Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 123 The Crescent Moon
"Oh, no!" Liu Kou growled, and suddenly took a step forward.

Chu Heng and a dozen other generals also had their eyes wide open, staring at the front with unbelievable expressions on their faces, Jing Lan can still crack it like this?It is simply unheard of!
The next moment, the more than forty well rails in front finally collapsed one after another.

The archers originally standing on the observation deck of the Jinglan were like little ants being thrown off, falling down in the air one after another, and the soldiers of the Liang Army who crowded around the Jinglan scattered in a hurry, but the people were too dense, they There was no way to hide, and in an instant, hundreds of Liang Jun Jiabing had been crushed to death on the spot by the broken well rail.

More than [-] ladders that could barely enter the gap were crushed and collapsed on the spot.

Liang Jun's menacing and inevitable offensive was disintegrated just like that!

The corners of Liu Kou's mouth twitched violently twice, and he swallowed again with a grunt. At this moment, his mood was indescribable, depressed?Shock?fury?It doesn't seem to be the case, but one thing is very certain, that is, the defenders at Hulao Gate on the opposite side are definitely the Chu army, and the defenders must also be Xiangzhuang!
All of a sudden, Liu Kou raised his right hand: "Head the order, all battalions retreat."

Chu Chun rushed to the guardrail in two steps, raised a command flag and waved it vigorously.

In an instant, there was a desolate sound of horns in Liang Jun's formation. Accompanied by the continuous sound of horns, Liang Jun's armored soldiers who were at a loss retreated like a tide.

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After the prison was closed, Jing Qian punched Pang Yu viciously in the chest.

Pang Yu gritted her teeth in pain, but a faint smile clearly appeared on her face. What is this small victory today?If he is given [-] elite soldiers, Pang Yu is even confident that he will wipe out the [-] Liang troops outside the pass in one fell swoop!Peng Yue?Liu Kou?Soldiers of tigers and wolves?In Pang Yu's eyes, they were nothing more than a group of chickens and dogs.

Taking a deep breath, Jing Qian suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "Yangyang Huaxia!"

The five hundred light soldiers trapped in the camp immediately responded like a tsunami: "The ceremony collapses and the joy breaks!"

"Reorganize the rivers and mountains!" Jing Qian roared again.

"Only me, Da Chu!" This time, all the veterans of the Chu army roared.

"I'm the only one who knows!"

"I'm the only one who knows!"

"I'm the only one who knows!"

The next moment, more than 7000 recruits who survived the catastrophe also roared hysterically. Although they killed and injured more than 2000 people in the very short confrontation just now, anyway, Hulao Pass was finally held. After all, they won the battle. For this group of recruits, this is very important, really important!
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Liang Jun was in the rear.

General Hu Zhe sighed, and said sadly, "General Liu Kou underestimates the enemy, Jing Lan shouldn't be so close."

Peng Yue waved his hand, and said in a difficult tone: "Don't blame him, if he was commanded by a widow, he would do the same. Xiang Zhuang's son is really cunning, he can use a bed crossbow to crack the well, it's unheard of."

Hu Zhe said: "Your Majesty, almost all of the forty well fences have been damaged, and more than half of the ladders and siege vehicles have been lost. Is this battle still to be fought?"

Peng Yue sighed, shook his head and said: "Stop fighting, order the whole army to withdraw, let's go back to Aocang!"

After a pause, Gu Yue continued: "In the battle of Hulao Pass, our army of Liang State has already lost several thousand troops, and even equipped with all the siege equipment, which is worthy of the King of Han."

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Xingyang, Liu Bang Xingyuan.

Chen Ping hurried into Xingyuan, bowed his hands to Liu Bang and said, "Your Majesty, return quickly, the army of Liang Guo has retreated from Hulao Pass."

"Retired?" Liu Bang said in a loud voice, "Peng Yue's 10,000+ army, as well as heavy siege equipment such as wells, ladders, siege vehicles, and catapults, did not even take down a small Hulao Pass. ? Chen Ping, could it be that Peng Yue secretly reached a tacit agreement with Xiang Zhuang'er?"

Liu Bang can't help doubting that Peng Yue's 10,000+ army is an elite army that has experienced many battles, especially the 3 troops led by the general Liu Kou. Man, still can't win?If there is no problem in the middle, Liu Bang will not believe it.

Although the Chu army has the advantage of Hulao Pass, the Liang army also has well rails, ladders and catapults.

As for the tens of thousands of Wei people who fled into Sanchuan County, they were not within Liu Bang's consideration at all. In Liu Bang's view, the combat effectiveness of these tens of thousands of strong men was negligible.

Chen Pingdao: "Your Majesty, according to the detailed report, Liang Jun has actually tried his best. The first attack was a disastrous failure due to lack of siege equipment. The second attack made the mistake of underestimating the enemy, causing most of the troops to attack the city. The well rail and the ladder were destroyed, and it is reasonable for Liang Jun to retreat in spite of the difficulties."

After all, Peng Yue is just Liu Bang's brother, not Liu Bang's general.

So, you can't expect Liang Jun to fight Chu Jun to death, that's unrealistic.

Liu Bang thought about it again, and felt that what Chen Ping said was reasonable, but in this way, Sanchuan County is absolutely finished, and Hangu Pass and Guanzhong are in danger. It will take at least five days for Zhang Liang to lead the army to arrive Even if they throw away their heavy supplies, food and fodder and advance lightly, Zhang Liang's army will take at least four days to reach Xingyang!

Chen Ping sighed, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, until now, you can only wait patiently. Fortunately, Hangu Pass is a powerful pass in the world. The wall is more than six feet high. General Gu Feng is always cautious. Xiang Zhuang is eager to capture it. Hangu Pass is definitely not an easy task, and Xiao Guoxiang, after hearing the news, will definitely send reinforcements from the pass."

Liu Bang is silent, there is indeed no other way now, but to wait.

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Three days later, in the middle of the night, the Chu army finally arrived at Caoyang, which was less than twenty miles away from Hangu Pass.

Long before the main force of the Chu army arrived, Gao Chu had already razed Cao Yangyi with a thousand elite soldiers from the Nufeng battalion.

In order to race against time, from the exhaustion of the more than 5000 Han prisoners of war captured at Hulaoguan to the point where they almost collapsed, each of them was crawling forward dragging ladders, well rails, and siege vehicles. Dozens of people were killed to demonstrate at the beginning, but they did not continue to kill them later, otherwise, the more than 5000 prisoners of war would have been killed long ago.

In the dark night, Gao Chu led the scout team to Xiangzhuang's horse in a hurry.

"General." Gao Chu rushed to Xiang Zhuang to salute, and said, "Everything is as usual at Hangu Pass."

Xiang Zhuang said: "That is to say, no reinforcements have arrived in the past few days, and the defenders have not sent scouts out of the customs?"

Gao Chu said: "There must be no reinforcements, but the scouts sent a few, but they were all intercepted and killed by the last general."

Xiang Zhuang nodded, looked up accidentally, and saw the waning moon hanging on the mountain ridge to the west, and estimated the time, it was the early morning ugly time, there should be an hour before dawn!Suddenly, a thought jumped out of Xiang Zhuang's mind like lightning, the waning moon is like a hook, the waning moon is like a hook...

The next moment, Xiang Zhuang turned back and told Gongsun Sui: "Gongsun Sui, tell all the battalions immediately. Except for the general and small school, all the officers and men took off their Han army armor and searched for rags and tattered clothes from Caoyang Town and nearby farmhouses. Above all, the weapons used must also be replaced with wooden swords and bamboo halberds, this matter is of great importance and cannot be mistaken, and those who violate it... will be killed without mercy!"

"Promise!" Gongsun agreed with a bang, and galloped away on his horse.

Behind Xiang Zhuang, Wu She looked confused, not knowing what Xiang Zhuang wanted to do.

Wei Liao stroked his beard, but quickly guessed Xiang Zhuang's intentions, gave Xiang Zhuang a thumbs up, and praised in a low voice: "The general understands the essence of war, I admire you."

But Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, and said flatly: "The military division has won the prize."

To be honest, in front of Wei Liao, Xiang Zhuang really didn't have the capital to win.

This old fellow Wei Liao may not be as good as Xiang Zhuang in terms of tactical planning, but in terms of strategic planning, he is definitely a master in the world, even Zhang Liang and Chen Ping may not be able to surpass Wei Liao.

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Hangu Pass, Gu meets Xingyuan.

Lieutenant General Tang Chengzheng reported the military situation to Gu Feng: "General, Xiao Guo ordered the flying cavalry to reply, and the reinforcements will arrive at the earliest in three days, and the first batch of reinforcements is only 5000 people."

"5000 people are fine." Gu Feng said, "It's better than nothing."

Having said this, Gu Feng said again: "Where is the scout team sent to Kanto, is there any news?"

Tang Cheng shook his head and replied: "The last general has sent more than a dozen scout teams, but there is no news yet, most of them were intercepted and killed by the rebels, so we don't know the exact details of the rebels, but In the past two days, more and more rebels have been operating outside the pass, and I think the rebel army should be coming soon."

"Didn't any news come back?" Gu Feng frowned all of a sudden.

At this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside Xingyuan, and then a soldier hurried in, knelt down on one knee and reported to Gu Fengbao: "General, there are a large number of rebels outside the pass!"

"Huh?!" Gu Feng suddenly changed his color, and said to Tang Cheng, "Let's go!"

The two of them went up to the East Gate at the fastest speed. Standing on the enemy building in the East Gate and looking out, they saw a long dragon of torches appearing indistinctly on the road outside Hangu Pass. Under the dark night sky, this road The long line of torches stretches for more than ten miles, extending to a distant place that is difficult to see.

"General!" Tang Cheng said awe-inspiringly, "There are at least 2 rebels!"

"En." Gu Feng nodded, and said again, "I just don't know if the rebels have heavy siege equipment such as ladders, well rails, and siege vehicles. If they don't, then the mere [-] rebels are nothing to worry about."

"General, I'm afraid that Xiangzhuang's thousands of Chu troops are also among them." Tang Cheng reminded.

"You're right, our army can't be careless." Gu Feng said solemnly, "From tonight, the number of sentry guards at Dongguan will increase by ten times, and the number of night patrols will increase by another twenty!"

"Promise!" Tang Cheng suddenly agreed, and immediately took the order.

Less than half an hour later, the rebels rushing along the road finally arrived at Hangu Pass.

With the faint light of the fire, Gu Feng saw a large group of ragged and disheveled rebels. Seeing this scene, Gu Feng couldn't help but smile slightly.

(End of this chapter)