Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 241 The danger is yet to come
Following the example of the Mongolian Khan to expel the enemy's captives and attack the city, Xiang Kang has been holding back for more than a day or two. As early as the Ningqin battlefield, Xiang Kang had already started to make arrangements for this kind of utterly wicked thing.

As for why such unscrupulous means are necessary, there are two reasons. One is that Hangu Pass is too important to the Young Marshal. If you don’t take it back for a day, there will be no peace in Guanzhong. Although the terrain of Hangu Pass is destined to go from west to east It is much easier to attack, but the sooner you can get it back, the more peace of mind Xiang Kang and the young commander can have, right?With some vicious means, naturally it is not enough.

The second reason is that Qi General Tian An's reputation is too good. In order to fight against Qin's great cause, he did not hesitate to abandon his official position and relatives to rebel against Qi State, and took all his troops to Xiang Yu to lead the way for the Chu army to reinforce the Julu battlefield. Xiang Kang himself actually admired him quite a lot.The Young Marshal suddenly conspired to capture him alive. Whether he killed him or detained him, it would cause a lot of damage to the reputation of the Young Marshal. Therefore, Xiang Kang resolutely decided to release him unconditionally, and at the same time aimed at Tian Anzhong. The weakness of Yi Aiming set up a trap for Tian An to exploit, and in turn, he chose morality or profit to kick Tian An, which also completely forced Tian An into a dilemma.

The effect was better than what Xiang Kang hoped for. Most of the soldiers captured by Tian An were from Qi State, and the rest were all outsiders. After being captured, people were panic-stricken. They didn't know how the young commander would send them down. Tian An agreed in person. Use Hangu Pass to exchange them back. In order to survive and return to their hometown, these captives hope that Tian An can fulfill his promise and use Hangu Pass to exchange them back earlier.However, after arriving outside Hangu Pass, Tian An did not give any reply for two days, and then categorically refused to hand over Hangu Pass in front of them. These prisoners of war were disappointed and angry, even though they knew that the young commander was forcing them It was malicious to walk ahead, but they still rushed towards the west gate of Hangu Pass, yelling for Tian An to save them back.

"Don't shoot arrows! We are our own people!"

"General Tian! General Tian! You promised to save us, why don't you keep your word?"

"Close the door quickly! We want to return to the team! Don't shoot arrows, open the door quickly!"

The chaotic shouts of killing are getting closer and closer, and the sweat on Tian An's forehead is also increasing. He wants to order the arrow to be released, but he can't bear it, and he has to worry about the consequences of doing so. Don't release the arrow, sir. The Shuai army followed behind the captives of Qi State, and might launch an assault at any time to attack the west gate wall of Hangu Pass. No one dared to predict what the consequences would be.Really helpless, Tian An simply asked a few confidantes next to him: "What do you think should we do? Should we shoot the arrow?"

No one dared to take on this responsibility, and none of the confidantes said anything. Only Tian Li plucked up his courage and said cautiously: "General, kindness does not command troops. If the captives are allowed to pass through the moat, Xiang Kang's rebels will take the opportunity to attack again." If not, our losses will only be greater.”

Tian An also understood this truth, and after hesitating for a while, seeing that the group of prisoners from Qi State was less than thirty steps away from the moat, Tian An still ordered in a painful tone: "Fire the arrows!"

Countless feathered arrows flew out of the air, whistling and shooting at the unarmed Qi army captives, killing and wounding dozens of Qi prisoners in a blink of an eye. They were forced to turn around and run for their lives, but the soldiers of the Young Commander who followed behind did not hesitate even more, and immediately shot their bows and arrows at them, yelling and forcing them to move on. Weeping loudly on the spot.

More feathered arrows flew out from the young commander's army. With nowhere to go, the prisoners of Qi could only bite the bullet and rush to the west gate of Hangu Pass where bows and arrows were relatively sparse. Tian An roared and forced the defenders on the city to step up their arrows. However, the psychological burden on the soldiers of the Qi State was greater after all. Many soldiers could not stop attacking their companions, and the arrows they shot were weak. No matter how Tian An, Tian Li and others urged and forced them, the frequency of shooting could not be increased.The prisoners of Qi State took the opportunity to rush directly from the bridge to the moat, rushed to the bottom of the city tower and knocked on the door desperately, asking their companions in the city to open the door to let them in and return to the team.

At this time, even if Tian An was killed, he would not dare to open and close the door. While yelling that he was not allowed to open the door, Tian An also forced the defenders on the city to drop stones and trees, and expel the prisoners of Qi who were hitting the closed door, yelling continuously, " Run to both sides! Don't hit the door! Whoever hits the door dies!"

It's a pity that the city was so noisy that almost no one could hear Tian An's roar alone. On the contrary, as his companions continued to fall, there was an angry roar from among the prisoners of Qi, "Rush in, and They fought hard! They didn't let us return to the team, they forced us to die! We must die together!"

The anger completely dazzled the minds of the Qi prisoners of war. The flying ladder given to them by the young commander was quickly put on the city wall. The soldiers of the friendly army also quickly disrupted the formation of the defenders on the city.The young marshals who followed behind seized the opportunity and immediately launched a charge. They quickly built multiple trench roads on the moat with trench bridge vehicles, rushed through the moat at a speed far exceeding the normal siege speed, and drove more aircraft into the moat. Take the ladder to the west gate of Hangu Pass.

The key reason why it is easier to attack Hangu Pass from west to east is because the pass city of Hangu Pass was built against the back of Chousangyuan, and it is protected by a wall. It is much easier to climb up Chousangyuan, but once on the highland of Chousangyuan, the whole Hangu Pass can be seen at a glance, and you can shoot arrows to create chaos for the defenders.Seeing the opportunity presented, the Young Commander's team who had already boarded Chousangyuan immediately took action, condescendingly fired their bows and arrows at the Hangu Pass city, and unceremoniously directly fired expensive rockets. Soon flames erupted, and chaos began in the city.

With so many favorable conditions combined, if the soldiers of the Young Commander-in-Chief were unable to rush over the wall in one fell swoop, Zhujishi, who was the vanguard of the city, could only commit suicide and apologize to Xiang Kang. Fortunately, the soldiers under his command did not let Zhujishi Disappointed, under the cover of the prisoners of war of the Qi State, no less than [-] soldiers of the Young Marshal successfully charged up the wall for the first time. Although the army also panicked and dismounted from the rocks, they still couldn't stop the young commander's soldiers from charging. Qi prisoners of war who went up the city.

What's even more outrageous is still behind. When the ramming vehicle of the Young Marshal Army rushed to the side of the moat, the prisoners of war of Qi State on the bridge not only gave way one after another, but also helped the soldiers of the Young Marshal Army push the ramming vehicle forward. Hitting the door with the ram hit the door, and it seemed that he worked harder than the soldiers of the young generals in attacking Hangu Pass.

Seeing this situation, poor General Tian An, apart from scolding Xiang Kang for being shameless and despicable, he could only desperately mobilize the soldiers to shoot arrows and stones, and at all costs prevented the soldiers of the young commander and the prisoners of war of Qi from attacking the city together.But it was too late to do so. The young generals and prisoners of war of Qi State had already rushed to the Hangu Pass, and a certain number of young generals had successfully rushed to the city wall and seized a piece of ground on the city. The combat effectiveness of the soldiers was relatively poor, and several counterattacks failed to regain the position. More soldiers of the Young Marshal also took the opportunity to rush to the wall and hold the position more firmly.

The situation has become so critical that it cannot be described. The Qi army has no choice but to hastily mobilize the reserve team in the city to help the battle. The rear army stationed outside the east gate also quickly entered the city to prepare for the battle. People contacted Liu Laosan and asked Liu Laosan to also be ready to enter the city to reinforce his own army.

The hasty mobilization of the Qi army gave more chances to the soldiers of the young commander in Chousangyuan to kill the enemy. Under the rain of arrows, the Qi soldiers who were forced to leave the hiding place screamed and fell to the ground, and it was difficult to maintain a strict formation. Reinforce the front line in an orderly manner. After the reinforcements outside the east gate entered the city, the soldiers in the city were too dense. The young generals on the high ground even shot arrows with their eyes closed and could hit the target, forcing the soldiers of Qi to hold their shields against their heads. He blocked the arrows, but even so, there were still many Qi soldiers who were shot one after another, resulting in constant casualties, and the morale of the army was also affected.

The most troublesome ones for the soldiers of the Qi State were the prisoners of the State of Qi. Although many prisoners of the State of Qi climbed up the wall, they immediately obeyed the command and entered the pass to escape, and did not stay in the city to get in the way. He started fighting with his companions, and there were some cases of cannibalism. In addition, the number of Qi State prisoners was too large, and they kept going to the city. It still caused a lot of chaos for the soldiers of Qi State on the city, making the city The upper defenders couldn't resist the attack of the young commander's army at all, they could only watch helplessly as the soldiers of the young commander's army continued to ascend the city, and desperately hit the closed door that was already crumbling.

At this time, Zhujishi had also decisively launched a charge of the whole army, and personally led his rear troops to rush towards the west gate of Hangu Pass. Zheng Bu also led his army out immediately, preparing to follow Zhujishi to launch an attack. The trebuchet brought by the army advanced to the vicinity of the pass wall, and directly hurled stones at the inside of the pass. The inside and outside of Hangu Pass were full of shouts and killings, and the fierce battle was in full swing.

It was the city gate position that finally made a breakthrough. Not long after Zhujishi's troops fought an all-out ant attack, with the cover and help of the Qi prisoners, the second vehicle that the young marshals threw into the city gate smashed open the city gate. outside the gate, the prisoners of Qi outside the city and the young generals cheered like thunder, and rushed directly into the city impatiently. Zheng Bu also laughed and led the army to charge himself, rushing towards the already opened west gate of Hangu Pass like a tide .

The Qianjin gate on the inner side of the city gate was forced to be lowered, killing several Qi prisoners who were eager to return to the city to escape. Hit the Qianjin gate, and pushed the ramming car that was used to hit the door into the city gate corridor, and continued to hit and smash the Qianjin gate. The soldiers of Qi State were forced to fight back, and killed many companions helplessly, but still couldn't do it. Block the prisoners of Qi who are eager to escape.

In this situation, taking advantage of the opportunity that the morale of the soldiers of the Qi State was affected, the young generals led by Zhu Jishi had rushed to the city wall in large numbers, completely smashing the hope of the Qi State Army to regain the position on the city, and began to use the Qi State Army The supplies and weapons left behind for the defense of the city, in turn, attacked the soldiers of the Qi State in the city, especially the soldiers of the State of Qi who focused on protecting the Qianjin Gate.

I have to praise Qi State General Tian An for his courage. Even though the situation was extremely critical, Tian An still refused to give up. He took the initiative to retreat to the city and organized the Qi State army to prepare for street fighting. But just as Tian An gave the order, his confidant Tian Du He quickly grabbed him and said, "General, is it meaningful to fight like this? Let alone even if we persist in street fighting to the end, we may not be sure that we can keep Hangu Pass. Even if we barely keep Hangu Pass, our The army must also be seriously injured, so what confidence do you have to talk to the princes outside the pass in the future?"

Tian An's lips trembled, and he said after a while, "But if I can't hold Hangu Pass, how can I explain to Xiang Yu?"

"If we keep the army, even if there is no way to explain it, we still have the capital to make a comeback." Tian Du said in a deep voice: "But if there is no army, everything will be over for us."

After finishing speaking, Tian Du added, "Also, even the Chu army is not sure whether Xiang Yu was seriously injured, whether he can save his life. Who will take us seriously? At that time, we will not have the capital to make a comeback, and we will not be able to go back to Qi, so we will become lonely ghosts?"

After all, he is a warlord in troubled times, and no matter how much he values ​​morality, Tian An has to think about his own interests and the future. After hesitating for a moment, Tian An can only shout: "Ming Jin, withdraw from Hangu Pass, go first Join Zhao Guo's reinforcements, and then attack Hangu Pass!"

According to Tian An's order, Jin Zheng rang the bell very quickly, and when he heard Jin Zheng's sound of retreating, the Qi army who could hold on for a while seemed to be amnesty, and all of them rushed to give up their positions and ran for their lives to the east gate, for fear of running too slowly He was chased and hacked to death by the soldiers of the young marshal, and Tian An was the first to escape from the east gate of Hangu Pass with his own soldiers, and the first to escape back to his main camp outside the east gate.

Facts have proved that Tian An made an extremely wise choice. Just after seeing the defeat of Qi's army, Liu Laosan, who was also stationed outside the Dongmen City, made a decisive decision. Shameless sent someone to contact Tian An, saying that he led the army to clear the way for the Qi army to retreat eastward, so as to prevent the young commander's army from going around and cutting off the retreat of the Qi-Chu coalition army.

"Xiang Kang's bandit army interspersed and detoured? If Xiang Kang's bandit army could intersperse and detour to the east of Hangu Pass to block it, what would the six countries outside the pass and the Tyrant Qin army fight for Hangu Pass for hundreds of years? Dismiss Lao Tzu as a three-year-old?"

Roaring and kicking Liu Laosan's messenger who flew over to report the news, Tian An didn't dare to hesitate, and immediately ordered his soldiers to load the food and supplies into the trucks, and imitated Liu Laosan before the young generals crossed the Hangu Pass and launched a pursuit. They ran for their lives immediately, and didn't dare to waste any precious time. Tens of thousands of Qi soldiers panicked like frightened birds. There was a tragedy of trampling on each other and causing death and injury.

Although the escape was extremely embarrassing, more than 1 Qi defeated soldiers fled back to the city of Shan County because the young generals temporarily had no hands to pursue with all their strength.However, what left Tian An speechless was that Liu Laosan, who slipped the fastest, once again fled to the steep road in the east of Shan County to gather and rest, and once again seized a favorable position where he could escape at any time, forcing the Qi army to continue to resist Xiang Xiang. Kang may have sent pursuers.

What made Tian An's nose crooked was still behind him. After fleeing to the city of Shan County, he was still panting. Liu Laosan even sent an envoy to contact him, suggesting that Tian An should be stationed in the city of Shan County, so as to lure Xiang Kang to send troops to attack Shan County. The arrival of Zhao Guo's reinforcements created an opportunity for a decisive battle with the Young Marshal's army outside Hangu Pass.Tian An, who had suffered enough losses one after another, couldn't bear it anymore, kicked Liu Laosan's emissary again, and roared: "Shaan County will guard you! I will retreat to Mianchi after a short rest, dare to block my way, I will fight with you too!"

The emissary quickly brought Tian An's reply back to Liu Laosan, Liu Laosan was not angry, but just sneered and scolded: "Short-sighted man! Don't give up the opportunity to make meritorious deeds to please Xiang Yu, just know how to preserve strength, if Xiang Yu Xiao Zhuzi calmed down, Zhao Guo's army was unable to attack Hangu Pass and was blocked outside, let's see how he will deal with you who lost Hangu Pass and missed the opportunity to fight!"

"Since Tian An is unwilling to garrison Shan County, you don't have to force it, Mr. Pei." Someone next to him said, "As long as Zhao's army uses its troops well, even if Xiang Kang takes Hangu Pass, there is absolutely no way he can stop Zhao's army from entering the pass." , there is still the danger of annihilation of the entire army."

It was rare to hear someone speak louder than himself and Xiang Yu. Curious, Liu Laosan immediately turned his head to look at the person who uttered such bold words, but Liu Laosan was quite surprised that it was Xiang Yu who said this Sent to his supervisor Wei and his subordinate Han Xin.Then without Liu Laosan opening his mouth, Wei Ji immediately scolded Han Xin: "Han Xin, you are here again, aren't you? You haven't boasted enough under the former general's tent, and you ran to Peigong to speak boldly again?"

"Pei Gong, I'm definitely not bragging."

Han Xin didn't bother to pay attention to Wei Ji, so he just said directly to Liu Laosan: "Pei Gong, after meeting with Zhao's army, you might as well speak to Zhao's general Chen Yu, and persuade him to send an army to cross the Yellow River in Shan County to the north, and go to the west. Go to Puban, cross the Yellow River, and directly enter Guanzhong. Xiang Kang took Guanzhong less than a month ago, and the people's hearts in Guanzhong were not stable, and the people's hearts were not really attached. Now he has pulled all his troops to Hangu Pass , The rear is extremely empty. It is difficult for Zhao Guo’s partial division not to turn the Guanzhong hinterland upside down. It is not difficult to cut off Xiang Kang’s food road. The main force then seizes the opportunity to send troops to storm Hangu Pass, capturing and killing Xiang Kang will be as easy as pie!"

Liu Laosan's military strategy is actually quite good, and after a little calculation, he said: "What if Xiang Kang divides his troops to guard Puban? The speed with which he advances from the fast road and mobilizes troops must be far faster than Zhao's army. .”

"Then continue to divide the troops, and send another army north to Xiayang, looking for opportunities to cross the river in Xiayang!" Han Xin said firmly: "Zhao's army is as many as 13. Even if the troops are divided into three groups, there are enough troops. Xiang Kang can use the troops currently. But it's only a little over 4, and it's hard not to show any flaws under repeated divisions!"

Liu Laosan remained silent, but said in his heart: "Is this bastard Zhao Kuo who can only talk big? Or the buried Sun Wu Wu Qi?"

…………

At the same time, outside the west gate of Hangu Pass City, in the temporary camp of the Young Marshal Army, Xiang Kang, who was drinking water, dropped the bronze jue on the desk with a bang. Xiang Kang didn't care about the documents on the desk. He just asked Chen Ping who came to him in a hurry: "Are you sure? The 13 Zhao army is on the way to Hangu Pass?"

"Basically, it can be confirmed." Chen Ping showed the Zhao Jun documents he found in Guancheng, and said: "We found them at Tian An's residence. The main force marched towards Hangu Pass, and asked Tian An to stand firm at Hangu Pass and wait for him to come for reinforcements."

Quickly took Chen Yu's letter to Tian An and read it carefully. Xiang Kang's not-so-ugly face was filled with worry, and he said, "Trouble, if Zhao's army is in a hurry to win a quick battle, they just come directly to attack the letter." Guguan is good, and we are still sure to deal with it. But if the Zhao army has enough patience and confronts us head-on, and divides up to fight Puban and Xiayang at the same time, we won’t even be able to cry.”

"General You, just to be cautious, should we quickly divide up our troops to guard Puban and Xiayang, just in case?" Chen Ping suggested.

"Our troops are insufficient, too much division will only make it more dangerous." Xiang Kang shook his head sullenly, and then thought secretly: "It seems that we must quickly think of a way to avoid such a situation."

(End of this chapter)