The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Since the strategy of luring the enemy with the Nanjun soldiers failed, the Qin army no longer concealed itself. The 10,000 Qin soldiers following behind immediately followed, half of them approached Xiangcheng, and the other half expanded the camp on the south bank of the Yingshui River.

On the north bank of the Yingshui River, the main force of the Qin army also revealed its true appearance. Countless flags and smoke gathered towards the shore. Dozens of wooden boats came from the direction of the Honggou and began to speed up the construction of the floating bridge.

The Nanjun soldiers did not need to act this time. They were fully armed and guarded the position between the river bank and Xiangcheng to prevent the Chu army from leaving the city.

Hei Fu looked north and saw that on the north bank of the Yingshui River, there were chariots and flags, spears and halberds like a forest. The marching team was several miles long, filled with smoke and dust, and the army was very magnificent. Together, there were probably more than 30,000 people, led by five or six lieutenants, and surrounded by them was Li Xin's conspicuous general flag.

The floating bridge was narrow, with boats as beams and wooden boards on top. It took the 30,000 Qin troops a whole day to cross the river, and they didn't finish crossing until nightfall. A captain was left on the north bank to guard, and the rest were all gathered in the camp on the south bank.

However, from what Heifu saw, he found that most of these Qin troops were infantry, and only a small number of chariots and cavalry were there.

Li You wanted to meet Li Xin at the floating bridge, but he was told by the messenger that General Li had ordered the captains to meet at the big tent after nightfall. Li You had to wait until the army was settled before letting a few short soldiers follow him to the big tent.

Heifu was among them. One of the advantages of being a short soldier was that he could follow the captain everywhere, instead of staying in his own tent honestly as before unless there was a combat mission.

Of course, the premise is that the captain appreciates and likes to take you with him.

They walked through the camp, which was several times larger than the day before, and saw the pointed felt tents stretching into the distance. It was time to cook, and the smoke from the cooking rose from hundreds of campfires like slender fingers. The dusty Qin soldiers sat outside the tents sharpening their weapons, the flagpoles were deeply inserted into the muddy ground, and the familiar black flags fluttered in the wind, blending into the night.

The big tent was soon reached. The main general's tent was as big as a house. A three-meter-high high-toothed flag was erected outside the tent. The dragon flag and feather banner were all under the command of the three armies.

The main commander's tent was a strategic location, with heavily guarded soldiers everywhere. As the main commander, he had as many as four thousand short-soldier guards! Hei Fu and his short-soldiers were not qualified to enter. They were stopped far away at the gate and could only watch Li You walk into the tent.

Outside the gate, there was a tent for the short-soldier guards to rest. When Heifu and a few of his men went in, they found that it was already full of people.

These people should be the short-soldier guards who escorted their respective captains. Heifu took Ji Ying, Gong Ao and others to sit in the empty seats, and someone brought him hot soup.

A bearded general sitting next to him greeted Heifu and said, "Excuse me, doctor, where are you from?"

Heifu bowed to him and said, "I am Heifu, from Nanjun, a short-soldier under Captain Li."

"I am Zhou Hua, from Sanchuan, a short-soldier under Captain Su."

The man explained his hometown and introduced several groups of people next to him. It turned out that they were all short-soldier generals, belonging to the captains from Hedong, Nanyang, Shangdang, and Henei Corps.

The Qin army's field troops were organized according to their place of origin. This time, the three counties of Hedong, Sanchuan, and Nanyang each sent out two Qu, a force of more than 10,000 people. For example, Nanjun, Shangdang, and Henei only had one Qu, with 5,000 to 6,000 people.

Everyone was a short-armed general, with similar status and responsibilities. They were considered to be in the same circle, so they could chat. However, most of the discussion was about how to fight next.

Zhou Hua from Sanchuan asked: "General Heifu, didn't we agree to let the Nanjun soldiers lure the enemy before? Why didn't it work?"

Everyone looked over, and Heifu explained: "The enemy general was cunning, and Lieutenant Li failed to lure the enemy several times. When the pontoon bridge was built, the Chu army had already sent chariots and cavalry out of the city, but they came to test us. When they got close, they turned back and failed to intercept them."

"What a pity." Everyone sighed with regret. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that if the Chu people could be lured out and annihilated part of them, the subsequent battles would be easier to fight.

"I think we will have to fight to the death with the Chu army in Xiangcheng!"

"Yes, I heard from the captain that the craftsmen will build siege equipment. I think they will attack the city in a few days."

Because they don't have to fill the gullies themselves, everyone's expressions are more relaxed, but they can't help but offer their own suggestions, although their suggestions are not heard by the officials.

As Hei Fu listened, he suddenly couldn't help laughing, because this scene gave him a sense of déjà vu in his previous life.

The leader was holding a meeting inside, and a group of drivers who sent the leader were drinking tea and chatting outside...

But as he listened, he found something wrong, and felt that something seemed to be missing in the tent.

That's right, everyone came from Shandong counties, but the familiar Guanzhong accent was missing.

Hei Fu asked, "General Zhou, why don't you see the comrades from Neishi, Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi?"

These places are all "Guanzhong" in a broad sense, with the most elite soldiers. The Qin law has been implemented for more than a hundred years, and each generation is a battle-hardened army. Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi have more powerful chariots and cavalry, which are very mobile. This is the real main force, but it disappeared, replaced by Hei Fu and other "miscellaneous troops" from Shandong counties.

Zhou Hua was stunned: "The captains of these places all followed General Meng Tian to Shangcai..."

"Going to Shangcai?"

Hei Fu nodded, thinking, could it be that the army that passed by in Yangcheng a few days ago was this group of people?

"The commanders of Shandong counties led the infantry to confront the Chu army in Xiangcheng. The number of troops is only 50,000, and the Chu army in the city is at least 30,000. This city cannot be taken in a short time. At this moment, 30,000 elite chariots and cavalry have disappeared. Could it be that this so-called strong attack on Xiangcheng is also a cover?"

…

Hei Fu and the short-armed generals were outside speculating endlessly about the next battle situation. In Li Xin's tent, Li You was stunned by the scene in front of him.

The one sitting in the main general's seat was not Li Xin, but Meng Tian!

"General Meng."

Li You put away his shock and asked with a bow: "Why is General Meng here? General Li..."

"No hurry, sit down first."

Meng Tian asked Li You to sit down. Although the Meng family and Li Si were not very harmonious, Meng Tian and Li You were both from the Langguan family. This campaign against Chu was of great importance. The reason why the King of Qin did not use veteran generals and asked them to be Li Xin's assistants was that he hoped that the Langguans who were the King of Qin's confidants in the past could cooperate sincerely in this battle, fight a beautiful battle, and destroy Chu in one battle!

So Meng Tian also had to put aside the barriers and work together with them.

After Li You sat down, Meng Tian glanced inside the tent. In this way, the eight captains who were handed over to him for command were all here. They all looked at Meng Tian in unison, hoping that he could give an explanation.

Meng Tian smiled and showed the tiger talisman that Li Xin had left for him to control the army, and then said: "General Li ordered me to raise the banner in vain and confront the main force of the Chu army here, while he personally led 30,000 elite troops from Guanzhong and led chariots to Shangcai. Of course, General Li Xin also fought under the banner of a deputy general..."

After he finished speaking, his face turned serious: "This is a secret, and anyone who dares to leak it will be killed!"

All the captains agreed in unison. In the Battle of Changping, they also secretly replaced the generals, replacing Wang He with Wu'an Jun, keeping the Zhao people in the dark.

After Meng Tian said this, they all understood. No wonder "Li Xin" has been staying at home these days and only let his confidants pass on orders to the outside world. It turns out that he and Meng Tian played a trick of replacing the pillars.

After a brief thought, Li You guessed the motive of Li Xin and Meng Tian's efforts, and immediately asked: "General Meng, so we are not really attacking Xiangcheng?"

Meng Tian nodded: "It is to let the people of Jing think that the main force of our army is here, and we intend to attack the city. The King of Chu is afraid that Xiangcheng will be lost, so he will let our army go down the Yingshui River to threaten Juyang and Shouchun, and he will definitely dispatch a large army to help. But he doesn't know that Shangcai and Suiyang on the left and right sides have already inserted two sharp blades into the Chu territory. Especially in Shangcai, there are elite cavalry led by General Li himself!"

So, the real main attack direction of the Qin army is not Xiangcheng and Yingshui.

While everyone was talking, another messenger came in and handed a sealed letter to Meng Tian.

Meng Tian immediately destroyed the seal, unfolded the letter and read it under the lamp, and smiled immediately.

He turned around and announced the latest military situation to the captains in the tent.

"What I said just now was wrong."

"General Li is no longer in Shangcai!" Meng Tian announced: "Our army has just captured Pingyu!"