Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 442
In fact, compared with Xiang Yu, when he returned to the Western Chu Army this time, the person Liu Laosan was most afraid of seeing was not Xiang Yu, who he had played with more than once, but the Yafu whom Xiang Yu and the Western Chu Army respectfully called ——Fan Zengfan old man.

As for the reason, it is of course very simple. Old man Fan must not only have known about Hangu Pass for a long time, but he must also understand the real reason why Liu Laosan took the initiative to dedicate the remaining land and city to the Western Chu Army. He is even more treacherous and sophisticated, and will never be coaxed by Liu Laosan like a child like Xiang Yu. It is certainly not difficult for Liu Laosan to hide any plans from his eyes.

What's worse, because of the influence of Xiang Kang's demon moth wings, Chen Ping, the number one imbecile at the end of Qin Dynasty, never tried to frame old man Fan. Old man Fan is still extremely trusted by Xiang Yu. Also instigate Xiang Yu to kill Liu Laosan, Xiang Yu will definitely kill Liu Laosan without blinking an eyelid, and even Xiang Bo and Master Xiang may not be able to save Liu Laosan as in history.

That's not to mention, the old man Fan who is over [-] years old is still a master who is not greedy for money and not lustful. If Liu Laosan wants to deal with him with the same means as he used to deal with Master Xiang Bo, he may only be asking for his own disaster, which is counterproductive!

It is also because of this that after the main force of the Western Chu Army retreated to Pengcheng, the first time Liu Laosan saw old man Fan, he immediately accepted the head and bowed, calling him Yafu respectfully, and was more polite and polite to old man Fan than Xiang Yu Not to mention, I kept beating drums in my heart, for fear that old man Fan would not like me, pursue the past, and kill myself with one word.

Fortunately, due to various reasons and considerations, old man Fan chose to temporarily forgive Liu Laosan against his will, and personally helped Liu Laosan without saying anything, and even held Liu Laosan's hand, talking and laughing, which is a compliment After Liu Laosan took the initiative to donate land and land, he patted Liu Laosan on the shoulder and asked Liu Laosan to serve Xiang Yu faithfully, and to join hands with the officials of Western Chu to assist Xiang Yu in achieving his great cause. Liu Laosan hurriedly agreed, and in his heart Quietly breathed a sigh of relief, secretly said: "The most difficult hurdle has finally passed, and the next thing about this king can be handled easily."

Because the Western Chu army entered the hinterland of Yingchuan this time and gained a lot of money and food, and expanded its territory in terms of reputation, Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng for the first time since the beginning of the Chu-Han War. In the city, my heart is naturally more comfortable than usual. In addition, after half a year of repairs and reconstructions, the Xichu Palace that was burned down by Peng Yue and Feng Zhong at the beginning has become completely new. Xiang Yu, who has not lived in the palace for a long time, is of course even more worried Happy, he immediately ordered a banquet to be held in the rebuilt Western Chu Palace to celebrate that the Western Chu Army finally took advantage of the Han Army this time.

Silk and bamboo singing and dancing, orchid paste and bright candles, are far more luxurious than the banquets of the Han army. At the banquet, Xiang Yu, who was finally not tricked by his scum cousin, was in a good mood. The military and civil servants also kept flattering and flattering, and repeatedly praised Xiang Yu's brilliant victory this time. They beat Xiang Kang so hard that he was forced to adjust the overall strategy. Have fun with Xiang Yujun and his ministers.

Of course, there are also discordant pictures. At least the smiles on the faces of the Western Chu Army advisers such as Old Man Fan, Kuai Che, and Han Sheng make it obvious that they are pretending. He was so distracted that he didn't even realize that Xiang Yu invited him to toast with him. It was only after Han Sheng reminded him that he came back to his senses, and hurriedly toasted with Xiang Yu.In the end, even Xiang Yu saw that something was wrong, and asked, "Yafu, what's the matter? What seems to be on your mind?"

"No." Old Man Fan quickly shook his head and said, "I don't have anything on my mind. I was just thinking about what the traitors would do next, so I lost my mind. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"It's rare to be happy, why are you thinking about those annoying things?" Xiang Yu said with a big face: "Don't worry, Father Ya, you don't need to worry about the next step of the Han bandits. It's their luck that the Han bandits don't dare to take the initiative. If they dare to take the initiative , I will take care of killing them all!"

Old man Fan forced a smile and nodded, but said in his heart: "After all, he is still not as smart as your cousin. If we don't make preparations for a rainy day, if the traitors attack suddenly, I'm afraid it will be too late for us to react."

Old man Fan's words became a prophecy. A few days after Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng with the main force of the Western Chu Army, Huan Chu, the general of the Western Chu Army, sent an urgent report from Dingtao, saying that it was the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army who had come to Pengcheng. Puyang sent [-] troops to attack Zhencheng in the east of Puyang.As a result, Xiang Yu didn't hesitate, and immediately shouted: "Give Huan Chu an order to send troops to fight immediately, and must kill all the Han thieves!"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this matter needs to be discussed carefully." Old Man Fan said hastily: "General Huan Chu only has a total of more than 3 troops in his hands, but the army of Zheng Bu, the Han traitor who confronts him, has nearly [-] troops. An insignificant Zhencheng's big move might give Zheng Bupifu a chance to fight decisively."

"What are you afraid of?" Xiang Yu said angrily, "A decisive battle is a decisive battle. At worst, I will personally lead the army to reinforce Huan Chu, and I am afraid that Zheng Bupifu will fail."

"I knew you would say that, you won't be reconciled if you don't toss out our last main force." Old man Fan murmured in his heart, but for the sake of Xiang Yu's dignity and face, old man Fan certainly didn't say this, he just suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't we call together our main civil and military personnel, brainstorm and discuss how to deal with this situation."

Of course Xiang Yu didn't want to go through such a hassle, but he couldn't stand Old Man Fan's repeated persuasion, so Xiang Yu nodded reluctantly. Old Man Fan was overjoyed, and quickly ordered the main civil and military gathering of the Western Chu Army for Xiang Yu. In addition, he said without authorization: "Tell Peigong to bring Han Xin who suggested that we enter the hinterland of Yingchuan."

"Father Ya, why do you still call for Han Xin's crotch child to attend our court meeting?" Xiang Yu asked a little unhappy: "His status is worthy of participating in such an important court meeting? Besides his situation, you are not I don't know, it's suspicious!"

"Your Majesty, the matter of Han Xin is clearly a shameless alienation by the traitor Xiang Kang. Give him a chance." Old man Fan persuaded: "Before he persuaded you to enter the hinterland of Yingchuan, and the traitor Xiang Kang not only dared not move, but was also beaten. If he is forced to adjust the overall strategy, if he can come up with such a good idea, it will only benefit us and cause no harm."

Seeing Old Man Fan's face, Xiang Yu didn't say anything more, and according to Old Man Fan's instructions, Ji Bu, Xiang Zhuang, Kuai Che and other important civil and military personnel of the Western Chu Army quickly gathered together, and Liu Laosan happily took the The expressionless Han Xin came to the Palace of Western Chu, and bowed down to Xiang Yu respectfully, but Xiang Yu still couldn't see Han Xin who had slipped through the butcher's crotch. This military council.

The Western Chu army was indeed hurt. After Xiang Yu told everyone about the situation, the Western Chu army who attended the meeting said that there was no need to go to war for such a small county town as Zhencheng, so that the vitality of the Western Chu army was greatly injured. The troops of Huan Chu and the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army felt that it was enough to let Huan Chu decide how to reinforce Zhencheng. Even if Zhencheng was really lost, it would be no big deal.

Of course, the fanatical militant Xiang Yu was displeased, but what made Xiang Yu even more displeased was that after everyone had expressed their opinions, Han Xin, the child under his crotch, also had the cheek to speak, and said arrogantly: "Your Majesty, Yafu, my lords, don't you think it's strange? Zhencheng is just a small county town. It doesn't have much money, food and materials, and its geographical location is not important. Why did the Han thieves send out [-] troops to attack? Such an insignificant small city? Isn’t this a waste of time and money?”

"Does it need to be said?" Ji Bu said angrily: "Of course the Han bandits want to besiege the city and fight for reinforcements, to lure General Huan Chu into a decisive battle with them?"

"The Chinese bandits are so brainless?" Han Xin laughed, and said, "Or, the Han bandits think that General Huan is so brainless that he will launch a decisive battle with them in the middle for an insignificant small county in Zhencheng? Let us go." Dingtao's important town is ignored?"

Ji Bu was at a loss for words, but Old Man Fan asked very calmly: "General Han, in your opinion, why did the Han bandits dispatch so many troops to attack the small county of Zhencheng?"

"Of course it is to open up direct contact with Peng Yue's bandit army." Han Xin replied casually: "After taking down Zhencheng and taking down Duguan next to it, the Han bandits can get in touch with Peng Yue's bandit army. Then the military supplies, weapons, food and supplies of the Han bandits can be directly handed over to the Pengyue bandit army. With the support of the Han bandits' military equipment, money and food, the Pengyue bandit army who is good at running around can make a comeback and pose a direct threat to our hinterland. gone."

Before Han Xin finished speaking, the complexions of Old Man Fan, Kuai Che and other discerning people changed, and then Old Man Fan nodded quickly and said, "It makes sense, as long as the Chinese rebels help Peng Yue's traitors solve the problem of food, grass and weapons, then The ability of this traitor will indeed soon pose a threat to our hinterland, making us continue to live day and night."

He had personally fought against Peng Yue, and he knew how difficult Peng Yue was and how easy it was to run away, so when he heard this, Xiang Yu's heart tightened immediately, and he hurriedly said: "We must not let the Han thieves get what they want, we must increase our troops in the Zhencheng area as soon as possible. , cut off the communication between the Han bandits and the Pengyue bandits, and try to get rid of the Pengyue bandits as soon as possible."

"Your Majesty, it may be very difficult to achieve this." Han Xin replied: "Let's not talk about whether we have time to increase our troops to Zhencheng. It will only waste our mobile forces in vain, and then we may be gradually lured by the Han thieves to increase our troops and fall into strategic passiveness."

"In your opinion, what should we do?" Old Man Fan asked calmly.

"Reporting to Yafu, the general feels that there is no need to try our best to prevent the Han thieves from getting in touch with the Pengyue thieves. The matter of Zhencheng can be handled by General Huanchu himself. It doesn't matter how long he can stop it." Han Xin replied: " The General Manager believes that we should plan ahead and prepare for the next step and the overall strategy of the next step, so that we can prevent accidents."

Of course Old Man Fan liked to hear these words, so Old Man Fan hurriedly asked again: "Then how should we plan ahead?"

"Assemble the army in Xue County in advance, prepare for the battle, and wait for work with leisure, so that we can attack the Pengyue bandit army head-on in the future!"

Han Xin said calmly, "The general can be sure that once the Han bandits get through with the Pengyue bandit army and provide the Pengyue bandit army with food, grass and military supplies, the Xiangkang bandit will definitely order the Pengyue bandit army to invade Xue County. As for the reason, it is also very simple. Peng Yue's bandit army marching into Xue County can not only effectively weaken our national power, but also interfere with or even cut off our smooth connection with Qi, and indirectly support the Han bandit Zhou Shu's troops to march into Qi. In the future, we will be forced to When sending troops to rescue Qidi, we can also contain and harass our northward reinforcements, and cooperate with the northern line of the Han bandits."

"Therefore, we don't need to let the Han thieves lead us by the nose." Han Xin went on to say, "We just need to plan ahead and assemble an army with sufficient strength in Xue County in advance, so that when the Pengyue thieves are ordered to march eastward, they can wait for work at ease." Take a head-on blow and kill the Pengyue bandit army who has just recovered a little bit of vitality. And the next step, once the whole land changes, we can also mobilize the Xuejun army to go north for reinforcements, and stop the Han bandits from the north and take the east!"

The old man Fan smiled, and he smiled very gratifiedly, and said: "General Han, it's no wonder that when Peigong was the king of Nanyang, he would leave so many heroes and veterans unused, but he made an exception and promoted you to be the general of Nanyang. It's no wonder Xiang Xiang The traitor Kang would take such painstaking efforts to target you, the old man used to think it was a little strange, but now the old man understands that when you were under the king's tent before, it turned out that the king and the old man had misjudged you."

After praising Han Xin in various ways, Old Man Fan did not hesitate, turned to Xiang Yu and said, "Your Majesty, General Han Xin's plan is brilliant. Yes, given the current situation, even if we still have hope to prevent the Han thieves from getting through with the To contact the Pengyue bandit army, we must also station a large number of troops in the west of Juye Lake, wasting a large number of our mobile troops. Instead of this, it is better to gather troops in Xue County first, and prepare to meet the Pengyue bandit army while waiting for work. With a sudden change, we can also send troops north from Xuejun to reinforce Tianjia and Tianda, which is far better than sending troops north from Pengcheng."

Xiang Yu made some calculations and asked, "Father Ya, are you sure that Peng Yue's rebel army will march into Xue County in large numbers? If Peng Yue's rebel army is still the same as before, it will focus on harassing the Donghai Avenue that connects us with Dingtao."

"Absolutely not." Old man Fan replied confidently: "Even if Peng Yue's rebels want to do this, Xiang Kang's traitors will never agree, because before that, the main force of our army was concentrated on the Xingyang battlefield, and Peng Yue's rebels harassed us wantonly. The Eastern Sea Road can be of great help to Xiang Kang's traitors."

"But the situation is completely different. The main force of our army has withdrawn to Pengcheng to rest, and General Huanchu has already hoarded a large amount of food, grass and military supplies in Dingtaojian City. No big picture. The traitors of Xiang Kang will never give money and grain to support Peng Yue's bandit army for nothing. Only by allowing Peng Yue's bandit army to invade Xue County on a large scale and indirectly cooperate with the Han bandit Uncle Zhou's troops to march across the land is the most in line with the strategic interests of Xiang Kang's bandits. , so the old man can be sure that once the Han bandits get through the contact with the Peng Yue bandit army, the next attack direction of the Peng Yue bandit army will only be our Xue County!"

After finishing speaking, old man Fan added another sentence, saying: "Take ten thousand steps back, even if Peng Yue's traitor refuses to obey Xiang Kang's traitor's order, or he finds out in advance that we have gathered heavy troops in Xue County, waiting for him to come to die We don’t dare to take any action, we gather the army in Xue County in advance, and we can go north to rescue Qi at any time, so as not to waste time, and give the Han bandits an opportunity to attack Qi.”

Xiang Yu, who is not good at planning for a rainy day, still hesitated, but he couldn't stand the repeated persuasion of old man Fan, Kuai Che and Han Sheng, and Master Xiang Bo didn't jump out to make trouble. After thinking for a long time, Xiang Yu was finally reluctant He nodded and said: "Forget it, since Yafu thinks it should be done, let's arrange it like this. Let Huan Chu deal with it on Zhencheng's side, gather troops in Xuejun in advance, and prepare to deal with that traitor Peng Yue!"

As expected by Xiang Kang, before Xiang Yu's words fell, Liu Lao San couldn't wait to jump up, and took the initiative to ask Ying to say: "My lord, let me go down. When I raised troops in Pei County, I spent a long time in Xue Swimming and fighting in the county, I know the situation of Xue County very well, and I am also very familiar with the situation around Juyeze. Let the minister go to Xue County to prepare to meet the Peng Yue bandit army. As long as the Peng Yue bandit army really dares to enter the hinterland of Xue County, the minister Custodian kills him to death!"

Fortunately, this time it was Lou Jing's guess, and before Liu Laosan finished speaking, Ji Bu, Ding Gu, Wu Dian and other veteran generals of the Western Chu Army had already changed their expressions, and immediately opened their mouths to refute, thinking that it was just now. Liu Laosan, who returned to Xiang Yu's tent, was not qualified to lead the army of Xue County alone. Xiang Yu also disdainful, and said: "Don't be busy, let's discuss how to gather the army in Xue County, and who to send to Xue County to command the troops, I have to think carefully. .”

"Your servant obeys the order." Liu Laosan clasped his fists in embarrassment and sang a promise, but said in his heart: "This is an opportunity, this king must seize it! As long as he can go to Xue County to lead the army, he will definitely be able to go north to Qi for reinforcements in the future. When we get to the land of Qi and stay away from Xiang Yu Zhuzi, this king will have the hope of making a comeback."

Because old man Fan had already recruited and trained a group of reserve teams for Xiang Yu, the problem of how to mobilize the army to gather in Xue County first was very easy to solve.However, after solving this problem, old man Fan ran into a problem again, and secretly said: "Who should I send to command the troops in Xue County? It is definitely not possible for the king to go in person. Ji Bu is an option, but the main force cannot do without a strong general like him." Sitting in the township, and he is rigid in combat, especially not good at maneuvering, and he will definitely suffer when he meets Peng Yue, who is more cunning than a fox."

"Ding Gu? No, this man is too greedy and selfish, not a general. Wu Dian is even worse. He is neither as brave as Ji Bu, but also more rigid than Ji Bu. Zhou Lan is not qualified enough, and last time he led an army alone to chase down Peng Yue's rebels." , was also led by the nose by Peng Yue's rebels. People like Wang Fen, Dongfang Tai, and Zheng Mi have less seniority and are even more unreliable. Children of the Xiang family..."

When he was forced to consider letting the sons of the Xiang family lead the army alone, Old Man Fan also found out that compared with Xiang Kang, Xiang Yu was really not good at employing people and training generals. The children are treated equally, and sometimes they deliberately hand over the dirty work to the children of the Xiang family. Although this is a bit suspected of being mean to the family, it also gives the children of the Xiang family the opportunity to grow and experience. After being cultivated to be able to stand alone, Xiang Sheng, Xiang Han, Xiang Guan, Xiang Sui and others have also successively become promising young commanders.

But after Xiang Yu took charge of the army, the situation was completely different. All the good positions that were good, fat, and lucrative were all assigned to the children of the Xiang family. Although the children of the Xiang family enjoyed far more comfort than the young commander The good life of Xiang Kang and Xiang Yu also led to the corruption of the Xiang family's children, who did not want to suffer any more, and faced up to difficulties. Even Xiang Zhuang, who was once on par with Xiang Kang and Xiang Yu, was used by Xiang Yu as a genius. An ordinary general who obeys his orders no longer has any chance to practice on his own. Now that he is allowed to take on Xue Jun's important task alone, old man Fan is of course not at ease no matter what.

Shaking his head helplessly, after putting these regrettable things aside, he continued to consider the candidates for the coach of Xue County's partial division. Of course, Liu Laosan jumped into Old Man Fan's head - he has enough experience in commanding troops, and even less ability to stand on his own. In other words, his combat style is flexible, he is good at appeasing the hearts of the people, and he is also good at fighting hard and vicious battles. No matter how you look at it, he is the natural nemesis of guerrilla warfare expert Peng Yue...

"Do you want to give this idiot another chance? If this idiot is as ambitious as before, what should I do?"

It was also a coincidence that when old man Fan was solemnly paying attention to Liu Laosan, his guards suddenly reported that it was Liu Laosan's wife and younger brother Lu Shizhi and Lu Jia from the old department who had brought more than 300 Nanyang troops. The old department came all the way to Pengcheng to join Liu Laosan. Old man Fan didn't mind after hearing this, but just said casually: "Just check your identity, don't worry about it."

When the guards sang promises, old man Fan's heart was moved again, and he asked again: "Wait, Lu Shizhi and Lu Jia, did these people bring any vehicles to carry goods?"

"Yafu, how do you know?" The guard was surprised and said, "Here they are. In their team, there are more than a dozen vehicles that are specially used to haul goods."

"Hmph!" Old Man Fan snorted heavily, and muttered with a sneer: "No wonder Lu Jia is sent to help Liji take over the land and city. Uncle Xiang, that shameless idiot, will surely make a fortune again."

After sneering, old man Fan finally made up his mind, and said to himself: "If there is no accident, Mr. Xiang will definitely help Liu Ji to speak. Forget it, let Xiang Zhuang go, let Mrs. Liu help him, and tell Xiang Zhuang don't let him lead the army alone, so that he can not only make use of his strengths, but also prevent him from messing around like before."

(End of this chapter)