I nodded.
Wang Ben turned around and roared, "The cavalrymen should dismount, the entire army should rest and have a meal. We will charge into the enemy camp at dusk to rescue the Grand Marshal."
Luo Cheng and I hurriedly stopped him. Good heavens, how did this general who helped Qin Shi Huang unify the six kingdoms achieve such a perfect record? He's completely cunning. Even setting aside the fact that his father could rightfully become Grand Marshal now that Baozi is gone, this newcomer is already risking his life. Should we call him decisive and efficient, or just plain stupid? He's probably been spoiled by the cowardly armies of the six kingdoms.
After explaining the current situation to Wang Ben, I said, "The forces in the south are relatively weak right now. You take some men and join forces with them. Their commander is Liu Dongyang. Just tell him, 'The gate faces the sea, and the three rivers flow together for ten thousand years.'"
At this point, Qin Shi Huang's 250,000 Qin troops had arrived, and the southern army had suddenly increased from 200,000 Song soldiers to a combined Song and Qin force of 450,000. Jin Wuzhu remained unmoved in his camp, whether from habitual indifference or simply a lack of experience, but to test the strength of the southern allied forces, he still sent a 3,000-strong unit to challenge them. Before Liu Dongyang could lead his men to meet the attack, Wang Ben gave the order, and the Qin army unleashed a volley of ten thousand crossbow bolts, embedding the Jin soldiers against the walls—the Qin army never valued individual combat.
Chapter 161 Qin Wuyang's Little Stool
From dusk till evening, another 100,000 Song troops arrived, bringing the allied forces' total strength to nearly 2 million, and the encirclement grew ever tighter. However, the generals believed it wasn't yet time for a final showdown with Jin Wuzhu. The remaining Song troops hadn't all arrived, Xiang Yu's 300,000 men were still on their way, and most importantly, the 700,000 men Zhu Yuanzhang had promised were a crucial factor. If the current situation could only be described as a stalemate, then when they had gathered 3 million troops, it would be an absolute encirclement and annihilation; the difference between quantitative and qualitative change sometimes hangs by a thread.
Late at night, a large force appeared again from the southwest. Judging from their marching style, they were the arrogant Chu army—they brazenly cut in between the Tang army and the Song-Qin allied forces, regardless of the consequences. Fortunately, Qin Qiong and his men had already adapted to the situation, while Wang Ben recognized the newly arrived commander: Jing Ke.
Ersha, with his usual stubbornness, had secured a good position within the allied forces, and only then did he come to see me alone. My first words to him were a complaint: "Even Ying Ge's men are here, why are you only arriving now?"
Ersha said embarrassedly, "Hey, I forgot the last part of the password, I only remember 50 cents."
I asked, puzzled, "Then how did you end up getting in?"
Ersha proudly said, "I guessed, and I got it right on the 10th sentence."
It seems that Liu Laoliu and his team hadn't anticipated the consequences of their initial plan. They knew that ordinary people wouldn't come up with such a bizarre password, but they never expected that someone would send an idiot to lead the troops...
I asked, "Did you come alone?"
Ersha said, "Zhang Han has arrived too."
My head suddenly felt like it was about to explode. His mention of Zhang Han reminded me—of the 300,000 troops Xiang Yu sent me, 200,000 were Zhang Han's troops, surrendered Qin soldiers! I suddenly realized something: if Zhang Han's army consisted entirely of Qin veterans, wouldn't there be younger versions of their former selves in Ying Bu's army? What would happen if this old man and young man met? Would they disappear like Kim Jong-un meeting Kim Il-sung?
I hurriedly said, "Kezi, you should quickly lead your men to circle around from the west to the Mongol camp in the north."
Ersha asked, "Why?"
I replied dismissively, "The situation in the north is critical; they need you."
I don't want to lose 200,000 men out of nowhere while we're fighting a war, and they're all invisible soldiers!
After settling the Chu army, Wu Yong said excitedly, "We've finally reached two-thirds of the way. Once Zhu Yuanzhang's men arrive, everything will be ready."
One of them said angrily, "Why are we waiting for him? With our current strength, we can easily trap that damned Jin Wuzhu from all sides. Are we afraid he won't turn into a dumpling filled with turtle filling?" It was Qin Wuyang.
I looked at the tent flap in surprise and said, "You weren't here just now?"
Qin Wuyang said, "I just came in."
...So he just happened to avoid Jing Ke. Our base camp has a lot of miscellaneous people who came from Yucai, it's always packed with them.
At this moment, a person chanted a Buddhist prayer and said, "Amitabha, Heaven cherishes life. This matter should be resolved peacefully. I am willing to act as a mediator." When we saw that it was Xuanzang, we all respectfully said, "Teacher Chen, you cannot risk your life."
Xuanzang laughed and said, "It's alright. I don't believe that Jin Wuzhu can do anything to an old monk like me."
We tried to persuade him for a long time, but Xuanzang's face darkened and he said, "Do you really want me to say something like 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' before you'll agree?"
Everyone: "..."
Bao Jin and Deng Yuanjue said at the same time, "I'll go with Teacher Chen!"
I quickly waved my hand and said, "No, no, either one or both of you go. Your styles are different."
One of them stood up and smiled, "I think it would be more appropriate for me to accompany Teacher Chen." We all nodded in agreement—this was a professional persuader: Mao Sui.
Mao Sui came up to me and said with a smile, "Xiao Qiang, this may be the last thing I do for you. If I had left a few months earlier and you had come to find me, I could have helped you persuade a few of the Warring States lords to send troops to help you, but this is all I can do now."
I held his hand tightly and repeatedly instructed him, "If you can reach an agreement, then negotiate; if you can't, never threaten them. That Jin Wuzhu will make you rich..."
Mao Sui said, "Don't worry, with Teacher Chen here, I won't act rashly."
The two men, dressed neatly and without a single soldier, made their way to the Jin camp for negotiations. We stood at a distance, watching them enter the Jin camp, and more than an hour passed without them emerging. Wu Yong kept looking around and said, "Looks like there's hope?" Dong Ping snorted and said, "Or maybe there's absolutely no hope..."
About half an hour later, we saw Mao Sui and Xuanzang running ahead, followed by a dozen or so Jin soldiers chasing and beating them with sticks. We were both furious. When we got closer, Pang Wanchun and his men (?) and Hua Rong fired arrows, wounding several Jin soldiers, and Xuanzang and Mao Sui were finally freed. I angrily said, "I'll send Li Yuanba to their gate to challenge them. I'll smash a few more of them to pieces!"
Xuanzang stopped me and said, "Don't be impulsive. Jin Wuzhu was forced to do this."
"What's the meaning?"
Xuanzang pulled us into the tent and said slowly, "They were quite polite when we first went in, but somehow we just couldn't get along."
I asked Mao Sui, "Did you hit someone on the head with an ashtray again?"
Mao Sui innocently replied, "No."
Xuanzang waved his hand and said, "Listen to me, Jin Wuzhu's tone already indicated that he wanted to retreat, but he just didn't believe that our purpose was so simple. Now he's caught in a dilemma, and he also needs the two girls to make us hesitate to act rashly. He's absolutely unwilling to release them easily."
"Then they shouldn't have hit you."
Xuanzang said, "There's nothing we can do about it. If we're too polite to us, it will demoralize the army. Fortunately, those soldiers didn't really fight us." He really was considerate of others.
I exclaimed, "What should we do then?"
Hu Sanniang waved her hand and said, "Surround them for as long as you can until they break down."
Wu Yong pulled me aside and said, "It seems our deterrent power is still insufficient. Ask Zhu Yuanzhang's men when they will arrive."
As I pulled out my phone, I grumbled, "Yeah, that kid looked shifty when he agreed to lend me his troops. He's probably just kidding me. Hey, Brother Zhu, why haven't your troops arrived yet? The Qin Dynasty people have already come. You can't be lying to me."
Zhu Yuanzhang said confidently, "How could that be? I sent out the first batch of people a long time ago. Just wait a little longer."