Chapter 80: The Qin Army
The news that Wen Caiting brought back was transmitted by a carefully trained communication eagle, which was able to transmit intelligence from thousands of miles away at the fastest speed.
But how can an army march and fight so fast?
From Dunhuang to Chang'an, the land distance is three or four thousand miles. It would take more than ten days or half a month to travel by concentrated efforts, not to mention fighting and siege.
Anyway, Zhu Yuyan was shocked when she saw the information brought back by Wen Caiting, and she rarely showed a bit of loss of composure.
"What happened?" Ni Kun asked with a frown, puzzled.
Zhu Yuyan slept with him tonight, and he was awakened when Wen Caiting sent him the information. Hearing Zhu Yuyan's shocked tone, he couldn't help but get curious and got up.
Zhu Yuyan shuddered, collected her emotions, returned to the couch, knelt beside him, and helped him put on his clothes and belt while speaking slowly in a normal tone:
"My lord, news has come from Guanzhong that the Qin army, which calls itself the 'Return of the First Emperor', swore an oath to march out on the tenth day of the first lunar month. Within six days, they marched over two thousand miles, conquered Wuwei and Jincheng, and on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, they continued to march eastwards to Longxi...
"Today is already the twenty-second day of the first lunar month, and no new news has come yet. However, judging by the army's marching and siege speed, I'm afraid that by today, Longxi and Tianshui counties have been conquered by them, and they are about to reach Chang'an."
Ni Kun calculated the distance silently and said:
"A six-day march of more than 2,000 miles is possible with elite cavalry with three horses each. If an extremely strong expert takes advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, attacks the city gate, and occupies a city gate passage, then breaking into the city with cavalry is also possible."
The wars between the armies of this world cannot be explained by common sense.
Martial arts masters have strong physiques and long-lasting strength. They can wear heavy armor and hold heavy weapons, and fight for a long time. In the battle formation, they can play a very strong role. Especially the assault spearhead composed of a small number of elite masters, it is no problem to destroy strongholds and break through cities.
Therefore, in this world, any force that can become powerful must have a large number of masters under its command, and even the leaders of the force themselves have very powerful martial arts skills.
Some leaders of factions are the best fighters in their own factions, such as "The World in the Sleeves" Du Fuwei...
Zhu Yuyan smiled bitterly and said:
"If they were all elite cavalry, it would be fine and I wouldn't be so shocked. But that 'Qin army' only had 1,000 cavalrymen, and 3,000 baggage soldiers. When the cavalry marched, they did not abandon the baggage soldiers, but marched with them..."
Ni Kun was stunned: "Bringing baggage soldiers with you on the march? How is it possible to march two thousand miles in six days?
"Besides, including the baggage soldiers, there are only 4,000 men and horses. How could they have marched thousands of miles and captured strong cities? Are the capitals of Weiwu and Jincheng counties all made of paper?
"That so-called 'Qin Army', are all of them martial arts masters?"
Moreover, Li Gui and Xue Ju were also powerful men in troubled times. Even if they had not yet officially started the rebellion, they must have already begun to privately accumulate troops and recruit heroes. With their abilities, how could they be defeated or even killed so easily?
"That's why I was so shocked."
Zhu Yuyan smiled bitterly and said:
"I originally thought that the so-called return of the First Emperor and the so-called Great Qin Army were just ignorant and arrogant people using the First Emperor's name to cheat people out of money. I never thought... that small Qin army would be so amazing when it moved!
"Not only can they march through the Western Regions at an incredible speed, but they can also easily capture strong cities. This is simply..."
She didn't know how to describe it.
Ni Kun pondered for a while and asked:
"Did the intelligence mention how the army marched? And who are the experts in the army?
"Most importantly, who is the leader of that legion?"
Zhu Yuyan was shocked by the information just now. She was so shocked that she lost her voice after reading the beginning and didn't have time to continue reading.
When Ni Kun asked this, Zhu Yuyan motioned Wen Caiting to hand over the information, and asked her to help Ni Kun tie his hair. Then she picked up the mulberry paper covered with tiny calligraphy, and while reading, she explained the key points:
"The Qin army marches... using a technique called 'land boating', which summons a thick layer of quicksand and spreads it under the feet of the army. The quicksand flows quickly like water... The army only needs to stand firmly on the quicksand and it will be carried by the quicksand to move at high speed..."
Having said this, she paused, swallowed, and glanced at Ni Kun, which obviously meant that there might be someone with the same magical powers as Ni Kun in the Qin army.
Ni Kun remained calm and said calmly:
"Go on."
Zhu Yuyan pursed her lips and continued:
"As for the masters in the army... there are the forces of White Camel Villa led by the 'Guardian' Ouyang Feng and his nephew Ouyang Ke, the family generals under the command of 'Minister of Grain' Zhao Min, including A Da, A Er, A San, and the Eight Heroes of the Divine Arrow, the Western Region foreign monk Blood Knife Patriarch and his many martial monks... there are masters among the Western Region swordsmen and horse bandits...
“Among all the masters, the most powerful one is a female master from the Great Desert, known as Stone Guanyin.
"As for the leader of this Great Qin Army..."
Zhu Yuyan raised her head and looked at Ni Kun, her eyes full of disbelief:
"It's the Great Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor, the Dragon Emperor Ying Zheng!"
“…”
Ni Kun was speechless for a while.
Ni Kun, who was already familiar with the chaos in this world, was not moved at all when he heard a series of familiar names such as Ouyang Feng, Ouyang Ke, Zhao Min, A Da Er San, the Eight Heroes of the Divine Arrow, the Blood Knife Patriarch, and even Shi Guanyin.
But when Ni Kun heard the name Zulong, he couldn't hold it in any longer:
"Is it really Qin Shi Huang?"
Are you really not the kind of person who would say, “I, Qin Shi Huang, send you money”?
Zhu Yuyan nodded slowly:
"That's what the intelligence said. The head of the legion has an amazing aura. Seeing him is like seeing a god. Apart from the first emperor Qin Shi Huang, who else can have such power?"
Can you determine a person's identity based on his aura alone?
Isn't that a bit too hasty?
Ni Kun was suspicious and asked:
“How come the news this time is so detailed?
"Could it be that your Yin Gui sect also has an undercover agent in that Great Qin Army?"
Zhu Yuyan said:
"The news came from Xi Ying, the Heavenly Monarch of the Way of Destroying Love, who released three waves of peregrine falcons.
"Xi Ying had offended Song Que in his early years and was chased by Song Que for thousands of miles. He fled to the Western Regions and had been hanging around there.
"After the Qin army occupied Dunhuang, he saw that there were many experts in the Qin army, so he took the initiative to join them. Now he is also a general in the Qin army."
“…”
Ni Kun was speechless again.
Well, the Mieqing Sect is a traditional ally of the Yingui Sect, and the Heavenly Monarch Xi Ying was indeed driven to the Western Regions by Song Que in his early years, so it is reasonable for him to join the Great Qin Legion.
However, Xi Ying is worthy of being a demon from the Demon Sect. He eats the food of the Great Qin Army and even sells out the intelligence of the Qin Army. He is simply a traitor with no bottom line.
"So Yuyan, do you think that the Qin army has the potential to capture Chang'an?" Ni Kun asked.
Zhu Yuyan pondered for a while and said slowly:
"I don't know. The Great Qin Army doesn't have many soldiers, and the number of masters isn't that large either.
“Given the strength of the Qin army, even if they can conquer Wuwei and Jincheng in one battle, they may not be able to take Chang’an.
"After all, Chang'an is not like Wuwei and Jincheng, small cities in the Western Regions. Chang'an is the Western Capital of the Sui Dynasty, a majestic city in the world, guarded by famous ministers and generals and elite soldiers of the imperial court. There are also many martial arts gangs, aristocratic guests, and many masters in the city.
"With the Qin army's limited strength, it is impossible to capture Chang'an... logically speaking.
"but……"
But the leader of the legion is suspected to be the real Ancestral Dragon.
Among the legion, there are also extraordinary people who can display the art of sailing on land.
With Zulong's experience of sweeping across the six kingdoms, how could he not know that the troops under his command were far from enough to capture Chang'an?
But he led his army straight to Chang'an.
Zhu Yuyan would never believe it if he said he was not sure at all.
Ni Kun touched his chin, pondered for a while, and said with a smile:
"The world is becoming increasingly difficult to understand. Even Zulong couldn't stand it anymore and opened his coffin and stood up..."
Zhu Yuyan asked:
"Sir, how should we deal with this matter?"
Ni Kun smiled and said:
"How can we respond? If the leader of the Great Qin Army is really the Returning Dragon, then he certainly has the power to rebuild the Great Qin and take back the world.
"However, the most direct reason for the chaos in the world today is that Yang Guang did not care about the people and drove them too far, so that the people could not make a living and had to rise up in rebellion to fight for a way to survive.
"Zulong is a construction maniac. He has a habit of building great wonders and is very good at mobilizing the people. It is not certain whether the people of Guanzhong are willing to accept Zulong, the old King of Qin.
"Of course, regardless of whether it can win the hearts of the people, the Great Qin was once the orthodox dynasty of China and the source of the great unification of the Central Plains. If Zulong wants to rebuild the Great Qin, we have no reason to object. I think, with Zulong's wisdom, he should have learned the lesson of the fall of the powerful Qin II, right?
"So let's continue to head to Jiangdu to meet the Japanese pirate envoy.
"As for the Qin army, I think naturally someone will be eager to deal with them, but I don't know if they can handle it..."
