Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 194 I'm Back
Deep in the Dabie Mountains, the old camp of the Chu army.

The old camp has been expanded again, and the number of huts and wooden houses has increased to more than 2000.

At this time, spinning wheels were placed in front of the huts or wooden houses, and the women were shaking the spinning wheels, spinning bunches of stored flax into flax, and then weaving flax.

Many children aged three to five, seven or eight were running and playing around.

On the field in front of the old camp, more than 500 teenagers holding bamboo swords and wooden spears are practicing formations. Dozens of veterans with wooden crutches are shouting and shouting at the surrounding area, and they will raise their hands from time to time. The bamboo whip in his hand was lashed at the young boy who had gone in the wrong direction or was unresponsive.

In the river valley not far from the old camp, a large paddy field has been opened up. The rice in the paddy field has been harvested, leaving a row of rice stubble, and stacks of straw are piled up in the corner of the field, just waiting for the next year. In spring, these straws will be burned into fly ash along with weeds, and sprinkled into paddy fields as fertilizer.

On the gentle slopes on both sides of the valley, large tracts of dry land have also been opened up. However, these dry lands are already bare at this time, and the crops on them have obviously been harvested.

Without warning, a low-pitched horn sounded suddenly from the watchtower outside the mountain pass.

All of a sudden, groups of children ran out of the old camp shouting and yelling. After gathering at the gate, there were nearly a thousand of them. With both hands, cheering and playing, a swarm of bees greeted them outside the mountain pass. The young man who was practicing on the school ground showed envy in his eyes, but he didn't dare to make a slight move.

"Don't be distracted, continue to practice!" A few teenagers were a little distracted, and a whip was firmly drawn on his back. The pain caused the teenagers to grin their teeth, and then all of them withdrew their wandering thoughts. Practice honestly according to the veteran's password.

Before the children rushed to the mountain pass, a dark crowd appeared outside the mountain pass.

It was a team composed of more than 300 adult men plus more than 500 teenagers aged fifteen or sixteen. Most of the more than 300 adult men were holding hunting forks, and more than a hundred of them carried dozens of wild boars, bears, elk, For prey such as hares, most of the more than 500 teenagers hold bamboo and wood longbows, or bamboo and wood shuttles that are as long as Zhang Xu.

Walking in the front of this team was a strong man with a height of eight feet and a bearded face.

This strong man is none other than Zhong Limei, a general of the Western Chu State who was left by Xiang Zhuang in the old camp of Dabie Mountain to take care of 500 women and children and Mrs. Yu Ji. After Xiang Zhuang left with 5000 veterans, he only left more than [-] soldiers Seriously wounded or disabled veterans, in addition to more than [-] women and children, those days were really difficult.

However, no matter how difficult this day was, at least I survived it. In the past year or so, except for those who died of illness, not a single woman or child died of starvation.

Zhong Limei led more than 300 veterans and more than 500 years into the mountain pass, and more than a hundred brawny men with bare chests and belly emerged from the huts built by the river, and the leader was Yu Ziqi. , Yu Ziqi held an unfinished horizontal knife in his left hand, and a small hammer in his right hand.

In order to lure the Han army from chasing troops, Yu Ziqi was trapped in a heavy siege. In the end, all five hundred pieces of his troupe were killed or injured. He only took a dozen of his own soldiers to hide in a hidden cave, and managed to save his life. Later, Xiang Zhuang led the Chu army to enter the pass, and Liu Bang led the main force of the Han army to return to the army to save himself. Yu Ziqi was able to return to the old camp in Dabie Mountain with a dozen of his own soldiers.

Greeting Zhongli Mo, Yu Ziqi smiled and said, "Brother Zhongli, I have gained quite a lot this time, haha."

Zhong Limo stepped forward and patted Yu Ziqi on the shoulder, and said, "Ziqi, it's not thanks to you. Since you came back, the brothers have used sharp weapons such as horizontal knives and spears to hunt. It's much more relaxed, hehe." After finishing speaking, Zhong Limo pointed back at a tiger and said, "Look, even such a big guy can be hunted now."

While talking, the group of children finally came up to meet them. Yu Ziqi touched the head of one of the children, and said with some pity: "Tonight, the children have meat again, ha ha."

Before the words fell, the horn suddenly sounded again from the watchtower outside the mountain pass, and the horn sounded this time was obviously different from the horn sound just now. The voice is low and deep, and the rhythm is as if, you can feel the cold murderous aura when you listen to it.

Zhongli Mo's expression changed slightly, and he turned his head and shouted, "Line up, line up!"

With an order, more than 300 veterans threw the prey on their shoulders to the ground one after another, and rushed to Zhong Limei at the fastest speed, forming a neat infantry formation, and more than 500 teenagers in fifteen or sixteen years also rushed Come forward, another neat formation of infantry was formed behind more than 300 veterans.

In less than a moment, dozens of veterans on the school field also rushed over with crutches. The more than 500 teenagers who had been practicing on the school field also formed a slightly scattered formation, but these children were obviously still there. They didn't grow up, and all their faces showed panic. Of course, there were also a few stunned young people who were screaming with excitement.

Outside the mountain pass, the sentinel on the watchtower still blew the horn, and the low sound of the horn went straight into the sky.

All of a sudden, Zhong Limei seemed to hear a sound, and immediately turned his head to look at Yu Ziqi with consulting eyes.

Yu Ziqi had already led more than a hundred blacksmiths to stand in the queue with hammers in their hands. Meeting Zhong Limei's inquiring eyes, Yu Ziqi nodded solemnly, and said in a deep voice, "Cavalry, it's cavalry!"

cavalry? !Zhong Limo licked his dry lips, could Zhou Yin, the traitor, finally hold back?

Speaking of which, Zhou Yin actually knew that such an old camp of the Chu army was hidden deep in the Dabie Mountains, because Zhong Limei had taken people carrying wild boars and elk prey to Anfeng and Six Counties several times to buy food. For a while, the old camp There are always suspicious hunters and woodcutters around, and Zhongli suspects that they are all spies sent by Zhou Yin.

But what is puzzling is that Zhou Yin, the rebel, never sent troops into the mountains to suppress them.

But now, Zhou Yin, the rebel, finally couldn't hold back anymore. Although there were more than a dozen bandits and bandits nearby, they never dared to provoke the Chu army. , only Zhou Yin, only this traitor!Zhou Yin, are you finally going to do it?

During the suffocating wait, the sound of the horn outside the mountain pass stopped abruptly without warning.

Zhongli Mo, Yu Ziqi and the experienced veterans were shocked. Obviously, the sentry guarding the watchtower at the mountain pass had been shot dead by Zhou Yin's rebels!
"Herod..." After a while, there was a loud neighing sound from outside the mountain pass.

The next moment, a snow-treading black horse riding a superb horse suddenly appeared from behind the cliff outside the mountain pass. Seeing this extremely familiar snow-treading black horse, Zhong Limei, Yu Ziqi and all the Chu soldiers The veteran was suddenly shocked, is this?This is the former king's snow-treading black horse, and the current general's mount? !
At this moment, the hearts of Zhongli Mo, Yu Ziqi and all the veterans of the Chu army were raised in their throats. Could it be that the general has been killed?Otherwise, why would Taxue Wuzhao suddenly appear here?
Or is it the general who brought the army back to Jiujiang?
All of a sudden, a sea of ​​black cavalry surged out from behind Treading Wuzhao.

At the next moment, the knight on the snow-covered crow raised his hand to lead forward, and the black cavalry behind him swarmed towards the Chu army standing in line in the valley.

Time has never been so long like this moment!
It was less than a moment, but in the feelings of Zhong Limei, Yu Ziqi and all the veterans of the Chu army, it seemed as long and difficult as a hundred years!
Finally, Treading Snow and Wuzhao is close at hand.

"Zhongli?!" A deep and majestic voice suddenly sounded, "Ziqi?!"

Hearing this extremely familiar voice, Zhongli Mo's heart was shaken wildly, and he cupped his fists and bowed, wanting to salute, but he couldn't make a sound in the humiliation of his mouth, but two lines of hot tears had already slid down his cheeks uncontrollably. The next moment, this stalwart man burst into tears like a child: "General, you can be considered to be back, ouch..."

Xiang Zhuang got on his horse, stroked Zhong Limo's generous shoulders, and said emotionally: "I'm back, I'm back..."

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Six counties, sheriff's office.

Zhou Yin, governor of Jiujiang County, was sighing in his study.

Since Xiangzhuang dug the Huai River and flooded Shouchun, Zhou Yin moved Jiujiang County back to the Six Counties, but Zhou Yin's life is not easy now. After Liu Bang left with the army, although he was allowed to He stayed in Jiujiang, but he also left him with two extremely powerful elbows, Jin She and Li Zuoche.

Jin She and Li Zuoche each had [-] plays, and they respectively occupied Juchao and Liyang in the south, and Quyang and Dongcheng counties in the east. Zhou Yin really controlled only the two big counties of Anfeng and Liuxian , and dozens of surrounding towns, it is not easy to feed an army of [-] with only such a small area and such a small population.

Because the general situation of the world is still unclear, coupled with the shortage of food and grass, Zhou Yin dare not turn his face against Jin She and Li Zuoche.

Taking advantage of this period of time, Jin She and Li Zuoche have greatly expanded their troops. Now Jin She has more than 8000 people, and Li Zuoche has pulled an army of more than [-] people, more than half of them are The defeated Han army fled from the other side of the river, and now Jiangdong has been completely controlled by Xiang Tuo and Xiang Guan.

Seeing that Jin She and Li Zuoche are becoming more and more powerful, can Zhou Yin not feel anxious?
When Zhou Yin was sighing and sighing, the eldest son Zhou Huan suddenly walked into the study in a hurry, cupped his hands and said, "Father, the spies report that Xiang Zhuang, the general of Great Chu, has returned to Jiujiang with an army of [-]!" He said in an extremely serious tone, "Moreover, the [-] troops are all cavalry!"

(End of this chapter)