The robust soldier held a small yellow croaker in his hand, his eyes wide open:
He hadn't even reacted to what had happened yet.
...
The news quickly spread throughout the Wuguan Pass, and upon hearing that Emperor Qin Shi Huang himself had arrived, the soldiers morale soared.
The once downtrodden walls and gates, reignited a rare glimmer of hope.
Emperor Qin ordered the assembly of soldiers at the training ground.
The elderly Qin Shi Huang, finally, stood once again in front of the battlefield.
Is it possible to die for the country even for a gentleman?
Within the training ground, the cold wind still howled, but the soldiers no longer feared it.
They stood in perfect rows in the center of the field, their armor glinting coldly in the faint sunlight.
On the high platform, Emperor Qin Shi Huang held his scepter high, his imposing posture despite his age.
On his aged face, a pair of deep-set eyes swept over the training ground, as if to pierce the souls of every soldier.
Emperor Qin looked at these soldiers, filled with many thoughts.
Once upon a time, these soldiers were the tiger and wolf troops that swept the sky!
Now, however, they are forced to fight to the death just to defend a tiny pass!
He couldn't help feeling a sense of nostalgia, as he grew older, he often remembered the things from his younger days.
I still remember when I was young, Zhang Hanyan was still there, Meng Tian was also still there. At that time, the army was known as the "wolf-like and tiger-like" troops of the world.
But just a few decades later, it has turned into this state, and even needs him to rally the morale of the troops.
He couldn't help but shout loudly:
"Today, I stand alongside all the warriors on this very ground!"
Standing at the Hangu Pass, standing on this land that was granted by the ancestors of the Zhou dynasty to the Ying clan for their merits!
Behind me lies the last land of the Great Qin, the ancestral land of the Great Qin.
In front of me stands the tiger and wolf troops of the Great Qin, the hope and future of the Great Qin!
Once, you swept through the nine provinces. Now, you can only cower in retreat.
Is it right?
Or say: Your Majesty, I need a job, a meal.
However, I tell you that there are things in this world that are more important than life itself—freedom! Dignity!
Are we just going to watch those people outside riding on top of us?
"Fight, defend the Great Qin, do not yield!"
"Our Great Qin has never had the tradition of being cowards before battle since it was enfeoffed in the land of Qin four hundred years ago!"
"Once upon a time, we were stablehands, oxen and horses, the servants of those feudal lords. They called us lowly people, savages!"
This was the first time that Emperor Qin Shi Huang had mentioned in public that his ancestors were actually horse breeders.
In the past, when the State of Qin was not powerful, during the disputes among the feudal lords, Qin was often mocked because of its origin as a horse-breeding family.
"From being the servants of others to now being the rulers of the world, does our Great Qin still need to bow to others?"
The general leader Xiang Yu on the other side forced our Qin nation's generals to surrender. Our Qin generals were detained in their camp, unable to do anything but be forced to do menial tasks like washing feet and clothes for those soldiers. What a great humiliation that was!
They even forced our generals to become slaves of the Chu king, and our soldiers were greatly oppressed there.
Once upon a time, we fought our way up from the bottom to the position of a king. How splendid that was!
But now...
It is the oppression of the feudal lords. The people of Chu want to make us bow down according to the customs of establishing a kingdom, but we, the Qin people, must stand up ourselves!"
Emperor Qin Shi Huang rarely spoke such words anymore.
As he grew older, he realized that he needed to control his emotions and joy and sorrow, so that he could attain longevity.
But the current scene, as someone who has lived for seventy years and seen the Great Qin go from conquering the world as a powerful army to what it is now, how could one not feel sad?
His voice echoed throughout the Wuguan Pass. On the training ground, the soldiers, who had been silent until then, paused for a moment before bursting into a fervent round of applause.
The orderly sounds echoed across the vast wilderness of the Great Qin:
"We will defend the Great Qin to death!"
"Better to be a Qin man than to be a slave of Chu king!"
"Better to be a Qin man than a slave to the Chu king!"
"Better to be a Qin man than a slave to the Chu king!"
...
Emperor Qin Shi Huang personally led his personal guards to announce their intention to hold the Wuguan Pass at all costs.
His majesty and resolve gave the soldiers an indescribable sense of power.
This news quickly spread throughout the world.
On the other side, in Liu Bang's camp, the atmosphere became tense immediately.
Liu Bang and Han Xin sat inside the tent, their expressions stern.
"How troublesome it will be, Cangong."
Han Xin's brow furrowed as he said:
"Woe is to be a weak army, but the soldiers at Wuguan Pass have been demoralized. With the support of the Emperor, they will certainly fight fiercely."
"If we still follow our original plan, we might lose a lot of soldiers at Wuguan Pass. We can still win, but it will be very difficult to compete with Xiang Yu afterwards."
"Can't we break through the city walls?"
Liu Bang worriedly asked, "But our supplies are running low. General, do you have a solution?"
Han Xin smiled lightly, his eyes sparkling with wisdom, "Yes."
He said, "We can turn the Emperor's personal visit to our advantage. I have a plan that can disturb both inside and outside the Wuguan Pass, and undermine their confidence from within."
Liu Bang's eyes showed a glimmer of hope, eagerly asking, "What is it?"
Han Xin said, "We can spread fake news, making the soldiers inside the Wuguan Pass believe that we will launch a night raid against them. This way, they will be too nervous to rest well."
We can send a team of elite soldiers, disguised as the Qin army, to infiltrate the city and create chaos.
At this very moment, they were under intense mental tension, each person's mind brimming with thoughts of achieving glory. They had been influenced by the Emperor's speech and would surely be thinking about how to secure victory.
So at this time, if we tell them that we are about to launch an attack, they will definitely feel extremely nervous, and the result will be that they become very tired.
We will launch our actual attack when they are in disarray, and open the city gates from within."
Liu Bang slammed the table, excitedly exclaiming, "What a brilliant strategy! We will follow the general's plan!"
"Please, General, wait a moment. I still have the detailed plan for the attack."
"We will first send a team of elite troops to pretend to attack the city gates, attracting the enemy's attention. We don't need to actually breach the city walls, just create a commotion and confuse the enemy."
Han Xin pointed to the sandbox and explained.
"Then, our main force will attack in three divisions. The main attacking force will approach from the West Gate, while the other two divisions will feign attacks from the South and East Gates to create multiple points of pressure."
Han Xin continued to analyze.
"When the enemy becomes tired and disorganized, our elite squadron will open the city gates from inside to receive the external troops. Then, we will launch a coordinated attack to breach the city walls."
...
【Han Xin's clever plan indeed worked effectively!】
【Qin Shi Huang was not a genius in military command, despite his exceptional talent in politics and unification.】
