Chapter 102: Zhao Qin's First Battle (1)

  "See Generalissimo."

  "Hmm, Li Xin and Qiang Wei, you've also arrived. How was your journey?"

  "Reporting back to the General, everything is fine along the way."

  Wang Jian nodded in satisfaction and said, "Alright, you've just arrived at Jingxing, so go down and rest first. However, you must immediately establish a stable camp and be extremely cautious with your defenses. You absolutely cannot be careless."

  Li Xin and Qiang Wei immediately paid their respects, then bid farewell to Wang Jian and returned to make arrangements.

  At this time, Xin Sheng said: "General, I have calculated that after Li Xing and Qiang Wei's troops arrived, we had gathered 350,000 troops in Jingxing. We set up three large passes and suffered more than ten ambushes by the Zhao army along the way, but we all passed safely. Our Qin army did not suffer any losses and did not let the Zhao army succeed. General, you are indeed a master of using troops, this time Li Mu is likely to have been defeated by your hands."

  Wang cut a faint smile and said, "Has Li Mu become muddle-headed? General Xin has also spoken too rashly. From Qiuyou to Jinyong, it's only 150 miles away. Even if the army proceeds in an orderly manner, it would take at most five or six days. But now, eleven days have passed, which is twice the expected time. If we add the time spent on building camps and forts, I'm afraid it will take at least a month. So, isn't it obvious who's superior and who's inferior this time?"

  Meng Wu also said: "The general is right, as far as I know, this time the army advanced, there were indeed some complaints among the soldiers, although it did not have a great impact on the morale of our Qin army, but it did have some influence, so we can't take it lightly, especially when facing Li Mu, we can't be careless at all."

  Wang Jian smiled and said, "General Meng still sees things more clearly."

  Although Zhao Jun had basically given up attacking the Qin army by the seventh day, the Qin army still could not be careless at all. Wang Jian still strictly ordered the Qin army to strengthen its vigilance and not relax in the slightest. Therefore, the progress of the Qin army was still very slow, and as soon as there was any movement, they would immediately stop and prepare for battle. Every night's camp also required a lot of effort to build solid defenses, which indeed consumed a lot of energy from the Qin army.

  Although these arrangements also ensured the safety of the Qin army, and the Zhao army's more than ten attacks on the Qin army were all in vain, without suffering any losses, ordinary soldiers found it difficult to appreciate their commander's good intentions: marching and stopping frequently, immediately stopping to prepare for battle at every movement, with high mental tension, even at night, they could hardly get a good rest. Whoever was in this situation would inevitably have some complaints. Therefore, it also had a significant impact on the morale of the Qin army. As Meng Wu was meticulous, he observed these situations in the Qin army very clearly. If he were facing an ordinary general, Meng Wu would not be worried, but this time he was facing Li Mu, and any slight mistake could lead to the failure of the Qin army.

  Xin Sheng still had some dissatisfaction, saying: "What's the big deal about this? I think it's better to turn around and take advantage of this momentum. Our soldiers have been holding back their anger towards the Zhao army for a long time. We can launch an attack on the Zhao army right away and have a good fight with them. As long as we can defeat the Zhao army, won't everything be fine?"

  Wang Jian looked at Xin Sheng and smiled: "Xin Sheng, you still can't change your rough personality, but this time your recklessness is the correct tactic. We really need to fight a battle with Zhao's army, and it will also allow our morale to vent out. As long as we can fight Zhao's army to a draw, it will be enough to boost the morale of our Qin army. Tomorrow, we'll form up and go out to battle. If Zhao's army comes out, you'll lead the vanguard."

  Xin Sheng listened and was overjoyed, immediately saying: "Your subordinate obeys your order."

  Dividing line Dividing line

  Although the various armies of Qin had just arrived at Jinyang and defensive works were only just beginning to be constructed, Wang Jian decided to launch a challenge against the Zhao army first. The goal was not simply to let the soldiers vent their frustrations and boost morale, after all, the morale of the Qin army had not yet fallen to this point.

  Due to Zhao Jun's ambush tactics on the Qin army's marching route, Wang Jian still had great vigilance, although the Zhao army's ambush did not succeed, it does not mean that the Qin army can always defend against the Zhao army's ambush. After all, the Qin army is currently standing unsteadily in Jinyang, and defending is quite difficult. Even if they can hold out nine times out of ten, as long as they are ambushed once by the Zhao army, it will be a heavy blow to the Qin army, and may even trigger a chain reaction, leading to defeat after defeat. Therefore, purely defensive tactics are absolutely not the best strategy. They must take the initiative to attack, seek a decisive battle with the Zhao army, use offense as defense, and actually secure enough time for the main force to set up camp in Jinyang.

  Moreover, the Qin army had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. Therefore, if they really fought against the Zhao army, it would be beneficial to the Qin army, even if it was a draw, it could still be considered a victory. Even if they suffered a small loss, as long as they could inflict significant casualties on the Zhao army, they could achieve their goal. Additionally, if the Zhao army refused to come out and fight, the Qin army could claim that the Zhao army was afraid of them, which would also boost the morale of the Qin army.

  The next day, Wang Jian led the army to challenge Zhao's army. After the Qin army moved out, the Zhao army also launched a counterattack, lining up in front of the array, apparently also wanting to have a big battle with the Qin army.

  Actually, before the war, Wang Jian also understood that the possibility of Zhao Jun not fighting back was not great. Although both sides had made preparations for a long-term standoff, it did not mean that there would be no battles during the standoff.

  Because of the long-term confrontation, the morale and fighting spirit of soldiers are a wear and tear. A group of young and strong men staying in the military camp for a long time with nothing to do will definitely lead to trouble. Therefore, during the period of confrontation between the two sides, some small-scale battles were conducted. On the one hand, it can provide a channel for the soldiers' energy to be released, which is conducive to maintaining high morale. On the other hand, it is also a probe into the opponent's strength, making psychological preparations.

  However, the troops dispatched by Zhao Jun were not many, totaling around 15,000, while the Qin army had nearly 50,000 troops. The difference in military strength between the two sides was huge. But the Zhao army was arrayed in a hedgehog formation, and the Qin army could not encircle them from both sides, only able to launch a frontal assault on the Zhao army. This greatly offset the Qin army's advantage in numbers, and the Zhao army could also withdraw troops from the main camp to reinforce at any time. Therefore, unless it was a decisive battle between the two sides, their actual strength was basically on the same level.

  The soldiers on both sides were well-trained and quickly formed their arrays. The Qin army deployed in a three-army formation, with a total of 50,000 troops, including 600 war chariots, 25,000 infantrymen, among whom there were 8,000 archers and crossbowmen, but the cavalry was not numerous, only 2,000 men.

  The Qin army's chariot formation, each chariot was equipped with fifty soldiers, ten heavily armored warriors holding long spears and halberds to protect the left and right sides of the chariot, thirty lightly armored infantrymen holding shields, swords, bows and crossbows, following the chariots into battle. There were also ten soldiers for miscellaneous duties, responsible for managing supplies and equipment, but generally did not follow the army into battle. Therefore, two hundred chariots had an actual strength of around eight thousand men, while other infantry and cavalry formations were separate.

  Both the left and right armies had 200 chariots, with an additional 5,000 infantrymen, 2,000 archers, and 2,000 cavalrymen. The central army was divided into two parts: the vanguard consisted of 200 chariots, 7,000 infantrymen, and 3,000 crossbowmen, while the rear guard, which was commanded by General Wang Jian, included 1,000 crossbowmen and 2,000 cavalrymen.

  Wang Jian stood on a high vehicle, watching the formation of the Zhao army.

  Zhao's army was also deployed in the left, center and right three armies, but the number of chariots was significantly less than that of Qin, with about 300 vehicles, each of the three armies had 100 vehicles. However, the number of cavalrymen was more than that of Qin, with nearly 3,000 cavalrymen distributed among the left and right armies. In addition, there were also 1,000 archers and crossbowmen in both the left and right armies, while the center army consisted only of infantry and cavalry. This is not surprising, as Zhao's mobilized forces were smaller, and it was reasonable that they had fewer chariots than Qin. Moreover, Zhao's cavalry had always been more numerous than other states, so it was not unexpected that their cavalry outnumbered Qin's.

  But what made Wang Jian feel hard to understand was that Zhao Jun had all the war chariots lined up behind the infantry, which was a clear violation of the military common sense of this era. Although at this time the role of war chariots was declining, and various countries had independent infantry and cavalry that could fight independently, war chariots were still the main force on the battlefield. Therefore, unless they didn't use war chariots in battle, if there were war chariots participating in the battle, they would absolutely have to be lined up at the front of the formation, charging forward, and no general dared to use infantry or cavalry to confront war chariots.

  After all, the frontal impact force of war chariots is quite strong, and generally, the war horses that pull the chariot are equipped with leather armor on their heads, necks, and chests. A few even have bronze armor, which has a certain ability to resist bows and crossbows, and it's not something that ordinary infantry can withstand.

  It's not just Wang Jian, but also other generals of the Qin army who are puzzled by Zhao's deployment. If it were another general commanding the Zhao army, perhaps the Qin army would have ridiculed them already. But the commander-in-chief of the Zhao army is Li Mu, and none of the Qin generals dare to underestimate him. So everyone is thinking that there must be a reason for this deployment, and Li Mu must have some trick up his sleeve.

  Although Wang Jian was a famous general alongside Li Mu, overall he still followed the more traditional generals and was known for his stable and solid use of troops. Compared to Li Mu's flexible and changing characteristics, he seemed somewhat lacking in innovation.

  However, Wang Jian's style of using troops was indeed in line with the conditions of Qin State, because Qin State had a strong national strength, a large army, high personal quality of soldiers, and bravery in battle. Therefore, it did not need any out-of-the-ordinary victories or weak defeating the strong. As long as they were steady and did not make big mistakes, they could defeat ordinary opponents, just like how any clever strategy would be useless in the face of absolute strength. And Wang Jian was able to bring Qin State's advantages to an extreme.

  Li Mubai was not an ordinary opponent, Wang Jian was very clear that using a steady and stable approach to deal with Li Mu would be far from enough. Li Mu would not wait for his enemy to make mistakes, but would take the initiative to create opportunities for himself to win, just like this time.