Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 374
Relying on the barrier of Wenshui, Feng Zhongjun finally won another day's rest, allowing the exhausted soldiers to take a breath. However, the Zhou Lan Department of the Western Chu Army, who was afraid of going west, found a ferry downstream to cross the river. After receiving the news, the Jinbei Army dispatched troops to intercept, and it was only at dawn the next day that Feng Zhongjun had no choice but to quickly set off to the north, and fled to Suiji in the north according to the original plan. The important task is to guard the ferry to prevent the Western Chu army from crossing the river and buy time for the main brigade to retreat.

During this period, Ding Gu, who was afraid of being questioned by Xiang Yu, also used boats and rafts to initiate a rush to cross. Fortunately, Gangting was remote, with few boats and inconvenient manipulation of rafts. It was difficult for the Western Chu army to send troops to the north bank. Tenaciously resisting and fighting bravely, the rear troops of Feng Zhongjun led by Xu Ci gritted their teeth and repelled the rushing crossing of the Western Chu Army. Start a frantic pursuit.

In the evening of the same day, the messenger sent by the Western Chu Army also sent the news that Feng Zhongjun fled northward and entered the territory of Jibei County to Boyang City, the capital of Jibei. Tai Sui, who was quite angry with Feng Zhongjun, dared to flee into his own territory, but because he didn't have a deep enmity with Feng Zhongjun, he was not in a hurry to kill Feng Zhongjun until the next morning. Tian Jiao, the general of the dispatch department, led an army of [-] troops westward to help the Western Chu army encircle and pursue Feng Zhongjun.

The slow response of the Jinbei Army gave Feng Zhongjun a chance to successfully capture Suiji. In the afternoon of the next day, the Jinbei Army was still on its way westward to Suiji, and Feng Zhongjun's front team had already reached Suiji, and they easily captured this place. Only a township protected by Tuweizi opened the way for Feng Zhongjun to continue northward, and also captured some grain and supplies to supply the army.

However, a more severe test is yet to come. The Suiji area is sparsely populated and the roads are narrow, and it has been repeatedly devastated by the war. It was too late to repair the road surface. As a result, on most sections of the road, the family members of the Han army could only get out of the car and walk forward, which seriously slowed down Feng Zhongjun's marching speed. Later, the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun could only take turns carrying the family members of the Han army on the march, and the burden on the soldiers was even heavier.

Fortunately, there are disadvantages as well as advantages. The narrow roads and complex terrain provided Feng Zhongjun with an ideal ambush position. When Feng Zhongjun's rear team was about to catch up with the main brigade, Feng Zhongjun, who had accumulated a lot of battlefield experience, was bitten by the Western Chu Army. He used this terrain to fight a beautiful ambush, and ambushed the army in the dangerous places on both sides of the road first. He rushed out suddenly and cut off the front team of the West Chu Army. Xu Ci turned around and fought back.

After the ambush succeeded, Feng Zhongjun, who was chased by the Western Chu army, not only got a certain morale boost, but also successfully rotated the rear army, and another young commander, the old man Wang Fang, led the rear army, which made Xu Ci's exhausted The Army got a respite.At the same time, Feng Zhong adopted Li Shiqi's suggestion, chose another position suitable for an ambush, planted false flags in the woods on both sides of the road, and used suspicious soldiers to intimidate the enemy chasing troops behind, buying time for the army to go north.

Li Shiqi's strategy of suspicious soldiers also received miraculous results. When he chased Feng Zhongjun's suspicious soldiers' positions, he saw Han army flags planted in the woods on both sides of the road. They stopped and waited for the rear army brigade to come for reinforcements. As a result, when Ding Gu arrived at the scene with the West Chu army brigade, after the scouts discovered that Feng Zhongjun was just bluffing, Feng Zhongjun had already gone far, and the West Chu army once again After wasting nearly two hours of precious time, Ding Gu was furious. While scolding the generals in charge of the front team, he hurriedly led the army to continue the pursuit, and tried his best to catch up with the target before Feng Zhongjun crossed Jishui.

The wharf in Lu County has become Feng Zhongjun’s greatest hope at present. If Feng Zhongjun’s front team can successfully capture the Lu County Wharf and capture enough boats to build a pontoon bridge for the army to cross the river, then needless to say, Feng Zhongjun will not only have time to rest in peace, You can also use Jishui to further increase the distance from the pursuers.But if Feng Zhongjun's front team failed to kill the enemy in Sanlu County and did not capture enough boats to cross the river, then it goes without saying that Feng Zhongjun's least would be a total defeat.

Still on the same day, the news that Feng Zhongjun fled northward into the territory of Jibei County was also sent by the fast horse to Xiang Yu, who was personally leading the army to hunt down Peng Yue's defeated soldiers. When he learned of this situation, the grumpy Xiang Yu was of course roaring. , yelling at Ding Gu and Zhou Lan for their ineffective pursuit, and then Xiang Yu angrily dispatched a fast horse to go northward along the galloping road to personally order Tiandu, the king of Jibei, to ask Tiandu to do his best to help the Western Chu army encircle and suppress the number one Western Chu army. The traitor Feng Zhong also threatened that if Feng Zhong was allowed to sneak out of Jibei County, then the fields must be beautiful!

When Xiang Yu sent someone to send this order, Wei Bugeng, Feng Zhongjun's former team, also rushed to the city of Lu County, and rushed to the wharf to confiscate the civilian boats at the first time. Although the Jinbei Army in Lu County had not had time to know why the Han army It will fall from the sky, but out of duty, they still hurriedly sent troops to stop it, and fought fiercely with Feng Zhongjun's front team at the pier outside the city.

Of course it was a bitter battle. Although the combat experience and weapons and equipment were higher than those of Lu County of the Jinbei Army, Feng Zhongjun still fought very hard because of his severe physical strength decline. Bu Geng personally rushed to the front line with his own soldiers to fight fiercely. After exhausting all his efforts and paying a considerable price, he managed to defeat the enemy in Lu County and captured more than 60 civilians. boats, and using these boats immediately set about scrambling to build pontoon bridges.

The next morning, when Feng Zhongjun's brigade was about to arrive at the pier, the hateful Lu County defenders not only went out of the city to stop them again, but also directly attacked the pontoon bridge that Feng Zhongjun had just built, trying to destroy the pontoon bridge to prevent Feng Zhongjun's brigade from crossing the river. Helpless, he had no choice but to lead the exhausted soldiers under his command to fight against the enemy in Lu County. He also suffered two consecutive wounds in the battle. This was the second time that Lu County defenders were driven back to the city.

After weeping and carrying Wei Bugeng, who was bleeding and comatose, onto a stretcher with his own hands, Feng Zhong once again led the army to take up the task of the rear. Amidst the cheers and the unwilling roars of the soldiers of the Western Chu Army, the last one withdrew through Jishui, and with the help of the huge flow of Jishui, once again temporarily blocked the Western Chu Army's pursuit and the Jibei Army that was about to follow.

Just like in Surabaya, Wenshui, Feng Zhong had just personally supervised the self-armed soldiers cutting down the pontoon bridge, and Feng Zhong immediately sat down on the pier on the north bank of Jishui, panting heavily, but with a gratified smile on his face, "It's finally here, and I can rest assured for a while."

Li Shiqi also came to Feng Zhong's side again, and sat down on the floor like Feng Zhong, admiring the annoyed expression of the Chu army's pursuers on the other side, and then Li Shiqi suddenly said: "General Feng, don't blame the old man for his ominous words. This old man always has a bad premonition that the Xichu thieves who were advancing westward on the south bank of Wenshui before may penetrate our west front and set up defenses to block them, waiting for us to take the initiative to go west and die."

He was already an old sparrow on the battlefield who crawled out of the pile of dead countless times. Of course, Feng Zhong was extremely worried about the movements of Zhou Lan's troops in the Western Chu Army. There is no other choice."

"What the old man means is, to be on the safe side, we'd better use Jishui to stop the pursuers for a while." Li Shiqi suggested: "During the period, we will send scouts to advance westward first, to Liping and Dong'a to investigate the enemy's situation, and when we find out the enemy Let's talk about the situation."

"It's unrealistic." Feng Zhong is less resourceful than Li Shiqi, but his actual combat experience is far superior. He immediately shook his head and said, "Liping and Dong'a are too far away. Even if our scouts go back and forth quickly, it will take at least three or four days. Time, after so much delay, Xiang Yu's bandit army must have collected enough ferries to cross the river, and even if Liping and Dong'a have no enemies, it will be difficult for us to get rid of the pursuit of the West Chu bandit army."

Li Shiqi's skinny old face was full of depression, and he said after a while: "Could it be that the blind man can only continue to ride a blind horse? Go west to try his luck? The old man is not afraid of death, but the princess and the others... If they fall into Xiang Yu again In the hands of ordinary people, I am afraid that the end will be miserable."

…………

Li Shiqi and Feng Zhong were worried on the west bank of Jishui, but they didn't know that Ding Gu, the general of the Western Chu Army who led the army to chase them, was also scratching his head, beating his chest and stamping his feet on the east bank of Jishui. Made a wedding dress for others, and worked hard, but in the end it was in vain for my colleague Zhou Lan—especially since Zhou Lan had just offended old General Ding Gu, of course, Old General Ding Gu was even more unwilling to let Zhou Lan choose in vain. Feng Zhongjun is a ripe peach.

"Is it really necessary to take advantage of Zhou Lan's little Zhuzi for nothing? If Feng Zhong continues to go west, he must pass through Dong'e. With his current situation, meeting Zhou Lan's Zhuzi in Dong'e is tantamount to giving away his fat. It got into the mouth of that little scorpion! After so many days of hard pursuit, I suffered so much, suffered so much, and finally took advantage of that little scorpion who dared to be disrespectful to this old man. Is this old man worth it?!"

Thinking of the fact that the feat of annihilating Feng Zhongjun and capturing all the family members of the Han army might benefit others, old general Ding Gu felt so painful that he wanted to grab the land with his head, regretting that he had not insisted on grabbing the good job to stop the westward advance. Suddenly, my heart moved, and I thought to myself: "Wait, can this old man think of another way to make Mr. Feng Zhong not go west, and not to take advantage of that little guy Zhou Lan? As long as Mr. Feng Zhong does not go west, no matter whether he goes west Whether it's east to south or north, the old man has hope to catch up with him again, and capture all the family members of the traitors!"

Such a thing, if it were someone else, would be extremely ridiculous, but who is Old General Ding Guding, the uncle of the general of the Western Chu Army, Ji Bu?During the historical battle of Pengcheng, King Xiang Yu beat Liu Laosan to pieces. General Ding was the first to lead his army to catch up with Liu Laosan. He only needed one knife to end the Chu-Han War early and let Xiang Yu win the world. But it was because Liu Laosan yelled "It's not good for two sages to meet each other" when he was desperate!Old General Ding got his head in the water and led the army to retreat, leaving Liu Laosan a way out and giving Liu Laosan a chance to make a comeback!
Perhaps it was because, like Liu Laosan, he was born as a mud-legged Pavilion Chief. At the most critical moment, Feng Zhong, the former Shiling Pavilion Chief, also encountered such a good thing, but after a little hesitation, Old General Ding Guding Gritting his teeth and resolutely, the anger rose from his heart, and the evil grew out of his guts. In order not to offend his junior Zhou Lan in vain, and to save himself a chance to make great achievements, he suddenly asked the soldiers to bring silk pen, wrote a letter on the spot, and then sent people to cross Jishui in a small boat with a white flag, and sent the letter to Feng Zhongjun on the other side...

…………

Feng Zhong saw that the Western Chu Army suddenly sent people across the river with a white flag. Of course, Feng Zhong, Li Shiqi and others were baffled. Curious, and because there is a habit of constant envoys between the two countries in this era, Feng Zhong still did not let his soldiers shoot arrows to stop him, and let the small boats of the Western Chu Army come to the wharf on the west bank of Jishui, writing in the name of persuading surrender General Ding's handwritten letter was soon presented to Feng Zhong and Li Shiqi.

Time was running short, and old General Ding had no time to polish the text. The letter was written in vernacular. The full text is as follows: "Brother Feng Zhong, how long are you going to be stubborn? Do you think you will be safe after crossing Jishui, and you can take the family members of the traitors with you?" Join up with the rebel Xiang Kang, and then go to Guanzhong to enjoy the glory and wealth? Let me tell you the truth, Zhou Lan led the army west in Wenshui before, and he was planning to go to Dong’e to block your westward run. When you go west again, it’s sheep coming into the tiger’s mouth, send the rest of your army and the family of the traitors to Zhou Lan, and let him kill him if he wants to, and kill him if he wants to kill him!”

"Don't be stubborn. Surrender to the old man. You don't know who the old man is. If you surrender to me and give the family of the traitor to the old man for meritorious service, how can the old man treat you badly? It's still the same sentence, as long as you take the traitor The family members are handed over to the old man, and the old man promises that at least one root will be left for you! Think about your son. Ding Gu worships."

After quickly reading Ding Gu's hastily written letter, Li Shiqi and Feng Zhong looked at each other, and then Feng Zhong asked in confusion: "What's going on? Why is this old man Ding Gu deliberately telling us that Zhou Lan is already waiting in Dong'a Like us? What does he want?"

Both wit and cunning are above Feng Zhong's. After thinking for a moment, Li Shiqi came to a conclusion and said, "There are two possibilities. The first is that old man Ding Gu is trying to scare us and prevent us Retreat to the west. The second is that the old man Ding Gu is greedy for merit. He deliberately told us the deployment of the Western Chu bandit army, so that we would not go to the west to benefit others, and choose to break through in other directions, leaving him a chance to monopolize the great merit. .”

"Then Mr. Li, which one is more likely?" Feng Zhong asked quickly.

"This..." Li Shiqi was extremely embarrassed, and said, "I don't know much about Ding Gu, I just heard his name, and I know that he is Ji Bu's uncle. , so it is impossible to judge."

"Old man Ding Gu's temperament..." Feng Zhong, who had some dealings with Ding Gu, tried hard to recall, and said hesitantly: "I don't have much contact with him, I only know that this old man is a bit arrogant, likes to rely on the old, sell the old, bully His official position and qualifications are not as good as his colleagues, and his popularity is not very good. Also, he seems to be a little selfish..."

"How selfish is it? Are there any examples?" Li Shiqi asked quickly.

"When encountering a tough battle, I never take the initiative to ask for a fight, but when it's time to fight the wind, I always rush faster than anyone else." Feng Zhong recalled: "I remember when I was in Handan County, I chased Bao Qin with him. The army, the Tyrant Qin army at the back of the palace stopped and fought to the death. I led the army and rushed up to fight the Tyrant Qin army desperately. Because the Tyrant Qin army resisted too tenaciously, I failed to succeed in several times. I sent someone to ask him for help. He made excuses and refused to help, but when I managed to defeat the Tyrant Qin army, he rushed to my front and beheaded more people than me. From then on, I felt that this old man was very selfish. "

"The fact that the Western Chu thief general Zhou Lan has already arrived in Dong'e is true." Li Shiqi immediately said: "The first is that since old man Ding Gu is selfish, a selfish person must be greedy. He is greedy for merit and deliberately told us about the deployment of friendly troops. He can definitely do such a thing. The second is that the Xichu bandit army marching westward on the south bank of Wenshui will definitely have a destination, as long as the Xichu bandit army is familiar with geography It is also very likely that we will choose to fortify in East Afghanistan, which we must pass through in our westward retreat."

Feng Zhong nodded slowly, and said: "That's probably the case. Now that I think about it, when the old man Ding Gu was in Wenshui, he reminded me that Zhou Lan had gone directly to Xiaoqiu. Maybe it was because he was greedy for merit and didn't want to Let Zhou Lanbai choose the cheap, so he deliberately told me the situation."

Li Shiqi agreed, and also suspected that when he was in Wenshui, Ding Gu deliberately reminded Feng Zhong that there was already a Western Chu army in the west because of his greed for merit.Feng Zhong asked again: "Mr. Li, if Dong'e is really a dead end, do we have any other options?"

Li Shiqi hesitated, and then said after a long while: "Then there is only one last choice, continue to go north, take advantage of the fact that the bandit army in Jibei has not had time to fully react, and rush to the plain to cross the river (Yellow River) and enter Zhao country west."

"The circle is getting bigger and bigger." Feng Zhong smiled wryly, and asked again: "The State of Zhao is also our enemy. If we enter the State of Zhao, is there any hope for us?"

"Yes, although it is very slim, but there must be." Li Shiqi replied: "The situation we have so far is that our Han army has broken through the natural danger of Jingxing and entered the hinterland of Zhao State eastward. To meet our northern army. In addition, we also confirmed that our army of the King of Han has wiped out the Western Chu bandit army in Hanoi, broke through the natural danger of floods, and may also take the opportunity to go east to share the pressure for our northern army. If this is the case If so, we may get in touch with our friendly forces in Zhao State."

It was just analysis and speculation, of course Feng Zhong did not dare to pin all his hopes on the misty and distant reinforcements. Open the enemy's blockade and interception, and win the chance for your own army and the family members of the Han army to continue to live...

(End of this chapter)