I am a commoner, but I will lead the empress to unify the world

Xianyang City, inside the Afang Palace.

The Qin Emperor sat in the spacious hall. There were not many ministers in front of him, only a few important officials.

The court meeting had already dispersed, and he had kept a few important ministers with him just to discuss strategies nearby during this time of national crisis.

Several ministers, including some of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, had chairs to sit on and braziers to keep warm because it was not a formal court meeting.

The Emperor Qin looked at the memorial and asked,

"Captain, you went out for a walk this afternoon. Is there anything happening in the city today?"

The general said quickly,

"Your Majesty, the people have already heard about the arrival of the Yan army and are quite scared. They are basically staying indoors.

Not only in the outer city, but also in the inner city, many officials and businessmen stayed indoors.

The streets are especially deserted, and even public security has improved a lot.”

Hearing this, the Emperor Qin chuckled and said,

"The Qin people are warlike, and violent fights and injuries are frequent, which has always been a headache for the court. I didn't expect that the problem that the court couldn't solve was actually solved by the Yan people.

It is natural for people to be afraid of war, and when the war is over, they will return to their normal lives."

"Yes, Your Majesty, that's a good idea."

"What are you talking about? You're still flattering me at this time, and you're flattering me so stiffly.

Now, our army and the Yan army have already fought, right?"

"It's time to fight. The battle report will probably be here soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from outside.

"Report! Your Majesty, our army has engaged the Yan army. The Yan army is bombarding us, and we have suffered casualties. General Zheng has ordered the entire army to charge and engage the Yan army at close range, rendering their artillery useless!"

The Emperor Qin nodded in satisfaction and said,

"This Zheng Ping'an is pretty good. He attacked decisively and proactively, surrounding the enemy. We are close to the enemy. Their artillery is in the middle of their army. If we fire, it will only hit their own army first."

However, what the Emperor of Qin did not know was that in the middle of the Yan army's formation was a large open space filled with artillery. They fired at high angles and could hit the target several miles away. Although they were not accurate, they were far enough because there must be enemy troops several miles away.

This battlefield was extremely vast, with fighting going on everywhere. Not only could the Qin army in the east not see the Qin army in the west, even the Yan army on both sides could hardly see each other.

Guan Shouchang had two ladders stacked up against each other to form a V-shape and fixed them in place, with people holding them from below. He sat on top of the ladders, observing the battlefield with a telescope and commanding the Yan army.

Therefore, the Yan army almost always had full vision of the map, and the enemy army also had torches, so they could barely see clearly.

It was dark, and both sides were a little confused. They fought very carefully for fear of accidentally injuring friendly forces.

But the chance of accidental injury is not that high. After all, as long as you know your own front row, you just need to thrust your spears and halberds forward with all your strength.

(Armies rarely fought each other with swords, and large-scale legion battles were mainly fought with spears, halberds, halberds, and bows and arrows.)

While a bloody battle was going on here, the Qin court was also constantly receiving intelligence.

"Report! Your Majesty, our army has surrounded the enemy's two wings and is attacking from three sides!"

"Report! Your Majesty, our army has completely surrounded the enemy, attacking them from all sides. They are unable to break through!"

"Report! Your Majesty, our army is engaged in a fierce battle with the Yan army. The outcome is uncertain. We have suffered heavy casualties, but it is too dark to see clearly and cannot count them!"

The Emperor Qin said calmly,

"How could a battlefield with 600,000 people be decided so quickly? It's normal for the battle to last two or three days.

Back then, when Bai Wuan led an army of 300,000 to fight against the 300,000-strong army of the Western Rong countries, didn't it take seven full days to decide the outcome and defeat the enemy?

The Yan army is not a weak force, it is impossible to be annihilated so easily."

Everyone nodded.

At this moment, another scout came running out and said,

"Your Majesty, I have returned from the Sichuan Army in the south. I have already met with the commander-in-chief, Xiao Lei."

"Oh? What did Xiao Lei say? Can you come over as soon as possible to support and destroy the Yan army?"

The Qin Emperor asked curiously.

The scout said in embarrassment,

"Your Majesty, the Sichuan troops are still eighty miles away."

"Eighty miles? They were a hundred miles away three days ago. They've only walked twenty miles in three days. Even a snail can crawl faster than them. Don't they want to come and support us?!"

The Qin Emperor was furious.

The scout said,

"Your Majesty, the Sichuan Army commander was even angrier and gave me a good scolding."

"What did he scold you for?"

“They said that the Yan army’s cavalry was able to sneak past Xianyang City and attack them without anyone noticing, and they didn’t receive any warning about us.

They were suddenly attacked and more than ten thousand people were killed or wounded.

Those Yan troops fled after the battle, so they could only collect the bodies, set up defense lines, and guard against another sneak attack by the Yan troops.

And just like that, the day passed.

The next day, just as they were marching, the Yan army came again and attacked their rear army. Their central army went to rescue them, but the Yan army made a circle and attacked their front army.

That's it, there's no way to go.

They have been doing this for the past two days, and it is a miracle that they can walk for two days.

They had no cavalry, so the infantry could not march quickly and would be attacked if they tried to march. This was extremely troublesome.

A lot of their food and supplies were burned by the Yan army, and now they have no way to move forward.

They asked us if we had any cavalry, and if so, to send people over immediately to drive away the Yan army.

If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been able to rush forward regardless of everything. Otherwise, the 50,000 cavalry of the Yan army would have rushed over to kill them, and at least half of them would have been killed."

After hearing the scout's words, the Emperor Qin felt a headache and said with a sullen face,

"The Yan army did this on purpose. They sent cavalry to intercept the Sichuan army early, preventing them from reaching Xianyang City in time. They then hurriedly marched to Xianyang City and engaged our army. This is truly despicable."

The general said quickly,

"Your Majesty, there is no need to panic. Even without the help of the Sichuan Army, we can defeat the Yan Army.

The 300,000 Yan soldiers are exhausted and have been surrounded by our army. They have no food to eat. In a day or two, they will be too hungry to have any strength left. By then, we will be able to wipe them out completely.

As for the 50,000 cavalry, without the support of the infantry, they would be of little use. Cavalry cannot attack cities or capture strongholds, so they will most likely flee eastward and join the Yan army there."

Hearing this, the Emperor Qin nodded and said,

"Yes, fortunately we took the initiative to attack and fight against the Yan army, otherwise the enemy would have entered Xianyang City and engaged in street fighting with our army."

What the Qin Emperor didn't know was that at this moment, 50,000 Yan troops, under the cover of darkness, arrived outside the west city gate like ghosts.