The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

Meng Tian was still wrong. When he received the news, Li Xin was no longer in Pingyu. He led 30,000 elite troops from Guanzhong and slowly left Pingyu and headed east.

On the top of Pingyu City, the captain left by Li Xin to guard the place looked worriedly at the army's long journey.

In the eyes of this captain, Li Xin was able to break through Pingyu within a day, which was a surprise attack.

The Chu people's eyes were all on the Honggou and Yingshui lines, and on the besieged Xiangcheng. They thought that the Qin army in Shangcai was just a detachment led by Meng Tian, but they didn't know that under the banner of Meng Tian's detachment, it was Li Xin, the commander of the Qin army.

Li Xin gathered all the five captains from Neishi, Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi under his command, and with the siege equipment built by Qin Mo and many craftsmen, Pingyu, which had only 2,000 defenders, was declared broken in just two days.

"This place overlooks Song and Zheng in the north, and connects to Huai and Mian in the south. It relies on the might of Jingchu and runs along the road of Chen and Xu. The fields are flat and it is a strategic place."

"But as long as Pingyu is broken through, there will be no strategic defenses in the north of Huaihe River. The area between Ying and Ru is already a battlefield where we can gallop unhindered!"

After looking into the distance from the top of Pingyu City, Li Xin threw down such a sentence and asked the captain to stay here. He himself set out again to encourage his soldiers and head straight for the heartland of Chu!

Prior to this, the captain who was ordered to stay in Pingyu also showed his worry and secretly dissuaded Li Xin:

"General, you are really brave to capture Pingyu, and this city is not far from Shangcai, and you can reach it in an instant, catching the enemy off guard. But further ahead is the hinterland of Chu. The general is carrying 30,000 troops, but there is no food support. Isn't it a lonely army going deep into the enemy's territory? It is better to go north to join General Meng and besiege Xiangcheng together. After Xiangcheng is captured, it will not be too late to go south slowly..."

Li Xin disagreed. He said: "When Wu'an Jun attacked Chu, he also led tens of thousands of people and went deep into the 5,000-li Chu territory, which was said to have a million soldiers. He broke through the cities, broke the bridges, burned the wooden boats, and cut off the retreat so that the soldiers could concentrate on fighting. I should follow his example today."

"As for food and fodder? Huaibei has always been rich. The Chu people only had time to empty the granaries on the border, but the villages and towns inside must have a lot of food. As long as each soldier carries ten days of food and plunders the countryside along the way, they can have enough food for the army!"

In the past, he fought with Yan and Zhao in the north, went out of Taiyuan and Yunzhong, galloped on the North China Plain, chased the enemy in the vast wilderness, and often relied on chariots and cavalry to make merit. This time when he came to Chu, his war thinking still stayed in the north.

In Li Xin's view, the area between Ying and Ru was flat, and the advantage of the Qin army was conducive to field battles. It was the chariots and cavalry that could be fully utilized on the plains. There were 300 chariots from Xianyang, and 3,000 elite cavalry from Shangjun, Beidi, and Longxi. They were invincible in this land.

With such an advantage, he should have roamed the Chu territory, looking for the Chu army supporting Xiangcheng all the way, and annihilated them, instead of going to the city to waste time, letting the horses grow fat and the soldiers' armor grow lice.

Unlike the mature and steady Wang Jian, Li Xin was a man who dared to take risks. He also believed that he had the ability to turn adventures into miracles!

Let Xiang Yan confront Meng Tian, who was under the banner of Li Xin, in Xiangcheng. When he was trapped in a desperate situation, Li Xin, who was under the banner of Meng Tian, was about to penetrate the land of Huaibei of Chu!

In the 23rd year of Qin Wangzheng, on the 10th day of the first month (October), Li Xin led his army to leave Pingyu.

On the morning of October 13th, after several days of marching, Li Xin's vanguard had arrived at Qinqiu, 200 miles east of Pingyu...

It seemed that Haotian was also secretly helping the Qin army. On that day, a heavy fog filled the entire Qinqiu.

...

Qinqiu was just a small town with a wall no more than ten feet high. In the past, King Zhao of Chu had enfeoffed Sun Shuao's son here. To this day, there are still descendants of Sun Shuao who are small lords here.

Although the city is not high and the population is small, it is the only way from Xincai to Xiangcheng in the north. A Chu army of more than 10,000 people from Xincai is passing through here and stationed outside the city, asking Qin Gongsun Feng to supply the camp and food.

Because Li Xin broke Pingyu and marched eastward too quickly, this army that marched north from Xincai a few days ago did not know that to the west of them, a Qin army cavalry was slowly approaching in the thick winter morning fog...

"Woo woo woo woo!"

Qin Gongsun Feng, as the great-great-grandson of Sun Shuao for countless generations, their family has been thriving here for more than 300 years. Until this morning, the feudal lord who thought he could live with Chu was awakened by the deafening sound of trumpets and drums outside!

Sun Feng hurriedly lifted the quilt, threw his wife aside, and climbed up from the couch. He ran out of the door and climbed to the top of the city, only to find that the Chu army in Xincai outside was in chaos, and the drumbeats of the assembly resounded throughout the city.

"What happened?" Sun Feng asked a military officer who was running and hanging a sword on his belt hook.

"It's the Qin army!" The military officer's face was pale, which formed a sharp contrast with his red Chu-style armor.

Sun Feng was stunned: "Where did the Qin army come from? Isn't the Qin army in Xiangcheng?"

Xiangcheng is more than a hundred miles away from Qinqiu, so he always felt that he was safe.

"A chariot and cavalry are two miles away! They must be approaching in the night fog."

The military officer didn't bother to say more, and hurriedly ran away to shout to his subordinates to prepare for the enemy. He only knew that the Qin army's chariot and cavalry vanguard was already close at hand, taking advantage of the morning fog to come to the front, and the whole army was in battle formation, ready to launch an attack at any time.

Sun Feng stood on the wall in a daze. He looked down at the city. The Chu army camp was in a panic. Soldiers stumbled in the cold before dawn. Some were busy putting out the campfire, and several bare-chested charioteers who had no time to put on clothes were harnessing war horses to the chariots.

He looked into the distance again. The field of vision was still full of pale fog. Nothing could be seen clearly. Where was the Qin army?

"Dongdongdongdong!"

The drum beats again, this time more urgently. The sensitive horses seemed to feel the murderous aura on the other side of the thick fog and neighed. The horses and horses ran away, leaving the chariots and rushing around in the camp. The charioteers had no time to go out. Only the foot soldiers holding spears hurried out of the camp to meet the enemy...

But before they could line up, the galloping chariots tore through the thick fog and suddenly appeared within a hundred steps!

At a distance of one hundred steps, the galloping chariots arrived in an instant. The driver kept whipping the horses, and the sharp Yi spears in the right hand of the charioteer were full of coldness.

At this distance, the chariots were unstoppable and defeated the thin defense line of the Chu army in one fell swoop...

Sun Feng watched thousands of Chu soldiers who hurried out of the camp completely disintegrated under the impact of the three hundred chariots, like pottery jars hit by hammers, shattered, and then shot to death by the rapidly approaching Qin cavalry.

Following closely behind, the Qin infantry emerged from the thick fog all over the mountains and plains. They hid behind the barriers formed by shields and spears, marched forward in unison, and completely flattened the Chu camp under the Qinqiu city...

When the sun rose, the battle was nearing its end. The Chu army was beaten and scattered, and there were Qin people chasing them everywhere.

Watching this scene, the chill and fear crept into Sun Feng's skin, causing his hands to twitch and he almost lost his balance on the city wall.

He only remembered that before he fell down due to sore legs, he saw a tiger and bear flag with the word "Meng" written on it, slowly moving towards Qinqiu.

...

Two days later, on October 15th, Juyang City, which was the second line of defense of the Chu State and was located on the east bank of the Yingshui River 150 miles east of Qinqiu, received a report from the remnant soldiers of Qinqiu.

"Qin General Meng Tian attacked Qinqiu and defeated our army!"

Along with the defeated soldiers and military intelligence, there were also Qin soldiers who were drinking water by the Yingshui River...