As a lone army hanging outside the country, the Chu army under the command of the pheasant was in an extremely difficult situation. The Qiang people were only a semi-civilized tribe, and the yield of farming was very low, while the Chu army had 30,000 or 40,000 people, although it was not ready. These 30,000 to 40,000 people eat meat on weekdays, and only corn eats, and their appetite has skyrocketed. Just to feed the whole army, Dou Yu Pheasant tore off countless hairs and lost more than 20 pounds.

The Chu army was half starving, and the Qiang people were also dragged half starved, and the counties in Longxi that they robbed were already starving to death a year before them. Some of the shogunate's advisers had no choice but to propose cannibalism, which was resolutely vetoed by Dou Yu Pheasant. Human flesh is the custom of merchants and Song people, and the Chu people do not have this tradition. At the turn of the most difficult spring and summer, the Chu army barely survived by fishing, hunting and gathering, and the Chu army was able to eat enough to harvest corn in September and October.

There is a reason why the Chu army is stationed in Didao. Didao is located on the east bank of Taoshui, a tributary of the right bank of the Yellow River, the river can transport food from the entire basin, and the bird and mouse Tongxue Mountain (now eight kilometers west of Weiyuan County) is the watershed between Taoshui and Weishui in the east, and the Weishui basin is in the east of the mountain, and the Taoshui basin is in the west. Thirty miles south of the Bird and Mouse Tongxue Mountain, the source of Weishui is twenty miles away from the source of the Mobang River (now Manba River), a tributary of Taoshui, and the low mountain beam in the river valley separates Weishui and Taoshui. In order to allow the Qin army to advance westward, the Chu army gave up this crucial mountain beam, but did not expect the Qin people to stop leaving when they arrived at the road.

"The Qin people are just afraid of me." The snowflakes in the sky could not blow into the Ming Hall of the County Guard's Mansion, and only the whining wind could be heard in the hall. Master Xi led Cheng Si to say his guess, he held a bronze wine lord in his hand, drinking the wine from the cellar of the Qin people in the mansion. "Although our army does not have many artillery, but the birds and mice are all west of the cave mountain, the Qin people do not know the number of our army, the enemy situation is unknown, how dare to enter?"

"Or ......" Lu Gao, the shogunate's advisor, was also drinking, and he disagreed with Cheng Si's speculation. The Qin people decided against the king, so the soldiers of the whole country went to Daliang, otherwise why didn't Bai Lin enter? ”

Lu Gao stayed in the Great Sima Mansion for a period of time, and pretended to be the attendant of the divine doctor to enter the Qin Palace, just these two experiences made Dou Yu Pheasant look at him differently, not to mention that he still has many feats. Hearing his judgment, Dou Yu Pheasant asked: "The previous news said that the King of Qin was anxious to fight, but Wang Jian did not allow it, so he quit. This time, Wang Jian is a general again, how can he fight quickly? ”

"This life is not another time." Lu Gao Dao. "I heard that King Qin Zhaoxiang gave death in vain, and the crime followed. Bai Lin is the only one of the generals, commanding 100,000 troops and not advancing westward, and the guards and the King of Qin are not angry? Wang Jian is a general of the Qin people, and he has plans for slow war and quick battle. ”

Lu Gao also guessed, his guess was deeper than Cheng Si's, but it was still not enough to convince the generals. Xin Cai Shi Ma Pankang smiled, held up the wine lord on the case and said: "King Shashui broke Meng Tian in a big battle, and 300,000 soldiers were killed in Motai, and the Qin people have lost their courage since then, and they have long dared not fight with me. The minister is the longevity of the king, and the longevity of the prince is the victory. ”

The battle of Shashui was a matter of April, and it was reported that when the whole army was hungry when it reached Qiangdi, the soldiers of the whole army were very happy when they heard it, and they still remember it vividly, and they were excited when they mentioned it. When Pan Kang mentioned this matter, he not only refuted Lu Gao, but also congratulated the king, and the generals followed him and shouted: "For the king's birthday, for the victory of the prince's birthday." ”

"Wang Jian doesn't fight, Qin has no food, and I have the valley of Dongzhou, and I will win." After everyone finished drinking, Lu Gao said again. "Therefore, I thought that the Qin people would run out of food soon after the war and the army would be defeated and had to fight."

"Oh." Fighting in the pheasant is noncommittal. It was not the first time he had heard of the lack of food in the Qin State, and he had seen it more than once, but this had no effect, and hundreds of thousands of Qin troops were still confronting the Chu army in Daliang. This not only gives people the illusion that it is not the Qin army that confronts the Chu army in Daliang, but the army of another country.

"However, the Qin people have Shu land again, and they have Qi land and Wei land, Longxi or no grain, but Guanzhong and Guandong have grain." This time, Pan Kang directly refuted Lu Gao's view. Lu Gao did not refute this, this was a speculation that he proved for the sake of proof, and he was not very sure of his judgment, especially the argument that the Qin people were short of food and had to fight a decisive battle with the Chu army.

In fact, he already thought in his heart that the Qin army was likely to win this war - he and Lu Chan killed officials and burned Jianzhu in Yangxia County, and now they are attacking Baohan, Didao, Lintao, Xiangwu, and Chengji in Longxi, and during this period, he was sealed in Hanzhong as a false monarch, and his personal experience made him fully realize the difference between Chu County, Qin County, and Fengjun.

Perhaps the feudal monarch's system can give birth to an elite army, but the Qinxian system can recruit more soldiers and accumulate more corn than the feudal monarch's system. In the same county of 50,000 people, it would be good to have a brigade of more than 1,500 people under the feudal system of the Chu State, but Qin County was able to recruit a division of more than 6,600 soldiers-

Under the feudal monarch system, 50,000 people must be the first to remove the industrial and commercial household registration, which accounts for about 30% of the population, leaving 35,000 people; 35,000 minus those under the age of 17 who are not registered as unregistered persons, and only 15,750 remain; Of the 15,750 men, half were men, or 7,875. It is impossible for all of the more than 7,800 people to join the army, and about one-third of them can actually become non-commissioned officers, that is, about 2,500 people. However, this is only a number, there are no compulsory measures and a complete household registration system, and many people, especially those landless mediocre men, will desert and flee to the counties or mountains, and in the end, only 60 or 70 percent of them are actually recruited, which is just one brigade.

The soldiers who can recruit a division in Qin County are: Qin County has very few industrial and commercial household registrations, accounting for at most 10% or even less than 10% of 50,000 people, and here alone there are 10,000 more peasant people than the feudal monarchy; Secondly, among the approximately 20,000 adult men and women over the age of 17, the Ding women were to be conscripted for defeat, and the ratio of one soldier to two deputy soldiers or forcemen remained unchanged, and the number of soldiers who could go out on the expedition was more than 6,600 men in a division. And with the guarantee of officials and the hukou system, the rate of applicants often exceeds 90% of the number of people on paper.

There was a fourfold difference in the number of soldiers and soldiers between the two sides, and at least two times the difference in the number of soldiers and millet accumulations—there was no industrial and commercial household registration for 30% of the total population, and at the same time, the clean-up of witchcraft and the suppression of shrines so that the peasants did not taste new sacrifices (10 stone of millet per year) could double the number of millet accumulations. From the perspective of a staff officer, Lu Gao had to admit that the Qin army had the advantage in the battle of Chu and Qin. But he could only hide this in his heart after looking at the various slips in Qin County, even if he didn't say it explicitly to Lu Xuan.

Because of this, he seems depressed a lot of the time. If the Qin army wins this war, then where will he, the six divisions, one brigade, three and ten thousand Chu soldiers in the west go? Not to mention that he can't return to Chu State, even if he can return to Chu State, if the decisive battle of Chu Army is lost, what should he do? Martyrdom or humiliation? What should the soldiers of the six divisions and one brigade do? Attack Xianyang or go to the Western Regions?

The snow became denser and denser, Lu Gao drank without saying a word, and the generals in the Ming Hall no longer discussed how the Qin people stagnated, they discussed what they would do after returning to Chu. After going to the country and leaving home for more than a year, he will lead the soldiers to feel homesick. Not only is they homesick, but everyone is not used to the climate of the Qiang land, if it is in the Chu country, it will not be possible to snow at this time, and it will not be so cold.

"Report ——!" When most of the generals were drunk and dizzy, there was a sharp military report from under the dim sky outside, and the sound of horses' hooves suddenly stopped at the bottom of the steps, and soon a horseman rushed in with the wind and snow.

"What?" Dou Yu Pheasant suppressed drunkenness and looked at Cheng Kui who was striding forward. He did not retreat to Qiang with his divisions, but he walked around the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains with more than a dozen Chu soldiers alone for several months, and finally arrived at Qiang.

"Shou Ying has news!" Cheng Kui took out a golden copper pipe from his arms. The copper pipe was welded to death, and the solder had the steel print of the Great Sima Mansion on it, and the generals saw that the copper pipe was half drunk.

"Quick, come on! Quickly unravel. "In order to prevent forgery and leakage, military news not only has many protective measures, but also uses secret language to write. When the interrogator hurriedly took the brass pipe and quickly resolved the interrogation, Dou Yu Pheasant asked, "Where did this news come from?" ”

"From outside the plug." Cheng Kui replied, and only then did he realize that the Hu people who followed him did not go up the ladder.

The Qin people occupied Nanyang and Yinshan, and the Chu army could not return to Chu through Nanyang like Xiongjing did back then. Otherwise, the 30,000 or 40,000 Chu troops would have crossed the Nanyang Land, crossed the Yin Mountains, and crossed the grasslands to reach Korea, and they would be able to board the sea boat to return to the Chu State.

The Qin people knew that there were tens of thousands of Chu troops living in Qiangdi, and Beidi County, Nanyang County, Jiuyuan County, and Yunzhong County were all on guard. In order to ensure that these tens of thousands of Chu soldiers cannot return to Chu like King Jing did back then. However, the army could not return to Chu, and could cross Henan on a single horse, and contact Chu through the Xiongnu, Donghu, and Korea. The distance of such a connection is close to 10,000 miles, and it can take months to go back and forth at a time.

The Hu cavalry who was summoned to the Ming Hall by Dou Yu Pheasant first gave him a string of wine, and only after he finished drinking did he start questioning. He was entrusted by Duan Quan, a great animal husbandry businessman, to set off from Zhenyan Mountain, and crossed the grassland and Helan Mountain for more than 20 days, and arrived at Didao. Because he walked Helan Mountain instead of Nanyang, the journey was smooth and was not intercepted by the Qin army.

"True Face Mountain?" Dou Yu Pheasant had never heard of this place name, and Lu Gao, who was very interested in Helan Mountain Road, which did not need to pass through Nanyang Land, was also surprised by this place name. Both of them wanted to know where this Zhenyan Mountain was in the grassland. Hu Qi knew a little bit of Zhao language, and after talking for a long time, he realized that it was a city of the Huns, and Duan Quan had a mansion in this city.

"How many miles does Zhenyan Mountain have to do this?" Lu Gao asked. "Can you get here without going through Nanyang?"

"Zhenyan Mountain is here for three or four thousand miles." Hu Qi replied. "When I left the city, I had fifteen people and more than a hundred horses, and I was the only one who came here, and the rest either died or returned."

Zhenyan Mountain, also known as Noyan Mountain, is one hundred and twenty kilometers north of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. At this time, it was already snowing in the grassland, and the group rushed south as if fleeing from the ice and snow. Although it does not pass through Nanyangdi, it is still necessary to take the Yellow River as a mark, otherwise you will not be able to find Qiangdi.

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