Daqin Engineering Corps

Shen Bing sighed and replied:

"The general doesn't know something, but the method of making the black armor is not difficult."

"The material in question was taken from Akato."

"This red vine is barely used to equip 3000 sailors."

"But if we equip our Daqin army with hundreds of thousands of troops..."

Needless to say next.

Shen Bing is telling the truth. Although there are many red vines, they are not inexhaustible. Moreover, armor will be damaged and require long-term and stable raw materials.

Therefore, it is okay to equip the navy, but it is not realistic to equip the entire army.

Yang Duanhe thought about it, and then said:

"If it doesn't work, you can equip the cavalry."

"This armor is well protected and light and easy to use. It is of great benefit to the cavalry!"

Shen Bing also said:

"General, this red vine seems to be only found in Wei State and its south."

"Especially in the mountainous areas of Chu State."

"One day if this cavalry army returns to Xianyang, this..."

When the raw material of red vine is gone, how can we ensure that everyone has armor?

Is it possible to come to Wei Guo to collect and transport it?

Shen Bing spread his hands and said:

"Heijia sailors don't have to worry about these!"

"I don't have any armor anyway, so I will equip this black armor at this time."

"It's not too late to change to bronze armor after you have made meritorious service."

"But the Hanoi cavalry..."

This is really a problem. After thinking about it, Yang Duanhe shook his head and said:

"That's all, at least this officer can get some points!"

Shen Bing slapped his head and said "Oh":

"Of course, my subordinates will send a set to the general tomorrow!"

Yang Duanhe had a black line on his face: Why do these words sound so familiar?

What Shen Bing didn't know was that what he did was actually in the eyes of Xiang Yan of Chu State.

It is said that Xiang Yan was lucky enough to find a life and escape back to Shouchun, so he pretended to plead guilty to the king of Chu.

But how could the king of Chu dare to punish Xiang Yan for his crime?

Just kidding, Xiang Yan has a separatist power in Chu State, and he is also considered one of the few generals in Chu State...

This is also the difference between the Six Kingdoms and Qin.

After the Qin State implemented the prefecture and county system, the power of feudal landlords and even nobles in various places was weakened.

It is just like the food town mentioned earlier.

The Shiyi of the Qin State only enjoys the right to collect taxes from the fiefdom but has no right to control it.

The food towns of the Six Kingdoms not only have the right to collect taxes on the fiefs, but the people in the fiefs belong to the nobles in principle.

So the nobles only need to find an excuse, such as the side of the Qing emperor, to call on the people in the fief to rebel.

Xiang Yan is such an aristocrat, and he is also powerful, so how could the king of Chu dare to punish him easily.

But at this time, Xiang Yan knew that the national destiny of Chu State was closely related to his Xiang family: if Chu State were to perish, how could his Xiang family have a good life?

So during this period they really worked together on the same boat to fight against Qin.

But the situation is not optimistic...

Xiang Yan left many spies in Daliang to mix with the people before retreating, and the news spread from Daliang to Shouchun like snowflakes.

Most of the information Xiang Yan didn't say, until after seeing a piece of information, Xiang Yan felt that something was wrong, and hurried into the palace to meet the King of Chu:

"Your Majesty, I found the news that the Qin army is training the water army in Daliang as soon as possible."

King Chu of Chu dismissed this:

"Navy?"

"How can Qin's navy compare with the widow's navy?"

"If Qin Man wants to fight our army by water, it will be tantamount to suicidal!"

But Xiang Yan bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that we should not underestimate the enemy!"

"It's just because the one who trained this navy is the Shen soldier who flooded our army with water..."

Speaking of this, Yan couldn't help but gritted his teeth with hatred, but he had to say it.

The king of Chu gave an "oh" and said strangely:

"It was him?"

"It is said that Shen Bing is a poor man, can he still train sailors?"

Chapter 177 Attacking Instead of Defending

Xiang Yan presented a sketch to King Chu of Chu and said:

"Look, my lord, this is the 'wheeled warship' made by the Shen soldiers."

King Chu took the picture and took a look at it, then wondered:

"How can this boat travel in water without oars?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"It is said that this ship is driven by things that look like wheels on both sides, and it comes and goes like the wind."

"That Shen Bing used to be a craftsman and was very good at carpentry. Before that, he repeatedly innovated and made strange things."

"It's not a lie to think about it this time."

The king of Chu was startled and said:

"This boat can come and go like the wind without wooden oars?"

"Then... what should I do?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"Your Majesty, although this 'Warship on Wheels' is difficult to deal with, it is not this thing that I am more worried about."

The king of Chu was surprised again and asked:

"What is the general worried about?"

Xiang Yan took out a map and put it in front of the King of Chu, explaining:

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

"Daliang guards the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Bian River."

"If the water flow slows down in the spring of next year, Qin Shuijun can attack Chencheng by going down the Bian River, and take Caozhou by going down the Yellow River."

"If these two cities are taken down, all the land in Huaibei will belong to Qin!"

What Xiang Yan said was correct.

In ancient times, there was a big difference between going downstream and upstream.

This is mainly due to the lack of transportation in ancient times. If you go by land, you need horses and people. Both people and horses will consume food and grass on the road, and the food and grass will be transported less and less, and the land journey will take a long time.

But if it is shipped downstream, the cost of transporting food, equipment, and even troops will decrease exponentially.

This is one of the reasons why Daliang City is so important to Chu State. This city occupies the upper reaches of the Yellow River and Bian River, so the Qin army can use Daliang as a base to attack Chu.

King Chu of Chu understood immediately, and he cursed bitterly:

"I blame the king of Wei for being so unbearable, but for having such a strong city, he surrendered it to others."

"If this guy can defend against the enemy outside the city, how can our army be defeated like this?"

This was actually an excuse for Xiang Yan, but it was telling the truth.

After a pause, the King of Chu went on to say:

"I think that among these two cities, Caozhou is the most dangerous. If Qin's army goes down the Bian River, it will divide Caozhou's army and Chu State into two."

Xiang Yan nodded and said:

"Your Majesty's words are justified."

"So I can't just sit idly by."

"Otherwise, our army will be divided into several units that cannot communicate with each other."

This is the characteristic of the terrain of Chu State. Although the dense water network is good for defense, if the enemy has a powerful navy and occupies the upper reaches of the city, the water network can be easily used by the enemy.

Chu Wang Xiangchu asked worriedly:

"But general, how can we deal with it?"

"Do we still have to give up Caozhou?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"Of course we can't give up on Caozhou."

"If Caozhou is lost, Chencheng will be in danger, and if Chencheng loses Shouchun, it will be in danger!"

"Therefore, there is no way for our army to retreat!"

Xiang Yan was right:

If Caozhou is lost, Chencheng, the old capital of Chu State, will be attacked by Qin State on both sides.

If Chencheng is lost, the source of the Huaihe River will be lost, and the Qin army will be able to attack Shouchun along the Huaihe River.

If this is like abandoning Caozhou, the Chu army will have to hide in the southern mountainous area?

The king of Chu couldn't help turning pale when he heard the words. He didn't want to destroy the country as soon as he took the throne, so he asked Xiang Yan very politely:

"Then in the opinion of the general, how should we defend the two cities of Caozhou and Chencheng?"

Xiang Yan pondered for a moment, then pointed to the map and said:

"This minister thinks that Chen Cheng is not enough to worry about."

"Probably because both sides of the Bian River are Chu lands, we only need to lay wooden piles in Hanoi, and then seal the river with iron cables, so the waterways cannot be used by the Qin army."

"The direction of Caozhou is quite tricky. Our army and the Qin army occupy both sides of the Yellow River. Even if we want to seal the river, we can't seal it..."

The Qin army only needs to set up catapults and deploy crossbowmen on the opposite bank, and the Chu army cannot seal the river.

After a pause, Xiang Yan said again:

"It's because I think that..."

"If you want to defend Caozhou, you must use offense instead of defense."

King Chu Chu looked at Xiang Yan in shock:

"Replace defense with offense?"

"The general means counterattack?"

Xiang Yan nodded and pointed to Qiancheng to the north of Daliang on the map and said:

"The area around Qiancheng is densely covered with water networks and there are many small castles."