Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 455 It's True
In terms of distance and time, I haven't been able to know how well Mr. Uncle Sun has done in Linzi, so when I received the scout report and heard that the Chu-Ji-Qi allied forces had split their troops from the Licheng battlefield to go south in advance, Han Of course, Uncle Zhou, the commander of the North Front Corps, thought his ears had heard it wrong, and said in a very rare surprise: "Are you joking? We are about to reach the north bank of Jishui, and the bandits from Licheng will divide their troops and go south? What are they going south to do?"

The scouts of the Han army who came to report the enemy's situation quickly answered honestly, saying that they would never dare to make such a joke with Uncle Zhou with their heads, and swore that their scout team had never detected the enemy's situation wrongly. The troops were dispatched south ahead of time, and there were only [-] Chu-Ji coalition troops left on the Licheng battlefield.After hearing this, Uncle Zhou was of course even more dumbfounded, and he didn't understand that the enemy in Licheng would choose to divide their troops in front of the battle, and the separated troops would still go south and leave the Jishui defense line.

"Could it be that Chu Qi's bandits are planning to abandon Li City and retreat to Boyang?"

Zhou Shu, an old man with the same pronunciation as Uncle Zhou, proposed such a possibility. As a result, without Uncle Zhou asking, Li Shiqi, who is quite skilled in military affairs, sat on a stretcher and coughed: "It is absolutely impossible, Licheng is in the hinterland of Jibei." The traffic center, in addition to the roads leading directly to the cities in Jibei, is also the main road for the Jibei bandit army to communicate with the Qi State bandit army. They will be cut off by us, even if the Chu Qiji bandits can voluntarily give up Boyang, they will never voluntarily give up Licheng."

"Could the thief army be playing tricks? Arranging traps to lure us into being fooled?"

Cui Guang, another Shangshan old man, proposed another possibility. As a result, Uncle Zhou and Li Shiqi were quite skeptical on this point, but they couldn't figure out how the enemy was going to set up traps.Puzzled, Uncle Zhou could only say this: "No matter how many there are, let's go to the north bank of Jishui first. When we get there, we just need to be cautious. No matter what tricks the Chuji bandit army plays."

In this way, in the midst of being puzzled, on the afternoon of the third day after the Qi army left the Licheng battlefield, the main force of the Han army's northern front corps arrived at the north bank of Jishui in the continuous spring rain. Uncle, of course, chose a high ground to set up camp to prevent the Jishui River from continuing to rise during the flood season, threatening the safety of the Han army camp. At the same time, we sent more scouts to closely observe the surrounding conditions, and then we did hydrological surveys to find suitable places to cross the river. location.

In the morning of the next day, when the letter from Mr. Uncle Sun and Tianjia was finally sent to Uncle Zhou by the envoys of Qi State on the small road on the north bank of Jishui River, the truth finally came to light. In addition to immediately understanding the reason why the Qi army went south and left the Licheng battlefield, Uncle also shouted excitedly, "God help me too! With the help of the Qi army, it will be difficult for us to break through Jishui and take Jibei." !"

"Mr. Uncle Sun has done a world-class feat for us this time!" Li Shiqi, who has not recovered from his illness, was also dancing with excitement, and said repeatedly: "Actually, even if I am an old man, I am not sure that I will be able to persuade everyone." It's a miracle! It's a miracle!"

"The overall situation in Qidi is settled!" The other civil and military soldiers of the Han army were all overjoyed, cheering thunderously, and there were many people cheering with their hands raised high in excitement. Many people asked Uncle Zhou for wine, and they had to drink three cups to vent their hearts excitement and joy.

It cannot be blamed that the civil and military affairs of the Han army are so excited. The main reason is that after the surrender of Qi, the situation on the battlefield in Qi is really beneficial to the Han army. As a helper of the national army, in terms of strength, it has formed a crushing advantage over the partial division of the Western Chu Army and the Jibei Army.At the same time, with the help of the Qi army, the Han army can not only quickly get the help of boats from the Qi army to solve the problem of robbing the boats crossing Jishui, but also the Qi army can directly send troops to attack the back of the Chu-Ji coalition army. If the Han-Qi-Yan coalition with a total strength of more than 20 cannot destroy the Chu-Ji coalition with only [-] troops left, Uncle Zhou and others will have no face to live in this world!
It is also because of this that even though it is still strange that the Chu-Ji coalition army would respond so quickly and smoothly transferred away the Licheng Qi army that could have directly helped the own army, the Han army still cheered continuously. All of them are full of absolute confidence in winning the decisive battle in Licheng. Not to mention the high morale, the confidence has also swelled to the extreme. Even Uncle Zhou, who has never liked drinking, couldn't help but drink more when celebrating with the Han army civil and military two cups.

That’s not to mention, in the afternoon of the same day, the 16-step Yan army marched south from the Nanpi battlefield. After successfully destroying the Nanpi Jibei army, they rushed to the north bank of Jishui one day earlier than Uncle Zhou asked. The Northern Front Corps of the Han Army joined forces at one place, allowing Uncle Zhou's available troops to reach a terrifying number of more than [-], and once again boosted the morale of the Han Army soldiers, making countless Han Army soldiers more and more reluctant to take the people on the south bank of Jishui. Sixty thousand enemies are in their eyes. ——After all, since the start of the Chu-Han War, it was the first time that the Han army had such a huge strength advantage on a single battlefield.

The Yan army’s sincerity in surrendering to the Han army was also evident. Apart from setting up a camp on another high ground according to Uncle Zhou’s order, Zang Yan, the precious son of Yan Wang Zang Tu, the commander of the Yan army, came on his own initiative without Zhou Shu’s orders. Visited Uncle Zhou at the camp of the Han army, and personally presented the head of Tian Ju, the leader of the Jinbei Army in Nanpi, which was beheaded by the generals of the Yan Army on the way of pursuit. Liao's plan to keep Yan's establishment by submitting to the Han army is beyond words.

Not only that, after knowing that Qi State had surrendered, Zang Yan, in addition to praising the Han army for its strength, couldn't wait to ask him to be the vanguard of crossing the river and attacking the Chu-Ji coalition army first. , Uncle Zhou laughed and agreed, and said: "But there is no need to rush, my nephew, your army has come from afar, and it will take some time to rest. It will also take some time for Qi to collect ships and send them to us, so Let’s talk about this later. Come here, serve the wine and food quickly, this general will personally clean up the dust for General Zang Yan today.”

According to Uncle Zhou's request, the banquet for Zang Yan and several Yan Jun civil and military officials was quickly sent to the tent of the Chinese army. Uncle Zhou, who had already drank once in the morning, also had the second time in a day While drinking, he even had a great time talking with Zang Yanyan, who was very respectful and deliberately trying to please him.But even so, Uncle Zhou was still able to maintain a certain level of calmness. After it was completely dark, Uncle Zhou still had to leave the table to quickly defend the camp at night, not daring to underestimate the enemy.

Uncle Zhou was still able to maintain a certain level of calmness, but the civil and military forces of the Han army involuntarily began to underestimate the enemy, including Shangshan old man Zhou Shu and Cui Guang, who advised Uncle Zhou not to bother so much, and just leave the task of patrolling the camp to other generals of the Han army, there is no need In order to patrol the camp, he neglected Zang Yan and his party who came to help the Han army with full sincerity. Finally, after hesitating for a while, Uncle Zhou made a concession in this respect for the first time, letting the cautious general of the Han army Lu Kuang Instead of patrolling the camp, he stayed and continued to drink with Zang Yan and others. Because he was not good at drinking, he rarely drank until his face became red and his neck was thick. When he spoke, his tongue and teeth clashed.

No one expected that something unexpected happened that night!

But fortunately, the unexpected change this night was beneficial to the Han army. When it was close to the third watch, the Jibei Army fleet assembled at the Jishui River Bend in the northeast of Licheng, and there was no sign beforehand. In the rebellion, a [-]th commander of the Jibei Army named Lu Yi led some soldiers of the Jibei Army to attack his superior camp. Before the other Jibei army could respond, they forced some boatmen and sailors to cross the river with weapons, and fled north to the north bank of Jishui to surrender to the Han army, bringing more than [-] ships of various sizes to the Han army who was in urgent need of ships. Different ferries.

At dusk, Lu Yi was brought in front of Uncle Zhou, and he quickly explained to Uncle Zhou the reason for his rebellion - he had always been at odds with his superiors, and seeing that the defeat of the Chu-Ji coalition was doomed, he simply rebelled Send a ferry to the Han army to ask for credit.Uncle Zhou found no flaws after careful questioning, and saw that Lu Yi and others had sent him a much-needed ferry boat. Overjoyed, he not only rewarded Lu Yi and others, but also made Lu Yi the five hundred commander of the Han army, and let him be in the Han army. Served in the Han army, and ordered the Han army officers and soldiers to carefully guard the ships so that they can be used in emergencies.

In addition to these, Lu Yi also reported a very important piece of information to Uncle Zhou, saying that he heard that the top leaders of the Chuji coalition army are currently divided. The follow-up reinforcements of the Western Chu Army should not stay in the Licheng battlefield and wait to be attacked by the Han army and the Qi army. The incident also caused a lot of trouble with many generals of the Western Chu Army.

Lu Yi's report is of course very reasonable. The Western Chu army is unwilling to stay in Licheng to wait for death. Of course, they hope to withdraw to Boyang, which is the closest to Chu, to fight. Tian Da wants to keep the territory and city, of course he hopes to use the strength of the Western Chu army. Sticking to Licheng, so Uncle Zhou didn't have any surprises after hearing it, and he also left a certain impression on this information.

To Uncle Zhou's surprise, he was still behind. At the end of the afternoon, the scouts in charge of monitoring the movement of the enemy's camp suddenly came to report that the camps of the Western Chu Army and the Jibei Army had seen smoke rising from the camps just after noon. It hasn't stopped until now.Uncle Zhou was surprised when he heard this, and thought to himself: "What's the matter? Do you make a fire and cook food? What does the Chuji bandit army want to do?"

Strangely, Uncle Zhou got on his horse and went out of the camp in person, and came to the bank of Jishui where the water level was rising to check the enemy's situation in person. Fortunately, the continuous rainy day stopped for a while, and the sun was still rare after a few days. Coming out of the clouds, the sun was generously spreading towards the wet Qilu land, and his sight was very bright, so Uncle Zhou also quickly saw that there were indeed curling smoke floating in the camps of the Chu-Ji Allied Forces on the south bank of Jishui.

After carefully observing the movement of the enemy camp, Uncle Zhou came to a conclusion in his mind and ordered: "Command the battalions of our army that the Chuji bandit army may move tonight, and ask each battalion to prepare enough dry food and torches to prevent any emergency. One. Also, tonight, our night duty army, sentries and rangers will all be doubled."

According to Uncle Zhou's order, the battalions of the Han army seized the time and quickly made corresponding preparations for the night battle, as did the Yan army who camped independently.Then, as Uncle Zhou expected, when the night was approaching the second watch, the Han army stationed on the pier sent an urgent report, saying that they found that the Jinbei army stationed at the south bank ferry had gathered at night. Uncle Zhou didn't dare to neglect after hearing the report. In addition to ordering the Han army on duty at night to prepare for battle, he also asked the Han army officers and soldiers on the shore to strengthen surveillance.

In the middle of the second watch, news came that surprised Uncle Zhou even more. The soldiers of the Han army actually came to report that the enemy on the other side had abandoned the camp and retreated southward with few torches.Uncle Zhou was surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly shouted: "Immediately send people across the river to investigate to see if the enemy has abandoned the camp and fled. Besides, gather all our boats at the pier for use, and immediately prepare us in advance The ropes and boards were sent to the dock, and three thousand troops were dispatched to the dock to wait for orders."

After making these arrangements, Uncle Zhou didn't feel like going to sleep anymore, so he hurriedly put on his clothes and got up, put on his armor and went to the Chinese army's tent to wait for news. In addition, he summoned the generals of the Han army who were on duty at night to wait for orders in the Chinese army's tent.In the end, what made Uncle Zhou smile bitterly was that not long after he had just worked in the big tent of the Chinese army, there was an urgent report from outside the tent, saying that the army of Yan Kingdom had been dispatched urgently at night and rushed to Jishui Wharf to prepare In the battle, more than ten thousand troops were dispatched in one breath.

Immediately afterwards, Zang Yan also hurriedly came to Uncle Zhou, and said excitedly as soon as they met: "Uncle, you should have received the news, right? The Chuji bandits have abandoned their camp and headed south Ran!"

Uncle Zhou nodded, and then said: "But it has not been confirmed yet. I have already sent people to cross the river by boat to investigate. If the Chu Ji bandit army really ran away overnight, I will immediately ask the soldiers to rush to build a pontoon bridge overnight."

"Uncle, my nephew has the courage to ask you for one thing." Zang Yan said impatiently: "If it is confirmed that the Chu Ji bandit army has really escaped, after the pontoon bridge is built, please let my nephew lead the army across the river first." Chase."

After finishing speaking, Zang Yan hurriedly added: "Uncle, don't worry, my nephew's army has prepared enough torches and dry food, and they are ready to fight at any time."

Uncle Zhou smiled, thinking Zang Yan was anxious to make a contribution, he nodded readily, and it turned out to be a coincidence, just at this time, a scout outside the tent suddenly rushed in to report, and said with ecstasy: " General Zhou, great news, our river-crossing scouts have confirmed that the Chuji bandit camp on the south bank is empty, and the bandit army has already fled south!"

"Go to Ling Wharf immediately!" Uncle Zhou shouted decisively: "Build the pontoon bridge immediately, the sooner the better, but the pontoon bridge must be strong!"

The guards in the tent were ordered to rush out to deliver the order, but Zang Yan couldn't wait any longer, and said, "Uncle, what did you promise to my nephew just now...?"

"Go." Zhou Shu said with a smile: "After the pontoon bridge is built, you don't need to ask for orders. You can cross the river immediately, but you must be careful when chasing. If there is any accident, immediately withdraw to the ferry to join the rear army. Don’t be greedy.”

Zang Yan happily cupped his hands to thank him, and then hurriedly rushed out to the ferry to lead his army across the river to pursue. Uncle Zhou then ordered Ling Jing to lead [-] troops out of the battalion and go to the ferry to serve as the rear for Zang Yan. He also ordered the battalions of the Han army to light fire immediately. Cooking, four o'clock got up and prepared to attack.

If Lu Yi, a traitor of the Jinbei Army, hadn't happened to send over 90 boats of various sizes to the Han army, it would have been difficult for the soldiers of the Han army who only had ropes, planks and some floating barriers to immediately build a pontoon bridge to cross the river, thanks to this With the help of more than [-] boats obtained by accident, just before the fourth watch, the soldiers of the Han army urgently built two floating bridges, one large and one small, on the Jishui River with rising water levels. After checking that the floating bridges were firm and reliable, Zang Yan Can't wait to lead [-] Yan army officers and soldiers across the river and go down to the south bank of Jishui to gather urgently.During this period, the soldiers of the Han army naturally had to hurry up and rush to build more pontoon bridges so that the soldiers of the Han army could cross the river.

At this time, Zhou Shu, Cui Guang and other staff officers of the Han army were of course awakened, and they all ran to the main tent of the Chinese army to find out the situation, even Li Shiqi, who had not recovered from his illness. After learning about the general situation, Of course, Zhou Shu, Li Shiqi and the others were all beaming with joy, and they all said, "Okay, we won't be greedy if there are too many, as long as we can bite the tail of Chu Ji's bandit army and kill some of them on the way of pursuit, then we will go on the road of pursuit." Boyang can play much better."

Uncle Zhou nodded, and then said, "Go, go outside and see how we are crossing the river."

Everyone sang promises, hurriedly followed Uncle Zhou out of the tent, and went to a high place outside the tent to look down on the situation of the Han army and Yan army crossing the river. At this moment, the soldiers of the Yan army have also completed the emergency crossing, and they can't wait to light torches and head south Chasing away, the Han army led by Ling Jing took turns crossing the river to gather.As a result, seeing this situation, of course all the civil and military officers of the Han army were overjoyed. Li Shiqi also smiled and said: "Fortunately, the weather is good tonight. If it is cloudy and rainy like a few days ago, it will be difficult for us to find out so quickly." Chu Ji's bandits have already fled."

Uncle Zhou was taken aback by Li Shiqi's casual words, and after careful consideration, Uncle Zhou's face suddenly changed, and he quickly shouted: "Quick, send someone to give Zang Yan an order to withdraw immediately." Again, ask Ling Jing to stop crossing the river and do everything possible to protect the ferry and floating bridge!"

"General Zhou, what happened?" Zhou Shu, Cui Guang and others nearby asked in shock.

"I was fooled. Tonight is a trap carefully laid out by the Chu Ji bandit army." Uncle Zhou replied with a painful expression: "If the Chu Ji bandit army really wants to retreat overnight, they can wait for another day or two, and wait for the wind and heavy rain at night." I will abandon the camp and retreat when I grow up. But the Chuji bandit army chose to retreat tonight when the weather is fine, obviously deliberately luring us to cross the river overnight to pursue them. I carelessly underestimated the enemy and fell into the enemy's trick."

After listening to Uncle Zhou's analysis, of course, the Han army's civil and military forces all changed their faces. However, by the time the Han army responded according to Uncle Zhou's order, it was too late. Under the dark night sky, Licheng City in the southeast Suddenly, a raging fire rose, and a signal was issued, and immediately after that, a huge fire quickly ignited on the top of Jinjiling Mountain, the highest point on the south bank.

"Kill!"

Shouts of killing also suddenly resounded from all over the Licheng battlefield. In the dense forest under Jinji Ridge, countless Chuji coalition troops shouted out with torches, facing the unprepared Yan army, and at the same time, the four gates of Licheng opened wide. Similarly, countless Chuji allied forces rushed out with torches and shouted, quickly assembled and rushed directly to Jishui Ferry. What's more terrible is that hundreds of fully loaded reeds also rushed out of the depths of the reeds in the upper reaches of Jishui. The firewood and kerosene-splashed boat rushed to the downstream Jishui Ferry at the fastest speed, and rushed to the two pontoon bridges built by the Han army overnight...

Seeing such a scene on the high ground on the north bank, the faces of all the civil and military soldiers of the Han army were of course ashen, and they all knew that they would definitely suffer a defeat tonight, or it would definitely be a considerable defeat.Uncle Zhou shook his head and sighed, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty is the one who is decisive, that's true. That Han Xin in the Western Chu bandit army is indeed my most fearsome opponent. In front of him, I must not have any carelessness and fear." Underestimate the enemy."

That night, Uncle Zhou, Xiang Kang's most trusted general in the Han army, suffered his biggest defeat since he joined the Han army.

(End of this chapter)