Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 449 The Gap Between Soldiers and Geniuses

It would be great if Tian Bu, General of the State of Qi, could have guessed Uncle Zhou's vicious intentions in insisting on forcibly crossing the plains earlier. Uncle's malicious intentions decisively made his Ge County garrison abandon the camp and retreat towards the county, ignoring any food, tents, and supplies. Then the Jibei Army in Ge County also has a great hope of evading the interception of the Han army. It is safe to retreat first. There are many counties.

The bad thing was that Tian Da was not decisive enough, so even though his order was sent to Ge County on a fast horse at sunset, his cousin Tian Kan, the commander of the garrison in Ge County, did not hesitate to follow the order and immediately He ordered to abandon the ferry in Ge County and retreat towards the county, but he did not ask the garrison in Ge County to give up food, grass and military supplies to save time. He chose to let the soldiers of the Jibei Army load all these things into vehicles, and then retreat eastward.

Don't blame Tian Cang for giving up his life and money. First of all, Tian Da didn't ask Tian Cang to leave in this way. He is far away in Ge County, and Tian Cang doesn't know the situation of the war at Pingyuan Ferry, and he doesn't know the urgency of time; secondly, Jibei The army only has one county, and the money and food are scarce, and the profit is small. In order to prevent the Han army from advancing eastward and support Qi's reinforcements, the finances have long been on fire. Tian Gan is reluctant to give up these precious military supplies. A piece of loyalty and kindness.

After wasting a lot of precious time, Tian Gan received the second order sent by Tian Da when it was close to the second watch that night, asking him to give up everything that is not urgently needed except weapons and retreat at full speed. There is also the fact that the Han army has successfully crossed the plain.

"Oh, what a pity!"

Although distressed, of course the army is more important than the military supplies, so Tian Kan has no choice but to immediately order the [-] Jinbei Army under his command to abandon the supplies and advance at full speed, and asked Tian Bu to send The same is true for the five thousand Qi troops who went to Ge County to help. For this matter, they agreed against their will to retreat to a safe place and make up for all the losses of the Qi army.

However, the Qiji Allied Forces in Lixian County were still a step late. When they rushed to the Mausoleum Pavilion, the only way to retreat to Zhuo County, with torches, the Han Army King's Mausoleum, which rushed northward from the plain, was already ahead of them. They rushed to the mausoleum pavilion in one step. Although they hadn't had time to build any temporary fortifications to set up a blocking position, and even many soldiers hadn't had time to drink a sip of water, eat some dry food and take a rest, they still blocked their way!
Seeing this situation, Tian Kan had no choice but to quickly lead the army to attack the Han army in an attempt to defeat the Han army and open the way. China and the Qiji coalition forces launched a decisive battle.

This battle was also extremely brutal and fierce. The Qi-Ji allied forces in a hurry to retreat attacked like a rushing tide, repeatedly attacking the positions of the Han army. The body confronted the Qiji allied forces head-on, and fought with the enemy under the cloudy night sky, with blood flying and corpses strewn all over the field.

Fortunately, although the [-] Han troops commanded by Wang Ling were only ordinary troops in the northern Han army, and their overall combat power was not as good as that of the first-line elite, it was easier to fight in an formation and stick to it than to charge and assault. At this point, they repelled the Qiji coalition's attack three times, never giving the Qiji coalition a chance to defeat their own army, and forced the Qiji coalition to take the initiative to retreat. After regrouping, they turned to the north and retreated eastward.

Seeing that the enemy was vainly trying to bypass his own army's position and flee to the east, Wang Ling could only lead the army to take the initiative to attack. As a result, this was also in the hands of the Qiji coalition army. As soon as Wang Ling's army rushed to their waists, the Qiji coalition army immediately rushed to attack. Stop advancing, the middle army at the waist formed an formation and fought on the spot, the front and rear armies flanked left and right, and took advantage of the opportunity that the Han army had no time to organize a tight battle formation, successfully won the opportunity to fight with the Han army in close combat, which also changed the battle of Lingting. more cruel and bloody.

The battle has reached this point, and the Han army is left with the only option to fight against the Qiji coalition forces. Although the Han army has an advantage in total strength, there is no need to be afraid of fighting with the enemy. Unexpectedly, an accident suddenly appeared—the Yimu garrison of the Jibei Army, which had withdrawn earlier than the enemy in Ge County, turned around to meet the Qi-Ji Allied Army in Ge County after receiving the news that the friendly troops in Ge County were in an emergency. One child broke the balance of power on the entire battlefield.

Of course, the situation became extremely unfavorable to the Han army. Under the courageous charge of the Qiji allied forces, the Han army, whose formation was already in disorder, was cut and surrounded one after another, and was forced to form three circular formations of different sizes to fight each other. The soldiers of the Han army who joined the brigade were either killed or forced to escape from the battlefield to save their lives. The situation quickly fell into a disadvantage and gradually showed signs of defeat.

Then, the Qi-Ji coalition forces were caught off guard. When the sky was twilight, they finally broke through one of the three temporary formations of the Han army. Suddenly, the road from the west was full of torches, and another huge Han army came to kill.

Of course, this Han army that suddenly appeared was Xia Shuo's unit, which was previously stationed on the west bank of the ferry in Ge County. Some small boats transported troops across the river, established beachheads and scouted the enemy. When Shen Ke led the Han army fleet to the ferry of Li County to convey Uncle Zhou's order, Xia Yue decisively led the army to cross the river urgently, and then Before the whole army had finished crossing the river, he personally led the [-] former troops to pursue them.

The arrival of the reinforcements from the Han army not only reversed the situation on the battlefield, but also seriously damaged the morale of the Qiji coalition army. Fearing that the Han army would have more follow-up reinforcements, the Qiji coalition army had no choice but to quickly dismiss the Wangling army first. After defeating the idea of ​​retreating calmly, they immediately retreated to the east. The Wang Ling army and Xia Shuo army also decisively launched a pursuit, and fought many times with the Qiji coalition army on the road. Taking advantage of the enemy's eagerness to retreat, they killed and wounded a large number of Soldiers of the Qiji United Army.

In the end, because the battlefield is located in the North China Plain and the terrain is open, and because the Qiji coalition forces accidentally received reinforcements from Yimu's allies, the Han army did not have the opportunity to completely wipe out the enemies in Ge County, but the [-] Qiji coalition forces in Ge County In the end, there were still less than [-] people who escaped back to the county by chance. In addition, Yimu’s Jinbei army also lost more than half, and the Han army’s losses were just over [-]. So in general, the Han army’s battle It still took a lot of advantage, and finally it didn't let the main force of the Han army launch a rush to cross the plains at any cost and sacrifice in vain.

Unlike the partial division in Ge County, which lost more than half, the Qiji Allied Forces, which voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield at the ferry, escaped the pursuit of the Han army very smoothly. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the Han army crossing the river was too exhausted and unable to pursue, they just retreated to the camp and reorganized their troops. The main force of the Qiji Allied Forces resolutely abandoned the camp and retreated at full speed along the Chidao. Although the Han army who had already crossed the river also took the opportunity to pursue them, they were killed by Tian Ji, the general of the Jinbei Army behind the palace, led by Tian Ji because of serious physical decline. No results were obtained, only the military supplies that the Qiji coalition forces voluntarily gave up were seized.

Not to mention Gaotang's side, where the Jinbei army retreated eastward, and the distance was close, and the main force of the Han army that had not been able to cross the Yellow River could not spare them to deal with them, so the Jibei army on Gaotang's side also had to retreat. Withdrew to the area of ​​Luoyin without any loss, and joined forces with the main forces of the Qiji Allied Forces who had withdrawn from the plain.But it’s okay for the Han army. Because of the distance, it is still unknown whether the [-] defenders of the Jibei Army stationed in Nanpi can get rid of the pursuit of the Yan army, the servant of the Han army. It is obvious that the Yan army still has the hope and opportunity to wipe out the enemies in Nanpi.

When all these situations were reported to Uncle Zhou, it was already the afternoon of the second day after the end of the Pingyuan War. Considering that Wang Ling and Xia said that the army was exhausted and did not carry siege equipment, Uncle Zhou immediately ordered Wang Ling Withdrew the troops and returned to the plains. Xia said that he led the army back to Ge County, and planned to let the army rest for a while, take down the Pingyuan County and the small town of Ge County that refused to surrender, and then go to the Qiji coalition to settle new debts and old debts.

Li Shiqi was a little unwilling to give up, and said to Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, we have enough troops around us. It's better to send out an army to Luoyin and the county line immediately, entangle the main force of the Qiji coalition army, and wait for our attack." Once the main force is free, they can immediately advance eastward and fight the Qiji allied forces in Luoyin and Zhuo County."

"It's too late." Uncle Zhou replied: "As long as Tian Da, Tian Ji and Tian Bu have a little bit of brains, they will definitely not stay in Luoyin and Zhuo County. There, we must regroup to meet us, and we are still waiting for the rescue of the bandit army from Qi State and Western Chu State, so if we send troops there now, we will definitely be in vain.”

The facts were just as Uncle Zhou expected. On the second day, scouts from the Han army sent a scout report, saying that the Qiji coalition forces were only staying in Zhuo County and Luoyin area, and added a little bit of defenders to these two counties. , and then immediately withdrew to the direction of Licheng.Uncle Zhou was not surprised by this. In addition to sending more scouts to spy on the enemy's movements, he also rushed to build various siege weapons so that other Han army teams that did not participate in the battle for crossing the city would attack the small plain town that refused to surrender. attack.

There is a huge disparity in power, and of course there is no suspense in the plain siege battle. Although the plain defenders of the Jibei Army showed admirable courage and determination to defend the city, they still could not stop the continuous bombardment of the Han army's counterweight trebuchets. , Just persisted for less than a day, the city was declared to have fallen, the defender Tian Mao died in battle, most of the defenders were killed, and the rest all surrendered.And on the second day, Xia Shuo also took down the county seat very easily, and basically wiped out the remaining forces of the Jibei Army on the front line of the Yellow River.

The siege of Pingyuan only lasted less than one day, but it took more than three days to prepare the siege weapons. In order to save time, we cleared the obstacles to entering Licheng as soon as possible. After successfully taking Pingyuan County, Uncle Zhou Then he made a decision to let the Han army divide into two groups to attack Luoyin and Zhuoxian at the same time.However, what surprised Uncle Zhou was that when he led the main force of the Han army to the city of Luoyin, he was still preparing a large number of siege weapons, and sent an urgent report to Licheng to investigate the enemy's situation. The Zhixi Chu army rushed to the Licheng battlefield yesterday, and joined forces with the main force of the Qiji Allied Forces who had voluntarily retreated to the Licheng area.

"The Western Chu bandits have already arrived in Licheng? How could it be so fast? The Western Chu bandits flew here?!"

After a rare exclamation, Uncle Zhou hurriedly asked the messenger, "How many troops are there in the Western Chu bandit army? Who is the commander?"

"Reporting to the general, the strength of the Western Chu bandit army should be around [-]." Xi Zuo replied truthfully: "The commander is Zuo Sima Xiangzhuang of the Western Chu bandit army."

"Xiang Zhuang?!" Uncle Zhou was stunned again, then suddenly remembered the letter from Xiang Kang he had received before, and said with a cold snort: "No wonder it came so fast, it turned out that Xiang Yu, the puppet king of Western Chu, was sent to Xue County What a partial teacher to deal with Peng Yue. It was really predicted by our king, Peng Yue is really not the opponent of Liu Ji, Xiang Zhuang's deputy, and he will die so soon."

"Don't worry, general." Cui Guang, an old man from Shangshan next to him, comforted: "The Qiji bandit army has been severely weakened by us on the front line of Dahe. At present, there are less than [-] troops left, and the Western Chu bandit army is only here. With [-] partial divisions, our army still has a clear advantage in terms of military strength, and we are still confident enough to wipe out the Chu, Qi, and Ji Three Kingdoms' bandits on the Licheng battlefield before the main force of the Western Chu bandits goes north for reinforcements."

Uncle Zhou nodded, and then smiled a little, and said, "Well, just come, it's just right, the king has reminded me again and again, saying that Han Xin, the general under Liu Jipifu, is a man who must be handled with care even by the king and me." The enemy, these words almost made my ears callused. Since Liu Jipifu is here, that Han Xin must also be here, and this general just happened to check his condition himself."

"General Zhou, don't blame the old man for talking too much. It's better not to underestimate the enemy." Li Shiqi hurriedly reminded: "The messenger sent by the king last time was also entrusted by the king to tell us that our king went south to Nanyang before. , the Nanyang bandit army was drowned entirely by absolute superiority in strength. During several battles during the period, the price paid was actually higher than that of the Nanyang bandit army. Even if your majesty is so handsome and heroic, we'd better be careful."

"Thank you, Doctor Li, for your reminder, and please rest assured, Your Majesty. I have never dared to forget your entrustment. I will not underestimate the enemy." Uncle Zhou replied with a smile: "I am just curious, what kind of enemy will make us Your Majesty can win battles and suffer losses secretly, so I want to see with my own eyes how capable this poor man is."

The twists and turns continued, and Uncle Zhou couldn't laugh anymore. There were two reasons. One was that it rained suddenly in Luoyin area that night, which caused a lot of trouble for the Han army's preparations for war, and it might also affect the Han army's preparations for war. Second, in the afternoon of the next day, Uncle Zhou received another news that was too late to verify the authenticity, saying that Tian Heng, the descendant of the Qi royal family who raised troops under the banner of the Han army, was in Jiaodong. The Gaomi area of ​​the county suffered a big defeat, and almost the entire army was wiped out. It is said that Tian Heng had already died tragically in the rebellion.

Hearing the news, even Uncle Zhou couldn't help but change his face, and hurriedly asked the intelligence officer of the Han army who came to report the situation: "Where did you hear this news? Is it reliable?"

"Reporting to the general, this news was found by our spy work in Licheng." The intelligence officer of the Han army hurriedly replied: "Whether it is reliable or not is not confirmed yet, but the news has been spread all over Licheng, Chu Qi The morale of the soldiers of the Ji bandit army is also boosted, and they all say that the Qi bandit army will soon send out the main force to reinforce Licheng."

"Really? Could it be a rumor deliberately released by the bandit army?"

After all, he was the one who was brought down by Xiang Kang. Uncle Zhou inevitably had such suspicions in his heart. After waving his hand to let the intelligence officers of the Han army go down, Uncle Zhou planned to ask Li Shiqi, Zhou Shu, Cui Guang, etc. who were present at the scene. Someone asked: "Doctor Li, what do you two seniors think? Could this news be a rumor deliberately released by the bandit army?"

"There may be rumors." Li Shiqi thought about it and said, "Because it's a coincidence that the Xichu bandit army arrived in Licheng just the day before yesterday, and we received this news today, as if it was deliberately arranged. Ah Choo!"

After finishing speaking, Li Shiqi sneezed hard and rubbed his nose quickly.

"I'm afraid it's really a coincidence." Shangshan old man Zhou Shu said: "Because there is no need for the Licheng bandit army to deliberately spread such rumors. What they do can boost the morale of the army, but correspondingly, we will Because of this news, speed up the action, hurry up to Licheng to fight the decisive battle with Chu Qiji's bandit army, and don't give the main force of Qi's bandit army back to reinforce the Licheng battlefield."

"The old man also thinks that this news is probably true." Another Shangshan old man Cui Guang also said: "I am strong and the enemy is weak, the most correct choice for the bandit army should be to try to stabilize us and buy time for their reinforcements. Release such news to stimulate us, forcing us to enter the army as soon as possible to find him a decisive battle."

Considering that the enemy really does not want him to speed up his march into Licheng, Uncle Zhou nodded and said: "The two seniors are reasonable, yes, deliberately spreading such rumors will only be detrimental to the bandits' time. It's just a coincidence, even if the situation on Tian Heng's side is not as dire as the rumors, the situation will not be too good, and the bandit army of Qi State will probably send more reinforcements to Licheng as soon as possible."

"General Zhou, how should we respond?" Zhou Shu hurriedly asked again.

"There is only one way." Uncle Zhou replied: "Let the army of Yan State stop going south to join us, divert eastward to the small town of Jianchang, and then directly enter Di County from Jianchang, threaten Linzi, and force Qi State's rebel army to send out the main force to fight. If you don’t make a move to reinforce the Licheng battlefield, buy us time.”

"Brilliant plan!" Li Shiqi applauded and said, "It should be done this way. As long as Yan's army temporarily restrains the main force of Qi's bandit army, we can..., Ah Choo!"

After another sneeze, Li Shiqi hurriedly added, "We can concentrate on dealing with the enemies on the battlefield in Licheng without any other distractions, and we don't have to worry about the main force of Qi's bandit army suddenly coming to make trouble."

Uncle Zhou came up with the idea himself. Li Shiqi clapped his hands and applauded. Zhou Shu and Cui Guang also agreed. Just when Uncle Zhou was about to make up his mind, his heart suddenly moved and he hurriedly said, "Wait a minute, I'm adjusting tactics like this!" Could it be in the enemy's hands? Your Majesty has repeatedly told you that Han Xin under Liu Jipifu's account is the only dangerous opponent who can confront me head-on. If this is the case, my tactical adjustment will not It might not be guessed by that poor man."

When the gap between Uncle Zhou and Han Xin gradually became apparent, a guard from outside the account suddenly reported, saying, "General Zhou, Mr. Uncle Sun, please see me."

(End of this chapter)