Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 11

On the barren mountains and ridges, the remnants of the Chu army are rushing towards Shouchun.

This is a real wolf running, throwing away all the luggage, armor, flags, and halberds. Everyone only wears light robes, only holds short swords, spreads their legs, and runs away with all their strength. There are less than 4000 people. However, the tens of miles long team was pulled away, and the soldiers with good physical strength ran ahead quickly, while the soldiers with weak physical strength or injuries gradually fell behind.

This is a long-distance rapid march, but also a cruel knockout match!
Being eliminated means the end of their lives, and no one can save them.

Seeing more and more soldiers falling behind, Xiang Zhuang also felt heavy, but he did not slow down, let alone stop and wait for these soldiers to return.

Because the escape of the remnants of the Chu army could never be concealed from the scouts of the coalition forces.

If there is no accident, Liu Bang, Han Xin, Yingbo, Peng Yue, Zhou Yin and the others should already know the existence of the remnant of the Chu army. The cavalry had been led away by Xiang Yu's cavalry, and they should be hundreds of miles away now, otherwise, they would surely die!
However, even if the coalition forces cannot send cavalry to pursue them, they cannot be taken lightly.

If you stop, you can wait for the return of the fallen soldiers, but the price is likely to be the annihilation of the entire army!
Xiang Zhuang will never take the entire remnants of the Chu army for the sake of the few soldiers who are left behind. If you are willing, if you are willing, you will gain if you are willing.
"Quick, speed up! Don't stop, no one is allowed to stop!" After a long-distance march of more than a hundred miles, she was as strong as Xiang Zhuang, but also panting like a cow, feeling exhausted. I was already sweating profusely, because mounts in this era did not have stirrups, and riding a horse was also a physical effort.

Jing Qian barely kept up with Xiang Zhuang's footsteps, panting and said: "General, take a break, shall we take a break?"

"No!" Xiang Zhuang said coldly, "Don't rest! Go, order the whole army, if it's a man, let me support you!"

"Promise!" Jing Qian tried his best to cheer up, and while catching up with the pace of the former army, he ordered loudly, "The general has an order, if you are a man, let me support you..."

Immediately, there was a sound of cursing in the chaotic marching ranks.

However, no one stopped. Although they were exhausted, everyone was gritting their teeth and persevering.

The remnant soldiers and defeated generals know very well that they have been gnawing bark and grass roots for the past few days, and their physical strength has long been close to exhaustion. Now they are all supported by a breath. Once they stop, this breath will be vented. When the time comes It will be difficult to get up again, and the coalition forces may catch up at any time, so if you don't want to die, you can only grit your teeth and persevere.

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Xiang Zhuang's worries were not superfluous, the whereabouts of the remnants of the Chu army had indeed been discovered.

"What did you say? Four or five thousand remnants of the Chu army are fleeing westward?" Upon receiving the report from General Li Zuoche, Han Xin's first reaction was disbelief. Hasn't the remnants of the Chu army been wiped out? Even Xiang Yu Their heads have all been beheaded, so how come a remnant of the Chu army of 5000 people emerged?This is impossible.

Li Zuo said: "Your Majesty, even the last general doesn't want to believe it, but there are indeed thousands of Chu troops fleeing westward!"

Han Xin nodded, and said decisively: "Forget it, no matter where these thousands of remnants of the Chu army came from, you should immediately gather [-] elite soldiers to go out and destroy them."

"Promise!" Li Zuoche agreed abruptly, and when he was about to turn around and leave, the envoy of the King of Han suddenly arrived.

It was none other than Zhang Liang who came. Looking at Li Zuoche who was holding a command arrow and preparing to set off, Zhang Liang smiled and said, "General Li is going to lead his army to hunt down and kill the remnants of the Chu army that were just discovered?"

Li Zuoche was stunned when he heard the words, and immediately turned to look at Han Xin.

Without waiting for Han Xin to say something, Zhang Liang said again: "It seems that I am right, hehe, but there is no need to bother General Li about this matter. The King of Han has already ordered General Fan Kuai to lead three thousand elite troops to pursue it."

Han Xin frowned, and said to Li Zuo: "If this is the case, then go and get Donghai County."

"I don't need to trouble General Li anymore." Zhang Liang waved his hand and said with a smile, "The King of Han has ordered General Zhou Bo to lead [-] elite soldiers to set off this morning to pacify Sishui and Donghai Counties."

After all, Zhang Liang said again: "But the king must not think about it too much. The king of Han is sympathetic to the king. After all, the king just led his army to defeat Xiang Yu's [-] Chu army. The king of Han said that the king has worked hard, so there is no need to attack again. The rest of the battle will be left to the generals Guan Ying, Cao Can, Fan Kuai, and Zhou Bo."

Han Xin had no choice but to take back Li Zuoche's command arrow, and Zhang Liang left after a while.

As soon as Zhang Liang left, Kuai Che, a debater of Fan Yang, came out from behind the screen and said to Han Xin, "Look, my lord, Liu Bang is already suspicious of you. It's nothing for you to chase the remnants of the Chu army. Pacify Sishui and Donghai." The two counties are also unwilling to use the soldiers of Qi, because the king of Han is worried that you will take the opportunity to attack the city and expand the sphere of influence of Qi."

Han Xin naturally didn't believe it, so he reprimanded Kuai Che severely: "Nonsense, if the King of Han really had suspicions about Gu, why didn't he prevent Guan Ying's army from pacifying Jiangdong? Isn't Guan Ying an isolated general? Isn't five thousand cavalry an isolated episode?"

"Guan Ying?" Kuai Che said contemptuously, "Your Majesty is very clear that although the five thousand cavalry led by Guan Ying are nominally Qi's army, they are actually part of the Han Dynasty. Guan Ying is Liu Bang's confidant. The king is only superficially obedient, if he were to choose between the king and Liu Bang, he would definitely abandon the king and be loyal to Liu Bang."

"Enough." Han Xin frowned displeased, "How can the King of Han be as unbearable as you said?"

Kuai Che was speechless for a moment, and he no longer had any illusions about Han Xin. Han Xin's military accomplishments are unparalleled, but he is really short-sighted in politics. If there is no accident, Han Xin will sooner or later become Liu Bang's Ghost under the knife, it seems that I should have made a plan earlier, otherwise, I will be dragged to death by him sooner or later.

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When it was getting dark, the remnants of the Chu army finally rushed to a valley near Shouchun.

It is unbelievable to say that from early morning to evening, the remnants of the Chu army actually ran for more than two hundred miles in one day, from the vicinity of Dongcheng to the vicinity of Shouchun!
In the ancient history of marching, this is definitely a miracle!
However, the price was heavy. When the remnants of the Chu army set off from Dongcheng, there were still nearly 4000 people, but when they arrived near Shouchun in the evening, there were only 3000 or two hundred people left.

Fortunately, the remaining 3000 or more than [-] people are all young and strong men with strong bodies!
Moreover, most of these 3000 or more than [-] people are veterans who followed Xiang Yu through three years of attacking Qin and five years of attacking Han, and survived the Battle of Gaixia. These are veterans in the true sense. For those who climbed out of the forest, not to mention blocking a hundred with one, but facing ordinary miscellaneous soldiers, it is absolutely no problem to block ten with one.

Of course, there is a prerequisite for this, and that is to wait for them to recover their physical strength and fighting spirit.

At least, it is absolutely impossible now. Now these 3000 or more than 3000 people are hungry, tired, exhausted, and the morale of the army is weak, and they have no fighting spirit. It is no exaggeration to say that these [-] or more than [-] defeated soldiers are a group With a mob, the coalition forces can easily defeat them by sending out a few hundred light soldiers.

It is not easy to restore fighting spirit, it needs victory after battle to build courage!
However, the most urgent task is to find some food as soon as possible to feed these hungry soldiers. They have not eaten seriously for several days.

Xiang Zhuang was thinking about where to go to get something to eat, when the commander of the army, Gao Chu, suddenly came over and reported in a low voice: "General, we found smoke from cooking on the right side of the mountain!"

"Well, cooking smoke!?" Xiang Zhuang's expression immediately lifted when he heard this, since there is cooking smoke, there is also food to eat!
Now Xiang Zhuang followed Gao Chu to the mountain ridge, looked down from the height, and saw more than a dozen smoke rising from the hill on the right. Obviously, there should be a village in that hill.

At this moment, many soldiers also found the cooking smoke and surrounded them one after another.

"Look quickly, Chi Yan, there is a house in the mountain over there, and there is something to eat!"

"Damn it, I've been starved to death these days, will I finally have something to eat?"

"Then why are you still standing there, hurry up and grab his mother, if you're late, you'll lose your share!"

"Yes, slaughter this village, kill all these bastard rebels, and rob them of their food!"

Without saying a few words, dozens of officers who were so hungry that their eyes glowed green dispersed in a rush, and then they each started their troops and rushed to the hill, and after a while, the news spread. The news spread throughout the army, and the hungry soldiers who were lying on the ground with their dead bodies just now cheered up and rushed to the hill.

Xiang Zhuang didn't stop it, in fact he didn't want to stop it at all.

Why stop?The soldiers are all so hungry, is it wrong to find something to eat?
Yes, the villagers in the mountain are innocent, and it is not their will to betray Chu and return to Han, but so what?

The struggle between Chu and Han, the five-year war, and the people of the Central Plains who suffered from swords and soldiers, who is not innocent?Hundreds of tens of millions of people have been affected, and they still care about a few hundred people in this small village?

Whether cruel or cold-blooded, this is all for survival!

The foundation of the Chu army has been lost, and the army is fighting alone. If you don't rob, what will you eat?
Only being alive is the way to be king, and everything else is bullshit.

Moose are innocent, but can a lion stop eating them because they are innocent?Lambs are kind, but can wild wolves stop eating lambs because they are kind?No, because lions and wolves also need to survive, so they must eat moose and lambs!
When Xiang Zhuang led the black horse into the mountain, the Chu army had already launched an attack.

There is a large village in the mountain's ao, and a Wubao was built. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers. This point of militia is basically like a car with a mantis' arms, even if there is a strong dock. In less than a quarter of an hour, the hungry soldiers of the Chu army broke open the gate and swarmed in.

When Xiang Zhuang stepped onto the wall of Wubao, the whole Wubao had been completely annihilated by the Chu army.

There are flames everywhere, running figures everywhere, the clash of weapons, screams, women's wails, children's cries, and the hysterical laughter of the hungry soldiers of the Chu army. Wubao was crying, the whole village was moaning, only the hungry soldiers of the Chu army were laughing wildly, this is war!Cruel war!

Concubine Yu who was following behind Xiang Zhuang suddenly sighed quietly, her beautiful eyes were full of unbearable color.

Xiang Zhuang's eyes were icy cold, and there was only the reflection of flames in his pitch-black pupils, evil and bewitching.

This is what Xiang Yu did to destroy Qin; Peng Yue did what he did to Chu; even Liu Bang often did this; Xiang Zhuang was not the first, and he will never be the last!
(End of this chapter)