Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 375
The Jinbei Army is indeed very loyal to Xiang Yu, even if it is not particularly enthusiastic about encircling and suppressing Feng Zhongjun, not long after the old general Ding Guding's informant and surrender letter was sent to Jishui, the Jibei Army General Tian Jiao led five thousand troops to follow him Later, joining forces with the Western Chu Army on the east bank of Jishui further expanded the strength advantage of the Western Chu Army.

But it’s okay for Feng Zhongjun. After all, Jishui is a large river with deep water and wide river. The civilian boats around Lu County had already fled before. It is still relatively safe to rest temporarily on the west bank of Jishui, and there is no need to run away like a bereaved dog immediately. The Chuji coalition can only collect ships while watching Feng Zhongjun rest on the other side.

During this period, the old general Ding Guding was of course very tormented. He was afraid that Feng Zhongjun would not listen to his warning and insisted on venturing westward, and he was even more afraid that his letter would have the opposite effect, making Feng Zhongjun think that he was intimidating, and Feng Zhongjun was even more determined. Zhou Lan's little Zhuzi, who was so determined to flee to the west for nothing, dared to disrespect him for nothing, worried about his gains and losses, restless, and wished he had to fly over Jishui to make Feng Zhong flee in other directions.

Feng Zhongjun was still torturing people as before. He rested until the fifth watch of the night and set off to evacuate. Even if the sentry soldiers of the Western Chu Army found that Feng Zhongjun's main brigade had left, they had no way to confirm Feng Zhongjun's retreat direction. After arriving in front of Old General Ding Guding, Old General Ding had no choice but to put his hands together and pray, "Don't be stupid! Don't forget to go west! Don't take advantage of that little guy Zhou Lan!"

Finally, it was not until the morning of the next day that the scouts of the Western Chu Army who crossed the river in a small boat sent accurate news, reporting that the main brigade of Feng Zhongjun chose to flee northwards, and fled to the road leading to Pingyuan County, which belongs to Jibei County. He didn't flee westward back to Dongjun.

After confirming this situation, old General Ding Guding was of course elated and dancing, wishing he could drink and celebrate on the spot. On the other side, General Tian Jiao of the Jibei Army was furious and cursed angrily: "The traitor raised by the maidservant, How dare you run around in our Jibei territory, do you really think our Jibei army is easy to bully?"

"General Tian calm down, General Tian calm down." Ding Gu comforted with a smile: "The Han bandits insist on wandering in Jibei territory, which will cause you some losses, but it is actually a good thing for your army."

"General Tian, ​​have you forgotten? How many family members of the Han bandits, civil and military officials, did Feng Zhong bring in his bandit army?" Ding Gu pointed out again: "Including Xiang Kang, the only son of the traitor at present, and his son. Your concubine is now in the ranks of Feng Zhong's bandits. General Tian, ​​you and the old man joined forces to capture them. How happy should the King of Jibei be? How happy should our King of Western Chu be? They are happy, give you, General Tian Could it be that there will be less rewards?"

After careful consideration, it was found that this was indeed the truth, and Tian Jiao also turned his anger into joy, nodded quickly and said: "What Old General Ding said is very true, such a good opportunity is in front of us, we must not miss it. Don't waste time , the main force of the Han thieves has already withdrawn, let's rush across the river."

"We can't waste time, but before rushing across, we'd better make arrangements in advance, so that we can be more sure of completely annihilating the Han bandit army in Jibei." Ding Gu said: "If the old man's prediction is not bad, then , the Han bandits fleeing to the north must want to escape to the plains and cross the big river westward. If we just chase blindly, we might really let the Han bandits escape the big river. So before that, please ask the general for help and do it well in advance A key arrangement."

"What key arrangement?" Tian Jiao asked.

"There is a waterway from Lu County to Licheng, so it is convenient to communicate, and from Licheng to the plains, it is also very convenient to send letters by horse." Ding Gu suggested: "The old man thinks, General Tian, ​​you might as well send someone immediately Take a boat down the river, then go to Licheng to abandon the boat and change horses, and quickly rush to the plain to send an order to tell your plain defenders to evacuate the local boats immediately, so that no boat or boat will be left to join the enemy. We were lucky enough to escape to the plains ahead of us, and there was no way to find a boat to cross the river, so we became a turtle in a urn, let us catch and kill if we want!"

"Brilliant plan! Let's do it!"

Tian Jiao was overjoyed when he heard that, and hurriedly wrote a letter on the spot, arranged for the messenger to go eastward by boat, and rushed to Licheng and Pingyuan at full speed to deliver an order, asking the Jibei county soldiers in Pingyuan to evacuate the local ships immediately, and not to leave a boat or a boat for Feng Zhongjun to cross the river.At the same time, Tian Jiao also wrote an urgent military report to Jibei Wang Tiandu, reporting Feng Zhongjun's movements and the countermeasures adopted by his own army to Tiandu.Ding Gu smiled triumphantly at the side, and said to himself: "Mr. Feng Zhong, you probably never dreamed that this old man will have such a skill. This time, I will see how you can escape!"

After quickly dispatching messengers to Pingyuan to send orders, the Chu-Ji Allied Forces used the hastily collected ships to launch a rush to cross, and opened up a road as soon as possible to launch a pursuit. However, Feng Zhongjun Xu Ci's troops who stayed at the Jishui Ferry were very tenacious, and they took advantage of the geographical advantage Resolutely defended the Jishui ferry, but the Jishui was too wide and deep, and the follow-up troops were too slow. The Chuji coalition forces launched two strong attacks to rush across, but they were all repulsed by Feng Zhongjun. They still failed to directly break through the Jishui that Feng Zhongjun hastily established. line of defense.

In the end, it was after the Shenshi of the day that Feng Zhongjun's rear team, who had completed the blocking task, voluntarily abandoned the ferry position and went northward at full speed to chase the main force of the self-army. The Chu-Ji coalition also hurried across the river to build a pontoon bridge, which took a lot of time. , Only then did all the troops cross Jishui, and then launched an all-out pursuit.

At the same time, relying on the precious time gained by the army in the rear, the main force of Feng Zhongjun, who was marching at full speed, had already retreated nearly fifty miles to the north under the extremely bad road conditions. This buffer distance, and the joint efforts of Feng Zhongjun's officers and soldiers and the Han army's family members, at noon the next day, the main force of Feng Zhongjun's army successfully arrived at Xiaoyi, Yuanxiang, in the south of the plain.

Yuanxiang is close to the Yellow River, and there is also a small civilian wharf on the bank of the Yellow River. Originally, Feng Zhong and Li Shiqi planned to try to cross the Yellow River directly here, but it is a pity that due to the impact of the war, the area of ​​Yuanxiang has become overpopulated. The number of boats has been greatly reduced, and the number of boats has also been greatly reduced. In addition, most of the civilian boats have left the port for fishing at noon. There was no way to carry Feng Zhongjun and the family members of the Han army across the river, let alone build a pontoon bridge on the wide Yellow River.

Seeing this situation, Feng Zhong and Li Shiqi had no other choice. They didn't even have time to pay attention to the Yuanxiang soldiers who were hiding in the soil fence. Township level) direction, continue to strive to get rid of the enemy's pursuit at Gaotang crossing the river.

In the evening of the same day, the allied forces of Chu and Ji, who were not burdened by the old and the weak, also pursued to Yuanxiang. After asking the local people about the movement of the Han army, Ding Gu asked Tian Jiao to arrange a messenger to carry the letter order for the sake of caution. He rushed to Pingyuan overnight by boat to deliver the order, so as not to delay the previous messengers on the road, and failed to send the order to evacuate the ships at Pingyuan wharf to the Pingyuan defenders before Feng Zhongjun arrived in Pingyuan.Then they just rested until it was twilight, and the Chuji allied forces immediately set off to go north and continue to pursue them.

At this time, one of Feng Zhongjun's hidden advantages was finally manifested, that is because Feng Zhongjun loved the soldiers very much and won the hearts of the soldiers. Although he had traveled thousands of miles, Feng Zhongjun's cohesion was still very strong, no matter how He was exhausted and exhausted, and Feng Zhongjun's soldiers were still gritting their teeth and struggling. Even if the marching speed decreased, it was not very obvious.

The situation on the side of the Chuji coalition army is completely different. Needless to say, the Jibei army has no mortal hatred with Feng Zhongjun. Except for a very small number of fanatics who are looking forward to promotion and fortune, most of the soldiers are unwilling. After paying the price of being completely exhausted, the morale was not high enough, and the marching speed was naturally affected a lot.

The situation of the Western Chu Army was even more complicated. The marching distance was not lower than that of Feng Zhongjun, and the decline in physical strength was also very serious. In addition, old general Ding Guding did not love soldiers as much as Feng Zhong, and won the hearts of the soldiers. As the pursuit distance became longer and longer, even if the army did not have the burden of old and weak women and children, the pursuit speed of the Western Chu Army still dropped significantly. The pursuit speed returns to its peak state.

It is precisely because of these objective reasons that Feng Zhongjun retreated northward to Gaotang. The main force of Feng Zhongjun was never overtaken by the enemy, but unfortunately, Gaotang is farther away from the Yellow River, and there are fewer civilian ships on the civilian docks. There is no way to cross the river directly in Gaotang with the family members of the Han army.So Feng Zhong had no choice but to arrange for Wang Fang, the young commander in chief, to lead [-] troops to the north with light clothing, and rush to the plains to seize the boats in order to cross the river. go north.

In order to boost morale and boost the morale of the army, during the period from Gaotang to the north, Feng Zhong also asked his own soldiers to keep shouting in the army, declaring loudly: "Don't worry, the plain is the key point, and the wharf, big and small There are countless boats. As long as we reach the plain, we can cross the river by boat immediately, and then we will be safe. Brothers, work hard, and all the old husbands and sister-in-law Qiu also work hard. When we reach the plain and cross the river, we can rest assured gone."

This kind of propaganda still had a certain effect. Fantasizing about the bright prospect of crossing the river and getting rid of the pursuit, the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun and the family members of the Han army also forgot about their exhaustion and exhaustion. .

Of course, there must be some different voices among them. At least Han Wang Han Cheng, who had been forced to get out of the car and walk, couldn't help but whisper to Han Xin next to him: "When you reach the plain, you can cross the river right away? It's nice to say, if The Jibei bandit army in Pingyuan took the first step and evacuated the boats on Pingyuanjin Wharf, then we will be in big trouble. Big river, there are no boats to cross the river, even if we want to build a pontoon bridge, we can’t build it.”

"I hope it's not like this." Han Xin sighed in a low voice, while Han Cheng touched the package on his back subconsciously, and became more determined to run away alone if the situation was wrong.

Han Cheng's words became a prophecy. In the afternoon of that day, when the two thousand front team led by the old man Wang Fang of the Young Marshal rushed to the gate of Pingyuan County, he immediately saw that there were very few ships on Pingyuanjin Wharf. On the surface of the Yellow River, there were large and small civilian boats fleeing in a hurry. In addition, some Jibei soldiers were still shouting loudly on the pier, forcing the remaining ships to leave the pier as soon as possible.

Seeing this scene, Wang Fang roared wildly, and immediately rushed over with the army, trying to stop the remaining civilian boats from escaping, but unfortunately, before Feng Zhongjun rushed to the pier, the last civilian boat had already fled downstream. The soldiers of the Jibei Army who drove away the civilian ships also ran away, scrambling and rushing towards the gate of the plain city not far away.

"Idiots! Kill all these idiots!"

The success failed, and Wang Fang, who was completely mad, didn't even blink his eyelids. He immediately led Feng Zhongjun's soldiers to chase those Jibei soldiers who drove away the civilian ships. He was still in a rage and quickly caught up with him directly below the city gate. The shouting soldiers of the Jibei Army and the soldiers of the Jibei Army guarding the city gate hurriedly closed the door, Wang Fang rushed into the city one step ahead, brandishing the steel sword of Shiling Pavilion left by Xiang Kang back then, and chopped down many people one after another. The famous soldiers and the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun behind were also full of anger, pouring into the city like a tide.

Seeing Feng Zhongjun rushing directly into the city, the scrambled Jibei Army Pingyuan defenders hurriedly organized troops to intercept them. However, because the main force of the Jibei Army had already marched westward to assist Zhao, there were only more than 2000 defenders in the entire Pingyuan City. Not to mention stationed in various parts of Pingyuan City, a part of the army was also assigned to drive the official ships on the pier to evacuate. The guards were even more empty.Moreover, when he rushed to Feng Zhongjun with his army, the generals of Feng Zhongjun immediately vented their monstrous anger on him. Just a single charge, they defeated hundreds of soldiers around him, and then hacked him indiscriminately in the melee. Die, chop it up!
Seeing that the main general was killed in battle, the remaining soldiers of the Jibei Army immediately dispersed and rushed to the east gate of Pingyuan to escape the city. Feng Zhong's army was in full swing, and rushed directly into the Pingyuan official temple, hacked to death the county magistrate of Pingyuan, and took down the county seat of Pingyuan in one fell swoop.

It is useless to take down Pingyuan County, because the Jibei Army has already issued an evacuation order first. The Pingyuanjin Wharf, which was originally crowded with boats and boats, is already empty, and there is no half of the boats in sight. The official boat was blocking and intercepting on the river. From this moment on, not even a single fishing boat returned to Pingyuan Wharf to return to the port. Even if Feng Zhongjun’s front team accidentally captured Pingyuan County, they could only look at the spacious Yellow River and sigh. , cannot be surpassed.

To make matters worse, when Feng Zhongjun's main brigade stumbled to Pingyuan Wharf with the family members of the Han Army, the Chuji Allied Forces had also chased to a position less than ten miles away from Pingyuan, and saw the empty Pingyuan Wharf. After Wang Fang cried and reported, Feng Zhong himself felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun and the family members of the Han army even cried loudly, beating their chests and stomping their feet continuously, "It's all in vain, it's all in vain."

Only Li Shiqi managed to remain calm. After wiping away the muddy old tears from the corners of his eyes, Li Shiqi said to Feng Zhong: "General Feng, it's no use regretting and regretting at this point. Fortunately, we accidentally won Pingyuan." In the county seat, let’s avoid the city for now, let our soldiers rest for a while, and then try to find a way to break through.”

Feng Zhongji nodded, and gave the order to enter the city very helplessly. During the time when Feng Zhongjun and the family members of the Han army were crying and entered the city, Han Cheng also made up his mind and whispered to Han Xin next to him: "You can't enter the city, you must enter the city." There is a dead end, the Western Chu bandit army and the Jibei bandit army are about to chase after us, we will not be able to get out once we enter the city, take advantage of this time to hurry, the two of us have a small target, and we still have a chance to escape."

Han Xin hesitated for a moment, but his selfish thoughts still prevailed. After nodding his head, he took advantage of the chance that Feng Zhongjun's soldiers and Han army's family members mixed into the city, and quietly left Feng Zhongjun's brigade with Han Cheng, and quickly fled to the east. When General Feng Zhongjun discovered this situation and shouted for them to come back, Han Cheng and Han Xin quickened their pace and ran away together—after all, they are both strong and strong adult men, and they still have some strength in the end.

When the situation was reported to Feng Zhong, Feng Zhong had no choice but to sigh and said: "Everyone has their own ambitions, let them go. For the sake of living and dying together for such a long time, I hope they can Let's escape the dog's life smoothly."

The soldiers of Feng Zhongjun and the family members of the Han army had just entered the city, and before they even had time to pull up the suspension bridge at the south gate of Pingyuan, the Chuji Allied Forces had already chased down the city of Pingyuan. After being evacuated, Feng Zhongjun was forced to flee to Pingyuan County to take refuge. Of course, the Chuji Allied Forces cheered like thunder, and they were extremely fortunate. Old General Ding Guding even laughed wildly, "Feng Zhongpifu! This time, how can I escape? You don't need to siege the city, just by besieging the city, you can be completely trapped to death!"

Ding Gu and others were laughing wildly outside Pingyuan City, but Feng Zhong was in Pingyuan City. , There is no way to collect the ferry, even if I rushed out, I didn't cross the river. If there is a slight delay of two days, the remaining Xiang Yu bandits and Jibei bandits will definitely come to reinforce them. I'm afraid I won't even be able to defend the city. There is also food, how long can the food last?"

Complete despair is complete despair. At this point in the matter, Feng Zhong certainly has no way to turn back. He can only quickly arrange troops to guard the four gates of Pingyuan, send escorts to escort the family members of the Han army to Pingyuan County Temple for rest and protection, and quickly count them. Food and weapons in the city, prepare for long-term defense of the city, even if you are exhausted to the extreme, you dare not lie down and rest for a while.

Maybe it's the way of heaven and earth. When Feng Zhong was busy arranging the defense of the city, Li Shiqi suddenly stumbled and rushed in front of him, waving a bamboo slip, and yelled like crazy, "Julu ! Julu! General Feng, we still have help, Julu has an army to save us!"

"Mr. Li, what do you mean?" Feng Zhong asked suspiciously, "Julu is the capital of Zhao's bandit army, so the reinforcements here can save us?"

"It's not Zhao's bandit army! It's our King of Han's army! Our King of Han's army is about to hit Julu!"

Li Shiqi finally uttered a fluent sentence, then quickly showed the slips in his hand, and shouted excitedly: "This old man just found it in the Pingyuan County Temple! The bandit army of Zhao State sent someone to send it to the bandit army of Jibei just yesterday." According to the news, our army of the King of Han has already set out from the north of Julu, marching towards Julu! We will be able to reach the city of Julu in a few days!"

"God! Really?!"

Feng Zhong roared excitedly, snatched the bamboo slips with his hands, and almost smashed the slips, and then carefully looked at the military report sent by Zhao Guo to the Jinbei Army, and saw that it was indeed written that Han Jun Zheng Bu Suo's troops were marching towards Julu, and Feng Zhong burst into tears, crying frantically: "Heaven will not kill me! Heaven will not kill me! From Julu to the plain, the road is all the way. If we can If we can get in touch with our allies, they will be able to rush from Julu to the plains to rescue us in four or five days at most!"

(End of this chapter)