Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 382
Uncle Zhou, Xiang Kang and others had accurately foreseen that Xiang Yu would personally lead troops to reinforce the northern battlefield. Of course, Li Zuoche, chief of staff of the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army, had expected this early on, and he also put forward a plan ahead of time. On his way back to the division to protect the family members of the Han army, Bu made some preparations in advance.

Guarding the Pingyuan Ferry to prevent the reinforcements led by Xiang Yu from advancing westward, of course, it is impossible to even think about it. The Pingyuan Ferry is too far away from the Julu battlefield, and it is difficult to transfer food and grass. The fleet is still unscathed, as soon as reinforcements from the Western Chu Army arrive, they can immediately transport the Western Chu Army to launch a rush to cross. At that time, the Han army guarding the ferry will be isolated and helpless, and there will be Huan water blocking the way behind them, so they will not be caught by the Western Chu Army. It would be strange to kill the entire army.So Li Zuoche had no choice but to make a fuss about Dongwu City and Cuo County, which were located next to Chidao.

After much deliberation, Li Zuoche's suggestion to Zheng Bu was to allocate [-] troops and hand them over to Ni Ji, the up-and-coming star of the Han army, who is quite intelligent. All the food, grass and military needs were transferred to Tobu City, and the troops were concentrated to guard only Tobu City, establishing an outer barrier for the Julu battlefield.

In this way, after the reinforcements from the Western Chu Army arrived, it would definitely take a lot of time to attack Tobu City, which would create opportunities for the Han army on the Julu battlefield to calmly adjust and respond. At the same time, Tobu City is located on the open plain In fact, if necessary, it is more convenient to send troops for reinforcements or abandon the city to break through.And if the Western Chu reinforcements do not attack Dongwu City and go directly westward, then the vast space of four hundred miles from the plain to Julu will naturally give the Eastern Wuhan Army a chance to flex its muscles and threaten Western Chu at any time. The army's food road supply is extremely beneficial to the decisive battle between the Han army and the Western Chu army on the Julu battlefield.

Hearing that Li Zuoche's analysis was reasonable, Zheng Bu adopted his suggestion without hesitation. Ni Ji, who had long been looking forward to being on his own, also happily accepted this order. Leading the army to attack Dongwu City, Zheng Bu led the main force of his corps to protect the family members of the Han army and continued westward. It took more than eight days to retreat from the plain west to the foot of Julu City, and joined forces with the Zhou Shu corps of the Han army. In one place.

It was only after returning to the Julu battlefield that Zheng Bu, Li Zuoche and others knew that what they were most worried about had finally happened. The only Qi army that had withdrawn from the Dongyuan battlefield intact had set up their camp in Julu. On the high ground in the northeast corner of Lucheng (now the Zhangjiatun Shang Dynasty site in Pingxiang County), the remnants of the Western Chu Army who came from Xindu also set up camp on this high ground outside Julu City. The army's camp was located on the west side of the highland, protecting the north gate flank of Julu City. The Qi army's camp was located on the south side of the highland, protecting the east gate flank of Julu City. The power of the tripod angle is very conducive to mutual protection and rescue.

Not to mention, after meeting with Uncle Zhou, Uncle Zhou said to Zheng Bu and Li Zuoche with a wry smile: "General Zheng, Mr. Guangwu, two pieces of bad news. First, our scouts have confirmed that Julu City Zhao Guo's bandit army completely blocked the two southwest gates of Julu, leaving only the northeast two gates for traffic. Second, during this period, Zhao Guo's bandit army also transported a large amount of grain to the high ground outside the city. I have made two-handed preparations, and I plan to retreat to the dangerous highlands in an all-round way if I can't hold the city, and continue to stand firm and wait for help."

"The two southwestern gates are completely blocked?" Zheng Bu and Li Zuoche said in surprise at the same time, "Who gave Zhao Guo's bandit army a bad idea? It's clearly aimed at our counterweight trebuchet. "

"I don't know." Uncle Zhou shook his head helplessly, and added: "In addition, our scouts secretly measured the distance and found that our counterweight trebuchets could not reach the camp of the Qi and Chu bandit army at the foot of the mountain anyway, so now not only It is Julu City that is difficult to attack, and the camp of the Qi and Chu bandit army is equally difficult to attack."

Zheng Bu and Li Zuoche were silent, and after a long while, Li Zuoche said: "It seems that the treacherous minister Zhang Er must have sent someone to carefully investigate the situation of the Handan War, and have a preliminary understanding of the basic situation of our counterweight trebuchet. That’s why we adapt to the situation and make adequate preparations in advance.”

After saying that, Li Zuoche said with admiration: "However, it is really high to be able to come up with a trick to block the two gates to the southwest of Julu. Let's use a trebuchet to smash a gap in the city wall and rush in." There is no way to open the city gate to let the main force enter the city. It can only be that we are not sure about fighting them, and we are sure that the casualties will be extremely huge. The ants are attached to the battle. It seems that we have little hope of taking Julu City quickly. .”

"It's okay." Zheng Bu was more optimistic, and said: "If it is difficult to fight, it will be difficult, isn't it unsure? Both the Western Chu bandit army and Zhao Guo bandit army are already seriously injured. Although Qi Guo bandit army is intact, its combat effectiveness is mediocre. It’s great that we spend a little more time, and we can still be sure that we can kill the Qi, Chu and Zhao bandits on the Julu battlefield.”

"Although the words are reasonable, I'm afraid I don't have that much time."

Uncle Zhou and Li Zuoche did not dare to be as optimistic as Zheng Bu, because Uncle Zhou and Li Zuoche knew in their hearts that the strength of the Han army was already stronger than the anti-Han coalition forces on the Julu battlefield. It is also effective. It is definitely only a matter of time before the final victory is won, but the problem is that in the current situation, Xiang Yu will definitely not sit back and watch his northern front battlefield collapse completely, and he will definitely raise troops to rescue him soon. Before the reinforcements arrived, they broke the stalemate and won the Julu Battlefield. Not only the Julu Battlefield, but even the entire Zhao Kingdom Battlefield might be overthrown by the Western Chu Army. ——After all, in a decisive battle, the Overlord of Western Chu's tricks are too powerful.

Worrying is useless. No matter how powerful Zhou Shu, Li Zuoche and others are, there is no way for the Zhao army to reopen the two southwest gates of Julu City for the Han army to attack, let alone for the Qi and Chu army to move their camp down the mountain for the Han army to attack. Therefore, Uncle Zhou, Zheng Bu and others could only hastily discuss the establishment of the camp, and decided to let Zheng Bujun set up camp next to Uncle Zhou's army, and stand side by side with Uncle Zhou's army. Xiang Kang's wife and children follow the etiquette of courtiers and reminisce with Feng Zhong and others without mentioning it.

…………

The anti-Han allied forces had just confirmed that Zheng Bu's army was camping near the east of Zhou Shu's camp. General Yu Ling of the Qi army came to Tian Bu, the commander of the Qi army, and said to Tian Bu: "General , the Han bandit Zheng Buxi conquered the plains, successfully rescued the family members of the Han bandit's important ministers and returned, full of ambition, arrogant and arrogant, and will inevitably have a heart to underestimate the enemy. We are not stable yet, tonight we will send troops to raid Zheng Buhan's camp, killing the Han thieves by surprise."

Tian Bu was a little tempted when he heard this, but just with a thought, Tian Bu immediately shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Logically speaking, Zheng Bu's bandit army would underestimate the enemy a little bit now, but you also said before, Han The thieves are best at night battles and sneak attacks. They have just arrived and their camp is not stable. How could they not prevent us from sending troops to sneak attacks? Don’t sneak attacks, and they will pay for our camp robbery army.”

"General, please finish your speech." Yu Ling cupped his hands again and said, "Han thieves are good at night battles, and it is really difficult to rob camps, so the tactic suggested by the general is that we dispatch three armies to fight tonight, two of them The armies lay in ambush on both sides of the road. One army came forward and pretended to rob the camp, and deliberately threatened to capture the son of the traitor Xiang Kang alive, so as to completely anger the Han thieves. We are defeated and left, the Han bandits hate us for daring to sneak attack, and now they are arrogant soldiers, they will definitely send troops to pursue them, then we can only lure the Han bandits chasing soldiers into the trap, ambush the soldiers and kill them in two ways, and the army who robbed the camp will also turn around and fight back , attack from three sides, you will surely win."

Tian Bu was finally moved, but he still had some scruples, so he didn't adopt it immediately. Yu Ling saw his intentions, and hurriedly said: "General, it may be a little risky to do this, but in the current situation, we must also accept it." Take a little risk. Prior to this, the Western Chu Army was defeated by the Sishui River, and Zhao Guo’s elite was lost in the north of Julu City. All of them were depressed and their morale was low, which affected our army’s morale. Even if we just defend and don't fight, I'm afraid the future is unpredictable. Only by seizing the opportunity and winning a battle to boost the morale of the army, can we be sure to persist until the arrival of rescuers and turn the situation in Zhaodi again."

Hearing that Yu Ling's analysis is reasonable, and considering that even if this method fails, the loss must be very slight, and the anti-Han coalition forces really need a victory to boost the morale of the army, Tian Bu nodded and said: "Okay, Then give it a try, we really need a victory right now."

After making up his mind on this idea, Tian Bu didn't hesitate anymore, and immediately called two more capable generals, let them and Yu Ling each lead an army, and quietly went out of the camp after it was dark, and the two armies lay in ambush in Han Dynasty respectively. On the only way the army pursued, another army pretended to rob the camp and went outside the camp of the Han army Zheng Bu to follow the plan.In addition, in order to avoid misunderstandings, Tianbe naturally had to send people to inform Zhao Guo's army and Western Chu army, telling them that their own army would take action tonight, so that they don't have to worry even if they find an accident.

The current morale of the anti-Han coalition forces is indeed sluggish. Tianbu’s messenger informed Zhou Yin and Gan Gong, who was in command of Zhao’s army, about the situation. Zhou Yin and Gan Gong promised to control the army and avoid conflicts An accident happened to the army of Qi State, and they all congratulated the army of Qi State on its victory, and it was almost a success.But after the envoys of the Qi army left, Zhou Yin and Duke Gan sneered, and said, "The Han thieves are known for playing big axes in front of Lu Ban's gate, and who has never suffered from their night battles? You Qi army actually dare to fight at night, you are looking for death!"

The sneer turned into a sneer, since Tian Bu didn’t ask Zhao Guo’s army and Western Chu’s army to send troops to help, Zhou Yin and Gan Gong are of course happy to see the result, and everyone’s morale can be boosted after winning the battle, which is beneficial to the next battle. Fortunately, Zhao's army and Xichu's army were unscathed. Of course, Zhou Yin and Gan Gong would not object to such a good thing.

In this way, under the circumstances that the friendly forces were generally not optimistic, with the attitude of giving it a try, the Qi army still launched an operation. After it was completely dark, they quickly left the camp and arranged an ambush. Then the former army pretended to rob the camp and quietly Sneaking outside Zheng Bujun's camp, he suddenly launched an attack on Zheng Bujun's camp.

Not to mention, the situation was completely expected by Qi General Yu Ling. Zheng Bujun, who had just returned from the triumphant journey, was exhausted from the journey, and coupled with underestimation of the enemy, it was true that the precautions were not strict enough. After the door latch, the Han soldiers who were dozing off were woken up by the sound, and hurriedly knocked on the gong to issue a warning. The Qi army also decisively launched an attack into the Han camp because the gate of the Han camp had been opened, cutting down many soldiers one after another. Unprepared, the soldiers of the Han army rushed into the Han army camp, murdered and set fire to them, and set fire to some of the Han army's tents.

Not only that, but at the same time as killing people and setting fire, the soldiers of the Qi army kept shouting slogans, "Capture Xiang Kang's son alive! Capture Xiang Kang's son alive! Capture Xiang Kang's son back!"

Fortunately, no matter how he did not expect the enemy to take the initiative to attack, Zheng Bu did not forget to arrange an unarmored mobile army to respond when he arranged the night defense. The army on duty rushed out and met the Qi army's robbing army head-on, which prevented the Han army's losses from further expanding rapidly. The troops directly under him also immediately guarded the camp of the Chinese army to prevent the enemy from rushing into the Chinese army and attacking the family members of the Han army.

After fighting for a period of time, more and more soldiers of the Han army came out to counterattack. The Qi army, which had taken advantage of a lot of advantages, immediately turned around and left, leaving the camp and fleeing the way they came. It was an angry bullfight, and Tao Xi, who was in charge of the night watch, didn't even have time to say hello to Zheng Bu in order to atone for his crimes. He immediately led the army to pursue him, red-eyed to regain the lost face.

At this time, Uncle Zhou's headquarters of the Han Army not far to the west, of course, had already made preparations for the night watch. Uncle Zhou also hurriedly got up and went to the Chinese Army's big tent located on a high place in the camp to look east and learn about Zheng Zheng. Regarding the current situation of the Bu army, it turned out that when a Han army team in the Zheng Bu army camp chased them out of the camp with torches, Uncle Zhou, who is best at night battles and defeating the enemy, cried out loudly, and hurriedly ordered to his own soldiers: " Hurry up, go chase our troops out of camp, tell them to return to camp immediately and stop chasing them, the night is too dark and the enemy's situation is unknown, we must prevent the enemy from laying an ambush!"

It was only after the soldiers left in a hurry that Uncle Zhou suddenly remembered a major event - Zheng Bujun was not under his command, and the Zheng Bujun who went out to pursue the camp might not obey his orders!After patting his head regretfully, Uncle Zhou had no choice but to quickly contact Zheng Bu with his own soldiers, asking him to come forward to recall the pursuers.

Unfortunately, Uncle Zhou predicted the situation. Although his soldiers caught up with Tao Xi with the command arrow and asked Tao Xi to withdraw his troops and return to the camp immediately, Tao Xi only glanced at the command arrow and immediately shouted: "I am General Zheng." This subordinate is not your General Zhou's subordinate, why should he order me? Without General Zheng's order, how to beat me is up to me!"

After all, the dazed Tao Xi ignored Uncle Zhou's soldiers and beat the horse just to urge the army to intensify their pursuit. Needless to say, before Zheng Bu's messengers could catch up to Tao Xi, Tao Xi and the four soldiers under his command The Qianhan army had already rushed into the ambush circle of the Qi army, and then with the violent drumming, the Qi army ambushing on both sides of the road immediately rushed out from left and right, immediately cut the Han army into three pieces, and lured the enemy in front The Qi army also turned around and fought back. Under the attack from three sides, the panic-stricken Han army was quickly defeated and had to turn around and flee for their lives. The Qi army took advantage of the victory to pursue and gained a lot. victory.

The disparity in strength was too great, and the Han army was already prepared. The Qi army retreated as soon as it got close to Zheng Bu's camp. Dare to be greedy and pursue to the end.But this was enough. After retreating to the camp with the defeated soldiers, the disheartened Tao Xi could only come to Zheng Bu at the first moment to plead guilty, honestly admitting that he had made the mistake of underestimating the enemy.

He had just come back and suffered his first defeat after going north, and even the camp was almost robbed by the enemy. Of course, the furious Zheng Bu scolded Tao Xi bloody. Fortunately, Li Zuoche was there to persuade him that he won. Defeat is not a common thing in military affairs, and Zheng Bu was advised not to pursue it too much, so Zheng Bu did not punish Tao Xi further.But with the lingering anger still alive, Zheng Bu yelled at Tao Xi again and asked, "Didn't General Zhou send someone to call you back to the army? Did you get in touch with you? How did you reply?"

"Reporting to General Zheng, we got in touch." Tao Xi replied cautiously: "The last general was impulsive at the time and said that I am your subordinate, not General Zhou's subordinate. Why should you listen to him?"

"You bastard! Did you ever talk like that?" Zheng Bu became even more furious when he heard that, and roared, "At daylight tomorrow, please go to General Zhou to plead guilty and admit that what you said is farting! If Let us have conflicts within the King of Han army, let's see how I deal with you!"

Tao Xi obediently and quickly agreed, and then went back to appease the defeated soldiers and count the losses at Zheng Bu's request. However, after Tao Xi left, Zheng Bu gradually calmed down, and said in his heart: "Actually, Tao Xi is a little idiot. I did nothing wrong. If he listened to Uncle Zhou’s order to retreat, I would definitely feel bad. This is also a troublesome matter. Uncle Zhou and I are not subordinate to each other, and we are all in one body. It is indeed very difficult to command. The King of Han asks for instructions..."

Human nature is selfish, and Zheng Bu is no exception. After thinking about this, Zheng Bu hesitated in his heart, because Zheng Bu knew very well that with Uncle Zhou's usual performance and achievements, if Xiang Kang wanted to choose a coach between himself and Uncle Zhou If so, Uncle Zhou's chances of being in the top position must be far greater than himself.Zheng Bu is not a moral sage, and he has his own ambition and self-esteem. Of course, he is not very willing to accept orders from Uncle Zhou, who is less senior than himself.

…………

At the same time, Yu Ling, the general of the Qi army who proposed to launch a night attack, also returned to his own barracks with his Qi army soldiers in triumph. Then, just as he got off his horse, Yu Ling couldn't wait to hug one of his own soldiers and patted him. With a smile on his shoulders, he said in a low voice with a smile on his face: "My good brother, with you, we have won the battle! Don't worry, I will share half of the rewards given to me by the general in a while! Help me well in the future, I will definitely not I have treated you badly!"

"You don't have to be polite, general, this is what a villain should do." The soldier replied sincerely: "The villain followed the Jibei Army in the defeat in Sishui and was separated from his companions. For the sake of fellow countrymen, they took me in and took me in as a soldier, I am afraid I would have given up my life on the road long ago, and it is the duty of a villain to do a little bit of work for you, General."

While talking, the other two Qi army generals who led the army to fight with Yu Ling also came to Yu Ling together. As soon as they met, each of them gave Yu Ling a punch, and said with a smile: "Yu Xiaoer, It’s yours! I didn’t see it before, but you still have such abilities. First, you came up with the idea to let Zhao Guo’s army block the gate of Julu City, and helped us choose a camp, so that the general and Zhao Guo’s general couldn’t help clapping their hands. Praise you, came up with another idea tonight, let us fight such a victory, almost kicked the camp of the traitors, amazing! Go quickly, go to the general to receive the reward, and then let's have a good drink!"

(End of this chapter)