The Huaihe Line of the Qinling Mountains (and Funiu Mountains) is the real north-south dividing line of China's geography. In order to cross the Qinling Mountains, from west to east, there are Chencang Road, Baoxi Road, Tangluo Road, Ziwu Road, Yugu Road, and Wuguan Road. These mountain roads are all extremely rugged and all follow the rivers. There are 72 rivers in the Qinling Mountains, but only a few valleys can be passed through.

The Qin people blocked the three rivers (that is, valleys) that could pass, and the Chu army had no way to go. Although the soldiers could walk through the mountains, artillery, baggage, and carriages could not pass through. Even if the soldiers walked through the mountains, they could not walk much in a day. When the Chu army walked out of the valley, more than 200,000 Qin troops led by Meng Tian had already arrived in Lantian.

Early this morning, news of the Qin army's assistance to Guanzhong came, including: First, the Qin army did not all support Guanzhong, but only 200,000, no more than 250,000 people rushed to Guanzhong; second, the Qin general who led his army to assist Guanzhong was not Li Xin, but Meng Tian, ​​son of Meng Wu; third, Meng Tian did not follow the expected Guhangu Road, but crossed the river from Maojin and entered Guanzhong from Puban pontoon bridge.

The timely delivery of the news allowed everyone to see a corner of the black box of the Qin people's war. The Qin army did not all rush to Guanzhong, so the leader would naturally not be Li Xin. You should know that Li Xin was Zhao Zheng's favorite general. Wherever he appeared, it means where the Qin army's main attack direction was. Even if Xianyang was in crisis, Qin King Zhao Zheng was still unwilling to give up Nanyang and Nanjun, which led to this division of troops. Even if the division of troops was divided, rescuing Nanyang was still the strategic focus of the Qin army.

Meng Tian, ​​who led the army, did not choose the closer Guhangu Road, but chose the Pusan ​​Road more than 100 miles away. The Operations Department could probably judge the speed of the Qin army's marching.

The Qin army is an inside marching, so there is no need to pay attention to the length of the marching. If the length of the marching is too long, for example, hundreds of miles or even hundreds of miles (this is not impossible. Calculation shows that when a mechanized infantry division is divided into two marching columns, its length of the marching is as high as 180 kilometers, and when it is divided into three marching columns, the length of the marching is as high as 120 kilometers [Note 12]. This is just an infantry division).

In the era of cold weapons, there were few vehicles and dense queues. According to the calculations of the Battle Department of the Grand Sima Mansion, the length of the marching of a standard Chu army division was sixteen miles, and the position of a Qin army was about fourteen miles (all of which were a marching column), but ten divisions were hundreds of miles. Once such a long marching length was attacked by the enemy, it was easy to be defeated by the enemy one by one.

Therefore, when fighting on the outside, Sima will try to shorten the length and path of the marching. To achieve this, of course, it is to increase the marching column, and to increase the marching column, and to choose a wider road. The Qin army marched in its hinterland and did not have the possibility of ambushing. The only explanation for choosing Pusan ​​Road instead of the marching column is to increase the marching column.

The reason for increasing the marching column is that Meng Tian is preparing to lead the Qin army to rush forward. The marching will be drawn into the long path of the marching, increasing the marching time of the soldiers. By increasing the marching column, the excessive movement time can be avoided and the fatigue of the soldiers can be relieved.

Many calculations of the Operations Department believe that the daily mileage of the 200,000 people in Mengwu must exceed three or four. This is a journey of 680 miles can reach five and a half days. The day before yesterday, yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow... Even if the day before yesterday was only half a day, half of today was passed, there were only four days left.

This is of course bad news, the worst news. Even if the trestle bridge of the valley road that leaves Lantian was not burned by the Qin people, it would take three days for the Chu army to cross the Qinling Mountains. Now there is no way out, and it is estimated that it will take at least five days to cross the Qinling Mountains. At this time, Meng Tian's 200,000 people had arrived and had a short rest. The Chu army faced a battle of 100,000 people against 500,000 people.

Cheng Kui, after Douzang retreated, no one in the shogunate spoke. Xiong Jing tightened his lips, as if he didn't like to get such a result. Zhuang Wudi beside him, Nao Xin's eyes were low, and his eyes were staring blankly at the ground not far away; Dou Yuzhi's hands were inserted into his arms, and his whole body was quiet, but his thumb was turned; Cheng Tong and Dou Chang looked regretful on their faces. Especially Cheng Tong, they were both regretful and unwilling.

The Qin State is actually extremely fragile. This fragility is reflected in the fact that the Chu army has never been attacked by common people after entering the Qin territory, and it is also reflected in the welcome of the Chu army by the people of old Ying, Nanyang, and even the newly occupied Shangluo people.

Eat a pot of slurry to welcome the king's army. This is not an exaggeration of Mencius, it is a real scene. Shangluo was not pulled out by the Chu army, but the Qin officials abandoned the city and fled, and the people welcomed Gui Jing and others into Shangluo City. The trend of the mountains and rivers on the sand table was so accurate that the help of the local people was indispensable. Most of the corn and straw roe in the warehouse were burned, but the people put together the food and fodder, and the food and fodder they collected could actually supply the consumption of the twelve and a half divisions.

"I think," Cheng Tong bowed solemnly and said excitedly: "Our army must destroy Qin!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Xiong Jing felt irritated. What he wanted was a plan, not a determination or preaching.

"King, I have a plan." Cheng Tong was defeated and Dou Chang immediately bowed deeply.

"Yan." Xiong Jing nodded, waiting for his plan.

"You can ask hunters in the mountains to guide the way, and they may know the paths in the mountains." Dou Chang said nonsense, and this order was conveyed to the First Cavalry Division led by Gui Jing very early. Dou Chang, as a staff officer, knew this. Before Xiong Jing turned his back, he quickly said: "I think it is not enough to rely on the generals and soldiers to explore. I will report it to the people of Luo, and there must be someone who knows it."

"The king, I think it's not the case." Zhuang has no authentic road. "The valley road in the mountains is rugged and difficult to move. The five divisions have already seen each other for a hundred miles. The Qin people have already set up ambush at the valley entrance and waiting for each other, and our army will definitely lose."

Zhuang Wudi was worried that the length of the marching was too long and was ambushed by the Qin people. In addition, his position was often different from Cheng Tong, Dou Chang and others. It was not personal grudges, but their different understanding of the strategy of the Chu army. Just like a branch, Xiang Yan and Cheng Jie were the difference between saving Zhao and attacking Qin, and Zhuang Wudi and Cheng Tong were on this big branch that attacked Qin, with radical and conservative differences.

Radicality is like fighting against zhi, Pan Wuming, Cheng Tong, Ruoao alone, Gui Xia and others, and conservativeness is like Dongyegu, Chen Ceng, E Le, Lan She and others. The former naturally wants to destroy Qin, at least defeat Xianyang and establish another Qin King, so as to eliminate the troubles of Chu; the latter hopes to restore the old Chu land. If the Qin State really plans to sect two counties to seek peace, they are actually willing.

Does the Chu State want to unify the world? Even during the period of the powerful King Wei and King Huai, unifying the world has never become a consensus among the Chu State's government and the opposition. In the world, it was not until Mencius that the world would be "fixed in one". What Confucius hoped before was to persuade the nobles to abide by the etiquette system again and not to destroy the etiquette and music.

Now that the Chu State has become stronger, the court officials and officials have no idea of ​​the whole world. Recovering the old Chu land was their greatest hope. What does Qin land, Zhao land, Yan land, and those places have to do with the Chu people? The warm and comfortable south is not waiting, and who would be so stupid to go to the dry and cold northwest and north?
Chapter completed!