Once the Qin army arrived at Lantian, even if the number of reinforcements was only 300,000, they would face an army of 600,000. The Qin army is not a Qi person who does not want to fight, and the 600,000 army based on the elite of the Qin army can be defeated, but it is difficult to defeat. Once the battle is deadlocked, there will be more and more Qin troops rushing to the pass, and in the end they can only withdraw their troops.

Dou Chang deduced the outcome of the battle in his mind, and his heart became more and more urgent. He had never felt that time was so precious. And this war is related to Jiuying, to the Chu State, and naturally to the world.

"The king, the minister thinks ......" he spoke, Chengtong and Dou Yu Pheasant happened to also speak, according to the rank, and finally Dou Yu Pheasant spoke. The minister thought that our army should reach Lantian as soon as possible, and only by reaching Lantian as quickly as possible could we deter Guanzhong and chaos Xianyang. ”

"The cavalry led by Concubine Jing has rushed to Lantian." Xiong Jing was also anxious in his heart, starting today, the two armies of Chu and Qin had started a race. The Chu army had the upper hand, but after all, it was marching in the enemy area, and it was itself in a weak position.

"What the minister says is every division and every brigade." Fight in the pheasant road. "Our army is subject to Zhouji, and if you want to wait for the public doctor to dredge the Danshui, it will be at least three days later. In these three days, the army has reached Lantian. ”

"Lantian?" Xiong Jing withdrew from his thinking and said: "Lantian is not Suhe Mountain, three days to Lantian, where is the armor, grain, and artillery?" If there is no logistical baggage, it is okay for the Qin army to collapse at the first touch, but if it can't be attacked for a long time, what can I do? Withdrawal of troops? ”

"The minister thought that the army could go first for a few days, occupy Lantian first, and then wait for the logistics to be heavy." Chengtong's opinion is similar to that of Dou Yu Pheasant, but it is more practical. "If you can't attack it for a long time, you can wait for the artillery to attack it again."

"What about the divisions? Is it in the water? Xiong Jing looked at the map thoughtfully. The war boats carried soldiers, and the heavy boats carried weapons, baggage, and grain and grass. If the boat is abandoned and landed, the war boat can only stop at the Fengshui line, so as not to block the waterway.

"Yes, yes." into a channel. "Can advance several divisions ......"

"No." Zhuang Wudi interrupted. "With the addition of the Yue people's departments, our army is only more than 100,000 people, and the Qin people are already waiting in Lantian. I have few soldiers, and I can't win; If there are many people, ...... Zhulin Pass is 110 miles to Shangyi, and then to Shangluo is 210 miles, General Cheng thinks that these 210 miles are overland, and the march can be reached in a few days? ”

The flags erected on the ridge that the Qin army saw did not mean that all of these divisions had arrived in Shangyi. This is only a small number of reinforcements who abandoned their boats and landed on the shore after being blocked at Zhulin Pass, and most of their divisions are still on the war boats below Zhulin Pass, waiting for Danshui to break through.

"If you rest and follow the second division, you can arrive in two days." Chengtong replied.

"Can we fight in the end?" Walking 210 miles in two days is already the standard for Wei military soldiers, so he asked solemnly.

"No war." Cheng Tong shook his head. "Half a day or a day of rest."

"What is the geometry of those who are not in the division?" Zhuang Wudi asked again.

"If you rest and follow the second division, two-thirds of the soldiers can arrive." They are all military soldiers, and everyone knows what Cheng Tong said. From ancient times to the present, although the mode of combat has been constantly changing, the way the infantry marches has not changed. How many miles the army can travel in a day is already determined.

In order to maintain the physical strength of the soldiers, it is generally a daily march of thirty miles, that is, a house; If it is a long-distance march, it will be about sixty miles at most, and it is difficult to exceed this number; Rapid marches can reach a hundred or twenty miles; Forced marches often approached or even exceeded two hundred miles.

It's just that the latter two are special cases. Only occasionally, and mostly in small units. Just as the speed of an individual cross-country cannot be used to reverse the speed of a large army, the speed of a small force forcibly marching does not represent the speed of a large army. The more people, the longer the marching column and the longer the soldiers waited.

Sixty miles of the same road conditions, a Chu army armor soldier can walk in three and a half hours; But for a Chu army division to walk these sixty miles, it normally takes five hours. If one more division were added to this marching column, then the march time would have increased to six and a half hours. If an army (four divisions) marched in a marching column, the travel time of sixty miles would be nine and a half hours or even ten hours.

A soldier marches sixty miles, and after three and a half hours he can rest; An army marches sixty miles, and even if it is not walking, the armor and weapons are still carried on their backs for nine or ten hours, and the level of fatigue is completely incomparable. Therefore, even if it is the same road, discussing the speed of the march without discussing the number of marches is the standard hooligan.

One of the potential factors for Chengtong's proposal to have several divisions go to Lantian first was that the width of Wuguan Road (the width of which could accommodate several marching columns) could only accommodate two divisions marching side by side. And for each additional division of a marching column, the march time for sixty miles was increased by one and a half hours. When all sixteen hours of the day are occupied, the mileage is at its peak.

Conversely, Wuguandao accommodates two marching columns, each of which is a division, and if you travel 100 miles a day, then the time required is at least 12 hours (longer distances require more rest time). For each additional division in the marching column, the marching time increased by one and a half hours, and each marching column could be increased by three divisions, that is, eight divisions.

However, 'it takes five hours for a division to march 60 miles' and 'every time a division is added to the marching column, the marching time increases by one and a half hours', and this is only the result of the calculation of the principle of second class in the plain area in the "Guide to the Staff Affairs of Officers of All Branches" compiled by the Operations Department of Dasimafu, which is only suitable for the section from Shangyi to Shangluo, and is completely unsuitable for the section from Shangluo to Lantian.

According to the on-site investigation of the Operations Division, the road conditions from Shangluo to Lantian were only Ding, and the marching time of a Chu army division after walking 60 miles was close to 10 hours, and the marching time increased by two and a half hours for each additional division in the marching column. If you don't risk playing a split attack, the length of the column will not exceed three divisions at most.

This was actually a factor that was unfavorable to the Chu army in this marching race. The Qin army mostly walked on flat areas, which could be divided into a dozen or even more than 20 marching columns, and the Chu army was restricted by the terrain, and it was difficult for the army to swing out.

Abandoning the boat and landing, of course, can let some divisions and brigades go first, but because the number is too small, it does not make much sense for them to go out of Lantian, but it will let the Qin army break through each one. Even if they were to go first, they would still have to wait for the follow-up troops south of the Qinling Mountains, and then pass through the Qinling Mountains by attacking in separate groups or by reducing the mileage and increasing the marching column.

The value of abandoning the boat and landing is only to reduce the time spent crossing the Qinling Mountains. However, Xiong Jing was very worried that the uncontrollable Chu army general would attack Lantian without authorization and engage the Qin army before the main force. Winning is a good thing, but if you lose, it's not a good thing.

"How many miles does the artillery travel in a day?" Xiong Jing asked.

"Your lord, if you have beans, wheat, and grass, you can travel eighty miles a day." Zhuang Wudi was shocked when he heard this, he guessed what Xiong Jing wanted to do. "However, this is not the time to harvest millet, and the Qin people do not plant winter wheat, the green and yellow have not been harvested, and the people still have no food, let alone horses. Then feed the horses with peppers, and fry them until they are half-cooked, otherwise they will not be good for the horses......"

"Could it be that there are no pepper millets in the Qin people's warehouse?" Xiong Jing asked unrelentingly. The speed of the artillery also constrained the speed of the whole army, and he wondered if the artillery could also abandon the boat and go to land, without waiting for the sappers to clear the waterway.

"King Yu, there was news in the morning, saying that the Qin people were burning the warehouse to prevent our army from eating." Nao Xin reminded.

"What about our army's baggage transport?" Xiong Jing was displeased with Naoxin's reminder: "Shangluo to Xianyang is 300 miles, and 300 miles need to be transported by four-wheeled heavy vehicles, where are these heavy vehicles?" ”

In this section of the official road from Shangluo to Lantian, the friction coefficient has been measured by the company, and the four-horse hauled heavy truck can only load one ton, and the daily wear and tear rate has increased to 4%, instead of the previous estimate of 2.7%. As a result, the number of horse-drawn carriages arriving each day increased from 684 to 833. This is a day, 600 miles back and forth, 60 miles a day is 10 days, a total of 8,333 carriages are needed, and the actual number of preparations is more than 10,000.

If these carriages and horses were in Zhulin Pass, even if only some of them were in Zhulin Pass, the Chu artillery could rely on these carriages to travel to Lantian by land. But to his disappointment, no one answered.

"King Yu, carriage, carriage ......" Zhuang Wudi saw Xiong Jing glaring at him at the end, and spoke very hurriedly.

"In Jingzi Pass?" Xiong Jing asked again. Seeing that Zhuang Wudi was still speechless with his mouth open, he had to ask, "In Shangmi?" ”

Shangmi is the confluence of Danshui and Xishui, and there are more than 100 miles to Jingzi Pass. Unexpectedly, Xiong Jing asked this, but Zhuang Wudi still didn't answer. He then asked, "Is it in Linpin?" ”

"Your Majesty, the carriage and horses are still in the Yin Land." Nao Xin finally replied.

"Why so far? Where is Ezhuo?! Xiong Jing looked annoyed. Although according to the original plan, the lag of the carriage was not fatal, but the carriage was clearly formed behind the front army, how could it be five hundred miles away? But after a while he calmed down again - in war everything is simple, but even the simplest things are difficult.

"Make a note of this in advance, and the transportation department must explain to Bu Yu in the future why the carriage is still five hundred miles away!" He did not give up pursuing the issue because simple things were also difficult, but asked the transportation department to report the reason in the future.

"Yui." Zhuang Wudi is already full of sweat, which is also his responsibility. He should have noticed the lag of the carriage earlier.

"Qin people's equipment, Qin army galloping to help......" The news from all sides gathered here in Xiong Jing, of course he knew that time was victory, but the logistics of the Chu army were stuck in the blocked waterway, so he couldn't move forward at full speed, and he had to wait here for a long time.

Five, six, up to seven days. The Qin army led by Li Xin will arrive at Lantian. If you really have to wait for the sappers to dredge the waterways, then it will be too late.

"The king, the minister thinks that our army can go first, if the blue field is easy to pull, then pull out the blue field. If Lantian is not easy to pull out, then wait for the gunner. "Dou Chang was the last to speak." Without the use of artillery, the division can also take the mountain and the mountain. ”