Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 486
In fact, Li Zuoche underestimated Xiang Yu's self-confidence a little bit. If Xiang Kang sent Ding Ji to lead the army forward and ordered Ding Ji to set up camp in other places, then Xiang Yu would probably ignore it and let the Han army advance Set up a camp nearby, and let Xiang Kang lead the main brigade to the door to create a decisive battle opportunity for the own army.

Only the Han army could not set up camp in Laozhai. Laozhai is not only the only high ground between Huling and Yutai Pavilion, but the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is also close to the Sishui River in the south. Surabaya happens to be in this position. It can be used as a temporary ferry. Once the Han army has a firm foothold in Laozhai, it will not only be difficult for the Western Chu army to capture the Han army's camp, but the Han army can also release fire rafts at any time to raid the Western Chu army's pontoon bridge downstream of Surabaya. If necessary, the Han army can also build a pontoon bridge on the spot in Laozhai, cross Surabaya to launch a surprise attack or chase, and have a great battlefield initiative.

Because of this, Ding Ji led [-] Han troops to Laozhai and began to rush to build a camp when it was approaching evening. For the sake of the safety of the main force of the Western Chu Army, Liu Laosan, Kuai Che and other wise men of the Western Chu Army all supported Xiang Yu's decision.

The decisive battle between the main force of the Han army in the middle and the main force of the Western Chu army officially started. The next morning, Xiang Yu had just led the [-] Western Chu army to Laozhai, and immediately launched an attack like the Han army still rushing to build a camp. The front team of the [-] Han army led by Ding Ji was also forced to fight. Relying on the advantage of the higher terrain and the fortifications that had just taken shape, they stubbornly resisted the attack of the Western Chu army. dull.

Xiang Yu, who likes field battles, finally fought a happy battle. Under his personal command, the [-] Western Chu troops went into battle one by one, attacking the Han army's positions like undulating waves, killing the Han army who had not yet completed the camp. He had no power to fight back, and when he was so excited, Xiang Yu personally put on his armor and went into battle, wearing heavy armor and fighting against the Han army's position. , all bravely, forcibly tore a gap in the defensive position of the Han army, and then rushed into the interior of the Han army camp, rushing left and right, like entering no man's land.

Seeing that the situation was overwhelming, Ding Ji, who knew he was not Xiang Yu's opponent, had no choice but to quickly abandon the old camp that had not yet been built and fled to Yutai Pavilion. He chased them aggressively to the vicinity of Yutai Pavilion. It was only after seeing the Han army's defeated brigade fled back to the relatively strong Yutai Pavilion camp in embarrassment that Xiang Yu ordered to withdraw his troops, and led the Western Chu army back to Huling with a wild smile rest.

After fleeing back to the camp in a state of embarrassment, Ding Ji ran to Xiang Kang to plead guilty. Fortunately, Xiang Kang did not pursue Ding Ji's ineffectiveness in combat, but waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs." , My elder brother is invincible in field battles, and you don’t have time to build a camp. It’s normal that you can’t beat him. It’s not too late to take revenge when our main force on the northern front arrives. Hurry up and regroup the team, count the losses, and then rest well.”

After comforting Ding Ji, Xiang Kang turned to Zheng Bu, another general of the Han army next to him, and said, "General Zheng Bu, go and prepare right away. You will dispatch at the time of You, and lead an army of [-] to Laozhai to build a camp overnight." , and try our best to build our new camp in Laozhai, so that our main brigade can safely move eastward and set up camp near Huling."

"This..." Zheng Bu's expression was obviously a bit embarrassed, he hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands and said: "My lord, it's not that I'm greedy for life and fear of death, it's just that I'm really not sure how to build a strong camp in the old village in just one night. If the bandits from Western Chu continue to send troops to attack the old village, I am afraid that the subordinates will not be able to defend it."

"Strive for it with all your strength." Xiang Kang ordered: "No matter what method you think of or how much you pay, you will try your best to achieve this for me."

Seeing Xiang Kang's firm attitude, Zheng Bu didn't dare to say anything, but immediately clasped his fists and sang promises, and then hurried down to lead the army to take over Ding Ji and go to Laozhai to rush to build a camp.Then after Zheng Bu left, Li Zuoche, who was proficient in tactics, said cautiously: "My lord, although the arrogant strategy is definitely useful for Xiang Yu, it may not be able to deceive the rest of the Western Chu thief army. If someone can point this out to Xiang Yu and suggest that Xiang Yu take advantage of it and run away, we are afraid that many soldiers will be killed or injured in vain."

"I have no choice but to use this kind of arrogant strategy with huge losses." Xiang Kang replied very helplessly: "We have no chance of winning in a decisive battle in the field, and my elder brother knows very well that we are waiting for the reinforcements of General Zhou Shu. It is possible to cross Surabaya and withdraw back to Pengcheng first, so I have no choice but to deliberately fight a few defeats to make him feel that victory is in sight, so I am reluctant to withdraw troops here, and try to buy time for Uncle Zhou."

Li Zuoche also nodded helplessly, and said, "Your Majesty, in this situation, we really can only procrastinate for one more day."

That night, Zheng Bu's troops of the Han army, which was dispatched in the evening, rushed to Laozhai, and immediately began to rush to build the camp that Ding Ji had not had time to build. This situation was soon reported to Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu really did It was a loud applause, and immediately decided to lead the army to attack again the next day, continue to attack the strategic point of the old village where the Han army was trying to gain a foothold, and give the Han army a little color.

Xiang Yu also achieved this as he wished. The next day, under his leadership, when the Western Chu army stormed the old village again, the Han army soldiers led by Zheng Bu still had no time to build the old village despite their extremely tenacious defense. However, they still couldn't stop the Western Chu army's crazy offensive like a raging sea. Just after noon, Xiang Yu personally led the army to rush into the camp again. After paying a considerable price, he was still forced to Fleeing west, Xiang Yu once again led his army in hot pursuit, beheading countless captured Han soldiers.

Liu Laosan also participated in this battle. Following Xiang Yu's pursuit to the gate of the Yutaiting camp of the Han army, Xiang Yu and many arrogant soldiers of the Western Chu army laughed and insulted wildly outside the Han army camp. The third brother's face was gloomy, and he didn't see the slightest joy. After quickly reorganizing the army under his command, seeing that Xiang Yu still hadn't ordered to retreat, the third brother Liu couldn't help but said to the subordinates next to him: "Trouble, our king! After Xiang Kang's traitor's arrogant strategy, trying to persuade him to retreat to Surabaya and Pengcheng as soon as possible will only make it more difficult."

Zhou Bo and Cao Shen, who can fight with their brains, nodded together. They also understood that the defeat of the Han army in the past two days was probably caused by Xiang Kang on purpose. Old Liu and his subordinates opened their mouths and asked curiously: "Pei Gong, we have won two battles in a row, why do you still want to persuade the king to cross Surabaya quickly and retreat to Pengcheng?"

He casually glanced at the subordinate who asked the question, and saw that he was Cao Shen's fellow clan Cao Wushang, and also an old man from Pei County who had followed him for many years. The third Liu didn't hesitate, and scolded: "You know what? It is clear that defeating the battle on purpose made our king carelessly underestimate the enemy, and made our king reluctant to retreat to Pengcheng as soon as possible to buy time for Zhou Shupifu as much as possible. As long as the king is fooled, we will be in big trouble."

"Pei Gong, let me ask one more question, where did Uncle Zhou's army arrive? When will it arrive at Huling?" Cao Wushang asked curiously.

"You ask me, who should I ask?" Liu Laosan replied angrily: "The messenger we sent to contact Zuo Sima has not returned yet, and Zuo Sima has never sent anyone to contact us. , how do I know where Uncle Zhou is now?"

"What?" Cao Wushang's shock was no small matter, he hurriedly said, "Pei Gong, that means we don't even know where Zuo Sima is?"

Liu Laosan nodded with a gloomy expression, lowered his voice a little, and said, "No rumors are allowed. In fact, I suspect that the reason why we lost contact with Zuo Sima and the others is probably because Zuo Sima and the others have been surrounded by traitors. If they If you can't hold on, Uncle Zhou may rush to Huling suddenly at any time."

Cao Wushang quickly nodded, and Liu Laosan looked at Xiang Yu who was still shouting arrogantly in the distance, and suddenly said to himself: "No, I must go to persuade our king tonight, no matter how small the hope is, We have to persuade him to pass through Surabaya quickly first."

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Hearing Liu Laosan's words, Cao Wushang also kept this matter in his heart, so he finally waited until Xiang Yu had vented enough by yelling and cursing, and brought the Western Chu army back to Huling after resting Cao Wushang kept an eye on Liu Laosan's every move secretly, and soon saw the direction Liu Laosan went to the Chinese army camp. Cao Wushang, who was familiar with Liu Laosan's temperament, immediately guessed It is likely that Liu Laosan is going to persuade Xiang Yu to withdraw his troops and return to Pengcheng as soon as possible.

Because of this, when it was completely dark, Cao Wushang guessed that Liu Laosan had already returned to the camp, so Cao Wushang found an excuse to come to Liu Laosan's camp to ask for an interview, but what made Cao Wushang secretly worried was that the meeting At that time, Liu Laosan not only smelled of alcohol all over his body, but obviously had a drink with Xiang Yu, his eyes were full of joy, and he looked very excited and complacent.

Quite a coincidence, when Cao Wushang was about to leave, his clan brother Cao Shen happened to come to meet Liu Laosan, and as soon as he entered the account, he said: "Pei Gong, the scouts sent to Yutai Pavilion to spy on the enemy have returned. Before sunset, the traitors have not shown any signs of dispatching troops. If there is no accident, the traitors should not make any moves tonight."

"Of course." Liu Laosan said proudly: "The traitor Xiang Kang also has to consider his loss. In today's battle, we just killed more than [-] heads. No matter how much the traitor Xiang Kang No matter the cost, I dare not send tens of thousands of troops to Laozhai every day to give us heads."

"Then what if the Han thieves deliberately waited a day and sent troops to Laozhai to build a camp tomorrow night?" Cao Shen asked curiously.

Liu Laosan was indeed a little drunk, so he said casually: "Don't worry, I have persuaded the king to agree to it just now. We will start secretly preparing to retreat tomorrow and cross Surabaya at dawn the day after tomorrow. As long as we pass Surabaya, our affairs will be fine. Do more."

Cao Shen was overjoyed when he heard that, and hurriedly asked Liu Laosan for details. Liu Laosan also introduced the general situation casually, saying that he pulled Xiang Bo and Master Xiang to point out Xiang Kang's arrogant strategy to Xiang Yu, and also persuaded Xiang Yu to take advantage of it. He ran away, making up his mind to withdraw from Surabaya first.Cao Wushang listened beside him and didn't say much, he just quit with Cao Can, but after returning to his tent, Cao Wushang tossed and turned and didn't sleep well for a whole night, and when it was approaching dawn, Cao Wushang was still wearing his clothes. Yi got up and wrote a letter by himself...

…………

As analyzed by Liu Laosan, Xiang Kang really couldn't bear the loss of the army, so he didn't send troops to Laozhai for the third consecutive day after Ding Ji and Zheng Bu's consecutive defeats-after two days of fighting, the Han army Even the dead and missing, the number of soldiers has approached the [-] mark, and the number of lightly and severely wounded has exceeded [-]. The loss is far more severe than Xiang Kang's estimate in advance. Therefore, although Xiang Kang's capital is large, there is no news about the reinforcements. Under such circumstances, Xiang Kang did not dare to continue to send troops to Laozhai to deliberately suffer defeat.

But at noon on the second day after Zheng Bu's defeat, in order to continue to entangle the main force of the Western Chu army, Xiang Kang had to consider sending troops to Laozhai again, trying to entangle Xiang Yu for a few more days, and even planned to lead the army to Laozhai himself. Fortress, hooking his overlord cousin made him reluctant to retreat in a hurry.

Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Li Zuoche and others all strongly opposed Xiang Kang personally leading the army to Laozhai. Invading Laozhai, the Han army would definitely be defeated. If Xiang Kang personally leads the army to Laozhai to fight this inevitable battle, if there is any mistake in the battle, the consequences will definitely be unimaginable!

After much thought, Xiang Kang still accepted the kindness of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, and instead decided to let Long Qie go to Laozhai to lure the enemy. In the woods to the southeast of the pavilion, a Western Chu soldier was caught. Not only did the Western Chu soldier not escape, but he also took the initiative to say that he wanted to see Xiang Kang on a confidential matter, hoping to be interviewed by Xiang Kang in person.

"Did he say who he is?" Xiang Kang asked casually.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have told you that he claims to be the confidant of Cao Wushang, the five hundred leader of the Western Chu Bandit Army, and he came to see you on Cao Wushang's order."

Before the guard could finish his answer, Xiang Kang stood up abruptly, and shouted: "Quick, bring that man in right away, I want to see him right away! Also, give a ban password and don't let any news out." !"

According to Xiang Kang's order, the messenger Cao Wushang sent was quickly brought in front of Xiang Kang. He first revealed his identity and said that he was Cao Wushang's subordinate, because Cao Wushang had saved his life in the battle, and Cao Wushang had been trained by Cao Wushang. Wushang's Da En is also close to Cao Wushang, so he was sent by Cao Wushang to contact Xiang Kang, and then presented Cao Wushang's autographed letter to Xiang Kang.

In the letter, Cao Wushang, of course, informed Xiang Kang that Xiang Yu had decided to take advantage and run away, leading the main force of the Western Chu Army to cross Surabaya at dawn tomorrow, and also reported to Xiang Kang the main force of the Western Chu Army In fact, there has been no important situation to get in touch with the remnants of the Chuji coalition army.Of course, Xiang Kang couldn't believe it when he saw it, so he blurted out: "How is it possible? The main force of the Xichu bandit army has never been in touch with the rest of the Chuji bandit army? It is the same as us. Don't know?"

Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and the others were also full of surprises, and rushed up to read the letter with Xiang Kang. After hastily reading Cao Wushang's handwritten letter, Zhang Liang quickly reminded Xiang Kang in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Beware of deceit, this may be a trick of the Western Chu bandit army to lure troops, let Cao Wushang feign surrender to lure us to take the risk."

Xiang Kang calculated nervously, first read Cao Wushang's letter carefully again, then looked up at the messenger Cao Wushang sent, and asked after a long while: "Apart from this letter, did General Cao ask you to give it to the king?" What words do you bring?"

"Reporting to the King of Han, General Cao also said, please rest assured to believe the content of his letter." Cao Wushang's messenger hurriedly replied: "He heard all these things from Liu Ji himself, there can be no falsehood. In addition, General Cao also said that the villain can stay in your barracks and wait for him without risking going back."

"It may be an uninformed dead space."

Xiang Kang, who is good at using death to deceive the enemy, came to a conclusion in his mind, but after careful consideration, Xiang Kang still ordered the guards to take Cao Wushang's messenger down so that he could be resettled, and he also gave him a big reward.Then, after Cao Wushang's messenger was taken away, Chen Ping, who was in charge of the Han army's intelligence work, said, "Your Majesty, it is best not to trust this Cao Wushang. Your servant clearly remembers that the spy we sent to contact Cao Wushang back then I said before that when Cao Wushang agreed to be an insider for us, he agreed very frankly, so frankly that no one could believe it was true."

"Your Majesty, I also think that you should not be trusted." Li Zuoche also said, "Especially the fact that the main force of the Western Chu bandit army has not yet contacted the Chu Ji bandit army is the most suspicious. Logically speaking, unless it is General Zhou Shu The army under his command completely surrounded the Chu Ji bandit army, so that it was possible to completely cut off the connection between the Chu Ji bandit army and the main force of the West Chu bandit army. However, Xue County has a vast terrain, and General Zhou's desire to do this is definitely not as fast as he imagined. easy."

Xiang Kang didn't say a word, but repeatedly recalled the Hongmenyan movies and books he had watched, and stood in Cao Wushang's position for a long time to put himself in the shoes of a person, and suddenly said: "The order will be passed on, and the whole army will prepare for the battle in secret. Go to Huling to prevent the Western Chu bandits from crossing the river!"

"Your Majesty..."

"No need to say more." Xiang Kang waved his hand to interrupt everyone's dissuasion, and said coldly: "I can trust Cao Wushang! Uncle Zhou must have created a miracle! We just need to hold back the main force of the Western Chu thief army for a day or two. With time, even greater miracles may appear!"

(End of this chapter)