Daqin Engineering Corps

"This Meng Wu seems to be a bit aggressive."

"It took only a few days to reach the father of the city, which has far exceeded my expectations."

Shen Bing reminded:

"The Chu soldiers seem to be prepared to abandon the city all the way."

"Now that the father of the city has soldiers, it means that the Chu army may use Rushui as a barrier to defend."

Yang Duanhe nodded and said:

"It makes sense."

"The south of the city father is Ruyin. In this way, this Ruyin is also a place that the Chu army must defend."

After thinking about it, Yang Duanhe ordered to the messenger:

"Order General Mengwu not to advance rashly. The Chu army seems to intend to defend the city father. We should also plan to fight for a long time."

The messenger responded and went to deliver the order.

There is a big difference between a long-term plan for a long-term battle and a short-term quick win.

In a long battle, you will conserve your strength to find the enemy's loopholes, but in a quick battle, you will spare no effort to launch a fierce attack.

But Meng Wu is not willing to listen.

When Meng Wu received the order, he said to the general:

"It's said that Wang Jian is too old to play, and Yang Duanhe is the same."

"On the battlefield of a large army, there are many signs that deceive people's eyes and ears. Otherwise, how can military strategists talk about 'showing their appearance'?"

"The only basis for judging all kinds of news is the national strength and the general trend, not the facts."

"Xiang Yan is also considered a veteran, can he act like a mantis' arm?"

"According to the facts, Xiang Yan has only one plan: defending Ruyin to delay our army, so that Shou Chunnan can escape! That's all, what else?"

It should be said that Meng Wu's judgment is also reasonable.

He believes that from a general perspective, Chu State is not enough to resist Qin regardless of its national strength or general trend.

Therefore, Xiang Yan had no choice but to take the Chu army and continue to flee south into the dense forest and water network area, taking advantage of the terrain to settle down in a corner.

Therefore, Chengfu's defense was a fake, a method used by the Chu army to delay the Qin army so that the Shouchun royal family had time to escape.

Under this judgment, it should be a quick battle rather than a protracted one.

The battlefield is so strange sometimes, no matter what aspect you think about, you can find some truths from military books, so "the public says the public is right, and the woman says the woman is right."

No one knows or is sure who is right until the end.

Meng Wu thought so at this time, so he didn't take Yang Duanhe's order too seriously, but continued to command the troops to attack Chengfu with all his strength.

However, after Yang Duanhe arrived in Ruyin, he fell wood and built a village step by step, and then built trebuchets, excavated stone bombs, shipbuilding and siege equipment.

While building, Yang Duanhe asked Shen Bing on the other side:

"Can the Black Armored Water Army help our army break through the Ru River?"

Shen Bing shook his head and replied:

"The east bank of the Rushui River is full of catapults and crossbowmen from the Chu army, while the Heijia navy army has only 3000 men."

"If you want to break Rushui, I'm afraid you won't be able to do it!"

Yang Duanhe looked at the map and sighed, saying:

"In this case, the only way to attack Ruyin is by force."

It is true that the only way to attack Ruyin and Chengfu is to forcefully attack the cities of Ruyin and Chengfu, otherwise they have to take the risk of crossing Rushui.

Although the Qin army has a pontoon bridge to cross the river quickly, it is a joke that there are a large number of Chu troops defending on the other side... The Qin army was killed after crossing a group, just like adding fuel to others.

If it weren't for these favorable locations, Xiang Yan would not have chosen this line of defense as a line of defense to protect the country and counterattack.

But Shen Bing didn't panic at all.

Because he didn't hope that the Qin army could capture this line of defense at all.

He is waiting, waiting for an opportunity.

Chapter 216

As soon as Shen Bing walked into the handsome tent, he heard Yang Duanhe say:

"Mengwu retreated, and the Chu army used cavalry troops to attack the rear of Mengwu's army and cut off their food roads."

"Our army's supply team has been robbed, and the Mengwu army is retreating to Ruyin."

Shen Bing asked in surprise:

"Why is that so?"

Yang Duanhe replied:

"Meng Wu rushed forward and stormed the father of the city. The rear city did not send troops to garrison, and divided the troops to attack Rushui."

"Yesterday, the Mengwu army was defeated after Rushui, and then the Chu army took advantage of the momentum to counterattack."

"At this time, Meng Wu realized that the food and arrows were almost exhausted, and the food road in the rear was cut off..."

Needless to say next.

The interruption of the food road is a big deal. It only takes one day without food, and people are so hungry that their hands and feet are weak and unable to fight again.

But of course the one hundred thousand army is not like this.

The reason is that there is usually food in the army, and once there is a food crisis, the supply will be limited. The food that can supply the whole army for one day is enough for two or even three days, but the whole army is half-starved and half-satisfied, which will naturally affect morale .

Shen Bing didn't think too much, and said:

"We should immediately reinforce the Mengwu Army."

Yang Duanhe immediately set his sights on Shen Bing.

Shen Bing immediately understood what Yang Duanhe meant:

"The general said, use the Liang army to reinforce the Mengwu army?"

"The subordinates are not disobedient, but the marching speed of the Liang army is slow, I'm afraid..."

Yang Duanhe replied:

"So we still need the Black Armored Army."

Now Shen Bing had nothing to say.

To rush for reinforcements, there must be cavalry troops, and most of the Qin army are infantry, with fewer cavalry troops.

For example, Yang Duan and the 1-strong army have less than [-] cavalry troops.

The 1 people are mainly used for reconnaissance and emergency use. For example, if the Qin army is suddenly attacked by the enemy behind, and the infantry will not be able to arrive for a while, then the cavalry will be sent for reinforcements.

Yang Duanhe explained:

"I'm worried that this is the Chu army's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain, so that the main cavalry army will not move for the time being."

"If we only use infantry reinforcements, we may not be able to make it."

"That's why the Black Armor Army came to the rescue first, and then [-] Daliang Army followed up."

Although Shen Bing was not very happy, he had to admit that this was the best solution.

The reason is that if Yang Duanhe's cavalry and infantry were sent to reinforce while the Heijia Army and Daliang Army stayed in Ruyin, there would be problems of coordination and poor command.

This problem was particularly prominent in ancient times. For example, the Heijia Army and the Hanoi Army of Yang Duanhe belonged to two command systems. Not to mention the different command styles, intelligence sharing and order issuance were troublesome.

However, both the Heijia Army and the Daliang Army were commanded by Shen Bing to reinforce Chengfu, which saved a lot of trouble.

Shen Bing could only reply:

"Subordinates, let's get ready and set off in an hour."

What the Daliang Army and the Heijia Army needed to prepare were actually food and grass, the food and grass they needed plus the food and grass for the Mengwu Army.

If there is no food and grass, it is empty talk to go for reinforcements, because what the Mengwu Army lacks is not people but food.

As a result, the [-] Liang troops carried carts of grain with them.

It is conceivable that this is an easy target for the Chu army.

Before leaving, Shen Bing called Wei Wei and Chen Duan for a meeting to discuss how to march.

Wei Wei and Chen Duan had a tacit understanding, you said to each other:

"Mix the cloth riders and march together."

"One thousand black armor troops in front, with one thousand escorts on the left and right sides."

"And send out spies everywhere, once you find out the enemy's situation and gather your troops to fight!"

This is the traditional way of marching, and all countries do this, using cavalry as the eyes and ears of infantry and emergency troops.

But Shen Bing didn't speak.

Wei Wei couldn't help asking in doubt:

"What does the deputy general think is wrong?"

Shen Bing replied:

"Xiang Yan is not an ordinary person, he must have guessed that our army will go to Chengfu for reinforcements."

"And Rushui is controlled by the Chu army, and the Chu army can cross Rushui at any time to contain our army."

Chen Duan said:

"But lieutenant general, if the Chu army crosses Rushui, wouldn't they be under the pincer attack of our army and the Mengwu army?"

Shen Bing replied:

"That's why it's the restraint."

"They can withdraw from Rushui to the east bank at any time."

Wei Wei nodded:

"By doing this, the Chu army can do everything they can to consume our army's strength and morale, and prevent the Mengwu army from regaining momentum and counterattacking the father of the city."

Shen Bing went on to say:

"And it's not difficult to guess that the cavalry army was sent by the Chu army to Rushui."

"And there may be a lot of them."

Wei Wei and Chen Duan nodded one after another.

Shen Bing's guesses are reasonable.

Only faster cavalry can play a diversionary role, such as maneuvering to a certain place to set up a battle, and when the enemy is ready to form an formation, they suddenly run away without a trace, or set up an ambush somewhere in front...

It is very difficult for infantry to do this.

The reason why Shen Bing still believes that there are a lot of cavalry is because if the number of cavalry is small, for example, only [-] cavalry is sent, then it is enough for the Heijia Army to go forward to fight, and the Daliang Army can continue to march on their own, so they set up Not much effect.

Therefore, if these cavalry troops of the Chu army can play the role of "containment", they must first be able to suppress the black armor army.

With the combat power of the Chu army against the Qin army, double or even triple the strength is required to be sure to suppress it.

Shen Bing asked:

"Can the cavalry of Chu State know how to ride and shoot?"

Wei Wei and Chen Duan shook their heads in unison.

Chen Duan said with certainty:

"Wei and Chu have conflicts from time to time, so we are very familiar with the Chu cavalry."

"It's also the same as us. Most of the riding and shooting are arm-stretched crossbows."

This is the characteristic of the Warring States Period.