Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 161
Xiang Liang failed to get another chance to fight the main force of the Qin army, because the second day after the end of the Fanyang battle, the main force of the Qin army resolutely abandoned the camp and the city and marched westward, taking the county road and retreating straight to Zhencheng.

Because of this, Xiang Kang also tasted isolation for the first time in the Chu army camp. Considering that the main force of the Chu army is too far away from the Huaisi base, and the road to transport food is long, Xiang Kang, who has always liked to be cautious in using troops, strongly suggested that Xiang Liang accept it as soon as he sees a good deal. , Stop at the front line of Fanyang, give priority to capturing the cities around Fanyang that are still controlled by the Qin Army's county soldiers, lay a solid foundation for victory and wait and see what happens, and wait for the main force of the Qin Army to make new moves before striking.

Only the good brother Feng Zhong did not speak out against Xiang Kang's suggestion. The other generals of the Chu army, including Liu Laosan who has been very close to Xiang Yu recently, did not think that Xiang Kang's suggestion was too conservative and passive, and they all thought that Xiang Kang's suggestion should be seized. Opportunity pursued and fought fiercely, completely annihilating the main force of the Qin army who had been defeated in a row.But Xiang Liang was determined to pursue, and after listening to the opinions of the generals, he did not hesitate. He didn't give Xiang Kang any face, and immediately decided that Ji Bu and Xiang Zhuang would be the vanguard, and they would go all out to pursue the main force of the Qin army that had retreated hastily.

Xiang Kang, whose suggestion was rejected, was unhappy, but he had no choice but to obediently follow the generals of the Chu army, holding fists and singing promises. What made Xiang Kang even more depressed was that because he was the only one who opposed the full pursuit, Xiang Liang rewarded him. After meritorious punishment, Xiang Kangjun, who had the strongest single army formation in the Chu army, was even responsible for escorting food, grass and luggage, and followed the main force of the Chu army.

Dissatisfaction also spread quietly among Xiang Kang's army. They didn't say anything on the surface, but behind their backs, Zheng Bu, Ding Ji, and Zhu Jishi all complained that Xiang Liang was overqualified, and there was no one who didn't work behind the scenes. Xiang Kang felt that it was worthless, and Xiang Kang had heard about it, but he had no choice but to force a smile, while trying to appease these young commanders and old men who had followed him for a long time, while carrying out the task of transporting food dutifully, not daring to reveal it Frustrated in my heart, I dare not bear the infamy of disloyalty and filial piety.

While Xiang Kang, who was left out in the cold, was honestly transporting food, the main force of the Chu army was majestic in the pursuit battle. From Fanyang to Zhencheng, they overtook the rear team of the Qin army three times, and achieved a good record of two victories and one tie. Not much, but the morale is getting higher and higher, even forcing the main force of the Qin army not to stop in Zhencheng to rest, bypassing Zhencheng and fleeing directly to Puyang, the main force of the Chu army seized Zhencheng and continued to drive the main force of the Qin army After chasing fiercely, he soon pursued to the outskirts of Puyang, the county seat of Dongjun.

It was only when they were chasing to the outskirts of Puyang that the Chu army vaguely realized that the situation was wrong. The Qin army who had stayed in Puyang had forced the local people to build a deep and wide moat for the city, and then attracted water from the Yellow River to fill the moat. An artificial river was formed, blocking the way for the Chu army to enter Puyang City (historical fact). The Chu army Jibu and Xiangzhuang who were the first to pursue it were relatively weak, and failed to seize the opportunity to follow the Qin army and rush across the artificial river. The Qin army was successfully blocked on the other side of the river and was forced to stop. The Qin army took the opportunity to rush to repair various fortifications on the other side of the artificial river in order to confront the main force of the Chu army on the Puyang battlefield for a long time.

Therefore, Zhang Han’s tactical intentions were revealed very clearly. There was a Yellow River waterway from Puyang to Aocang, the number one granary in the Qin Dynasty. The main force of the Qin army was stationed in Puyang. hold.However, if the main force of the Chu army wants to fight in Puyang for a long time, it must divide its troops to dredge the grain road, and open up the Chidao connection from Puyang to Zou County, and then send the grain from the rear to the front line of Puyang through the Chidao. The other Qin army threatened to harass the danger.

If it were Xiang Kang who was in charge, needless to say, Xiang Kang would immediately withdraw his troops in such a situation, first take down the semi-empty area around Huaisi, and then consider how to kill Zhang Han after digesting the victory.But there is no way, Xiang Liang is in charge now, Xiang Kang can only express his opinion at the Chu army meeting organized by Xiang Liang, and present his tactical plan for everyone to discuss, and ask Xiang Liang to decide whether to adopt it.

"Puyang is obviously a trap! As the governor of the Eastern County, Puyang was originally a strong city, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Now Zhang Han is transporting water to fill the trenches and doing his best to build Puyang's outer fortifications. It is clear that he wants to be with us in Puyang. Long-term confrontation on the battlefield! If we are fooled and drawn into a confrontational war of attrition by Zhang Han, then over time, not only will our morale decline, the army will become exhausted, our food and grass will also be in danger, and we will fall into an extremely disadvantageous situation!"

"Today's strategy, it is best for our army to withdraw as soon as it is good, and quickly withdraw the army to the south of Jishui. First, clear the roads and connections, and then use Jishui to transport grain, and send partial divisions to develop westward along Jishui and seize Jishui. The cities along the coast slowly approach Aocang! Once Aocang is in danger, Zhang Han will not dare to send troops to rescue him even if he has a hundred courage. If he moves, the opportunity for our main force will come! If he does not move, we will The phalanx will take Ao Cang with all its strength and completely cut off his food and grass supplies! If this happens within a month, Zhang Han’s people will inevitably run out of food, and if our army wants to break through the main force of Tyrant Qin, it will be as easy as turning the palm of our hand!"

At the meeting, Xiang Kang spoke impassionedly, eloquently, repeatedly analyzing and comparing the advantages of the enemy and ourselves, and tried his best to persuade Xiang Liang to give up fighting Puyang and retreat to Jishui line to take it easy.But Xiang Liang didn't say a word, and never showed signs of being moved by Xiang Kang. The generals of the Chu army also had different thoughts, and no one stood up to help Xiang Kang. In the end, they couldn't urinate in the same pot with Xiang Kang. Old man Fan stood up and said a fair word, "General General, General You's opinion is actually quite good, and it should be feasible, but the effect is too slow."

Xiang Liang finally nodded, and said: "What Fan Gong said is very true. If the effect is not too slow, the old man will definitely adopt Kang'er's idea."

"Uncle, my nephew's proposal is slow to take effect, but it is stable." Xiang Kang said almost sadly: "Puyang is not easy to fight, and the Qin army still has the strength to fight, and the Qin court may give Zhang Han any time. Pifu sent reinforcements, we want to take Puyang by force, the chances of success are very small!"

"Kang'er, the Qin court may send reinforcements to Zhang Han at any time, and what you said is on point." Xiang Liang took over the conversation and said, "It is also because the Qin court may send Zhang Han ordinary people at any time." Come to reinforce the army, we must not give him any chance to breathe, otherwise, once Zhang Han's army regains strength, it will only be several times or even ten times more difficult for us to attack him. So we must seize the opportunity , Taking advantage of Zhang Han’s lack of reinforcements, quickly destroy him in one fell swoop, and then no matter how many reinforcements the Qin Dynasty sends, we can calmly defeat them one by one.”

"Uncle, but are we sure we can defeat Zhang Han in one fell swoop?" Xiang Kang asked with a wry smile.

"General You, what you said seems to be suspected of honoring the enemy and fearing the crowd?" Uncle Xiang who was next to him finally seized the opportunity, stood up and said eccentrically: "According to military law, you can beheaded directly."

"Brother, don't interrupt me. Kanger didn't say that our army would be defeated, but he was just worried that we wouldn't be able to take Puyang quickly. Does that mean he's fearing the enemy?"

Xiang Liang treated Xiang Kang pretty well, and didn't give Xiang Bo a chance to slander and frame Xiang Kang, but after he stopped Xiang Bo, Xiang Liang said, "But you don't need to say more, Kang'er, take advantage of the situation to completely defeat Zhang We can't miss the opportunity of Hanpifu, and we have to fight this battle in Puyang, uncle has made up his mind, so you don't need to persuade him anymore."

Xiang Kang, who was fighting for reason, was driven back to the train, and Xiang Liang immediately issued an order to let the main force of the Chu army start to make all kinds of offensive weapons from the next day, preparing to launch a frontal attack on the Qin army's camp outside Puyang City. Attacked, and then sent Lu Chen and Xiang Han to lead the troops south to capture Chengyang and Yuanqi, and open up the Chidao connection with Zou County, so as to transport food to the front line, so that the main force of the Chu army can confront Zhang Han for a long time .

…………

It was also a coincidence that when Xiang Liang made this decision, in the camp of the Qin army, Sima Xin happened to bring a Xuanzhao envoy who had just arrived from Xianyang to Zhang Han, and congratulated Zhang Han as soon as they met: " Congratulations to the general, congratulations to the general, great joy, great joy!"

"What happy event?" Zhang Han asked curiously.

"The emperor sent an envoy to deliver the imperial edict." Sima Xin pointed to the Xianyang envoy he had brought, and said with a smile on his face: "The emperor's decree has decided to let you, General, control all the Great Qin troops outside the pass, including the Great Wall under General Wang Li's command." Corps, now we don't have to worry about not having any troops to use."

"The emperor trusts me so much?!"

Zhang Han's joy was no small matter, so he hurriedly invited the Xuanzhao envoy sent by Hu Hai to the superior position according to the etiquette, and listened to the order on the ground. After Han took command, Zhang Han was of course even more unhappy. He hurriedly bowed his head again and again, thanked Hu Hai for his trust in him, and then hurriedly offered a generous gift to thank the envoy, and asked someone to hold a banquet in the back tent, and the hospitality was brought to him An emissary of good news.But after arranging these things, Zhang Han's first order was...

"Issue a ban on the password. It is not allowed to publicize that the emperor has handed over all the troops outside the pass to my control and command. Anyone who dares to spread the word will be executed immediately!"

"General, why is this?" Sima Xin said in amazement: "We should announce such a good thing to the public as soon as possible, so as to inspire the army? Why do we have to issue a password ban and strictly seal this news?"

"You must not let that old thief Xiang Liang know about this situation." Zhang Han said with a sneer: "Otherwise, this old man will definitely prevent me from mobilizing all the troops that can be mobilized to reinforce Puyang. The next battle will not be easy.”

Sima Xin came to his senses, and then quickly nodded in agreement, but Zhang Han still refused to rest assured, and asked about the current situation of the Chu army. After learning that the main force of the Chu army hadn't started cutting down timber to make offensive weapons, Zhang Han was inevitably a little worried. Frowning, he said, "Xiang Liang, an old man, wouldn't choose to retreat in the face of difficulties, right? If he doesn't attack Puyang or even chooses to retreat as soon as he sees it, and retreats to a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, we will gather enough troops , and it is difficult to completely defeat him."

Without God's perspective, and without knowing what Xiang Liang was thinking, Sima Xin also didn't dare to make a guarantee, so he could only say hesitantly: "No one can guarantee this. After all, Xiang Liang has the initiative to fight or not to fight Puyang." In the hands of the old thief, we have no way to influence his decision."

Zhang Han was silent, and after thinking for a long time, he suddenly said: "If I remember correctly, our detailed report this time seems to say that the old thief Xiang Liang chased our army this time because he asked Xiang Kang, a rebel after?"

"The general remembers correctly." Sima Xin quickly replied: "The old thief Xiang Liang is chasing us this time, he let the thief generals Ji Bu and Xiang Zhuang take the vanguard, he led the main force in the center, and the traitor Xiang Kang was responsible for escorting the food and grass. And do."

Zhang Han didn't speak any more, but hurriedly sat down beside the writing table, fetched a brush and white silk, and personally wrote a book on the white silk. Sima Xin looked up curiously, and was surprised to find that Zhang Han's letter was written by Give Xiang Kang, the sin of the old Chu Yu with blood on his hands, the content is that Zhang Han used Xiang Liang to arrange Xiang Kang to escort the grain and grass, clearly pointing out that Xiang Liang deliberately suppressed Xiang Kang, and laid the foundation for Huaisi Xiang Kang complained greatly, saying that Xiang Kang had done his best to Xiang Liang, but Xiang Liang didn't understand his loyalty and traitors, and he was ungrateful to the extreme. The rewards, gifts and glory and wealth.

Zhang Han's letter was very sincere and eloquent and quite confusing, but Sima Xin couldn't figure it out after reading it, and after Zhang Han put down his brush, he couldn't help but said: "General, is this impossible? Kang is so treacherous and stubborn, how could he kill his uncle and surrender to us?"

"This letter was not written for the traitor Xiang Kang, but for the old traitor Xiang Liang." Zhang Han said with a sneer, "I bet that with the military habits of that treacherous traitor Xiang Kang, he would definitely not approve of a violent attack." Puyang, as long as I let the old thief Xiang Liang read this letter, even if the old thief Xiang Liang does not have suspicions about the traitor Xiang Kang, he will definitely create a gap, and will not easily accept the suggestion of the traitor Xiang Kang to abandon Puyang. Moreover, the old thief Xiang Liang will definitely not follow the other suggestions of the traitor Xiang Kang easily, so we have cut off a powerful arm of the old Xiang Liang!"

"The general's clever plan." Sima Xin suddenly realized, and quickly complimented: "When you see an opportunity, you will decisively act to alienate, and you will alienate the relationship between Xiang Liang and Xiang Kang, the two rebels without a single soldier. If the two thieves Therefore, if we turn against each other and become enemies, our army will inevitably gain even more."

Compliments are all compliments, and after the compliments were over, Sima Xin asked with some concern: "But General, how can we let the old thief Xiang Liang see this letter?"

"Isn't that easy?" Zhang Han smiled and said, "Send someone casually, and let him carry letters and gifts to pretend to be Xiang Kang's old traitor to the Chu thief camp to deliver letters. The thief can see it right away. The Chu thief does not search the body, and the traitor Xiang Kang sees the letter. In order to prove his innocence, he can only hand in the letter to the old thief Xiang Liang. The old thief Xiang Liang can still read it, and still There will be a gap in my heart against the traitor Xiang Kang."

"If the traitor Xiang Kang hid this letter and didn't hand it in." Zhang Han smiled again and said, "Wouldn't it be more beneficial for us?"

…………

Since ancient times, people have been disgusted by counting estrangements. When it was dark, Zhang Han's messenger, disguised as an ordinary person, came to the gate of the Chu army's camp under the banner of Xiang Kang's old man to ask for an interview. Although he was not searched, he was taken directly. When he arrived in front of the confused Xiang Kang, but after carefully reading the letter written by Zhang Han to himself, Xiang Kang immediately complained, and without even thinking about it, he asked someone to take down the messenger of Zhang Han immediately, and then immediately took the letter with him. The envoy and Shuxin went to see Xiang Liang overnight.Zhou Zeng, who was next to him, saw the panic, and hurriedly reminded him: "General You, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for General General to read such a letter?"

"No matter how wrong it is, I have to hand it in right away." Xiang Kang said with a mournful face, "Otherwise, I'd even have a hundred mouths and I wouldn't be able to speak clearly, and I wouldn't be able to wash it out even if I jumped into the Yellow River!"

In this way, as Zhang Han wished, in order to prove his innocence, Xiang Kang submitted Zhang Han's letter to Xiang Liang overnight, and Xiang Liang, who was furious, immediately pushed Zhang Han's messenger out of the account and beheaded him. , and comforted Xiang Kang, repeatedly expressed his absolute trust in Xiang Kang, and said a lot of heartfelt words to Xiang Kang.However, because Xiang Liang was indeed too sorry for Xiang Kang in many things, Xiang Liang was still a little nervous in his heart, thinking to himself: "This old man treats Kang'er so badly, no matter how generous Kang'er is, I'm afraid he will Do you have some ideas? Kang Er basically didn’t perform well with me this time, could it have something to do with it?”

Zhang Han's despicable alienation not only successfully separated Xiang Liang from Xiang Kang, but also succeeded in completely angering Xiang Liang. In order to annihilate Zhang Han's troops as soon as possible, and to retaliate against Zhang Han's shameless provocation, he hastily made preparations for the attack After that, Xiang Liang personally supervised the army and launched an attack on the Qin army's camp outside Puyang City. He also dispatched [-] troops in one breath, and made a frontal attack without any temptation.

No matter how strong the attack is, it is useless. Although Zhang Han's army, which has been defeated in a row, is at a disadvantage in terms of psychology and morale, the Qin army has a camp to defend after all, and the camp is quite strong and perfect, so no matter how Xiang Liang uses various tactics No matter how bravely the soldiers of the Chu army fought, the Qin army's camp stood still. The Chu army paid a considerable price, but they were still unable to break through the defense line of the Qin army's camp and break through the Qin army's camp.

During the period, there were still things that made Xiang Kang depressed. Xiang Kang's army, who never liked to fight tough battles, performed quite poorly in this battle to attack the camp. The elite main force, even a little bit behind Feng Zhong's quasi-first-class Chu army, made Xiang Liang's face look a little ugly, and Xiang Bo jumped out to slander wantonly, insisting that Xiang Kang decided to attack Xiang Liang because of his strong attack. Dissatisfied, he deliberately slackened his military affairs, and wanted to see Xiang Liang's jokes.

After the first attack on the camp failed, Xiang Liang, who was unwilling to give up, quickly reorganized his army, and launched two large-scale attacks on the Qin camp in five days, but the results were always useless.Xiang Kang was anxious, so he disregarded Zhou Zeng and Chen Ping's good intentions to dissuade him. At the regular army meeting on the sixth day, he once again proposed to abandon Puyang and retreat to Jishui to establish a line of defense. Slowly clean up Zhang Han.

Xiang Kang was no longer fighting alone this time, because the camp of the Qin Army was indeed too strong. Feng Zhong, Xiang Zhuang, and Liu Laosan, who had suffered enough losses, all stood up to support Xiang Kang, and Xiang Liang was somewhat shaken , but for the sake of face, Xiang Liang refused to immediately take back his previous decision, and said after thinking for a long time: "Let the old man think about it, and let our army rest for a while, and then we will discuss whether we should retreat. "

"Okay." Xiang Kang heaved a sigh of relief, and secretly said: "Uncle has wavered, and he probably made up his mind just for the sake of face. I just need to give him a step down, and he should listen to my advice."

Seeing that the meeting was about to end, Shi Zhengdian, Xiang Liang's secretary-general, suddenly reported a news he had just received to Xiang Liang, and said: "General, Huang Shoujiang, our army's foreign general, Urgent report, Li Youzi, governor of Sanchuan County in the violent Qin Dynasty, sent troops northward from Yongqiu to attack Waihuang County, which is controlled by our army. The number of troops is about [-]. Our Waihuang garrison is weak and unable to compete with it , have been forced to abandon the city and retreat to Suiyang."

"Li You attacked Waihuang with an army of [-]? Why did he use the main force of the three rivers of the Qin Dynasty to attack such a remote town?" Xiang Liang was stunned for a while, and then he immediately came to his senses, cursing: "The dog thief must want to go north to Jiyang , Then either go north directly to reinforce Puyang, or advance eastward along the Jishui River, cut off our food roads, encircle Wei and rescue Zhao to share the pressure for Zhang Han."

"General, our army is too far away from the rear, so we have to guard against this." Old man Fan suggested: "We should separate an army as soon as possible, and immediately go south to wipe out Li You, so as to protect our rear and the food road. Safety."

"Yafu's words are right!" Seeing Xiang Liang nodding his head, Xiang Yu was the first to jump out, clasped his fists and begged for orders: "My nephew is willing to command the troops of the headquarters, and go south to fetch Li Youpifu's Xiangshang's head for uncle." !"

Xiang Yu opened his mouth, and Ying Bu, Ji Bu, Liu Laosan and others also jumped out and volunteered, scrambling to be the first to deal with Li You.However, after Xiang Liang pondered over and over again, he suddenly pointed at Xiang Kang who had not spoken, and said, "Kang'er, Mrs. Li Youpi is your defeated general. It will be no problem to deal with him. You go."

"I'll go?" Xiang Kang, who was still thinking about how to make a step for Xiang Liang, was stunned, but he didn't realize that this was a great opportunity for him to be the master again.

"Why? You don't want to go?" Xiang Liang asked, and added in a rather displeased tone, "You don't want to fight a tough battle, why don't you want to fight a field battle?"

(End of this chapter)