diskusbooks Chapter 403 Bai Wuan
Chapter 403 Bai Wuan
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
While Yan was suppressing the rebellion, Liang's largest battle also began.
After receiving the order, Zhao Kuo, the commander-in-chief of Liang State, rushed to the military camp happily and immediately took over the military power with the tiger talisman.
Although Zhao Kuo was excited, he was also a man of some talent. He knew that the first thing he had to do was to familiarize himself with all the details of the army.
The generals, captains, morale of the soldiers, equipment, food, etc. under your command are all indispensable.
As the saying goes, before the army moves, the food and supplies must be sent first.
But when Zhao Kuo checked, he was dumbfounded.
The food and fodder in their military camp was only enough to last for one month.
Moreover, the morale of the soldiers was very low. Among the 400,000 men, not a single one was training. They were all dejected.
As for the equipment, there was no equipment at all. There were swords and guns, but those swords were either rusty from previous stocks, or they were taken from the battlefield and were full of gaps, some even had cracks, or they were just axe brought by the strong men from home.
As for the spear, it is relatively simple to make and easy to mass-produce. Just cut some long straight wooden sticks and tie the spear head on them.
Even with this, everyone still has one. Some spears do not have iron spear heads, and they go back to the Stone Age directly, tying sharpened stone flakes to wooden sticks, or sharpening wooden sticks or bamboo to make spears.
Seeing this scene, Zhao Kuo felt like he was falling into an ice cave and was completely dumbfounded.
He had heard that the State of Yan had cannons that could blow down city walls, muskets that could kill people with a single shot from a long distance, large spaceships that could take people into the sky, and telescopes that could see dozens of miles away.
Looking at these Stone Age products under his command, a strong sense of separation came over him.
Is this really a product of the times?
Zhao Kuo felt a headache when he thought about taking these three-no soldiers to fight against 400,000 Qin elite soldiers.
But since he couldn't kill the enemy, he still had to find a way.
He immediately entered the city and asked the general for weapons and equipment. The general took him directly to the armory and pointed to the empty warehouse, telling him to take whatever he wanted.
Zhao Kuo went to ask the Internal Secretary for food again. The Internal Secretary took him to the granary, pointed at the little remaining food, and counted it for him with an abacus.
How much food does the royal family need to eat, how much does the ministers, officials, city defense forces need to eat, how much does the people need to eat, and so on.
In a nutshell, you have no money, no food, and only that little bit of stuff, so you have to fight on your own.
There was no other way. Zhao Kuo, who was in a headache, could only return to the military camp and stare at the little food and grass in a daze.
In the end, he decided to send troops, because it was because he supported sending troops that the emperor appointed him as commander-in-chief. Anyone can sit still, so why let him come?
Moreover, it is necessary to send troops to preserve Daliang and to contain the Qin army. They must not be allowed to enter the Yinchuan Plain.
Now, he only hopes that he can surround the Qin army in Changping, cut off the Qin army's food and grass, and then replenish the food for his own army.
The next day, Zhao Kuo set out with his army.
After walking for half a month, he finally arrived at Changping. He then immediately allocated troops according to the planned deployment, occupied more than a dozen nearby hilltops, and personally instructed them on how to camouflage, how to ambush, etc.
He only had half a month's worth of food and fodder left, while the Qin army still had five days to reach this point.
He only had ten days to fight against the Qin army and defeat it.
There is no time to delay!
In the next few days, Zhao Kuo was very busy. He had to personally check the defense lines of each hill every day to ensure that there were no mistakes. Next, he would set the enemy up.
He believed that the Qin army would fall into his trap and be surrounded by him.
Zhao Kuo is very confident.
Five days later, the Qin army arrived as expected.
Bai Wuan, the commander-in-chief of the Qin army, was a veteran in his forties. Although he was not very old, he was called a veteran because he was a hereditary aristocrat, joined the army very early, and was invincible.
To the north of Qin State was Liang State, to the east was Wei State, to the south was Sichuan State, and to the west were many small Western Rong states. It could be said that Qin State was surrounded by powerful enemies.
In the past, Qin was also a weak country. After several generations of struggle, its national strength gradually grew stronger, and then the invincible general Bai Wuan emerged.
Bai Wuan led the Qin army to fight everywhere, repelling the invasion of Wei, defeating the army of Liang, occupying the territory of Sichuan, and defeating the Western Rong without any chance of fighting back.
And this time, he will also lead the Qin army to completely destroy the Liang Kingdom.
Bai Wuan sat in the carriage, looking at the map and observing the surrounding terrain. When he learned that the mountain road ahead had become narrower and difficult to pass, he immediately ordered the entire army to stop and set up camp to rest.
He ordered more scouts to go to the hills ahead to explore and check for ambushes.
At this time, there were only five miles left to the place where Zhao Kuo was ambushing.
In the Qin army's tent, Bai Wuan sat on the couch, still staring at the map.
Deputy Commander Huan Qi came over and asked,
"General, it's only 9 o'clock now, why aren't you marching?"
"I'm worried about an enemy ambush."
Bai Wuan said expressionlessly.
"ambush?"
Huan Qi sat opposite him and looked at the map.
Bai Wuan pointed at the map and said,
"This area is full of mountains and forests, with lush vegetation. It's very easy for ambushes to attack on both sides of the official road. If Zhao Kuo wants to stop us, he will definitely choose this area.
We only know that Zhao Kuo is leading 400,000 people to stop us, but we have no idea of the specific situation. We must be careful."
Huan Qi laughed and said,
"That Zhao Kuo is nothing but a paper-thumbnail. He knows nothing about fighting. Why is the Marshal so cautious?"
Huan Qi laughed heartily, only to be met with Bai Wuan's icy gaze.
He stopped smiling again.
“Don’t underestimate any opponent. Even if the enemy army is weak and the commander has never fought a battle, they should not be underestimated. By taking advantage of the terrain, a weak army can become a strong force.
What's more, it is impossible for Liang State to really send a fool to lead the troops, so it is better to be cautious.
Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you be victorious in every battle.
Only by understanding the enemy's intentions can we better formulate tactical responses."
Huan Qi smiled and said,
"The Marshal is still cautious enough. Do you think we can win this time?"
Bai Wuan sighed and said
"Tactically, we will definitely win and destroy the Liang Kingdom, but strategically, we have already lost miserably."
"Oh? Marshal, why is that? We destroyed Liang State and solved the great threat in the north. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Good thing?"
Bai Wuan sneered and said,
"How can this be a good thing? After we eliminate Liang, not only will our northern border not be free of a major threat, but we will also be bordering another powerful and terrifying country. That's the real threat."