Chapter 591 Offense and Defense

Chu army camp.

The strange behavior of the 30,000 Qin army did not make the Chu army rush out.

Xiang Yan was very cautious and quickly sent scouts to find out the news. But the real news was brought by Long Qie from afar.

"Suiyang?"

Long Qie nodded and explained to everyone in the tent.

"Before Zhao Shuang came, he asked the governor of Dang County to prepare grain and grass. Now Suiyang's grain and grass are flowing down the Si River. The first batch has been escorted by Meng Tian's army and is now being transported to the Qin army's camp."

Xiang Yan stood up immediately, walked to the map, and looked at the place where Zhao Shuang was currently camping, as if he had some realization.

"No wonder Zhao Shuang garrisoned here, presumably to protect the grain route from Dang County."

Xiang Yan came to a conclusion and turned around to ask.

"How much food and grass is there?"

"One hundred thousand stones!"

Fan Zeng asked, his voice a little urgent.

"Is the news accurate?"

"It's the news that Mr. Changping asked me to bring. It should be accurate."

The current situation is very delicate. If one hundred thousand stones of food and grass fall into the hands of the Qin army, it will be enough to change the direction of the entire war.

All the Chu generals present felt a sense of urgency.

"General, send out the army immediately!"

Xiang Yan shook her head.

"Zhao Shuang chose the place where he set up his army very cleverly. It is from a high position and radiates in all directions. His army is in the front and the Qin army is behind. If we attack by force, we will definitely suffer heavy losses. The important thing is that he is afraid that he will ask our army to go Attack, thereby delaying time."

The Chu army's time is running out. At this time, it is not a wise choice to start a tug-of-war with the Qin army.

"Things may not be as bad as you think."

At this moment, Fan Zeng said. At this time, only Fan Zeng, the military advisor, was the calmest in the tent.

"Not long after the Wei State was destroyed, the local order was not yet stable. Even if the Qin State could collect 100,000 stones of grain and grass, it would not be able to gather enough boats, carts and animal power to operate. It is impossible for all of the 100,000 stones of grain and grass to be sent to the Qin army."

Having said this, Fan Zeng looked at Long Qie and asked.

"How many knights can the Tenglong Legion dispatch at this time?"

"Less than three thousand."

Fan Zeng had an idea in his mind, looked at Xiang Yan, and said with cupped hands.

"General, why don't you send out cavalry to harass the Qin army's food routes at this time, firstly to detect the true situation, and secondly to dampen the morale of the Qin army."

Xiang Yan nodded and issued the order.

"Meng Tian's cavalry is not that easy to deal with. You have to be careful."

"I will finally understand!"

A group of Chu generals left the camp to deal with military affairs. After all, they had just experienced a battle and the Chu army needed to regroup and prepare for the next battle.

However, not long after Fan Zeng left, he turned around again.

"General, I just asked Long Qie privately about the situation in Chen Di."

"how?"

Fan Zeng shook his head.

"The situation is very bad. Nanyang's 20,000 troops failed to evacuate in time. Now Chen Di's defensive strength only consists of a group of surrendered troops, civilians loyal to the Chu State, and private soldiers of the nobles of Han and Chu. The total strength is not enough. To 30,000. Wang Ben led his troops to advance by land and water, and attacked fiercely day and night. Lord Changping said that Han will be regained control by the Qin army in just one or two days, and he can hold out for ten days at most."

"Ten days?"

This number is much shorter than Xiang Yan expected, which shows how bad the situation is.

"There is another situation that is rather strange."

"What?"

"Li Kaijun, who was stationed in Ye County, suddenly entered Korea. However, he did not go north to Xinzheng to quell the chaos. Instead, he stationed himself along the Ru River."

"What does Zhao Shuang want to do?"

Xiang Yan frowned. Korea is a hub of the Central Plains. Its two major water systems, the Ru River and the Ying River, are important water transportation channels and are directly connected to the Huai River.

"I'm just afraid that Zhao Shuang's chess will be placed somewhere we can't guard against."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Shou Ying!"

Xiang Yan's face fell like water, and after a while, she sighed.

"Within ten days, we must find a fighter opportunity and launch a counterattack against the Qin army. But if we can't seize it, Lord Changping's arrangements will have no choice but to be scrapped, and we will have no choice but to look for good opportunities again."

The Chu army is different from the Qin army. If it cannot win a decisive battle and instead falls into a war of attrition of national power between Chu and Qin, then the Chu army will undoubtedly lose.

The best opportunity for the Chu army is to wait until the 200,000 Qin army's food and grass are exhausted again, and then launch a strategic counterattack. Because in a normal decisive battle, even if the Chu army could exchange heads at a ratio of one to one or even one to two, it would not be worth it to pay the price of 100,000 troops to wipe out the 200,000 Qin army.

Qin State no longer has this 200,000-strong army, but it can still mobilize another 200,000 troops. But without the 100,000 troops of Chu, half of the country would be gone. If all 200,000 were defeated, the country would be close to being destroyed.

Along the Ru River, a fleet was heading south along the river.

On the high bank, Wei Zhuang held the shark tooth and looked at the scenery on the river bank.

"Xiao Zhuang!"

Gai Nie came from behind, holding the Yuanhong sword in his hand and walking slowly.

Behind Wei Zhuang, two quicksand guards held ice spears and were about to stop them, but saw Wei Zhuang wave his hand to make them retreat.

"Brother, did Zhao Shuang ask you to come?"

"Did you start a rebellion in Han just to help Lord Changping?"

"You knew already?"

"The garrison in Sanchuan has moved south, but in a day or two, Xinzheng will probably become more desolate than before. And Chendi will not be here for a few days."

"For a capital city that has lost its country, desolation is what it should be."

Wei Zhuang's words were very cold.

"If Qin is destroyed in the future, Xianyang will not be much better than Xinzheng."

"Is this your original intention to start a meaningless war?"

"We people are born for troubled times, you and I are like this, and Zhao Shuang is like this. If the world is peaceful, what is the value of you and me?"

Gai Nie remained silent, but Wei Zhuang did not finish his words.

"Fortunately, the war is far from over. I am just reminding you that the world of Qin is not peaceful. Don't indulge in the illusion of peace."

Gai Nie looked at Wei Zhuang's back, took two steps forward, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"So, you're going to stop?"

"You and I are from the same sect, and we naturally know the principles of gathering and scattering quicksand. I have already helped, and I have got what I want. As for the end, I am not interested in whether Changping-Jun can succeed."

Whether they can eat the 200,000 Qin troops is the key to this war.

"I've heard about Chu Di. The key to victory or defeat lies within these ten days. However, I think Zhao Shuang's ultimate move shouldn't be there."

"A killing move?"

Gai Nie looked at the boats on the river bank and fell into deep thought.

"Li Kai's thousands of troops are stationed in Shangcai and Jiaxian, and hundreds of empty ships are sailing south along the Ru River. Isn't this scene more interesting than that in Xinzheng? Senior brother, you are here for this, right?"

There was a hint of emotion on Gai Nie's face, making him look quite serious, completely different from his usual gentle and polite appearance.

"Do you think the same as me?"

Wei Zhuang raised his head slightly, looked at the blue sky, and took a deep breath, as if he was feeling the vicissitudes of life between heaven and earth.

"Brother, do you still remember when Wu Shi attacked Chu?"

"Sun Wu, Wu Yuan!"

"But now, the offensive and defensive momentum is different!"