Daqin Engineering Corps

Shen Bing replied:

"Exactly, it's the subordinates who plan to use this to lure Chu soldiers to attack."

Shen Bing didn't say anything about the secret conspiracy between him and Mr. Changping.

This is no small matter, if it gets out or Lord Changping repents and refuses to surrender, Shen Bing will cause a commotion.

Yang Duanhe sighed:

"The deputy general's foresight and foresight make the old man admire."

"The old man also said that he would have to spend more than half of his troops in Rushui for several months to win."

"I don't think the deputy general has already set up a series of tricks."

"With the lieutenant general here, there is no reason for the Chu army to survive!"

After thinking about it again, Yang Duanhe frowned again and said:

"But Xiang Yan is extremely cautious."

"This time the Chu army's pursuit is only following from a distance. If our army stops, I'm afraid..."

Shen Bing knows what Yang Duanhe is worried about.

The purpose of this kind of trick to lure the enemy out of the city is to destroy the enemy's vitality.

But in order to destroy the enemy's vital forces, the enemy must first advance aggressively. Only by advancing aggressively can it be possible to surround its main force and kill a large number of people.

However, Xiang Yan not only did not "advance", but was very cautious. Qin Jun took a step back, he followed, and then retreated and followed, and he still set up a defensive posture...

It is conceivable that as long as the Qin army counterattacks, Xiang Yan will lead his troops to retreat wildly, and even retreat to the Rushui defense line again. Isn't it in vain to lure the snake out of the hole?

But of course Shen Bing also thought of this, so he pointed to the map and said this to Yang Duanhe in a low voice.

The more Yang Duanhe listened, the more frightened he became. He secretly thought that this battle was all in Shen Bing's plan. Although he, the general, commanded more than [-] troops to coordinate the overall situation, he was actually just a pawn in Shen Bing's hands.

Xiang Yan on the other side didn't notice this at all. He led the troops and followed the Qin army to recover Chu land step by step.

When they arrived at Taocheng, they divided into two groups and went up the river.

Because the Chu army also needed the Shahe River to deliver supplies, the river would not be closed at this time.

Xiang Yan rejoiced inwardly, if it wasn't for Lord Changping's ingenuity this time, the Chu army would have been able to hold the Rushui line of defense in this battle, and it would have been a hard fight.

Now it is so easy to win.

On the other hand, the nobles of the Chu Kingdom are also more united because of this... At least for now, the nobles have more than [-] soldiers in Xiang Yan's hands, and it is not so easy to go back.

So it can really be said that it was the fate of Chu State.

What Xiang Yan didn't expect was that he had just stepped into Shen Bing's trap.

Chapter 226 Layers of Defense

The Qin army stopped at Bucheng, south of Chencheng.

This is because Bucheng is the intersection of Bian River and Ying River. If you want to use waterways for shipping, the intersection of the two rivers must be a battleground for military strategists, because it can control two rivers at the same time.

The other is that Bucheng is exactly fifty miles away from Chencheng.

The distance of fifty miles can be reached by infantry marching in one day, so it is equivalent to relying on Chencheng.

As I said before, Chen Cheng's defense is a dead city, which is actually not suitable for defense.

A city with a moat, such as Daliang, is similar. Although this type of city is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is extremely easy to be trapped and difficult to launch a counterattack.

In ancient times, most cities required "advance, attack, retreat, and defense", that is, no moats. If they wanted to counterattack, soldiers could go out of the city under the cover of the range of the city wall and crossbow to set up formations.

This is the wall that the army and soldiers really need.

On the other hand, in dead cities like Daliang and Chencheng, the army could not enter the city to set up defenses and could only be stationed outside the city to fight against the enemy. The victory and defeat were actually decided outside the city, and ordinary soldiers could hardly use the defensive facilities of the city wall.

In the final analysis, this kind of city wall with strong defense is just a kind of psychological comfort for the princes and nobles to save their lives, and only a faint king like Wei Wangjia would gather all the troops in the city to defend it.

Of course, it is impossible for the Qin army to deploy its troops in Chencheng at this time.

If this is the case, the Chu army only needs to deploy thousands of crossbowmen or trebuchets at the exits of each city gate to block the trails out of the city... and hundreds of thousands of Qin troops can be easily sealed in the city.

Qin Jun's arrangement made Xiang Yan feel at ease.

Because he believes that the Qin army at this time must be able to maintain a defensive posture due to insufficient food and grass, and keep Chencheng to attack again when the grain harvest is bumper next year.

So when Xiang Yan followed the Qin army to the port city, he ordered the Chu army to build fortifications.

Xiang Yan said to the map on the case:

"We must rush to build three fortifications before next year's harvest."

Xiang Bo was a little puzzled:

"Why do you need to build three fortifications?"

Xiang Yan pointed to the map and explained:

"The Qin army will definitely attack Chu again in the harvest season next year."

"And this place is four hundred miles away from Ruyin, and every hundred miles requires three fortifications."

"At that time, our army can use the fortifications to fight against the Qin army, and fight and walk all the way back to Rushui, so that the Chu country will be safe!"

The generals nodded in agreement.

It is well known that the combat effectiveness of the Chu army is not as good as that of Qin.

For example, this time, Xiang Liang's sneak attack on Liang's army in Chencheng failed and lost tens of thousands of horses, and Xiang Luo's cavalry army was defeated, forcing Xiang Yan's army to withdraw to the city father's defense.

Therefore, if the Chu army wants to fight the Qin army in the wild, it must rely on fortifications to occupy the ground.

Just like what Xiang Yan said, every [-] miles of fortifications, you can use the fortifications to cover each other and retreat layer by layer. When the Qin army hits the Rushui defense line, it will be exhausted and become a tired army...then it will be like it is now Can only withdraw troops.

Some even recommend:

"The subordinates think that one fortification every [-] miles is not enough to resist Qin, and should be built every [-] miles."

"Because the infantry marches fifty miles a day, if it is a hundred miles, there will be no fortifications for one night, and they may be besieged by the Qin army."

Xiang Yan explained:

"If it's fifty miles away, I'm afraid it's beyond the capabilities of our army, and it won't be completed within a few months."

"So it is possible to set up city fortifications within a hundred miles, and to set up wooden fortifications within fifty miles."

So the generals had nothing to say.

The fortifications of the city are built with earthen walls to prevent the attack of the trebuchets, while the fortifications of the wooden village are simple fortifications used to temporarily resist the enemy.

The fortifications Xiang Yan built in Bucheng were quite special. He planned to build the wooden village first and then the city.

The reason is that it takes more time to build cities. In case the Qin army suddenly launches a counterattack, Xiang Yan worries that the Chu army will not be able to resist without fortifications.

Then, in order to strengthen the defense of the port area and the construction of follow-up fortifications, Xiang Yan almost evacuated the troops and labor on the front line of Rushui...

This approach is obviously wrong for modern warfare.

Because in modern times, it is only necessary to use helicopters and transport planes to drop a group of troops to Rushui and occupy them with the Chu army.

But at this time, there are no helicopters and transport planes to implement three-dimensional operations.

So Xiang Yan can do this with confidence. Anyway, the main force of the Qin army is in Chencheng. Once the Qin army attacks the Chu army, it will retreat step by step. It will always retreat to Rushui and then stabilize its position.

On the basis of this strategy, building more fortifications on the front line can cause more trouble for the Qin army, and it can recover more lost ground, so there is nothing wrong with it.

And this is exactly what Shen Bing hopes.

Information came from the Chu state like snowflakes.

This intelligence network was set up by Yang Duanhe in the Chu state when he withdrew his troops.

It is not easy to say that intelligence in this era is easy, because the means of reconnaissance are relatively backward.

It is not difficult to say, because the anti-reconnaissance methods are also backward.

But if you just want to know how many troops the enemy has transferred to the front line or how many troops are left in the Rushui defense line...these are at your fingertips.

All Yang Duanhe had to do was to have some soldiers dress up as Chu people on the spot, and then distribute some dry food and carrier pigeons to hide in the dense forests on both sides of the road, and just wait and see down the mountain all day long.

Yang Duanhe compared the map while looking at the information:

"The Chu army has assembled more than [-] troops on the front line of the port city."

"The other [-] troops are deployed on the front lines of Taocheng and Lincheng, and a large number of laborers are recruited to build defenses on these two lines."

"There are only a small number of troops stationed on the front line of Rushui, including Chengfu and Ruyin, or more than [-] people each."

Shen Bing nodded.

This is exactly what he wanted to see.

The ancients of this era were often like this. Whenever they fought a war, they built fortifications or built city walls, so a large number of Great Walls appeared between countries.

In order to prevent the Xiongnu, Yingzheng connected these Great Walls into one piece.

If this project is placed in modern times, it will be a proper "Maginot Line of Defense", which belongs to the passive and backward absolute defense thinking.

But in ancient times, this kind of plane warfare was really useful. For example, the Great Wall kept the Huns back again and again.

However, Shen Bing is not a person of this era, of course he knows how to deal with this passive defense.

At this time, a messenger delivered a secret letter.

Yang Duanhe opened it and saw that it was from Ying Zheng.

After reading it, he frowned slightly embarrassed and said:

"Your Majesty asked about the situation of our army, especially the food and grass."

"How should I respond?"

In order to avoid information leaks, for example, Yang Duanhe sent someone to send a letter to Ying Zheng, saying that this was Shen Bing's elaborate plan to lure snakes out of the cave...

Once the messenger was intercepted by the Chu army or thieves on the road, it would be a failure.

This situation is very likely to happen, because the road from Yangduanhechu to Handan is the three realms of Chu, Wei, and Zhao. Not long ago, they were all enemies of Qin.

If you give Yingzheng false information, it is another crime of deceiving the emperor.

So Yang Duanhe simply didn't say anything.

Now Yingzheng sent a letter to inquire, but it was impossible not to reply.

Chapter 227 Counterattack

Shen Bing thought for a while and replied:

"Everything is under control."

Yang Duanhe was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in praise and said:

"That's the answer."

Although this is just an ordinary sentence, it has different meanings depending on the direction of understanding.

Because no one knows whether it is "under control" to destroy Chu or "under control" to defend against the enemy.

Or maybe it's just a sentence just to prevent Ying Zheng from getting angry and punishing the crime...

So even if these words fall into the hands of the enemy, it doesn't matter, and at the same time, telling the truth to Ying Zheng avoids the "crime of deceiving the emperor".

Yingzheng's side was furious at this moment.

Of course, his anger was not directed at Yang Duanhe and Shen Bing, but at Lord Changping.

"Mr. Changping dares to betray me."

"Not only betrayed me, but also burned Chen Cheng with him, which is tolerable or unbearable."

"If the widow catches him, he will be cut alive!"

But Ying Zheng knew in his heart that all this was actually caused by him.