God of War through the ages: Han Xin

Chapter 26
It was not the first time Han Xin met Zhang Er, he had also heard about the grievances between Zhang Er and Chen Yu.Liu Bang sent Zhang Er to go north with [-] reinforcements, and Han Xinxin understood that this was Liu Bang's chance to give Zhang Er a little more performance.

Zhang Er is a good friend of Liu Bang, and now he is preparing to marry Liu Bang. Zhang Er's son, Zhang Ao, is about to marry Liu Bang's daughter, Lu Yuan.No matter how numb Han Xin is to dealing with interpersonal relationships, he also knows the pros and cons. What's more, Zhang Er's arrival will have a great effect on helping him eliminate Chen Yu.During the banquet, Han Xin endured his ears and heard enough of Zhang Er's stern curses at Chen Yu.

After Zhang Er calmed down, Han Xin asked Zhang Er to talk about all the military situation of Zhao State, including the deployment of Zhao Jun's military force, Zhao State's power structure, and Chen Yu's character. Han Xin must know these.

Zhang Er had a rare opportunity to express himself, so he naturally talked endlessly, and he really knew everything and said everything.Among them, Han Xin paid special attention to the names of two people spoken from Zhang Er's mouth, one is Li Zuoche and the other is Xia Shuo (pronounced "Yue").

Li Zuoche is a native of Zhao, and Li Zuoche's background is unusual, because Li Zuoche's grandfather is Li Mu, the top general of Zhao.Li Zuoche is the grandson of Li Mu, and his status in the world is very similar to that of Xiang Yu, the grandson of Xiang Yan, a heavy general of the Chu State, but Xiang Yu is from martial arts, while Li Zuoche is from literature.

Zhao was destroyed by Qin, and Li Zuoche was exiled in the rivers and lakes. Later, the princes rebelled against Qin, and Zhao Guo was restored. Excited and ecstatic, Li Zuoche immediately rushed back to Zhao State, and was very popular. His current title is Guangwu Lord, who was the leader of Zhao State. scholar.Zhang Er reminded Han Xin that he must be careful of Li Zuoche, although Li Zuoche was not strong enough to tie a chicken, but he was wise enough to kill a general if he plotted to manipulate a genius.

Han Xin nodded, remembering the name Li Zuoche.What did Xia say?Han Xin asked.

Xia Shuo was Chen Yu's personal debater, his status was equivalent to that of Li Shiqi to Liu Bang, and Chen Yu relied heavily on him.At the beginning, Xiang Yu was unfairly entrusted, and Chen Yu, who was left out in the cold, sent Xia Shuo as a lobbyist to go to Qi State in person, and successfully persuaded Tian Rong, who was also extremely dissatisfied with Xiang Yu, and Tian Rong sent troops to help Chen Yu.Zhang Er was driven out of Changshan Kingdom by Chen Yu, and Qi Bing did his best, so Zhang Er also hated Xia for talking about it.

Xia Shuo made great contributions to Chen Yu's country, and Chen Yu did not treat Xia Shuo badly.Chen Yu beat Zhang Er away, and restored Zhao Xie as the King of Zhao, and proclaimed himself the Dai King. However, because Chen Yu was the de facto supreme ruler of the Zhao State, he could not devote himself to the Dai State, so he appointed Xia Shuo as the Prime Minister of the Dai State. Sitting on behalf of the country for him.

However, at this time, Xia said that he did not exercise the power of the generation in the country, but led the army to guard Yanhe (now Heshunbei, Shanxi).Because Chen Yu already knew that Han Xin was about to send troops to attack Zhao, and Yanhe was an important border town between Zhao State and the former Western Wei State, and guarding Yanhe could prevent the Han army from further advancing eastward.

Han Xin didn't take the little-known Xia Shuo to heart, how about Zhang Han?How about Wei Bao?Han Xin didn't even treat Chen Yu as a dish, let alone Xia.What troubled Han Xin was not Xia Shuo, nor the generation army Xia Shuo led, but the precipitous and steep mountain range between Hedong (Shanxi) and Zhao State (Hebei), which is the famous the Taihang Mountains.

Starting from Youyan in the north and reaching the Yellow River in the south, Taihang Mountain is the natural geographical boundary between the North China Plain and the Loess Plateau, stretching for more than [-] miles from north to south.Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of the Wei Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Journey to the Bitter Cold", which described the ruggedness and steepness of the Taihang Mountains. "Going north to the Taihang Mountains, how difficult it is! The sheep intestines are twisted, and the wheels are crushed. The trees are bleak, and the north wind is mournful! The bear squats against me, and the tiger and leopard cry on the road."

The Qinling Mountains are difficult to appreciate during the eclipse, and there are still plank roads for people, vehicles and horses to pass through. If you want to cross the Taihang Mountains, it is completely different from crossing the Qinling Mountains.To go from Nanzheng to Guanzhong, you must go from north to south to pass the Qinling Mountains, and you can take the plank road to the north.However, if you want to enter Hebei from Hedong, you can only cross the Taihang Mountains from east to west, and there is no plank road to pass through.

If you pass on both sides of Taihang Mountain, you can only go through a few passes, namely the famous "Taihang Eight Xings". From north to south, they are: Jundu Xing, Puyin Xing, Feihu Xing, Jingxingkou, Fukou Xing, Baixing, Taihangxing, and Zhiguanxing.That is to say, as long as the enemy troops east of Taihang Mountain hold these eight dangerous lines, the troops west of Taihang Mountain will never pass through the Taihang Mountain, which is more than [-] miles long.If one man guards the gate, it will become an absolute mountain, where birds can fly and people cannot pass.

In the case of inconvenient transportation in ancient times, the importance of terrain to warfare was far greater than it is now.Although Han Xin is good at using soldiers, he still has a headache when facing dangerous peaks and rapids.After crossing Chencang and then crossing the Yellow River, Han Xin deeply experienced the uncanny craftsmanship of nature. If he was a little careless, he would either fall off the cliff or be buried in the rolling waves.

Han Xin is not a god. He crossed the sea twice, making east to west or south to north, both of which were a lot of gambling. He bet that Zhang Han and Wei Bao would not send troops to defend Chencang and Fenyin.If there are enemy troops stationed in Chencang and Fenyin, Han Xin will undoubtedly die.

Are Han Xin's enemies Zhang Han, Wei Bao, and Chen Yu?No, Han Xin's enemies are the Qinling Mountains, the Yellow River and the Taihang Mountains.Han Xin successfully crossed the Qinling Mountains and successfully crossed the Yellow River, but the Taihang Mountain in front of him made Han Xin frown. He could guess that Chen Yu would deploy heavy troops at several crossings on the east side of the Taihang Mountain. Although Han Xin was not at a loss as he was in Chencang or Fenyin (assuming there were Qin and Wei troops defending from danger), the Han army would be blocked by the Zhao army in the west of Taihang, and the northern battle plan formulated by Han Xin and Liu Bang would be completely ruined. .

Although Zhao State has only one military stronghold in the west of Taihang Mountain, Yanhe, where Xia Shuo is located, Chen Yu will not be so stupid as to abandon the dangerous pass of Jingxing and not defend it.To the west of Yanyu is Hedong, and to the east of Yanyu is Jingxingkou. After Jingxingkou, there is the endless North China Plain.And Xiangguo, the capital of Zhao Guoguo, is on the plain not far to the east of Jingxingkou.

Although Yanyu is a small town, the history that happened here is brilliant enough.History only remembers that Zhao Kuo, who was talking about war on paper, was defeated by Qin general Bai Qi in Changping, but intentionally or unintentionally ignored how Zhao Kuo's father, Zhao Shezai, beat the Qin army violently.The reason why Zhao She was given the title of Ma Fujun by King Zhao was because of this rare battle and victory against the Qin army.

Yanyu is located in front of Taihang Mountain, the source of Zhangshui River, the terrain is high and dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but Han Xin no longer considers these, he has to race against time, if he can win Xia Shuo one second earlier, he may grab Chen Yuzeng The soldiers passed through Jingxingkou before, otherwise Zhao Bing would seal the mountain and everything would be over.

Xia Shuo shouldn't have too many troops. Although the country he is in is Chen Yu's feudal state, and Chen Yu's headquarters has at least tens of thousands of troops, it is impossible for Chen Yu to hand over all his troops to Xia Shuo. Zhao Guo also wanted to leave some direct descendants.Judging from Chen Yu's refusal to increase troops at Jingxingkou later, he didn't even pay attention to such an extremely important dangerous pass as Jingxingkou, let alone the battle in the west of Taihang.

Han Xin and Zhang Er marched forward side by side, followed by tens of thousands of Han troops, left Pingyang (where Han Xin should have set off), and marched in the northeast direction.The straight-line distance between Pingyang and Yanyu was almost [-] miles, and this time it was a quick march, so one can imagine the hardships of traveling on the road.

Although it is not clear which route Han Xindong asked Xia to take, with Han Xin's military wisdom, he would not choose to take a straight line.Because if you walk in a straight line, the mountain is high and there is no road, and there is no plank road to walk, which is a waste of time.It is believed that Han Xin will choose another marching route, that is, go north to the Fen River Valley, pass through Zhi County (now Huozhou, Shanxi), cross Jiexiu (now Jiexiu, Shanxi), Chuanyangyi (now east of Taigu, Shanxi), and along the Xiaohe River Enter, to Qingzhang Shuidongyuan, you can easily kill Yan and the city.

Han Xin understands the difference between natural time and military geographic time. Regardless of geographical obstacles, blindly copying straight lines is actually a waste of time.Han Xin is best at marching on long distances, and the tactics of "taking detours as straight lines" are used by Han Xin with great proficiency.

When Han Xin arrived at the city of Yanyu, he saw the unbelievable expression of Prime Minister Xia Shuo on the top of the city, and Han Xin smiled.Xia said that no matter what, he never thought that Han Xin would appear in front of his eyes without anyone noticing. How did he come here?
At this time, Han Xin was no longer Han Xin, the unknown Chu army's halberd man. After the pacification of the Three Qin Dynasty, Han Xin had already become famous all over the world. Xia Shuo naturally knew the weight of this name.But what if Xia said he knew?In the face of Han Xin who is trembling all over the world, what else can he do?

Under the leadership of Han Xin, the Han army has launched a fierce attack on Yan Yucheng. Han Xin tried his best to buy time, but Xia Shuo still wanted to prove himself in front of Han Xin.Xia Shuo was indeed worthy of Chen Yu's trust in him. He did not surrender to Han Xin. Under Xia Shuo's command, the Dai army carried out a very tenacious defense.

Xia said that he is tough, but toughness without strength can at most get respect in front of the strong, but it is not enough to make the strong retreat.The Han army quickly rushed into the small Yanyu city. The number of acting troops in the city was far less than that of the Han army entering the city. To break the army of the generation, Qin Xia said to Yan and."

Taking Yanyu easily, the Han army basically opened up the strategic channel to enter Hebei through Jingxingkou. Now Han Xin has returned to his previous worries about whether Chen Yu will increase his troops at Jingxingkou, just like whether Zhang Han will send heavy troops to guard the old road. It's the same as whether the leopards will send heavy troops to guard Fenyin.

How important is Jingxingkou to Han Xin?To give a simple example, in 210 BC, Qin Shihuang Yingzheng died in the sand dunes (that is, Julu, the place where King Wuling of Zhao starved to death). Cross back to Guanzhong.If there is an army guarding Jingxingkou, Qin Shihuang's body will not be able to return to Xianyang for burial, and it will rot and stink within a few days.

About Taihang Eight Xings, I have already mentioned above, but Jingxingkou is the only one among Taihang Eight Xings selected as "Nine Fortresses in the World" in "Lu Shi Chunqiu", also known as Tumen Pass, and Taihang Mountain where Jingxingkou is located is also One of the "nine mountains in the world" commented in "Lu Shi Chunqiu", which shows the importance of Jingxingkou's geographical location.

Regarding the specific location of Jingxingkou, various historical sources have different opinions, but it is probably tens of miles northwest of Shijiazhuang, Hebei.To the east of Jingxing is the North China Plain, and to the west of Jingxing is the Loess Plateau. Since ancient times, it has been the main traffic route from Hebei to Shanxi, and its strategic position is self-evident.

"Reading History Fangyu Minutes" records: "The current mountain of Taihang Mountain is from southwest to northeast, with layers of mountains and ridges, scattered in circles, hundreds of miles away." Fifty miles northeast of Jingxing County, there is a dangerous Xingshan Mountain, " The mountains are high and flat on all sides, and the middle and bottom are like wells, so it is called Jingxing".

Facing such a dangerous fortress, if you attack from the bottom up, you can only be a dead end, and there is no chance of winning.

Han Xin sent many scouts to squat near Jingxing, and sent spies into Zhao Guo to observe the movements of Zhao Jun.

Han Xin was still nervously waiting for the military movement from Zhao, but at this moment, something unexpected happened to Han Xin.Han Wang Liu Bang suddenly sent someone from Xingyang to Yanyu, and sent an order to the general, asking Han Xin to transfer the most elite troops in his army to Xingyang to prepare for the use of Chu.

……

After forcing out a smile and arranging for the envoy to rest, Han Xin was too angry to speak.

Han Xin didn't quite agree with Liu Bang's decision to transfer troops from the northern front to the south, but he didn't raise any different opinions. Liu Bang could draw as much as he wanted, since the soldiers belonged to him anyway.Han Xin vaguely felt that Liu Bang didn't seem to trust him very much. What was Liu Bang worried about?
There can only be one reasonable explanation for Liu Bang's sudden order, which is that Liu Bang wants to restrict Han Xin from developing his own lineage in the army.

"Historical Records Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin" records that after Han Xin conquered Yanhe, "the Han Dynasty sent people to collect their elite soldiers, and went to Xingyang to distance themselves from Chu."This "elite soldier" should not be the [-] elite soldiers that Liu Bang handed over to Zhang Er to lead the north, but the army brought out by Han Xin during his military training in Guanzhong.

This army was trained by Han Xin himself, and under the leadership of Han Xin, he has repeatedly made outstanding achievements. It is conceivable that the soldiers worship Han Xin. This kind of worship mentality can easily be transformed into loyalty to Han Xin. It was Liu Bang who worried most.

Liu Bang is the supreme leader of Han, if the army listens to Han Xin, then what is the use of him as King of Han?It is impossible for Liu Bang not to know what it means for the monarch not to have military power.If Liu Bang does not restrict Han Xin's prestige in the army and fully delegates power, Han Xin can certainly help Liu Bang eliminate Xiang Yu, but what about after Chu?
Liu Bang's position for Han Xin in Han was very clear, that is, let Han Xin be a "wage earner" who only received a salary, instead of letting Han Xin be a "shareholder" who could share dividends. Liu Bang would not let Han Xin share his own interests.

Xiao He and Zhang Liang can be "shareholders" because although they are talented, their military threat to Liu Bang is almost zero.And Han Xin's military threat to Liu Bang is as great as his military threat to Xiang Yu.

Out of these two considerations, Liu Bangcai kept changing troops for Han Xin, so that all the troops on the hills of the Han Army would have the opportunity to make meritorious service under Han Xin's command. This would balance the interests of each hill and give everyone a chance to stand up. ; Second, it prevented Han Xin from cultivating his direct descendants in the army.

On the one hand, Han Xin was very upset about Liu Bang's actions, which showed that Liu Bang didn't trust him;It is a mediocrity not to be jealous of others. For a person, the hatred of others towards him is actually a kind of affirmation of himself.Being despised by others is far more painful than being hated by others.

(End of this chapter)