Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 69
After discovering that Chao Zhi, the chief general who had surrendered to the Qin army, should be very promising, he pondered and calculated carefully for half the night, and at dawn the next day, Xiang Kang immediately called for his two right-hand men in internal affairs, Zhou Zeng. He and Sun Gong asked Xu Shu to explain the details of his mission to the enemy camp to Zhou and Sun in detail, and asked for their opinions.

Like Xiang Kang, Zhou Zeng and Sun Gong also noticed the details of whether Chao Zhi was around when he met Xu Shu directly. After getting a negative answer, Zhou Zeng immediately applauded and said happily, "Okay! Chao Zhi's heart is moved." !Although he didn’t directly agree, his arrangements and words of response obviously left a way out, obviously leaving a way out for himself just in case.”

"The officials also think so." Sun Gong echoed: "If Chao Zhi is really loyal to the Tyrant Qin court, then he should behead our envoy to show the public, or put him in a prison car for fear, so that This proves his determination. But not only did he not do so, but he also received our envoy alone behind his back. This is enough to prove that his heart has been shaken, and he is afraid that the Qin court will pursue his crimes, so That’s why he deliberately didn’t do anything wrong, leaving him a way out.”

Zhou Zeng and Sun Gong's analysis was exactly what Xiang Kang thought in his heart. After hearing what they said, Xiang Kang of course nodded his head, let Xu Shu go down to rest, and then said with a smile: "Uncle Ya, Sun Gong Xian Cheng, in your opinion, what should we do next?"

"Send people to surrender again." Zhou Zeng said impatiently: "Since Chao Zhi has wavered, we should strike while the iron is hot, send people to persuade him to surrender, and add some rewards to him, and try to make him hurry up." Determined."

"I'm afraid it won't help much." Xiang Kang, who has always been very assertive, shook his head and said, "This will only make Chao Zhi more shaken, and there is no way to make him make up his mind. It is useless to give him more rewards, on the contrary. There is also the possibility of his appetite getting bigger and bigger, so big that we can't satisfy it."

"Then what should we do?" Zhou Zeng was indeed inferior to Xiang Kang in terms of conspiracies and tricks, so he could only ask back: "Young Marshal, is there any way you can make Chao Zhi make up his mind as soon as possible and make up his mind?"

"It's definitely not enough to make a fuss about Chao Zhi alone." Xiang Kang smiled and said, "If we want Chao Zhi to make up his mind and make up his mind, besides continuing to contact Chao Zhi to persuade him to surrender, we must also We have to work on the other two aspects."

"Those two?" Zhou Zeng asked quickly.

"The first is of course the battlefield." Xiang Kang said confidently: "We must continue to exert pressure on Chao Zhi on the battlefield, try to use our current local military advantage, and fight one or two decent victories so that Chao Zhi can go back. There is no way to explain it, so it will be easier to recruit him. In addition, when Chao Zhi took them to surrender to us, it was easier for them to accept the fear of the Tyrant Qin army."

"Young commander, what about the second one?" This time it was Sun Gong who asked.

"The second is to take care." Xiang Kang said lightly: "As long as we let the official temple of Qusi know that Chao Zhi has developed a different heart and is ready to surrender to us with the army, the official temple of Qusi will definitely treat Chao Zhi. Zhi Zhi took action, or ordered Chao Zhi to retreat immediately, or change generals before the battle, remove Chao Zhi and replace him with another general, but no matter which choice Qulu Guansi made, it was tantamount to directly pronouncing Chao Zhi's death sentence. Knowing that he will definitely end badly if he goes back, he can only choose to surrender to us."

"It's a good way, but what should I do?" Zhou Zeng frowned and said, "What kind of means should we use to let the Qulu County Temple know that Chao Zhi has grown suspicious? We and Qulu Without contact, there is no way to send the news?"

"Uncle Ya, don't worry, I've already thought about how to do it." Xiang Kang smiled again, first asked his book office to bring some books, and then said to Zhou Zeng: "Uncle Ya, these few copies I had someone find out the documents from the official documents you left behind, and they all have Chao Zhi's autograph on them, Uncle Ya, look, can you imitate Chao Zhi's handwriting and forge a letter written by him?"

Zhou Zeng, who is good at calligraphy, quickly took it over for a closer look, but after looking through it for a while, Zhou Zeng said in a difficult way: "Young Marshal, I'm afraid this can't be done. It's all just his autograph and no other words. If you want to If it is forged, it can only forge his signature."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you can imitate his signature." Xiang Kang waved his hand magnanimously, turned to Sun Gong and said, "President Sun, please pick up the pen yourself and write a letter to his wife in Chao Zhi's tone. Said that he had decided to surrender to us and join hands with us to overthrow Tyranny. Besides, the person who sent the letter was the person he asked us to send to pick up his wife, and told his wife to take Xirou and his family to follow the letter immediately after reading the letter. The person who is going to leave, come and enjoy the blessings with him, Chao Zhi."

After finishing speaking, Xiang Kang pointed out: "Remember, when referring to Chao Zhi's family, try to be as vague as possible, and it is best to mention it directly. Because we don't know how many children and family members there are in Chao Zhi's family, we can't reveal anything about it. flaw."

Sun Gong agreed, and hurriedly drew up a pen to prepare, racked his brains, and wrote a letter to Chao Zhi's yellow-faced woman in Chao Zhi's tone, which was somewhat vague but not revealing any flaws.Seeing that the content was exactly the same as what he wanted, Xiang Kang asked Zhou Zeng, who is good at calligraphy, to pick up a pen, imitating the handwriting and signing Chao Zhi's name at the end of the letter.However, County Magistrate Zhou refused to rest assured after finishing writing, and said, "Young Marshal, isn't it better to forge another Chao Zhi's seal, stamp it and send it out, so that it looks more flawless?"

Xiang Kang smiled and said: "The seal is already being engraved, and if there are no accidents, it will be delivered in a while."

Zhou Zeng laughed out loud, and quickly gave Xiang Kang a thumbs up, but Sun Gong next to him was very puzzled, and asked, "Young commander, may I take the liberty to ask you a question? You want your subordinates and Zhou Jijiu to forge this A letter, where are you going to send it?"

"Of course it was sent to Qulu City and handed over to Chao Zhi's wife." Xiang Kang replied smoothly.

"But what's the use of doing this?" Sun Gong asked suspiciously: "What if Chao Zhi's wife believed it was true and really brought her child with the people we sent?"

"Isn't that better?" Xiang Kang laughed when he heard it, and said with a smile: "Chao Zhi's wife suddenly ran away with her children, and the people who took care couldn't stop and catch them. What will the people who take care of Guansi think?" ? Chao Zhi’s wife and children were arrested by the people who took care of him on the road, and they asked him to ask for the letter, what would the people in the temple think about it?”

"Also, it doesn't matter if this letter is not delivered to Chao Zhi's wife, and it doesn't even matter if the person we sent to pick up Chao Zhi's wife was caught by the police." Xiang Kang's smile became treacherous again, He said with a smirk: "As long as this letter falls into the hands of the Qulu government, it will definitely be reported to the Qulu county magistrate immediately—Sun Xiancheng, if you are the Qulu county magistrate, you have read this letter. , what would you think and do?"

Sun Gong suddenly realized, and hurriedly bowed to Xiang Kang again and again, admiring Xiang Kang's cruelty, despicableness and shamelessness.And Zhou Zeng, who was next to him, was speechless and admiring again, and hurriedly asked: "Young commander, who will send this letter?"

"This time we have to do a fake show for real. Send someone who doesn't know the inside story to deliver a letter with two captives who surrendered to us after being captured." Xiang Kang said: "Uncle Ya, Sun County Chancellor, give me another letter." To recommend a petty official, it doesn’t matter how capable he is, as long as he is serious about his work, and he will do his best to do the tasks assigned to him. Of course, I won’t treat him badly. If he doesn’t come back, I will not only Treat his family well and try to save him.”

Zhou Zeng and County Magistrate Sun agreed, and after discussing in low voices for a while, they quickly recommended a small official who met the requirements to Xiang Kang. With kind words to appease him, he promised him a great reward, and asked him to carry out this dangerous mission. He sent Xiang to pick two prisoners of war who had surrendered voluntarily and ordered them to follow this little official back to Qulu to meet Chao Zhi's family in secret. Return to next phase.During this period, the wooden fake seal engraved by Xiang Kang's people was delivered to him, and Xiang Kang personally stamped Chao Zhi's fake seal on the fake letter without mentioning it.

After all this was arranged, it was almost noon, and Xiang Kang also remembered to ask Xiang Yang, who was in charge of the self-army outpost, "Xiang Yang, what's the situation outside? Are there any soldiers from the Tyrant Qin army?" What action?"

"Reporting to the young commander, there is nothing to do." Xiang Yang replied truthfully: "Except for sending a convoy to the Sishui River to fetch water in the morning, there was no large group of soldiers and horses out of the camp, but the Tyrant Qin army was not idle either. , have been taking turns digging deep trenches and building camp walls, and I don’t know what I want to do?”

"Learn, this is preparing for a long-term defense." Xiang Kang pointed out: "Chao Zhi's tyrannical Qin army is already at a disadvantage in terms of strength. Fortifications, prepare to confront us for a long time."

"Young Marshal, then what is the function and purpose of their doing this?" Xiang Yang asked curiously again.

"The long-term confrontation between the armies has a lot of effects, and I will tell you slowly later." Xiang Kang didn't have time to explain the way to use soldiers one by one to his clan brothers, but said with a smile: "But he, Chao Zhi, chooses to confront us for a long time now, There is only one purpose, and that is to hope that the army of Sishui County will quickly come to reinforce him and help him take down Xiangcheng."

"Is Mrs. Chao Zhipi waiting for reinforcements?" Xiang Yang asked doubtfully.

"Of course, this is his only way of life other than surrender." Xiang Kang said with a smile: "Only when the reinforcements arrive, he will have the opportunity to break Xiaxiang City with the reinforcements and make meritorious deeds. Otherwise, if he retreats at this time, he will die." Immediately there will be a dead end. Therefore, he can neither attack the city with the weak and the strong, nor can he take the initiative to retreat to find his own death. The only way to survive is to set up a camp and stick to it!"

Xiang Yang suddenly realized that he was just about to praise his clan brother for his excellent knowledge and his ability to predict the enemy like a god, but Zhou Zeng who was next to him suddenly said: "Isn't that bad?! Young commander, you just said before that you will continue to fight against the enemy on the battlefield. Chao Zhi is under pressure and strives for one or two more victories, and there is no way to tell him to go back. Now that Chao Zhi is determined to stand up for a long time, even if we send troops to challenge, he will not send troops to fight, he will only rely on the camp. How can we fight for one or two more victories?"

"Uncle Ya, don't worry, I've thought about this a long time ago, and I've already prepared a way to deal with it." Xiang Kang smiled more confidently, and then said with a smile: "Uncle Ya, have you noticed? Xiang Yang just now When you reported the enemy's situation to me, did you say that Chao Zhi sent a convoy to the Sishui River to fetch water in the morning?"

After being reminded by Xiang Kang, Zhou Zeng remembered that when Xiang Yang reported the enemy's situation, he had indeed said that Chao Zhi had sent a convoy to fetch water from the Sishui River. Is there no water source where the man camps?"

"No." Xiang Kang smiled and said, "Maybe he was afraid that I would attack with water, so he chose a high ground for his camp, which was far away from the river, so he had to send a convoy every morning and evening for the water in his camp. Go to the Sishui River to pull it."

"Young commander, you want to surround Chao Zhi's camp, cut off his water access, and force him to fight?!"

Zhou Zeng came to his senses, but it was a pity that Xiang Kang shook his head and said: "The book of war says: attack them twice, encircle them five times, and annihilate them ten times. Our current strength is only a few hundred more than Chao Zhi's." The number of people is less than double, and it is impossible to surround his camp."

"Then what are you going to do, Young Marshal?" Zhou Zeng asked again.

"Add fuel to the battle." Xiang Kang answered very generally, and said: "First light the fire, and then add fuel and firewood bit by bit to expand the fire to the point where it cannot be controlled. At that time, Chao Zhi just wants to If you don't fight us, you can't do it!"

…………

Another night passed, and in the morning of the next day, just like the previous few days, after breakfast, a centurion who was concerned about the Qin army drove forty carriages full of empty barrels out of the camp gate. , strolled to the west of the Sishui River to draw water, and it was the same as a few days ago, only one or two scouts from the Young Marshal Army wandered a few miles to the north, watching them leave the camp They didn't have the guts to stop them from fetching water, but the Qin army's centurion calmly drove the carriage to the river and loaded the cart with water, talking and laughing, as calm as ever.

Today's situation suddenly changed a bit. The south gate of the Prime Minister was suddenly opened, and about fifty cavalrymen from the Young Marshal Army rode out from the gate, and trotted all the way to the south at a leisurely pace. Come, but judging from the way they advanced, the cavalry of this young commander seems to be preparing to go to the camp of the Qin Army, so the Qin Army Centurion that is drawing water is not in a hurry to retreat, but continues to draw water while carefully observing Watching the movements of the young marshal's cavalry—in the era when there were no stirrups, a mere fifty or so cavalry could not pose a fatal threat to a full-staffed centurion. The current Qin army only needs to guard against the sudden charge of the cavalry of the Young Marshal Army, and there is no need to throw the water cart and the horses pulling the cart to retreat quickly.

As expected, the cavalry of the Young Commander's Army had some changes during the march. They gradually adjusted their direction, trotted to the middle of the road back to the camp of the Jishui Qin army, and reined in their horses.The Jishui Qin army also became alert at this time, and hurriedly formed an formation to prevent the assault of the young commander's army. The Qin army in the camp also immediately raised their vigilance. Unexpectedly, those young commander's cavalry seemed to have seen through their minds and tore apart one after another. He choked out his throat and shouted: "It's okay, we are not here to fight today, so just turn around casually, and you continue to do your work."

Having already experienced how good the young marshal's army is, the Qin army who was drawing water certainly did not dare to take it lightly, but continued to maintain a tight formation, and at the same time blew the horn he brought with him to warn the main force in the camp.As a result, it may be that Qin Jun's distrustful attitude angered the Young Marshal's Army. The sound of horseshoes came again, and another seventy or eighty Young Marshal's cavalry left the city at some point, and rushed southward at full speed, and rushed directly to the city. The Qin army's centurions formed by the river.

As a result, of course, the Qin Army camp did not dare to neglect any more. Amidst the sound of war drums, the two Qin Army Centuries, which were responsible for supporting the water collection team, strode out of the camp and lined up in an orderly formation to quickly come for reinforcements.Fifty cavalrymen of the Young Marshal Army did not dare to stop them. They could only pat their horses to meet the friendly army who had just come out of the city, and shouted as they moved, "Don't get me wrong, we are not here to fight today."

Not to mention, the cavalry of the Young Marshal Army did not really seem to be here to fight. After the two cavalry who left the city one after another joined together, they quickly reined in their horses within a few miles of the Qin Army's water collection team, and watched Qin's army from a distance. Army rendezvous.And Qin Jun didn't dare to neglect, first he merged with the water-drawing team, and then immediately left with the carriages that hadn't had time to fill up with water.At the same time, hundreds of infantrymen from the Young Marshal's Army rushed out of the Xiaxiang City Gate in the north in a disorderly manner, and rushed towards the Qin army who had left the camp.

"Why are the rebels sending troops again? Come on, hurry up and return to the camp."

Feeling that the situation was not good, the commander of the Qin army who left the camp hurriedly ordered the troops to return to the camp quickly. However, at this moment, the cavalry of the young marshal who had already restrained their horses raised their flags and shouted in groups, Together, they slapped the horse and rushed straight to the Qin army who left the camp, and then drew an arc in the charge, once again blocking the way for the Qin army who left the camp to return to the camp.

At this point in the matter, if the Qin army can make a decisive decision when they leave the camp, throw off the carriage and immediately flee in all directions, and stride back to the camp, even if they suffer a little loss, most of the soldiers of the three centurions can return to the camp.But it is a pity that the Qin army who went out of the camp did not want to escape so embarrassingly, and secondly, some discarded the forty horses who were reluctant to pull the water cart. It was time for the infantry of the Young Marshal Army to charge south and approach them.

It was only when the infantrymen of the Young Marshal Army were less than five miles away from the Qin army that they left the camp, Chao Zhi, who received the news, climbed to the top of the camp and looked down at the entire battlefield from a condescending position. The three centurions were in danger of being trapped outside the camp. Chao Zhi, who was imagining that he was waiting for help, suddenly lost his mind, and hurriedly shouted: "Ming Jin! Ming Jin! Quick! Ming Jin retreats! Call all the troops outside the camp! These idiots, the thieves have sent so many troops out of the city, why are you telling me now?!"

(End of this chapter)