The Moon in the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 701: Destroy Chu
If we cause even greater losses to the Qin army, there will be no chance of surrender, and there will be no value in surrendering.

The surrender of the leading general does not mean that the army will follow suit.

Even if they surrendered, it was certain that all the feudal lords and nobles would take their people home, scatter like monkeys when the tree falls, and then surrender immediately and land safely wherever the Qin army arrived.

But if he, as a leading general, surrendered without firing a single arrow, the reputation of the Xiang family would be completely ruined.

Now Xiang Yan is stuck in two ends.

Xiang Yan was anxiously waiting for a reply from Changping Jun, and at the same time he was racking his brains to think of a way to get rid of the position of the general.

Then he received a reply from Changping Jun.

After reading Changping Jun's reply, Xiang Yan felt much more at ease.

Although he felt reluctant and unwilling, he clenched his fists when he thought about those high-sounding people in the court who were determined to become generals.

It's done!

No matter what anyone thinks in their heart, this day that determines their fate has finally arrived.

In the twentieth year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang, it was midsummer.

King Ying Zheng of Qin raised an army of 600,000, and combined with 200,000 cavalry from the Xiongnu and Donghu tribes, a total of 800,000 troops, which he claimed to have an army of 2 million.

Attack Chu!

On the Chu side, Xiong You and the feudal lords and nobles gritted their teeth and raised an army of 250,000, and Fu Chu led an army of 100,000, totaling 350,000. They claimed to have an army of one million to fight against the Qin State.

Now the State of Chu can still squeeze out 350,000 troops, which means it is really fighting for its life.

The battle hadn't even started yet, but the Chu State had lost its will to fight.

It was because the Chu State had suffered many setbacks and internal strife over the years, and its national strength had long been exhausted. Under such circumstances, the feudal lords and nobles in various places, in order to fight for their own victory, could be said to have exhausted all the Chu people without considering any future development, so that they could gather such a large army.

But one can imagine the morale situation. It's not that there's a lot of complaints, but it's definitely overwhelming.

What’s even more terrifying is that even so, the number of people is still far less than that of Qin.

In terms of logistical supplies and military equipment, it is even worse.

In this situation, it would be strange to have the will to fight.

The Qin and Chu armies were facing each other on the Pingyu line, with no room for maneuver.

Xiang Yan didn't even think about letting the Qin army enter the country, otherwise there would be no way to fight.

Wherever the Qin army went, there would inevitably be a detachment of the Chu army that would run away and surrender directly.

In addition to having other plans, he did not consider any other strategies and just went head-on.

Stud!

Some people also raised questions, how could they fight head-on when they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength? The best strategy was to defend the strong city and dangerous pass.

Xiang Yan didn't even need to refute this. The nobles whose family fiefdoms were on the front line jumped out and started cursing. In the end, for the sake of unity, they still had no choice but to fight directly against each other.

Strangely, neither Xiong You nor Fu Chu raised any objections during this decision-making process.

After a month of recuperation, Wang Jian finally led his army forward. The Chu army watched the Qin army recuperate but still did not dare to attack.

When the Qin State launched a massive attack, Xiang Yan did not consider any tactics and just rushed forward in a disorderly manner without even considering the most basic formation.

As for Fu Chu, he left behind some of his people, led his trusted army and turned around and ran away!
Moreover, the already chaotic formation of the Chu army became even more chaotic.

When a large army is fighting, the most important thing is not to cause chaos.

Once the army is in chaos, defeat is inevitable.

Many generals and nobles had no idea why it suddenly became like this. This was totally inconsistent with Xiang Yan's ability.

It was because Xiang Yan could lead hundreds of thousands of troops that he was recommended to be the general.

Looking at the result, even if a dog is tied to the general's position and everyone has to play their part freely, it can't be this chaotic.

Then they found that Xiang Yan was nowhere to be found, and the central army commander's flag had fallen!!!

Fuchu also ran away!!!
All the feudal lords, nobles, and generals did not know what had happened exactly, but they knew.

It’s over!!!

In just a few breaths, after seeing Xiang Yan's general flag and banner fall, the smart man immediately took his personal soldiers and began to flee, regardless of anything else.

At this time, no one thought about turning the tide, and no one thought about resisting to the death. This group of nobles, like a mob, began to flee without hesitation.

At this time, the Qin army was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, and they simply started a massacre. The chaotic Chu army had no ability to resist at all, and they just fled in all directions, trampling on each other, causing countless casualties.

Wang Jian, an old veteran who had not fought for several years, looked on coldly at the corpses strewn all over the ground. The corpses covered an area of ​​dozens of miles and stretched as far as the eye could see, but he did not show any mercy.

He was still calm and ruthless in commanding the troops to advance slowly and completely defeat the Chu army.

His final act of mercy was not to send troops to pursue and kill them.

Now that was enough, the Chu State would never be able to reorganize itself again, nor would it have the chance to do so.

In this battle, the Qin army collected 60,000 heads at a very small cost.

This is because there was no pursuit. If the pursuit was allowed, countless people would have died.

Xiang Yan fled directly to Hucheng, nearly a hundred miles away, without daring to delay at all. As a leading general, he knew too well how dangerous it would be if the army was in chaos. If he was not careful, he could easily be trampled to death.

So after selling out his teammates, he pretended to be defeated and fled back to Hu City. When the situation was settled, he immediately left the city and surrendered.

Wang Jian's army was unstoppable and like a surging tide, continuously occupying cities of the Chu State.

The vast majority of Chu people in the city opened the gates and surrendered, and the few who vowed to resist to the death also asked for death.

Their entire family was killed, and they became the chicken that the Qin army killed to scare the monkeys.

As soon as the Qin army arrived in Xiacai, still dozens of miles away from Shouchun, Xiong You took the initiative to go out and surrender.

The army marched southwards, and just as they left Zhaoguan, Fu Chu personally asked for surrender, holding Jing Jie's head.

Xiong Han and Xiong You spent so many years and expended countless efforts and blood to try to conquer Jiangdong, but now they surrendered without firing a single shot.

Cai Ze and Zhang Tang led many officials and followed the army to take over the city, but they were unable to keep up.

Fortunately, the Qin army had rich experience in taking over cities and maintaining order, otherwise they would not have been able to take the land so quickly.

The victory over Chu was so smooth this time that the 350,000-strong Chu army was in chaos, and the main force was still political.

Mao Jiao brought Ying Zheng's goodwill to Fu Chu, promising him the hereditary title of nobility as long as Fu Chu made trouble and surrendered.

Fu Chu agreed without hesitation. He was the kind of person who would forget his principles when he saw profit, and his stance was always flexible.

Of course, Xiong You also received Ying Zheng's kindness.

After a secret conversation with Mao Jiao at night, Xiong You and Li Yuan discussed and decided without hesitation to sell out the nobles in Chu.

This is also the meaning of the letter that Changping Jun wrote to Xiang Yan.

Ying Zheng frightened everyone with his extreme end, and then bribed the most critical leader to sell out all his subordinates.

Earn blood.

This once again proves that it is indeed not a good thing for feudal lords and nobles to be too independent.

Not only are the feudal lords unable to unite, even the leaders are unable to unite. This will make the leaders have a weak sense of belonging and the leaders' parents will not want to take the lead in fighting.

Xiong Youke would not risk his life for a group of feudal lords who were usually not very obedient.

Of course, an important reason why it is so easy to bribe is the internal strife.

Xiong You and Fu Chu both had to consider one question: what if the other party surrendered? If the other party surrendered, what would happen if they did not surrender?
If there were no internal strife and there was only one King of Chu, then the King of Chu might still be willing to grit his teeth and fight hard.

But there was internal strife, and the forces were split in two, so they had to consider each other's reactions.

Mao Jiao's secret meeting at night had already proved Fu Chu's attitude. Xiong You no longer dared to fight hard and could only choose to sell at a good price in the end.

I have to say that these two Xiong brothers are true brothers with a great understanding of each other.

In order to get a good price in the end, the two of them sold their feudal lords without mercy in response to Ying Zheng's demands.

The feudal lords of Chu State suffered a devastating disaster. After this great defeat, coupled with the lack of a leader, it was difficult to gather the defeated army.

Even if they returned to their fiefdoms, they would not be able to organize any force to resist.

In addition, many people died in the chaos of the battle, and the overall advancement of the Qin army in the territory of Chu was unusually smooth.

This time, the Qin army showed no mercy to these feudal lords and nobles who were willing to fight back.

When the army arrived, anyone who still resisted would be exterminated and their families would be exiled to Hexi.

Even if they surrendered voluntarily, all their fiefs, residences, and fiefdoms would be confiscated. They would only be allowed to retain their property and a small number of servants, and they would have to immediately move to Xianyang accompanied by the Qin army.

The only special ones were the nobles who packed up their belongings and moved directly to Xianyang before the war.

These people are either truly smart people or have connections in the Qin State.

Just like Feiyan's father, Shunping Jun, he had already packed up everything quickly and moved his entire family to Xianyang. With Feiyan's identity, he could still enjoy wealth and glory and make his family prosperous in Xianyang.

And Ying Zheng also intended to send him and Changping Jun to Chu to temporarily appease the people. This time, the entire Chu territory has been conquered. Changping Jun and his family are all in Xianyang, and there is no one to support him. No matter how stupid he is, he can't rebel.

After conquering Chu, Ying Zheng was not in a hurry to march into the Baiyue land. The Baiyue land had a harsh environment, with deep mountains and old forests, and smoky and miasmatic lands everywhere. It would take time to subdue and assimilate them, and it was not something that could be solved in a hurry.

However, the difficulty will be much lower this time, thanks to the kind-hearted people Xiong Han and Tianze's meticulous cultivation of Baiyue.

The most feared thing in everything is comparison. With this comparison, the rule of the Qin Dynasty seems much better.

Ying Zheng only sent a small number of troops to invade Baiyue for the time being, and temporarily determined the administrative regions, preparing to slowly bring Baiyue under with a conciliatory policy.

(End of this chapter)