Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 233
On the road from Fanyi to Yixian County, the Chu army was rushing eastward day and night.

When I came here, because I wanted to hide as much as possible, I could only take the remote trails, but when I returned to Jiangdong, I didn't have so many scruples, and I could walk along the majestic roads.

However, of the [-] elites who came, there were only [-] left when they returned.

Looking at the marching ranks of the Chu army that had shrunk by nearly half, Xiang Zhuang couldn't help feeling a little pained. Of the 5000 elite soldiers he brought, 10,000 stayed in Lujiang with Gao Chu, including more than a thousand wounded soldiers, and the remaining four thousand People were killed in battle. In the battle of Fanyi, although the Chu army defeated Mei Yan's [-]+ army, they also paid a very heavy price.

Xiang Zhuang couldn't help being distressed. Those who died this time were veterans who had experienced many battles. If such vicious battles were repeated a few more times, the 4000 elite he brought back to Jiangdong from Jiuyuan would be depleted. Yes, the Hengshan Army was finally defeated, and the sacrifice of more than [-] veterans was not without price.

"Order the whole army, speed up!" Xiang Zhuang issued the military order again.

The marching speed of the veterans of the Chu Army has always been high, and Xiang Zhuang rarely issued military orders to urge him, but today, he has issued three consecutive military orders to speed up the marching speed. There is no way, Xiang Zhuang really misses the battle situation in Jiangdong , especially worried about Xiang Tuo of Qu'a and Wang Yingbu of Huainan, but they are really not easy to mess with.

The names of the three famous generals in the early Han Dynasty were not blown out. Although Yingbo was at the bottom, he was also a famous general. Although Xiang Tuo was a rare general among Xiang's children, compared with Yingbo, then It's not enough to look at, not to mention, Yingbo has experienced many battles, and his rich battle experience is not comparable to that of Xiang Tuo.

Moreover, the Chu troops gathered in Qu’a are all strong civilians, not to mention without any military training, and their equipment is also poor. Most of the young Chu soldiers don’t even have a piece of cloth armor or a single iron weapon. , To put it bluntly, this is a group of mobs, how can they compete with Yingbo's elite Huainan army?
"Your Majesty has an order to speed up your march!"

"Your Majesty has an order to speed up your march!"

"Your Majesty has an order to speed up your march!"

Xiang Zhuang's order was quickly conveyed. Although the tens of thousands of Chu soldiers were exhausted and out of breath, they still strode forward one by one. Inspired by years of iron and blood battles, military exploits, and titles, the soldiers of the Chu army The spiritual willpower that erupted was beyond imagination, and this marching intensity was far from enough to drag them down.

As they were marching, a fast horse suddenly galloped up from the front. The knight on horseback urged the horse to gallop, and at the same time sternly asked the generals of the Chu army who were hurrying along the road: "Where is the king? Where is the king..."

The soldiers of the Chu army all pointed to the central army where Xiang Zhuang was, and the knight whipped the horse's stock, and came straight towards Xiang Zhuang's central army. On the ground, while presenting a bamboo tube wrapped in yellow silk on both sides, he also shouted loudly: "My lord, Wushang great victory!"

Wushang great victory? !Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but exchanged glances with Bai Lixian, and stopped one after another.

Jin Xiang had already strode forward, took the yellow silk package from the messenger, untied the yellow silk, opened the bamboo tube, took out a rolled-up letter from it and handed it to Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Zhuang read it in a hurry, couldn't help but He was overjoyed and said: "Hahaha, good, great, this kid Pang Yu actually defeated the Eastern Ou Army with five thousand and forty thousand!"

After finishing speaking, Xiang Zhuang handed the letter to Bai Lixian who was beside him.

After reading it, Bai Lixian said with deep emotion, "General Pang Yu really lived up to your high expectations."

When Xiang Zhuang took Pang Yu as his general and led [-] troops south to Wushang to counter Si Luoyao's Eastern Ou Army, he was confronted by Ling Yin Xiang Ta, General Xiang Tuo, Shu Sun Guan, the prefect of Wu County, and other important civil and military officials. Unanimously opposed, Huan Chu, Ji Bu, Xiao Kai and other veteran generals of the Chu army even spoke strange things behind their backs, almost no one was optimistic about Pang Yu.

Although Pang Yu came from an aristocratic family, he had a long history of education and read military books since he was a child, but no matter what, he was only a young man under twenty. Wasn't Liu Bang defeated in the end?Moreover, the Han army still used the same method, which shows that Pang Yu is still a little immature, not enough to stand alone.

But this time, Xiang Zhuang rarely compromised, but went his own way and entrusted Pang Yu with a heavy responsibility.

Now, hard facts have proved that Xiang Zhuang's persistence is extremely wise. Xiang Zhuang originally only hoped that Pang Yu could hold back the Eastern Ou Army for three to four months. The [-] Eastern Ou army even took advantage of the situation to attack the Eastern Ou country. If there is no accident, they should have arrived at the city of Dongou by now.

"Pang Yu, you boy!" Xiang Zhuang slammed Jie and said, "After this battle is over, the widow will crown him personally!"

So far, among the seven allied armies besieging Jiangdong, Mei Yu's Hengshan Army and Si Luoyao's Dongou Army have been defeated, and Si Wuzhu's Minyue Army is still far away in central Fujian. It is unknown when they will send troops. It is also difficult to occupy the counties of Jinan through the Shanyue Armed Forces, so the Seventh Route Allied Forces are only left with Yingbu, Zhou Yin, Jin She, and Li Zuoche.

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Liyang, the Han army has been besieging the city for 20 days!
However, in the first ten days, the Han army basically just besieged and did not attack. Although Zhou Yin, Jin She, and Li Zuoche were all Han generals in name, each had their own little calculations. Zhou Yin hoped that Jin She, Li Zuoche If Zuo Che could fight the Chu army, both sides would be hurt. Why didn't Jin She and Li Zuoche want Zhou Yin to fight the Chu army?Even Jin She and Li Zuoche seem to be at odds with each other.

However, ten days ago, Zhou Yin, Jin She and Li Zuoche reached a tacit understanding, and they began to mobilize troops in turn to launch an unreserved attack on Liyang City. Liyang's defensive pressure suddenly increased. Fortunately, With [-] elite soldiers guarding the city and nearly [-] criminals guarding the border, the situation is not dangerous.

Early in the morning, Meng Jie climbed to the top of the city surrounded by his clan brothers Meng Keng, Meng Qiang and dozens of soldiers.

On the top of the city, there are rolling logs, stones, and broken swords and halberds everywhere. On the battlements, bridleways, and female walls, there are mottled bloodstains everywhere. Some bloodstains have dried up, and some are still bright red. Everything , all show that there has been a continuous outbreak of extremely tragic fighting here. Obviously, the battle to seize the city has become increasingly fierce!
Chu soldiers and prisoners lay all over the ground. Yesterday the Han army's siege lasted until late at night, and finally retreated to the camp after midnight. After the Han army retreated, most of the soldiers and prisoners fell to the ground. Asleep, when they heard the footsteps of Meng Shu and others, they woke up from their sleep one after another, and got up quickly to greet them.

"General!"

"General Meng!"

"I've seen the general!"

The veterans of the Chu Army and the Kuaiji prisoners got up one after another and greeted them one after another.

However, there are very few veterans on the top of the city, and most of them are Kuaiji prisoners.

Looking at Meng Jie, no matter whether it is a Qin veteran or a Kuaiji prisoner, all of them have an undisguised scorching look in their eyes, as if, as long as Meng Jie is there, even if the sky falls, they will not be afraid. It is not surprising that Qin veterans have such a reaction, but the prisoners from Kuaiji would also trust Mengji so much, but it is really unusual.

Meng Ji walked forward, nodding his head repeatedly, slapping the veteran's shoulder from time to time, and punching the prisoner's chest, the prisoners who were punched by Meng Ji straightened their chests straight, their faces were swollen Immediately, there was a look of pride. Looking at the expressions on their faces, they wished they could die for being murdered.

Speaking of which, a few months ago, these prisoners were still die-hard clan militants.

However, with the disintegration of the clan power to which these clan elites belonged, their mentality has also changed. After all, most of the clan elites are actually honest farmers. Controlled by the clan leader, and then became the family servant and private soldier of the clan leader.

However, with the killing of these clan leaders, they were dispatched to the Jiangbei border by Xiang Zhuang, and their wives and children were also forcibly moved out of the original residence by Xiang Zhuang. The original deep-rooted clan concept also completely disintegrated. Now, the concept of clan no longer exists in the subconscious minds of these strong clan members. Their only hope is to serve their sentence as soon as possible, and then return to the place where they migrated to reunite with their wives and children.

That's why they support Mengji so much, because only Mengji can lead them to defend the city, they can save their lives, and have the opportunity to return to the migration place to reunite with their wives and children.

After patrolling around the top of the city, Meng Shu finally returned to the top of the north gate.
The veterans and prisoners guarding the top of the north gate rushed forward one after another and gathered in front of Meng Ji.

Meng Ji jumped onto the battlements, his scorching eyes glanced over the faces of every prisoner, and he said loudly: "Listen up, from now on, you will no longer be prisoners!"

This is also what Meng Ji promised earlier, as long as Li Yang can not fall for ten days under the onslaught of the Han army, all prisoners will be pardoned as prisoners. free!Of course, it is impossible for Meng Ji to specialize in such a big matter, he has already obtained Xiang Zhuang's consent.

Many prisoners shook their fists fiercely, and they were finally no longer prisoners.

After a pause, Meng Ji pointed to the veterans of the Chu Army again, and then shouted: "Like them, from now on, you are also the soldiers of the Great Chu Kingdom. From now on, as long as you gain military exploits on the battlefield, Even if you die in battle, your titles can be inherited by your heirs!"

"General Meng is mighty!"

"General Meng is mighty!"

"General Meng is mighty!"

Thousands of prisoners were emotionally agitated, and they all started to shout.

Meng Chu frowned, then raised his arms and roared, "Great Chu is mighty!"

"Great Chu is mighty!" First the soldiers around Mengji roared, then the nearby veterans and prisoners, and finally all the veterans and prisoners on the north gate roared loudly, the huge sound pierced into the void, Even in the camp of the Han army ten miles away, it was clearly audible.

(End of this chapter)