Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 308 tit for tat
Returning in defeat again, and leading the main force of the Western Chu Army back to the camp, Xiang Yu's face was always gloomy and frightening. He only said a few words, and ordered the rear of the Western Chu Army to continue to rush to build offensive weapons, and ordered the rear to deploy troops to reinforce the front line. He sent someone to Hanoi to investigate the specific situation of the Western Chu side teacher, and then he didn't say a word for a whole day, and his cronies such as Fan Zeng and Cao Jiu didn't dare to say anything, for fear of offending Xiang Yu, who had a bad temper, and made him act again on impulse. Something that cannot be returned.

The more suppressed the anger, the more terrifying and shocking it will be when it erupts. A day later, Xiang You finally sent someone to send a report, admitting that he had indeed suffered a disastrous defeat in Hanoi, and shamelessly shifted all responsibility to others For example, when the reinforcements of the Han army suddenly appeared, the subordinates headed by Xue Gong panicked and were afraid of fighting.In short, everything is the fault of others. General Xiang You was only held back by his pig teammates, so he accidentally lost the battle.

It is a pity that General Xiang You's move may be possible to hide from other commanders, but it is destined to be hidden from Xiang Yu, who is better than anyone else in frontal battles. He has not read all of General Xiang You's military reports. Xiang Yu's roar The eardrums of the civil and military soldiers of the Western Chu Army were already numb...

"Excuses! You can only make excuses! What if the Han bandits suddenly arrive when reinforcements arrive? So what if Mr. Xue and his gang are timid and afraid of fighting? So what if Zhao's bandits dare not move forward? What kind of problems are these? The general took the lead and encouraged the soldiers to fight bravely. Which one of these problems can’t be easily solved? After fighting the war like this, how dare you have the face to make excuses?!”

"Come here! Send people to Chaoge immediately, and bring Xiang You to this king, and take him to Xingyang for a serious punishment!"

Under the lingering anger, Xiang Yu once wanted to kill his relatives righteously, and brought Xiang You, who had lost his face, to Xingyang for punishment. As a result, Xiang Bo, Master Xiang, who was next to him, naturally panicked, and hurriedly put down his elder airs and pleaded guilty to Xiang Yu, snotting his nose With tears in his eyes, he begged Xiang Yu to forgive him and send his precious son lightly.Considering that Master Xiang Bo is one of the few important ministers of the Western Chu Army who can influence Xiang Yu's decision, in order to sell Master Xiang's favor, Kuai Che and Li Zuoche also stood up to support Master Xiang, and strongly begged Xiang Yu not to care too much about Xiang You of this fiasco.

"Your Majesty, victory or defeat is nothing more than a common matter in military affairs. General Xiang You was unfortunately defeated this time. The main reason was that the reinforcements from the Guanzhong of the Han bandits arrived suddenly and stabbed us in the back. The failure is not a crime of war. I hope that the king will be lightened." Fa Luo, don't severely punish the general for an accidental defeat, chilling the hearts of our soldiers."

To put it bluntly, considering that Xiang You is his cousin after all, and Uncle Xiang and his sons are also members of the Xiang family who firmly supported him to kill Xiang Kang, Xiang Yu finally changed his mind and shouted to demote Xiang Youjue to three ranks. Master Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly thanked Xiang Yu for his precious son, and also thanked Kuai Che and Li Zuoche in a low voice for helping to intercede.

Seeing that Master Xiang had accepted his favor, Kuai Che seized the opportunity to strike while the iron was hot, and said to Xiang Yu: "Your Majesty, unfortunately, our partial division occasionally suffers a small setback, and the pressure on the Han bandits on the battlefield in Hanoi has been greatly reduced. On the battlefield of Aocang in Xingyang, our army still wants to rely on a frontal attack to take down the Guangwu camp of the Han bandits or the important area of ​​Aocang, which is bound to be more difficult. What to do next, I hope the king will make a plan early."

Xiang Yu nodded, and then said: "What this king means is that after Xiang Sui, Huan Chu, and Xiang Han lead the rear army, we will first attack Aocang and then take Xingyang, and gradually cut off the wings of Xiang Kang's rebels, and then wipe out the rebels. The main force of the traitors, what do you think?"

"Follow this step early, why do we need to recruit troops from the rear to reinforce the front line?"

Kuai Che was slandered in his heart, and of course he didn't dare to say it out of his mouth. He just cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this may not be enough. The Han bandit army is tenacious, and Xiang Kangni has an endless supply of people about Zhongba and Shu." The thieves provide military supplies and supplies for the soldiers. With the power of our Western Chu country alone, we are really not strong enough to attack the Han thieves. The best thing is to actively contact the princes outside the pass, and use their strength to defeat the thieves together, so that it is possible to achieve rapid success at the lowest cost."

"The foreign ministers also think that it is necessary to step up contact with the princes outside the pass and actively use their strength to defeat the bandits." Li Zuoche also said: "Xiang Kang's rebels continue to deploy troops from the rear to reinforce the front line. His rear has been greatly reduced. Among them, even if there is only one group of troops who can take advantage of the emptiness to enter Guanzhong, or cut off the road connection between Xiang Kang's rebels and Guanzhong, the situation on the Xingyang battlefield will definitely be completely reversed, so that our army can take the initiative and destroy the enemy with ease."

"Of course this king knows about these things." Xiang Yu said impatiently: "This king has been doing this for a long time. In addition to winning over Zhao Guo, this king has also sent someone to contact Shen Yang to persuade him to rein in the precipice. He sent troops north to attack Luoyang, the Gou family, and asked Liu Ji to station troops in Ye County to force him to obey. In addition, the king has sent people to contact Zhang Han, Dong Yi, and Sima Xin in the north of Shanxi, and asked them to send troops to attack Yun. Zhonggami County. Do you need to remind me of such a simple matter?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me. I think this is far from enough." Kuai Che retorted cautiously, and added: "Especially on the southern front, our army carefully found out that the most important reason why Shenyang rebelled against Chu Touhan It is because he is dissatisfied with the king that you only granted him a county of Yingchuan, and has resentment towards you, the king. Now that he openly betrays Chu, he will definitely be afraid that you will ask the king for his crimes in the future. It may be difficult to make him go astray with the persuasion of an emissary. .”

"And if Shen Yang continues to be obsessed with his obsession, not only will King Nanyang's army not be able to quickly go north to reinforce us, but he will also be unable to take advantage of the emptiness to enter the Guanzhong from Wuguan. His army alone will be able to protect the rear and peace for Xiang Kang's rebels. The dual function of covering the flanks. Therefore, for Shen Yang, our best solution should be to use both kindness and force, and try our best to win him back."

"Then how can I show both kindness and prestige?" Xiang Yu asked casually.

"My subordinates suggest that it is best for the king to mobilize an army as soon as possible, and return to Daliang to enter the hinterland of Yingchuan from Qifeng and Weishi." (There is Fangshan mountain range blocking, there is no way to go directly south to Yingchuan from the Yingyang battlefield.)
Kuai Che said very calmly: "At the same time, your majesty sent another envoy to tell Shen Yang clearly that you, your majesty, made an oath publicly that you would never pursue Shen Yang's previous crime of betrayal. Give it to Shen Yang as compensation. In this way, Shen Yang's heart will be greatly disturbed, and our army will send troops to attack Shen Yang with Nanyang Wang Nanbei, and he will fall to us more easily under fear. Continue to be obsessed with obsession, and with the help of our partial teachers, Nanyang King is also very sure to quickly attack Shenyang, take Yangzhai and Yangcheng directly to the hinterland of Sanchuan, and cut off the main force of the Han bandits from the road behind."

After thinking about it, I found that I need not be afraid of a decisive battle with the Han army in the field, and at the same time need time to wait for the reinforcements from the rear to help attack the fortifications. Instead of letting the main force stay idle on the Xingyang battlefield, it is better to send out a partial division to force Shenyang Defecting or helping Liu Laosan kill Shen Yang as soon as possible will not only add obstacles to Xiang Kang's flanks, but also take the opportunity to lure Xiang Kang to send troops for a decisive battle.Xiang Yu nodded decisively and said: "This plan is feasible. I will let Gong Ao lead an army of [-] to go south to help Liu Ji force Shen Yang to submit."

"Your Majesty, this is not enough." Kuai Che continued: "Although Liu Ji and Xiang Kang's traitorous feud is as deep as sea, and it is impossible to reconcile, we must also prevent him from preserving his strength and dare not go against Xiang Kang. The thief will fight to the end. In addition, Linjiang Wang Yingbo, who is further south, cannot idle his army. His subordinates suggested that the king might as well send an envoy to tell Liu Ji and Yingbo clearly that after defeating Xiangkang's rebels, Hanzhong should be enfeoffed. Give it to Liu Ji, assign Bajun and Shujun to Yingbu, and ask them to send troops to the north to help us fight against Xiang Kang's rebels."

"In addition." Kuai Che quickly added: "Your Majesty, you might as well understand the promise again. If Shen Yang refuses to submit, then as long as Liu Ji helps us destroy Shen Yang, you will entrust Yingchuan to Liu Ji, so Liu Ji We must attack Shen Yang with all our strength, and as long as he succeeds, Xiang Kang's traitor's flanks will be in danger immediately, and the situation will immediately become favorable to us."

"Okay, let's do it like this." Xiang Yu nodded again, and said, "I'll send someone to contact Liu Ji and Ying Bu in a while, and tell them to send troops to the north immediately to help us."

"Your Majesty, why is it necessary to ask Yingbu to send troops directly to the north?" Old man Fan raised a different opinion and said, "Isn't it more convenient to ask him to go directly to Bajun from Wuxian County, or to ask him to enter Wuguan via Nanyang? It can prevent Xiang Kang's rebels from deploying the troops in Bashu Han to reinforce Sanchuan, and directly reduce the frontal resistance for us."

"Yafu, it is indeed a way to let the king of Linjiang go directly to Bajun or Wuguan, but there are two points, but it is doomed to be impossible to succeed."

Kuai Che immediately retorted and said calmly: "First, the road to Shu is too difficult, and the transportation of grain and grass is too inconvenient. Even if the king of Linjiang ordered to send troops, it would be difficult to exert enough pressure on Xiang Kang's rebels. Guarding the dangerous points and fortifying layers of defenses is enough to buy countless time for Xiang Kang's rebels. Second, Bajun and Wuguan are thousands of miles away from Xingyang, and it is difficult for our king to grasp the movements of King Linjiang's army. If King Linjiang wants to To preserve our strength, our king has nothing to do with him. So the best way is to let the king of Linjiang send troops to the north and directly join the Sanchuan battlefield, so that our king can keep track of his movements at any time, so that the king of Linjiang dare not give birth to save The idea of ​​strength."

The favor that Kuai Che had sold before played a role at this moment, and Master Xiang Bo immediately jumped out and said, "Your Majesty, what Dr. Kuai said is very true. Without you watching closely, that idiot Yingbo would probably have given birth to a child." The idea of ​​preserving strength might covet the benefits promised by the traitor Xiang Kang and betray Chu Touhan like the traitor Shenyang. So the best way is to drag him to the Sanchuan battlefield and force him to attack Xiang Kang with all his strength. Kang rebel, so that we can prevent everything in case."

Master Xiang Bo can indeed influence Xiang Yu's decision. Considering that the distance is too far and he can't control Yingbo at all, Xiang Yu nodded quickly and said, "Yes, we should ask Yingbo to go directly north, so that we don't have to be afraid. He's not working hard."

"There is also Zhao Guo's army, we must also strengthen our efforts to win and use it."

It is rare to have the opportunity to speak freely in front of Xiang Yu. Kuai Che has no reservations this time, and hastened to say: "Zhao Guo has repeatedly betrayed us and Xiang Kang's rebels in more than half a year. He is extremely shameless. Now even if they have sent troops to Hanoi to fight against Xiang Kang's rebels, we must guard against them just pretending to be false, quietly preserving their strength, and even greedy for profit, and suddenly stabbed us in the back. Fortunately, the ministers have already thought of a plan , Your Majesty only needs to act according to the plan, Zhao Guo’s army will definitely not make any reservations, and will do their best to help us attack Xiang Kang’s bandit army, and will definitely not betray Chu Touhan again and become a hidden danger behind us.”

"Oh, what's the doctor's plan? Tell me quickly." Xiang Yu became interested.

"It's very simple. Please ask the king to secretly agree to make Zhao Xiang Zhang Er the king." Kuai Che said in a deep voice: "Zhao Xie is only called Zhao Wang, but in fact all the power of the Zhao country is controlled by Zhang Er. He has the heart to be a king himself, but because of his prestige and background, he dare not presume. If the king secretly promises to divide the land of Zhao State into two after the Han Dynasty is destroyed, and he also can be named a vassal king, then the actual control Zhang Er, who is in great power in the state of Zhao, will definitely help our army to fight against the Han thieves with all his strength, and will not have the heart of repeating himself."

"Sure enough! That's the way to do it!" Xiang Yu clapped his hands and applauded. Old Man Fan and Cao Jiu also gasped. Li Zuoche from the Zhao Kingdom smiled wryly, secretly lamenting that his mother country would be split again, but he didn't speak out against it—who told Li Zuoche to have already betrayed the Zhao Kingdom?
Seeing that Xiang Yu finally obeyed his advice completely, Kuai Che was overjoyed, but also complacent, and secretly said: "Xiang Kang's traitor, as long as we adopt these correct vertical and horizontal strategies, I think you can still play well." What tricks."

When Kuai Che was proud, Master Xiang Bo, who was anxious to help his precious son redeem his sins, suddenly remembered a big event, got up hurriedly, walked in front of Xiang Yu, and whispered in Xiang Yu's ear: "Your Majesty, the old man is still here!" I forgot one big thing, do you still remember the South Korean Situ Zhangliang who secretly contacted us before? He is still by the side of Xiang Kang, that little villain. He can get in touch with the military situation of the little villain. Why don’t we use it? Threatening Han Cheng's life, and then luring him with a high-ranking official and generous salary, forcing him to act as our internal correspondent and always report the decisions and movements of the little evil animal?"

Xiang Yu's one-eyed eyes lit up, and he nodded immediately: "Okay, I'll leave this matter to you, Uncle Ji, the sooner you get in touch with him, the better."

…………

"Ah!"

At the same time, in the Guangwu Camp of the Han Army, Zhang Liang, who was discussing matters with Xiang Kang and Chen Ping, suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose. It proves that Qi Wang Tianshi and Qi Xiangtian Rong have both been poisoned by the Xichu bandit army, then we should try our best to win over Peng Yue, the big bandit of Juyeze who was previously canonized by Tianshi Tianrong, and win him over, so that he can be in the The Western Chu bandit army roams in the rear and fights, sharing the pressure on the frontal battlefield for us."

"It's a good idea, and I have long planned to win Peng Yue over." Xiang Kang said worriedly, "But we have never had contact with him before, and we basically know nothing about his situation, so we suddenly sent someone to win him over. I'm afraid it won't be so easy for him to risk his life at any time to wander and fight behind the Xichu bandit army?"

"Don't worry, my lord, the foreign ministers can assert that as long as you try to win Peng Yue over, your lord, he will definitely not refuse." Zhang Liang replied confidently: "There are two reasons. First, Peng Yue is a man with great ambitions. The land of Chu is a bandit, and he refuses to attach himself to the king of Western Chu, instead he chooses to surrender to the weak and weak state of Qi. Lu, Xu Yu is a noble and fief, he must submit to our army and accept your orders and commands, Your Majesty."

"The second reason is the lessons learned from Qi's descending army, and it is also destined that he must fight to the death with the Western Chu army." Zhang Liang said again: "The king of Western Chu was tyrannical and widowed. When he was in Qi before, even if he had already The Qi soldiers who surrendered to him were all buried alive by him. Peng Yue returned to Qi to attack Chu, and he was bound to be afraid that the King of Western Chu would treat him like this. The disaster of killing his life was in front of him, and we would lure him to benefit. Of course he would have no reason to refuse."

Naturally, Xiang Kang knew far better than Xiang Yu how to unite vertically and horizontally. After a little calculation, Xiang Kang decided to make Peng Yue the general of the Han army and add Taohou to the five counties, so as to win over Peng Yue for his own use.In addition, considering that he was sending envoys to venture deep into the enemy's rear anyway, Xiang Kang decided on his own to confer the title of Marquis of Changyi on Yongchi, who was still in Fengyi, who had once admired him so much. Yong Chi raised troops to respond to Peng Yue and helped Peng Yue make trouble behind the Western Chu army.

The matter was not over yet, after Xiang Kang made these two decisions, Zhang Liang suggested again: "Your Majesty, since you are extremely worried about Liu Ji, the puppet king of Nanyang, because of his dispatch of troops to Ye County, you even prepared to mobilize General Zheng Bu to prevent it. In case of preparations, why don't you consider winning Yingbo? Bring him over and let him be used by us? If this is successful, Liu Ji's rear will be in a hurry, so why do we need to worry about Liu Ji's treatment of us? What about flanking threats?"

This time without Xiang Kang opening his mouth, Wu Shi, one of the old men in Shangshan, has already smiled and said: "Mr. Zifang, are you joking? Peng Yue is afraid that the Western Chu bandits will seek revenge on him, so he may be drawn by us." Come here, but why should Yingbo turn his back on Chu Touhan and submit to us instead? Not only did the King of Western Chu not have any enmity with him, but he also treated him kindly. On the contrary, we once had a battle with him in Nanyang and forged a grudge against him. What reason does he have to abandon Chu to Han and help us deal with the King of Western Chu?"

"Not necessarily." Zhang Liang shook his head and pointed out: "If the King of Western Chu wants Yingbo to send troops to deal with us, there are nothing more than two ways. Take it out as bait to lure Yingbo to send troops, but there is still Liu Ji beside Yingbo who needs to be appeased. Foreign ministers estimate that King Dingtian of Western Chu just agreed to entrust Bashu to Yingbo as a reward after the victory. Bring out anything decent to lure Yingbu to send troops."

"If the King of Western Chu uses the first method, Yingbo will definitely not agree, and it will definitely be much easier for us to win him over." Zhang Liang continued: "Even if the King of Western Chu is generous and gives everything he has If he really agreed to entrust the land of Bashu to Yingbo, Yingbo might not be tempted. The reason is also very simple, Bashu is too remote, and the transportation with Nanjun is too inconvenient, even if Yingbo gets it, it doesn't mean much. "

Speaking of this, Zhang Liang paused for a moment, and then asked gloomily: "Since that is the case, if you have allocated enough benefits to make Yingbo tempted, why wouldn't Yingbo be tempted to follow Shen Yang's example and change the situation?" To submit to us?"

Xiang Kang was thinking about going to see Chen Ping, but Chen Ping blinked his triangular eyes, and said suddenly: "It's worth a try, not to mention anything else, just a prosperous and populous Nanyang County is enough to make Yingbo tempted. But just It's just to lure him for profit, I'm afraid the strength is not enough. The best way is to lure him for profit and at the same time create a separation, so that the king of Western Chu will have suspicion of Yingbo, so that we can be more sure of winning Yingbo over. "

Xiang Kang smiled and said: "Then don't be dumbfounded, let's do it, let my elder brother have doubts about Yingbo first."

(End of this chapter)