lieutenant Li die in the chaos of soldiers after winning the battle. That would be too much to cry.

But a whole night passed, and the soldiers shivering in the frost did not wait for anything. When Heifu woke up from his sleep, it was already dawn.

Li You walked out of the tent wearing a cloak, looking at Xiangcheng, whose gate was still closed, with a worried look on his face.

The two attempts to lure the enemy failed. It seems that the commander of the Chu army in Xiangcheng is really patient.

"Could it be that Xiang Yan is in charge personally?"

Li You and Li Xin were both born as palace officials, so he knew Li Xin very well. General Li did not like to attack the city, but liked to solve the problem with his expertise in chariots and cavalry raids, so he was more inclined to formulate a strategy of luring the enemy out of the city for a field battle.

But the Chu army saw the weakness of Qin, which had just finished the war to destroy Wei this year and had insufficient manpower and food. Was it planning to concentrate its forces and defend the dangerous pass and strong city?

The next day, a thousand soldiers and two thousand civilians who had fallen behind a few days ago caught up. They not only brought new food and fodder carts, but also carried a lot of wood, ropes and other things.

Hei Fu knew that this was Li You's third attempt to lure the enemy. They were going to build a floating bridge on the Yingshui River in front of the Xiangcheng Chu army.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a way to build a floating bridge by "making boats as beams", and it could even cross a large river. The Yingshui River, which was more than 100 meters wide, was naturally no problem.

At noon, dozens of wooden boats came from the upper reaches of Yingshui River. These were temporarily collected and looted from the coastal cities.

At Li You's order, the soldiers of Nanjun simply put down their weapons and went to the battle together. They helped build a floating bridge in the already slightly cold river water. The scene looked very chaotic and disorderly...

This scene made Heifu shudder. Even if he knew that this was a trap, if the Chu army sent chariots out of the city, they would arrive in an instant. The thousands of people busy by the river could easily fall into chaos. You know, the soldiers of Nanjun have never been elite.

He held the sword and stared at the direction of Xiangcheng. There seemed to be someone on the top of the city looking in this direction.

"The city gate seems to be open..."

Heifu stared for a while and suddenly spoke. The short-soldier guards sitting on the ground beside him were immediately startled and stood up with shields.

However, at Xiangcheng, some black spots indeed came out of the city gate, and then rushed towards this side with billowing smoke and dust!

It was a chariot.

Hundreds of chariots with four horses galloped on the road. The south bank of Yingshui River was flat, which was a battlefield conducive to chariots galloping and fighting. The target of the chariots was the Qin army, which was busy building a floating bridge by the river and looked chaotic...

The chariots of the Warring States Period were used to break through the enemy's formation!

They were heavy tanks of this era. Although their mobility and flexibility were far less than that of cavalry, their impact and destructiveness were even better.

If the enemy's front and rear are not determined, they will be trapped. If the flags are disturbed and the horses and men move several times, they will be trapped. If the soldiers are either in front or behind, or on the left or right, they will be trapped. If the formation is not solid, the soldiers will look back and forth, and they will be trapped. If they are doubtful when they go forward and timid when they are afraid, they will be trapped. If the soldiers of the three armies are startled and all stand up, they will be trapped. Fighting in a different place, no one can stop it, and it will be captured. Travel far and stay at dusk, the three armies are afraid, and it will be captured!

These eight are the advantages of chariots!

Hei Fu muttered the description of chariots in the art of war in his heart, and his palms were full of sticky sweat. Although he had fought several sieges, he had never encountered the enemy in the field, let alone the experience of facing the impact of chariots.

"Chariots have eight advantages, the opponent is considered to be complete. Lieutenant Li is really a desperate actor. Don't make it real in the end."

"Messenger, immediately ride to the rear to report, short-handed soldiers follow me!"

Li You's face was not afraid at all. Seeing that the Chu army, which had been lured for a long time, finally left the city, he also drove his chariot in front of the Qin army and loudly ordered the soldiers who pretended to build a pontoon bridge and were actually hiding among the civilians to return to the shore and prepare to meet the enemy!

Even though the chariots were powerful and were already two miles away, Li You knew that as long as he could hold them off for a moment, the Qin army chariots and cavalry five miles behind him would arrive in time, and then there would be tens of thousands of Qin army detachments. By then, it would be the time for the destruction of these elite Chu troops.

After annihilating part of the Chu army, Xiangcheng would be much easier to attack.

Hei Fu and his men followed Li You closely, holding short blade shields behind them, and in front of them, there were already a thousand Qin soldiers lined up, holding spears and ready to meet the enemy! Facing those galloping behemoths, everyone was a little uneasy.

But at this time, Hei Fu suddenly discovered a problem.

He hurriedly squeezed in front of Li You's car and reported loudly:

"Captain, there are no foot soldiers following the enemy chariots!"

Li You, who was still immersed in the excitement of successfully luring the enemy, couldn't help but change color when he heard this.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!"

As expected, after the chariots charged a mile away, they suddenly slowed down, and then the front team became the rear team, turned the chariots around, and slowly retreated towards Xiangcheng...

After they all entered the city, the more than a thousand cavalry ambushed behind the Nanjun soldiers finally arrived. At this time, it was too late to hide their whereabouts.

On the top of Xiangcheng, Zhou Wen, who had been observing the Qin army for a long time, also breathed a sigh of relief.

He has good eyesight, is familiar with military tactics, and has been a guest of Chunshen Jun. Now he is a "sun watcher" specially used by the Chu army to observe the enemy situation in the distance and calculate the time.

Looking at the Qin army chariots and cavalry that appeared, Zhou Wen smiled and said to the Chu soldiers beside him: "Go and report to General Xiang quickly, the Qin army is indeed luring the enemy!"