Qu Yuan left the palace worriedly.

Sitting on the carriage, waves of uneasiness attacked the Grand Sima.

Qu Yuan felt that the king and the others were too optimistic!

That's right, Zhao State is indeed stronger than Qin State, but the problem is that it is not the Zhao army that competes with the Qin army now, but the Chu army!

The combat effectiveness of the Chu army... Qu Yuan also led the troops last year, so he is quite familiar with it.

Although he had only led the troops for a few months and had not even fought any battle, Qu Yuan was still shocked by the current situation of the Chu army.

Military disciplines are scattered, training is slack, equipment is not complete, and aristocratic generals and officers are deducting military pay...

It's simply sucked.

In today's Chu State, only a few elite troops controlled by the great nobles. Apart from the imperial guards of the King of Chu, Ling Yin Xiong Zilan had one in his hands and one in each of the three major families. As for most of the other Chu troops, it is no exaggeration to describe it as garbage.

Such an army could not have defeated Qin in the past, nor would it be now.

Perhaps, the only hope is the tall city walls of Yandu and the Chu people who have been operating for hundreds of years.

As Qu Yuan thought about it, he leaned his back against the seat and sighed.

What happened to Da Chu?

There must be something wrong with this aristocratic system of feudalization!

If, if I could give me a chance to reform...

Unfortunately, there is no if.

...

Nanyang County, Dengcheng.

A war had just ended, and Bai Qi's chariot slowly drove into the city surrounded by countless Qin soldiers.

"Have the tutor seen it?"

"Yes, Zuo Shuchang, just click it lightly, there is still..."

Bai Qi interrupted his subordinate who was reporting seriously: "Take all the food and siege equipment inside and go south tomorrow."

The Qin general who was reporting was slightly stunned and then said, "Yes. But the food does not seem to be a lot, and it may become a problem."

Since Bai Qi left Wuguan, he has been moving south with light equipment and has no logistics at all. The supply along the way is completely through the villages and towns occupied by the Chu State.

Bai Qi implemented this tactic of eating from the enemy very well, and even many of them claimed to be the Qin people in Nanyang County before, they did not change this.

Since these Qin people did not resist to the end when the Chu State fought, then the Qin army naturally did not need to give them a way out when they recovered the lost territory.

As for those who resisted to the end when the Chu army came, all Bai Qi could do was naturally... to observe a moment of silence.

It's not the time to observe silence now. Bai Qi frowned and said, "Dengcheng is the second largest city in Nanyang County, second only to Wancheng. There is not enough food to store?"

The general said: "According to preliminary statistics, the grain stored in the treasury may only be enough for the army to use it for about ten days."

"Ten days..." Bai Qi's brows became deeper and deeper.

It is actually quite considerable to be able to supply 50,000 troops with ten days of food and grass, but from Bai Qi's perspective, if you still want to continue moving south, ten days will definitely not be enough."

After pondering for a while, Bai Qi suddenly spoke, "I remember there seem to be several big families in this city?"

The general hurriedly said, "Yes. Mi, Xiong and Wei."

Bai Qi said: "Branch or master?"

The general said: "The Wei family is a child of the master family, and the Mi family and Xiong family are both branches, and they both have five slaughter."

The general thought he had understood something and whispered: "The Mi family and Xiong family surrendered to the Chu State back then. They are considered local big families and there are some manors outside the city. If these two big families can hand over the food, it should be enough for the army to support at least one more month."

These days, it is common sense that there is no noble family in the government. As for why the Wei family was not mentioned, of course, because of the children of the master family mentioned before.

What a joke? That's the nephew of Marquis Rang Wei Ran. Although Marquis Rang has lost power for the time being, the four nobles have not lost power. Who dares to move?

Bai Qi refused to comment and suddenly asked, "I heard that the Wei family is the largest family in Dengcheng?"

The general's heart jumped slightly, but he immediately returned: "Yes, the iron ore near Dengcheng is controlled by the Wei family. Dengchengling was also a member of the Wei family. In addition, the Mi family and Xiong family surrendered and did not dare to oppose the Wei family. However, Dengcheng was occupied by the Chu army a while ago, so the situation afterwards is hard to say."

Bai Qi snorted and said, "Has Chu occupied Dengcheng for a few months? You send someone to the Wei family and ask them to hand over 80% of the food stored there. As for the Mi family and Xiong family, you should copy them all."

The general hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Wei's side may not be willing to hand over these foods..."

Bai Qi looked at the subordinate in front of him coldly and said, "Then let's copy together."

The general was shocked and said, "This... Zuo Shuchang, think twice."

You should know that Bai Qi was leading an army. There is a big difference between the army's house scout and the government's house scout. The government's house scout usually leads to jail after raiding the whole family, while the army's house scout is to jail after raiding the whole family ascends to heaven, and it is also the kind of ascension that is comparable to others' hell.

Who in the world knows that Wei Ran is Bai Qi’s benefactor? Now Bai Qi is actually going to attack Wei Ran’s son and nephew?

Bai Qi looked at the subordinate in front of him coldly: "Do you want to abide by this general's military order?"

The general was startled and said, "I will do this."

That night, fires burst into Dengcheng.

Not only the three largest families in Dengcheng, but also most of the small and medium-sized officials and the mansions of the palaces were attacked. The people of Dengcheng, who originally thought they would welcome back the Qin ruling order, waited for an astonishing killing and plunder.

The next day, Bai Qi brought food and grass that could last until winter, tens of thousands of young and strong men and his 50,000 soldiers to the south, and at the same time, he submitted a memorial to Xianyang.

"Deng City has been destroyed, and the Chu people are crazy. Before the city is broken, killing a lot, which caused most of the officials in the city to be killed. Mi, Xiong, and Wei three were destroyed by the Chu people."

Three days later, Bai Qi crossed the Lujiang River and headed south along the Han River.

Five days later, Bai Qi led his army to the city of Yandu.

Yandu has a status in Chu similar to Wuyang City's status in Yan's State and belongs to the deputy capital. This is the northern gate of Yingdu. To the east is the Han River flowing from north to south, and to the west is Jingshan, a branch of the eastern branch of the Bashan Mountains. The terrain is very dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As long as this city can be conquered, Bai Qi can successfully break into the Jianghan Plain, the most core area of ​​Chu State.

The Jianghan Plain is the flattest plain in China. Once it enters here, there will be no force to stop Bai Qi from coming to Yingdu City!

Thinking of this, Bai Qi had always had a little more spirit in Gu Jing Wubo's eyes.

However, Bai Qi soon discovered that things were not that simple.

The geographical conditions in Yandu are really good. The Qin army led by Bai Qi can only launch an attack from the north of Yandu, which makes the so-called siege a joke.

This is the true "siege".

In addition, Bai Qi also learned another thing, that is, the Chu State Order Xiong Zilan, who had just led 20,000 Chu State troops to arrive here.

Of course there are not many 20,000 people, but Bai Qi only has only 50,000 Qin troops in his hands.

Yan is a big city with a population of between 300,000 and 400,000, which means that the city can easily gather a force of 30,000 troops. The total number of troops brought by Ling Yin Xiong Zilan is exactly 50,000, which is comparable to the troops in Bai Qi's hands.

The so-called ten surrounds it, but Bai Qi attacked it now, and he couldn't even surround it...

After tentatively siege for three days, Bai Qi even confirmed that even in the plains and field battles, the Chu army in the city had the power to fight him.

Looking at Yandu, who was standing in front of him like a mountain, Bai Qi fell into deep thought.

On the other side of the Yandu city wall, the Chu State Order Xiong Zilan was proud.

"What Bai Qi and Qin generals seem to be like this! Before this marquis can do anything, these Qin people are completely helpless with Yan Du."

Beside Xiong Zilan, a general of the Chu army laughed and said, "Qin seems to be powerful, but he was beaten by the Zhao people in the battle of Lianggou. Bai Qi led a temporary recruitment of troops. How could he be the opponent of my Great Chu Xiong army? What's more, with the imperial court in charge here, the Great Chu is even more worry-free."

The flattery roared towards Xiong Zilan like a tide, directly submerging him.

Xiong Zilan held his head up and accepted all the praises with pride. If he hadn't maintained his last slightest sense, then he might have really led his army out of the city to have a fight with Bai Qi in the wild.

On the sixth day of the siege, Bai Qi ordered the siege to stop all siege operations.

The situation is very clear. Yandu's defense conditions are really good, comparable to the first pass of the Qin State, Hangu Pass. With Bai Qi's current troops, it is really difficult to break Yandu head-on.

Fortunately, Bai Qi has come up with another solution.

The battle of Jucheng between Zhao and Chu gave Bai Qi a great inspiration.

On the second day after the siege was suspended, Bai Qi gave an order, ten thousand young and strong men from Dengcheng began to take action and dug up the canal in full swing.

About seventy or eighty miles away from Yandu, a wide canal spread out from the Han River under the efforts of young and strong coolies. According to Bai Qi's plan, this canal will connect many small ponds and lakes of all sizes along the way, and eventually form a huge reservoir outside Yandu.

Bai Qi will make people deepen this reservoir and allow the river water from the Han River to save the amount of water in this reservoir to an extremely amazing level.

According to Bai Qi's estimate, all this should be completed in about two months without sieging the city and investing the most manpower to dig the canal.
Chapter completed!