General Qin

In the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shihuang's reign, Xia.

General Zhao Tuo, who was living in Panyu City in South Vietnam, received a letter from Xianyang, the capital of Qin.

The emperor's praise, Fusu's condolences, the princess's concern, and the congratulations from his old subordinates all made him miss the imperial capital thousands of miles away.

Of course, what attracted the most attention was the emperor's reward for destroying South Vietnam.

"What a title of fifth doctor. If he is equal to Xiou and Luo Yue, my boy can directly become a noble. This is the only one in the entire Qin Kingdom."

Zhao Tuo smiled and shook his head, looking much more relaxed.

As a minister, the most fearful thing is to have unparalleled achievements and no title. Once the meritorious status reaches its peak, and further achievements are made, the king will have nothing to reward. At this time, as a minister, the situation will become very dangerous.

The monarch's suspicion will inevitably appear.

Therefore, after Wang Jian destroyed the Chu Kingdom and became a prince, he immediately retired and returned to his hometown, which was a move to avoid disaster.

Now Zhao Tuo is facing a similar situation. He destroyed Minyue and South Vietnam. The emperor should reward him and commend him. Only in this way can the morale of the army be boosted and the soldiers can fight with all their strength.

But Zhao Tuo's title is already the 19th level Lunhou, and the higher level is the top level prince. Once the emperor gives him an upgrade, he will be truly unblockable by the time the Southern Expedition is over.

Therefore, the emperor only increased the land for him, and instead gave his son a title. At first glance, the reward seemed ordinary, but in fact, it avoided the problem of having no title.

This is good for both the king and his ministers. When the war is over, the emperor can promote him to a noble title. And Zhao Tuo could fight with peace of mind before the end of the war, without having to worry about making the emperor jealous afterwards because of his great achievements.

"Heaven is strong. A gentleman should strive for self-improvement. Only the merits and titles he earns are worth being proud of. What Che'er said is right. It seems that the fat man Zhang Cang has taught well. I have chosen a good teacher for my son."

Zhao Tuo smiled even more when he thought about what Ying Yinman said in the letter about the status of his children. He felt that his son should have learned a lot of good things from Zhang Cang.

It's just that Zhao Tuo's good mood did not last long.

Because as time entered the summer of Qin Li, trouble appeared.

After the Qin army defeated South Vietnam, Zhao Tuo did not immediately attack Xiou. Instead, he focused on appeasing the surrendered South Vietnamese tribes in an attempt to create a stable rear.

In terms of military affairs, in addition to sending Cao Shen to lead some people to the borders of South Vietnam and Xiou, the remaining army mainly repaired roads in South Vietnam and established strongholds at key points for control.

But with the arrival of heavy rain, everything went wrong.

Continuous heavy rain poured down, turning the road opened by the Qin army into a river.

Panyu City Head.

Zhao Tuo stood under the umbrella, looking at the mountain forest in the distance shrouded in the pouring rain, frowning deeply.

Beside him, Fan Kuai muttered: "It's raining so heavily. Fortunately, the general didn't go to attack Xiou at this time. If we had to fight in such heavy rain, it would feel like we would die."

When Mei Rong heard this, he said: "The rain in Lingnan is like this, it is much worse than in Lingbei. I heard from my father that when our Mei family first came south from Lingbei, because we were not used to the climate here, Many people died. But this is not the most terrifying thing. I heard that the most serious thing in South Vietnam is the flood. When the flood comes, then it will be really scary."

"Big water..."

Fan smacked his lips and said, "I hope Brother Cao and the others will have better luck, but don't encounter a flood, otherwise I don't know how many people will die."

Zhao Tuo listened to all his subordinates' words and sighed secretly in his heart.

He knew that the rainy season in the south was terrifying, which was one of the reasons why he had refused to attack Xiou in a large scale during the rainy season.

Even in this short half year, Zhao Tuo organized people to build dikes near Panyu in response to the possible rainy season floods to ensure that the Qin army camp would not be affected by floods.

Little did he know that he still underestimated the power of the rainy season in South Vietnam. When the rain started, it was much more terrifying than imagined.

When heavy rain falls, rising water vapor is everywhere in the mountains and forests, the roads are muddy, and low-lying areas are flooded, making it impossible for people to walk. What’s even more frightening is that along with the rainy season there are many diseases such as malaria and dysentery.

Even though Zhao Tuo was well prepared, the Qin army still could not avoid casualties.

Judging from the current situation, when the floods really come during the flood season, the dams built by the Qin army may not be of much use, and what should be washed away will still have to be washed away.

Human power is difficult to defeat natural enemies.

This pouring rain is the real nemesis of the Qin army.

Zhao Tuo had no choice but to do his best to take protective measures against diseases caused by heavy rains. At the same time, he arranged for all ministries to camp in high places to avoid being washed away by the floods during the flood season.

"Fortunately, I have a steady hand. If we attack Xiou in this season and a heavy rain hits the rear, I am afraid that all the food and logistics will be cut off, and we will suffer a huge defeat."

Zhao Tuo was a little happy about this, but at the same time he was worried about the five thousand people he sent to Xiou.

…

Compared with Zhao Tuo's worries, the situation encountered by Cao Shenbu, who was leading his army at the border between Xiou and South Vietnam, was much better.

The city of Panyu in South Vietnam is located close to the seaside, with low terrain and a dense river network, so floods are bound to occur in summer.

Xiou is the Guangxi area in later generations. The precipitation is less than that of Guangdong. At the same time, Cao Shen led his troops away from the seaside and is located inland, so the risk of encountering heavy rains and floods is much less.

But they also encountered huge problems during the rainy season.

Logistics is broken!

They did not encounter heavy rains or floods here, but the continuous heavy rains near Panyu in South Vietnam caused transportation interruptions and the Qin army was unable to transport food.

Cao Shen's Qin army had no access to logistical supplies, and had to rely on himself to obtain all food in the jungle.

"I heard from the people sent to the rear that the road to Panyu was completely flooded. Not only do we have no food to eat, but we don't even have a way out. We just had a battle with those Ou people and exposed our traces. , depending on the situation, they are very likely to mobilize a large army to besiege us, what should we do now?"

In a mountain forest, Liu Bang had a bitter look on his face and complained to Xiang Ji who was leaning against a tree.

Around them, there were dozens of Qin soldiers who were collecting wild fruits in the forest and looking for caves where rats, rabbits and other creatures might appear.

Xiang Ji's village was sent out to look for food.

Regarding Liu Bang's complaint, Xiang Ji smiled lightly: "What are you afraid of? It would be better if those Ou people took the initiative to attack. They will naturally bring food with them when they attack. If we defeat them, what food do we lack?"

Hearing this, Liu Bang's mouth twitched.

Although Xiou was crippled by Tu Sui before, the Yue people are still a big country, and there is no problem in gathering another 10,000 young men. If they really come to besiege their army, which has only 4,700 people left after the reduction, it will still be Somewhat dangerous.

Just when Liu Bang was secretly worried, a Qin soldier who was picking fruits from a tree not far away suddenly blew the police whistle and shouted at the same time: "Someone is coming and is approaching us!"

"Have you been discovered by the Ou people?"

Liu Bang was shocked.

Xiang Ji on the side immediately pulled out the machete from his waist, his eyes flashing with excitement.

But what happened next was somewhat beyond their expectations.

Because the people who emerged from the forest in the distance were not Ou people, but more than a dozen men wearing tattered armor and carrying faded black flags.

Their hair was disheveled, like savages in the jungle. When they saw Xiang Ji and others, they ran over excitedly as if they were meeting long-lost relatives.

"Don't do it! We are also Qin people, and we are all Pao Ze!"

The Qin soldiers who had taken their weapons and were preparing for a bloody battle were all stunned.

These people were indeed speaking Qin language, and looking at the tattered armor on their bodies, it was indeed the standard equipment of the Qin army.

But, why are there more than a dozen strange Qin people here?

Liu Bang reacted promptly. He recognized the accent of the caller and asked, "Are you from Wei? Where?"

The man shouted: "Changyi! I am Peng Yue from Changyi!"