Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 426 Losing Confidence
If Zhujishi hadn't arrived in time with reinforcements and completely defeated the Nanyang Army's Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo's second divisions at the last moment, creating a large number of opportunities for the chaotic Han army soldiers to behead and kill the enemy, then the city outside Wancheng In the battle, the loss of the Han army will definitely be far higher than that of the Nanyang army.

Even with an absolute superiority in military strength, the Han army still played very passively in this battle. It can be said that it was at a disadvantage on every battlefield, and was beaten by the Nanyang army, which was weaker than its own army, on every battlefield. It was disheartened and suffered heavy losses. In the end, the reputation victory was achieved entirely by physical strength. The overall loss greatly exceeded that of the Nanyang Army.

On the battlefield of the Han army's partial division, the three thousand Nanyang army led by Lu Wan succeeded in a surprise attack and successfully entered the Han army's partial division camp, killing the Han army's partial division with a strength of more than [-]. In the end, Lu Wan retreated calmly with very little loss. If it hadn't been for the Zeng Ji troops of the Han army to rush to the west gate of Wancheng and cut off Lu Wan's way back to the city, the Han army's side division would definitely be great. Lose a lot, lose a lot.

Even so, even with the help of friendly troops, the partial division of the Han army successfully defeated the partial division of the Nanyang army, beheading nearly [-] people, and the lackey Xiangyun hacked to death Lu Wan, who was disguised as an ordinary soldier in the rebellious army, and killed this The general of the Nanyang Army who was born on the same day of the same year as Liu Laosan, but the combined losses of the Han Army's partial division and Zeng Ji's troops exceeded the [-] mark. Not to mention that the loss of troops was twice that of the enemy. Accompanied by a lot of tents, luggage and military supplies.

It was even worse for Gongsun Tong's troops of the Han army who were ambushed by the Nanyang army. Only half of the [-] soldiers withdrew to the camp with Gongsun Tong. More than [-] cavalrymen and nearly [-] horses set a record for the highest loss of Han cavalry in a battle since they formed an army. Guan Ying was so distressed that he dropped his helmet directly after the battle.

General Long Qie of the Han Army suffered heavy losses as well. It is not counted if the combined loss of troops broke through the [-] mark. It is even more shameful that during the pursuit battle, he was cut in half by the enemy's countercharge of less than [-]. , Losing all the face of Long Qie, the number one fierce general of the Han army, he was so aggrieved that Long Qie yelled, and personally beheaded a thousand general of the Han army who was leading the escape in the battle.

The general of the Han army, Chong Jun, was seriously injured by Liu Ya during the fierce battle. He died on the road before he could be carried back to the camp by his own soldiers. At the same time, they resisted the crazy attack of the four armies of Nanyang Army Wang Si, Fan Kui, Zheng Bu, and Lu Ze. In the end, only [-] people returned to the Han army camp alive, and there were many wounded.

In addition to the loss of Zhujishi's troops in the battle, the loss of the Han army's troops in this battle reached an astonishing [-], among which there were many elites of the Han army. Many young marshals and old men also created the highest record of the Han army's loss of troops in a single battle. ——The time when Uncle Zhou guarded Xingyang is not counted. Uncle Zhou fought many times with the elite of the Western Chu Army, and the cumulative losses exceeded this figure.

Because of this, even though he was mentally prepared, Xiang Kang blurted out in shock after the statistics of casualties were put in front of Xiang Kang: "How could there be so many? This king thought that no matter how heavy the casualties were, , it is impossible for our military losses to reach [-] people?"

Xiang Kang was only distressed and shocked, but Liu Laosan was bleeding in his heart, so that after Han Xin personally put the casualty statistics in front of Liu Laosan, Liu Laosan covered his eyes with his hands for the first time, and kept saying Said: "I don't want to look at it, and I don't want to know how many troops we lost. Let's talk about it. How many people have returned from the army we left the city?"

After hesitating for a while, Han Xin replied with a heavy tone: "Reporting to Your Majesty, General Lu Ze's 53 troops returned with 420 people, and General Jin She's [-] troops returned with [-] and [-] people. They The wounded soldiers of the two armies are more than [-]%."

"This king didn't ask Jin She and Lu Ze's army. They are fighting under the city and protected by a moat. Of course, the loss will not be great." Liu Laosan said painfully: "This king asked other troops, Fan Gouer And Zhou Suona's army, how many people have returned? And Wang Xi and Lu Wan's army, how many people have escaped?"

Had to answer, Han Xin could only bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, don't be too sad. The 220 troops of General Fan and General Zhou, including their two generals, escaped a total of 770 people. The king sucked The general was killed, and out of his [-] troops, less than a hundred escaped back. General Lu Wan is missing, and rumor has it that he has also died in battle. His [-] troops have returned with [-] men."

"770 seven people? This number is a coincidence." Liu Laosan smiled miserably and said, "So, if we add up all the losses of our troops last night, it is about 1000 people?"

Han Xin nodded in pain, but Liu Laosan's smile was even more sad, and he said with a wry smile: "Okay, in Wancheng City, the total number of all the troops in the city is just over 7000, and [-] of them were wiped out in one battle. Five thousand is still our main force with the best equipment, and now the next battle will definitely be easier to fight."

He had already thanked Liu Laosan before, and got Liu Laosan's forgiveness and understanding. There were many civil and military personnel of the Nanyang Army next to him. Of course, the proud Han Xin didn't say anything, but stepped back heavily.However, Cao Shen, Fan Kui, and Zhou Bo, who were present with their arms hanging on their chests, all had gloomy expressions. They looked at Han Xin with extremely unkind eyes. Unable to bear it, Zhou Bo said directly: "Your Majesty, this battle must be fought." Someone needs to be responsible, if someone hadn't been smart enough to divide our already thin troops, how could we have suffered such a big defeat? Suffered such a heavy loss?"

When he said this, Zhou Bo's eyes were of course fixed on Han Xin. Han Xin turned his face away and said nothing, not taking Zhou Bo's fault, but Liu Laosan stood up to fight the injustice, and said like a cannonball: "Zhou Bo, what you said This king doesn’t understand? Someone must be responsible for this battle? Who is responsible? This king is responsible? The tactical plan last night was arranged by Han Xin, but you sent troops after this king nodded. The king personally decided to fight this battle, do you want this king to be responsible?"

"I don't dare." Zhou Bo quickly shook his head, and said, "But if the general didn't divide us up again and again, how could we..."

"Shut up!" Liu Laosan interrupted Zhou Bo roughly, and said: "The general's tactical plan is correct, we just lost last night because of the small number of soldiers, and I can be sure that the losses of the Han thieves will only be more than ours. We were able to fight like this with a weak force, all because of the correct tactics of the general, who killed several traitors by surprise!"

Seeing that Liu Laosan was determined to stand up for Han Xin, Zhou Bo could only keep his mouth shut. Then Liu Laosan picked up the loss statistics handed to him by Han Xin and took a closer look. He forced a smile on his face, but his heart kept bleeding— ——Liu Laosan can indeed be sure that the losses of the Han army are higher than those of the own army, but the capital of the Han army is huge, and at most it can only be regarded as bleeding, while the loss of the Nanyang army has touched the root of the damage and lost everything Nearly half of the capital accumulated through hard work.If there is really regret medicine in the world, Liu Laosan will definitely not support Han Xin in the battle last night!

After reluctantly smiling again, Liu Laosan first put down the battle report statistics, and then asked Han Xin: "General, what should we do next? Should we use our remaining [-] troops to defend Wancheng with all our strength? Or do we make other plans?" ?”

Without much hesitation, Han Xin quickly replied: "Your Majesty, in the opinion of my subordinates, in view of the current situation, we'd better make preparations for retreat as soon as possible, and abandon the city before the Han thieves attack the city and go south to the southern part of Nanyang." Go get back together..."

"Still running?!"

Before Han Xin finished speaking, he was interrupted by the unbearable Fan Kui, and then Fan Kui roared again: "We have already lost like this, can we still retreat? The area around Wancheng is a plain, and the cavalry of the Han bandits is far away. On top of us, I am afraid that before we have withdrawn ten miles, the Chinese bandit cavalry will rush ahead to stop us. When the time comes, the Han bandit cavalry will block us and chase after us. How many of our remaining 1 troops will be able to escape? live?"

"That's better than staying in the city and waiting to die!" Han Xin said coldly: "Jiyang, where the Western Chu army is stationed, is only forty miles away from Wancheng. With the help of the army, no matter what, we can keep more than half of the army.”

"Jiyang is on the east bank of Yushui, and Wancheng is on the west bank of Yushui. How do we cross the river?" Zhou Bo asked sharply, "Also, is the Western Chu Army reliable? When they were in Ye County, they were the ones who left the river behind." We were the first to run for our lives, and that’s why we suffered heavy casualties. If they let us join us again at this time, we won’t be wiped out?!”

"Your Majesty, you must not place your hopes on Liji." Cao Shen also said: "The traitor Xiang Kang has already told us clearly that Liji has accepted his bribe. Judging from Liji's previous performance, This matter could be true! If we still pin our hopes on Li Qipifu, it is tantamount to sending our heads to him to claim credit for Xiang Kang's traitor!"

"Your Majesty, you should stick to Wancheng with all your strength!" Xia Houying, who has a good relationship with Han Xin, also stood on the opposite side of Han Xin this time, and said: "The trebuchets of the Han thieves are very powerful, but no matter how powerful their trebuchets are, they can't be defeated." Maybe the city wall of Wancheng has really been smashed down! As long as we hold the city wall, we can hope to persist until King Xichu personally leads an army to rescue us. At that time, we will not only be able to keep Wancheng and Nanyang, but also have a lot to do. Turn defeat into victory with certainty!"

"Yes, we can only guard Wancheng!" Fan Kui yelled directly, saying: "Our remaining troops will die in vain if we go out of the city, but it is definitely more than enough to defend the city! Moreover, we have sufficient food and grass, and we can persist until There is absolutely no problem with the reinforcements from King Xichu coming!"

Seeing that several important confidants of Liu Laosan were firmly opposed to abandoning the city and retreating, Han Xin could only shut his mouth, turn his eyes to Liu Laosan, and wait for Liu Laosan to make a decision.However, to Han Xin's great disappointment, after knocking on the table in front of him with his fingers and thinking about it for a long time, Liu Laosan still gritted his teeth and said, "Defend the city with all your strength! Never consider abandoning the city until the last moment!"

"Your Majesty." Han Xin hesitated to speak.

"General, there is no need to say more." Liu Laosan shook his head and said, "Fan Kui and Zhou Bo are right. In the current situation, we will die in vain if we go out of the city, and Liji is unreliable and cannot take our lives. Entrusted to him, the only hope is to defend Wancheng and wait for rescue."

Knowing that Liu Laosan had also shaken his confidence in himself, Han Xin had no choice but to lower his head slightly, and said in his heart: "Zhuzi, lack and strategy."

After finalizing this decision, and after experiencing the disastrous defeat last night, the Nanyang Army could only abandon the previous harassment tactics and instead concentrate on strengthening the city defenses to prepare for the Han army's siege battle.After a day's rest, the Han army also resumed preparations for the siege. While building the unfinished fortifications, they assigned a large number of people to mine stone mines, prepare shells for the counterweight trebuchet, and at the same time cut down a large number of trees to drive away. He made all kinds of siege weapons to assist in the battle during the siege. During the period, he unexpectedly found more than 20 trees suitable for making counterweight trebuchets in the inaccessible Zishan Sow Ridge. All of them were cut down and brought back. The camp rushed to build more counterweight trebuchets.

Five days later, the Han army began to organize manpower to fill up the moats at the two northwestern gates of Wancheng. The Nanyang army used all kinds of weapons to stop them, and indeed caused a lot of casualties to the Han army, but they still failed to stop the Han army from filling the river. It took only four days for the soldiers and the recruited civilians to fill up more than half of the moat at the north gate of Wancheng, and opened up large siege weapons such as ladder vehicles and city crash vehicles to reach the road under the city of Wancheng. They also filled in several sections of the moat on the side of the west gate, preparing to take up the auxiliary attack task during the siege.

Another day passed, and the Han army did not take any action during the whole day. At the same time, the Nanyang army scouts trained by Han Xin could smell the strong smell of meat outside the Han army camp, and saw the continuous cooking smoke in the Han army camp. The meal time was much longer than usual, and the situation was reported to Han Xin. Han Xin also immediately understood that the Han army was feasting on the soldiers, rushing to make dry food for distribution, and was about to launch a full-scale attack on the city wall of Wancheng.

After confirming this situation, after a rare hesitation for a while, Han Xin still found Liu Laosan. In addition to reporting the scout's findings and his own analysis to Liu Laosan, he also said to Liu Laosan: "My lord, don't you?" If there is an accident, the Han thieves will definitely attack the city tomorrow, and they will definitely let the soldiers rest at ease tonight and get enough energy to attack the city. The ministers think that it is best for us to send out an army tonight to attack the Han in the middle of the night. It would be best if we can get the main camp of the thieves, even if we can’t, it will prevent the Chinese thieves’ army from getting enough rest, which will help us defend the city tomorrow.”

It was also very rare for Liu Laosan not to immediately adopt Han Xin's suggestion. After thinking for a long time, Liu Laosan said to Han Xin: "General, it's better not to take any risks. Our strength is already weak enough. If we go out of the city What's wrong with the army, our next battle to defend the city will definitely be more difficult. To be on the safe side, let's save our precious troops and use them all to defend the city."

Knowing that Liu Laosan had lost confidence in himself, Han Xin did not insist, but changed his words and said: "My lord, since you don't want to take risks, then the ministers don't object, but in order to plan ahead, we'd better make a contingency arrangement in advance. .”

"What contingency arrangements?" Liu Laosan asked quickly.

Han Xin whispered his arrangements and plans, but Liu Laosan finally didn't refuse this time, but nodded after thinking about it, and said in a low voice: "I will leave this matter to you, remember, don't worry Keep it secret, otherwise it will definitely shake the morale of the army and affect our morale."

In fact, Liu Laosan was right to reject Han Xin's proposal to rob the camp again, because he was too aware of Han Xin's cunning and deceit, and also knew that his own army's preparations for war would definitely not be hidden from Han Xin's eyes—even Uncle Zhou could tell through the cooking smoke Needless to say, Han Xin was the enemy's night attack tactic, so on the first night before the official siege, Xiang Kang specially arranged for [-] troops to go out of the camp, and the troops were divided into two groups to lie in ambush on the left and right sides of the self-army camp. What happened was that Han Xin sent troops to attack.

But it is a pity that because Liu Laosan has lost confidence in Han Xin, Xiang Kang's arrangement for Han Xin's soldier style has become a waste of hard work, and the eight thousand soldiers of the Han army have been in vain in the cold wind of late autumn. The mosquitoes were fed overnight in the wild.

But it doesn't matter much. It's still the same sentence. Xiang Kang's capital is solid, and the 4 troops have worked hard all night for nothing. As long as they stay in the camp the next day and rest at ease, it will not affect the siege of the Han army soldiers. In the early morning of the next day, after letting the Han soldiers have a good meal, Xiang Kang personally led more than 72 Han soldiers to march south, carrying as many as [-] counterweight trebuchets and a large number of catapults. The siege weapon, aggressively killed the Wancheng city.

Then, after assigning [-] of the trebuchets to the partial division of the Han army led by Ding Ji, Xiang Kang said loudly to the generals of the Han army in the flag formation: "This battle must be won by the king no matter what." Wancheng! Clearly tell our soldiers that the first person to climb to the top of Wancheng will be rewarded with ten thousand gold, and the thousand-man team he belongs to will be rewarded with thirty thousand gold! Those who have won the first rank of Liu Ji will be granted the title of Marquis and will be rewarded with ten thousand gold. Give food to thousands of households in the city! Whoever wins the head of Han Xin, the puppet general of Nanyang, will also be made a marquis, rewarded with ten thousand gold, and given food to thousands of households in the city!"

The reward was announced soon, and bursts of cheers erupted from the crowd of Han soldiers.At the same time, Liu Laosan also announced loudly at the top of Wancheng, "As long as you defend Wancheng, repel the attack of the Han thieves! The rewards for this battle will be doubled! There are those who kill the Han who rushed to the top of Wancheng!" The thief leader will be rewarded three times!"

When the soldiers of the Nanyang Army were also yelling because of the reward, Cao Can, who was in charge of the main battlefield at the North Gate, urged: "My lord, the trebuchets for the Han thieves have already begun to be prepared. Go back to the city quickly. It's too dangerous here. Leave it to me." Your servant will do."

After patting Cao Shen on the shoulder heavily, Liu Laosan walked down the north gate of Wancheng without looking back, his expression became extremely ferocious, and he kept saying in his heart: "Xiangkang traitor, come on, I want to see you!" Let's see if you have the ability to take down Wancheng, which our Nanyang Army is defending with one heart and one mind!"

After another moment, when the flag was waved, sixty Han army counterweight trebuchets lined up outside the north gate of Wancheng started together, throwing a huge stone weighing more than 60 kilograms at 150 yuan to the top of Wancheng. Take the lead in kicking off the prelude to the offensive and defensive battle of Wancheng...

(End of this chapter)