The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

On October 27, in Huaibei, Chu State, on a bare hill, various flags of generals stood here, as if countless trees had grown overnight.

Among them, the tallest tree was undoubtedly the flag of the Shangzhu State with the word "Xiang" written on it. Behind the flag, the commander's banner that had been hidden for many days was also revealed, so that all the Chu soldiers who were fighting fiercely with the Qin army could see that their commander was here!

Xiang Yan used this hill as a command post, surrounded by reserve troops ready to go, half of which were short-soldier guards and half of which were chariots and cavalry.

Xiang Yan was over 50 years old, but he was getting stronger and stronger. In his living habits, he always maintained the demeanor of a soldier, still with a straight back and a voice like a bell, and was deeply loved by the Chu army.

When he was young, he had led the troops, but as he got older and his position got higher, he no longer liked taking risks. Instead, he commanded the reserve troops, standing on a high ground where he could see the battle situation, and deployed the troops to where they were most needed. This was what a commander should do.

At this moment, Xiang Yan stood in the wind, staring at the chaotic battlefield that stretched for nearly ten miles in the distance.

It can be seen that in the eastern half of this battlefield, the black-armored Qin army was retreating step by step, while in the western half, the red-armored Chu army was advancing continuously.

"The Qin army is defeated."

One of Xiang Yan's staff looked at the battle situation with a happy expression on his face: "The Qin general never dreamed that the Shangzhuguo would appear behind him!"

Xiang Yan shook his head: "I don't know whether this Qin army is led by Li Xin or Meng Tian. They are too reckless and underestimate the enemy. After all, they are young men. They are still too naive to play such tricks in front of me!"

Xiang Yan planned to use the same method to teach this impetuous Qin general a good lesson!

...

This was an encounter battle. When Li Xin used the defeated soldiers to open a path and break through Juyang City, which was also called "Yan Ying" to commemorate the former capital of Southern Chu, the first and second lines of defense of Chu in Huaibei almost collapsed.

At this point, Li Xin's self-confidence and arrogance reached the extreme. He believed that there was no one in Chu and Xiang Yan was trapped in Xiangcheng, so he marched more and more without worries.

After burning the Chu army's food and grass in Juyang, Li Xin began to march northeast and arrived at Chengfu, where he joined the 10,000 Qin army that set out from Suiyang.

Although many people still advised him to return to Xiangcheng or Chenying to join Meng Tian, Li Xin rejected these suggestions and prepared a bold plan: to advance southeast and head straight for Shouchun, the capital of Chu! As long as the Huai River is crossed, Shouchun will be undefended!

This was the strategy that Bai Qi used to break Ying. Li Xin decided to copy that miracle and destroy Chu in the same way.

However, Li Xin, who had been advancing triumphantly and sweeping across Huaibei for more than half a month, did not expect that Xiang Yan and the main force of the Chu army he expected were not in Xiangcheng, but suddenly appeared behind him in the early morning when the sky was about to brighten!

The Chu army, which had marched for three days and three nights without stopping, seemed to have been holding back for a long time. The chariots and horses came roaring. The soldiers arranged by Li Xin were swept away before they had time to resist. When the scouts informed him that the Chu army was coming, Xiang Yan's flag was already several miles away!

Repaying tat for tat, Li Xin caught the local Chu army off guard in Qinqiu a few days ago and won a great victory. Not many days later, he was counterattacked by the Chu people in the same way.

Li Xin only had time to order the Qin army, which was marching in a long snake, to re-arrange and adjust the direction. However, when the Chu army rushed over and collided with the Qin army, Li Xin found that this was very different from the miscellaneous troops he had defeated before. They did not panic in front of the neat formation of the Qin army, but bravely charged to the drumbeat.

At this moment, the melee has lasted for half an hour. Although the Chu army took the initiative and had the advantage, they were not sure of victory...

...

From Xiang Yan's direction, the five front phalanxes of the Chu army had five to six thousand people each, with five red flags, including the soldiers of the Zhao, Jing, and Qu families, as well as the divisions of Jiangdong and Pengcheng.

Among them, the flags of the Zhao, Jing, and Qu families had been delayed for a long time, and they also encountered the elite internal historians of the Qin army. The black and red soldiers were entangled in a fight, and it was difficult to separate them.

The troops of Pengcheng and Jiangdong were somewhat unstoppable. They kept advancing from the flanks and squeezed the Qin army to the center. For a time, the five Chu armies were about to surround the front of the Qin army...

"Not only the troops of the three families, but also the men of East Chu and West Chu were unwilling to fall behind."

Xiang Yan could not help but praise him. His army, as many as 50,000 to 60,000, was recruited from the nobles of Lu, Si Shang, Jiangdong, and Huainan. When the war broke out in early October, Xiang Yan asked his eldest son to set up his own flag and take 30,000 soldiers and civilians from Huaibei to pretend to be the main force in Xiangcheng to attract the attention of the Qin army. He came to Huaidong and reorganized these armies on the spot.

Unexpectedly, Li Xin also adopted a similar strategy to him, and led an army to rampage in Huaibei. Xiang Yan was not in a hurry, so he simply took advantage of the situation and kept his troops in place. When Li Xin was arrogant to the extreme, he led the army to approach the main force of the Qin army.

This battle was different from the previous frustrating battles of the Five Kingdoms against Qin. In the face of the destruction of their country, the Chu army did fight with blood.

It was worth it that he took on the pressure of repeated reprimands from the King of Chu, traded land for time, and allowed Li Xin to wreak havoc in Huaibei without revealing his intentions too early.

The art of war says that those who are good at moving the enemy will show their presence, and the enemy will follow; if they give, the enemy will take it!

In Xiang Yan's view, Li Xin's way of fighting was a taboo of demanding soldiers. Facing this reckless opponent, he only needed to slowly guide the troops, move them with advantage, and wait for them with soldiers.

As expected, in the end, under Xiang Yan's deliberate guidance, the tiger named pride in Li Xin's heart grew day by day, and finally devoured his reason and caution. At this time, the "troops" controlled by Xiang Yan were like letting a boulder roll down from a very high and steep mountain, coming fiercely and unstoppable!

At this point, the strategy had also come to an end, and only the final battle remained. After doing so many things, Xiang Yan still did not have the confidence to win every battle. If he could not defeat the Qin army, but was defeated by it, then all his plans would become a laughing stock, and Li Xin would become a famous general of the time because of his bold strategy to destroy Chu.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. After three days and three nights, they finally found an opportunity when the Qin army was most relaxed.

Xiang Yan was in a high position and could see the whole battle situation clearly. At this moment, the black flag of the Qin army that was attacked was constantly retreating, and it was no longer the initial slow retreat, but gradually became a big step retreat, and it was just a matter of turning around and running away. This was no longer a disadvantage that could be saved by bravery and tactics. The Chu army had more people than them, and they were waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity.

As a last resort, Li Xin put in 5,000 reserve troops and joined the battle. For a time, the five flags of the Chu army all stagnated, and they fought hard with the Qin army.

Seeing that there was no manpower available on the other side, Xiang Yan smiled and immediately ordered: "Pass my order, all 5,000 people on the hill, go forward to attack the enemy, infantry from the front, chariots from the flank."

This encounter near Chengfu was declared over when Xiang Yan beat the war drum and ordered the thousands of reserve troops around him and 500 chariots to move out...

Li Xin was used to fighting with the wind, but he was a little inexperienced in facing such a tough battle. He sent the reserve troops too early. At this time, there were no soldiers to send, only the hundreds of short soldiers around him, and he was immediately in a dilemma.

He soon didn't have to be embarrassed. With the addition of fresh troops and Xiang Yan's big flag starting to move towards the battlefield, the morale of the Chu army was greatly boosted. Led by the Jiangdong and Pengcheng armies, they finally broke through the Qin formation...

The sound of the gong sounded frequently, and Li Xin finally chose to retreat. He left behind several captains trapped by the Chu army and slowly retreated with more than 10,000 people who could be rescued.

The battlefield was covered with corpses and blood. The bloody generals of Zhao, Jing and Qu came to Xiang Yan to report the casualties and asked: "I am willing to lead the army to pursue the Qin army!"

Xiang Yan stroked his beard and did not answer immediately.

Because the Chu army launched the attack from behind the Qin army, the west and south were blocked by the Chu people. Going east would go deep into the Chu territory and could not go. Therefore, the only way to retreat was the north. Li Xin might retreat all the way to Juyang.

So he ordered: "No need to chase, we have more urgent things to do."

The 40,000 Qin troops were defeated, but there were still 50,000 Qin people in Xiangcheng besieging his eldest son.

However, in Xiang Yan's eyes, this was actually the Qin army being dragged down and unable to advance or retreat.

His goal was not only to drive the Qin army out of Chu, but also to kill as many as possible! Xiang Yan sincerely hoped that every time he eliminated a Qin commander, he could delay the next Qin attack on Chu by a month!

Besides, his ultimate goal for this war was to recover Chen and Cai.

Xiang Yan turned around and looked towards Huaiyang.

"Lord Changping, the position of Prime Minister of Chu is vacant, isn't it time for you to make a decision?"