Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 260 Decisive Counterattack
Hu Hai and Zhao Gaoheng collected and accumulated abundant materials, and they had the basic formula in their hands. When the good news of the great victory in Hedong came back to Xianyang, the newly built Han army arsenal was built in the northwest of Xianyang and beside the Jingshui River, and it was also produced on a large scale hundreds of years in advance. The first batch of gunpowder was produced.

Thanks to Xiang Kang's failure in chemistry, the first batch of gunpowder of the Han army used the most primitive formula of mononitrate, disulfide and three charcoal, and the explosive power was very small. The animals used in the experiment could not be killed on the spot. It was only wounded. Rather than being an explosive weapon, it was more like a primitive throwing incendiary bomb. The arson and intimidating effects were far greater than the actual effect.

However, even so, in the process of producing gunpowder, severely inexperienced craftsmen of the Han army still paid a heavy price of two deaths and five injuries. The saltpeter and sulfur were crushed separately, which solved the safety problem of gunpowder production. Xiang Kang also rewarded the craftsman on the spot, encouraging him and other craftsmen to work hard to explore faster and safer gunpowder production technology, as well as improve the formula of gunpowder , groping for a better gunpowder weapon.

The craftsmen of the Han army did not sacrifice in vain. After seeing the explosion effect of the first batch of gunpowder with their own eyes, all the civil and military soldiers of the Han army who accompanied Xiang Kang to visit the secret experiment were all overjoyed. Chao Zhi, Zheng Bu, Long Qie and other generals roared with excitement He said that he would no longer have to worry about breaking the formation. With such a weapon in hand, no matter how solid the enemy's formation was, the Han army would be able to break through the formation with ease.

Double happiness is coming, just at this time, Uncle Zhou's good news is also sent to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang is overjoyed, and hurriedly announces the good news to the public, the civil and military officers of the Han army are all overjoyed when they hear it, so they rush to congratulate Xiang Kang and flatter him Xiang Kang employed people properly, and with most of the recruits, Uncle Zhou's troops easily wiped out the State of Wei. Xiang Kang laughed and said: "There is no need to flatter, this battle is all thanks to General Zhou and the frontline soldiers. It happened to be a long time. Let’s have a good drink together, let’s serve the food and wine, let’s have a toast to Uncle Zhou’s great victory in the east of the river, and also reward the craftsmen who produced gunpowder for us.”

Indeed, it has been a long time since there was a wild crowd drinking. After the drinks and dishes were served, almost all the young generals who came from civilians were drinking and having fun, shouting, and some people sang loudly, which quickly lifted the atmosphere of the banquet. , Xiang Kang also let go of the airs of the King of Han, and accompanied these accomplices and running dogs who were born and died for him to mess around, and soon became blushed and thick necked from drinking, and gradually showed his drunkenness.

As the saying goes, extreme joy begets sorrow, and Xiang Kang, who is a villain, was drinking happily. The captain of the army, Xu Ji, suddenly came to Xiang Kang with an urgent military report that he had just received, and said that it had just been delivered from Xianyang Palace. The military emergency report, with chicken feathers on it, is extremely urgent. Xiang Kang took it and opened it, but after only a cursory glance, Xiang Kang's face changed, and he blurted out: "Ye County was defeated, our defenders were completely wiped out, the defender Ren Kai died in battle, and King Han was captured alive by Liu Ji's army!"

"What?" Zhang Liang jumped up and said in shock, "Our King of Korea was captured alive by Liu Ji? Then how is his situation now?"

Xiang Kang hurriedly looked at the next content of the military emergency report, and was surprised again, and said, "Liu Ji actually let King Han go? This guy has a lot of skill."

Zhang Liang was tongue-tied, and hurriedly asked Xiang Kang for the urgent report on military information, and saw that the urgent report on military information sent by the Nanyang prefect Lv Yu clearly stated that although the South Korean army led by Han Cheng suffered a disastrous defeat in Ye County , almost the entire army was wiped out, and Han Cheng himself was captured alive by Liu Laosan's army, but after only one day, Liu Laosan took the initiative to send someone back to Han Cheng, and made it clear that he did not want to fight with the innocent Han Cheng. Cheng and the South Korean army are enemies, and hope that Han Cheng and the South Korean army will remain neutral in the future and stop interfering in the battle between him and the Han army.Zhang Liang also immediately came to the same conclusion as Xiang Kang in his heart, and secretly said: "This Liu Ji is indeed a big hand, he is a character."

At this time, all the generals of the Han army had stood up and volunteered, expressing their willingness to lead their troops south to reinforce Nanyang and avenge the Han army defenders in Ye County, but Xiang Kang just thought for a while, and immediately said: "Don't worry, Ye County Of course we have to take revenge, but we don’t need to be in a hurry, with our current strength, we don’t have to worry about the gains and losses of a city or a place. Come on, continue to drink, and discuss how to get revenge another day.”

It was easy to say, but after we parted with the generals of the Han army and had just returned to Xianyang, Xiang Kang immediately called Zhou Zeng, Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others into Xianyang Palace, and asked straight to the point: " Liu Ji captured King Han but did not kill him, and sent Han Wangli out of the camp on purpose, why did he do this? What is his purpose and purpose?"

"Mr. Zifang don't mind if you say a few rude words." Chen Ping replied: "Killing King Han will not gain anything for Liu Ji. On the contrary, it may also arouse the hatred of the survivors of Han. Letting go is the most beneficial for Liu Ji. The first reason is that the king of Han has few soldiers, and there is almost no threat to Liu Ji, so it doesn’t make much difference whether he lets go. The second is that after letting go of King Han, he can demonstrate Liu Ji’s generosity Generosity also allows the officials, soldiers and civilians in Nanyang to return to him with confidence, which is beneficial for him to recruit Nanyang officials and defenders, and win over the hearts of Nanyang people in the future."

"As for the third one." Chen Ping said again: "Liu Ji just ran into you, the King of Han. If someone else was in your place, he would be able to come back smoothly after seeing the King of Han captured alive, and Having received Liu Ji's kind treatment, it is very likely that he will become suspicious of King Han, and if King Han suffers any grievances in the future, he will easily be bribed by Liu Ji."

"Mr. Chen Ping really hit the nail on the head, and the foreign ministers think so too." Zhang Liang nodded, and then said to Xiang Kang: "King of Han, although the foreign ministers are very clear that there is no need for this, the foreign ministers still have to say something, please trust us King Han, he will never surrender to Liu Ji because he is greedy for life and fear of death, nor will he act as an internal agent for Liu Ji to betray and betray you."

"Don't worry, Mr. Zifang." Xiang Kang smiled and waved his hands, and said, "Liu Ji's tricks against me are showing off in front of Confucius, and playing a big ax in front of Lu Ban's door. It's just a daydream to have an effect."

After comforting Zhang Liang, Xiang Kang frowned and said, "However, this incident also reminded us that we still underestimated the coalition forces of Liu Ji, Yingbo and Chai Wu before. You all know that Ye County not only The terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The 3000 troops stationed there are still composed of veterans in our army as the core backbone. The combat effectiveness is not weak. Later, King Han withdrew more than [-] troops from Yingchuan to help defend the city. , with a total strength of more than [-], it stands to reason that it is already capable of a battle, and there should be hope that it will persist until the reinforcements led by Zhong Limei arrive."

"But in the final result, Ye County was directly breached after only five days of defense. Ye County's defenders and the South Korean army were wiped out together. Ren Kai died in battle, and King Han was captured alive by the bandits. Liu Ji, We can imagine how strong the three bandit armies, Yingbu and Chaiwu, are. It seems that our established strategy of destroying Nanyang first and then giving up calmly will not be so easy to successfully complete."

Zhou Zeng, Chen Ping, and Zhang Liang nodded together, agreeing with Xiang Kang's analysis, and Chen Ping also said: "We do underestimate the enemy. According to the information we collected, when we were in the Central Plains battlefield before, many of the fierce and difficult battles of the allied forces of the princes were Yingbu and Chaiwu basically won the fight, but we all ignored this before, thinking that even if we couldn’t defend Nanyang in the end, it would definitely not be a big problem to drag these bandits into a war of attrition, so it led to a war of attrition. Ye County's fiasco."

"King of Han, you have to find a way to remedy it as soon as possible." Zhou Zeng reminded: "Among the cities in Nanyang, except for Wancheng, the defenders in Ye County are the strongest, but now even with the help of King Han's army, our Ye County The county defenders are still completely annihilated, once the news spreads, the defenders of the Nanyang cities will definitely panic, and they will no longer firmly implement the order of the King of Han to stick to each city and destroy our strategic plan."

Xiang Kang thought about it, and quickly shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's too late for remedial action. First, it's too time-consuming to mobilize the army to go south for reinforcements. Second, we are still expanding the army. Continuing to increase the number of troops on the southern front will disrupt our established plan." , The newly formed army lacks training, and when it meets Yingbu and Chai Wu's masters, they will still die in vain, and they can only act according to the original plan, and they can do as much as they can."

After reluctantly giving up the southern line of increasing troops, Xiang Kang didn't intend to just swallow his anger, and let Liu Laosan, who had suffered himself in Hanguguan, do his best in Nanyang again, running wild and unrestrained. In such a situation, Xiang Kang quickly made up his mind and said: "However, we can't just let Liu Ji and Yingbo go. Taking this opportunity, we have to sow discord and let Liu Ji, Yingbo and others These three people, Chai and Wu, are suspicious of each other, and they have different ideas, so that we can not only relax on the battlefield, but we may also have a chance to make them turn against each other, fight among themselves, and reduce the pressure on our southern front to the greatest extent."

"Then what is the King of Han going to do?" Chen Ping asked, and reminded: "However, the King of Han, I think that you can't use divisive tactics against Liu Ji. This man is extremely cunning, and his bearing is also extraordinary. Using divisive tactics against him is not only difficult to succeed. , it might be counterproductive.”

"Of course I won't attack Liu Ji directly." Xiang Kang shook his head, and said, "By the way, I would like to tell you, don't underestimate Liu Ji just because he is relatively weak. Among the princes in the world, there is only this Liu Ji." Being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with me in terms of resourcefulness, military strategy, and winning the hearts of the people, even my elder brother, the Overlord of Western Chu, is no match for him. Therefore, when you are an enemy of him, you must not be negligent, otherwise you will suffer. Big loss."

Unexpectedly, Xiang Kang would think highly of Liu Laosan so much. Zhou Zeng, Chen Ping and Zhang Liang inevitably had some surprises, but they still nodded in promise and remembered Xiang Kang's advice.Then Zhou Zengcai asked again: "King of Han, then you plan to use a tactic against that bandit army."

"Of course it's Chai Wu." Xiang Kang replied without thinking, "My elder brother granted Nanyang to Liu Ji, Nanjun, Changsha and Qianzhong to Yingbu, and Bashu and Hanzhong to Chai Wu. Among the three kings of thieves, Chai Wu's fief is the most remote and the most difficult to win. Chai Wu will not have no opinions in his heart, nor will he not be jealous of Liu Ji and Yingbu, who are relatively easy to obtain fiefs. We only need to Targeting him at this point is the most sure way to succeed."

"Then how to do it?" Zhou Zeng asked.

"Write a letter to Chai Wu for me." Xiang Kang ordered: "Tell him clearly, just say that Liu Ji released King Han to us, not just to show his hypocrisy. I brought a letter, asking me to take the initiative to give up the whole county of Nanyang, so that he can get his fief smoothly. When Wu Jin attacked Hanzhong at Xunguan, he helped us to hide Chai Wu from behind, and let Chai Wu's entire army be wiped out in the narrow mountain road, so that we don't have to worry about the safety of Hanzhong and Bashu in the future."

"Then tell Chai Wu plainly that I don't like Liu Ji's despicable behavior, and I don't want to make this shameless deal with Liu Ji." Xiang Kang continued: "I advise Chai Wu to join us in killing Liu Ji instead. After the completion, I will give Nanyang to him to build the country, and make a covenant with him to help him resist the attacks of other princes. But if he does not agree, I will only choose to accept Liu Ji's conditions for my own benefit, and Liu Ji Join hands to destroy him, either one or the other, let him make his own choice."

"What about Liu Ji's letter?" Chen Ping asked calmly: "Although we have his old documents in our hands, it is not difficult to imitate his handwriting and forge a letter written by him, but he has now been named King of Nanyang. , We don’t have his new seal picture book forged?”

"Let Lu Yu figure out a solution to this problem." Xiang Kang said casually: "It is of course best to get Liu Ji's current seal forgery. If you can't get it, just send our forged letter to Chai Wu. There is no seal. It shows that Liu Ji is cautious in doing things, which can also make Chai Wu suspicious."

Chen Ping nodded, and immediately got up to write a book for Xiang Kang, and wrote a letter to Chai Wu according to Xiang Kang's instructions, but Zhang Liang was quite worried, and said: "King of Han, I'm afraid Chai Wu won't be so easy to be fooled, right? So direct It is foolish to hand over the forged letter to him, and anyone else will become suspicious."

"Mr. Zifang, don't worry, this is only the first step of the plan." Xiang Kang replied: "After sending the letter to Chai Wu, I will let Lu Jue add fuel to the fire, and use Han Wang's reputation to contact Liu Ji, and then... .”

After hearing Xiang Kang's shameless trick, Zhang Liang could only smile wryly, and then said: "King of Han, please don't let our King of Han know about this, otherwise, he will never agree to you using his That's what reputation does."

Xiang Kang smiled, agreed, and after a little calculation, he said: "I almost forgot Yingbu, and I also sent him a letter of credence, congratulating him on being named King of Linjiang on the honor of our Han court, recognizing his throne and Land and territory, I want to start negotiations with him, discuss the establishment of border markets for mutual exchange, and send envoys to each other's capitals to establish a stable communication channel. In addition, I ask Yingbu to choose one of his relatives who is about the same age as me In return, I will marry one of my daughters to his son, and we will marry each other and become relatives."

After finishing speaking, Xiang Kang said lazily: "After the national script is finished, send an envoy to Yingbo to send it to Yingbo in an open and honest manner. The more noise and noise, the better."

Zhang Liang smiled, and said: "The King of Han's ingenious strategies are really endless. While secretly planting Liu Ji, and at the same time wooing Yingbu openly, it is difficult for Chai Wu to think that he is isolated and bullied."

(End of this chapter)