Chapter 22: The Mysterious Qin Army

  When the smoke of cooking rose from the Qin camp, Tian Hu's 3,000 Tiger Riders finally arrived at Ye Wang City.

  After the Battle of Huayang, the Tiger Riders were formally expanded from their initial 800 men to their current 3,000. The number has increased significantly, but their combat strength has not decreased.

  This is due to the strict assessment system of Taizi Ran, where the Huqi officers and soldiers are assessed every ten days, from the main general to the small soldier, no one can stand by.

  Those who fail to pass the assessment once, officers will be demoted one level, and soldiers will enter the reserve area of the Tiger Riders, competing with the best in the reserve camp. The winner stays in the Tiger Riders, and the loser returns to the reserve camp. Those who fail to pass the assessment twice, officers will be demoted three levels, and soldiers will all return to the reserve camp for re-training. In the reserve camp, only those who have been discharged from the Tiger Riders and have ranked among the top 100 in three consecutive assessments will be allowed to return to the Tiger Riders.

  The Preparatory Camp was a special camp set up by the Crown Prince, aiming to make up for the future war losses of the Tiger Riders, and also as an incentive for the officers and soldiers of the Tiger Riders and those who were not selected. It was temporarily compiled with 2,000 people.

  The Hwarang, as Korea's first nationally recognized elite corps, had a more rigorous selection process than the ordinary military. According to the Crown Prince's requirements, those who could wear full armor, hold a 12-stone crossbow, carry 50 arrows on their back, carry a spear and sword, bring three days' worth of rations, run 30 miles in half a day, and were skilled in archery and horsemanship, would be selected as Hwarang.

  The selection criteria for the Musketeers were only to run twenty miles in half a day, and they wore only simple leather armor. Of course, even so, the standard of the Tiger Riders was still inferior to that of the Wei Wu Graduates. As the most elite troops of the Warring States period, the Wei Wu Graduates' requirement for advancing one hundred miles in half a day was merely the most basic requirement.

  Considering that the Huji is the heavy cavalry to be established by the Crown Prince, and the Weiwu is a heavy infantry, it's understandable to lower the standards. After all, the Huji still has horses to replace foot soldiers.

  Even with the standards lowered so much, only a few thousand people can be selected for Huji and reserve camps. The elite of Korean martial arts are almost all taken away by Taizi Ran.

  At present, the tiger riding has only taken shape. Firstly, the heavily loaded horses are not covered with iron armor; secondly, according to Korea's national strength, the number of horses is seriously insufficient, and now it can only guarantee one war horse per person.

  The quality of the war horses is also worrying, and now a standard configuration soldier weighs up to 180 catties (note: for the convenience of readers, all are converted into current weights, soldiers 140 catties, armor 20 catties, long spears, crossbows, 20 arrows, bronze swords total 20 catties), under the condition that it does not affect the horse's charge, the horse's load has reached its limit.

  If we were to add another layer of armor to the horses, the warhorses from the Central Plains would die from exhaustion. Even if they could be forced to run, their speed would be so slow that it would lose its original impact. The only way to solve this problem is to use horses with a height of over seven feet at the shoulder.

  Of course, now everything is empty talk. Only by defeating the Qin army can the crown prince turn many of his ideas into reality. Time, what is lacking most now is time.

  "I report to Your Highness, I have led 3,000 elite cavalrymen to come and pay respects as ordered."

  "Hmm, Tian Xiao Wei has had a long and arduous journey. Was the road smooth?" The crown prince asked aloud.

  Tian Hu smiled, "Thanks to the Crown Prince's blessing, everything went smoothly! Our Tiger Riders are elite troops. It's a pity we didn't encounter the Qin army; otherwise, I would have liked to compete with them."

  Looking at this war maniac, the crown prince smiled and scolded: "You can rest assured, the next battle will not be without you. Here, I'll have you transferred over."

  "The Crown Prince, I heard we gave the Qin army a good thrashing yesterday?"

  "Oh? Did you meet General Bu on the road?"

  Last night, Pao Ching rushed back to Chenggao in one line, strictly preventing the Qin army from strongly attacking Ye Wang and then attacking Xinzheng. At the same time, Pao Ching returned also to rectify military discipline, bringing the experience and lessons of the Battle of Ye Wang to the large army behind him. The Crown Prince Ran and Pao Ching, as the mainstay of the large army, cannot be on the front line at the same time. After all, in today's Korea, there are no great generals.

  The two men finally decided that the more experienced Hawk would command the army behind him, ready to provide support at any time.

  "Yes, Your Highness. After receiving your order, I immediately mobilized the troops and set out overnight. On the way, I met General Bao and his company, from whom I learned about yesterday's battle situation."

  "Hmm, yesterday's battle with the Qin army was a small victory, but it exposed many problems. The individual combat capabilities of our Korean soldiers are far inferior to those of the Qin army! Weakness in individual strength can be compensated by formation, but the coordination of the Qin army's formations is unparalleled in the world! This is the most frustrating thing."

  "The prince, why not let our Tiger Riders divide a small part to assist in defending the city. In this way, if something as dangerous as yesterday happens again, our Tiger Riders will guarantee to drive away the Qin army at the first time." Tian Hu heard about the danger that happened in Ye Wang City yesterday and was also very frightened. Since the Tiger Riders are well-equipped and mostly old soldiers, it's not impossible for them to defend the city!

  The prince, however, did not think so and immediately refused, saying: "I didn't bring you all the way here just to defend a city."

  It seemed as if he had thought of something, and the prince added: "In this way, Tian Xiaowei, you have traveled a long distance and are tired. Hurry up and organize the soldiers to rest! The Ye Wang needs your support at any time, and your primary task for now is to rest. Did you hear that?"

  "No! But Your Highness, our Tiger Riders are not tired yet, we request to go out of the city..."

  Tian Hu still wanted to fight, his soldiers had been holding back their anger for a long time. The Qin army was too arrogant, today they must be taught a lesson.

  "There's no 'but'. A soldier's duty is to obey orders. Tian Xiao Wei, are you thinking of disobeying orders?"

  Tian Hu was about to explain, but the Crown Prince suddenly changed his tone and said: "You two, I have a great use for you. Hurry up and rest now. You're not tired, but aren't the war horses tired too? Listen to me, rest is more important than anything else. I haven't called for you yet, even if the sky falls, don't bother. But let me make one thing clear, when the time comes that I really need you, don't pretend to be afraid, did you hear?"

  "Alright!" Tian Hu's face lit up with joy as he responded and left.

  See off Tian Hu, Taizi then waited for another half an hour, before the Qin army slowly formed their array and exited the camp.

  It seems that the heavy casualties of the previous day had stimulated the Qin army, unexpectedly, the Qin army did not launch a strong attack like the previous day. Instead, they divided their troops into several routes, with about 10,000 cavalrymen rushing out of the camp and heading north, while the remaining 50,000-strong army began to dig trenches and build earthen roads.

  "Is it possible that the Qin army plans to besiege Wangcheng for a long time?" All the Han troops began to wonder.

  The crown prince was also bewildered. With the strongest military aid from the alliance of Zhao, Han and Wei about to set out, it would take no more than ten days to reach Ye Wang City, did the Qin army really want to engage in a decisive battle with the main force of 300,000 allied troops under Ye Wang City?

  The Qin army's decision not to attack the city is good news for the Han army. The Han army can take advantage of this opportunity to repair damaged defensive equipment and train soldiers, increasing the coordination between the defending troops.

  The Crown Prince was not complacent, fearing that the Qin army would pretend to retreat and suddenly attack the city. Therefore, the entire outer city of Wangyang was loose inside and tight outside. If the Qin army wanted to take advantage of the Han army's "relaxation" in defending the city, the Crown Prince did not mind giving the Qin army another lesson that would be etched in their bones.

  The Crown Prince also sent out scouts to probe the movements of the Qin army, trying to find the reason for their strange behavior. However, the Qin army was heavily guarded and after losing over a hundred scouts in succession, the Crown Prince stopped this meaningless action.

  He believed that the Qin army's move must be a trick. Although he didn't know what it was, as long as he waited patiently and defended tightly, without giving the Qin army any chance to take advantage of him, the Qin army would exhaust itself in vain.

  The morning hours passed in a standoff between the two armies.

  At midnight, with the faint sound of crying coming from afar, the Qin army finally made a new move.