Chapter 208 This is a tragedy

Huan Xi, who thought he had lost the battle, was angry but at the same time he encouraged himself and led his army to quickly return to Yecheng to provide support.

Of course, he knew that the Qin army's long-distance raid would cause great loss of combat power, but he didn't care. He simply believed that with the Qin army's combat power, even if it consumed a lot of energy and physical strength after a long-distance raid, he still believed that in a field battle, the Jibei army would never be the opponent of the Qin army. He had such confidence.
Moreover, Huan Xi was really angry now. Ever since the Jibei Army appeared on the battlefield, he had never taken the initiative and fell into the opponent's trap step by step.

Now Huan Xi only wanted to do one thing, that is to catch up with the Jibei Army, then deploy his troops in an open and aboveboard manner and completely defeat the Jibei Army. He wanted to let the enemy know that in the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy or trick is just a trifle and is not worthy of being put into practice.

While Huan Xi was preparing to march forward, Yang Chong had already led the Jibei Army towards Yecheng.

Three days later, when Yang Chong stationed thirty miles east of Yecheng, the vanguard of the Qin army led by Huan Xi had already appeared in Yang Chong's sight.

"Huan Xi's speed is so fast. Only the elite troops of Qin and Zhao can carry out such a high-intensity forced march. We are still far behind." Yang Chong looked at the vanguard of the Qin army appearing in the distance, with words of admiration in his mouth.

The strength of Qin was all-round. Since Shang Yang's reforms, the core of Qin's operating system was the army. Over the years, the people of Qin had improved their living conditions because of war. Good living conditions made the physical fitness of the people of Qin the best among the seven countries. Good physical fitness was the basis of the Qin army's unrivalled combat effectiveness.

It can be said that the army that Qin State spent more than a hundred years to build was definitely not something that Yang Chong could catch up with in a short period of time by spending money.

Yang Chong was very clear about this. It was precisely because of this that Yang Chong recruited thousands of young soldiers and spent a lot of money to provide these young soldiers with the best living conditions, from food to training. His goal was to create an elite force to fight against the Qin army.

"There is a reason why the Qin army can shock the people of the world. If not, Ji Wuye would not have been so drunk and dreaming, and would not have only thought about becoming a powerful official and a tiger in his own nest." Mo Ya also said solemnly. The army made him see another world. The things he once took pride in were so insignificant in the military formation.

“So Ji Wuye is just a coward. He looks powerful, but in fact he is already rotten. He is not as strong as he was twenty years ago. When facing a strong man, you should face the challenge head-on and improve yourself in the battle, or die in the battle. If you don’t have such determination, you should get off your current path as soon as possible.” Yang Chong stood with his sword in his hand.

War is indeed a man’s romance, and Yang Chong’s blood is boiling now.

While Yang Chong was waiting, the Qin army led by Huan Xi quickly assembled during a forced march.

While Yang Chong was observing the Qin army's formation, Huan Xi was also observing the formation to which Yang Chong belonged.

"I had underestimated this army before. It took him only one year to train an elite force." Standing in front of the battle line, Huan Xi saw that the opposing army was well-organized. Even though the battle was about to break out, there was not a single noise. He already had a preliminary assessment of the enemy's overall strength.

At this moment, in Huan Xi's eyes, the Jibei Army was like a fully drawn bow. Although there was no movement, its strength had been accumulated to the extreme. With just one order, it could unleash earth-shattering power.

Such an army can be considered elite, but such an elite army is only an army that has been formed for only one year.

"But that's all. Over the past hundred years, our Qin army has defeated one opponent after another. The army of Han, the army of Wei, the army of Zhao, the army of Qi, the army of Chu, which country's army has not been defeated by us? Strong army? Ha! That's because they haven't met us." Huan Xi said to himself.

He will not underestimate the enemy, but he will not take the enemy too seriously. If he encounters a strong enemy and feels under great pressure, it would be disrespectful to the Qin army's bloody battles over the years.

On that day, the Qin army fought against the Jibei army. The two armies fought for half a day. The Jibei army was at a disadvantage and retreated ten miles.

The next day, the battle resumed and the Jibei Army retreated another twenty miles.

On the third day, the Jibei Army fought again and was defeated again.

On the fourth day, in front of the Zhang River, the Jibei Army had nowhere to retreat.

"This is a good place." Yang Chong looked at the Zhang River behind and in front of him with a distant gaze. He did not feel the loss of defeats at all, but was calm.

"This is our last chance." Compared to Yang Chong's calmness, Mo Ya, who looked extremely embarrassed, was very helpless.

On the battlefield, the effortless body movements that he was so proud of were completely useless. A small soldier or a hidden arrow could take his life. On the battlefield, there were only soldiers, no killers.

"What I want is the opportunity now. Do you know the names of these two rivers in front of us?" Yang Chong pointed to the two waterways in his sight.

There is a river behind the army, and there is also a river in front of the army. The two rivers have a common name, called Zhangshui. The two rivers converge at one place ten miles to the east, turning into a larger river and finally disappearing in the distant east.

As far as Yang Chong knew, Zhangshui had a more interesting name in his previous life: Hengshui.

It's a magical place.

"Zhang River." Mo Ya didn't know what Yang Chong was thinking, so he just answered Yang Chong's question.

"This river has another meaning. It represents volume, just like the war that is about to happen. Tens of thousands of troops will fight in an area of ​​only twenty miles in radius. Isn't it interesting? The life and death of tens of thousands of people will be decided in this small place." Yang Chong said.

"Roll?" Mo Ya was stunned, then looked at the river behind him. There was indeed some water splashing in the wind, but the "roll" that Yang Chong mentioned did not seem to mean this.

"Be prepared, Huan Xi is coming after us. This Qin general is already very aggressive. We can't escape this time." Yang Chong said.

In the past three days, the Jibei Army was defeated in three battles, but the Qin Army could not achieve full success. It could only cause casualties to the Jibei Army but could not severely damage the Jibei Army. Time was very important to Huan Qi. Once the Zhao army that attacked Yan returned, it would not be easy for the Qin Army to achieve full success.

It can be said that in the past three days, although the Jibei Army lost every battle, it was not a victory for the Qin Army because the Qin Army did not achieve its strategic goals.

Huan Xi's anger, which had already been ignited before, had been aroused to the extreme in the past three days. In the fourth battle, Huan Xi would never let the Jibei Army escape safely from the battlefield.

Coincidentally, Yang Chong had no intention of having a fifth showdown with Huan Xi.

"A fight to the death? This 'General of Korea' who is not as brave as a tiger but has learned the cunning of a mouse, is he going to fight us to the death?" In the Qin army camp, Huan Xi laughed when he learned that the Jibei army had formed a large battle array along the Zhang River. It is a truth that one must survive in the face of death, and now the Jibei army has formed a battle array along the Zhang River. In Huan Xi's understanding, what the Jibei army is doing is to achieve this.

"It's rare that they finally have the courage to fight a decisive battle." Hearing Huan Xi's ridicule, the deputy general in the big tent also echoed.

During the past period of time, although they defeated the Jibei Army several times, they could only defeat it, not crush it. After being escaped by the Jibei Army several times, the patience of the Qin army, from Huan Xuan to him and to the ordinary soldiers, had been almost exhausted.

"Yes, it's rare that they finally have the courage to fight us. We must not let them escape in this battle." Huan Xi said. Although his patience had been almost exhausted, he still had some basic rationality.

Although the current retreat of the Jibei Army to the Zhangshui River was not his intentional arrangement, it was the result of three battles.

At this time, the Jibei Army had nowhere to retreat and had no choice but to fight a decisive battle with them, and a decisive battle was the situation that Huan Xi most wanted to see.

Tomorrow's battlefield is confined to an area of ​​20 miles by two rivers of Zhang River. If the Jibei Army wants to escape, they have to swim across the rivers. However, the water of the Zhang River is not shallow and it is not a place where people can swim.

The opportunity that the Qin army had been looking for finally came. At that moment, the Qin army set up camp and began to rest in preparation for tomorrow's decisive battle.

That day, the sky was clear, the breeze was light, and the air was still cool, which was a good time for the decisive battle.

The water vapor of the Zhang River floated between the two military formations with the breeze. It smelled a bit fishy, ​​but no one cared, because soon this place would be filled with the smell of blood. Compared with that, what was the fishy smell in the water?

Amid the sound of war drums, no one cared about the surrounding environment. Yesterday, they were already tired of everything around them. If they were still alive after today, they would naturally see it again. If they could not survive, they could only bury their bodies here, and they would no longer be unfamiliar with everything around them.

"Attack." Following the command flag, the Qin army took the initiative to launch an attack.

As the Qin army sounded the attack horn, there was no movement in the Jibei army's formation, with only the dull sound of breathing. They had experienced war and death over the years, and now it was just another repeated war.

They don't need to think about anything more, they just need to use the skills they mastered during last year's training. They cannot decide the success or failure of a war individually, all they can do is try their best.

The success or failure of the war is something the general needs to consider, and the soldiers only need to do what they can do.

One side is full of fighting spirit and as fierce as fire, while the other side is as calm as water, without any waves or ripples.

In two completely different atmospheres, the weapons of the front-line soldiers have already collided.

Standing on the high platform, Yang Chong overlooked the entire battlefield. This time he did not choose to charge into battle, but became a true commander.

Before, he needed to charge into battle because this was a newly formed army, but now it is different. After several major battles, the Jibei Army has become a real army. Every soldier has found his own position. The soldiers are already real soldiers, and the army composed of soldiers is also a real army.

In Yang Chong's sight, at the junction of the two armies, there was countless blood blooming, lives were shattered, there were hysterical shouts, and painful cries and groans.

But none of these could shake Yang Chong's mind. What he saw in his sight at this moment were no longer lives, but only two ferocious beasts called war.

Yang Chong's thoughts had drifted away unconsciously. He only felt that his entire will had been sublimated and transformed. It was a mysterious realm, but Yang Chong woke up immediately. He no longer cared about the feeling at that moment. The only thing he needed most at the moment was to win. As for the rest, they were not important.

Right now, victory is above all else.

The Jibei Army held out in the face of an attack by the Qin Army that was even more fierce than a few days ago. However, a war between evenly matched forces is the most brutal war, with both sides wasting their lives all the time.

This battle lasted from morning to noon. The Qin army's offensive had weakened, the Qin army's soldiers' physical strength had been squeezed to the limit, and the Jibei army's casualties had reached the limit they could bear. If the battle continued like this, it was unclear whether the Qin army would be exhausted first or the Jibei army would collapse first.

"The Jibei Army has reached its limit. Although their limit is somewhat beyond my expectations, it is the only way. In front of the Qin army, any elite troops are insignificant. In the whole world, the only real elite troops are our Qin army." Huan Xi, who had already seen the scales of victory tilting towards his side, finally broke into a smile.

"General, something seems to be wrong." Just as Huan Xi was about to order the final attack, his deputy general came running hurriedly from a distance. He had been in charge of the rear and saw a fleet on the Zhang River that should not have appeared.

"What did you say?" Huan Xi's heart skipped a beat at the deputy general's panic.

When the two armies lined up, it was not only the Jibei Army that lined up with their backs to the water, but the Qin Army as well.

The battlefield chosen by the Jibei Army was at the confluence of two rivers, in the shape of a V, with a limited area. The Jibei Army had its back to a river, and in order to have a decisive battle with the Jibei Army, Huan Xi chose to use another river as his back.

There is nothing wrong with this decision. Is it that only the Jibei Army dares to fight a desperate battle, but the Qin Army does not?

Huan Xi did not think that his decision was wrong. If he thought it was wrong, he would not have launched this decisive battle. But now, ships suddenly appeared on the river behind the Qin army, ships that should not have appeared.

"This shouldn't be." Huan Xi didn't understand for a moment, but the uneasiness in his heart was growing.

It is true that he was proficient in battle formations as he was born in the Qin State, but in this era, people's understanding of battle formations was mostly land battles. As for naval battles?

It has been many years since the demise of the Wu Kingdom, let alone appearing in a place like north of the river.

Huan Xi could not have imagined that the war could be fought in this way, and that it could even be coordinated between land and sea, so he was doomed to be a tragedy.

(End of this chapter)