The Myth of Daqin: The Soul of Yi Xiaochuan

Chapter 296 The enemy advances, we retreat

On the other side, in Xiang Yu's army.

Xiang Yu stood on the Puyang city wall, gazing into the distance. His gaze passed through the thick fog and fell on the direction of Julu in the distance.

Beside him stood a group of generals including Long Qie, Pu Gang, Zhongli Lai and others.

"General, the spies report that although the Qin army under Wang Li has more than 200,000 soldiers, their forces are only concentrated outside Julu City and in Jiyuan." Zhongli Lai said with a bow.

"Among them, there are thirteen armies, led by Wang Li himself, stationed in Jiyuan. The other tens of thousands of troops are divided into sections to guard both sides of the two corridors, and the other part is mainly used to transport food." Ji Bu continued.

"General, one section of the corridor runs from the Baimajin Ferry on the Yellow River to the Sanhujin Ferry on the Zhang River, and the other section runs from the Sanhujin Ferry to the outside of Julu City. The troops guarding these two sections of the corridor are relatively scattered, and there are basically no camps that can be defended. We can concentrate our forces to defeat them one by one." Zhongli Lai suggested.

The corners of Xiang Yu's mouth rose slightly and he nodded.

"The 100,000-strong army led by Baili Hong is stationed south of Julu City and is attacking Julu City from the south," Zhongli Lai added.

"Given the Qin army's deployment of forces, to defeat the Qin army, the Chu army only needs to attack Baili Hong's army and Wang Li's army separately, but must not allow the two Qin armies to encircle the Chu army, otherwise the Chu army will have no chance of winning." Xiang Yu said firmly.

The generals nodded in agreement.

"But to truly destroy the Qin army, we cannot rely on the Chu army alone. We also need to mobilize the coalition forces of the princes to fight together." Xiang Yu said to himself.

Taking the above factors into consideration, Xiang Yu came up with a battle strategy.

Xiang Yu decided to attack the Qin army led by Wang Li first, then attack the Qin army led by Baili Hong, and then let the coalition forces of the princes attack the Qin army together, and finally achieve the goal of destroying the entire Qin army in Guanzhong.

You can despise the enemy strategically, but you must take him seriously tactically.

This sentence was fully utilized in Xiang Yu's battle strategy at this moment.

After careful consideration, Xiang Yu completed his strategic deployment.

Afterwards, Xiang Yu led the Chu army and quickly crossed the turbulent Yellow River from Pingyuanjin. They made rapid progress and successfully arrived at the south bank of the Zhang River.

Before the Qin army could react, Xiang Yu decisively ordered Long Ju and Pu Gang to lead their respective troops, totaling 20,000 Chu troops, to cross the Zhang River and launch a fierce attack on the tunnel.

As soon as Long Qie and Pu successfully crossed the Zhang River, they immediately split up and acted according to the predetermined plan.

Among them, Pu Gang personally led an army of 10,000 and attacked the passage between Baimajin and Sanhujin with a thunderous force.

At the same time, Long Qie led another 10,000 troops and rushed towards the corridor from Sanhu Jin to Julu City.

Because Long Ju and Pu Gang adopted the tactical strategy of concentrating superior forces, they launched a fierce attack on the Qin army guarding the two corridors, which made the Qin army, which was already caught off guard, fall into a dilemma of being unable to cope.

The defense line of the tunnel was crumbling, as if it could be breached by the Chu army at any time.

After Wang Li, who was in command of the overall situation in the rear, learned of this emergency, he was well aware of the consequences if the tunnel was lost.

Therefore, Wang Li made a prompt decision and quickly dispatched his main force, dividing it into two groups to reinforce the two sections of the corridor that were under fierce attack by the Chu army.

However, when Long Qie and Pu Gang saw that the main force of the Qin army was coming to reinforce the tunnel with great momentum, they did not choose to confront them head-on, but instead assessed the situation and decisively ordered a withdrawal.

But what was unexpected was that when the main force of the Qin army thought the crisis had been resolved and began to withdraw gradually,

However, Long Ju and Pu Gang led their army to counterattack unexpectedly and launched a new round of more fierce attacks on the tunnel.

For a moment, the battlefield was filled with the sound of killing and smoke...

It was such a clever tactical arrangement! Wang Li stood on a high place, his eyes fixed on the battlefield, secretly calculating in his mind.

"General, the Chu army is attacking the tunnel again!" a soldier hurried over to report.

Wang Li frowned and ordered, "Send the main force to rescue immediately!"

Long Qie and Pu Gang exchanged a glance, their lips curling up slightly. As they watched Wang Li's main force retreat, they decisively led their troops in a swift retreat.

However, when Wang Li's main force withdrew slightly, the two of them immediately led the army back and attacked the tunnel fiercely again.

"Haha, Wang Li, this idiot, was fooled by us!" Long Qie laughed proudly.

"That's right. He must be in a dilemma now and doesn't know how to deal with it." The deputy general echoed.

Wang Li paced anxiously on the battlefield, his heart full of contradictions.

He was worried that abandoning the tunnel would cause major problems for the Qin army's supply lines, and he was also afraid that pursuing the Chu army with all his strength would lead to falling into a trap set by the other side.

"What on earth do these damn Chu troops want to do?" Wang Li cursed.

His soldiers also began to whisper, and morale gradually declined.

"General, we can't continue to passively take the beating like this!" said a general.

Wang Li gritted his teeth and said with determination: "No matter what, we must defend the tunnel!"

As a result, Wang Li could only passively respond to the repeated attacks of the Chu army. He was completely manipulated by the Chu army and ran around as if being led by the nose.

If this matter reached Meng Yi's ears, he would definitely praise Xiang Yu's brilliant command and say, "Amazing!"

You know, this is actually the classic tactic proposed by the great teacher of later generations - the sixteen-character formula for guerrilla warfare: "When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy stays, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue."

Xiang Yu was able to apply it flexibly and achieve remarkable results on the battlefield, which is enough to prove his outstanding military talent and extraordinary strategic wisdom.

On the other side, the army led by Han Xin was quietly approaching Julu.

Han Xin was well aware of Xiang Yu's bravery, and he planned to cooperate with Xiang Yu at the right time.

At this time, Zhao's general Chen Yu saw that the Chu reinforcements had arrived, and came to Xiang Yu to ask for reinforcements from the Chu army, and urged Xiang Yu to attack the Qin army that was besieging Julu City.

Seeing that Long Ju and Pu Gang had made successful attacks on the tunnel, Xiang Yu personally led the remaining three Chu armies across the Zhang River.

After the Chu army crossed the Zhang River, Xiang Yu stood at the bow of the boat, his eyes firm and resolute.

He shouted, "All troops, listen! Sink all the ships, smash all the pots and pans, and burn down the barracks! We only have three days' worth of rations!"

The soldiers responded one after another, their actions swift and powerful.

Ships were scuttled with clunks, pots and pans were smashed, fragments flying everywhere, and military camps were set on fire, with thick smoke billowing.

Xiang Yu turned and looked at the soldiers behind him. His voice was filled with majesty: "Brothers, we have no way to retreat! Only by fighting to the death can we carve out a way out!"

At the same time, Xiang Yu sent people to notify the coalition forces of the various princes and ask them to cooperate in the action.

However, when the envoy arrived at the camp of the allied forces of the princes north of Julu City, he was treated coldly.

"How can we send out troops easily? The Qin army is so powerful, aren't we seeking our own death?" A general of Qi muttered.

"That's right, let's see the situation first." Another general of Yan State echoed.

The messenger shook his head helplessly and turned away.

After Xiang Yu crossed the Zhang River, he led 30,000 Chu troops to attack the Qin army guarding the passage from Sanhu Ferry to Julu City.

The morale of the Chu army was high, and the shouts of killing were deafening.

Under the fierce attack of the Chu army, the Qin army gradually could not resist.

A Qin general shouted in fear: "Oh no! The tunnel is about to be lost!"

Wang Li, who was stationed in Jiyuan, was not worried when he heard the news.

He sneered and said to his deputy general: "Humph, Xiang Yu has walked into a trap. Our strategy has succeeded. Now is a good opportunity to annihilate the Chu army."

So Wang Li personally led 100,000 Qin troops to fight against Xiang Yu.

However, Wang Li had a concern. He worried that the two Chu armies attacking the tunnel ahead of him would launch another surprise attack on the Qin tunnel. Therefore, he only dared to lead a portion of his troops into battle. The rest of his troops were to remain at the Jiyuan base camp and the two tunnel sections.

A war is about to break out, and both sides are determined to win. It is still unknown who will be the winner. The air is filled with tension, like the last calm before the storm.