Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 399
Is it possible to directly kill Xiang Yu in the territory of Zhao State or Jibei, and end the Chu-Han War that has lasted for nearly two years in one fell swoop?

Faced with this question raised by Xiang Kang, most of the civil and military generals of the Han army present at the meeting were not in a hurry to speak, but Zheng Bu, a typical warrior, immediately expressed his support and said immediately: "My lord, no matter how great our hopes are, we should try our best." Give it a try, anyway, we now have an army of 15 on the Julu battlefield. Why don't we take this opportunity to pursue Xiang Yu, the puppet king of Western Chu? At most, we will let the army run hundreds of miles in vain, and the loss will not be too great."

Xiang Kang's plan was actually this idea. Taking advantage of the two armies gathered at the Julu battlefield, and taking advantage of Xiang Yu's not going far, he tried to pursue with all his strength. Of course it would be best if he could take the opportunity to kill Xiang Yu directly. The great thing is to lose a little time for food and grass, and it won't cause too much impact.So after hearing Zheng Bu's words, Xiang Kang nodded first, and then asked Uncle Zhou, Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others: "Everyone, what do you think of General Zheng's proposal?"

After hesitating for a while, Uncle Zhou said, "Your Majesty, from a tactical point of view, I think your plan is a little too radical, and there is no need for us to make such an attempt."

"Why?" Xiang Kang immediately asked the reason, and then said: "General Zhou, tell me more in detail, and point out the pros and cons carefully for me. You know that I always like to hear about it, so it's okay to be frank."

"Then I'm taking the liberty." Uncle Zhou cleared his throat, and then said, "First of all, there is very little hope of success in this attempt. Xiang Yu, the puppet king of Western Chu, has a particularly irritable temper, and it is possible that he will return because of our pursuit Army decisive battle, but he is not a fool, he must know that with the current 15 elites in his hands, it is absolutely impossible to be the opponent of our [-] army, so unless he is completely dizzy, he will definitely fight his rear first. Army rendezvous, and then turn around and fight us. In this way, it is almost impossible for us to directly kill the puppet king of Western Chu."

"Secondly, the geography of the battlefield is too unfavorable for us to take the initiative to advance eastward to fight the Western Chu army now." Uncle Zhou continued: "Zhao and Qi are bounded by a big river. , he will definitely choose to confront us in a decisive battle on the plain, because the ferry boats and rafts in that area are all controlled by his subordinate Jibei Army. If we want to defend, we will defend, but we don’t have enough boats to cross the river, so we can only be passively beaten, and if we are a little negligent, the consequences may be unimaginable.”

"Taking a step back, even if we transfer a fleet of ships from the Puyang battlefield to cross the river as before, the situation will not be in our favor." Uncle Zhou continued: "Because no matter how many ships we transfer to cross the river, it is absolutely impossible for us to cross the river at once. Transporting an army of 15 across the river to fight a decisive battle with the Xichu bandit army will instead give the Xichu bandit army a chance to defeat each of us. The decisive battle of the Western Chu bandits."

Xiang Kang nodded silently, and also admitted that if Xiang Yu chose to fight on the plains, his own army would have little hope of winning. After all, no matter which Han general he was, he would not be sure to stop Xiang Yu's fierce attack when crossing the river.

"In addition, the supply of food and grass is also a big problem for us." Li Zuoche added: "The giant deer has just been destroyed, and there are still many cities and land in Zhao State that have not been surrendered. It is very difficult for us to raise food on the spot. Cutting off our northern grain route, relying entirely on the southern land route to transport grain, it is difficult for our [-] to [-] troops to persist on the plain battlefield for a long time. As for the big river water transport, our grain transport fleet must cross Dongjun The eastern section of the river is still under the control of the Western Chu bandit army, which is prone to mistakes and is very dangerous."

"Yes, this is also a problem." Uncle Zhou nodded, and then said: "So I think that we are now going eastward to take the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Western Chu thieves. There is hope of victory, but the premise must be based on two foundations. One is that Xiang Yu is stupid and does not join up with his rear army to fight directly, and the second is that Xiang Yu is stupid and does not choose to fight on the plains that are beneficial to him. It may be hopeful to expect Xiang Yu to make a mistake, but expect him to make this at the same time Two fatal mistakes, very unlikely."

"Since the hope is pitifully small, there is no need for us to try." Li Zuoche took up the conversation again, and said: "Instead of wasting time, manpower and material resources to fight for this tiny hope, it is better to just free up your hands and give priority to it." Sweep the land of the city of Zhao that has not yet surrendered, annihilate the remnants of the Jibei bandits who are pinching on our northern grain road, consolidate our victory in Zhao, get the manpower and material resources of Zhao to use in combat, and then consider how to fight with them. The decisive battle of the Western Chu bandits."

Hearing Uncle Zhou and Li Zuoche's words, Xiang Kang, who was able to listen to the correct opinions of his subordinates, basically gave up the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to pursue a decisive battle. Unexpectedly, Zhang Liang, who is good at strategy, also said: "My lord, look at it from a strategic point of view. , we can't take the risk of a full-scale decisive battle with the Western Chu bandit army now, because our strategic timing is not yet ripe. First of all, the two bandit armies of Jibei and Qi are still firmly on the side of the puppet king Xiang Yu of Western Chu. They will definitely support Xiang Yu with all their strength. Even if they are all seriously injured now and cannot pose a decent threat to us on the frontal battlefield, they only need to organize the troops from the two places Manpower and material resources to provide food, grass and military support for the Western Chu bandits will still bring us huge troubles, so it is too much for us to go east and fight the Western Chu bandits at the border of Qi and Zhao now."

"Secondly, there are two hidden dangers behind us." Zhang Liang continued: "One hidden danger is Zang Tu in the north, and the other hidden danger is Liu Ji in the south. It will stab us in the back, let us face the enemy in the decisive battle of the Western Chu bandits, and fall into strategic passiveness."

I had already basically given up the idea of ​​launching a decisive battle now, and then heard Zhang Liang pointed out that the strategic timing was not mature enough, Xiang Kang naturally gave up any hope, and immediately smiled at Zheng Bu: "General Zheng, it seems that this king and you It’s all taken for granted, forget it, I’ll find a way to deal with my tyrannical brother later.”

"Your Majesty's Holy Judgment." Zheng Bu replied straightforwardly: "Your subject only likes to win battles, and doesn't like to lose battles. Since we are not sure of winning battles, then we might as well not fight and take the opportunity to let our soldiers rest for a while. .”

Xiang Kang smiled and nodded, and then formally rejected the plan to take the opportunity to launch a decisive battle, and decided to let the two major corps of the Han army, exhausted from the long battle, take a break for a while. Now, the main force of our army is in the land of Zhao, and we have wiped out the allied forces of the four thieves from Chu, Qi, and Zhao Ji. The military power is in full swing. When Zang Tu of Yan State heard about it, he must have thought in his heart that he was afraid that our army would take the opportunity to go north and swallow him up. That being the case, We should seize the opportunity and send important ministers northward to explain our interests to Zang Tu, persuade him to surrender, and send troops to help us crusade against the bandits from Western Chu. help."

Before Zhang Liang finished speaking, Mr. Shusuntong, Mr. Shusun, who happened to be present, changed his face greatly, and quickly shrunk his head so that he almost got into his clothes. He was sent to try his luck in the country of Yan. Just when Xiang Kang nodded and agreed to adopt Zhang Liang's opinion, Li Shiqi immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, let me go down. I guarantee that with the help of our army's great victory, we will definitely be able to defeat you." With a solid tongue, he can persuade Zang Tu to surrender the whole country."

"Mr. Li, don't work hard." Xiang Kang said with some distress: "You have just been released from prison, and you are old and frail, you should go back to our Guanzhong to recuperate for a period of time, and then come out to work. "

"It's okay." Li Shiqi waved his hand immediately, and said, "This old bone is not so delicate. I have been imprisoned by the Western Chu bandits for such a long time. I really want to make a living. Please allow me, Your Majesty. Your servant is now on a mission to the country of Yan."

Seeing Li Shiqi's insistence, and knowing that he was eloquent and confident that he could persuade Zang Tu, Xiang Kang also nodded, and agreed to let Li Shiqi go to Yan as an envoy, and asked Zhang Liang to write a persuasion for himself Zang Tu abandoned the letter of credence from Chu to Han and gave it to Li Shiqi to choose a day to travel. Li Shiqi happily accepted it, and officially resumed his status as the chief envoy of the Han army under the grateful eyes of Mr. Shusun.

After discussing this matter, seeing that no one had anything new to say, Xiang Kang also announced the adjournment of the meeting and asked everyone to return to their accounts to rest. The soldiers agreed, got up and left one after another.However, Li Zuoche did not leave the scene in a hurry, and after the crowd had dispersed, he cupped his hands and said to Xiang Kang: "My lord, there is a small matter. I would like to recommend a rare talent to you."

"A rare talent?" Xiang Kang became interested when he heard it, and said, "To be praised as a talent by Mr. Guangwu, this person must be extraordinary. What's his name? Where is he now?"

"This person is currently in our army." After all, Li Zuoche is not very familiar with Xiang Kang, so he said somewhat worriedly: "But after hearing his identity, please don't find it ridiculous. This person's name is Lou Jing. He was a prisoner of the Qi army captured by us on the battlefield. Before being captured, he was of very humble background, just an ordinary general of the Qi army."

"Soldier?" Xiang Kang, who didn't know anything about it, was very surprised, and said, "Mr. Guangwu, what is your identity, how could you notice an ordinary Qi soldier captured?"

"Because it was this person who came up with the plan and planned to attack our camp and succeeded, and it was also because this personal soldier spoke to Tian Bu through Qi General Yu Ling, so that the Qi army saw through the trick that the subordinates designed for General Zheng Bu to lure the enemy. So after he was captured, the ministers had a deep talk with him out of curiosity, and found that this man had unique insights into the general situation of the world and military and civil affairs, and felt that it would be a pity if he was buried here, so he took the liberty of recommending it to you, Your Majesty. This person."

Li Zuoche answered carefully, and briefly introduced Lou Jing's background. He said that Lou Jing was originally an ordinary soldier of the Jibei Army. The brigade was lost and almost died in the wilderness. Fortunately, they were rescued by Yu Ling, a general of the Qi army who followed the army southward. Showing off his talents under the tent, he won the trust of the leader of Yu, and through the leader of Yu, he helped the Qi army to embarrass the Zheng Bu corps of the Han army twice.In addition, Yu Ling, who was also captured by the Han army, also confessed that the Zhao army blocked the two southwest gates of Julu first, and that the Qi army camped on the high ground made it difficult for the Han army. In fact, it was Lou Jing's idea.

"Bring him quickly!"

Before Li Zuoche's introduction was finished, Xiang Kang, who never minded his family background, couldn't wait to order him to be summoned, and after a while, Lou Jing, who was still wearing the uniform of a Qi army soldier, was escorted by the guards In front of Xiang Kang.

Lou Jing, who is about [-] years old, is actually born very ordinary, with no distinctive appearance. He belongs to the type that is difficult to find out after being thrown into the crowd. Fortunately, Xiang Kang never judges people by their appearance. He just took a rough look at Lou After paying respects, he asked directly: "Some time ago, you were the one who gave advice to the bandit army of Qi State. First, you successfully attacked our camp, and then saw through our trick to lure the enemy, and prevented the bandit army from Qi and Zhao from falling into our camp." trap?"

"Reporting to the King of Han, it is the criminal." Lou Jing was obviously very courageous, and replied with a very calm expression: "The criminal deserves death, but I also ask the King of Han to understand the difficulties of the criminal. Being a soldier of the Qi army, and receiving the great kindness of General Yu for saving his life, I had no choice but to advise him and help the Qi army and the Han king's army to be in a difficult situation."

"Don't worry, I don't mean to blame you." Xiang Kang gave Lou Jing a reassurance, and said, "I'm just curious, and I want to see with my own eyes how capable you are and whether you really have real talents. .”

"Your Majesty, please come up with a question." Lou Jing answered neither humble nor overbearing.

"A little bit of courage." Xiang Kang smiled, and after a little calculation, he said, "Then tell me, what should I do if I want to defeat the bandit army in Western Chu and rule the world?"

"The King of Han really created a big problem for the criminals." Lou Jing said with a wry smile, "How the King of Han defeated the Western Chu army and unified the world should be a major matter discussed by the King of Han and his important officials. The villain is just a captured man. Little pawn, how dare you advise the King of Han? But..."

After hesitating for a while, Lou Jing still mustered up his courage and said, "However, the criminal thinks that if the king wants to conquer Western Chu and rule the world, he must first solve an important problem."

"What important question?" Xiang Kang asked immediately.

"The issue of family affection is the issue of grievances and hatred between the king and his brothers."

Lou Jing's answer made Li Zuoche, who recommended him, couldn't help but change his face, and Xiang Kang was also somewhat surprised. He never thought that Lou Jing would dare to mention this even Zhang Liang and Chen Ping in front of him. The scars in his own heart that he didn't dare to touch easily, Lou Jing was not afraid, and said directly: "Please forgive the crime, the king of Han, the criminal dares to say that if the king of Han doesn't solve this problem as soon as possible, then the Western Chu army is not only doomed If you fight to the death with the King of Han, the princes of the world may not truly submit to you, the King of Han, and even if you submit reluctantly, sooner or later they will have different hearts in the future."

"Lou Jing." Li Zuoche quickly opened his mouth and shouted, "Don't be too crazy."

"It's okay." Xiang Kang waved his hand to Li Zuoche, and then instructed Lou Jing, "Keep talking, be straightforward."

"Thank you, King of Han." Lou Jing said with a calmer expression, "The criminal heard that when the king raised the flag against Qin Yi, the prime minister, he had a lot of help from his brothers of the same clan. The army under the king's command at that time, the king and his brothers of the same clan gradually drifted away, and finally turned against each other. Sincerity makes up for the brotherhood and flesh and blood when you helped you raise the army, that's why the Xiang family will do their best to help the King of Western Chu to fight against you, the king, and even if they are in a desperate situation, they are obviously doomed to lose, and they will not choose to surrender to you, the king."

Xiang Kang's face gradually became gloomy, but he still said: "Go on, go on."

"Your Majesty, seeing with your own eyes that your flesh and blood brothers refuse to submit to you, what will the civil and military forces of Western Chu think? What will the other princes of the world think?" Lou Jing asked Xiang Kang back, and said, "Would they doubt Your Majesty, you are mean and ungrateful, and you don't care about your old love, so even the brothers of the same clan who helped you raise your troops at the beginning have resolutely abandoned you and swore to be your enemy? Do you doubt that you treat your brothers and sisters like this, let alone Treat them outsiders? That being the case, how dare they easily turn their backs on the King of Western Chu and choose to surrender to you, Your Majesty? They were forced to approach the King of Western Chu, so how can you, Your Majesty, quickly break through Western Chu and rule the world?"

All these words of Lou Jing's asked Xiang Kang's heart, making Xiang Kang completely speechless, and also made Xiang Kang, who really owed the brothers of the Xiang family, lower his head. Li Zuoche next to him saw that something was wrong. , hurriedly said: "Lou Jing, don't be too biased, do you know that when we were in Puyang, our king's soldiers captured Xiang Han, our king not only did not harm him, but also tried his best to comfort him and persuade him to surrender to us. The Han army, Xiang Hanming was stubborn, stubborn, and refused to agree. Not only did our king not care about it, but healed his wounds, and gave him dry food and horses, so that he could return to the land of Western Chu by himself. What else does the world have to say?"

"Not enough, not enough." Lou Jing replied immediately: "Please put yourself in Guangwu's place and think about it. If you were General Xiang Han, and you were captured as a prisoner after a hard fight, and the King of Han came forward to persuade you to surrender, would you be so easy?" Accept? Will you still remember the nostalgia for the King of Han? Mutual fratricide?"

Li Zuoche kept his mouth shut, while Xiang Kang raised his head and said to Lou Jing: "Since you think this king has done something wrong to his brothers of the same clan, then tell me, what should this king do?"

(End of this chapter)