Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 450 The Gap Between Soldiers and Geniuses

Although it has been a long time since he has been alone, Xiang Zhuang, the commander of the Western Chu Army, still maintains the steady style he experienced in the Young Marshal Army. He is angry and likes to act emotionally, so even when he received the news that the Uncle Zhou Corps of the Han Army had broken through the natural barrier of the Yellow River on the way north, Xiang Zhuang did not lose his temper in the slightest. On the contrary, he immediately called Old Man Liu and Old Man Fan to tell him Han Xin, who attaches great importance to them, discusses countermeasures with them.

On the contrary, Liu Laosan, who has always been strong in psychology, is rarely a little anxious. He is afraid that the Han army will beat the rabbits. He not only broke through the natural danger of the Yellow River, but also severely damaged the main force of the Qiji coalition forces, completely shattering his dream of making a comeback in Qidi. After the messengers sent by Tian Da and others confirmed that the Qiji coalition forces were still alive, Liu Laosan breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself, "As long as there is still hope."

It is said that they are discussing countermeasures, but Xiang Zhuang, Liu Laosan and others have no other choice. After the Yellow River natural barrier is broken through, the Western Chu Army's partial division and the Qiji Allied Forces have no choice but to join forces to hold on to the important town of Licheng, which is located at the key point of the road, and wait for reinforcements. There is only one way, so after a hasty discussion, Xiang Zhuang and Liu Laosan not only urged the Western Chu Army to speed up their northward march to Licheng, but also asked Tian Da and Tianbu to retreat to Licheng as soon as possible, and don't expect to keep the land north of Jishui. The land of the city gave the Han army a chance to defeat the Chu, Qi and Ji allied forces.

Fortunately, Tian Da and Tian Bu also thought the same way. They brought all the remaining troops back to the Licheng battlefield to avoid the sharp edge of the Han army. It took a lot of time for the army to attack the plains and march into Luoyin, so the Western Chu army finally rushed to the place where the Qiji allied forces joined forces in Licheng, and regained the power of a battle in front of the Han army's Uncle Zhou's army. .

After the meeting, Xiang Zhuang of course summoned Tian Da, Tian Ji, Tian Bu and others immediately to discuss with them how to meet the upcoming fierce attack of the Han army. However, to Xiang Zhuang's surprise, all the participants had already When they were all here, Han Xin, whom Old Man Fan, the number two figure in the Western Chu Army, did not show up, was puzzled. Xiang Zhuang hurriedly asked Mr. Liu, "Pei Gong, where is General Han Xin? Why didn't you bring him here?" ?”

"Report to Zuo Sima." Liu Laosan said with a helpless expression: "As soon as he arrived in Licheng, Han Xin led some cavalry out, saying that he wanted to go to the Jishui River to check the situation carefully, and he has not returned yet. , the final general couldn’t find him in a hurry, so he didn’t bring him.”

"How wide is Jishui, and how to use it carefully? Forget it, let's discuss it first."

Xiang Zhuang was also quite helpless, he could only ignore Han Xin for the time being, and announced the start of the meeting. However, the result of the discussion made Xiang Zhuang even more helpless. Everyone at the meeting thought that they should stick to Licheng and wait for the follow-up of the Western Chu Army The reinforcements arrived, and the king of Qi, Tianjia, was asked to dispatch the main force of the Qi country to Licheng to help, but how to defend and how to let Tianjia, who is currently on fire in the backyard, quickly send the main force, but no one had any particularly wise opinions.

Even as to whether we should stick to the Jishui line of defense with all our strength, or concentrate our forces to build a strong camp outside Licheng and fight the Han army to death, everyone has different opinions. When the Han army attacked, some people believed that they should follow the example of the Chu Qiji coalition forces on the Julu battlefield and build strong camps in Jinjiling and other places in the south of Licheng. The experienced Xiang Zhuang was so dizzy from the quarrel that he didn't know what to do.

There was also the matter of adding chaos to Xiangzhuang, and the dispute continued. The Jibei Army camp suddenly sent someone to report that a person claimed to be Han Xin, the general of the Western Chu Army. The soldiers cooperated with all their strength, but they did not show the orders from Xiang Zhuang or Tian Da, so the generals of the Jibei Army who stayed in the camp did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so they could only send someone to ask Tian Da for approval.

Of course, King Tianda of Jibei was somewhat dissatisfied with this matter, and couldn't help but said to Xiang Zhuang: "Zuo Sima, it's not that Xiaowang disrespected King Xichu, it's that Han Xin under your command is a bit too much, right? A little general , Without your order, you want to enter Xiao Wang's camp to learn about the military situation, and ask the soldiers under Xiao Wang's command to cooperate, isn't it a bit too crazy?"

Xiang Zhuang turned his gaze to Liu Laosan, but Liu Laosan had no choice but to quickly say with an apologetic smile on his face: "King Jibei, this is all because of the foreign minister's fault, it is because the foreign minister spoiled that Han Xin's arrogant temper , but this Han Xin does have some skills, and he must have his reasons for doing this, and I ask the King of Jibei to allow him to act like this for the sake of his foreign ministers."

After saying that, Liu Laosan quickly gave Xiang Zhuang a few winks. Xiang Zhuang understood what Liu Laosan meant, so he could only smile at Tian Da and said, "King Jibei, General Han Xin is very resourceful and has a unique tactical vision. Even the Yafu of our Western Chu Army is full of praise. He must have done this for the sake of our joint efforts to meet the enemy. He also asked the King of Jibei to give General Ben a face and allow him to come to your camp at will. act."

Even the throne was bought by bribing Xiang Bo and Master Xiang. Of course, Tian Da didn't dare not give Xiang Zhuang and Liu Laosan this face. He ordered his subordinates to cooperate fully.And Liu Laosan was also afraid of Han Xin's arrogant temper, afraid that he would run to the camp of the Qi army and make such a scene, so he hurriedly greeted Tian Bu again, but fortunately, Tian Bu's character is far more generous than Tian Da , smiled and agreed to let Han Xin also run to his camp to mess around at will.

Because the tactical opinions were seriously opposite, the meeting chaired by Xiang Zhuang certainly did not discuss any results. In the end, Liu Laosan came up with an idea, suggesting that Xiang Zhuang personally go to Jinjiling and other places suitable for building fortifications to do some exploration. After making a decision, Xiang Zhuang accepted Liu Laosan's opinion, and led the people out of the camp and went south to Jinjiling and other places more than ten miles away from Jishui to conduct on-the-spot investigations in person, to study whether they could confront the Han army in this area for a long time.

Not to mention, Jinjiling and other places are really suitable for long-term persistence. First, the mountains are high enough to avoid the damned trebuchets of the Han army; It is certainly not difficult to confront the Han army for a long time, so Xiang Zhuang quickly made up his mind, planning to let the army rest for one night, and move to the deep ditch and high fortress in this area the next day.

When Xiang Zhuang and the others returned to the camp, it was already evening for the meeting, but Han Xin still hadn’t come back. Fortunately, Xiang Zhuang didn’t bother with this, and just asked people to prepare a banquet, and had a drink with Tian Da and the others to connect with each other. However, when everyone was exchanging cups and glasses, a report came from outside the account that Han Xin asked to see him. Xiang Zhuang was overjoyed when he heard that, and hurriedly ordered Han Xin to enter the account.Tian Da, Tian Ji and the others over there were angry in their hearts, and secretly said: "It's finally here, let's take a look, who is this little General Pi?"

Of course, Han Xin, whose personality is far superior to that of Uncle Zhou, could not leave a good first impression on Tian Da and the others. After entering the big tent, Han Xin only saluted Xiang Zhuang symbolically, and then he was extremely defiant Looking around at the people present, he asked, "Excuse me, may I ask who is General Tianbe from Qi?"

Fortunately, Tian Bu, who was named by Han Xin, happened to be a mild-mannered person. He didn't take Han Xin's rude behavior too seriously, and immediately replied: "I am, what can General Han teach you?"

"I have a few questions, general, please answer truthfully, and don't hide anything." Han Xin's attitude was still arrogant, and he asked: "May I ask, general, what kind of traitor is Tian Heng in your country at present?" The situation? How many troops are there now? Is there any ability to threaten the safety of Linzi, the capital of your country?"

Unexpectedly, Han Xin would be so presumptuous. Tian Bu went to see Xiang Zhuang strangely. Xiang Zhuang, who already knew Han Xin's temper, had no choice but to say quickly: "General Tian, ​​please answer me. I am also very concerned about these situations."

Seeing that Xiang Zhuang also opened his mouth, Tian Bu replied: "Because Tian Heng's traitor started after I led the troops to Jibei, so I don't know his situation very well. I only know that he seems to be a He raised more than 1 troops, and some scumbag clansmen from the Qi State helped him to commit crimes. The riots were quite rampant in the southern Jiaodong County of our Qi State. Fortunately, not long ago, our Qi State’s General Tian Wang was arrested in the Gaomi area. We captured his main force and fought him, and although we didn't win a big victory, we drove him back to the southeast of Jiaodong County."

"Then general Tian Wang of your country, how many troops did he command to defeat Tian Heng's traitor?" Han Xin asked again hastily.

"I don't know, but I don't think there are many." Tian Bu replied: "After Tian Heng's rebels raised their troops, they were afraid of our army's conquest. They have been running around at the junction of Jiaodong County and Langya County. Our king can only divide our main force Because of the three-way siege and interception, the army under General Tian Wang's command should not be many."

"Great!" Han Xin was overjoyed and said with a smile: "In this way, your country should only need to station [-] troops in the Weishui area, which is enough to prevent Tian Heng from going west. Among the remaining troops, at least you can With [-] troops dispatched to Licheng for reinforcements, we have hope for this battle."

Tian Bu was stunned, then smiled and said: "General Han, this is a matter for our king to decide, I can't be the master."

"Don't worry, General Tianbe, this matter will not embarrass you, we have our own solutions." Han Xin replied still extremely arrogantly, then turned to Xiang Zhuang and said, "Zuo Sima, how to meet the enemy, the general has a way, as long as Zuo Sima acted according to the plan of the last general, not only can he ensure that Licheng is defended against the Han thieves, but he is even sure that we can directly defeat Zhou Shupifu without us sending reinforcements from the rear of Western Chu."

Hearing Han Xin's wild words, Tian Da, who had an extremely bad impression of him, of course laughed out loud, but Xiang Zhuang, who already knew Han Xin's ability, was very calm, and immediately asked: "What is General Han's plan?"

"First of all, the first point is to stick to the Jishui line of defense with all your strength. You must not be passive and take the initiative to retreat to some highland in the south of Licheng." Han Xin replied: "Only by holding the Jishui line of defense can we take advantage of the Han thieves' eagerness to cross the river for a decisive battle." Opportunity, gradually eat up the crossing army of the Han bandits, weaken the strength of the Han bandits, and at the same time use our advantage of boats and boats to cross the river at any time, constantly harass the guerrillas, make the Han bandits restless day and night, until the veterans of the Han bandits are exhausted and exhausted If we fail, we can take the opportunity to counterattack and smash the traitors."

"Haha!" Tian Da laughed out loud once again, and said, "It's easy for General Han to say, to stick to the Jishui line of defense with all his strength, and drag the veterans of the Han Bandit Division until the veterans of the Han bandit division are exhausted? Don't you know that even the surging river can be blocked?" Can't live with traitors, let alone this little Jishui?"

"The Han thieves were able to cross the big river smoothly because they transferred a huge fleet from Puyang to assist in the battle. Can they find so many ships in Jishui?" Han Xin asked calmly, and then said: "Also, this General..."

"Han Xin, he is the King of Jibei." Liu Laosan hurriedly interrupted Han Xin and corrected him.

"It turned out to be the king of Jibei, and the foreign minister was rude." Han Xin bowed his hands in a symbolic apology, and then said: "King Jibei, since you are the supreme king of Jibei, why did you forget that the rainy season in Qidi is coming, The spring flood in Jishui is coming soon? The sky has been gloomy for the past few days, is this a signal that the spring flood in Jishui is coming?"

Tian Da suddenly opened his mouth wide and roared again, "How could I have forgotten about this? That's right, if there are no accidents, the spring flood in Jishui will come in a few days! When Jishui Not only will the amount of water increase greatly, but the flow of water will also be much faster, and it will last for a long time before it ends!"

After exclaiming, Tian Da asked Han Xin again with surprise on his face: "Listen to your accent, you are not from Qidi? How can you be so clear about the climate and hydrology of our Jibei?"

"Of course I heard it from the local fishermen." Han Xin replied calmly, and then asked: "King of Jibei, now you are willing to give up Jishui, which is imminent in the flood season, so that the Han thieves can easily get through us. Is it the Jishui defense line that has been held for a long time?"

Tian Da closed his mouth, but Xiang Zhuang and Liu Laosan showed joy together, and hurriedly said: "That's right, the Jishui defense line must not be abandoned, the Han thieves don't have enough boats, and the only way to cross the river is to rely on rafts and bamboos." Raft, the flood season of Jishui is coming soon, such a good opportunity to guard the river must not be missed!"

"Second point, we must immediately ask the king of Qi for help, and ask him to immediately send 13 troops eastward along Chidao, and come to Licheng to reinforce us." Han Xin said again: "Not counting the bandit army of Yan State, Zhou Shupifu currently has at least There are still more than [-] troops. Our current total strength is less than [-]. We were too passive in the decisive battle. Only by asking King Qi to send [-] troops to help us immediately to make up for our inferior number of troops can we We are sure to win this battle.”

"I'm afraid it won't be easy, right?" Xiang Zhuang said worriedly, "Tian Heng's rebellious bandits aided the Han bandits and rebelled in Jiaodong. King Qi's backyard caught fire. I'm afraid he wouldn't send so many troops to help us."

"Don't worry, Zuo Sima, this matter is not difficult." Han Xin replied: "Zuo Sima only needs to send Mr. Lu Jia under Pei Gong's account as an envoy, and rush to Linzi in a light car to explain his interests to the King of Qi, pointing out that Mr. Tian Heng is just an armpit. The trouble is that the Han bandits are the great enemy of destroying the country, so it must not be difficult to persuade the king of Qi to give priority to reinforcing us."

"Zuo Sima, Lu Jia under the account of the last general will definitely be able to accomplish this matter." Liu Laosan hurriedly supported Han Xin, cupped his hands and said, "Please Zuo Sima, do your best to get King Qi to send us reinforcements as soon as possible, don't worry about it." Follow the same mistakes that we were consumed by the Han thieves in Nanyang with their military superiority."

Considering that he would definitely ask Tianjia to send reinforcements to help, Xiang Zhuang just made some calculations, and quickly nodded and said, "Okay, then do it like this. General Han, what else is your plan?"

"Please ask Zuo Sima, King Jibei, and General Tianbu to let people announce the news immediately, saying that we have received the good news from the Qi State." Han Xin cupped his hands and said: "The Qi State army smashed Tian Heng's rebels in the Gaomi area and killed Tian Heng's army. Almost the entire army was wiped out, and Tian Heng's traitor himself may have died tragically in the rebellion. Then we need our soldiers to spread the good news, and we must let the secret agents sent by the Han bandits to Licheng to inquire about the news know."

"What is this for?" Xiang Zhuang asked in surprise.

"There are two purposes. The first is of course to boost the morale of our army. If our soldiers know that the rebellion in Qi has been put down and reinforcements are coming, of course they can't do without high morale." Han Xin went on to say: "Second. , forcing Zhou Shupifu to order the Yan State rebel army to change its route to the east, attack Di County and advance to Linzi, and relieve the pressure on the frontal battlefield for us."

"How to force?" Xiang Zhuang was even more dumbfounded.

"We deliberately spread rumors that Tian Hengpifu had already suffered a disastrous defeat in Gaomi, so we have already persecuted him?" Han Xin said with a smile: "According to common sense, we should try to temporarily stabilize the Han bandit army to buy time. Absolutely He will not intentionally lure Han thieves to speed up their march to Licheng to fight with us, so once that traitor Uncle Zhou hears the rumors we deliberately spread, he must believe that the news is true. The choice of the national bandit army directly entering the hinterland of Qi to contain the main force of Qi."

Xiang Zhuang suddenly realized, and immediately beamed with joy, but Liu Laosan next to him whispered that something was wrong, and then, as Liu Laosan expected, Tian Bu next to him really slapped the case in front of him and roared: "Idiot! You Do you want the life of our King Qi? You want our Qi State to dispatch the main force to reinforce the Licheng battlefield, and also deliberately design to lure the army of the Yan State into the hinterland of our Qi State. If our King Qi really listens to you, we Qi State What about the native land?"

"Where did General Tianbe want to go? The final general is very courageous, and he doesn't dare to intentionally harm your country of Qi." Han Xin said with a smile: "Your country still has more than 2 troops in the mainland, and you will send [-] troops to reinforce it." In Licheng, the remaining [-] troops will guard against Tian Heng, and the remaining [-] troops will be used to defend the capital and guard against Yan thieves, which is enough."

"Fart!" Tianbe said angrily, "Yan's bandit army has 2 people, and our remaining [-] troops have to defend the capital and guard against Yan's bandits, how can it be enough?"

Han Xin smiled, very easily, and said, "General Tianbe, why did you forget what you said just now? Isn't the impending Jishui flood season the best line of defense for your country?"

Tian Bu was taken aback, and then he remembered that the Jishui River, which was about to increase in volume and flow, could not only protect the battlefield in Licheng, but also protect the hinterland of Qi and Linzi, the capital.Seeing that he had come to his senses, Han Xin said again: "Don't worry, General Tian. Uncle Zhou let Yan's bandit army enter the hinterland of Qi. At most, it was just a feigned attack. He will definitely not let Yan's lone army enter Qi's hinterland at risk."

"And even if Uncle Zhou gave such an order, Zang Yan, who is in charge of Yan's bandit army, would never dare to do so, because there is no way to guarantee his food and grass. So I dare to predict that even if Yan's bandit army marches into Qi, it will definitely First take down Di County for food, and then consider whether to enter the hinterland of your country of Qi, you only need to hold Di County, so that the Yan thief dare not send a single soldier to cross Jishui."

Tian Bu was silent, and said after a long while: "This situation, you have to explain to our king in advance, if you don't tell, all the consequences will be borne by you."

"General Tianbu, if you are worried, you can write a letter to report the matter to the King of Qi now." Han Xin replied lightly: "But General Tian, ​​please remind the King of Qi that if we can't stop the Han thieves here in Licheng, he will No matter how many troops are left to defend the hinterland, it will be useless. It will still not be able to stop the Han bandits from marching into Qi State in the future. At that time, you will have no reinforcements to count on, and Tian Heng's rebels will rebel against you in the rear. Your situation will only become more difficult to save. "

Tian Bu remained silent, but Han Xin seldom paid any attention to him, so he turned to Xiang Zhuang and said, "Zuo Sima, this is our only solution. The traitors are treacherous, and at the same time as they march into the land, they will definitely attack in the middle to threaten us." The hinterland of Western Chu, so that our king can't spare to rescue Qi, whether we can send reinforcements from the rear, how many reinforcements we can send, and when the reinforcements will arrive, we can't guarantee!"

"So now we can only ask King Qi to take a little risk, give priority to reinforcements on the Licheng battlefield, and help us win the battle of Licheng, so that we can completely reverse our passive situation!" Han Xin continued: "Fortunately, King Qi I have always understood righteousness, I know what it means to have a cold lips and teeth, and I have a deep friendship with us, the king of Western Chu, and his ministers, so I should not refuse our request."

Xiang Zhuang weighed the pros and cons, nodded his head after a long time, and said: "The Han bandits have many generals, and their strength is obvious. If we blindly defend passively, we will be easily defeated by the Han bandits. It seems that we can only ask the king of Qi to take the risk as much as possible." Let’s take a risk and gather enough troops in Licheng to try to win this decisive battle.”

"Don't worry Zuo Sima, as long as the Qi State sends us [-] reinforcements so that we can roughly equal the strength of the Han bandits, we will win this battle." Han Xin replied confidently: "Because we have Jishui The natural danger is defensible, and there are enough boats to cross the river to attack at any time, and it is difficult to win this battle if you have the initiative on the battlefield!"

"Is that so sure?" Xiang Zhuang asked obviously not with absolute confidence.

"I'm sure." Han Xin replied more confidently: "Today, the general has gone to the Jibei Army and the Qi Army camp to carefully understand the situation of the Han thieves. In addition to the superiority, the combat power of individual soldiers is only roughly equivalent to that of our Qiji army. When the strength of the troops is at a disadvantage, they were almost directly defeated by our Gexian army. It can be seen that Uncle Zhou is just greedy for more and desperately Expand the army, the overall combat effectiveness of the army is not strong, so as long as our strength is roughly equal to his, we will definitely be able to win this decisive battle in Licheng!"

(End of this chapter)