Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 104

Surabaya is surging, coming from north to south. When it flows through the north of Pengcheng, valley water flows into the river of Surabaya, which makes Surabaya, which already has a large flow, wider and deeper. It has created Pengcheng, the most important land of money and food in Daqin Sishui County, but at this moment, the mother river of Pengcheng has become the biggest obstacle for the main force of the young commander's army to attack the city.

Riding his horse and strolling on the high ground on the east bank of Surabaya, Xiang Kang tried his best to look at the situation on the other side with his naked eyes, his face was full of worry, but what Xiang Kang was worried about was not how to cross Surabaya and reach the west bank, but how to seize the opportunity , defeated and even eliminated the main force of the Sishui County soldiers led by the old opponent Zhao Zhuang in the field, laying the foundation for calmly winning the important place of Pengcheng.

The old opponent Zhao Zhuang obviously learned the lesson of underestimating the enemy during the last Fuli battle. This time, the tactical layout was very careful, and he chose the main camp at the location only a few miles away from the Surabaya ferry, so that he could send troops to intercept the young commander's army at any time. After crossing the river, several sentry towers were rushed to repair on the bank of Surabaya, and gongs, drums and beacon fires were set up to prevent the young marshals from smuggling at night.At the same time, the Pengcheng defenders are also trying their best to urge the civilians to rush to build sheep and horse walls and build fortifications under the city. If the army wants to win this place of money and food, it will inevitably become more difficult.

The city wall of Pengcheng is more than three feet high, the moat is wide and deep, and the northeast two gates are protected by Sishui and Gushui. Only the southwest two gates can defend the land. If Zhao Zhuang's army retreats to the city with all its strength and attacks head-on, even Xiang Kang will not be sure It is guaranteed to be won, even if it can be won, Xiang Kang dare not imagine how much it will cost.

"Crossing the river is not difficult, the difficulty lies in how to defeat the enemy." Xiang Kang once again repeated his previous judgment, and he also wished that the surging Surabaya would stop suddenly, so that his army could directly kill Zhao Zhuang's camp. Take advantage of the strength of the troops and the combat power that has gradually accumulated to completely annihilate this enemy who is sure to flee into the city immediately if the situation is not good.

Worried about returning to the newly established Chinese army camp, the scouts sent to the lower reaches of the camp also returned to the camp one after another, and reported to Xiang Kang that there were many ferries suitable for crossing the river in the lower reaches of Surabaya, but Xiang Kang was not happy , because Xiang Kang knew very well that even if the main force of the self-army could cross Surabaya safely, it would not be of any use. Zhao Zhuang, who had already suffered a big loss, would definitely not stay outside the city foolishly waiting to die, and would only return to the city immediately. Garrison.Therefore, Xiang Kang did not intend to go to the site to investigate and find a suitable place to cross the river himself, but asked Zhou Zeng: "Uncle Ya, Xiang Dian took people to collect civilian boats nearby, is there any news?"

"Not yet." Zhou Zeng replied: "But there should be some gains. If the Tyrant Qin army confiscated all the civilian ships on the east bank of Surabaya, Xiangdian Xiangqian must have sent someone back to report."

Xiang Kang nodded, and was about to put aside his troubles and take a rest for a while, but suddenly a soldier from outside the tent reported that the Qin army had sent envoys across the river, asking to see Xiang Kang and meet Chen Jiyi.Xiang Kang immediately ordered to be summoned, and within a short while, a civilian official of the Qin Army came to Xiang Kang with a gift box, bowed tremblingly and said: "The young envoy is ordered by Zhao Junzun to visit Young Marshal Xiang and Marshal Wan An. "

"You're welcome, tell me, what did Zhao Zhuang send you here for?" Xiang Kang asked kindly.

"At the order of Junzun Zhao, present to the young marshal a letter written by Junzun Zhao, and a gift from Junzun Zhao to you, Junzun Zhao." The envoy of Qin Jun obviously lacked confidence in his speech. He said nervously: "Forgive me, young commander. The envoy came here on orders, and was forced to come here by Junzun Zhao. I really didn't come here to humiliate you on behalf of Junzun Zhao."

Xiang Kang figured out the clue, and ordered someone to take the gift box and letter brought by the envoy of the Qin Army, and open the gift box first. As Xiang Kang expected, the gift box contained a set of women's clothes, and then the letter After opening it, Zhao Zhuang also humiliated Xiang Kang in every possible way in the letter, mocking Xiang Kang for not daring to cross the river to fight him immediately, which is the behavior of a country woman who has no guts. The women's clothes presented by him are used to dance women's dances in public on the east bank of Surabaya.

"Dong Shi imitates." Xiang Kang sneered and said an idiom that already existed in this era, knowing that Zhao Zhuang was deliberately provoking himself, copying his previous strategy, and wanted to immediately launch a rush to cross the river for him when he was angry. And hit to create opportunities.

Knowing that his life and death were within Xiang Kang's thought, the envoy of the Qin army who was forced by Zhao Zhuang to humiliate Xiang Kang immediately bowed his head and kowtowed to beg for mercy, but this envoy was naturally worrying for nothing. With Xiang Kang's face, How could he be irritated by the provocative tricks of the cottage twice?So after a little calculation, Xiang Kang quickly said kindly: "Get up, I know Zhao Zhuang forced you to come here, of course I won't take my anger out on you. Go back and tell Zhao Zhuang that I am now I'm not ready yet. When I am ready, I will cross the river at this ferry and fight him to the death. If I break my promise, I will put on the women's clothes he gave me, and in front of everyone, I will go to the east bank of Surabaya. On the pier, do a dance for everyone to see."

The envoy of the Qin army breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly promised to bring Xiang Kang's original words, and couldn't wait to bid farewell.Xiang Kang smiled slightly and said, "What's the rush? How can you go back hungry after such a hard trip? Besides, I want you to bring a letter back. Wait a minute. Let's eat first." "

After saying that, Xiang Kang asked his soldiers to bring wine and food immediately, and hosted a banquet in the big tent of the Chinese army to entertain the envoys of the Qin army. The envoy of the Qin army who took the initiative to shirk responsibility, and of course the envoy of the Qin army was very grateful to Xiang Kang for being so generous and generous.

Of course, Xiang Kang did not do this for nothing. After chatting casually, taking the opportunity of the envoy of the Qin Army's mind gradually relaxing, Xiang Kang suddenly asked: "How is Zhao Junshou recently? I heard that he returned from Zhuyi to the Prime Minister. After the county, I have to personally supervise the soldiers to train the army every day, it must be very tiring."

"Reporting to the young commander, it is indeed the case." The envoy of the Qin Army replied truthfully: "After returning to Xiangxian County some time ago, our Zhao Junzun personally supervised the soldiers to train the army every day, and it was indeed very tiring."

"Then how is the discipline in your army?" Xiang Kang asked casually again: "As far as I know, your army is mostly recruits, and the military discipline is not strict enough. There are several incidents of violating military laws every day, right? so?"

"Young Marshal's news is really well-informed, it's true." Qin Jun's envoy asked and answered casually, and then he became a little enlightened, and quickly added: "But now it's much better. Our Junzun Zhao has been in the battlefield for a long time, and he is strict in running the army. He personally controlled him. , The number of soldiers in our army who violated discipline has decreased a lot.”

"Then, do your soldiers love and respect Zhao Junzun more, or do they respect Zhao Junzun?" Xiang Kang asked again.

Even if he knew some professional ethics, the envoy of the Qin army didn't dare to say anything. Xiang Kang observed his words and didn't ask questions. He just smiled and said: "If it's inconvenient for your envoy to answer, then you don't need to answer. But I can also guess that with Zhao Junzun's love A soldier is like a son, most of the soldiers in your army must love him, right?"

The slight disdain at the corner of the Qin Army envoy's mouth did not escape Xiang Kang's eyes, but although he was contemptuous in his heart, the Qin Army envoy who was barely loyal to his duty still nodded repeatedly, echoing and approving Xiang Kang's guess and judgment. Xiang Kang saw that he was on guard Xiang Kang gave him his reply letter and arranged for escorts to escort him back to the pier and cross the river by boat.

After the envoy of the Qin army left, Zhou Zeng was of course curious and asked Xiang Kang why he treated a small official of the Qin army so kindly. Xiang Kang replied: "Of course it is to make side-steps and understand the current situation in the Qin army. Fortunately, the hard work is not in vain. Somewhat rewarding."

Zhou Zeng asked again what he had gained, and Xiang Kang replied: "From my tentative point of view, there should be a lot of problems in the Tyrant Qin army now, there are too many recruits and the combat effectiveness is not strong, and the military discipline is definitely not like the one we met in Fuli. The Tyrant Qin army was so strict, Zhao Zhuang was always coercive, and the soldiers only feared him but did not love him. In a decisive battle, Zhao Zhuang's current army is definitely not as powerful as his previous army in terms of battle. Setbacks are definitely easier to collapse than the previous Zhao Zhuang army."

"Then how does the young commander plan to take advantage of these weaknesses of the Tyrant Qin army?" Zhou Zeng asked again.

"There are some clues, but I'm not sure yet. I have to think about it more carefully." Xiang Kang replied vaguely, and then said: "The most important thing now is the ferry. Let's see how many boats Xiang Dian can get us. , how many troops can be carried across the river at one time."

When it was getting dark, Xiang Dian, who was ordered to collect the ferry boats, returned to the camp to give orders, saying that he searched the east bank of Surabaya exhaustively, and finally got more than 140 civilian boats of different sizes, excluding the sailors needed to drive the boats. It can probably carry more than a thousand soldiers across the river.Xiang Kang was overjoyed when he heard the news, and quickly asked Xiang Dian to gather the ferry boats on the east bank of Surabaya, and sent more troops to protect them closely. Then Xiang Kang immediately sent someone to call for two hundred generals, and asked them to lead their team and bring more drums, gongs and horns. , After nightfall, go to the shore of Surabaya to act according to plan.

It was night, and Xiang Kang's signature tactics of disturbing the enemy by the Young Marshal Army reappeared. At regular intervals, the two centurions of the Young Marshal Army would blow their trumpets and beat drums in the dark on the shore of Surabaya, pretending to fight overnight. The appearance of crossing.However, because the camp was too close to the ferry, the Qin army had to stand up obediently every time they heard these noises and prepare to fight. This was repeated endlessly, and the soldiers of the Qin army who lacked sleep all complained and complained endlessly, and all hoped to move the camp to another place as soon as possible. , suffer less from these tortures.

At the same time, Xiang Kang resorted to another despicable method, secretly dispatching an envoy to visit Pengcheng County Magistrate Wang Yong in secret, presenting him with a heavy gift, persuading him to oppose Qin and turn to Chu, and promised that as long as he was in Zhao Zhuang's army If you close the gates of the city and prevent Zhao Zhuang's army from retreating and stationing in the city, then Xiang Kang will definitely be rewarded afterwards.On the other hand, Wang Yong was hesitant. He neither gave a clear answer nor handed over the secret envoy of the Young Marshal Army to Zhao Zhuang. Kang wrote the letter to himself without leaving any evidence. While secretly engulfing Xiang Kang Chongli, he also made up his mind to check the situation before making a decision.

Zhao Zhuang really hoped to take advantage of the opportunity of attacking at halfway to win the battle first, to boost the morale of the army and the morale. On the second day, Zhao Zhuang sent envoys to cross the river again, urging Xiang Kang to cross the river for a decisive battle, and made a wild promise He said that while the young commander was crossing the river, he would never send troops to stop the young commander from crossing the river.Xiang Kang secretly laughed at Zhao Zhuang's wishful thinking, but still excused that the army was not ready to cross the river, so that Zhao Zhuang continued to wait patiently, and then Xiang Kang arranged for Xiang Zhuang and Ding Ji to secretly select elite soldiers to prepare for the battle, while continuing to use harassing enemy soldiers to prepare for the battle. The strategy of the soldiers is to let the young commander's team go to the shore of Surabaya to sound trumpets and beat drums at night, so as not to give the enemy a chance to rest in peace.

After being harassed by the young commander's shameless tactics for another night, Zhao Zhuang and some generals of the Qin army could barely hold on, but most of the soldiers of the Qin army couldn't bear it anymore, and begged their superiors to report to Zhao Zhuang, making Zhao Zhuang think Here is a way to solve this trouble and give us a chance to rest in peace.It's a pity that Zhao Zhuang is not a master who likes to treat his soldiers well. After receiving the report from the generals, he didn't even think about moving the camp. If you don't guard here, what if the thieves suddenly cross the river?"

The generals Nuonuo said yes, and the county guards who had offered good strategies in the Fuli battle several times before stood up and remonstrated with Zhao Zhuang: "Your Majesty, it is really not an option to go on like this, our camp is too close Ferry, if the thieves continue to harass like this, our soldiers will be exhausted within a few days, which will not be conducive to the battle. According to the opinion of the subordinates, it is best for us to retreat to the city and stay in an invincible position first. Say it again."

"Isn't that too cheap for Xiang Kang to be a rebel?" Zhao Zhuang snorted and said, "It's safer to retreat into the city and garrison, but the rebels suddenly start crossing the river, how can we seize the great opportunity to attack halfway across the river?" ?”

"Junzun, forgive me for speaking bluntly, it's best not to count too much on halfway to attack this fighter." The assistant persuaded: "Xiang Kang's rebels are extremely treacherous, and it is impossible not to expect that we are stationed here. When he suddenly launches an attack while crossing the river, he will definitely try his best to drive away this danger. There are many ferries in the lower reaches of Surabaya, and he can suddenly divide his troops to go south at any time and rush to cross the river in the lower reaches. It is difficult for us to guard against it. Fighter planes, it’s better to return to the city earlier.”

Zhao Zhuang was a little hesitant, and when he was considering whether to accept this suggestion, unexpectedly, there was a report from outside the account, saying that the young commander sent an envoy to cross the river with a white flag in his hand, to present the letter of war to Zhao Zhuang face to face, and was eager for a Zhao Zhuang, who was fighting, was overjoyed and quickly ordered to be summoned.Not long after that, Xu Shu, Xiang Kang's special diplomatic liar, was brought in front of Zhao Zhuang, and he said kindly, "Mr. You are gracious and agree to go, then we will cross the river immediately tomorrow morning and fight you head-on according to your request."

"What does the traitor Xiang Kang want me to promise him?" Zhao Zhuang asked proudly.

"I would like to ask Junzun to retreat five miles and give way to the ferry pier so that our army can cross the river and form an army to fight you head-on." Xu Shu said respectfully: "If not, what is the distance between the ferry and your camp? It is really too small, there is no way for your army and our army to send troops to form a formation, and there is no way for us to fight head-on with your army."

After finishing speaking, Xu Shu presented Xiang Kang's letter. Zhao Zhuang opened it and saw that the content was similar to Xu Shu's oral introduction. Here, give up the position to us to form the formation. But if you don’t come tomorrow, don’t blame me for sending someone to scold your ancestors for eighteen generations!”

"Please don't worry, Jun Zun." Xu Shu cupped his hands and said: "If our army breaks our promise, our Young Commander Xiang will definitely wear the women's clothes you gave us tomorrow and perform a public dance on the Surabaya pier!"

Zhao Zhuang laughed, waved Xu Shu off to go back to his business, and then immediately issued an order to let the army break out of the camp and stand up, retreat five miles and re-establish the camp.The officer next to him was anxious when he heard this, and hurriedly dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, wait a minute, Xiang Kang is a treacherous traitor, and he must have ulterior motives in asking our army to move the camp. If our army falls into the trap, it may be too late to regret it."

"What kind of tricks can there be? The big deal is to say that tomorrow will be a decisive battle, and tonight we will suddenly send troops to sneak in and attack our camp." Zhao Zhuang said with a sneer: "Tonight, I will divide the army into two teams to take turns to rest. Monitoring the ferry is enough to take precautions!"

"But the official still thinks it's better not to be fooled." The official said with a embarrassed expression: "For the sake of caution, we'd better retreat to the city and station ourselves."

"Greed for life and afraid of death!" Zhao Zhuang sternly reprimanded, "If you are really afraid, go into the city and hide! Our army is mostly recruits, and we have suffered repeated defeats in Fuli. With such a difficult opportunity, quickly fight a victory to boost morale, even if you retreat directly into Pengcheng City, you will not be able to defend the city!"

Knowing Zhao Zhuang's self-willed character, the officials didn't dare to persuade them anymore, so Zhao Zhuang urged his soldiers to go out to deliver the order, but because they were fed up with the harassment and torture of the young commanders, after hearing Zhao Zhuang's order, the soldiers of the Qin army Of course, the cheers shook the heavens, and they couldn't wait to pack up the military camp tents and load them into vehicles, and happily moved the camps. The Commander Zhao Zhuang's flag that had been hanging high at the Surabaya ferry for several days was finally lowered, loaded into vehicles and ready to move with Zhao Zhuang himself.

When any army does this, there will inevitably be some chaos. The soldiers are scattered and the general's attention is also distracted. This is especially true for Zhao Zhuang's army, which has a large number of recruits. China destroyed many fortifications that had been built with great difficulty before.As a result, at this time, more than a thousand soldiers rushed out of the young marshal's barracks on the opposite bank. Under the leadership of Xiang Kang's most trusted young marshal, Xiang Zhuang, they rushed to the shore and boarded the ship as quickly as possible. Then charge to the west bank of Surabaya without hesitation!
"Dang bang bang bang crotch!"

The sudden gong alarm sound from the shore startled the Qin army who was in chaos. After rushing up to the high ground to see that the young commander had suddenly launched a rush to cross, Zhao Zhuang immediately cursed Xiang Kang for being shameless and despicable. This level of unbelief-although Xiang Kang had never promised not to attack suddenly when the Qin army moved camp.Then Zhao Zhuang didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest, and hurriedly ordered the whole army to stop moving the camp, and went to the open space in front of the camp to form a formation, to face the shameless surprise attack of the Young Commander's Army head-on!
Zhao Zhuang's decision was very decisive, but it was a pity that the commander-in-chief flag had been put down, the military weapons had been loaded into the vehicles, and the soldiers and generals were in a mess like a piece of loose sand. Of course, Zhao Zhuang's decisive orders could not continue to be followed. Commanding the whole army, the troops who received orders one after another discarded their vehicles and weapons on the spot. The soldiers hurriedly put on their armor, the crossbowmen hurriedly searched for vehicles, received the arrows that had been loaded into the vehicles and prepared to go into battle, and the chariots had to pass through the chaos. The camp can only leave the camp. During this period, people shouted and horses neighed, the generals shouted and cursed, and the soldiers screamed, panicking like the end of the world.

Encountered in such a situation, of course the soldiers of the Qin army did not have any chance to fight in formation. Before the army left the camp, [-]% of the troops had already rushed to the shore of the west bank of Surabaya. Xiang Zhuang took the lead. He took the lead in jumping onto the west bank, and the young generals followed suit one after another. Without wasting time, they formed a team and immediately, under the guidance of Xiang Zhuang's general flag, directly killed the panic-stricken Qin army.

"Look, what are those thieves holding in their hands?!"

There were also sharp-eyed people among the chaotic crowd of the Qin Army. They suddenly saw that among the crowd of the Young Commander's Army, many soldiers were holding weapons they had never seen before. It was a long, narrow knife they had never seen before!Cut the saber!The mighty broadsword that the Young Marshal Army has never used on the battlefield since it was equipped!

"Fight on the spot! Hold on! Hold the ground for me! You must not let the thieves disrupt our army, and you must not let the thieves disrupt our army!"

Zhao Zhuang's hoarse shout could only be a hoarse and desperate roar, because it was too hasty and chaotic, and he hadn't had time to set up the flag array and command his army remotely through the flag, so Zhao Zhuang could only scream like this, Counting on the troops who have already left the camp to hold their positions, they have won the opportunity for the rear army to regroup.

(End of this chapter)