General Qin

"Most of the food in Zhuyi's treasury was removed by the Chu people, and the rest was burned when the city was destroyed today. So my 20,000 people are still in danger of food shortage?"

Zhao Tuo frowned.

He brought 30,000 people south this time, and soldiers were stationed in every city along the way to ensure the safety of the back road and the transportation of food, fodder and supplies. Among them, Pengcheng had the most, with a total of 4,000 Dongjun soldiers stationed.

Pengcheng controls the Quartet and is a very important hub city. After being occupied by the Qin army, it is very likely to be attacked by the Chu army from the direction of Lu, so sufficient defensive forces must be left behind.

Therefore, there were only about 25,000 Qin troops left by Zhao Tuo on the banks of the Sui River.

But there are more than 20,000 people anyway, and daily food is a big problem.

"General, although the government's stockpile of grain has been burned, the autumn harvest has just finished. There should be a lot of grain in the homes of Chu people in the nearby towns and cities. We can collect it, enough for the army to eat for a while, and wait until the grain and grass in Pengcheng are transported. There will be no danger." Xiqigu, the two or five hundred masters in charge of food and grass logistics, made a suggestion.

Black Hip also shouted: "That's right, those Chu people must have enough food in their homes. Let's go collect a wave and make sure everyone has something to eat."

Hearing the suggestion of his generals, Zhao Tuo hesitated for a moment.

The so-called requisition of food means looting by force.

Snatching food from ordinary Chu people will surely make these people hold grudges in their hearts and have great resentment towards the Qin army.

This is probably one of the purposes of the opposite Chu general burning food, so as to lay a hidden danger for the Qin army's occupation here.

Once the Qin army loses the battle, those resentful Chu people will be a threat.

"Forage..."

After Zhao Tuo thought about it for a while, he came up with an idea.

"We, the Qin army, are not bandits like the King of Chu. We don't expropriate, but buy grain! Take out all the coins in the treasury of the Zhuyi Mansion, and buy them from the local Chu people."

"Also, be careful not to buy up all the food in these Chu people's homes, but to leave some food for life."

The generals were stunned for a moment, although they were astonished at Zhao Tuo's order to spend money to buy grain, but because of Zhao Tuo's prestige, they didn't ask any questions, they still obeyed the order and went down to prepare to buy grain.

Zhao Tuo breathed a sigh of relief.

Spending money to buy food, in this way, before the rations at Pengcheng were delivered, the problem of the Qin army's rations and grass was solved.

Qin Jun held a sword and halberd in one hand and coins in the other. He believed that the Chu people in Zhuyi and nearby towns would be "happy" to sell grain to Qin Jun.

The resentment in the hearts of these Chu people will definitely be much smaller than that of the Qin army's empty-handed conquest, and they will not be so hostile to the Qin army's occupation.

And using such a policy, Qin Jun doesn't have to worry about the notoriety of forced food requisition.

Instead, spending money to buy food can make a big splash.

Compared with the ferocious "grab" of the people's food by the Chu army, Qin Jun can be crowned with the title of "benevolence and righteousness", which helps to promote the positive image of Zhao Tuo and Qin Jun.

As for the money spent, it was all taken from the treasury of Zhuyi anyway. Those Chu soldiers only cared about burning food when the city was destroyed, but there was a lot of coins left in the treasury, enough to buy food and spend it.

And if Zhao Tuo remembers correctly, within a few years, Qin State will ban these currencies originally issued by the six countries, and enforce Qin's half tael money throughout the world.

So why keep these Chu coins if they are not spent now?

Waiting for Chubi to give birth to cubs and scrap them together?

...

After solving the military ration problem, the sporadic resistance forces in the city were also suppressed by the Qin army. After the situation stabilized, Zhao Tuo took his cronies to the coast of Suishui to check the geographical information here.

It was winter, and the cold wind howled by the river, and the withered and yellow reeds swayed in the wind by the water. It was quite a bleak scene in autumn and winter.

"There is very little water in winter, so it is very easy for our army to cross the river."

Zhao Tuo looked at the Sui River flowing in front of him.

Zhuyi was built on the edge of the Sui River, and it had a wharf leading to the opposite bank. The terrain on both sides of the river was very open, suitable for crossing the river.

In addition, this section of the river is not very wide, and because of the winter, the water is calm, it is not difficult for him to cross the 20,000 people, and...

"The Chu army isn't guarding the opposite side?"

Zhong Limei whispered, and everyone looked up, only to see that there was no one on the other side of the Sui River except for the reeds and water plants swaying in the cold wind.

Generally speaking, the Chu army arrived a few days ahead of the Qin army, and moved more than half of the grain in Zhuyi. In order to prevent the Qin army from crossing the river, they would set up a camp on the opposite bank, let scouts patrol along the river day and night, and sent sentries to garrison Crossing river ports everywhere to prevent the Qin army from finding opportunities to cross Sui River.

This is what Zhao Guang and Shejian two school lieutenants said during the previous military discussion. The Qin army first occupied Zhuyi to stand firm, then confronted the Chu army on the opposite bank, and then looked for an opportunity to cross the river.

But now there is no trace of Chu people on the other side of the river, which is somewhat beyond the expectations of the generals.

Zhao Tuo raised his eyebrows, turned his head to look at Lu Wan who was accompanying him, and said, "Ah Wan, in your opinion, why is there no Chu army stationed on the other side?"

Lu Wan thought for a while and said, "General, in Wan Wan's opinion, there are two possibilities that the Chu army on the opposite bank did not garrison here. One may be that the Chu general on the other bank was intimidated by the general's reputation, so he did not dare to fight easily. Another possibility is that the opposite side is using tricks to deliberately give up the crossing point, and when our army takes it lightly and starts to cross the river, they can attack halfway and severely damage our army."

"Brother Wan, I also think that the enemy will deliberately lure us to cross the river, so that we can attack halfway through. But this method is too obvious? If our army really wants to cross the river, we only need to send a scout in advance. You can find out if there is an ambush, and how can you be hit by the other side? General Chu on the other side thinks things are too simple."

Zhong Limei shook his head.

Zhao Tuo smiled, Lu Wan has learned the art of war for more than half a year, and now she is still quite insightful in her speech and actions, and she feels that her progress is faster than that of Black Hip.

People who can leave their names in history have more or less abilities, and they can be used with a little training and training.

Zhao Tuo nodded and said: "What you said is also reasonable, there is a possibility that the Chu army ambushed on the other side. But for us, whether he has ambushed or not, anyway, we don't need to cross the river, just spend time with them here. "

Zhong Limei pointed at the opposite bank and laughed: "The general said yes, but it's a pity that this time the general Chu on the other bank will have to wait."

Zhao Tuo thought of something, and said again: "Although our army will not cross the river, we still need to send a scout over there to find out the information on the other side, and find out the general information and strength of the Chu army. This is to know ourselves and our enemies. A hundred battles will never end. And on the east bank of the Suishui River, we must send people to patrol day and night, and prepare a mobile force to prevent the Chu army from the opposite side from approaching and the Chu people on both sides of the bank colluding with each other."

"What the general said is that we will immediately issue an order to send people across the river."

Zhong Limei and Lu Wan immediately answered with hands clapped.

Zhao Tuo then turned around and walked towards the Qin army camp outside Zhuyi.

It was cold and windy by the river, even though he was wearing a fur coat, he still felt a little cold, so he couldn't stay here for too long, if he caught wind and cold accidentally in this day and age, it would be a terrible thing.

As for the soldiers in the camp, Zhao Tuo had to go back and buy winter clothes for them to keep them warm.

The matter of war is not as simple as rushing on the battlefield. As the leader of an army, all aspects must be considered.

...

"The Qin army set up camp outside Zhuyi City, and only sent a scout to investigate?"

Fuli outside the Great Wall, the Chu army's big tent.

The Lord tightly frowned Xiang Qu's thick eyebrows.

"This Zhao Tuo is acting cautiously. Pass down the order to let our army's cavalry patrol the banks of Sui River, and kill the Qin army's scouts if they find them. Don't let them detect our army's movements."

"only."

After the orderly left.

Deputy General Jing Tong asked: "General Xiang, since we wanted to lure Zhao Tuo to lead his army, why did we send people to intercept and kill his scouts? Only by letting them find out that our army is not in ambush on the west bank of Sui River can we rest assured." ah."

Xiang Qu shook his head and said, "Zitong, Zhao Tuo is a cunning little fox. If I do nothing and let his scouts wander around the west bank, not only will there be a possibility of leaking our army's intelligence, but it will also make Zhao Tuo angry. suspicion."

"There is no reason why the general will be undefended on the river bank, so our army must be on strict defense at the very beginning. After a few days, when the Qin army sent people across the river to investigate again, our army pretended to be careless. , Let the scouts of the Qin people go deep into the west bank, deliberately revealing the general's situation to the other side bit by bit. The information obtained in this way will be precious, and can dispel Zhao Tuo's suspicion, allowing him to lead the army across the river with peace of mind."

Jing Tong frowned and said: "The general said that Zhao Tuo was like a little fox, which is indeed appropriate. If you reveal the military situation like this, you will be able to confuse him. Just let the Qin army scouts walk around the west bank, and they will find that our army has no ambushes on the west bank. , with Zhao Tuo's cunning, maybe he will see the general's intention to let the Qin army cross the river, maybe it will be self-defeating?"

Hearing this, Xiang Qu smiled slyly.

"So, I have a wonderful reason, which can completely explain why I didn't send troops to ambush on the west bank, why I shrunk my troops to Fulisai and didn't go out, so that Zhao Tuo can cross the river without any doubts."

Jing Tong became very curious and hurriedly asked, "What reason does the general have to confuse Zhao Tuo?"

Xiang Qu chuckled and said, "I heard that the reason why Zhao Tuo defeated the 100,000 Qi army in Zhencheng was because he pretended to fall off a horse and claimed to lie on the couch with a broken leg, which confused Tian Chong. The Wanqi army lost its defenses and was defeated by its night attack."

"Now, I'm going to follow Zhao Tuo's strategy. You announced to the outside world that I suffered from the cold winter wind and contracted a cold disease, so I can't lead the army while lying on the couch."

"In this way, it can perfectly explain why I don't send troops to ambush on the west bank, and why I shrink the troops to defend in Fulisai."

"It's all because of my illness. If I can't lead the army, no one will dare to fight Zhao Tuo."

Xiang Qu laughed and said, "The winter in Suishui is already cold, and it's normal to catch a cold. There is no problem with this reason. In addition, our army did not lay ambushes on the west bank, so even if Zhao Tuo was puzzled, he would never give up." This opportunity to easily cross the Sui River must be fooled!"

"In this way, my strategy can succeed, and the Qin army can be destroyed. Zitong, what do you think of my strategy?"

Jing Tong suddenly realized, and praised: "This strategy is very clever, the general's advice!"