Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 416
According to the orders of Liu Laosan and Han Xin, when the sun began to set, Lu Jia, a well-known Nanyang Army counselor who is famous for his tongue, rushed to the back camp gate of the Western Chu Army's camp, and asked Li Ji, the commander of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army, After requesting a meeting, the soldiers of the Western Chu Army guarding the gate of the back camp did not dare to neglect, and rushed into the camp to pass the news on Lu Jia's behalf.

To Lu Jia's great surprise, after a while, Li Ji, who always regarded himself as the savior of the Nanyang Army, came to welcome him in front of the rear camp gate. He also rushed to say: "It just so happens that the general is still on an important matter, and wants to go to your camp to meet and discuss with the King of Nanyang in person. What's the matter?"

"It turned out that you were just about to meet our king, and I almost thought that you, an arrogant and crazy man, had changed your temper and learned how to be polite to corporals."

Lu Jia suddenly realized, and only then did he understand why Liji went to greet him in person at the gate of the camp, but he couldn't point it out, so he could only clasp his hands and replied, "Report to General Li, our king sent his subordinates here for a reason. There is an important matter that I want to discuss with the general, can you please arrange a safe place for the subordinate to report to you in person."

Logically speaking, given Lu Jia's identity and purpose of coming, Liji should have brought Lu Jia to a secluded military tent in the Xichu military camp to talk to. Called Lu Jia to the far west of the camp gate, asked his personal soldiers to protect the surroundings, and then said directly: "What important matter? Come on, this general still has very urgent matters to do."

Lu Jia didn't dare to be negligent, so he could only lower his voice, and said, "General Li, you must have seen the situation today. If we don't make a quick decision, no matter if it's your army's camp or our camp, it will only be easily breached by the Chinese thieves, and there is no chance of escape, so our majesty wants to ask The general agreed to join us in making tactical adjustments."

"So it's for this." Liji breathed a sigh of relief, and then hurriedly asked, "Mr. Lu, how does King Nanyang plan to adjust our tactics?"

"Our majesty intends to leave part of the army to guard the city of Ye County, and use the fortifications to temporarily block the Han thieves and buy us time." Lu Jia replied: "As for the main forces of your and our armies, we will abandon the camp and retreat together tonight to avoid the Han thieves for the time being." Then, using the defenses of the cities in the north of Nanyang, we divided up our troops and defended them city by city, buying as much time as possible, prolonging the food road for the Han rebels, and waiting for Xiang Bawang to personally lead the main force of the Western Chu army to rescue us."

Liji blinked his eyes, and asked a little unwillingly: "The King of Nanyang has really made up his mind? We spent so much manpower and material resources in Ye County to build the camp, and the terrain in Ye County is more suitable for holding on. That's it. Isn’t it a pity to give up? King Nanyang doesn’t think about holding on for a few more days to see the situation?”

"If Yexian County is a big city that can allow our main force to be stationed in it, then our king will definitely not want to give up." Lu Jia replied helplessly: "But General Li, Ye County is just a small city. It’s just that the main force of an army is stationed in, and it can’t be accommodated. If we are stationed outside the city, we are like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Therefore, in order to preserve the main force of our army, and to allow us to wait until the king of Western Chu leads the army to help us, Our king can only make up his mind and decide to give up the important area of ​​Ye County and take the initiative to retreat. I also ask the general to make this decision as soon as possible for the sake of your soldiers."

After saying that, Lu Jia hurriedly added: "Also, General Li, please forgive me for reminding you that your army's camp is located to the north of our camp. If the Han bandits press the army to attack again tomorrow, your camp will definitely bear the brunt. There is absolutely no reason to escape, General Li please understand this."

Lu Jia's intimidation really worked. After thinking about it for a while, Liji nodded and made up his mind, saying: "Well, Ye County is your Nanyang land. Since Nanyang King can make up his mind, then of course General Ben can do it too." I can make up my mind. But how to retreat, do you have any ideas, my lord?"

Lu Jia was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "General Li, our king thinks so. The traitors are treacherous, and they will definitely prevent us from abandoning the camp and retreating overnight. Once they find out our actions, they will definitely send troops to pursue them immediately. When the time comes, we The retreat is in a hurry, and it is difficult to avoid losses. So our king repeatedly calculated and came up with an idea, and hoped that the general must follow the plan, and the Han thieves would be at a loss, just like they did in Rushui before, and miss the opportunity to pursue."

"What's the idea? Say it quickly." Liji urged.

"Report to General, please arrange this way." Lu Jia replied: "Please, General, prepare the soldiers to abandon the camp overnight and retreat as soon as possible. At half past three o'clock, they will go out of the camp to assemble and prepare to retreat. At the same time, select a team of elite soldiers and go north to Han. Ambushes near the bandit camp. In this way, even if the Han bandit scouts monitoring your camp are vigilant and report the situation to the main band of Han bandits in time, the Han bandits will suspect that your army is preparing to send troops to their camp, and will not be in a hurry. Then, at the time of the Fourth Correction, your army’s northward troops pretended to sneak attack on the camp of the Han bandits, bluffing to scare the Han bandits, so that the Han bandits did not dare to send troops rashly. By the time the traitors find out that they have been tricked, your army will have already gone far."

Liji is not a fool, he just thought about it for a while, and then immediately asked three key questions, saying: "Then how do you plan to retreat? Also, why did this general send troops to pretend to attack the Han bandit camp? Why didn't you do this?" In the end, why did the troops withdraw at the fourth watch?"

"General Li, please don't get me wrong. Our majesty has absolutely no intention of taking advantage of you on purpose. Please ask your army to be responsible for sending troops to pretend to attack the camp of Han bandits. There is a reason."

Lu Jia hurriedly explained: "Because your army is the closest to the camp of the Han bandits, if your army does not intentionally split up and go northward, pretending to launch a sneak attack on the camp of the Han bandits, once the scouts of the Han bandits find that your army has left the camp late at night, they will report it to the traitor Xiang Kang. The traitors of Xiang Kang will definitely suspect that your army is preparing to retreat overnight, and they will definitely send troops to pursue them immediately. If you rob the camp, you will not immediately make a decision to send troops to pursue it, which will be most beneficial to your army."

Li nodded at a few o'clock, and admitted that Lu Jia's words were reasonable, and Lu Jia said plausibly: "As for the retreat at the fourth watch, it is because our king is thinking about the situation of your army. Your army is a guest army, and the soldiers are all from Chu. The terrain and roads are very unfamiliar, which is not good for marching in the middle of the night. Withdraw at the fourth watch, and the sky will light up after a short walk, so your army will be much easier to retreat, and it will greatly reduce the situation of your soldiers getting lost and falling behind."

Liji smiled, nodded and said: "That's the reason. We are not familiar with the terrain and roads of Nanyang. Thank you King Nanyang for thinking about our soldiers of the Western Chu Army. Thank you, General. By the way, what are your troops preparing for?" When will we go out to camp and assemble, and when will we retreat south?"

"Reporting to General Li, our majesty plans to lead the troops out of the camp to assemble at the third quarter of the third watch tonight ([-]:[-] in the morning)." Lu Jia cupped his hands and replied, "The plan will take half an hour and be completed at the first quarter of the fourth watch." Go out of the camp and assemble the whole team, when your army has already started to go south, we will wait for the main force of your army to pass through our camp first, and then go south, and we will also take up the important task of the rear of the palace, and stop the possible pursuit of the Han thieves for your army."

"Really?" Liji was overjoyed when he heard that, and said, "The king of Nanyang is so benevolent and righteous, he is willing to serve as the empress of the Western Chu army?"

"General Li has said it before. This is just a matter of our Nanyang Army's duty. How dare you be so generous as a general?" Lu Jia replied with a smile, and quickly added: "Also, please don't worry about your army going north. Worrying, when the fourth correction is made, our army stationed in Ye County will send out an army to ambush on the only way outside the city where the Han bandits are pursuing. The ambushes will suddenly break out, and the northward army covering your army will retreat southward to escape the pursuit of the Han thieves!"

"Then it's settled!" Liji slapped his thigh and said happily: "That's it, sir, go back and tell Nanyang King, and say that the general will definitely act on time, and ask him to be ready to meet us!"

Lu Jia was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly thanked Li Ji, and patted Liu Laosan's chest to promise that he would do things on time, and then when he was leaving, Lu Jia suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly asked: "General Li , Didn’t you just say that you have to discuss important matters with our king? There is still some time now, do you want to go to our camp with the general?”

Li Ji was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "No need, this general just wanted to discuss with the King of Nanyang how to jointly defend Ye County. Now that the King of Nanyang has decided to abandon Ye County, he has already arranged to retreat. plan, then there is no need for General Ben to discuss with him.”

After saying that, Liji said anxiously again: "Mr. Lu, it's settled, you go back and report to Nanyang King, and act according to the agreement with him for this general. The sun is already setting, and my army is still waiting Without any preparations, this general has to rush back to arrange for the soldiers to prepare dry rations and torches, and to load food, grass and weapons into vehicles, and arrange for the army to go north for a feint attack, so I won’t keep you for dinner.”

Hearing that the Western Chu Army was unprepared, Lu Jia was of course secretly delighted, and hurriedly bid farewell to Li Ji outside the camp, and then hurriedly returned to the main camp of the Nanyang Army in the southern suburb of Ye County to report to Liu Laosan.As a result, after the sun had completely set, Lu Jia had just returned to the Nanyang Army's large tent of the Chinese army. Liu Laosan, who was anxiously circling in the large tent of the Chinese army, immediately covered his head and asked, "How is it? Did that bastard Liji agree?" ?”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, I agree." Lu Jia hurriedly clasped his hands and replied, "Liji has personally promised to his subordinates that he has agreed to lead the Western Chu army to retreat overnight in accordance with His Majesty's arrangement."

Liu Laosan was of course very happy when he heard it, but Han Xin who was beside him was not at ease, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Lu, did the West Chu Army prepare to retreat in advance?"

"General, no." Li Ji hastily replied, clasping his hands again: "After discussing with the subordinate officials, Li Ji hastily arranged for his army to retreat overnight."

Han Xin finally heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that, and said with a smile, "That's great, we're just starting to prepare now, and now the Western Chu Army can't do without giving us the queen."

"Your Majesty, General, I was in a hurry just now, and I didn't have time to ask a question." Lu Jia asked curiously: "Since we decided to trick the Western Chu Army into being our queen, why didn't we find a way to temporarily stabilize the Western Chu Army and let them Stand still in the camp tonight? Why invite them to retreat together, just play around with the time issue, and buy us not a lot of time?"

"There are two reasons." Han Xin, who was in a good mood, explained casually: "First, although Li Jipifu is stupid, he may not be so stupid. He will not know that continuing to stick to it will only lead to a dead end, and his camp is in our camp again. Ahead, if the bandits send troops to attack the camp again tomorrow, his camp will definitely be doomed, so he may not understand that the only chance is to retreat overnight tonight."

"Secondly, we must prevent Liji from standing still and watching the Chinese thieves pursue us with all their might." Han Xin said again: "If we try to trick Liji into continuing to stick to the camp tonight, and we retreat overnight, and find out that Liji has been fooled, If the man is in a state of desperation, he will probably stand still and let the traitors chase us with all their strength, and take revenge on us through the hands of the traitors. Therefore, we can only ask him to retreat together and ask him to take the army out of the camp, so that the traitors will send troops to pursue us. At that time, he can only be forced to fight to buy us time to retreat."

"Then..." Lu Jia asked hesitantly, "Then how will we explain to the King of Western Chu in the future?"

"That's for the future. As long as you play it by ear, is it difficult to find a reasonable excuse?" Liu Laosan replied lightly: "The Zhao Kingdom is over, and Qi's vitality is seriously injured, and it is difficult to protect itself. Xiang Yu The two main forces of Cao Jiu and Zhou Yin's army were also completely annihilated by the Han bandits, which also hurt their vitality. The strategic situation is so critical, Xiang Yu, as long as he has a little brain, he will never dare to do anything to us .”

Lu Jia laughed dryly, and could only secretly pray for the blessing of the gods, so that the hard work of explaining to Xiang Yu in the future would not fall on him, and then asked even more curiously: "Your Majesty, General, how do we retreat?"

"Come out of the camp at three o'clock, complete the assembly, and retreat immediately." Liu Laosan said coldly: "When the Han thieves react, the Western Chu army has almost completed the assembly of the camp. , it doesn’t work either.”

"Your Majesty, when the soldiers of your subjects were guarding the camp today, they seized the palm mines of two Han thieves on the dead bodies of the Han thieves." Han Xin said: "When it is about four o'clock, maybe the Han thieves reacted and sent troops to pursue them." At that time, we deliberately let those two palm mines explode in our camp, pretending to be attacked by Han thieves, leaving a foreshadowing, and we can have an explanation in the future."

"Let's do it like this." Liu Laosan laughed dryly and said, "I have an explanation, it's easier than talking nonsense in the future."

At this time, the sky had gradually begun to darken, and after the soldiers had had a full meal, the torches that had prepared enough dry food during the day were quickly distributed, and at the same time, all the grain, grass, horse fodder, and weapons necessary for the retreat were already loaded into the carts. They can set off southward at any time, but the scheduled time has not yet arrived, and the soldiers of the Nanyang Army are still resting in their respective military tents and clothes, so as to gain enough energy to rush southward.

During this period, the civil and military forces of the Nanyang Army headed by Liu Laosan and Han Xin were of course fully prepared to retreat. In addition to everyone bringing dry food and drinking water to prevent emergencies, everyone also prepared a set of soldiers The clothes were packed in the package that he carried with him—Han Xin also brought an extra set of clothes for the soldiers of the Western Chu Army. east wind.

Unexpectedly, not long after the sound of the clapper on the second watch, a guard suddenly rushed in from outside the tent, and rushed to Liu Laosan, who was resting with his eyes closed, and reported loudly: "My lord, the post at the northwest corner of our military camp The tower urgently reported that in the northwest direction, a large number of troops suddenly marched southward with torches, and it is not clear whether it is an enemy or a friend for the time being!"

"What?!" Liu Laosan's shock was no small matter. Apart from opening his eyes immediately, he jumped up and screamed: "There are a large number of troops from the northwest rushing south? How is that possible? Could it be that the Han bandits are here?! "

Han Xin, who was guarding the marquis next to him, didn't talk nonsense, and rushed out of the large tent of the Chinese army to look around. When Liu Laosan also rushed out, he saw bright fire in the northwest direction. Sure enough, an army was rushing southward.Then Liu Laosan did not hesitate, and hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up, sound the gong and blow the horn, and gather all the troops for orders! Besides, send someone to check the situation immediately to see if it is the army of the traitors!"

The gong rang urgently, and the soldiers of the Nanyang Army, who had already made some preparations, rushed out of the military tents to assemble and wait for orders. The Nanyang Army camp, which was so quiet just now, was in chaos, and before the soldiers of the Nanyang Army completed their assembly, another A guard rushed to the front of Liu Laosan and reported loudly: "My lord, we can see clearly from our sentry tower, it is the Western Chu Army! It is the Western Chu Army that went south overnight!"

"Western Chu Army?!"

Liu Laosan and Han Xin screamed at the same time, and then Liu Laosan couldn't help adding, "How is it possible? It's not time yet? Why did that bastard in Liji lead the army to retreat south?"

Liu Laosan's question was quickly answered. When the Western Chu Army started to bypass the Nanyang Army camp on the west side with torches, a soldier of Liji was led in front of Liu Laosan and asked Liu Laosan The youngest saluted and said, "King Nanyang, we, General Li, let the villain inform you. I'm really sorry. The Han bandits suddenly sent troops to attack our camp. Our army couldn't resist, so we had to abandon the camp early and retreat. What offended us , hope Nanyang Wang Haihan, please understand Nanyang Wang."

"The Chinese bandits attacked your camp?" Liu Laosan asked in surprise, as if listening to sleep, "Why didn't we hear anything? How many troops have been dispatched by the Han bandits to attack your camp, why can't you resist so quickly?"

"Reporting to Nanyang King, it may be because the distance is too far, so you didn't hear it here." Liji's relatives replied confidently: "As for how many troops the Han thieves dispatched to attack our camp, it was too dark, we don't know. , we couldn't resist, because we prepared to retreat in a hurry according to your request, and the army was flustered, so when we saw the sneak attack of the Han bandits, the soldiers couldn't restrain themselves, and all of them ran out of the camp. We, General Li, had no choice but to retreat early .Nanyang King, the villain has to go back and return to his command, so I will take my leave first.”

After saying that, Liji's soldiers turned around and left, leaving Liu Laosan dumbfounded and stunned, and only when he saw the convoy of the Western Chu Army passing by his camp with his own eyes, Liu Laosan came back to his senses. He roared frantically: "Is this called a hasty retreat? The queue is so neat, and even the supplies and food carts have been brought. Does this mean that the soldiers can't restrain themselves and retreat in a hurry?"

"We've been tricked." Han Xin said with a gloomy face, "Li Jipifu has already prepared to retreat, and deliberately retreated first, in order to force us to give him the rear and cover him from the pursuit of the Han thieves. "

"How is it possible?" Lu Jia next to him exclaimed dumbfounded, "Richippifer himself told me that his army was not ready to retreat? How could he be so well prepared in such a short period of time?"

Lu Jia is not stupid, but after a little calculation, he came to his senses, slapped his forehead and screamed, "I've been fooled! No wonder that bastard Liji came out of the camp to meet me in person, and he was just at the gate of the camp with me." It turned out that he was afraid that I would enter his camp and see that he was already ready to retreat!"

"what?"

When Liu Laosan heard it, he was even more furious, and hurriedly asked Lu Jia for details. After Lu Jia finally told Liu Laosan the details of his meeting with Liji, Liu Laosan immediately kicked him in anger. Fell on the ground, he roared wildly: "Idiot! Nai Weng was cheated to death by you! Li Jifu, you are ruthless! Only Nai Weng cheated people, even the traitor Xiang Kang has never cheated Nai Weng! Today, Nai Weng was finally tricked by you idiot!"

"Why are you still staring blankly? Order the whole army to go out of the camp and assemble immediately, and prepare to retreat. The traitors are about to kill them!"

At the same time, in the Western Chu army, Liji, who was sitting in the car, kept looking back and muttering, "Xiang Kang's traitor, this general has fulfilled your request and left with the army first, and you have to honor it." Promise, don't chase me down! You have sworn, if you break your word, your eldest father Xiang Yan and your second uncle Xiang Liang, their spirits in heaven will definitely not spare you !"

(End of this chapter)