Chapter 98: Wang Jian's Military Strategy

  Three Qin generals returned to Aiyou and reported the results of this battle truthfully to Meng Wu and Xin Sheng. Of course, it was mainly Zhang Yan and Dong Yi who told the story of this war, while Sima Xin had nothing to do with it.

  After a detailed count, the Qin army lost 2,700 people in this battle, and more than 1,000 were injured, of which more than 300 were seriously injured and had basically lost their combat effectiveness. Therefore, the actual loss of the Qin army in this battle reached 3,000 people.

  After listening to the two men's words, Meng Wu and Xin Sheng were also shocked. They did not expect that Zhao Jun's cavalry would be so powerful. In fact, the highland-trained cavalry had already shown its edge in the Battle of Banmu, but because Zhao Jun's cavalry had always been slightly better than Qin Guo's cavalry, and because Huan Ju's death in the Battle of Banmu had brought too great a shock to Qin Guo, the role played by the new-style cavalry trained on the highlands in this war was actually overlooked by Qin Guo.

  But now the outcome of this battle is clearly in front of Meng Wu and Xin Sheng. Although the scale of this battle is not large, with a total of only **thousand cavalry on both sides, even if the Qin army loses this battle, it will not affect the overall situation. However, in this battle, the Zhao army's cavalry almost completely defeated the Qin army's cavalry in head-on combat. As Zhang Yan and Dong Yi said, the individual combat power of the Zhao army's cavalry far exceeded that of the Qin army's cavalry. In single combat, the Qin army was simply no match for them. This is what worries Meng Wu and Xin Sheng the most.

  Although Zhao Jun's cavalry had always been slightly better than Qin Guo's cavalry, overall they were still on the same level, and when they fought it was also half-and-half, killing 10,000 enemies while losing 8,000 themselves. But the result of this battle overturned this situation, could it be that Zhao Guo grasped some special training method, which trained the cavalry to have a sudden and rapid increase in combat power, far surpassing Qin Guo's cavalry?

  Although Meng Wu was calm, he also became somewhat nervous at this time. If the cavalry of Zhao Guo was really strong to this extent, would the Qin army still have a chance to win in this battle against Zhao?

  Meng Wu immediately ordered the whole army to strengthen its defense, and every day, strong bows and crossbows were arranged to guard the camp strictly, in order to prevent the Zhao army from attacking again. At the same time, scouts were sent out, and strict orders were given to each Qin army unit not to engage in battle again. Of course, Zhang Er and Dong Yi were no longer dared to be used, and the two were temporarily imprisoned in the city of Chouyu, waiting for Wang Jian's large troops to arrive at Chouyu before making a decision.

  In the following days, other Qin troops also arrived at Chouyu one after another, and a large amount of grain and grass materials were transported to Chouyu for storage. Fortunately, during these few days, the Zhao army did not attack the Qin army's camp again. However, Meng Wu and Xin Sheng did not dare to be careless, and every day they personally inspected the various camps outside the city, urging the Qin soldiers to be vigilant.

  It wasn't until the eighth day that the main general of the Qin army, Wang Jian, led a team of Qin soldiers to arrive at Chouyu. At this time, the Qin army had assembled more than 350,000 troops in Chouyu, and it can be said that the main force of the Qin army had basically arrived, and at this time, the five main generals of the Qin army had also gathered in Chouyu.

  Before Wang Jian sat firmly, Meng Wu and Xin Sheng made a detailed report to Wang Jian about the outcome of this battle.

  After listening to Meng Wu and Xin Sheng's report, Li Xing and Qiang Rou were not very convinced that the Zhao army's cavalry would be so strong, but the result was in front of them, so they still had some doubts.

  Wang Jian, of course, did not dare to be careless and immediately ordered Zhang Yan and Dong Yi to be brought out from the confinement room. He then interrogated them in detail, asking very carefully, with many details that Meng Wu and Xin Sheng had not asked about. After finishing the questioning, Wang Jian again called several Mo Chang and Bo Chang from the Qin army who were going to battle, and interrogated them carefully. Finally, he even called a few cavalrymen to demonstrate in public.

  Of course, Li Xin and Qiang Yuan also heard the whole process clearly, so they had to admit that Zhao Jun's cavalry was indeed much stronger than before. After asking, Wang Jian fell silent, and others didn't speak either, but their eyes were all focused on Wang Jian.

  After a while, Wang Jian said: "Have you noticed that in this battle, the Zhao army's cavalry is actually divided into two parts. The ones lined up in a triangular formation at the front are one part, with more than 1,000 people, and the ones still using the horizontal row formation at the back are another part. And only the front thousand or so cavalry have strong combat effectiveness, while the cavalry behind are roughly the same as the Zhao army's cavalry in the past."

  After listening to Wang Jian's words, the other generals also had a sudden realization. At this time, Meng Wu said: "The general is right, I have been thinking about it for the past few days, and the victory of the Zhao army in this battle is actually related to their tactics. The triangular formation is indeed easier to break through the horizontal formation, and after they broke through our formation, they immediately counterattacked, so it's not difficult to win with a pincer movement." He paused for a moment, then said: "Of course, the combat power of the Zhao army's cavalry is also stronger than mine, which is another important reason. Without such a cavalry, it would be difficult to easily break through our formation."

  The king nodded and said: "Have you ever thought, we assume that in the Zhao army there are 10,000 cavalrymen like this. If you were Li Mu, what tactics would you adopt?"

  Everyone thought seriously, and Li Xin said: "I will send out all the 10,000 cavalry, supplemented by other cavalry, and then divide them to attack our army in Chouyu, and one by one defeat our garrison outside the city, so that we can suffer even greater losses."

  Wu Dao said, "I will lead the great army of Jin to attack Chou Yu before the main force of the Qin army arrives. Even if we cannot capture Chou Yu, we can still disrupt their preparations."

  Others who heard it also nodded in agreement with their opinions.

  Wang Jian smiled and said: "The words of the two generals are both deeply insightful about the art of war, and neither is advantageous to our army. However, Li Mu did not adopt either of your opinions, but instead dispatched 2-3 thousand cavalrymen to launch a surprise attack on a small encampment before withdrawing. If we had not pursued them, the actual gains from the battle for the Zhao army would have been quite limited. Is it possible that Li Mu's military strategy is inferior to yours?"

  Meng Wu shook his head and said: "The general is too polite, in terms of the way of using troops, I dare not compare myself to Li Mu even if you gave me ten thousand chances."

  Li Xin also said: "General, although we and Li Mu are enemies, I have always admired his military strategy from the bottom of my heart, and I am ashamed to be inferior to him."

  Wang Jian nodded and said, "This shows that in the Zhao army, there are not many cavalrymen of this kind. Even if it's not just a thousand people, it's definitely not ten thousand people. According to my estimation, it's very likely that Li Mu chose a small number of elite soldiers from the army, formed an elite team, and conducted strict training, supplemented by excellent tactics, which is why they performed so well in this battle. As for the total number of cavalrymen, I estimate it should be around two or three thousand. Otherwise, Li Mu wouldn't have made such a small move."

  After hearing Wang Jian's words, the crowd also let out a sigh of relief. Although Wang Jian was just speculating, his reasoning was sound and convincing. As Zhao was one of the first countries to use cavalry on a large scale, their cavalry had always been ahead of other nations in terms of strength and tactics. Therefore, it was reasonable to assume that they could train an elite cavalry force by selecting a small number of crack soldiers. However, if this cavalry force only had 2-3 thousand men, then it wouldn't be too intimidating, and the Qin army could still win with their numerical advantage.

  At this time, Wang Jian said: "Although this battle was lost, it may not necessarily be a bad thing. After this battle, everyone must not underestimate the Zhao army. Li Mu is still a famous general of all ages, and he has always used his troops like a god. Although his current military strength is much weaker than ours, he occupies the geographical advantage of Pingcheng, and apart from this cavalry, no one knows what other means he has. Therefore, if we want to defeat Li Mu in this battle, it will not be easy. Everyone must not be careless."

  Many generals also listened and were somewhat awakened. Before the troops were dispatched, many people were indeed very optimistic about this war because the Qin army's military strength was far superior to that of the Zhao army, and it had the backing of the powerful state of Qin. It was almost as if one country was fighting against one person, so how could they not win? However, this battle also showed that underestimating Li Mu was very dangerous, and therefore everyone also expressed that they would absolutely not be careless.

  The king nodded again and said, "Tomorrow, the army will set out from Juqu and head towards Jinyang. However, Juqu is over 150 miles away from Jinyang, and along the way, there are many mountains and forests. Since Li Mu can jump over 150 miles and launch a surprise attack on Juqu, it's likely that he will also send troops to ambush us along the way. That cavalry unit will probably be deployed again. Therefore, we must not be careless during our march. We don't need to advance too much each day, just 30 or 40 miles is enough. But all units must proceed in sequence, covering each other, and send out scouts to explore the surroundings. We cannot rush forward recklessly. If we encounter a surprise attack by the Zhao army, we will immediately stop advancing, set up defenses on the spot, and wait for reinforcements. If the Zhao army retreats, we are not allowed to pursue them. When camping at night, we must establish a strong defensive position, strictly guard it, and absolutely cannot be careless. As long as our army safely arrives at Jinyang, we will have won this battle against the Zhao army."

  The generals all said in unison: "We respectfully obey General's orders."

  Wang Jian nodded and immediately dispatched troops to deploy a plan to advance on Jizhen.

  The next day, the various troops of the Qin army also set out one after another according to Wang Jian's military order and advanced towards Pingcheng. The great war between Qin and Zhao entered a stage of overall confrontation.