Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 94 Accidental Discovery
Puyang, the prefect's mansion.

Zhang Liang hurried into the inner courtyard and reported to Liu Bang who was soaking his feet: "Your Majesty, something has happened!"

Liu Bang immediately dismissed the maidservant, and then asked Zhang Liang, "Zifang, what's the matter in such a hurry?"

Zhang Liang took a breath and said, "The disciples sent by me to monitor the whereabouts of the Chu army have already received news. He sent back a flying report saying that the Chu army who disappeared in Dong'e County two days ago has been found, and they are hiding in the In a valley, however, this remnant of the Chu army has less than 500 people, and it is not the main force of the remnant of the Chu army in Xiangzhuang at all!"

There has never been a secret in this world that can never be revealed. Although Yu Ziqi has been very careful and strictly carried out Xiang Zhuang's orders. Be careful, no matter how cautious you are, in the end the retainers sent by Zhang Liang saw through Xingzang.

"Ah?!" Liu Bang suddenly got up, and said in disbelief, "How could this happen?!"

Zhang Liang said with shame on his face: "Your Majesty, forgive me, I was careless for a while, and fell into Wei Liao's golden cicada's plan to get rid of the shell!"

"Let's not talk about this first." Of course, Liu Bang knew that now is not the time to pursue responsibility, so he immediately waved his hand and said, "The question is where is the main force of Xiang Zhuang's son's Chu army?" Zhuang Xiao'er is not in Dong'e, could he have crossed Jishui and entered Lu County to join Xiang Guan?"

While the monarch and his ministers were talking, Chen Ping rushed over after hearing the news.

After hearing what Zhang Liang said, Chen Ping was also surprised.

Zhang Liang pondered for a while, and then said to Liu Bang: "Your Majesty, I am worried that the remnants of the Chu army in Xiangzhuang may have crossed the river again and entered Zhao's land again!"

"It's impossible!" Liu Bang said decisively, "Except for Baimajin and Nanpi, there are probably only a handful of boats that can be found on both sides of the river. What can Xiang Zhuang take to cross the river? His thousands of remnant soldiers can't all jump into it." Swim across the river? I still don’t believe it, all these remnants of the Chu army will swim in the water?”

Chen Ping also said: "That's right, brother Zifang, this should be impossible, right?"

Wasn't the reason why the ships on both sides of the river were burned in the first place to prevent the Chu army from rushing into Zhao's land again?
"This, I can't tell." Zhang Liang sighed, "Oh, but I have an intuition that Xiang Zhuang and Wei Liao are likely to cross the river again and attack Huguan or Jingxing Pass via Zhaodi." After a pause, Zhang Liang said again, "Your Majesty, just in case, let's dispatch flying cavalry and inform General Wang Xi to strengthen the defense of Huguan and Jingxing."

"That's fine, no matter whether Xiang Zhuang's son ran into Zhao's land again or not, it's always right to be careful." Liu Bang nodded, and then told Chen Ping, "Chen Ping, I will trouble you."

"I'm going to study the book now." Chen Ping took the order and went.

Chen Ping didn't think that the Chu army would rush into Zhao's territory again. The Chu army had no boats, so what would they use to cross the river?In his opinion, the Chu army must have been hiding in some hidden valley in Xuejun, Dongjun, or Jibei, but what the king said is right, it is always right to be careful, reminding General Wang Xi to strengthen Huguan and Jingxing. Precautions are still necessary.

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With Yu Ziqi's whereabouts revealed, Xiang Zhuang will also be in trouble.

Driving more than 700 horses through Zhao's land was very ostentatious. Although there was a Hu man named Qi Mai as a cover, when he reached Ye County, he was stopped by General Zhao Guoci Bai Xuan.

Bai Xuan is the great-great-grandson of the famous general Bai Qi, and also the descendant of the general.

It's really interesting to say that Bai Qi was originally a famous general of the Great Qin Dynasty. He killed 45 soldiers of the Zhao army in the first battle of Changping. When Zhao people talked about Bai Qi, it can be said that he hated Bai Qi to the bone, but when it was passed on to his great-great-grandson Bai Xuan, he unexpectedly Turned into a Zhao general, of course, the Zhao country at this time and the Zhao country in the Warring States period are already two different things.

Bai Xuan came from a famous family and is familiar with etiquette, so he didn't mess around.

Bai Xuan made it clear that the Zhao army was short of horses, so the more than 700 horses that crossed the border from Ye County had to be sold to Zhao Guo, and Zhao Guo would pay the market price of Zhao land to buy enough money. , you are a horse dealer, this horse is sold to South Korea, is it also sold to Zhao Guo?
Qi Mai naturally dare not agree, he is now a prisoner, didn't you see two strong men standing behind him?

These two strong men are Qi Mai's attendants in name, but they are actually sent by Xiang Zhuang to monitor him. Once Qi Mai tries to escape or does something that is not conducive to the Chu army, they will kill him immediately.

Bai Xuan didn't force Qi to buy it either, but just asked him to go back and think about it.

Of course, in order to prevent Qi Mai from driving his horses away, Bai Xuan specially sent more than a hundred cavalry to station near the barbarians' camp to monitor the barbarians at any time.

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In the "Hu people" camp, Gongsun Sui was losing his temper.

"General, give the villain forty fine cavalry!" Gongsun said murderously, "The villain only needs to make a surprise attack, and he can defeat the hundreds of Zhao cavalry outside!"

"Okay, let me settle down." Xiang Zhuang said unhappily, "Now is not the time to be brave."

Wei Liao also said: "Gongsun Sima, the hundreds of Zhao cavalry outside are easy to deal with, but if thousands of Zhao troops are recruited, it will be difficult to deal with. After all, we are just passing by, not specifically to attack Zhao’s, right? So, it’s better not to disturb Zhao’s army if it’s possible.”

Gongsun then said unwillingly: "But these horses are so cheap to Zhao Jun?"

Xiang Zhuang said: "If the horses are gone, they will be gone. The key is for people to pass. Our goal is Guanzhong!"

After saying this, Xiang Zhuang turned to Qi Mai again and said, "Mr. Qi Mai, let's sell the horses to Bai Xuan tomorrow, but we can't sell all of them. We have to keep more than 100 war horses anyway. Just say that this is our horse." Leave the transportation, and you tell Bai Xuan, if the price he gives is fair, you can sell another thousand good horses next time."

Qi Mai, who had been huddled in the corner of the tent, agreed obediently. This guy is quite self-aware. Since he became a prisoner of the Chu army, he has basically never had anything happen to him. He probably knows it too. It is absolutely impossible for the legs to escape the clutches of the Chu army, so they have always been very obedient.

General Qi Mai and Gongsun sent the bill, and Wei Liao suddenly said: "General, this way west, I found that Handan County is strengthening the city defense and repairing the city wall everywhere? This Handan County is not Dai County or Yanmen County. , so it is obviously not to resist the invasion of the Huns in the north, so the behavior of Zhao Jun is worthy of scrutiny."

"Or to guard against our army?" As soon as Wu She finished speaking, he immediately denied his conjecture, "No, now no one knows that we have quietly returned to Zhao's land, and Zhao Jun naturally cannot know."

Xiang Zhuang's expression moved slightly, and he said: "The military adviser is saying that the Zhao army is guarding against the Han army?"

"Probably so." Wei Liao said with a smile, "General, although we haven't completely broken Liu Bang's general situation, Liu Bang has not been able to defeat our army for a long time, and our army has repeatedly disturbed Wei and Qi. Land and Zhao Land, now, Liu Bang's prestige in the hearts of the princes from all walks of life has been greatly reduced, otherwise, Zhao Jun would not have made the current move."

Xiang Zhuang clapped his fists and said: "That is to say, if our army can force Liu Bang's army back to Guanzhong, then the princes from all walks of life in the Guandong will no longer be able to buy his account, isn't that so?"

"Han Xin is hard to say. After all, Liu Bang is kind to Han Xin. Everything that Han Xin has today can be said to be thanks to Liu Bang." Wei Liao shook his head, and then said, "But Peng Yue, Yingbu, Zhang Er, Zang Tu, Wu Rui, Han Wangxin and Zhou Yin will definitely not buy Liu Bang again!"

Xiang Zhuang said in a deep voice: "Looks like we have to enter Guanzhong as soon as possible!"

As soon as the words fell, Gongsun suddenly entered the account again and said: "General, General Gaochu, please see me."

"Gao Chu?!" Xiang Zhuang's face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Let him in quickly." Before the division of the Jipu troops, Xiang Zhuang had a strict order that there was no urgent matter, and the Chu armies from all walks of life were strictly prohibited from communicating with each other. , but Gao Chu came here at this time, something must have happened, or some major discovery had been made.

Gongsun took the order and left, and soon led Gao Chu into the tent.

"General, military adviser." Gao Chu rushed to Xiangzhuang and Wei Liao to bow to each other, and said again, "The last general intercepted and killed a Han army flying cavalry in Liangqi County, and found this." Gao Chu then said He took out an unopened yellow silk bag from his arms, and held it in both hands and handed it to Xiang Zhuang respectfully.

Xiang Zhuang opened the cloth bag, but inside was a roll of wooden slips.

Then unfold the wooden slip, which turned out to be a secret letter sent by Liu Bang to the Han general Wang Xi, to the effect that the Chu army is likely to rush into Zhao again, and reminded Wang Xi to strengthen the defenses of Huguan Canyon and Jingxing Canyon , Strictly prevent the Chu army from attacking!After hastily reading the secret letter, Xiang Zhuang's expression changed drastically, and he couldn't recover for a long time.

Seeing Xiang Zhuang's expression changed, Wei Liao asked with concern, "General, what happened?"

"Military Master, you should read it yourself." Xiang Zhuang handed the wooden slip to Wei Liao with a solemn expression.

Zhang Liang didn't see through Wei Liao's plan to get rid of the golden cicada's shell, but his cautiousness still brought a fatal threat to the Chu army.

Wei Liao hastily read the wooden slips, and also changed his face. The Chu army crossed the river back and forth, and finally got rid of the many Han troops who were chasing and intercepting them. It was so easy, Zhang Liang was really cautious enough to leave a large army in Huguan and Jingxing respectively!
What's more terrible is that the [-] troops are still elite soldiers recruited by the King of Han!

Even if the troops are divided into guards, there are at least [-] elite soldiers outside the Huguan Gorge. This is [-] elite soldiers!

Even if the Chu army launched a surprise attack and defeated the Han army outside the Huguan Gorge with a thunderous force, the Huguan defenders on the other side of the canyon must also know the news. It's just these three swordsmen with two swords, neither a ladder nor a shield armor, so what's the matter?Chu Jun can't fly directly to the gate, can he?
This accidental discovery completely disrupted Chu Jun's plan, and I am afraid that Huguan will not be able to go!

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PS: Today, I would like to recommend to book lovers a book about imperial examinations and official struggles in the Ming Dynasty, a very interesting book, the comeback work of the old author Rooftop Cavalry, "Ming Xiang".

(End of this chapter)