Chapter 1217: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (One Hundred and Seven) New Changping

Changping and Yangfeng have always been two strategic points in the confrontation between Qin and Zhao. When Qin was strong, they would be taken away by Qin, and when Zhao was strong, these two places would fall into the hands of Zhao. Although the places were not large, they had always been the places that the two countries had to fight for. However, since the Handan Incident, when Western Zhao became a vassal of Qin, the importance of these two places plummeted. Both sides believed that there was no need to station troops in this place, and a strategic point became deserted. In the past, there were many people living here, but after Bai Qi killed tens of thousands of Zhao soldiers in Changping, there was no smoke here anymore. According to the people who finally fled here, every night, they could always hear the wailing of countless people, which made people change color and tremble with fear. How could they dare to stay here?

Originally a very lively place, it actually declined like this.

The first thing Gao Yuan saw of the famous Changping was a scene of broken walls and desolate scenery. Pushing open the half-closed city gate, he walked into the city. The thick snow almost buried the city. After a winter of accumulation, the snow on the street almost covered half of the doors on both sides of the street. He pushed open a window casually, and with a click, the window fell down, which scared Gao Yuan.

The house was fully furnished, but it was covered with thick dust. A stale smell came from the open window. Gao Yuan put his hand on the window sill and jumped into the house. When he landed, his feet made a sound, and a puff of smoke rose.

"Was this a barracks before?" Gao Yuan looked at the room and asked.

"Yes, my king, Changping City has always been a fortress city. The people stationed in the city are the army and the families of some officers and soldiers, and the administrative officials." Zhao Xilie on the side responded.

"It's so desolate!" Gao Yuan shook his head, walked to the corner, picked up a rusty iron spear head from the dust on the ground, and threw it on the table. There was a clang.

"Changping is an ominous place for the Great Zhao, and no one wants to come here." Zhao Xilie whispered, "Later, after we arrived in Jinyang, due to various reasons, it was impossible to even come to worship. Slowly, this place became like this."

"I understand!" Gao Yuan sighed, "It's good that there is no one here. It's actually beneficial to us at this time. Let's start cleaning here, repairing the city walls, and setting up defensive positions. Next, this will be our core position and center point."

Helan Yan behind Gao Yuan took out a map from his arms and handed it to Zhao Xilie, "General Zhao, this is the defense setting map of the Changping central position. All the position settings and parameters are clearly marked on it."

Zhao Xilie took the defense map with both hands, unfolded it and just glanced at it, his face changed slightly.

"General Zhao. How many days can all the settings be completed?" Gao Yuan put his hands behind his back,

walked a few steps in the house, walked to another window, stretched out his hand and pushed it open, some snow outside actually poured in, the terrain here is low. The snow outside has exceeded the lowest edge of the house.

Zhao Xilie swallowed his saliva, "Ten days."

"We don't have ten days!" Gao Yuan smiled. "Because it takes time to deploy defenses outside, five days. I will give you five days at most. I want to see a brand new Changping."

"Yes!" Zhao Xilie bowed solemnly, "I will start immediately."

The desolate Changping ushered in a grand project, and tens of thousands of soldiers began the reconstruction of Changping. They had to set up a solid defense project within five days. With the current quality and combat effectiveness of the Western Zhao army, there was not much hope of fighting the Qin army in the field, but it was not without a chance to defend the city. The stronger the defense line was, the more protection it would have for the soldiers.

When Li Mingjun arrived at Changping, Changping had undergone earth-shaking changes. A brand new Changping appeared in front of Li Mingjun. The trenches and breastworks were crisscrossed on the positions centered on Changping City, and the broken city walls were repaired. The snow cleared from the city was piled outside the city wall and poured with water to form a new ice wall.

Li Mingjun almost couldn't believe his eyes. He knew what Changping was like. Now, there was no trace of the original.

"Li Mingjun is here?" Gao Yuan stood up in surprise. "How did he get here so quickly? Please invite him in."

Li Mingjun, who was exhausted, stepped into the Changping General's Mansion, which was already bright and clean. His legs were still weak. In the last few dozen miles, he gave his warhorse to those soldiers who really couldn't run anymore, and ran all the way here.

"Your Majesty, I am ashamed that I only brought less than 10,000 people. The remaining thousands of people fell behind on the road." Li Mingjun said with his head down.

Gao Yuan nodded. He knew what Li Mingjun's army in Shanggu was like. Their condition was far inferior to Zhao Xilie's army in Jinyang. It was almost comparable to the county soldiers he had in Fufeng back then. Li Mingjun was able to maintain such a team without falling apart, which showed his ability. And being able to bring such a team to Jinyang in less than ten days was even more amazing. In terms of military management, I'm afraid he is better than Zhao Xilie.

"Don't mention that you brought 10,000 people. Even if you only brought 5,000 people, it is still an amazing achievement." Gao Yuan walked up to Li Mingjun and actually gave him a big hug and beat him hard with both hands. He slapped his back and said, "Now is the time when we need manpower. With your coming, we have greatly alleviated our predicament with our military strength. Xilie, Mingjun's army must be exhausted. Make some arrangements and let them They eat a good meal and take a good rest.”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Xilie bowed.

"Mingjun arrived in time. We are holding a sacrificial ceremony tomorrow. Your troops have a good rest today and all will participate tomorrow." Gao Yuan said.

"Is it to pay homage to the 80,000-year-old Zhao Guoerlang who died here unjustly?" Li Mingjun's eyes suddenly turned red.

"Yes, they died here. Today we are here. More importantly, you are the protagonists and the main force in this battle." Gao Yuan's deep voice sounded in Li Mingjun's ears.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Mingjun bowed deeply. He did not expect that Gao Yuan did not shy away from the fact that they were once Zhao people, and he did not care whether this memorial ceremony would arouse the soldiers' nostalgia for their motherland, but he knew that this time, The sacrifices will definitely arouse the soldiers' hatred towards the Qin people, and their morale will be greatly improved.

Changping at night was covered by a thin layer of fog. The wind was very light, blowing this layer of mist around, making the bright lights on the tower appear hazy. Zhao Xilie and Li Mingjun sat side by side. On the watchtower on the newly repaired city wall, smelling the cold breath in the air, both of them were silent, as if there was what looked like an ordinary hill not far from them. Under the hillock, tens of thousands of Zhao soldiers were sleeping. There was no such hillock there originally.

The two of them were silent, but they seemed to hear a series of lamentations and calls in their hearts, which made them involuntarily think of that tragic period.

"We must win this battle, not for anything else, but for the 80,000 comrades who are sleeping here." After a long time, Zhao Xilie burst out these words from between his teeth, "Not for the big man, not for Our future is only for these 80,000 comrades."

Li Mingjun clenched his fist and slammed it on the wall beside him: "You are right, this battle has nothing to do with the big man or the future, it is just for these comrades, they are watching us from there, watching Let’s start this battle of revenge.”

"Do you know why the king named this battle the Changping Meat Grinder Project?" Zhao Xilie asked.

"Of course I know that this battle will not be a short and quick battle, but a protracted war. We are here to make the Qin people shed all their blood." Li Mingjun nodded and said: "Xi Lie, you have fifty thousand soldiers. This time I brought an army of 10,000 to 60,000. Compared with the Qin army, although the field battle is insufficient, the defense is not necessarily at a disadvantage. There are more than 10,000 Han cavalry to help. As long as we can hold on to the first stage, Victory is ours. You don’t know. This time I came from Shanggu and saw the powerful mobilization ability of the Han Dynasty. From the time the king issued the battle order, within a short period of time, the Han Kingdom was ready for all wars. Prepare, what I saw along the way was the endless transportation teams, countless grains, grass, ordnance, which were advancing towards Jinyang in an endless stream, and these were all handled by some businessmen, Han The country's military only cares about fighting and nothing else. Its strong mobilization ability and strict organizational ability are amazing. Seeing these, I am even more convinced that the victory of this war belongs to us. "

"My biggest wish is to catch Bai Qi." Zhao Xilie said, "It's a pity that he is not here."

"Zhu, when we invade Handan, we will make your wish come true." Li Mingjun said: "By the way, when we entered the city, I saw that the defense system here is very different from our previous one. This is the Han's combat system, right? , can our soldiers and commanders adapt? "

"In the past few days, I am working hard to adapt to this system. It is similar with some minor differences. The principles are always the same. There are still many supporting equipment in this defense system that have not yet arrived. They must be combined to play a greater role. I hope what you said Those caravans should come earlier."

"Where are the two cavalry divisions?"

"They dispersed." Zhao Xilie said: "The Qin army has nearly 20,000 cavalry. The main opponents of the two cavalry divisions are them. We must guard against them threatening our logistics line."

"The most difficult part was the previous month. If we survive this stage, the large forces of the Han army will come up." Li Mingjun said, "Come on, Xilie, we will definitely win."

"Of course!" (To be continued)