Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 296 Uncle Zhou VS Xiang Yu

The famous Qinchi Road is on the open plain, the road width reaches an astonishing 69 meters, and it is extremely flat and firm. Many road sections that have not been damaged by human beings are still barren of grass even after more than 2000 years. There is not one of the important traffic arteries, which is extremely convenient for the army to march and transport materials.

This kind of road is also more convenient for the cavalry to march at high speed and long-distance raids. I just received the news from Sima Yang on a fast horse from Puyang. Knowing that my cousin Xiang Kang, who stole his limelight, led the army to the east, he had already made all preparations. Xiang Yu, who had already secretly withdrawn to Linzi, did not hesitate to set off from Linzi with [-] Western Chu cavalry, galloping along Chidao, via Boyang, Xuejun and Zouxian, all the way to Puyang.

If Peng Yue hadn't accidentally helped Xiang Kang, the Western Chu cavalry might have arrived in Puyang in only seven days. It happened that Peng Yue, who had risen suddenly, drove Tian Du back to the city of Boyang, Jibei County. Seeing the sudden arrival of the Western Chu cavalry, Peng Yue also said that Xiang Yu was here to rescue Tian Du, so he hurriedly led the army to fight Xiang Yu in a foolish manner. Still dispatched his main soldiers to help Xiang Kang stop Xiang Yu's rushing footsteps.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter too much, Peng Yue is still a beggar carrying a bowl into the latrine - looking for death!Xiang Yu, who was in a hurry to trouble his cousin, saw that Peng Yue dared to cause trouble for him, so he immediately roared and led the army to charge. The [-] Western Chu cavalry he led were all elite and strong soldiers, but within a short time, Peng Yue's army was rushed to the ground. The army was scattered and defeated, and then rushed into Peng Yue's camp with red eyes, killing Peng Yue's troops who had just defeated the main force of Tiandu not long ago. Thousands of remnant soldiers fled back to Juye Ze in embarrassment. On the way to escape, they kept yelling in disbelief, "What kind of army did I encounter? How could it be so strong? How could it be so powerful?"

In the end, Peng Yue only bought a day for Xiang Kangduo, and only made the Western Chu cavalry pay the price of just over a thousand casualties. Handan retreated to the place where Sima Ang joined forces in Puyang, and then the Western Chu cavalry hurriedly replenished the grain and horse fodder that Sima Ang had prepared for them, and immediately marched westward, still heading towards Aocang along Qinchi Road.Sima Ang, who had been bullied by the Han army and the Zhao army before, was also dancing and dancing. He couldn't wait to lead his remnant army to follow westward to provide logistical support and auxiliary tasks for the Western Chu cavalry.

On the side of the Han army, when the Western Chu cavalry galloped to the outskirts of Yan County, Zhao Han, Zhong Limei's deputy stationed in Yan County, received a scout report saying that Xiang Yu had personally led the Western Chu cavalry to the front. The news was sudden. Zhao Han couldn't help shouting in disbelief, "How is it possible? Isn't Xiang Yu far away in Qidi? How could he come to Yan County? Am I dreaming, or are you reading it wrong?"

The successive reports from Pegasus made Zhao Han finally realize that he was not dreaming. Unprepared, Zhao Han not only sent people to call Zhong Limei who was stationed in Suanzao and Uncle Zhou who was stationed in Aocang, but also to buy time for his allies to respond. , Zhao Han summoned up his courage again, and led his [-] troops out of the camp to form a formation, to block the way of the Western Chu Army, in an attempt to block the Western Chu Army for a period of time, so that Zhong Limei and Uncle Zhou had more time to prepare for the battle. enemy.

It's a pity that although Zhao Han's courage is commendable, the iron cavalry of the Western Chu cavalry is still unstoppable. With just one charge, the Western Chu cavalry tore a big hole in Zhao Han's battle formation, and then drove Zhao Han's army directly. It was torn in half, and it completely submerged the chaotic Han army soldiers like a tide.In the end, the poor Zhao Han was stabbed to death by Xiang Yu himself with a spear, and the [-] Han soldiers were almost slaughtered by the Western Chu cavalry, and only less than a hundred escaped by chance!

The corpses of the generals of the Han army were covered with yellow ground, and the horseshoes of the Western Chu cavalry were covered with blood, leaving countless blood spots on the road. The crimson Han army flags were scattered everywhere, and the dark red Western Chu army flags fluttered in the wind. , hunting sound.

Zhao Han and his [-] subordinates did not sacrifice in vain, at least let Zhong Limei, who was stationed in Suanzao, understand that going out is tantamount to death, so when the Western Chu cavalry came to the city of Suanzao, Zhongli Mei, who had learned his lesson, decisively chose to close the camp and stick to it. Trying in vain to lure the Western Chu cavalry to attack their strong camp, and buy time for Uncle Zhou behind him to prepare for the battle.

It still had no effect. Xiang Yu's primary goal this time was Ao Cang instead of Suanzao. Naturally, it was impossible to waste his precious time for Suanzao. He decisively chose to bypass the camp and continued to go straight to Ao Cang. Zhong Limei, who had more troops, could neither beat Xiang Yu nor catch up with Xiang Yu, so he could only watch the Western Chu cavalry go westward around Suanzao, and said silently: "Uncle Zhou, I'm sorry, now It depends on whether you can hold Ao Cang."

For the Han army, it was a blessing in misfortune. Although the general of the Han army who stayed in Aocang, Zhou Shu, was the same as Xiang Kang, in order to satisfy the eagerness of the main civil and military personnel of the Han army to welcome back their relatives, he was forced to agree with the main force of the Han army to take advantage of the emptiness to attack Pengcheng. The tactical plan did not dare to ignore the threat from the due east. As early as when Xiang Kang led the army to set off, Uncle Zhou had already started to arrange the defense plan of Aocang, and made a lot of defensive preparations in advance.

So although Xiang Yu came very suddenly and at an unimaginable speed, Uncle Zhou didn't panic at all. On the contrary, when he received the news that Xiang Yu personally led the army to attack, Uncle Zhou still sneered and said: "It really came, It is said that the overlord of Western Chu fights like lightning and attacks like fire, but I think it is normal. At least, he came a day later than I expected!"

With a sneer of incomparable confidence, Uncle Zhou, in addition to immediately letting the [-] Han soldiers under his command to prepare for the battle according to the original plan, just sent a letter to Zhong Limo, and asked in the letter: "Xiang Yu is coming to the west! If Xiang Yu bypasses Suanzao and goes directly to the west, the general must take the initiative to go east to meet Sima Ang, and burn the things he escorted at all costs. Military supplies, this is related to the life and death of Ao Cang and our army, I hope the general will do it!"

After bypassing Suanzao, it took less than a day, and just after noon the next day, the Western Chu cavalry led by Xiang Yu successfully arrived at the Honggou Ferry near Aocang. What surprised Xiang Yu and the Western Chu cavalry was Because they came so fast, the soldiers of the Han army guarding the ferry didn't even have time to destroy the two pontoon bridges on the Honggou Ferry. They just cut off the rope of one pontoon bridge, and were killed by the Western Chu cavalry from the other pontoon bridge. Scattered, and fled back to the Han army camp established on Guangwu Mountain.

"Okay, quickly send someone to fix the pontoon bridge!"

I never expected that I would have such good luck that I could cross the chasm before the Han army destroyed the pontoon bridge. Xiang Yu, who thought it would take a lot of effort to cross the river, was of course overjoyed. The soldiers of the Han army cut off the ropes on another pontoon bridge, and then they had to lead the army to cross the river first, but Xiang Zhuang next to him stopped him and said, "Brother, you are the commander of the whole army, so you can't take risks easily. The pontoon bridge of the Han bandits is not very good. Wide, we can’t cross the river so fast, if you cross the river first, and the Han bandit army suddenly crosses the river again, we can’t respond back and forth, and I’m afraid we will suffer a lot.”

"It's already this time, if this king doesn't cross the river first, who would dare to risk his life to go forward?"

Xiang Yu didn't want to obey, and still insisted on crossing the river first, Xiang Zhuang tried to persuade him to stop him, and Zhou Lan, Xiang Yu's favorite cavalry general, also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, you are a man of gold, so you can't take risks easily. Let’s lead our troops across the river first.”

Knowing that both Zhou Lan and Xiang Zhuang had good intentions, Xiang Yu reluctantly nodded and agreed to let Zhou Lan cross the river first, and then warned: "After crossing the river, if the Han bandit army suddenly breaks out, you must not take the risk of fighting. Guard the crossing of the pontoon bridge, and wait for the king to lead the main force to cross the river before finding the Han bandit army to settle the score."

Zhou Lan clasped her fists and sang a promise, and then led the five thousand cavalrymen under his command to lead the horses across the river, and marched to the other side of the chasm in an orderly manner. During this period, there was no movement in the camp of the Han army, as if they were completely afraid of the cavalrymen of Western Chu. Watching Zhou Lan's troops cross the river and forming an formation, Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but feel more complacent, and said with a smile: "It is said that Uncle Zhou uses troops like ghosts, even my traitor brother admires him!" Extremely, this king looks average, besides being able to close the camp to the death, I really don't know what else he can do!"

"Dong dong dong dong dong!"

The sudden sound of war drums made Xiang Yu stunned, and then, amidst the shouts, a Han army infantry rushed out at the same time from behind Aocang Mountain in the west and behind Guangwu Mountain in the east. Heading towards the ferry surrounded by Guangwu Mountain and Aocang Mountain, Xiang Yu came back to his senses and said with a slightly surprised smile: "There is really an ambush? Uncle Zhou is not small, dare to ambush my king's army!" ?”

It's so easy to be ambushed, of course Xiang Yu is not nervous, but because Zhou Lan's five thousand Western Chu cavalry have basically crossed the river at this moment, and have already set up a defensive phalanx combining infantry and cavalry at the pontoon bridge ferry In addition, the Western Chu cavalry were all carefully selected elite and strong soldiers. Even if Uncle Zhou attacked with all his strength, Zhou Lan's army would never have any possibility of being quickly killed by the Han army.

The result was just as Xiang Yu expected. Seeing the Han army rushing out from left to right, Zhou Lan's troops on the other side of the Western Chu cavalry were only a little surprised, and then immediately stabilized their positions and prepared to fight. Xiang Yu also ordered Xiang Zhuang to lead the second Zhixi Chu cavalry attacked and crossed the chasm to reinforce Zhou Lan's troops.But as soon as he gave the order, Xiang Yu's face changed, because at the upper reaches of the chasm, suddenly thick smoke rose into the sky, and dozens of fire rafts loaded with bundles of thatch fire rushed down the river, blazing and pressing towards the two people on the chasm. Road to the pontoon!

"You man! How courageous! You actually want to eat the king's river-crossing cavalry in one bite!"

When he was furious, Xiang Yu could only send cavalry to shoot arrows to prevent the Han soldiers from manipulating fire rafts to burn down the pontoon bridge, while ordering Xiang Zhuang to cross the river to reinforce Zhou Lan. Rear army crossing the river for reinforcements!In addition, Xiang Yu hastily sent people to find the shallow river section of the boundary, so that the self-armed army could cross the river for reinforcements.

At this time, the soldiers of the Han army who had rushed out from the left and right had already rushed to the vicinity of the Western Chu army's phalanx. What made the Western Chu army sneer again was that the Han army's ambush did not even adjust the formation, and just raised their shields while shouting. Continue to charge, so bold as to try to kill the solid phalanx of the Western Chu army directly by charging.Zhou Lan was also polite, and hurriedly ordered: "Shoot the arrow, show the traitor some color!"

The dense rain of arrows quickly caused a lot of casualties to the soldiers of the Han army, but the soldiers of the Han army still seemed to have taken the wrong medicine, and continued to move forward desperately with red eyes. When they got close to the front of the Western Chu army, the soldiers of the Western Chu army who dismounted and fought quickly raised their spears and prepared to meet the enemy. Unexpectedly, the crowd of the Han army threw dozens of small black things one after another. The parabola crossed over the heads of the front team of the Western Chu Army, and hit the horses behind them!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The primitive grenades that exploded one after another caught the soldiers of the Western Chu Army off guard. They were all stunned. They didn't know what happened, but the worst was yet to come. When they were attacked by the primitive grenades, the horses of the Western Chu Army suddenly fell into chaos. , Countless horses galloped wildly in fright, hissing miserably, rampaging inside the phalanx of the Western Chu Army, knocking over countless soldiers of the Western Chu Army, and trampling to death countless soldiers of the Western Chu Army. .

"Kill!"

Of course, the soldiers of the Han army would not miss such a good opportunity. Shouting crazily, the soldiers of the Han army rushed up like a tide, hacking and stabbing desperately to kill the soldiers of the Western Chu army who were rushed by the horses. The soldiers of the Western Chu Army were killed with blood flying everywhere, and they fell to the ground without chaos.At the same time, Uncle Zhou also personally led the main force of the Han army to rush out of the Guangwu Mountain camp, and rushed to the ferry battlefield for reinforcements with a sinister smile.

If there were no threats from the Han army's fire rafts and the chasm blocking the way, then needless to say, Xiang Yu only needs to give an order, and immediately lead the rest of the Western Chu cavalry to charge collectively, and kill the Han army officers and soldiers who are at a disadvantage in terms of overall strength. , A piece of armor is not left behind!But the problem is that the chasm blocked the way for the cavalry of the Western Chu Army to charge, and the burning fire raft was approaching the pontoon bridge. The Western Chu Army had no way to immediately deploy troops, and had to worry about retreating after crossing the river. Xiang Yu didn't even have the guts to order the army to charge through the two narrow pontoon bridges collectively to reinforce the opposite bank.

If it weren't for those damned primitive grenades, Zhou Lan's unit of the Western Chu Army might not have no hope of repelling the Han army's attack, but the problem is that the Han army officers and soldiers played tricks and used grenades to clear the way when they encountered difficulties. I have never seen primitive grenades. The soldiers of the western Chu army fell into chaos as soon as they were bombed again. There was no way to form a solid formation to resist the attack of the Han army.

In fact, the situation of the soldiers of the Western Chu Army who dismounted and fought is better. The most unlucky ones are those Western Chu cavalry who are still riding on their horses. As long as the primitive grenade hits their crowd and explodes, their horses will inevitably run away uncontrollably In this era, there are no high bridge saddles and stirrups to help them fix their bodies. Countless cavalrymen of the Western Chu Army who were less able to ride were injured and even died directly after falling off their horses. Running, becoming the bow and arrow prey of the generals of the Han army, the number of casualties quickly caught up with the dismounted infantry.

The more troublesome thing is yet to come. After a fierce battle, the first fire raft hit the pontoon bridge first. Although the Xichu soldiers on the bridge tried their best to block it with their spears, after more fire rafts hit it, the first fire raft The pontoon bridge was still burned quickly, and the soldiers on the bridge screamed and fell into the water, drowning countless people. The fire rafts of the Han army continued to move forward under the impetus of the current, and quickly approached the second pontoon bridge. It can't be guaranteed in a blink of an eye.

Seeing this situation, Xiang Yu was completely helpless besides scolding Uncle Zhou for his shamelessness and cunning. In the end, Xiang Yu had no choice but to accept the suggestion of his subordinates, and for the first time hurriedly sounded the golden bell for retreating, and let Zhou Lan lead the defeated troops to withdraw On the battlefield, find another ferry to cross the river to escape, so as to reduce the loss of soldiers of our own army.At the same time, Xiang Zhuang saw that the situation was wrong, so he had no choice but to order the floating bridge to be abandoned, and the soldiers who had crossed the river were withdrawn to prevent them from dying in vain.

The matter was not over yet, when they heard Jin Zheng's voice, the cavalrymen of Zhou Lan's troops, who had been killed long ago, rushed to the pontoon bridge to escape for their lives. During the scramble, of course, countless soldiers and horses of the Western Chu Army fell into the water, and many were drowned. Xiang Yu was so angry that he cursed, but there was nothing he could do.

In the end, after the fire raft of the Han army burned down the second pontoon bridge, Zhou Lan's troops, who were isolated on the south bank, fled downstream and retreated in groups. The soldiers of the Han army pursued and killed countless people. The defeated Western Chu soldiers on war horses also had quite a few captives. Of the [-] Western Chu cavalry who first crossed the chasm, only a thousand cavalry escaped from the shallow water downstream to the north bank of the chasm by chance. The first defeat, or a big defeat!
After the great victory, the cheers of the Han army continued, and the excited Han soldiers were cheering everywhere. Generals such as Lu Kuang, Li Bi, and Chong Da also flocked to Uncle Zhou, scrambling to praise Uncle Zhou for his military skills. , I regretted not being able to lure Xiang Yu to lead the army to cross the river first, and missed the precious opportunity to capture the thief first and capture the king first.However, Uncle Zhou was not happy, and said: "This is just the beginning. After all, the chasm was dug by manpower, and the water flow is gentle. It is already early winter, and the water flow is relatively low. There are river sections that can be directly passed by everywhere. The bandit army will make a comeback soon, and our tough battle is yet to come."

"General, what shall we do next?" Li Bi asked.

"The next initiative is not in our hands." Uncle Zhou replied: "In the hands of General Zhonglimei, if he can help us burn down the military supplies escorted by Mr. Sima Yong, then we will have to fight this battle, but If General Zhongli can't do this, even I won't be sure to keep Ao Cang."

"Why?" Li Bi asked very strangely: "There are two counties, Juanxian and Yangwu, to the east of the Honggou. The county town can also seize enough food and grass for them to eat for a long time, so it will not affect the Western Chu bandit army at all?"

"Little Zhuzi, you must break the casserole and ask the truth?" Uncle Zhou scolded with a smile, and said, "The bandit army can capture civilian food and supplies, but what about the military tents? It’s the beginning of winter, and it’s possible to snow at any time, and there’s no military tent to keep out the cold, so why don’t you sleep in the wild for one night in the snowy weather?”

Li Bi suddenly realized, and hurriedly said: "No wonder you, General, just emptied the military supplies in Juan County and Yangwu, and ignored the food in the city. So you are here waiting for the Western Chu bandit army!"

Li Bi didn't ask in vain. After a little calculation, Li Bi thought of something on his own, and hurriedly said: "General, if we want to count on General Zhongli to help us defeat the enemy, the best way is to quickly find a way to kill the Western Chu thief army. Lure the chasm, otherwise, the Western Chu rebels are all cavalry, at most it only takes one day to return from the other side of the chasm to Suanzao to meet Simaang's rebels."

Uncle Zhou's heart trembled, and it was only then that he realized that he was so secretive, that he forgot to consider this important issue, nodded his head hurriedly, and said, "Yes, we must immediately lure the Xichu bandit army across the gap, otherwise, let them If we return to the army and Sima Yang comes to reinforce us, then we will be in big trouble."

(End of this chapter)