Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 26 Flooded Shouchun (urgently looking for a recommendation ticket)
For the next five days, the Han army did not attack, and the Chu army in Shouchun City had no intention of abandoning the city and fleeing. It seemed that they were determined to defend to the end.

For the past five days, Xiang Zhuang has not been idle, he has been preparing for entering the mountain.

Xiang Zhuang knew very well that no matter whether the flooding strategy was successful or not, the Chu army would definitely move to the Dabie Mountains. The current Dabie Mountains were a real primeval forest. In the summer, when three to five thousand Chu troops entered the mountain, it would be great if three to five hundred people came out alive.

In the primeval forest, snakes and insects are rampant, and they have always eaten people without spit out bones.

However, even if it is winter, the Chu army must be fully prepared.

Because there is no supply in the mountains, it is necessary to prepare a lot of dry food, flint, leggings, cloth shoes and other things in advance, especially dry food!
Now, Xiang Zhuang is personally supervising more than a hundred female soldiers to make "fried noodles".

Xiang Zhuang was a veteran of the People's Liberation Army in his previous life, so he is no stranger to "fried noodles".

When he first joined the army, in order to better understand the glorious tradition of the old army, Xiang Zhuang’s previous life even ate "chow mein" for a whole week, so Xiang Zhuang knew that although "chow mein" is not good in taste, it is easy to carry. More importantly, you don't need to start a fire to cook, you can eat it when you pick it up, it is not easy to expose the target at night, and it can also reduce logistical pressure!
In the kitchen, dozens of strong female soldiers were wielding shovels, stir-frying the brown rice, beans, and millet in the big iron kettle, and sprinkled a handful of coarse salt into it from time to time.

Xiang Zhuang grabbed a handful and tasted it, the taste was really rough, but at least it could satisfy his hunger.

The main reason is that the current stone mill is very problematic. Unlike the stone mills of later generations, which have seven sectors, and the texture is also very fine line stripes, the stone mills of the Qin and Han Dynasties basically have no sectors, and the texture is also one. It is a pit with irregular size and shape, and the grain that is ground is naturally rough.

Unfortunately, there is no time to improve the stone mill now.

Seeing that the "fried noodles" were almost ready, and there was not much food left to be fried, Wu She, who accompanied him, suggested to Xiang Zhuang: "General, the dry food is almost ready, but General Zhongli's I haven't seen any movement for a long time, I guess I've been caught out or I'm in trouble, why don't I abandon the city and go into the mountains tonight?"

"See through?" Xiang Zhuang looked at Wei Liao behind Wu She, and asked, "What do you think, sir?"

Ever since Wei Liao was kidnapped, he has completely lost his personal freedom. He is "protected" by two personal soldiers when he goes in and out, and he has to follow Xiang Zhuang's side at ordinary times except when Xiang Zhuang is on an expedition. He is not even allowed to eat or sleep. Out of Xiangzhuang's sight, Wei Liao had to attend the military meeting held in Xiangzhuang.

Obviously Wei Liao would not give in easily, so he ignored Xiang Zhuang as usual.

Xiang Zhuang was bored, and said to Wu She: "Don't worry, sir, Zhongli Mo will definitely not make mistakes!"

Wu She was still a little worried and said: "But if it is found out, I am worried that the Han army may give up the tactics of encircling three queues and one, and encircle Shouchun on all sides instead. Difficult."

"That's nothing, the big deal is to fight to the death with the Han army!" Xiang Zhuang smiled lightly, and said again, "Besides, I believe in Zhongli Mo, he will never let me down!" A general in the Chu army camp who can stand alone There are really not many, Long Qi is considered outstanding, but it is a pity that he is dead, except for Long Qi, that is Zhongli Mo.

Therefore, Xiang Zhuang still trusts Zhong Limei's ability.

More importantly, Xiang Zhuang didn't think Li Zuoche would be able to see through Zhongli's actions!
After all, Li Zuoche is an ancient man, unlike Xiang Ya who is a traverser. Xiang Zhuang knows that once a big river like the Huai River breaks its embankment, it will be flooded for hundreds of miles, and the low-lying Shouchun area will definitely be turned into a piece of land. Zeguo, there are historical cases that can be used for reference. The yellow flood zone formed by the breach of the Huayuankou dike stretches for thousands of miles!
Li Zuoche was born as a general and is also a wise man. He would definitely be wary of the Chu army's strategy of flooding.

However, it was absolutely impossible for Li Zuoche to think that if he dug the Huai River from fifty miles away, he would still be able to submerge Shouchun!This has nothing to do with intelligence, it is entirely determined by knowledge, or this is the so-called historical limitation, just like an ancient man who has never seen a stirrup, it is difficult for him to imagine the scene of a heavy cavalry charge!
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However, what Xiang Zhuang didn't know was that Zhong Limei was indeed in trouble, and it was a big trouble!

Speaking of it, digging a river embankment seems to be very easy. Isn’t it just digging a gap in the river embankment, and then the flood rushes down, and the gap becomes bigger and bigger. In the end, wouldn’t the flood break the embankment?
In fact, things are not like that at all!

Because the Huai River in this era does not have real embankments, and the entire river channel is formed by natural erosion. If Zhong Limei wants to open the Huai River to pour Shouchun back, it is equivalent to changing the river channel of the Huai River. Do you think it is difficult?

Zhong Limei led eight hundred young men to dig for a full five days and five nights, almost dug half of the hillside, and finally opened a small opening on the south bank of the Huaihe River. Under the erosion of the river, the gap became bigger and bigger. The flood flooded, but two big rocks popped up suddenly, one on the left and one on the right, stuck on both sides of the gap, and it was over.

Despite being washed away by the flood, the two big rocks just stood still.

This is going to be a big trouble. If these two big rocks are not removed, the gap will not fester, and the gap will not fester. With the current amount of water alone, even if it is poured backwards for a year or so, it may not be able to flood the Han people outside the city. military.

It must be too late to choose another place to dig again, now I can only find a way to knock out one of the stones!
But the problem is that the smaller stones are bigger than the house. According to the conventional method, it may not be able to break it even if it takes three months to break it with iron drills and hammers. But Shouchun can only last for half a month at most. What should I do?
At the critical moment, Zhong Limei did not disappoint Xiang Zhuang, he came up with a brilliant idea, to burn it with fire!

First empty the soil on the top of the smaller stones, then set up dry firewood to burn, wait for the stones to burn red, then pour cold water, repeat several times, the surface of the stones will be as brittle as mud, and then use iron brazing, iron The hammer smashed away a thick layer very quickly. This speed is much faster than using iron drills and hammers.

After burning for three days and three nights, most of the smaller stone on the left was finally cut off, and then the foundation gradually became loose under the constant washing of the flood. At a certain moment, with a loud crash, the remaining small half of the stone finally rolled down. After reaching the hillside, in an instant, the torrential flood rushed down like a wild horse that had run loose!

Without the confinement of the boulder, the torrential flood has completely lost its limit. In less than half an hour, the gap has expanded from less than two feet to more than 50 feet, and it is still expanding rapidly. The torrent of muddy water is pouring from the gap. Down below, huge flood peaks were formed, roaring towards the lower places.

Zhong Limei stood on the top of the mountain and looked down, only to see that the bottom of the mountain has become a vast ocean!
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When Li Zuoche was sleeping soundly, he suddenly dreamed that he had fallen into a thousand-year-old ice cave, and then he woke up suddenly, only to be extremely shocked to find that he was actually soaked in water!

When Li Zuoche was about to summon his own soldiers to ask what happened, the curtain was suddenly thrown open.

Immediately, the pro-military lieutenant broke in with a desolate expression, knelt down again, and said tragically: "General, disaster has happened! Water, water is everywhere!"

Li Zuoche's heart trembled suddenly, and he rushed out of the big tent before he could put on his clothes.

After getting out of the big tent, Li Zuoche took a torch from his own soldiers and set fire to the surrounding area, only to see that there was a vast expanse of water all around, and just now, the water level had reached from the ankle to the calf, and it was still visible to the naked eye. The visible speed increased rapidly. Seeing this scene, Li Zuoche couldn't believe his eyes!

With such a large area of ​​water, it goes without saying that the Huai River must have burst its embankment!
Chu Jun actually dug up the Huai River! ?The Chu army really planned to burn everything together! ?
Li Zuoche's first reaction was that the cavalry patrol he sent out was ambushed by the Chu army. Only in this way could the Chu army dig the embankment and release the water silently. Shi Chen had just reported that everything was as usual, and it was absolutely impossible for the Chu army to dig the Huai River in such a short period of time.

The only explanation is that the Chu army's river digging point is at least fifty miles away!

But the problem is, digging the Huai River from such a far place can actually flood Shouchun! ?

At this moment, Li Zuoche couldn't help feeling remorse. If he had known this, he should have sent more cavalry to control the rivers hundreds of miles away, but it was too late to regret it now.

At that moment, Li Zuoche sighed grandly: "Ah, a wise man has a lot of worries, and there is bound to be a loss, and there is bound to be a loss..."

"General, let's go!" The military academy lieutenant said tragically, "If you don't go, I'm afraid you won't be able to go!"

When Li Zuoche lowered his head anxiously, he saw that the water level was already below his knees and almost up to his thighs, and he said sadly, "Head the whole army turn to the northwest, hurry up!"

At that moment Li Zuoche took the personal barracks and hurried to the northwest.

But how can it be so easy to identify the direction in the dark night?Walking and walking, the sense of direction is gone!

At this time, the entire Han army camp was in chaos. Except for Li Zuoche's personal battalion, which could barely keep calm, the other battalions, divisions, and songs were completely in disarray. Tens of thousands of Han army soldiers were stagnant They ran around like headless chickens, and all of them had messy buns and disheveled clothes, and their expressions were extremely terrified.

Li Zuoche yelled again and again, trying to stop the chaos from spreading.

But soon, Li Zuoche realized that it was futile. Even though he drew his sword and beheaded several people in succession, he still couldn't stop the chaos from spreading. In the end, even his own barracks showed signs of instability. Li Zuoche finally knew that the general trend of the Han army was over, and now, it was impossible for him to effectively control this army.

"Let's go, don't care about them!" Li Zuoche led his soldiers and ran away in a random direction.

I don't know how far I walked in the dark, and the water level gradually covered the thighs to the waist. At this time, it is very difficult for people to walk in the water. Just when Li Zuoche thought he was going to die, he found that the water level miraculously dropped Yes, but soon he discovered that it wasn't the water level that dropped, but the terrain under his feet was rising!

"General, the high ground! We have reached the high ground!" Many soldiers burst into tears of joy.

Li Zuoche rolled up to the high ground, and when he looked back, he saw that there were less than a hundred people left behind him, and the rest of the soldiers probably either drowned or got lost on the way.

(End of this chapter)