On the map, Chengyang (present-day Xinyang Pingqiao) of the Chu State was adjacent to Nanyang County of the Qin State, and was next to Jiyi (present-day east of Tongbai County) and Biyang (present-day Miyang) of Nanyang County. The border with a width of about 100 miles seems to be long, but in fact, because the remaining veins extending from the north of Tongbai Mountain and the remaining veins from the north to the south of Funiu Mountain in the north are intermittently intertwined, there are only two roads that can be passed from Qin to Chu:

One is from Jiyi, along Tongbai Mountain two crossings of Huaishui eastward, straight to Chengyang - the upper reaches of Huaishui resemble a transverse 'self' word: the water out of Tongbai Mountain is not to the east, but to the north, after more than ten miles turned a 90-degree bend, and then zigzag to the east, twenty or thirty miles later turned a 90-degree bend, and then to the south; It is also dozens of miles to the south, and after being blocked by the Tongbai Mountain, it turns again, and the angle of this turn is nearly 180 degrees, pulling out a deep V on the earth; After dozens of miles, it turned 90 degrees, and became popular in the southeast direction for 70 or 80 miles, and then gradually leveled and conjoined the Shihe River, and went due east.

Jiyi is on the lower left side of the transverse 'ji' character, and Chengyang is on the lower right side of the 'ji' character, that is, the lower right of the V, near the bottom of the V character. The whole terrain is undulating and hilly, and the upper reaches of the Huaishui River are also twists and turns to the east, and the boat is impassable, so you can only take the land route at the lower end of Chu to enter Chu: cross the river and go east along the Tongbai Mountain, and then cross the river into V and enter Chengyang City. After that, the direction to Yingdu is generally to take the waterway to Xixian, and to Huaibei is to pass through Yiyi (now Zhengyang County) to Xincai, east of Rushui.

This road is more common for business travelers. Although entering the Huaihe River Basin from the Nanyang Basin needs to pass through the remaining veins of Tongbai Mountain extending northward, that is, the section of Fuyi, but the east of Fuyi is Jiyi, which is actually a small basin, its south is Tongbai Mountain, the north is the hilly area formed by the remaining veins of Tongbai Mountain, and the east is the Huaishui that is popular due north from Tongbai Mountain. Business travelers are often accustomed to rest in Jiyi, and the next day cross the Huai River east into the hilly area where the two countries meet, and this road only needs to go more than 80 miles to Chengyang of Chu State. The trip was just enough to stay overnight at the border, enter the state of Chu early the next morning, and arrive in Chengyang in the afternoon.

The other is from Biyang to Chu. Biyang is also located in the Nanyang Basin, and unlike Huyang (now Huyang Town, Tanghe County), where the first road begins, it is more easterly, separated by mountains, and is located directly north of Fuyi. Viewed from the entire Nanyang Basin, Huyang is close to the exit at the northern end of the Suizao Corridor connecting the Jianghan Plain, where the basin is contracted; Biyang is on the east-west axis of the entire basin. To enter Chu, it is necessary to pass through the canyon at the southern end of the Wei State Daoyi (now Queshan County) and the border with the Chu State (now Magutian Town, Miyang County-Xinyang Maoji Town).

This canyon runs northwest and southeast, is more than 60 miles long, and the narrowest part is less than 10 miles, rugged and difficult to travel. After entering the Chu realm, you still have to walk more than 100 miles in the hills to reach Chengyang. Therefore, the business traveler from Biyang to Chengyang generally chose to travel eastward, first entering the Daoyi of Wei, and then taking the plain south to Chengyang of Chu.

A few days ago, there was a report from the customs officials, and the business travel from Qin to Chu decreased for no reason, and today, the business travel is almost extinct. Although some Qin people refuted rumors that this was their king who was investigating the remnants of the party, the soldiers and people on the Chengyang side had no doubt that the Qin army would fight tomorrow. Only, which way will they attack from?

It is from Biyang in the north, passing through the Horse Valley controlled by the two countries respectively, and then speeding down the city of Yang, which kills for more than 100 miles; Or did he set out from Jiyi, sneak quietly to the border pass, kill my border guards after nightfall, and appear on the west bank of the Huaishui River early the next morning after traveling forty miles at night, desperately building a bridge and forcibly crossing the Huai River? Or, instead of attacking Chengyang, but capturing Sui and Tang counties, and then marching into the three levels of underworld?

In the inner city of Chengyang, Xiang Chaoduan, who wore a leather jacket when he slept, looked at the map in his father's room, thinking hard about where the enemy would attack from.

He has not been crowned in the year, and he has no official position in the county office, but he is just a personal guard by his father's side, and he doesn't know how his father will fight this battle. I don't know now, and I don't know when I fight - my father did not arrange for him to go with the army, but asked him to send a letter to Xiang County. Where is Xiang County? Xiang County was three hundred miles away, and it was clear that he wanted him to stay away from the battlefield.

"I will give this letter to your middle father when I go back." On the side of several cases, Xiang Yan dried the ink after putting down the pen and handed the book to his son. "Even if it's a letter from home, don't delay on the road."

"Father, where do the Qin people want to attack? How should our army respond? Xiang Chao took the book and carefully put it in his arms, and he asked very unwillingly before parting.

"Only Qin people know where the Qin people want to attack, how can the father know?" The military order had already been issued, and Xiang Yan had already made his own judgment, but this was only his judgment, not the decision of the Qin people. "There you go."

Xiang Chao didn't want to go, but he wanted to ask but didn't know how to ask, scratching his ears and cheeks but touching the skin, he twisted a few times, and simply said, "The child has a reluctant request...... Ask the father to allow the child to fight. ”

"You?" Xiang Yan looked at him, shook his head and unfolded a book, "You have not been crowned in the year, you have never been a Fu person, according to the law of Chu, you can't fight." ”

During the Warring States period, everyone had a household registration, and Fu registration refers to the registration of men and women who have reached the age to enter the army. Men are all seventeen years old in all countries, and the laws of the Qin State are the finest, and the measurement found that the height of seventeen-year-old men is all above six feet five inches (150cm), so the height condition of six feet five inches is added: all men who are over seventeen years old or above six feet five inches tall are required to serve in Fu. That's what the law does, but when it comes to a critical moment, fifteen years old will go to war.

"But the child is more than seven feet tall?" Xiang Chao argued, and his body deliberately straightened up, indicating that he was seven feet (161cm).

"Go down!" Seventeen years old, six feet five inches, and the like are the standards of Fu status for the common people, and the nobles are not among them. Seeing that her son was messing around, Xiang Yan's face sank, anger appeared on her face, and she scared Xiang Chao away.

"The general is really a tiger father and a dog." At the same time as Xiang Chao left, the military Sima Peng Zong came in with a smile.

"What?" Xiang Yan doesn't like to be homely, and her cold face is opposite.

"Ling Yin just came to the news." Peng Zong's smile retracted and began to get down to business. "Yan Qin people or cut down Chengyang."

"Oh?!" The Qin people have Hou spies in Chu, and Chu also has Hou spies in Qin countries, but the news is just slow to spread. "Ling Yin Keyou said in detail how many soldiers and horses the Qin people have, who is the general, and when do you want to kill me?" Xiang Yan asked urgently.

"I don't know." To Xiang Yan's disappointment, he didn't want to know anything. Peng Zong said again: "I only said that the attack on Chu was invited by the Xiangbang Lu Buwei, which was intended to force me to send the eldest son into Chu as a hostage, and the King of Qin wanted to attack Zhao, and he resented Zhao to the bone marrow." ”

"Why did Lü Buwei force me with war and insist that my eldest son enter Qin as a hostage?" Xiang Yan pondered. Sun Tzu once said that the major affairs of the country of soldiers must go through five things, the first of which is the Tao, and the Tao is politics. At this time, the Qin State had just finished its rebellion, and Chang Yu and the rest of the party had not been eliminated, so why should they rush to attack Chu? Could it be...... Xiang Yan thought of a possibility.

Ling Yin thought that Lü Buwei had a great relationship with Chang Yu, and it was said that Chang Yu entered the Qin Palace as the favor of Empress Zhao, and both of them did not want the King of Qin to be crowned and pro-government, so there was Chang Yu's rebellion. It's a pity that the Qi Nian Palace was defeated, and Chang Yu has fled to the fiefdom. "Peng Zongdao." Lü Buwei's request for orders to attack me is to increase the salary at the bottom of the kettle and increase the incident. In this battle, although the battle was fought in Chu, it was actually fought in Qin. ”

Civil wars, foreign wars, foreign wars, internal affairs. After the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, the nations fought for hundreds of years, and those who fought inside were threatened by the outside, and those who fought outside fought with the inside, each with its own intentions. Lü Buwei provoked the Chu-Qin war at this time, indeed for the sake of internal power struggle.

After Peng Zong finished speaking, he said: "General, according to what Ling Yin said, the Qin people have lost their way before fighting. ”

"Even if the Qin people lose their way, I don't have all the equipment, and it will take a lot of time for the county teacher to go here, so what can I do?" Xiang Yan was not happy. "If Lü Buwei wants to provoke a war, there must be a lot of armor, and the attack will inevitably be rapid, otherwise, how can the war endanger the King of Qin."

"Yes." Whether it is the way or not is just the overall situation, as the commander-in-chief, Xiang Yan looks at the details, and his judgment Peng Zong completely agrees. He added: "Ling Yin said again, if our army wins this battle, it may be able to disrupt the government of the Qin people." ”

"Not really." Xiang Yan did not agree with Huang Xie's judgment. "With the wisdom of the Qin Wangzheng, he will definitely be able to see Lü Buwei's plan, and once he sees it, the Qin army will withdraw to the Qin realm......"

I don't know the number of Qin troops, who are the generals, and I don't know when to attack, but Xiang Yan still thinks about how to get some benefits from the Qin people's infighting, so he waved his hand and asked Peng Zong to retreat.

Peng Zong is a native of Chen County and is a close confidant of Yin of Chen County. The reason why he became Xiang Yan's military Sima was because there were more than 10,000 soldiers in Chen County who were stationed here, and Chen Gong personally recommended him as Sima. Seeing that Xiang Yan was pondering and didn't speak, he had no choice but to quietly withdraw from the room.

It was already the end of August, and the scorching sun was under the scorching sun and the horses were shouting outside the Yin Mansion, and the heavy cars were lined up. The smoke and dust in the open space without rain in the tenth month and the moon are rushing to the sky, but the armor soldiers are doing their own thing, tidying up their bags; And in the outer city, the merchants and residents were also packing up and rushing out of the city, and they had to leave Chengyang before the Qin division attacked. Peng Zong looked at the busy armor soldier and was suddenly a little stunned: I haven't fought for too long, and the last battle was still to destroy Lu.

"What did General Xiang say? Only our army is defending Chengyang, and the last general is afraid of being entrusted with it. "A military leader ran over, it was Chen Beg, Chen County Sima, and at this time it was Chen Shijun.

"How is it an army? There are still half an army of the Xi Division, half an army of the Cai Division, and General Xiang's personal guards also left a lot. Peng Zong asked rhetorically. He knew the situation of Chen Shi, Chen County was the former Chen State, 'at the turn of Chu and Xia, the goods of fish and salt, and its people were Duojia'. The people are more than Jia, and the people of the Chen beggar tribe are mostly businessmen. "Besides, no matter how many soldiers there are, do you have enough food?"

Chengyang planned to defend it for two months, thinking about the grain of nearly 10,000 defenders, Chen Qi shook his head and said, "It's not enough." ”

"If it's not enough, what's the use of more armor?" Peng Zongdao, "Instead of asking General Xiang for soldiers, it is better to send people to grab grain and enter the city." ”

"The last general has sent people to Xi County to transport grain, but at this time, the millet rice is not ripe, even if it is transported, there is not much grain and grass." Let Chen Beggars stay in Chengyang because he is fine, and the fine people are good at guarding, although there are some gains and losses.

"Unripe corn rice is half life, and half life is better than having no food to eat," Peng Zongzheng persuaded Chen to cut the half-ripe corn rice outside the city, and suddenly saw a military official emerge from the Feixun station under the high pole, and was running wildly towards his side.