Qin Official

"The grass grows taller and brighter every year..."

Once upon a time, Heifu always thought that the song "Ancient Grassland" written by Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty was about the grasslands of the North. But later he found out that it was actually a place in Huaibei: Fuli.

"The land of Jiuyi, with a radius of thousands of miles, has the Fortress of Fuli." This small county in Huaibei is called Fuli because of the Fuli grass, which is also called Guancao, that grows nearby.

It is said that this was the main military horse training base after the Chu State moved eastward. Relying on the horses produced here, the Chu army was able to organize a chariot and cavalry force. Although the horses in the south are mostly short and far less powerful than the horses in the north, although their endurance is good, But when charging into battle, they are always at a disadvantage, and are only better than nothing.

In mid-August, the broad and empty pasture stretches out below Lishan. With the arrival of autumn, the grass leaves dry up and turn yellow, turning into a bronze color. When the wind blows, the long grass leaves sway like waves.

Of course, this was the scene before the decisive battle between the Qin and Chu armies. A large battle involving more than 200,000 people completely changed the appearance of this place.

Nowadays, stretching from Mount Li to the edge of Suishui River, within dozens of miles, the bronze grassland is covered with human and horse corpses. The flowing blood has dyed the grassland an unknown reddish brown, and has been trampled by countless pairs of feet. It became a muddy ground. Large flocks of crows smelled the scent and circled back and forth in the sky above the dead. This was a feast prepared for them.

In addition to crows, there was also thick smoke in the sky. In order to win the victory, both sides resorted to all possible means. In some places that were affected by campfires and smoke during the battle, fires were lit. Looking around, the surroundings were filled with charred charcoal. Glowing embers rose from the smoke and drifted towards the sky, like thousands of newborn fireflies...

When the flames finally extinguished and the ground cooled down a little, it was almost evening, the setting sun was like blood, and the water in Suishui was full of bloody corpses.

"When the sky falls, the mighty spirit becomes angry, and kills them all, abandoning the wilderness."

It is most appropriate to use Qu Yuan's poem to describe this battle.

Heifu wore the armor of a senior officer of the Qin Army, with long white feathers standing on his chest. He got out of the military chariot and walked on the post-war grassland, his feet covered with mud and blood.

Behind him were the short soldiers guarding him with swords and shields. Even though the battle was over, they were still extremely vigilant, as well as a large number of officials and generals with happy faces. They were the survivors of this battle and the victors. They were still talking about it. The whole day of fighting is still unfinished.

But Heifu just frowned and glanced around, standing on the high mountain top. This was the base camp of the Chu army. At this moment, everything was destroyed. He felt the choking smell of smoke, blood, and even the smell of feces and urine.

This is the real smell of the battlefield, and it has nothing to do with romantic epics. Of course, there will always be literati afterwards who will make the battle look like that.

He turned around and asked his uncle and grandson who were following him:

"Did you write it down?"

Although Shusun Tong was brave, walking in the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, his face was still pale, which matched the ink-stained fingertips. He only said solemnly: "Write it down."

"read."

Shusun Tong unfolded the white silk lined with wooden boards in his hand and read: "On the tenth day of the eighth month of the first year, Xia Gong and his generals attacked the Chu bandits and defeated Xiang Ji in a decisive battle against Fuli. Xia Gong's troops could reach 150,000. , Zhang Han is in charge of this formation, General Dongmen is on the left, General Chen Ying is on the right, Duke Xia is behind, Wu Guang is behind Duke Xia. Guan Ying and Zhou Ke are on the left and right wings."

"The number of Xiang Ji's soldiers was 60,000. Zhang Han joined forces with Xiang Ji first, but was unlucky and failed. Chen Ying was attacked by Chu Yingbu, but he also failed. General Dongmen broke in and killed Xiang Liang. The Chu bandits were disadvantaged. At that time, Cao Shen Arriving from the east, he, together with Guan Ying and Zhou Ke, attacked Chu's side. Xia Gong returned his troops and defeated Chu at Fuli. He fled south with thousands of remnant soldiers..."

Before he finished reading, Heifu started to curse:

"You are a Confucian scholar who usually writes colorful articles and quotes from classics. But when it comes to military affairs, you suddenly lose your spirituality. Even the basic process is unclear."

Shusun Tong had no choice but to keep confessing his guilt and said: "Wei Linggong asked Confucius. Confucius said: 'The things about Zu Dou have only been heard about, but the things about military affairs have not been learned.' The same is true for me, military affairs. I haven’t learned enough about what happened, and I wrote it improperly. I hope Duke Xia will be punished!”

"Then what's the use of you?" Hei Fu rolled his eyes at Shusun Tong and drove him away.

Letting a Confucian scholar like Shusun Tong, who has no knowledge of military affairs, record the war is really not as good as what the military judge saw with his own eyes and wrote down exactly what happened in the past half month:

Ambush from all sides is Heifu's tactic. Through the deep strategic outflanking of various Qin armies, the Chu army's living space is constantly compressed, leaving them vulnerable to enemies from both sides. They cannot imitate Xiang Yan's way of dealing with Li Xin, trading space for fighter planes. The Chu army was forced into the Huaibei area, and the goal of annihilation was finally achieved.

Xiang Ji, on the other hand, wanted to use specialized forces to concentrate his troops to prevent the Chu army from suffering too many losses. He also tried to find opportunities to use the weaknesses of the separate divisions of various divisions that were difficult to coordinate to defeat Heifu's various divisions one by one.

He really found an opportunity. The Vietnamese soldiers under the southern deputy general Wu Rui had very poor military discipline. They advanced when they saw advantages. They completely forgot that they were defeated by Xiang Yu more than half a year ago. They crossed Xu County to plunder Huaibei, but were defeated. Xiang Ji was wiped out and 3,000 people were killed. Yue Xiaohua was killed in battle.

After being reminded by the cobblers of the Wing Camp, Heifu also realized this. In early August, he ordered all parties to stop advancing, and only asked Zhou Ke of Surabaya County to send an army to advance aggressively and try to attack Fulisai.

This is Heifu's bait, but the Chu army cannot leave the Si Shui soldiers alone. Once the other side captures Fuli Fortress, the troops from Surabaya and Jiaodong can move south from here, and cooperate with Heifu's main force marching eastward from Chen and Suiyang to unite the Chu army. surrounded.

So Xiang Ji responded by sniping Zhou Ke in Fuli and also defeated his Wang Ling. However, by the time the battle was over, Heifu's army had quickly outflanked Suishui from Suiyang and Chengfu. Xiang Ji blocked him at Fulisai...

After a long period of struggle, the decisive battle between the two sides finally started here.

At this time, Heifu had 150,000 troops, and several armies with a total of nearly 100,000 troops came to the left and right after hearing the news. They completely occupied the strategic advantage and could choose to fight decisively or hold on. Faced with the Chu army's last-ditch attitude, he made a wise choice: imitating Wang Jian back then, he wanted to dig trenches and hold on, wearing down the Chu people's vigor while waiting for reinforcements.

The longer it drags on, the more favorable the war situation will be to the Qin army.

So the Chu army, who also realized this, took the lead in launching an attack...

The two sides fought on the grassland of Fuli. The Qin army was in the southwest and was in a low position. The Chu army was in the northeast, with its back to Suishui, and occupied the commanding heights of Lishan.

As Shusun Tong recorded, Heifu appointed the imperial servant Zhang Han as the commander-in-chief of the former army, the guard Dongmen Bao as the left wing, and the Donghai County governor Chen Ying as the right wing. He himself and 10,000 short soldiers guarded the rear, and Wu Guang With the reserve army on standby. Zhang Han led his main force of 100,000 troops to advance forward. Although the Qin army's morale and armored troops were superior, the progress was not smooth due to the unfavorable terrain. According to the battle plan, he began to retreat slowly backwards, luring the Chu army into thinking that he had won. Conduct pursuit.

As expected, the Chu army pursued, and Hei Fu ordered his left and right wings to advance forward and outflank him. However, Xiang Ji played a trick when setting up the formation. He concentrated his elite troops on the right, commanded by Yingbu. As a result, Chen Ying on the left flank of the Qin army was I hit a wall and was frustrated for a while.

Fortunately, Heifu adopted the same tactics as Xiang Ji, placing the elite troops on the right and giving them to the command of Dongmen Bao, hoping to break through here and attack the Chu army in a roundabout way.

So at the same time, the right wing of both sides was dominant, while the left wing was frustrated. The soldiers of both sides fought together on the grassland for more than ten miles. The two sides fought each other to the death with red eyes, as if the old and new grudges of the Chu and Qin clans were to be settled here.

In this melee, the Chu people's individual fighting was in sharp contrast with the Qin army's organizational discipline. The latter always maintained a strict formation to look after each other, and gradually gained the advantage.

On the right wing of the Qin army, Dongmen Leopard's advance was obviously faster than that of the Chu army Yingbo, and Wu Guang joined with more reserves to withstand the left wing, which was originally showing signs of defeat. Seeing that the balance of victory was gradually tilting towards the Qin army, Xiang Ji started an adventure.

He handed over the formation to Xiang Liang's command, and led thousands of guards and cavalry to attack Heifu's flag from the side and rear!

This group of people were the first to follow Xiang Ji, and everyone was determined to die. Xiang Ji even raised his halberd and rushed to the front, completely ignoring his own safety. They broke through several small formations and rushed straight to Heifu. In front of the close-quarters personal guards!

Many times, Xiang Ji relied on beheading gambling attacks, and with the blessing of courage and luck, he won the battle, such as the Battle of Chasm against Shejian, the Battle of Huainan against Yue Xiao, and the Battle of Pengcheng against Peng Yue.

After attracting the opponent's main force, the cavalry and cavalry attack, and they will move immediately!

But this time, what was standing in front of him was the Nanjun soldiers who had been following Heifu since they raised their troops from Wuchang. They could understand the shouts of the Chu people on the opposite side, and even the arrows they shot passed by their faces and hit him. Paoze was shot down, but the short-range soldiers were like poplars rooted in the soil, standing firmly in line and never moving a step!

The same goes for Heifu. In order to prevent the troops and horses from being frightened and running around, causing unpredictable consequences, he even placed his command flag on a fixed sentry tower, and stood on it with his sword, commanding the overall situation from beginning to end. In the end, he didn't move even half a step. Seeing the Chu people attacking, he just waved his hand to use the crossbowmen to defend against the enemy!

So, what greeted Xiang Ji was a crossbow array of flying arrows like flying locusts. The launched arrows were so dense that they collided with each other in the air. There was even a giant bed crossbow "Star Destroyer Crossbow" placed here that couldn't wait to give full play to its ability. The power of this crossbow in field battles, the shaft of this crossbow is as thick as a child's arm. Once hit, both men and horses will die. No matter how heavy the tank is, it can't stop the Star Destroyer Crossbow from firing!

What's more, there are Beidi cavalry commanded by Guan Ying and others on the flanks, ready to go. Most of his Saibei cavalry are from Xinqinzhong, and they are skilled in horsemanship. They also use strong Hexi horses and Saishang horses. , on average, half a head taller than Chu horses. When Guan Ying led the Qin chariots to cut off the Chu army's chariots, Chu people understood what it meant to be truly unparalleled in chariots and cavalry...

Even though Xiang Ji's personal strength is amazing and he is good at finding opportunities to carry out assaults, it is difficult for him to defeat the preparations that Heifu has laid out. This time, no matter how hard he glared, it didn't work. He was hit by several arrows and almost turned into a hedgehog. It was only because of his thick armor that he was only injured. He was still alive and was saved by Xiang Zhuang desperately.

As Xiang Ji's attack on Heifushuai's flag failed and he hurriedly withdrew, the outcome of this war was also decided.

The right wing of the Chu army no longer had the advantage, and the left wing gradually collapsed. The central army was attacked by the Qin army. The Qin soldiers holding spears and long swords pressed forward, which acted as a chopping block, while the freed Guan Ying and the chariot rider It's like a hammer in Heifu's hand, aiming at the Chu army's back and killing him!

When Cao Shen's vanguard also crossed the Suishui River and arrived at the battlefield, the already shaken Chu army collapsed completely.

The only pity is that due to terrain restrictions, the Qin army, which was twice as many as the opponent, could not completely surround them. Xiang Ji, Yingbu and others led thousands of remaining soldiers to break through the Qin people and fled south.

"Wei Yang and Wu Rui are coming from the south, and Xiang Ji will rush into their encirclement."

Hei Fu doesn't have to worry about this. This time, Xiang Ji doesn't have a river to cross.

It was getting dark, and Hei Fu was still inspecting the battlefield. The corpses of the fallen soldiers on both sides were piled up like mountains, and there were very few prisoners. Those who had been with Xiang Yu until now were basically die-hards. They were unwilling to surrender and died fighting each other. , the Qin army also kept few prisoners, but their heads were chopped off.

A familiar face flashed through his mind, and Heifu asked the charioteer to stop the car: He saw Yang Xi, the cavalryman, with gauze wrapped around his head, his ears cut off, and he was kneeling on one knee at the foot of Mount Li, with a corpse covered with a military flag. In front of me, I held a wine gourd in my hand, took a sip myself, and poured another sip at my feet...

Heifu had an impression of Yang Xi. This young man was the first to surrender in the Battle of Lantian. After joining them, he showed bravery in the Battle of Xihe. Heifu specially distinguished him and also gave him a gift from Hu Hai. Concubine...

He got out of the car and came behind Yang Xi.

"Who is the deceased?"

Yang Xi was wiping his tears and laughing. Hearing this, he turned around and saw that it was Mr. Hei. He quickly bowed down and said, "I dare you to tell me to Duke Xia. This is the Sima under Lieutenant Li Bidu. His name is Jiu Bo. He is from Pinyang in Guanzhong." Because he is always fond of wine, we call him the Master of Wine."

Heifu seemed to have heard someone mention it before: "Is it the old Sima who participated in the battles to destroy Zhao, Yan, and Chu during the First Emperor's reign?"

"Exactly!"

Yang Xi did not expect that Heifu actually knew Jiu Gong and said: "Although Sima has a bad temper and likes to talk nonsense after drinking and is often punished, he is familiar with the roads of Guandong and knows the enemy's tactics. The Battle of Sanchuan and the Battle of Mangdang Mountain. All have made great contributions.”

"In this decisive battle with the Chu thieves, Jiu Gong personally led his soldiers to defeat the Chu army. He broke into the right wing and fought fiercely with the Chu people. He killed even Ao and killed the soldiers without any calculation. Finally, Xiang Liang wanted to leave. He took dozens of soldiers with him. A knight broke into the Chu bandits' formation and killed Xiang Liang. Unfortunately, he was injured by Xiang Liang's personal guards immediately..."

The voice did not become dull, but became louder and louder. Yang Xi was proud of Jiu Gong's bravery.

Heifu listened quietly, nodded and said, "Does this wine master have any last words?"

Yang Xidao: "Before he came out of seclusion, he said that no matter whether he was alive or dead, this would be the last time he came out of seclusion! I only hope that his descendants would not have to be like him, conscripting every year and guarding the border every year."

"This expectation was not fulfilled by the First Emperor, but what I promised will definitely be achieved!"

Heifu nodded heavily: "His corpse, together with other war dead, will be returned to Guanzhong with dignity and buried."

"Xia Gong, are you serious about this?"

Another voice came, but it was a Qin soldier guarding the corpses of three or five comrades beside him. He was guarded by Heifu's personal guards, and he knelt down and shouted loudly in Anlu dialect.

Hei Fu asked his bodyguard to let the man come over. After looking at him for a long time, Hei Fu said, "Are you the Nanjun citizen husband I commended when I was in Wuguan? Your name is Bo...?"

"Yes, it's Shrike from Anlu! Now he's the commander of the village!" Seeing that Duke Xia still remembered his little fellow villager, Shrike was very happy and asked again:

"Xia Gong, can all the corpses of those who died in the war return home for burial?"

"able."

Seeing more and more people gathered, Heifu stood on the military chariot again and said loudly: "More than ten years ago, three hundred of my colleagues from Nanjun died in Linyang in battle. At that time, I vowed to take them home. Here we are. During the second expedition to Chu, I spent all my money to buy three hundred coffins and sent them back to Nanjun! I established the first loyal cemetery in the world."

"Today's war dead, just like then, died for the great cause of reunification. Before leaving the customs, Yu asked the military judge to give each person a small wooden plaque with their name, place of origin, and military affiliation. Prepare for identification. When a fox dies, his head will be on a hill, and a black man will not let the bones of his heroes be exposed in the wild, alone in a foreign land, without being able to feed on blood."

"If the wooden sign is lost and cannot be identified, a loyal cemetery will be built locally to offer sacrifices. Those who can be identified will have their bones temporarily placed locally. Fuli will build a coffin workshop and cut down all the good wood in the mountains and all over the Suishui River. We will recruit good people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and recruit vehicles from the entire Central Plains, and we will send them back, whether it is Guanzhong, Nanjun, Nanyang, or Shuzhong!"

In this decisive battle, the Chu army lost nearly 60,000 people, while the Qin army also lost nearly 10,000 people, and tens of thousands more were seriously injured. Most of them will die, and the number of dead will continue to increase. , which may eventually reach 20,000.

Therefore, this is a huge project that will cost tens of millions of dollars, but Heifu's words are here.

"Move slowly, if it doesn't work in one year, it will take three years. If it doesn't work in three years, it will take five years. As long as it can be found, all the corpses of the soldiers will be returned home!"

"Long live!" I don't know whether it was Yang Xi who shouted first or the shrike.

"Long live Duke Xia!" The shouts of long live came one after another, making it difficult for Heifu to continue speaking. He could only stop him several times before the voices of the soldiers gradually dropped.

Heifu continued: "More than that, when the imperial court is rich, I will not build palaces like the First Emperor, but I will sacrifice my life for today's war, for the past few years, to overthrow the tyranny of Hu Hai, and to reunify the world. , and the loyal soldiers who died will erect a big stone monument!"

"This monument is called: 'Hero Monument'!"

"Hero Monument?" The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. They all said that Duke Xia was a great hero who fought against chaos and saved lives. They also thought that this title was exclusive to Duke Xia.

But Heifu doesn’t seem to think so:

"I once told people that in this huge world, there is not a single hero, not a single hero. That's right, the kind of 'hero' or 'hero' who once drew his sword and brought disaster to the common people for ten years, there is no such thing as a hero." recognize!"

In the distance, Mr. Huang Shi stood quietly wearing a mask. The wind blew from Suishui River, and the stench of the battlefield made him shake a little. This was a scene that Yingchuan almost faced.

But now, after hearing this, he nodded slightly.

It seems like there is a breeze blowing through this stinking mess, making people less desperate.

Heifu's voice continued, spreading among the soldiers:

"Only those who have made sacrifices for the great cause of unifying the world, for the common people to be able to have men enjoy their jobs, women to enjoy their jobs, and to have a truce around the world, are worthy of this title!"

"Those who are still alive after the bitter battle, even if they are just Guizhou soldiers and soldiers, from now on..."

Heifu threw his hands towards the survivors and Changsaku bowed: "We are all heroes!"

"And those who died in battle are also ghost heroes!"

…

"The scene of today's decisive battle will also be engraved on the stone relief of the Heroes' Monument and erected in front of the Xianyang Palace. The deeds and names of the soldiers will be immortalized forever..."

Heifu asked Shu Suntong, who was almost unemployed, to write down the matter. When he returned to Guanzhong, he would hand it over to Feng Chang Lu Jia and Shaofu Zhang Cang. While he was talking, a heavy rain suddenly poured down, and they could only open the big umbrella. Take shelter from the rain under the military chariot.

The rain washed away the battlefield, washing blood into Suishui, and making the ground muddy.

At this moment, Guan Ying, who went to pursue the enemy, sent someone back to report. The messenger made a plop and bowed down in the muddy water, but his face was full of joy:

"Guanjun Lieutenant reported back to Duke Xia and was ordered to drive out the Chu bandits. Along the way, he beheaded more than three thousand people. The land and water divisions from the east of the Yangtze River also occupied Qi County. The remaining three thousand troops of Xiang Ji were unable to enter Qi County. They were trapped by my tens of thousands of troops. In the north of Qi County, in Daze Township!"

"Daze Township..."

Heifu muttered these three words, and the counselors and generals beside him were congratulating each other. Only he knew what this place name meant...

"There must be God's will in the dark?"

Heifu walked into the rain, looked up to the sky and laughed. Those thin threads of rain seemed to be manipulating the threads of dynasty and personal destiny, leading them, the participants, to the final chapter bit by bit.

Or is it the people's wish to end the war as soon as possible and start a new life that plucks these strings?

"That's fine."

Heifu sighed: "It's right here where everything originally started."

"Let this war that should never have happened end!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is at night.