Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 488
In the battle where the Northern Front Corps of the Han Army pursued the remaining troops of the Chu-Ji Allied Forces, it was Li Shiqi and Mr. Shusun's colleagues from Ludi Confucian scholars who helped the Han Army a lot. The poor main force of the Western Chu army.

In fact, long before Uncle Zhou decided to launch a large-scale southern expedition without Xiang Kang's order, because he knew that Li Shiqi and Mr. Shusun, who were born as Confucian scholars, were both reused by the Han army, the Confucian scholars in Xue County, Ludi, the headquarters of Confucianism, were already scrambling to be the first. Taking the initiative to go north to join the Han army, not only sent many civilian talents to the Han army's northern front corps, but also brought countless information on the hinterland of Xue County to the Han army, allowing Uncle Zhou and others to know all kinds of conditions in the hinterland of Xue County. , and also helped the Northern Front Corps of the Han Army to get in direct contact with many local officials in Xue County, which greatly facilitated the Han Army's recruitment and surrender of cities in Xue County that were about to be strategically abandoned by the Western Chu Army.

Relying on the important information provided by these Confucian scholars, even if he didn't know that Peng Yue's army would follow Xiang Kang's order to help, Uncle Zhou had already formulated a tactical plan to wipe out the Chu-Ji coalition forces alone, and decided to let Li Shang lead [-] The former army rushed forward lightly, bypassing the interception of the Chu-Ji coalition forces, and directly attacked the city of Zou County, which had been razed to the ground by Peng Yue's army before.

As a result, this plan went more smoothly than Uncle Zhou and others expected, because Peng Yue's army suddenly crossed the bar, forcing the Chuji coalition forces to split up and attack, weakening their own strength. Li Shang led the front team of the Han army to catch up with the Chuji coalition forces. Afterwards, the Chuji allied forces did not dare to fight at all, and immediately chose to form a formation and defend. The front team of the Han army, who knew more about the situation in the hinterland of Xue County than the Chuji allied forces, took the opportunity to boldly intersperse, bypassing the interception positions of the Chuji allied forces, He rushed directly to Zou County with only a small amount of dry food, and immediately grabbed the front of the Chu-Ji coalition forces.

Facts have proved that the information provided by the Confucian scholars in Ludi to the Han army is indeed true. The Western Chu army, which has consumed a lot of national power, did not rebuild the city in Zou County. He didn't make any resistance, and he didn't even execute Xiang Zhuang's order to burn the grain and military supplies. He immediately surrendered to the Han army with the Xuejun garrison and the grain and grass military supplies, so that the lightly armed front team of the Han army could get supplies on the spot. This laid the material basis for intercepting the remaining troops of the Chu-Ji coalition forces head-on.

Not only that, after rushing to the fortress of Zou County, the front team of the Han army inadvertently intercepted the messenger Xiang Yu sent to contact Xiangzhuang after he set off from Chengwu to the east, and knew that Xiang Yu led the main force of the Western Chu army to the east. Ling Ling responded to the important situation of the Chuji coalition forces, and also kept the Chuji coalition forces ignorant of this situation.Then, in order to completely cut off the connection between the rest of the Chuji coalition army and Xiang Yu, Li Shang adopted the suggestion of the Confucian scholars in Ludi and sent two Confucian scholars who volunteered to go south to Teng County first to instigate Wang Long, the magistrate of Teng County, who was also of Confucian origin. He helped to block the news and intercept the messengers of the Western Chu Army, preventing Xiang Yu and the Chuji Allied Army from knowing the specific situation of each other.

Immediately afterwards, Xiangzhuang, who was caught off guard by the sudden rebellion of Zou County, adopted Han Xin's suggestion and abandoned most of the military supplies to break through at all costs. After paying a heavy price, he finally fled south to the small town of Zouyi. I finally found out that Xiang Yu was in Huling, but he was caught up and surrounded by Li Shang in a blink of an eye. At the same time, Wang Long, the magistrate of Teng County in the Western Chu Army, was as good at following the trend as his brothers. , not only resolutely accepted the Han army's rebellion and persuasion, but also killed the messenger sent by Xiangzhuang to ask for help before the siege, and secretly cut off the connection between Xiang Yu and Xiangzhuang when the main force of the Western Chu army blocked the hinterland of Xuejun .

Not to mention, according to the request of the Han army, Wang Long also sent someone to contact Xiang Zhuang, falsely claiming that Xiang Yu asked the Chuji allied forces to stand by and wait for reinforcements, successfully deceiving Xiang Zhuang to give up his plan to break out of the encirclement by himself, and stay in Zou foolishly. Yi waited for Xiang Yu to personally lead the army north to rescue, buying precious time for the main force of the Han army's northern front corps to go south to encircle the Chu-Ji coalition forces.

In addition, after the main force of the northern line of the Han army arrived at Zouyi and completely surrounded the rest of the Chu-Ji Allied Forces, Wang Long immediately reported to the Han army the important news that Xiang Kang had led the main force of the Han army's middle line to Yutai Pavilion. The Han army on the northern front achieved one-way transparency of information about the enemy's situation, which also prompted Uncle Zhou to make a key decision to launch an immediate attack.

In the end, the Chu-Ji Allied Forces, which had a huge disparity with the enemy's strength, still failed to block the Han army's full-scale attack. The hastily built camp only persisted for more than half the day before being broken by the Han army. Jinbei Wang Tianda died in battle, and Xiang Kang's family nephew Xiang It was wounded and captured, and Xiang Zhuang, who could not wait for rescue, was forced to lead the remnants to break through and flee for his life. After finally fighting a bloody road and escaping to the city of Teng County, Wang Ting, who had been secretly appointed as the county guard by the Han army and promised to be a marquis, was again. Suddenly the flag of the Han army was raised, and the defenders of Teng County were led to slash the remnants of the Chuji coalition army, and almost captured Xiang Zhuang himself. Hu Ling successfully helped the Northern Front Corps of the Han Army to complete the established tactical plan to basically wipe out the rest of the Chu-Ji coalition army. With the blood of the soldiers of the Chu-Ji coalition army, he stained the uniform of the Han army prefect that Uncle Zhou was about to reward him with red.

After knowing the ins and outs of the matter outside the Yutaiting camp of the Han army, and finally understanding why he couldn't contact the rest of the Chuji coalition army, the fiery Xiang Yu of course had the heart to chew the shameless traitor Wang Longsheng , yelling that he would immediately march into Teng County to kill the traitors, but Xiang Zhuang was crying and only used a few words to calm Xiang Yu down...

"Brother, it is impossible for us to counterattack Teng County again. Uncle Zhou led an army of 19 troops to the south this time, and recruited and surrendered the rebels on the way, and incorporated our soldiers. Now the strength must have reached more than 20. How can we counterattack and take Teng County with our current strength?"

"More than 20?!" Xiang Yu, who was injured and bled, turned pale again, and asked in disbelief, "Have you confirmed it? Uncle Zhou really brought so many traitor troops?"

"It has been confirmed repeatedly, and it will never be wrong."

Xiang Zhuang's inability to answer made Xiang Yu's face even uglier, and what was even worse was that at this moment, Master Xiang Bo, who was staying at Huling Ferry, sent someone to send an urgent report, saying that the Han Army's Northern Front Corps had left Teng The county sent troops southward, approaching the Huling battlefield, and asked Xiang Yu to return to Huling ferry immediately.Xiang Yu had no choice but to quickly shout: "Ming Jin, withdraw troops, clean up the battlefield as soon as possible and withdraw to Huling Ferry."

According to Xiang Yu's order, the Western Chu Army, which had just won a great victory in the field, did not dare to waste time chasing and killing the remnants of the enemy. Retreat to Huling Ferry.As a result, before retreating to Laozhai, the scouts of the Western Chu Army came to report in a hurry, saying that the Yutaiting camp of the Han army who had just fought a big defeat suddenly burst into cheers. It was obvious that Uncle Zhou had already fought with Xiang. When Kang got in touch, Xiang Yu's face was even more ugly when he heard the news, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to retreat, returning to the ferry at full speed to preside over the overall situation.

The Western Chu army made a wrong judgment this time. In fact, because there is only a small road in the forest between Teng County and Yutai Pavilion, Xiang Kang has not had time to know the importance of the arrival of the Han army on the northern line in Teng County. The reason why the Han army camp cheered was because the 1 Sichuan Han troops led by generals Qi Ji and Bao Kua contacted Xiang Kang and reported that they had marched smoothly and would arrive at Yutai Pavilion the next day. Reinforce Xiang Kang, and more than [-] Yingchuan troops led by Han Wangxin will also come to reinforce within the day after tomorrow. Xiang Kang, who had just suffered a big defeat, immediately announced the good news to the public in order to boost the morale of the army. Cheers and celebrations broke out in the Han barracks.

Therefore, in fact, the dangerous situation that the Western Chu Army is about to face is actually worse than Xiang Yu and others estimated.After another period of time, the messenger sent by Uncle Zhou finally got in touch with Xiang Kang and told Xiang Kang the current situation of the Northern Front Corps of the Han Army. In addition to being overjoyed, Xiang Kang decisively ordered the remaining fire rafts to dispatch Stop at the south bank near Laozhai and wait for orders, ready to go down the river at any time, and raid the pontoon bridge of the Western Chu Army again. , and then pretended to cry bitterly, shedding crocodile tears for Zhang Zhong and other Han soldiers who died in battle.
Let's first look at the situation on the main side of the Western Chu Army, which is not bad for Xiang Yu, because the Han army on the northern front has just ended the pursuit battle, and the soldiers are quite tired. Although the front team of the Han army led by Li Shang They came down from Teng County to the vicinity of Huling, but they were not in a hurry to launch an attack. They chose to set up a camp [-] miles north of Huling and waited for the main force led by Uncle Zhou to go south to join them. The rear team went straight to the battle.

But it was enough. After Xiang Yu led the army back to Huling Ferry, not only did there not any cheers and laughter in the camp of the Western Chu Army, which had just won a big victory, but there was a lot of turmoil everywhere. The generals and soldiers looked panicked and stayed at the ferry. Master Xiang Bo, after seeing Xiang Yu who was injured in the battle, it was very rare that he did not greet Xiang Yu immediately, flatter him, but yelled with a pale face, "My lord, the traitors from the north are only twenty miles away from us." Already! What should we do? Shall we rush across Surabaya immediately?"

"Why panic?" Xiang Yu scolded angrily, jumped off his horse, and looked south quickly, seeing that there were only four pontoon bridges left on the Surabaya Ferry, Xiang Yu immediately flew into a rage and roared: "What are you doing? What to eat? Why was it burned down by the traitors, leaving only four pontoon bridges?"

"There are too many fire rafts from the traitors, and we can't stop them." Master Xiang hurriedly explained, "Only these four pontoon bridges were saved by cutting the ropes and dodging the fire rafts. But don't worry, my lord. The subject is already asking people to continue to rush to build, and before the second watch, ten pontoon bridges will definitely be built again."

Before Xiang Yu could nod his head, another scout rushed to Xiang Yu from the north, rushed to Xiang Yu and reported in a panic: "My lord, the main force of the northern line of Han thieves led by Zhou Shupifu has arrived twenty miles to the north. At the same place, we joined forces with the front team of the Han bandits. It is too late to confirm the strength of the troops, but the number must be more than [-]!"

Before the scouts finished speaking, all the civil and military soldiers of the Western Chu Army present had changed their expressions again. What made matters worse was that at this moment, the scouts responsible for investigating the enemy's situation in the west also rushed to report, saying that the Han army had returned. The fleet of fire rafts was dispatched to kill the Huling Ferry again. Xiang Yu's face was completely black, and after a long while he said in great pain: "I knew it would happen, I should ignore the traitors, and go to Surabaya first." .”

"Your Majesty, you can't cross the river at Huling." Kuai Che said, "It's summer, and the water level in Surabaya is rising. The fire rafts of the Han bandits are watching the tigers in the upper reaches. They may go down the river at any time and burn us. The pontoon bridge. Zhou Shupifu’s main force is only [-] miles away from us. As soon as we cross the river, he will definitely attack immediately. "

"Also." Kuai Che quickly added: "If there is no accident, with the cunning of the traitor Xiang Kang, as long as he gets in touch with Uncle Zhou, he will definitely be ready to cross the river and pursue him immediately. If you forcefully cross Surabaya, you will soon be caught up by the traitors!"

Xiang Yu sat down on the ground with a livid face, stroked the wound in his lower abdomen and thought about it, then asked casually: "Then what do you think we should do now?"

"There is only one way, take the small road on the north bank of Sishui, and go to Pengcheng to cross the river!"

The familiar voices of Liu Laosan and Xiang Yu sounded in the crowd, and then the tall Han Xin stood up and continued: "Although the road to the north bank of Sishui is difficult, the terrain is more complicated, which is not conducive to Han thieves. Expanding our forces, it is easier for us to retreat than to take the South Bank road. In addition, if we really can't get rid of the pursuers of the traitors, we still have the option of going east to Fuyang and retreating to Donghai County by Chidao."

"Fart!" Master Xiang Boxiang cursed immediately, and said, "If you divert to Fuyang and go to Donghai County, what about our capital, Pengcheng? Don't you know that everything about this master..., our countless family members and elders Is the small capital in Pengcheng?"

Fortunately, this time, Xiang Yu didn't listen to the selfish advice of Master Xiang who wanted to preserve his family property. He just made some calculations, and immediately said: "Send the order, go south from the path on the north bank of Surabaya, and the army participating in the battle today will go ahead, Uncle Ji, you And Xiang Xiang and Xiang You lead the troops who did not participate in the battle to the rear!"

"My empress?" Master Xiang almost suspected that his ears had misheard, and his voice couldn't help trembling, he said: "Your Majesty, you let the old minister lead the army..., the empress?"

"Who else but you?" Xiang Yu roared angrily: "I was injured, and the army under my command was exhausted. Brother Xiangzhuang and the others just came back, and they are more tired than us. They haven't had time to familiarize themselves with the army. Who can lead the army in the rear?"

Uncle Xiang, who cherishes his life more than everyone else, turned even paler, and Liu Laosan was also very aware of Master Xiang's virtues, so he bit the bullet and said: "My lord, Master Xiang lacks the experience of leading troops alone, if you trust me, , let the subordinates lead the army to the rear."

Glancing at Liu Laosan, who was the real culprit of the Chu-Han war, Xiang Yu first said in his heart that it would be strange if the king trusted you, and then said: "No, Uncle Ji has followed the king for many years, I trust him. The traitor Kang is far away, and they have just lost a big battle, and Uncle Zhou has just arrived near Huling, and his soldiers are exhausted, even if he sends troops to pursue, Uncle Ji is sure to stop them."

Knowing that Xiang Yu couldn't trust him, Liu Laosan could only shut up obediently, and said in his heart that he hoped that your Uncle Ji would not leave the army and run away alone. Master Xiang Bo was worried, but he didn't dare to disobey Xiang Yu's decision , can only hold his fists together and say honestly: "Old minister obeys."

In this way, after several years, Master Xiang Bo Xiang, who once wanted to reach out to pick peaches and take away the military power of the Young Marshal, finally got the first chance in his life to lead the army alone, and even provoked the first time he led the army. He has shouldered a great burden-to be the rear for the main force of the Western Chu Army!Cover the retreat of the soldiers of the Western Chu Army with severely weakened physical strength and the injured Xiang Yu!

But it’s also good. The Western Chu Army has already prepared to retreat. Not only is there enough dry food, but all the food, grass and luggage are ready to go at any time. Even the torches were ready last night, so they quickly resumed After the team was assembled, it was only at the second watch of the night that Xiang Yu led the [-] main soldiers who participated in the battle during the day to set off first, and retreated towards Pengcheng along the small road on the north bank of Surabaya. Soon he passed out in the car, and Master Xiang Bo and his two nephews led an army of [-] troops to take up the important task of the rear, and set off southward after the main force had gone far.

No way, although the Western Chu Army retreated decisively at night, their choice was already expected by the No. 1 Uncle Zhou in the Han Army's military circle. Feng Zhong, a general of the Han army known for his tenacity in combat, led an army of [-] to prepare for the pursuit in advance. The torches, dry food, weapons and drinking water were all well prepared, so he received a scout report from the Western Chu army to retreat southward along the path north of Surabaya. Afterwards, in addition to sneering at the Western Chu army for not daring to rush across Surabaya, Uncle Zhou decisively ordered Feng Zhong to lead the army to attack immediately and resolutely bite the Western Chu army.

However, for the sake of caution, after personally explaining the pursuit order to Feng Zhong, Uncle Zhou told Feng Zhong somewhat uneasy: "General Feng, the Western Chu bandit army retreated overnight, and they will definitely use elite troops to force the rear, so you When chasing, don't be greedy for meritorious deeds and rush carelessly. You only need to bite the rear of the Xichu bandit army and slow down their retreat speed. It is best not to take risks until the sky is full and the light is sufficient. "

"Don't worry, general, of course I understand this truth." Feng Zhong answered solemnly with his hands clasped, and then flew down to lead the army to attack. Who will the army send to lead the army? Don’t let Xiang Yu personally serve as the queen. I don’t have any confidence when I meet him, and there is a danger of turning victory into defeat. The best is Ding Gu. That old man is selfish and slippery, and he is most afraid of tough battles , I am sure I can deal with him!"

Thinking of this, of course Feng Zhong must dispatch scouts Qingqi to go ahead immediately after leading the troops to attack, to investigate the general situation of the troops behind the Western Chu Army...

(End of this chapter)