Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 165
The battle of Waihuang didn't last very long. It took less than two days and two nights from the time when the main force of the young general army approached the city to successfully capturing the Waihuang city and annihilating Li You's remnants. The exhaustion of his physical strength was huge, but it was no less than a large-scale battle. In addition, the main force of the Young Marshal's army on the Jiyang battlefield was fighting continuously. So even if they successfully won the victory, the main force of the young commander's army is still exhausted from top to bottom, and urgently needs time to rest.

Xiang Kang originally liked to show his hypocrisy that he loves soldiers like sons. After discovering this, Xiang Kang decisively gave up the planned plan to return to the army to attack Jiyang immediately, and ordered the young generals to rest outside Waihuang City for three days. Then he returned to the north and went to Jiyang to re-open up the connection with the main force of the Chu army. At the same time, he gave all he had in hand and rewarded the three armies with good wine and meat.

Perhaps Xiang Kang should regret that he did not immediately take the army northward. Three days later, on the fourth day of July in the second year of Qin II, the main force of the young marshal who planned to go northward on the second day loaded all the food, grass and military equipment into the car early, preparing for the second day. He set off for the north early in the morning. Unexpectedly, in the evening, the sky became cloudy and the stars and the moon were dark. It began to rain heavily in the middle of the night, and it continued to rain until the next morning. Xiang Kang felt sorry for the hard work of the soldiers, so he Adopting Zhou Zeng's suggestion, he ordered the army to continue to rest, and planned to wait for the rain to stop before sending troops northward.

The result of waiting made Xiang Kang very dumbfounded. This heavy rain came and went, sometimes big and sometimes small, and the sky did not clear for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, it was still raining continuously, and the road was soaked by continuous rain. It was wet and slippery and difficult to walk on.Xiang Kang vaguely noticed that something was wrong, so he hurriedly convened a meeting of the military, Chinese and military to discuss countermeasures.

"General Right, our soldiers don't have enough rain gear. We should wait a few days. Anyway, the general didn't send anyone to urge us to go north, and our food and grass can last for a while. We don't need to march in the rain and add hardship to the soldiers .”

"Wait a little longer, I don't believe it, the sky will really leak, and this heavy rain will keep falling."

The result of the discussion was for the sake of the soldiers. Most of the young commanders and generals thought that they should wait a few more days. Although Xiang Kang didn't want countless young commanders and soldiers to get sick from the heavy rain, he had a vague premonition in his heart. , I always felt that such continuous heavy rain was not a good omen, so after thinking about it, although Xiang Kang did not decide to go north immediately in the rain, he still sent messengers to contact the main force to understand the current situation of the main force, and at the same time let the soldiers go outside. Huang Zhou tried his best to buy rain gear such as coir raincoats and bamboo hats, so that he could march in the rain when necessary.

The continuous heavy rain not only made Xiang Kang feel uneasy, but also made Xiang Kang feel quite depressed. In order to relieve the boredom, on the afternoon of the same day, Xiang Kang took advantage of the rain to temporarily turn down, and led a group of soldiers in coir raincoats in the camp. Randomly inspected to understand the current situation in the army. Unexpectedly, when inspecting Uncle Zhou's camp, Xiang Kang accidentally saw two women entering Uncle Zhou's army tent with bamboo umbrellas. Surprised, Xiang Kang Kang also blurted out, "Women? Why are there women in our army?"

"General You, you are so noble and forgetful." Xu Ji, the captain of the guard next to him, smiled and said, "You forgot that you personally agreed to allow General Zhou Shu to bring the two Wei women he knew into our army. , and sent someone to give them a car."

It was Xu Ji's reminder that Xiang Kang, who had completely forgotten about it, remembered that there was such a thing, and couldn't help laughing: "Yes, there is such a thing. I'm still surprised, Uncle Zhou, a big brow No matter what you see, you will betray the revolution and bring women into the army without permission."

Interested and bored, Xiang Kang led his soldiers directly to the gate of Uncle Zhou's military tent. He saw a plainly dressed middle-aged woman without letting the guards pass on him. Uncle Zhou chattered endlessly in front of him, but Uncle Zhou was full of embarrassment, and before Xiang Kang could hear what the middle-aged woman said, Uncle Zhou suddenly saw Xiang Kang, got up and asked, "You General, what are you doing?" coming?"

"I have nothing to do, just come and walk around." Xiang Kang replied casually, and then asked curiously: "General Zhou, these two are the daughters of the Wei clan you mentioned?"

"Back to the right general, yes." Uncle Zhou nodded, and quickly introduced to Xiang Kang: "You general, this is Wei Wei, the last general's old friend in Linji. This is her daughter, Miss Bo. Wei Wei, Niece Bo, have you met our right general of Chu State soon?"

Wei Wei and her daughter knew some etiquette, so they immediately bowed down to Xiang Kangyingying and saluted respectfully. It was only at this time that Xiang Kang could clearly see Wei Wei's appearance. She was nearly forty years old, and her appearance was still She is decent, but her temperament is very shrewd and capable. At first glance, she is a middle-aged woman who is not easy to mess with.When he saw the appearance of Wei Yu's daughter clearly, Xiang Kang, who hadn't seen the Yu family sisters for a long time, was moved again. It turned out that Wei Wei's daughter turned out to be a beautiful girl with a rather attractive appearance, although her beauty was not as good as Yu's. They are sisters from the same family, but they also have delicate features, red lips and white teeth, which are rare among the folks.

Fortunately, although Xiang Kang is one of the best scumbags in this era, his self-control is not bad. Even if he was a little shaken in his heart, he didn't show any appearance of brother pig. He just smiled and said to Wei Wei's mother and daughter: "You two Don't be too polite, get up, Wei Wei, are you still used to living in our army?"

"General You, my daughter is here for this." Wei Wei was not polite, and said aggrievedly: "It rains heavily every day, and the floor of the tent where my daughter and my daughter live has long been soaked, so I can only sleep on a wooden frame. Today, my daughter came to ask General Zhou to let us arrange a place for our mother and daughter in the city, but he didn’t dare to be the master, so he never agreed.”

"This woman is amazing. No matter how old she is, she will definitely be a square dance organizer. Uncle Zhou is only friends with you, and he doesn't covet you for anything. It is enough to arrange a place for you in the army and take care of you and drink. You have to make an inch of it.”

Xiang Kang muttered in his heart, but there was no dissatisfaction on his face. He just smiled and said, "Wei Wei, don't blame General Zhou for not helping you. I have an order that no one is allowed to enter the city except the guarding army. Besides, a few days The previous war burned Waihuang City severely, and there are not even a few decent houses in the city. Even if General Zhou wanted to arrange a place for you in the city, he couldn't find a decent place, so you are still wronged Let's go."

Wei Wei was disappointed when she heard that, and begged again: "General You, can you arrange a bed for us? It's really uncomfortable to sleep on a few wooden frames nailed with hard wood."

"Wei Wei." Uncle Zhou couldn't bear it anymore, and said, "There is no bed in the tent of our right general, and the sleeping is also a wooden frame."

"The right general also sleeps on a wooden shelf?" Wei Wei couldn't believe it, and said, "You general, how can you be so wronged by a nobleman like you? If you want a bed, just open your mouth, how much do you want?"

"I'm used to it." Xiang Kang smiled, and said casually: "How about this, I still have a few furs, and I will ask someone to bring them to Wei Wei and you later, so that you can rest more comfortably at night."

Wei Wei was overjoyed when she heard this, and quickly thanked Xiang Kang for her kindness, then said goodbye and left in a sensible manner, led her daughter back to the tent and waited for Xiang Kang to send someone to deliver the fur, but Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou didn't keep it either.Unexpectedly, after the daughter of Wei Wei walked out of the military tent, she suddenly walked back to Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou to salute, and said sincerely: "General You, Uncle Zhou, thank you, in fact, the little girl doesn't like to be particular, if If it's inconvenient for you, you don't have to take care of the little girl and mother."

After speaking quickly, Wei Wei's beautiful daughter saluted Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou again, and then turned around and left quickly.

It was only after Wei Wei's daughter left that Uncle Zhou said to Xiang Kang with a full face of apology: "General You, I'm really sorry for causing you trouble again. I knew that Wei Wei was so difficult to serve. I shouldn't have been kind when I was in Jiyang. Take her in."

"It's a trivial matter." Xiang Kang smiled, and asked curiously: "General Zhou, who is this Wei Wei? Why is she still greedy after you take such good care of her?"

"She's really just an old friend of mine." Afraid that Xiang Kang might misunderstand, Uncle Zhou hurriedly explained: "But she is indeed the queen of our royal family in Wei, and the man died in Jiangdong again. They were all from Wei for generations, and thought of Wei's patriarchal affection, and felt sorry for her, so they took her in."

"General Zhou is indeed a kind gentleman." Xiang Kang smiled, and added in his heart, secretly said: "If it were me, it would be no problem to take in and take care of her, but I have to send her pretty good-looking daughter first. Come to repay me, help me cover my feet at night or something."

After sitting down and continuing to gossip, Xiang Kang casually brought up the topic of the current battlefield situation, and said: "General Zhou, everyone is urging me to stay in Waihuang for a few more days until the rain stops. I have no objection to entering the army. But I am always worried, if you say that if we don't hurry north to join the main force, will our main force be in danger in Puyang?"

"To be honest with the right general, in fact, the last general is also a little nervous." Zhou Shu said: "Although our main force has won consecutive battles, Zhang Han has been forced to stick to Puyang. But I have always doubted in my heart that Zhang Han I'm afraid that I don't really have the power to fight back if I stick to Puyang, and if there is a war opportunity, it can't be ruled out that Zhang Han, like in Xiangben, will show off his surprise troops and catch our main force by surprise."

"This is Zhang Han's specialty." Xiang Kang nodded, and then said: "Then we have been delayed in Waihuang for a long time because of the heavy rain, will it put the main force in danger? Should we march in the rain and withdraw to Puyang as soon as possible to help the main force? "

Uncle Zhou didn't answer right away, and said after a long while: "General You, don't blame the last general for speaking poorly. If you are sure that you can influence the general's decision-making and make the general obey you, then we don't have to hesitate. If you have worked so hard, you should return to Puyang as soon as possible. If you, General You, are not sure of this, then we don’t need it, because our small army, even if we return to Puyang, will not be able to play a decisive role.”

It was Xiang Kang's turn to be silent, and after a while, Xiang Kang sighed and said: "If General Zhou hadn't really thought about me, he wouldn't have said such a thing. That's right, I'm not sure how to persuade my uncle to adopt my suggestion. Even if the more than 2 troops return to Puyang immediately, they will not be able to play a decisive role. On the contrary, they may be implicated by the main force and lose all the capital we have accumulated with great difficulty."

Having said that, two days later, seeing that the heavy rain in the Waihuang area was still continuous, Xiang Kang, who had a big picture, made up his mind to carry more than 2 yuan despite the continuous rain and muddy roads. The young commander's army returned to the division and went north, taking the way of Jiyang to return to the army to reinforce the main force.

The sky was indeed leaking. During the period of going north, the heavy rain continued to stop and stop, and there was no sign of stopping at all. This not only made it difficult for the main force of the Young Marshal’s army to march, but also caused great physical exertion. He caught wind and cold, and developed a high fever just after arriving at the south bank of Jishui River.But Xiang Kang did not dare to rest, and still commanded the army to build a bridge on the swollen Jishui River while still sick. At the same time, he sent people to send a letter of surrender to Jiyang City, persuading the Jiyang defenders, who had become a lone army, to put down their weapons and surrender.

On the morning of the second day after arriving in Jishui, two simple temporary bridges were built on the Jishui River. However, before Xiang Kang ordered the troops to march across the river, the envoys of the Young Marshal who had been sent to Jiyang City to persuade the defenders to surrender were crying He returned to Xiang Kang, and not only brought the reply that the Jiyang garrison categorically refused to surrender, but also the head of the envoy of the Young Marshal Army.

It has been an unwritten rule since ancient times that the two countries do not kill envoys. Even if Xiang Kang sent envoys to contact Zhang Han himself, Zhang Han had never killed the envoys of the Young Marshal Army.The garrison of Jiyang, who has become a lone army, is so ruthless. Of course, the young commanders and generals present were all furious, shouting angrily: "How dare you dare to kill our envoy! Cross the river, cross the river immediately! After crossing the river, immediately attack the city and kill all the Tyrant Qin troops in the city, leaving no one behind!"

Roaring, the young generals rushed to ask Xiang Kang for orders to be the vanguard to attack Jiyang City.However, Xiang Kang, whose cheeks were flushed, was dizzy, but his mind was very clear. After thinking for a while, he said: "Everyone, don't you find this strange? Although Jiyang is more than 100 miles away from Puyang, the city It is impossible for the Tyrant Qin army not to know that Zhang Han has no way to send troops to reinforce them, and Li You has been wiped out, and they are already helpless. Under such circumstances, how dare they behead our envoy and deliberately provoke us? ? They are not afraid that we will attack Jiyang and kill them to death?"

The young generals were stunned, only to realize that something was wrong, and then Chao Zhi asked suspiciously: "General You, so you suspect that the Tyrant Qin army in Jiyang is deliberately trying to provoke us and lure us as soon as possible?" Across Jishui?"

"The enemy's situation is unknown, and we have lost contact with the main force. We must be more careful." Xiang Kangqiang said energetically: "And we want to capture Jiyang, but it is not so easy now. It has been raining for days, and our bows and crossbows cannot The tendons have been soaked by the water vapor, and there is no way to open the bow and release the arrow. We can only rely on the ants to attack the city. It is very difficult to successfully break through the city. Once we attack Jiyang for a long time, and the battlefield suddenly changes, we must be very happy. It's hard to prevent."

Chao Zhi nodded, and asked again: "Then what should we do?"

"Don't cross the river for the time being, hold the temporary bridge first, and send more people to go north to find out the situation of our main force, and then..." Xiang Kang, who was drowsy and his eyes were burning red, suddenly tilted his head. , and then know nothing.

…………

When Xiang Kang woke up, he found that he had returned to the military tent, lying on a makeshift bed with two thick furs covering his body, and after Xiang Kang moved again, a crisp The woman's voice came to my ears, "Wake up, wake up! General Xu, the right general is awake!"

Xu Ji, who was sitting by the stove, jumped up and hurried over to check on Xiang Kang's situation. He first touched Xiang Kang's forehead, and then asked about Xiang Kang's situation. After confirming that Xiang Kang had awakened, he hurriedly sent someone to Inform the young marshal and the generals.Then Xiang Kang found out that the daughter of Wei Wei who had a relationship with him was also in the tent, and brought a bowl of hot soup, scooped it up with a spoon, cooled it carefully, and served it with the help of Xu Ji. Feed yourself water.

His mouth was extremely thirsty, and Xiang Kang asked hoarsely after drinking half a bowl of boiling water, "Miss Bo, why are you here?"

"Uncle Zhou asked me to come." Wei Wei's daughter said with pink cheeks, "Uncle Zhou said that you are sick, and girls should be more careful in taking care of you, so he asked me to help take care of you."

"Thank you." Xiang Kang nodded slightly, and asked again: "What time is it now?"

"General Right, it's almost three more." Xu Ji rushed to answer, and said impatiently: "General Right, we have contacted the main force of the General, fortunately you didn't let us cross the river, our main force is no longer in Puyang .”

"Our main force is no longer in Puyang?" Xiang Kang was startled, and hurriedly asked, "Where did our main force go?"

Before Xu Ji could answer, Chen Ping, Xiang Guan, Uncle Zhou and other young generals and military officers had already arrived in front of Xiang Kang, and asked Xiang Kang about his health in a hurry. Xiang Kang answered casually, and then hurriedly asked : "We have contacted the main force? What is the specific situation?"

"General You, that's it." Chen Ping replied, "It was the messenger sent by the General on his own initiative to contact us. In fact, four days ago, because of the heavy rain, there was no way to continue the offensive, so the General had already given up. In order to attack Puyang, we took our main force to the south and prepared to capture Dingtao to build a defense line against Jishui. We will try to annihilate Zhang Han's main force after the weather improves. In addition, the general asked us to move to Dingtao as soon as possible to join his main force. .”

"Four days ago?" Xiang Kang heard that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked, "Why did my uncle leave Puyang four days ago, and his messenger only contacted us today?"

"The road to contact us was strictly blocked by the Tyrant Qin army in Jiyang, and our messengers had no way to go directly south from Jiyang." Chen Ping replied, "We had to detour to Wanxun and go directly south to Waihuang from Wanxun to Waihuang. Huang Cai knew that we had already gone north, so he chased us and contacted us, and the road was difficult, so we were delayed."

Xiang Kang was speechless. After careful calculation, Xiang Kang found that the situation was not right, and hurriedly ordered: "Quickly, order the generals of the battalions of the whole army to break out of the camp and go east tomorrow morning to join our main force in Dingtao."

"Brother, you are so sick, you should rest for two more days." Xiang Guan persuaded: "If uncle asks, I will explain it for you."

"I can't rest." Xiang Kang said vigorously, "Dingtao is on the south bank of Jishui. If our army wants to attack the city, we must cross Jishui first. Now that the water level of Jishui has risen, it is difficult to cross the river. If Zhang Han is caught If this fighter plane launches a surprise attack, our main force will be in danger. We can't delay any longer, we must go east immediately, and go to the reinforcements to meet uncle."

Note: The heavy rain in the Central Plains in July of the second year of Qin II was not fabricated by the author. According to "Historical Records", it was heavy rain at that time, and there were no stars in March!
(End of this chapter)