General Qin

Dongyang is located in a wide plain south of Shandao.

Although there are water marshes distributed around this place, the breadth and density of the water marshes are much better than the Shandao near the Huai River in the north. At least the road from Dongyang to Sifang is no longer a path covered with reeds, but a flat avenue that allows the army to move quickly.

At this time, Dongyang City was in a state of extreme tension, and there were bursts of curses in the city.

Qin Jun is here!

The men in the city were conscripted by the county magistrate to take weapons and go to the top of the city to defend against the enemy.

The soldiers from the government were shouting from family to family, with very fierce expressions on their faces.

In an ordinary house, a woman in coarse clothes was holding a heavy wooden pestle and pounding the millet in the stone mortar.

"Mother, my son bids farewell to you. I will no longer be able to serve my mother's knees in the future. Please take care of my mother."

In front of the woman, a man in his thirties, with tears in his eyes, bowed and kowtowed, with a look of reluctance.

The woman stopped pounding the grain, put down the wooden pestle, and rubbed her swollen and sore arm, then looked at her son kneeling on the ground, and said with a smile: "Why did my son say that, after grandma finished pounding the grain , I will have dinner with you in the evening."

Chen Ying choked with sobs and said, "The Qin army has marched twenty miles to the north of the city. The county magistrate summoned the men of the city to defend the city wall. But even the huge state of Chu can't stop the Qin army's conquest. This small Dongyang town can resist. "

"I've heard that the Qin army was brutal, and the head of the army was used to record the merits. I'm afraid that my son's departure will be a disaster. It's hard to save the head on the neck. The meal made by the mother will never be eaten by the son again."

If it were an ordinary woman who heard this, she would be terrified, hugging her son and weeping goodbye.

But the woman laughed and said: "Don't worry, my son. You will be safe if you go here. If there are no accidents, you may be able to come back when you are unconscious."

Chen Ying was taken aback, and asked, "Why did mother say that?"

The woman said with a smile: "You saw that the county magistrate recruited men to guard the city wall, and thought he intended to fight the Qin people."

"But according to what I heard, before Ling Yin fought with the Qin people in Chenying, and ordered all over the country to send food and fodder to support, our county magistrate sent only half of the food collected to the front line, and the rest It was transported to his own treasury. Not to mention that two days ago, he also took a concubine, and it is said that the concubine is not yet sixteen, and she is quite beautiful."

"How can such a money-greedy and lustful magistrate have the intention to fight to the death with the Qin people? I think he will definitely surrender to the Qin army. I heard that the Qin army will not slaughter the surrendered city, and your life will be safe. .Just go at ease."

"That's what mother said."

Chen Ying was overwhelmed with admiration, thinking that most of what his mother said was correct, he left with peace of mind.

The development of the facts was just as Chen's mother expected.

When tens of thousands of Qin soldiers approached Dongyang City, Dongyang County sent envoys to discuss surrender with the Qin army. After getting the promise from the Qin general, the county magistrate asked Chen Ying and other young men to put down their weapons, open the city gate happily, and surrender to the Qin army.

Wearing black armor and holding a weapon, Qin soldiers immediately took control of the entire city. Fortunately, although these Qin people looked vicious, they were indeed quite faithful and disciplined. They did not kill indiscriminately, and they were even cleaner than those county soldiers under Dongyang County.

However, Mother Chen's words were only half correct, and the other half was not realized when Chen Ying came home for dinner.

After Chen Ying and several Dongyang people were called out by the county government, they were immediately handed over to Qin Zu, and were escorted by these indifferent Qin people to the depths of the Qin camp outside the city.

Chen Ying was trembling, not knowing what he had committed. How could a small citizen of Dongyang be favored by the people of Qin?

After a while, they were taken into a Qin army camp in panic.

A burly general of Qin State with two beards on his jaw was sitting in it, looking at them with majestic eyes.

"You often commute between Dongyang and Huaiyin, are you familiar with the roads between the two cities?"

The translator standing beside General Qin immediately translated Qin Jiang's Guan Chinese into fluent Chu language.

Several Dongyang people had never seen the world, their lips trembled in fright, and they couldn't even speak.

After Chen Ying calmed down, she saluted and replied: "General, I used to travel between Huaiyin and Dongyang with my uncle in the family, selling cloth, swords and shields, and often traveling between the two places. The roads on the way are familiar."

Seeing that Chen Ying was quite calm and knew the world better than the others, General Qin couldn't help but nodded slightly.

"Very well, then you will stay in the army and be a guide for our army."

"ah?"

Chen Ying was stunned.

...

After a while, Meng Tian walked into the commander's big tent, and said to Zhao Tuo who was sitting in front of the desk looking at the map, "General, the last general was ordered by the military to find a few people who often travel between Huaiyin and Dongyang. I asked them separately about the situation along the way, and the answers were pretty much the same, there was no problem. Among them, the man named Chen Ying who was waiting outside the tent was the best, he could be the general's guide."

"Well, thanks for your hard work, Mr. Meng."

Zhao Tuo nodded and was very polite to Meng Tian.

Meng Tian shook his head and said: "Since the subordinates are under the general's tent, it is natural for them to respect the military order, so why should the general talk about hard work?"

Zhao Tuo laughed, stood up and walked to Meng Tian's side, and said a few words gently.

Hearing Zhao Tuo's modest words, although Meng Tian still looked serious, there was a smile in his eyes.

He was still a little uncomfortable with Wang Jian's appointment of him as a general under Zhao Tuo's command.

When he was in the palace in the past, Meng Tian was the general of Zhonglang, Zhao Tuo was just a little Zhonglang. Now that their identities are reversed, Zhao Tuo is the general, and Meng Tian is his captain, this kind of contrast will feel uncomfortable to anyone.

But Meng Tian still nodded his head and complied. Firstly, it was the order of the general. He Meng Tian was the general of the defeated army, how could he have the right to refuse.

Secondly, Meng Tian quickly realized that it was Wang Jian who was helping him.

Meng Tian led his army to a disastrous defeat in the water, no matter how many reasons he had, he was defeated in the end and he would be punished according to the military law.

Wang Jian didn't punish him because the battle was still pending, instead he asked Meng Tian to join Zhao Tuo's partial division.

Under such circumstances, how could Meng Tian refuse Wang Jian's kindness without knowing good and evil?

What's more, Zhao Tuo respected him a lot afterwards, and often referred to him as Mr. Meng in private, which made Meng Tian, ​​who had a strong self-esteem, feel very comfortable and quickly adapted.

Meng Tian didn't seem to have such a strong aversion to becoming Zhao Tuo's subordinate, and he accepted it quickly.

Compared with Meng Tian, ​​Zhao Tuo has his own deeper views on this matter.

Wang Jian is old.

This time to destroy Chu is Wang Jian's last battle. After this battle, Wang Jian will really retire, so he has to forge some good relationships for the Wang family while he is still capable.

Today he helped Meng Tian and let him follow Zhao Tuo to commit crimes and meritorious deeds. This kind of behavior is enough to make friends with Mengshi. If the Wang family is in trouble in the future, with Meng Tian's upright character, will he just sit idly by?

In addition to thinking about Wang's family, Wang Jian may also be doing this for Zhao Tuo's sake. He believes that judging from Zhao Tuo's previous performance, he will be able to handle the relationship with Meng Tian well. He is giving Zhao Tuo a chance to ease the relationship with Mengshi.

After all, the matter of Meng Tian ignoring Zhao Tuo in the palace and flirting with him was still seen and spread by someone.

Under the condition that Zhao Tuo intends to make friends, the relationship between Qin Jun and Meng Tian really made great progress on the way to Dongyang.

The two didn't say they became friends, but they were already able to get along in harmony, and their relationship was quite harmonious.

"The general sent General Baimeng to lead his troops to the south of Shandao to cover this section of the journey for our army. Within forty or fifty miles, we don't have to worry about being attacked by the Chu people on the logistics road."

"But if we go deeper into Chu, we won't be able to protect them. After our army's supply route is extended, it will definitely become the target of the Chu army's attack. The general needs to think more about this place." Meng Tian glanced at the map on the case, and cupped his hands to remonstrate. Word.

Zhao Tuo nodded, Meng Tian was right.

The biggest weakness of their partial division is the logistics and food roads. Because the Qin army detoured south and lost the advantage of Huai River transportation, their large army had to transfer people and horses along the way.

From Dongyang to Huaiyin for more than 300 miles, it would take more than ten days to march according to normal conditions. Along the way, tens of thousands of soldiers ate horse chews and consumed a lot of food and grass every day, so their logistics and food teams were also very large. The marching speed of the troops will be slower than that of the main army, and it is easy to be attacked by the enemy after being out of touch.

If the Chu army sends people to attack Zhao Tuo's grain and grass successfully. Then the 40,000 Qin army would be in danger of running out of food, not to mention collapsed on the spot, but there must be no strength to continue to attack Huaiyin, and this partial division would be abolished directly.

Food, fodder and supplies are the most important thing in a war!

Faced with Meng Tian's suggestion, Zhao Tuo smiled and said, "Meng Jun's words are reasonable. It's just that the trip to Huaiyin is more than three hundred miles away. How can we be on guard all the time for the Chu army to attack the grain and grass for such a long journey. Rather than guarding all night and causing our army to be exhausted , it’s better to turn passive into active. Isn’t he from Chu wanting to attack grain? I’ll give him a chance to attack grain!”

Meng Tian immediately came to his senses and said, "The general wants to take the initiative to lure and kill the Chu army, so why did you use the banner of General Qiang Li for this expedition?"

"Of course! If you use Zhao Tuo's banner, those Chu soldiers will be more careful. If you use the banner of General Qiang Li, it will confuse the Chu people even more."

Zhao Tuo smiled and said, "Mr. Meng, go and call Chen Ying in. I want to ask about the terrain of this road and see if there is a suitable place on the road."

"only."

Meng Tian generously agreed, turned around with big strides, and asked Chen Ying to come in.

"Chen Ying?"

Looking at Meng Tian's back, Zhao Tuo suddenly felt that the name seemed familiar. But after thinking about it, I can't remember any specific deeds.

"It shouldn't be some famous person from the Qin and Han Dynasties. It's probably because there are too many people named Ying in this era. The name sounds familiar to me."

Zhao Tuo shook his head.

There are really many people named "Ying" in this era, such as Guan Ying, Xia Hou Ying, and Zi Ying.

Not famous, Wang Ying, Li Ying, Ji Ying can be seen everywhere...

This Chen Ying's name sounds very ordinary. Any man from the Chen family may take this name, and he is not a famous person after all.

...

Just when Zhao Tuo called Chen Ying from Chu to inquire about the terrain along the way.

In the camp of the Chu Army outside Shandao City.

The generals of the Chu army are also holding military meetings.

"Wang Jian really sent a side division to detour to Dongyang, intending to bypass the water here and take the land of our army's Huaiyin. According to the scouts, there are tens of thousands of people on the side division, and they are fighting under the banner of General Qiang Qiang."

Jing Tong reported the military situation he had obtained to the generals.

"Qiang Li, the name sounds like a Qiang man? How could Wang Jian send a Qiang man to lead the army?"

"It is said that this person is a veteran. He followed Wang Jian to destroy Zhao Fayan. He has quite a lot of experience. We should not underestimate him."

"So that's it, he is Wang Jian's old subordinate."

"As long as it's not that Zhao Tuo."

After the generals finished discussing the main general of the Qin army, they talked about the next strategy of the Chu army.

"Wang Jian's army gathered in the west of Shandao, and used partial divisions to detour to attack Huaiyin. There are tens of thousands of them, and they are invincible. We should find a way to attack their food and grass."

"However, as long as the Qin army's food and grass are destroyed, there is no need to worry about this road."

No one commented on the attack on the Qin army's grain and grass.

Because they have few soldiers in Chu and Wang Jian's strong enemy is on their side, it is impossible to send a large number of troops to confront this Qin army's partial division head-on and intercept it. But regardless of whether the opponent can't do it, once the Qin army's partial division attacks Huaiyin, everything will be over.

So in this case, the Chu army had only one choice, and that was to send troops to attack the Qin people's food and grass.

Xiang Yan pondered for a while, then glanced at the generals under the tent and said: "Our army can only send 10,000 troops. I don't know which general is willing to lead the troops to attack the Qin army's food and grass."

Xiang Yan's eyes wandered between Jing Tong and Qu Mao.

Among the generals of the Chu army, these two are probably the only ones who can stand alone.

Just as Qu Mao was about to speak, Jing Tong had already asked for his order.

He said: "The last general is willing to do it. In this battle, I will burn the food and grass of the Qin army, so that the Qin army will never come back."

In order to make the plot easier to write, the original version of Qu Mao was changed to Jing Tong.

"Historical Records · Xiang Yu Benji": Chen Ying, former Dongyang Lingshi, lived in the county, Su Xinzheng, known as the elder. Dongyang youth killed his order and gathered thousands of people. He wanted to set up the leader, but it didn't work, so he invited Chen Ying. The baby couldn't thank him, so he forced the baby to be the head, and there were 20,000 servants in the county. When a young man wants to make a baby, he becomes king, and the army rises up. Chen Ying's mother said to Ying: "I am your wife, and I have never heard that you were a noble person in the past. Now you have gained a big name, which is ominous. It is better to have a belonging. If you succeed, you will be a marquis. If you fail, you will perish. It is not the world. Name it." Ying dared not become king.