Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 383 Competing for Congratulatory Gifts
The night attack of the Qi army was indeed well fought. They unexpectedly attacked the Han army's camp, took advantage of the opportunity that the Han army's camp had not yet been built, directly entered the inside of the Han army's front camp, and burned dozens of Han army camps and tents. A lot of ordnance killed many Han soldiers who were caught off guard. If it wasn't for the lack of confidence, there were not many troops dispatched to rob the camp, and there was even hope that the front camp of the Han army would be kicked!
Immediately afterwards, the Qi army cheated to lure the enemy again, lured the pursuing Han army into an ambush circle and attacked on three sides, and defeated the pursuing Han army again. After losing the record, a solid slap was slapped on the face of the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han army who had won many victories and underestimated the enemy. The arrogance of the Zhengbu Corps.

Encouraged by this victory, the morale of Qi's army, which had been dragged down by friendly forces before, was greatly boosted, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted. The Han army in the army was invincible, and their confidence in persevering until the reinforcements arrived greatly increased, so after Yu Ling and other expeditionary generals returned to the camp, the Qi army commander Tian Bu even walked out of the Chinese army tent to meet them in person, and praised their outstanding performance He said nothing, and regretted that he was too conservative and cautious, dispatched too few troops, and missed an opportunity that could have severely damaged the Han army.

The Zhao Chu army followed suit, and was stunned to see the relatively weak Qi army win a big victory. The soldiers of the Zhao Chu army were shocked, but also their confidence was greatly increased, and the morale of the army was greatly stabilized. The haze was almost swept away, and the fighting spirit and confidence were rekindled.And Zhang Er, Gan Gong, Zhou Yin and other high-level Zhao Chu army beat their chests and feet, regretting that they were too afraid of the Han army and the lack of confidence in the Qi army. A good opportunity to further boost the morale of the army.

In addition to remorse, in order to express their gratitude and admiration to the army of the Qi State, Zhang Er and Duke Gang naturally had to send people out of the city with pigs, sheep and wine to reward the army of the Qi State who had performed miracles.Zhou Yin, the Chief Sima of the Western Chu Army, went over to the camp to congratulate the Qi army in person, and complained to Tian Bu as soon as they met: "Brother Tian, ​​you are too mean. Since you have such a good plan to defeat the enemy, why don't you tell me?" One sound? If you tell me, I will definitely send troops to help you and help you kill more traitors!"

"Forgive me, Da Sima. To be honest, brother, I didn't have much confidence yesterday. I just wanted to send troops to try my luck, so there is no trouble for you to send troops to help, but I didn't expect that I would actually run into it."

Tianbe was quite honest, and frankly admitted that he did not have much confidence yesterday, but he just listened to his subordinates' advice and sent troops to try his luck.And when Zhou Yin curiously asked who gave Tian Bu the wonderful timing, Tian Bu also pointed to the general Yu Ling who was standing by the side very readily, and said: "It's him, General Yu Ling Yu, don't look at his young age, In fact, before the last Great Deer War, he had already joined the army in Jibei and joined the army of our king (Tian Jia) at that time, so he can be regarded as a veteran of our Qi country."

Seeing that Yu Ling, who had a baby face, was indeed young, Zhou Yin was even more happy. He patted Yu Ling who came up to salute, and praised: "That's right, it really is a hero born in a young age, and he has such insight at a young age." Courage, amazing!"

After the compliment, Zhou Yin, apart from understanding the jade pendant on his waist to reward Yu Ling, couldn't wait to ask Yu Ling: "Little Zhuzi, tell me, is there any other way for us to win a few more battles?" , give the traitor another look?"

"Forgive me, Da Sima. Last night's battle opportunity was hard to come by, so it's gone for the time being."

What kind of people lead what kind of soldiers, Yu Ling also spoke honestly and straightforwardly like his superior Tian Bu, and said: "And the last general also thought that with the treachery and cunning of the Han bandits, if he suffered a loss once, he would definitely never fight again." For the second time, if we are not greedy enough and take another risk to fight again, I am afraid that it will be self-defeating and once again affect the morale of the army that has been so hard to inspire. Therefore, the general suggested that in the future, we had better go deep into the trenches and build high bases, and try our best Persevere, don't go into battle easily, and wait patiently for the arrival of reinforcements, only in this way can the situation in Zhao be completely reversed."

"Never be arrogant in victory and not discouraged in defeat. You really have the style of a general." Zhou Yin laughed loudly, and once again highly praised Yu Ling, a rising star in the Qi army, but felt a little unhappy in his heart, secretly said: "You still need to teach me? Let's go." Luck has won a small battle, and you dare to point fingers in front of me, the dignified Sima of the Western Chu Army?"

…………

Contrary to the high-spirited general Yu Ling of the Qi army, Tao Xi, his opponent last night, the general of the Han army, was extremely disgraced, not to mention being scolded and scolded, and when Yu Ling was in the limelight, he had to run in front of Uncle Zhou to take the blame. Apologize, I honestly admit that I was too disrespectful to Uncle Zhou on impulse last night. Although Uncle Zhou is relatively humble and didn't care about Tao Xi's momentary slip of the tongue, he still made Tao Xi lose face and suffocate his anger.

Not to mention, Tao Xi asked Zheng Bu to fight after he came back from Uncle Zhou’s camp because he lost face too much, and asked to lead an army to fight in front of Qi’s camp, trying to lure Qi’s army out for revenge. Not only did Zheng Bu not agree, but he also scolded: "You still think we have lost face enough, don't you? Qi's rebel army set up troops on the mountain, and they made it clear that they wanted to stand by and wait for reinforcements. If you go to fight, how could the Qi's rebel army come out of the camp?" Taking risks? Going outside the camp of the bandit army of Qi State to act like a clown and swear at the street, and let others see the joke?" (The term "clown" appeared in "Zhuangzi" in the pre-Qin period.)
Tao Xi had no choice but to keep his mouth shut obediently, never thinking that Li Zuoche next to him would suddenly speak: "General Zheng, I think that since General Tao is determined to take revenge, he should be given a chance, why not let him go?" It will take two days if we cannot lure the bandit army of Qi State in one day, and three days or four days if we cannot lure them out in two days, anyway, we have enough troops to build camps and make offensive weapons, and we don’t lack the manpower under General Tao’s command.”

Zheng Bu was surprised and turned to look at Li Zuoche. Li Zuoche understood, and then he whispered into Zheng Bu's ear, "Qi's bandit army is more courageous than we expected, and they dare to take the initiative to attack. In this case, We might as well pretend to be desperate, and let General Tao continue to fight outside their camp, so that the bandits of Qi will feel that there is an opportunity, as long as they have the courage to take the initiative to attack, our chance to defeat the enemy in field battles will come."

Zheng Bu suddenly realized, and immediately changed his mind to agree with Tao Xi to lead the army to fight outside the Qi army camp. Tao Xi was overjoyed when he heard that, regardless of the time being close to noon, he immediately brought his troops to the front of the Qi army camp aggressively. Scolding and fighting, from Tianbe's mother-in-law to Tianjia's sister-in-law, they used all kinds of vicious words to stimulate the Qi army, and tried every means to lure the Qi army to fight.

Of course, Tian Bu, Zhou Yin, Gan Gong and others were secretly happy about this situation. They really believed that the Zheng Bu corps of the Han army had lost their composure and reason. He secretly said in his heart: "It must be Li Zuoche's idea, but it's a pity, I'm afraid it may not work."

After two days in this way, the camp of the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army was basically completed, and the safety of staying overnight was greatly guaranteed. It was basically coming to an end, and soon all the [-] counterweight trebuchets planned to be built would be completed. Only then did Zheng Bu, Uncle Zhou and other high-ranking officials of the Han army sit down and formally discuss the tactics of defeating the enemy in Uncle Zhou's camp.

At this time, the shortcomings of the Han army's lack of unified leadership were completely exposed. In terms of specific combat tactics, there were huge differences between Zhou Shu's group and Zheng Bu's group, and no one could convince the other. The focus of the game is nothing else, but the question of whether to attack the enemies outside the city first or the enemies inside the city first.

Both Zheng Bu and Li Zuoche insisted on attacking Julu City first. The reason was that Zhao's army had already suffered heavy losses, and their elite soldiers were completely lost. Compared with them, they were the easiest to bully, and they were the most sure to take it quickly. At the same time, they stormed Julu City. Zhao's army can also force and lure the Qi and Chu army to send troops to rescue, creating opportunities for the Han army to defeat the enemy in field battles.Moreover, after taking Julu City first, it can also solve the hidden danger of food and grass that the two major corps of the Han army rely on the southern line for supplies, and then clean up the Qi and Chu troops stationed on the mountain.

Uncle Zhou, Zhou Shu, and Cui Guang insisted on dealing with the enemies outside the city first, and then free up their hands to deal with the defenders in Julu City. The reason is also very simple. Julu City is too strong. The army has been fighting for several months and has not been defeated. Even if the Han army is equipped with a siege weapon and a counterweight trebuchet, it may not be sure to take Julu City quickly. The camp is undoubtedly more secure, and then as long as the enemies outside the city are killed, it will be much easier to deal with the enemies in the city.

In addition, the psychological analysis of Zhao's army is also an important reason why Uncle Zhou and others insisted on attacking the enemies outside the city first. Therefore, during the storming of the Qi and Chu camps, the Han army does not have to worry too much about the Zhao army going out of the city to fight for rescue. The Han army only needs to leave some troops to prevent the Zhao army from going out of the city, and can use the main force to deal with it. Qi Chu army.

It’s okay, differences are differences, Uncle Zhou and Zheng Bu are very aware of the dangerous consequences if they have conflicts, they all maintained restraint together, never said anything unpleasant to provoke each other, patiently just pointed out to each other The disadvantages of tactics, emphasizing the advantages of the tactics you choose, and trying to persuade the opponent to accept your tactics.But unfortunately, after arguing for a long time, Zhou Shu's gang and Zheng Bu's gang still couldn't convince each other, and they still couldn't agree.

Here I have to explain a few words for Uncle Zhou and others. Uncle Zhou and others have always refused to accept the opinions of Zheng Bu, Li Zuoche and others. The reason is not that Uncle Zhou is stubborn and insists on competing with Zheng Bu. It is because Uncle Zhou has never seen the siege power of a counterweight trebuchet with his own eyes, and his understanding of the counterweight trebuchet is only from the oral introduction of others, and he does not know enough about the counterweight trebuchet. The previous two use of counterweight trebuchets were based on orthodox tactics, first killing the enemies outside the city to remove obstacles, and then concentrating on dealing with the enemy's city wall defenses. They were constrained by traditional tactical thinking, so Uncle Zhou and others were unwilling to choose to attack first city.

It was because of this that the two armies of the Han army had huge differences, and the tactical opinions could not be unified, but it was still okay. At this time, the largest boss of the Han army, Xiang Kang, decided to come to the Julu battlefield to direct the news of the decisive battle. After being sent to Uncle Zhou, Zheng Bu and the others on a fast horse, Uncle Zhou and Zheng Bu, who were trying to maintain restraint, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Zheng Bu waved his hands generously and said, "General Zhou, there is no need to argue, everything will wait for you." Let's make a decision when the king comes, we will fight as he says, we don't need to waste any more arguments."

"What General Zheng said is absolutely true." Uncle Zhou smiled and nodded, and said calmly: "Your Majesty is more careful. Only when he comes to the Julu battlefield in person can you and my two armies unite in command and prohibit orders. Bringing the reinforcements of the Western Chu bandits to the Julu battlefield, the king can play by ear and adapt to the situation, and now you and I can finally let go of our heavy burdens."

When Zheng Bu nodded in agreement, Zhou Shu, who was perusing Xiang Kang's letter, suddenly raised his head and said, "General Zhou, General Zheng, there seems to be some mystery behind what your majesty said in the letter? We must let the bandits also Knowing that he is going to visit the Julu battlefield in person, what does this mean? Why did your majesty order this?"

Hurry up to take the letter and read it again, seeing that Xiang Kang had indeed written this extra nonsense in the letter, Uncle Zhou's eyes lit up immediately, and he immediately understood what Xiang Kang meant, Zheng Bu took the letter and read it again carefully with Li Zuoche Afterwards, Li Zuoche's eyes lit up, and he saw the smiling expression on Uncle Zhou's face. Li Zuoche also knew it immediately, and said with a smile: "General Zhou, if you don't mind, before the king arrives at Julu, How about we continue to act separately? Let's see who can offer the king a meeting gift, and who can offer the king a bigger meeting gift?"

"Mr. Guangwu's words hit my heart." Uncle Zhou applauded and said with a smile: "That's it, let's go our own way for now, let's see who can give the king the bigger greeting gift."

After leaving Zhou Shujun's camp and returning to Zheng Bujun's camp, Li Zuoche explained to the bewildered Zheng Bu: "Your Majesty told us on purpose to let the bandit army know that he will come to Julu to command in person. This big battle is a hint that we can use this incident to make some fuss and lure the bandit army out of the camp to die."

"As for the reason, it's also very simple. When the king comes to Julu in person, we must organize the etiquette with great fanfare to welcome his arrival. We won't put all our thoughts on fighting against the enemy, and then we only need to show a little flaw on purpose to let the The thieves think there is an opportunity to take advantage of it, and the thieves will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to come out of the camp to attack. This will not only give our king a disarm, but also hit our morale even more. At that time, as long as we set up traps in advance, we will not worry about losing a victory. Give it to the king as a congratulatory gift."

Zheng Bu suddenly realized, clapped his legs and said, "It turns out that the king meant that. That's right, that's the truth. If I were the leader of the bandit army, I heard that our king is coming, and I would definitely want to hurry up and fight another victory. Give our king a warning, and as long as I see an opportunity, I will definitely dare to take this risk!"

After saying that, Zheng Bu hurriedly said: "Guangwu Lord, quickly, help me to think of a way, how to use this opportunity to make a good story, and give the king a bigger gift than Uncle Zhou!"

"First of all, of course, according to the king's request, first make public the news that he is about to visit the Julu battlefield in person, so that the bandit army can also know about this situation." Li Zuoche replied: "Then we must ask General Tao Xi to stop every day. The day-to-day battle made the bandits think that we just want to wait for the king to come to Julu in person, and are no longer in a hurry to fight. Then..."

Things happened successively. While Li Zuoche and Zheng Bu were still discussing how to lure the enemy, Uncle Zhou had already launched practical actions. First, he announced the news of Xiang Kang's upcoming arrival to the entire army, and then ordered the soldiers to stay outside the camp. Spread the news everywhere, let the scouts of the Anti-Han coalition army spy on the situation as soon as possible, and then let people find a set of spare clothes and armor of Zhou Yin, the commander of the Western Chu Army, from the spoils seized on the Sishui battlefield , and some Western Chu military uniforms, arranged for manpower to wear them for drills...

With the joint efforts of Zhou Shu Corps and Zheng Bu Corps, the news that Xiang Kang was about to come to Julu Battlefield to command the decisive battle was discovered by the scouts of the three armies of Qi, Chu, and Zhao on the second day. Soon they reported to Zhang Er, Gan Gong, Zhou Yin, Tian Bu and others respectively.Zhang Er's first reaction to this news was, "Oh no, if this news is true, our next battle will definitely be more difficult."

Zhou Yin's reaction was gloomy, and he said to himself after a long while: "The hidden danger of the two traitors not belonging to each other will soon disappear. After the Han traitors' orders are unified, I hope they don't attack our Western Chu army first." camp, and hope that our king can quickly come to rescue the giant deer."

Of course, Tian Bu, the head coach of the Qi army, was also worried. He was also very worried that Xiang Kang would bring more troops to Julu, making the already critical situation even more dangerous. The general Yu Ling, who was in the limelight during this period, started to say nothing , or when it was time to have dinner together, Yu Ling pointed out to Tian Bu: "General, don't worry, even if the traitor Xiang Kang really came to Julu in person, he would definitely not bring too many troops, because he We must guard against the king of Western Chu not saving Julu, and suddenly sending troops westward to attack his lifeblood, Sanchuan Aocang. In addition, there are hidden dangers behind Xiangkang's rebels, Liu Ji, King of Nanyang, and General Liji of the Western Chu Army. Sufficient troops should be left in case of emergencies. Therefore, the final general can conclude that even if Xiang Kang’s rebels really come to Julu in person, they will never bring many reinforcements. As long as the reinforcements from King Xichu arrive, we will On the ground battlefield, there is still hope of turning defeat into victory."

Hearing that Yu Ling's analysis was reasonable, Tian Bu felt relieved, and praised Yu Ling's great progress, but Yu Ling warned again: "General, the last general still thinks that if Xiang Kang's traitor is really If you want to visit Julu in person, then the Han thieves will definitely try their best to win a few battles and present a gift to the Xiang Kang rebels in order to flatter and flatter. Our camp and Julu City are all extremely strong, and it is unlikely that the Han thieves will launch a strong attack. Maybe it should be to lure us to take the initiative to attack. Therefore, for the sake of safety, before the arrival of Xiang Kang's traitor, no matter what happens, we must not take any risky attack, and give the Han thief an opportunity."

"It makes sense." Tian Bu nodded vigorously and said, "Let's do it like this, and we will stay the same for all changes. No matter what happens in the future, we will stand still and resolutely ignore the provocations and temptations of the traitors."

(End of this chapter)