Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 430 Han Xin's Revenge

After successfully annihilating the main force of Liu Laosan's Nanyang Army, even before taking down Nanjun and the remaining cities of Nanyang, the Han Army has actually added another important weight to the balance of victory in the Chu-Han War, which also made Chu The strategic situation of the Han War became more favorable to the Han army. After the originally extremely powerful Western Chu army was continuously weakened, not only was it gradually at a passive disadvantage in the strategic situation, but the overall strength was also gradually widened by the Han army.

On the northern front, the allied forces of Dai, Jin and Zhai, who once firmly stood on the side of the Western Chu Army, had already been swept out by the Han Army. The Northern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army was completely annihilated, and Qi and Jibei, the two servant states of the Western Chu Army, were also seriously injured.

Immediately afterwards, when Li Shiqi, an important minister of the Han army, successfully persuaded Yan Guo to abandon Chu and vote for Han, and joined the Han army lineup, the Western Chu army was even more powerless on the northern front, let alone counterattack Zhao. Killing the northern front corps of the Han army, that is, whether they can keep the two slave states of Qi and Jibei, has become a big problem that is difficult to solve.

The same is true for the middle road. Xiang Yu and others never even dreamed that the Cao Jiu Corps of the Western Chu Army, which they had placed high hopes on, would be defeated so quickly by the Han Army. Back then, even Xiang Liang was at a loss what to do. The strong city of Puyang would also be captured so quickly and easily by the Han army, causing the Western Chu army to retreat to the front line of Dingtao and Jishui in the middle. If it weren't for the Han army's temporary lack of strategic counterattack plans, the hinterland of Western Chu would have been The door is wide open, and there is an emergency everywhere.

Xiang Yu should definitely regret his strategy of first going north and then going south, and remembering that Liu Laosan fled south privately on the battlefield of Cheyuanting, prioritizing his own interests, and did not give Liu Laosan the maximum help, resulting in his most promising southern battlefield. Being able to establish a decisive advantage as soon as possible gave the Han army the opportunity to quickly reverse the passive situation on the southern front, and also caused the Nanyang army, which had the most hope of posing a huge threat to the Han army, to be quickly defeated, and the main force was almost destroyed.

Just imagine, if Xiang Yu could have sent more reinforcements to Liu Laosan to help Liu Laosan get rid of Yingbo as soon as possible and take down Nanjun and Changsha counties, and defend the north line and attack the south line, how the situation would have developed Is the Western Chu army advantageous?After quickly annexing Yingbo's territory, Liu Laosan will definitely turn back immediately in public and private, and attack the Sanchuan important area of ​​the Han army with all his strength. The Han army must also shrink its forces in the middle, creating opportunities for the Western Chu army to counterattack in the middle. At that time, even if Xiang Yu lost Zhao Guo, as long as the Northern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army and the Qiji Allied Forces can stabilize their positions and contain the Northern Front Corps of the Han Army, the strategic situation will still only be beneficial to the Western Chu Army. Not so passive.

Xiang Yu's wrong choice gave the Han army the opportunity to completely reverse the strategic situation. Taking advantage of the opportunity that the Western Chu army seriously did not pay enough attention to the southern front, it also took advantage of the opportunity that Liu Laosan was forced to let the Nanyang army fight on two fronts for the sake of the overall situation. After capturing the main force of the Nanyang Army, the Han Army has established tactical advantages on both the north and south fronts and the central battlefield, and has also established an active advantage in strategy. We only need to give the Han Army a little more time to digest the victory and convert the manpower and material resources of the newly occupied land. For combat effectiveness, then there is no question of whether the Western Chu army will come to fight the Han army, but only the question of how the Han army will beat the Western Chu army to death.

Without the ability to predict the future, Xiang Yu certainly didn't know whether he chose the strategy of going north first and then going south. At the same time, he was limited by the road traffic and information transmission technology of this era. Xiang Yu received accurate information when he was near Zhaoling on the border of Yingchuan. He knew that not only Ye County, which the Nanyang Army had decided to defend with all its strength, had already been taken by the Han army, but also Wancheng, the capital of Nanyang, had been taken by the Han army!
"How is it possible? What are Liu Jipifu and Liji doing for food? When they sent people to this king, didn't they say that they would stick to Ye County and wait for rescue? It's only been a few days, and even Wancheng has been lost? Liu Ji How did Piff and Liji fight this battle?!"

Hearing this news, Xiang Yu, whose temper has never changed, of course yelled, and was so furious that he almost tore up the secret work of the Western Chu Army who came to report the news. Then, Xiang Yu escaped from the Puyang battlefield regardless of luck. Kuai Che, the military counselor, advised him, but flatly refused to find out the situation first before making a decision. He insisted on taking the army to Zhaoling, directly crossing the border of Chenjun County, and entered the territory of Yingchuan County, which had changed hands several times.

Unfortunately, the small city of Yancheng, which borders Chenjun, became Xiang Yu's punching bag. In order to vent his anger, even though the small city of Yancheng, which is not even a county seat, surrendered immediately in this era, Xiang Yu still issued a massacre order in a rage, and the Western Chu army The soldiers happily rushed into the city to kill and rob, and soon turned the small town of Yancheng into a hell on earth. No one, man, woman, or child in the city escaped alive. They were all buried alive by the Western Chu army. ——Don't exaggerate, Xiang Yu has always done this.

No matter how much you vent your beastly deeds, it's useless. Soon, Xiang Yu received accurate news, knowing that his scumbag cousin Xiang Kang had returned to Ye County with the main force of the Han army. Xiang Yu was furious and didn't think about it. Immediately, he decided to continue to march westward with his troops, and go to Ye County to find his scumbag cousin and fight to the death!

This time, not to mention Kuai Che, even Master Xiang Bo, Master Xiang Zhuang, Ji Bu and others stopped doing it. They all held Xiang Yu tightly and said, "My lord, calm down, please calm down! We don't have much food and grass for the army." The road from Chen County to Ye County is too long and remote, and it is very inconvenient to transport food. After arriving in Ye County, the traitor Xiang Kang doesn’t have to fight us, as long as he sticks to the camp, he can easily kill us! Suffering severe injuries and severe injuries, the last main force, no matter what, can't make any mistakes!"

Xiang Yu didn't want to listen at first, but Xiang Zhuang, Kuai Che, Ji Bu and others refused to budge. In order to make Xiang Yu change their minds, they all knelt down in front of Xiang Yu and begged. Against going to Ye County to take risks in vain, Xiang Yu calmed down for the first time, and reconsidered the consequences of sending troops to Ye County in anger.

Xiang Yu's military acumen has never been bad. After calming down, he naturally found that he continued to march into Ye County in a fit of anger. For the decisive battle, he defended the fortified city, and the terrain of Ye County is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is definitely difficult for him to take Ye County. The development level along the way from Chen County to Ye County is not high, and the population is sparsely populated. Food is even less It's pitiful, and the roads are narrow and difficult. It is destined to be difficult to organize a large number of food teams to deliver food, grass and military supplies to the front line. Even if I persist in Ye County, it will almost certainly be a waste of time.

Considering these objective situations that are extremely unfavorable to him, Xiang Yu could only vent his anger on the case in front of him. After kicking the case into the air, he reluctantly withdrew the order to continue to march, and then yelled at Mr. Liu The incompetence of Sanhe Liji was able to lose so quickly and escape so far.Kuai Che also suggested: "Your Majesty, no matter how fast the Han bandits make progress, it is absolutely impossible to take down Nanyang County and Nanjun County further south so quickly. If there is no accident, General Liji and Nanyang King should still be there. Where to stand in the south, we'd better send more spies to the Ye County area to inquire about the news, and it won't be too late to make a decision after we figure out the situation of our army."

Xiang Yu reluctantly agreed to Kuai Che's suggestion, and then relying on the careful efforts of the Western Chu Army, the Western Chu Army quickly found more reliable news, knowing that the Western Chu Army's southern front corps was suffering little losses. After fleeing to Nanjun, he also found out the shocking news that Liu Laosan had dedicated all his land and cities to the West Chu Army.

There is no warlord who is not greedy for land and cities. Of course, this news also surprised and surprised Xiang Yu, and what surprised Xiang Yu even more was that on the second day, the remnants of Liu Laosan, who had gone north from the central part of Chen Jun, also came. At the same time, Liu Laosan sent Sui He as an envoy to meet Xiang Yu first, explain the situation to Xiang Yu and present a letter written by Liji to Xiang Yu.

After figuring out what happened, and knowing that Liu Laosan really dedicated the land and city left by the Nanyang Army to his own army, Xiang Yu didn't blame Liu Laosan too much, but agreed to talk to Liu Laosan first. The three met to talk about other things, but what Xiang Yu didn't know was that Sui He didn't immediately go back and inform Liu Laosan to come to see Xiang Yu immediately, but first went to the tent of Master Xiang Bo, the important minister of the Western Chu Army He ran for a while, and then went back to inform Liu Laosan that he could come to meet Xiang Yu.

Then, of course, it was time for Liu Laosan to display his acting skills. After meeting Xiang Yu, before Xiang Yu, who was in a complicated mood, could open his mouth to scold, Liu Laosan had already voluntarily bowed down in front of Xiang Yu, who was 20 years younger than him, with a snot in his nose Crying like pear blossoms with rain, Dujuan weeping blood, and bitterly admitting that he was useless and incompetent. Desperately expressing that he does not have the talent of a king, he begged Xiang Yu to accept his own city and land, as well as his remnant soldiers and defeated generals.

Uncle Xiang, who had met Sui He in secret, of course tried his best to speak well of Liu Laosan, repeatedly pointing out that Liu Laosan's failure to defeat the Han army was not because the Nanyang army was incompetent, but because the strength disparity was too great, and there was no way to stop the Han army. The secret weapon, the new trebuchet, has led to the current situation.At the same time, Master Xiang also vigorously praised the benevolence and righteousness of the Nanyang Army in Ye County and Wancheng twice as the queen of the Western Chu Army, and Liu Laosan's Shuntian Yingren who volunteered to donate the land and the city, and urged Xiang Yu to treat Liu Laosan kindly , Set a shining example for the princes of the world, so that Xiang Yu will rule the world in the future and establish a foundation that will never be easy.

Stick tiger chicken, Liu Laosan has a way to deal with Xiang Bo and Master Xiang, and Master Xiang also has a way to deal with Xiang Yu. Historically, during the Hongmen Banquet, Master Xiang Bo could withstand the pressure of old man Fan and persuade Xiang Yu to let Liu Laosan go There is no way out, of course, not to mention the current situation.So after thinking about it, Xiang Yu not only agreed to take Liu Laosan in, but also re-appointed Liu Laosan as Peigong, the right Sima of the Western Chu Army, and added four thousand troops to Liu Laosan, so that Liu Laosan could follow him to fight .

I have to explain that in this era, it is very common for princes to replenish their troops with warlords who defected to them. In history, Xiang Liang gave Liu Laosan five thousand troops to help Liu Laosan regain Fengyi Later, Liu Laosan also sent troops to Yingbu, Peng Yue, Han Wangxin and others. The purpose was not only to use the influence of these warlords, but also to encourage other warlords to submit to him and accept his orders.

Although he was not very happy, but because Liu Laosan took the initiative to give him so much land, Xiang Yu still asked people to set up a banquet, and entertained Liu Laosan and a few of his confidants on his own initiative. When Han Xin also came to the banquet under the leadership of Liu Laosan, Xiang Yu, who had a deep impression on Han Xin, couldn't help but sneered and said, "Eh? Isn't this the king's original halberd master? Not bad, I heard that you left this After the king, he was worshiped as a general by the king of Nanyang, what a sight!"

Hearing this, Han Xin, who is not good at communication, of course felt so embarrassed, but fortunately, Liu Laosan next to him smiled and said: "My lord, this is also a matter of course, the doctor and guard under your command, that one Is it not the talent of a general? I even forgot to thank you. If I hadn’t given up General Han Xin to my servants at the beginning, how could I rely on them? I dared to ask the king to choose a few more from the guards. Your subordinates, help your subordinates to better command and lead the army, charge into battle for you, kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds."

Thinking that Liu Laosan's flattery made him very comfortable, Xiang Yu laughed, and waved Han Xin to sit down, and did not mention the past. Xiang Yu and the Western Chu Wenwu who were present also quickly coaxed Xiang Yu and most of the Western Chu Wenwu to be happy, and their affection for Liu Laosan was revived.

However, the topic quickly turned to the main topic. After carefully understanding the actual situation in southern Nanyang and Nanjun from Liu Laosan, Xiang Yu quickly regenerated the idea of ​​continuing to march, and said: "In this way, it is even more profitable Withdrawing from the Han River, it will definitely be difficult to keep the city land in the south of Nanyang, should this king continue to march into Nanyang and completely retake the entire county of Nanyang?"

"My lord, the road is long, and food and grass are hard to guarantee." Kuai Che cautiously reminded: "Also, the main force of Xiang Kang's traitors is close at hand, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to do this."

"Is this king still afraid of Xiang Kang's traitors?" Xiang Yu said proudly: "As long as he dares to leave the camp for a decisive battle, within a day, this king will take care of killing all his bandits! As for food, Nanyang has just harvested in autumn. As long as we take down a city at random, the food and grass we rob will be enough for us for more than a month!"

"But Your Majesty, what about our rear?" Kuai Che continued to remind helplessly: "The hinterland of Nanyang is far away from our Western Chu mainland. Aren't we going to lose the big because of the small?"

Xiang Yu shut his mouth helplessly, because now Xiang Yu really can't come up with a mobile army to defend his rear hinterland, and marched into Nanyang regardless of everything, even if he could rely on looting to replenish food and grass, the Han army took the opportunity to march into the Western Chu army In the hinterland, in the end, the West Chu Army still lost more than the gain—exchanging a Nanyang County for the rear of the West Chu Army, of course Xiang Kang would never refuse such a cost-effective deal.

Seeing that Xiang Yu had been moved, Kuai Che hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the only plan for now is to let General Liji rely on the natural danger of the Han River to contain the Han bandits' southern army, and the main force will withdraw as soon as possible and return to the mainland to establish a line of defense. Prevent the Han bandits from taking the opportunity to enter our hinterland, appease the head of Guizhou to reorganize the internal affairs, accumulate grass and grain to expand the army, and then seek revenge from the Han bandits before it is too late."

Kuai Che’s words were actually old man Fan’s idea. Long before Xiang Yu led his army to the west, old man Fan had already reminded Xiang Yu that if Nanyang really couldn’t be kept, he should not force it. Restoring people's livelihood and reorganizing internal affairs, after re-expanding the army, it is the best policy to seek revenge from the Han army.Although Xiang Yu was full of confidence in his rescue of Nanyang, he had more or less remembered this reminder from old man Fan, so now when Kuai Che also persuaded him in the same way, Xiang Yu was inevitably shaken.

"Your Majesty, I think you can't withdraw!"

Opposition voices suddenly sounded, and Han Xin, who was sitting below Liu Laosan, suddenly opened his mouth and said to Xiang Yu: "My lord, retreating to the hinterland of Western Chu now will buy us time to regroup the army and stabilize the rear, but this way Not only will General Liji not be able to guard against the natural dangers of the Han River, but the battlefield in Qi will also be in jeopardy."

Kuai Che looked at Han Xin in surprise, but Han Xin remained calm, and said to Xiang Yu: "The reason is also very simple. If our army retreats now and switches from attacking to defending now, then the Han thieves only need to deploy an army in the middle of Puyang Road." The main force is enough to make it difficult for our main force to move. At that time, the Han thieves will not only be able to go south without distraction, and will not give General Liji a chance to gain a foothold in Nanjun, but will definitely take the opportunity to march into the whole land and cut off your wings on the northern front. And once Qidi and Nanjun are not protected, you will face the danger of being surrounded by Han thieves on three sides."

After finishing speaking, Han Xin turned to Kuai Che again, and said, "Doctor Kuai, do you think this is the truth? We will retreat at this time. The Han bandits only need to garrison a main force on Puyang Middle Road to make our main force hard to come by." Move, when the time comes, the traitors will take the opportunity to march into the land, how can we save them or not?"

Kuai Che was silent, nodded his head after a while, and said: "What General Han said is very true, and this is the truth. In General Han's opinion, what should we do?"

"Use offense instead of defense to force the Han thieves to shrink their troops." Han Xin said in a deep voice: "Buy time for the king's Qi army to recover, and also buy time for General Liji in Nanjun, and for the king's rear to restore people's livelihood and expand the army. time."

"How to replace defense with offense?" Kuai Che asked quickly.

"Go northwest and enter the hinterland of Yingchuan!" Han Xin pointed to the northwest, and said, "There are many cities and densely populated in the hinterland of Yingchuan. Digging, now that the autumn harvest is just over, the cities of Yingchuan have sufficient food and grass, and it is very easy to supply food and grass. If we enter the hinterland of Yingchuan, we can not only obtain a large amount of food, grass, military supplies and soldiers, but also threaten or even cut off the Xiangkang traitor and his rear in Guanzhong. connect!"

"In this way, if the traitor Xiang Kang wants to keep Yingchuan, there are only two ways. One is to risk a decisive battle with our main force; Advantage, as long as he does this, our northern and southern armies can gain a chance to breathe and gain a foothold, and our Western Chu rear can also take the opportunity to restore people's livelihood and expand the army."

Before Han Xin finished speaking, Xiang Yu, who likes to fight, had already clapped his hands and said loudly: "Good idea, I like this method, marching into Yingchuan, not only can get a lot of money, food and soldiers, but also can force Xiang Kang, that traitor and Ben to fight. King's decisive battle, as long as he has the courage to dare to fight this king, this king will take care of it and let him know how to write the word "death!"

Kuai Che's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said: "Why didn't I think of this method? Your Majesty, this plan is very good. It is indeed our best strategy to enter the hinterland of Yingchuan to attack instead of defending. Not only can we get a lot of Supplies of money, food and soldiers can also force the Han bandits to shrink their forces and win respite for our other battlefields! Moreover, even if the Han bandits encircle Wei to save Zhao and march into our rear hinterland, we don’t have to worry. It is much faster than going back to our rear from Nanyang, even if there is a change in the rear, we can retreat much more easily and quickly!"

He was originally the number one militant in the world at the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty. After hearing what Han Xin and Kuai Che said, he felt that it was reasonable. At the same time, this idea was very appetizing to him. After hearing this, Xiang Yu of course did not hesitate any longer, and immediately took a hard shot. The case in front of him was so shocking that the bowls, chopsticks, and drinks were flying around, and he shouted: "Okay! Let's do it this way! Enter the hinterland of Yingchuan! You say, where should we attack first?"

"Xiangcheng!" Han Xin said coldly the name of the city that once caused him pain, and then said: "Xiangcheng tightly controls the water and land connection between Ye County and Sanchuan. It will become extremely difficult immediately. The traitor Xiang Kang is afraid that his connection with the traitors from all walks of life will be completely cut off by us. In addition to risking his troops to return to rescue Xiangcheng, he can only shrink his troops and concentrate his troops to fight us decisively. .”

"Brilliant plan! Let's hit Xiangcheng!" Xiang Yu agreed without hesitation, and then complained to Han Xin: "I said, when you were under the king's account, why didn't you give me such a favor? Idea? If you had performed like this a long time ago, how could this king have kept you as the halberd master?"

"Did I give you less good ideas at that time? But have you heard it once?" Han Xin complained, and then said in his heart: "Xiang Kang's traitor, don't be too happy, the reason why we couldn't win you before was because of us. The gap between your strength and yours is too great, now that the Overlord of Western Chu that you can't beat is here, what else can you do?"

(End of this chapter)