Daqin Engineers

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

"Lord, please see, this is the'wheel warship' made by the sinking soldiers."

The king of Chu took the picture and glanced at it, and said:

"This boat has no oars, how can it travel in water?"

Xiang Yan replied:

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

"Then Shen Bing used to work as a worker and husband and was good at wood craftsmanship. Before that, he had repeatedly created strange things.

"It's not fake to want to come this time."

Chu Wang was shocked and said:

"This boat can come and go like wind without a wooden oar?"

"Then... what shall I do?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"Majesty, although this'wheel warship' is difficult to deal with, the Weichen is more worried but it is not the case."

Chu Wang Minzu was surprised again and asked:

"What is the general worried about?"

Xiang Yan took out a map and placed it in front of King Chu, and explained:

"Lord, please see."

"The beam guards the upper reaches of the Yellow River and Bianhe River."

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

"If these two cities go down, the land of Huaibei will belong to Qin Yun!"

What Xiang Yan said was correct.

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

This is mainly because the transportation was not well developed in ancient times. If you need horses and people to travel by land, this person and horse will consume food and grass on the road, and the food and grass will be transported less and less, and the land road takes a long time.

However, if shipping downstream, the cost of transporting food, equipment, and even troops will decrease in stages.

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

Chu Wang Shilu understood immediately, he scolded bitterly:

"I blame the King Wei if he is unbearable, but if he has such a strong city, he will let him go.

"If this servant can defend against the enemy outside the city, how can our army have such a defeat?"

This is actually making an excuse for Xiang Yan, but it is true.

After a pause, King Chu continued:

"The few people think that the two cities are especially the most dangerous in Caozhou. If the Qin army descends along the Bianhe River, it will divide the Caozhou army and the state of Chu into two."

Xiang Yan nodded and said:

"The king is justified."

"So I can't just wait and ignore it."

"Otherwise, our army will be cut into pieces that cannot be communicated with each other."

This is the characteristic of Chu's terrain. Although the dense water net is good for defense, if the enemy's powerful navy occupies the upper reaches of the heavy city, the water net can easily be used by the enemy.

The king of Chu asked worriedly:

"But General, how can I respond?"

"Is it impossible to give up Caozhou?"

Xiang Yan replied:

"Of course you can't give up Caozhou."

"If Caozhou loses, Chencheng will be in danger, and Chencheng will be in danger when he loses his life!"

"So there is no retreat for our army!"

Xiang Yan was right:

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

If Chen Cheng is lost, then the source of the Huai River will be difficult to guarantee, and the Qin army will be able to attack Shouchun down the Huai River.

If this were to abandon city by city like Caozhou, would the Chu army still have to hide in the mountains to the south?

Chu Wang's face couldn't help but pale when he heard the words. He didn't want to destroy the country right after he took the throne, but he didn't even sit on the heat, so he asked Xiang Yan very politely:

"So from the general's opinion, how should I defend the two cities of Caozhou and Chencheng?"

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

"Weichen thought Chen Cheng was not a concern."

"Probably because both banks of the Bian River are in the Chu land, I only need to lay down wooden stakes in Hanoi, and then seal the river with iron cables, and the water channels cannot be used by the Qin army."

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

The Qin army only needed to set up a catapult to lay down crossbowmen on the opposite bank, and the Chu army could not close the river.

After a pause, Xiang Yan said again:

"So Weichen thought..."

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

The king of Chu looked at Xiang Yan in shock:

"Offense instead of defense?"

"The general meant counterattack?"

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

"The water network is densely lined with small castles along the city."

"At this time, most of them were unguarded due to the flooding of the river."

"If I wait for the navy to seize this city and surrounding mountain forts first."

"After the spring and the water recede next year, our navy will take advantage of the water net to assist in defense. It is not difficult to hold the city."

"As long as he leads the city without losing it, the Qin army cannot attack Chu!"

"I can use this city to consume the Qin army's rations."

Chu Wang Shijun couldn't help but nodded and praised:

"It's a good move to use offense instead of defense, this is a great strategy!"

The strategy Xiang Yan said is indeed established.

Caozhou only occupies one bank of the Yellow River and has Handan in the north and beams in the south.

If you want to hold Caozhou, you must take Qiancheng on the west bank of the Yellow River, so that the two sides of the strait can help to block the river.

Originally holding the city was also a big problem.

Because the fighting power of the Qin army is obviously stronger than that of the Chu army, this Qiancheng is located between Handan and the beam. Isn't it just a minute to fall into the siege of Qin army?

The problem is that Qiancheng was built on the basis of the river canal in the Wei state, and coupled with the small fortresses distributed along the canal, the Chu army would indeed be able to fight the Qin army with the reinforcements of the water army based on Caozhou.

After thinking about it for a while, Chu Wang Minzu asked again:

"It's just that the Qin army also has a navy army, to take the city..."

Xiang Yan replied:

"Great King Mingjian."

"Qin Shui Army has only been formed for more than a month."

"Its combat power and military strength are limited, even if there is that wheeled warship, how can it be my navy opponent?"

"So if the Qin Shui Army does not come out, the whole army is wiped out!"

Chu Wang nodded and said:

"It's so good, just follow the general's plan!"

This battle Xiangyan is actually a little selfish.

The reason for saying "some" is because his general strategic direction is okay.

It's just that he still wanted to draw Qin Shui Army out and destroy it.

Strictly speaking, this is not selfish.

Because from the perspective of Chu State, both the original Wei State and Chu State are densely covered by water networks, so the importance of the navy is unquestionable.

If Qin has a navy and this navy can compete with the Chu navy, then it will be a big trouble for the Chu army.

On the other hand, Xiang Yan expects that the Qin army will wait for the next spring to attack Chu, when it will be too late for Chu to act.

So, why not take the initiative to attack and disrupt the Qin army's strategy when the Qin army is insufficiently prepared?

Why not take it out when the Qin Shui Army is not yet full and destroy it?

If Qin had no water army, wouldn’t the Chu army dominate the water network in this area again?

Xiang Yan's selfishness is that he bears the resentment of being flooded by Shen Bingshui for more than 100,000 troops.

At this time, Shen Bing was also a Lieutenant of the Qin Shui Army, so Xiang Yan could avenge his revenge.