Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 119 Wei State Envoy

Let’s take a look at Xiang Kang again. Without God’s perspective, the speed of information transmission in this era is so deceitful. Of course, Xiang Kang has no way to know the progress of his contact with Zhang Han’s general Sima Xin, and he doesn’t even dare Guarantee whether the envoys I sent to contact Sima Xin will see Sima Xin, whether they will abandon their posts and abscond on the road, or encounter any accidents, so even though they are full of confidence in their strategies, Xiang Kang is still worried Uneasy, for fear that the sky would not fulfill his wish, Zhang Han's main force came directly to him, and he would not have any chance to trick Zhang Han into letting him go temporarily.

It is precisely because of such worries that, in order to prevent any contingencies, Xiang Kang also took precautions early on and withdrew the three troops of Xiangzhuang, Xiang Guan and Zheng Bu who entered Dang County in the Western Expedition, leaving only Ding Ji led his troops to garrison Xiang County, and at the same time transported as much grain and grass as possible from the four cities of Mang County, Dang County, Xiang County, and Xiao County to Pengcheng for hoarding, and did not give the enemy who entered the east the opportunity to get food locally.In addition, Xiang Kang sent Chao Zhi to organize the soldiers and the people to build a large camp with deep trenches and high fortifications in the western suburbs of Pengcheng, so that the main force of the young generals could be stationed for a long time.After Xiang Zhuang and other troops withdrew and returned to Pengcheng, the whole army immediately stationed in this camp.

The layout on the southern line is also similar. Adopting old man Fan’s previous suggestion, in order to prevent the Qin army from dividing troops into the rear of the young marshal’s army and ensure the smooth communication between Xiang Kang and the young marshal’s army on the southern line, Xiang Kang not only stockpiled In addition to a large number of food, grass and military supplies, Fuli defender Xiang Han was ordered to strengthen the city defense with all his strength, rush to build various fortifications, and also sent Xiang Han 500 reinforcements so that Xiang Han had enough time to defend the city. of troops are available.

"If the Tyrant Qin army sends troops to attack Fuli, they are only allowed to defend the city, not to fight! Zhuyi City in the west can be abandoned at any time if necessary, and the Tyrant Qin army bypasses Fuli to attack Qulu and Tong County, don't bother, only you If we keep Fuli, the Tyrant Qin army will never dare to penetrate so far behind us!" This is a clear statement from Xiang Kang to Xiang Han in his letter.

After making these deployment adjustments, the news that Chen County was captured by Zhang Han's main force also spread to Pengcheng, and Xiang Kang was completely helpless. He could only silently pray for God's blessing, so that Zhang Han's main force should never look at him , while sending people to Jiangdong for the third time, asking Xiang Liang to send troops to the north for reinforcements as soon as possible, and at the same time ordering Feng Zhong to gather troops as soon as possible, and be ready to return to Pengcheng at any time.

In the end, after Zhang Han sent his envoys to return the messengers sent by Xiang Kang and the letter from Sima Xin urging him to surrender, Xiang Kang relaxed a little, and immediately treated Zhang with the most sumptuous banquet. Han envoy, and personally came forward to accompany him, he seemed to have been extremely shaken inside and out, and he also pretended to be hesitant in front of Zhang Han's envoy's persuasion, pretending that he was only worried that Zhang Han would not believe what he said, so he dared not make a decision The appearance of being determined to surrender showed enough flaws all over his body, successfully making Zhang Han's envoy feel that he has won the victory in recruiting himself.

At the same time, the news that Zhang Ping, Zhang Han's younger brother, led an army of [-] troops from Xinyang West to enter Sishui County was finally discovered by the young marshal and sent to Xiang Kang. Xiang Kang was overjoyed and sent escorts The envoy of Zhang Han went to contact Zhang Ping, and offered generous gifts to please Zhang Ping. At the same time, he begged Zhang Ping to postpone the army and give himself some time to think.

As expected by Xiang Kang, Zhang Ping, who was full of ambition, categorically rejected his request to suspend his army advance, and easily took down Chengfu County, which was controlled by Zhang Chu's army. Zhang Ping's [-] troops rushed to Xiang County , At the same time, the county soldiers in Dangjun also counterattacked eastward under the leadership of Dong Ke.Xiang Kang didn't hesitate when he heard the report, and immediately went to Wenxiang County, and asked Xiangxian County's defender Ding Ji to quickly abandon the city and retreat after a little resistance, and gave Xiangxian County to Zhang Ping.

Regarding Xiang Kang's decision to abandon Xiangxian County, the old man Fan and Zhou Zeng, two military assistants, did not say anything. They both knew the purpose of Xiang Kang's move, but the generals of the Young Marshal Army headed by Xiang Zhuang were extremely puzzled , They all asked Xiang Kang: "Young commander, why did you give up Xiangxian so easily? Xiangxian is the county seat of Sishui, the city is strong, and there is a danger of flooding. Wouldn't it be a pity to just give up like this? Also, Xiangxian If we lose it, the second Mangdang County that we managed to take down will be isolated immediately, doesn’t that mean it’s also lost?”

"Because Xiangxian County can be defended tactically, but not strategically." Xiang Kang explained: "Zhang Han's main force is still in Chenjun. The main force is likely to come to help, and we will have no hope at that time. Only by giving up Xiangxian County and making Zhang Han feel that his partial division is going well, his main force will not easily go east, and we will have hope to stop him Partial division, hold on until our marshal's reinforcements arrive."

Although Xiang Kang gave a painstaking explanation, the young generals still felt a little regretful. This was especially true for Ding Ji, who took down Xiangxian County with his own hands. After the vanguard of Zhang Ping's army arrived at the south bank of Sui River, Ding Ji not only did not immediately abandon the city and retreat, but instead pulled his army to the north bank of Sui River, preparing to teach the vanguard of Zhang Ping's army a lesson, and wait until the main force of Zhang Ping's army arrived. It's not too late to retreat.

The cruel facts soon made Ding Ji regretful. Although Zhang Pingjun's forwards were indeed advancing too fast, they were a little out of touch with the main force, and their strength was only five thousand. At the same time, Ding Ji was in the ranks of the Young Marshals It can be regarded as a quasi-first-class army with considerable combat effectiveness, but what Ding Ji never imagined in his dreams was that among the Qin army he was facing, there were actually 2000 elite Qin army from Longxi, so after the Qin army launched a rush to cross , Ding Ji's troops, who were trying to attack halfway, kicked onto the iron plate. Not only failed to defeat the desperate Qin army, on the contrary, they were hammered all over the ground by the Qin army, causing heavy casualties and failing to stop them. Qin Jun crossed the river.

In the end, there was really no other way, so Ding Ji had no choice but to quickly retreat back to the city, pack up his weapons and luggage, abandon the city and flee eastward overnight, but the Qin army reacted quickly, and soon launched a pursuit, and successfully defeated Ding Ji's rear team , Ding Ji had no choice but to discard most of his supplies, food and grass and fled lightly. He finally got rid of the pursuit of the Qin army, and fled back to Xiao County in embarrassment.

Ding Ji's failure made the young generals finally shut up and stopped complaining, and it also made Xiang Kang even more worried, but what Xiang Kang was worried about was not that he couldn't stop Zhang Ping. Pengcheng's defense was perfect, and Zhang Ping's food and grass were not stable. A reliable source of supplies, even if Zhang Ping cannot be defeated head-on, as long as he resolutely takes the defensive position and survives until Zhang Ping runs out of food, Xiang Kang still has this confidence.What Xiang Kang is worried about is still the main force of Zhang Han who is still in Chenjun County. It can be said that if the main force of Zhang Han does not leave Chen County to find troubles with other anti-Qin rebels in other places, Xiang Kang will not dare to have the slightest bit of trouble for a day. peace of mind.

At this time, Zhao Yi, Zhang Han's emissary from before, came to Pengcheng again with Zhang Ping's handwritten letter, and continued to persuade Xiang Kang to lead the crowd to surrender on behalf of Zhang Ping. He inquired about the movements of Zhang Han's main force.It's a pity that Zhao Yi was quite intelligent, not only did Xiang Kang not get any decent information, but he even threatened Zhang Han's main force: "Young Commander Xiang, in my opinion, you'd better make up your mind quickly. We, General Zhang Ping, have a good relationship with your uncle, General Sima Xin. For the sake of General Sima, we can forgive you. But if you continue to hesitate like this, once our general (Zhang Han) gets angry, he will personally take the lead. The main force came to attack Pengcheng, even if General Sima interceded for you, our general would not be so easy to talk to."

"Yes, thank you for your advice, thank you for your advice." Xiang Kang nodded repeatedly in a low voice, and then asked directly: "Then, may I ask the envoy, where are the soldiers and horses of your general?"

"Of course it's not far from Pengcheng." Zhao Yi said with a smile: "The reason why our general didn't lead the army to Pengcheng in person is because General Sima pleaded for you on behalf of the young commander, so we gave you such a chance. But you, the young commander, If you continue to persist in your obsession, the invincible army of our general will of course appear in front of you at any time."

Seeing that he was really at a loss for words, Xiang Kang had no choice but to continue to use the excuse that he needed time to think about it, and swallowed his humiliation and asked Zhao Yi, who was already full of wine and food, to go to the guest house to rest, and even shamelessly ordered two beautiful maids to serve him. Zhao Yi rested, and then sat down to discuss countermeasures with Zhou Zeng and Old Man Fan.

"The old man thinks that there is no need to do any more tricks." The old man Fan's temper was still so violent, and he said directly: "Since we have succeeded in showing weakness and asked Zhang Han to send only a partial division to attack Pengcheng, then we We should seize the opportunity, fight with all our strength, and first kill and retreat this partial army of the Qin Dynasty. First, we must show our prestige and morale, and then consider how to deal with Zhang Han's main force!"

If Xiang Yu faced such a situation, then needless to say, Xiang Yu would not bat an eyelid, and immediately accepted Old Man Fan's suggestion, and personally raised troops to fight Zhang Ping to the death.But it is a pity that Xiang Kang is not a hero like Xiang Yu, but a despicable villain like Liu Laosan. To blame old man Fan, he just asked Zhou Zeng: "Uncle Ya, if you were Zhang Han, under what circumstances would you only let Zhang Ping, a partial division, be responsible for attacking Pengcheng, and take the main force to other places?" fight locally."

"Unless there is an emergency in other places, I have to give priority to dealing with other anti-Qin rebels." Zhou Zeng replied happily, "Otherwise, I will never let a partial division stand alone for a long time, especially this partial division. There is no guarantee of a stable supply of food, grass and military supplies."

Xiang Kang's face was gloomy, and he said regretfully after a long while: "It's a pity that we offended Wei's army too much last time, otherwise, at this time, we would ask them to send troops westward and take the opportunity to attack Xingyang Aocang, which is an important place in the Central Plains. Maybe they will let us go, and go north to find Wei Jiu's trouble."

Zhou Zeng was also sorry to speak out, and regretted that he could not get help from the Wei army. Xiang Kang had an idea and asked quickly: "Uncle Ya, are you in Xianyang City, do you know anyone who can tell you in front of Hu Hai?" Someone who can talk?"

"Why does the young commander ask this?" Zhou Zeng asked suspiciously.

"If there is, I would like to buy him and let him spread rumors in Xianyang City." Xiang Kang said, "It is said that Zhang Han has been reluctant to go north to attack Wei Jiu because he has the ability to establish himself as king in Chu He intends to secretly collude with people like Wei Jiu, Tian Dan, and Han Guang to carve up the land outside the pass and rebuild the Six Kingdoms."

Hearing this, Old Man Fan immediately sneered contemptuously, but Zhou Zeng smiled wryly, and said, "Young Marshal, let alone the people I know in Xianyang City, they certainly don't have the guts to spread such rumors, even if they have The tyrant Huhai may not believe this courage. Also, didn’t you realize that it’s too far away to quench your thirst? Xianyang City is so far away from Pengcheng, and the roads are not smooth. I'm afraid even Pengcheng has already been taken."

After thinking about it carefully, Xiang Kang had no choice but to give up the idea, and at the same time kept this plan hidden in his heart-although it is too late to use it now, if the time is right and there is a chance in the future, this move may be able to be used. It comes in handy—with Hu Hai and Zhao Gao's fierce tempers, once they become suspicious of Zhang Han, even if Zhang Han opens his mouth a hundred times, he will definitely not be able to explain clearly.

Racking his brains and thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of any way to divert the attention of Zhang Han's main force, so Xiang Kang had to give up this plan, and instead figured out whether he could use the principle of cold lips and teeth to win the surrounding anti-Qin rebels. Send troops to help, at least share some pressure for yourself.However, after thinking of Wei Guo's army in a critical position again, Xiang Kang's heart moved again, and he said to himself: "Although Wei Jiu and Zhou Fu will definitely not jump out to block the bullet hole for me and attract Zhang Han's firepower, why should I?" You can't use the opportunity of being able to contact Qin Jun directly to create some false impressions, making Zhang Han feel that Wei Jiu and Zhou Fu have jumped out to block the bullet for me, so that Zhang Han might let me go temporarily, and go to Wei Jiu first Are you in trouble with Zhou Fu?"

With the idea, of course, Xiang Kang couldn't be more difficult about how to operate next, but after a little calculation, another very vicious and despicable strategy was quickly formed in Xiang Kang's mind, but after Xiang Kang said his plan After he came out, Zhou Zeng, who had long been accustomed to Xiang Kang's despicable methods, applauded and thought it was feasible, but Old Man Fan sighed again and said, "It's feasible, but it's too vicious."

Xiang Kang didn't say a word, but immediately asked Zhou Zeng and Xiang Yang to organize people to arrange things, and at the same time muttered in his heart: "What's wrong with insidiousness? What's wrong with despicableness? It's better than Zhang Han cutting off our heads. I'm not Xichu." Overlord Xiang Yu is not as good at fighting as him."

…………

Let's take a look at the situation on the side of Zhao Yi, the envoy of the Qin Army. Although it is an extremely risky thing to go out to the enemy's camp, when he came to Pengcheng last time, Zhao Yi was already mentally prepared that he might not be able to go back, but This time is different, Zhao Yi, who had already tasted the sweetness last time, expected that Ding Xiangkang would not dare to do anything to himself, and the army of Zhang Ping was getting closer and closer to Zhao Yi's backing, so this time when Zhao Yi came to Pengcheng again, not only would there be no harm. Worried, on the contrary, he was very relaxed. Xiang Kang arranged for two beautiful maids to serve Zhao Yi, and Zhao Yi pulled him into bed that night.

Enjoyed it happily all night, and in the morning of the next day, under the gentle service of the two maids, Zhao Yi had just finished washing, and the waiter in the inn immediately brought a decent meal. Zhao Yi, who had worked hard last night, also opened He happily embraced the two maids and sat down to eat, but just when Zhao Yi had just pulled up the chopsticks, the previous waiter came in with a plate of more exquisite and hearty food, and as soon as they met, he bowed to Zhao Yi and apologized: " The envoy forgives the sin, the villain was confused just now, and accidentally brought the food for the envoy of Wei to you, and the envoy has wronged you, please punish him severely, and please allow the envoy to make up for his mistakes, Change the meal for you."

The food brought by the waiter was obviously more exquisite and rich, and even the chopsticks were made of ivory. Of course, Zhao Yi would not be too fussy, and immediately nodded in agreement, and asked curiously: "This is the food for the envoy of the State of Wei." What? Wei Jiu, that traitor, also sent an envoy to contact you Young Marshal Xiang?"

"Reporting to the envoy, there is such a thing. He came the day before yesterday." The waiter said respectfully: "He came to discuss the conclusion of an alliance with our Young Marshal Xiang on behalf of King Wei, and was also arranged by our Young Marshal Xiang to live here temporarily, but please Please rest assured, the room he lives in and the curtains he uses are only middle-of-the-road items, definitely not as good as here."

"How does the Wei Guo envoy plan to form an alliance with you, Young Marshal Xiang?"

Zhao Yi was quite competent, he didn't care how Xiang Kang treated himself differently from Wei's envoy, he was more concerned about the joint situation of Wei Jiuyi's army and Xiang Kang.But unfortunately, the waiter shook his head and said: "Forgive me, the villain is just a small servant, how can I know such a big military event?"

Zhao Yi thought so, so he nodded, waved away the waiter who had changed the food and left, but this little episode was destined to arouse Zhao Yi's vigilance, so Zhao Yi couldn't help but say in his heart: "You'd better be careful, If Wei Jiu's rebel really made some kind of covenant with Xiang Kang's rebel, then I might be in danger. It's best to meet up with Xiang Kang's rebel again in a while, and try to learn something from him If you know yourself and know your enemy, you can win every battle.”

There was no need for Zhao Yi to find a way to meet Xiang Kang. At noon that day, Zhao Yi had just inquired about the residence of the Wei Guo envoy in the guest house. Zhao Yi discussed.As soon as Zhao Yi heard it, he was in the middle of his heart, and hurried out with Xiang Kang's personal soldiers, and entered the county temple in Pengcheng again, and successfully met Xiang Kang and Zhou Zeng who were discussing in a low voice in the back hall.

As before, Xiang Kang politely invited Zhao Yi to sit at the top, and asked about Zhao Yi's rest situation last night. Zhao Yi, who had a really good life, sincerely thanked him, and asked impatiently: "Master Xiang, You summoned the envoy to see me, what is your order? Have you made up your mind?"

"It's hard to make up your mind." Xiang Kang said with a wry smile: "I take the liberty, I want to ask the envoy to work harder and submit my letter to General Zhang Ping in person. I also ask General Zhang Ping to postpone the battle and give me time to think about it next time."

"Young commander, things have come to this point, what else are you thinking about?" Zhao Yi said very puzzled: "Our general has already promised himself that as long as you lead the people to surrender, not only will he not kill you, but he will also kill you." I have given you a chance to make amends, and with such a good opportunity in front of you, I really don't know what else you are thinking about, Young Commander."

Xiang Kang didn't say a word, Zhou Zeng's eyes drifted away, obviously uneasy, when Zhao Yi was about to persuade him again, unexpectedly, a middle-aged man rushed out from the back room and said loudly: "Young commander, you really don't need to think about it." , Kill this envoy of Tyrant Qin! Join forces with our country Wei to resist Tyranny Qin!"

When the incident happened suddenly, Zhao Yi was of course taken aback, and blurted out, "Who are you?"

"Wei envoy Wei Tuo!" The middle-aged man replied loudly, and then said loudly to Xiang Kang: "Young commander Xiang, since you can't make up your mind, then the young envoy will make the decision for you!"

After saying that, the middle-aged man who claimed to be the envoy of Wei pulled out the sword in his waist and rushed towards Zhao Yi with murderous strides...

(End of this chapter)