The snowflakes fell bigger and bigger, splashing on the faces and bodies of the Qin soldiers under the cold wind, freezing the eyebrows and beards, and the slightly melted snow flowed down the neck into the underwear, touching the muscles like a needle prick, making the tired and hungry Qin soldiers more and more miserable, and many seriously injured people couldn't stand the torture of freezing and starvation, and suddenly fell headlong on the road that was trampled into snow slurry, and could never wake up again.

The soldiers of the Qin army who died of serious injuries were pitiful, and the soldiers of the Qin army who were still struggling to move forward were not much better, after the defeat of Xiao County, every Qin army soldier was left with rough dry food that was only enough for one meal, but if you want to rush to Dangxian where you can get food and grass supplies, the soldiers of the Qin army have to walk for at least more than a day, originally the Qin army still wanted to divide a meal into several meals, and endured a little to stay up to Dangxian, but after setting off on the road, I found that there was no such good thing in the world - just now I fought a big battle in Xiao County, and my physical strength has dropped seriously, The belly was already growling with hunger, and the weather was too cold, and the physical exertion was too great, so before it was night, most of the Qin soldiers couldn't help but eat the last dry food into their stomachs, and then they completely ran out of food, so they could only continue to hurry on an empty stomach.

More terrible than hunger is the pursuers of the young marshal army, after finding that the Qin army fled to the direction of Dangxian, Xiang Kang didn't even blink his eyelids, and immediately personally launched a pursuit with the main force of the young marshal army, Liu Laosan also ignored the fact that his army was far away from the base area, and resolutely sent his subordinate general Cao Shen to lead an army of 3,000 to assist Xiang Kang in pursuing the Qin army, at the beginning of the pursuit did not dare to be too rampant, but after asking the news that the Qin army had run out of food from the mouth of the fallen Qin army captive, Xiang Kang immediately accelerated the pursuit, and successfully caught up with the Qin army brigade that night, Another battle with the Qin army, the exhausted Qin army was defeated again, had to flee west overnight, during which there were countless soldiers who were left behind, and the army of more than 32,000 in Pengcheng quickly shrank by more than 10,000 people.

The snow will always get worse, the next morning, there was heavy snow in the sky, and there was no sign of stopping until noon, which certainly also increased the difficulty of the pursuit to the pursuers, but the deep foot shallow foot on the muddy road, the tired and hungry Qin soldiers were still in great pain, many soldiers slipped and fell and then had no strength to move, no matter how the generals urged, insulted and even beaten, just refused to stand up and continue to move forward, in the team, even from time to time there was a crying sound.

Ravaged by the war, the township pavilions along the way have long been ten rooms and nine empty, even if they forcibly rob the grain, snatching that bit of food is a drop in the bucket, it can't play any role, there are still some horses, Zhang Ping is also ruthless to kill horses for food, but the pursuers of the young marshal's army are behind, and no one dares to guarantee when they will suddenly kill, so the Qin army does not dare to stop killing horses and cooking meat, so they can only desperately go west with difficulty, and keep rushing to Dangxian.

In order to keep the army as much as possible and speed up, the generals at all levels of the Qin army could only keep telling the sergeants and soldiers that Zhang Ping had sent someone to Dangxian to send an order to the Qin soldiers in advance, so that the Qin soldiers could prepare hot meals and warm houses in advance for the Qin soldiers in Dangxian County, as long as they arrived at Dangxian County, the Qin soldiers would be able to eat a full meal and sleep well. It's a pity that this trick only had a little effect at the beginning, as the physical strength and temperature continued to drop, the big cake drawn by the generals of the Qin army could no longer fill the empty belly of the Qin army's soldiers, and the marching speed of the Qin army inevitably dropped to an extremely dangerous level.

What's worse is that it happened that at this time, the cavalry of the young marshal's army caught up again, and bypassed the position of the army behind the Qin army's palace, and directly attacked the flank of the Qin army's brigade. And after such a slight delay, the main infantry force of the young marshal's army caught up with the rear army of the Qin army and raised the butcher's knife to the hungry army of the Qin army.

"Tell Chen Kan to fight to the death and buy time for our main force."

The hoarse voice issued this order, Zhang Ping immediately urged the main force to speed up and move forward, and no longer paid attention to Chen Kan's department in charge of the palace, and none of the generals of the Qin army questioned Zhang Ping's decision, because they all knew that at this time, only by sacrificing Chen Kan's army could the Qin army win the hope of escape.

In fact, Chen Kan also knew very well that the self-army must have been abandoned by Zhang Ping, but fortunately, Chen Kan, who was born in the Xianyang Lieutenant Army, was very loyal to his duties, even if he knew that the self-army was already in calamity, he still led the army to block the main infantry of the young marshal army, and gritted his teeth to withstand the two attacks of the young marshal army, which bought precious time for the main force of the self-army to quickly withdraw from the battlefield. It's just that the price of doing so is that Chen Kan's department was surrounded by the main force of the young marshal's army, and was almost completely annihilated by the young marshal's army.

When it was dark, the Qin army brigade was caught up by the young marshal's army, and was defeated again, and was forced to flee west for more than ten miles overnight to get rid of the pursuit, but the Qin army's strength was less than 15,000 people, and at the same time, he was afraid that the young marshal's army would pursue him overnight, so Zhang Ping had to discard all the baggage of the army, urged the army to march west overnight, and stumbled to continue to Dangxian.

At the same time, when it was not far from Dangxian, Xiang Kang also considered dividing his troops to step forward in a roundabout way and block the road of the Qin army, but the physical strength of the young marshal soldiers also dropped very seriously, and they also urgently needed to rest, plus the road was not familiar, and the night march was too dangerous, Xiang Kang finally gave up this plan and chose to let the young marshal soldiers rest on the spot for two hours, and then pursue with all his might.

Xiang Kang's decision of course gave the Qin soldiers the last chance to escape, in order to get supplies and a safe foothold as soon as possible, the Qin soldiers who were extremely tired of fighting spirits, almost did not rest on this night, no matter how difficult the road was, they still gritted their teeth and desperately persevered, miraculously rushed to the position of only more than ten miles away from Dangxian County when the sky was twilight, and also kept a distance of six or seven miles from the pursuers of the young marshal's army.

Through the dilapidated pavilion on the side of the road, he found that the army was not far from Dangxian, Zhang Ping hurriedly made the news public, and the Qin army was suddenly overjoyed, and miraculously increased some speed, almost rushing to the Dangxian city in the west. At the same time, Xiang Kang, who still had a keen sixth sense, also found that his army had only one last chance to annihilate the enemy, and also urged the army to speed up its advance, trampling on the muddy and slippery road to pursue at full speed.

Perhaps it was Qin Shi Huang's spirit in the sky blessed, and the morale of the Qin army brigade was boosted to create a miracle, and successfully saw Dangxian County from afar before being caught up by the young marshal army, and what made the Qin army cheer even more was that the head of Dangxian County at this moment was still fluttering the black military flag of the Great Qin army, and after confirming this, countless Qin soldiers and soldiers cried directly, Zhang Ping couldn't help but shed tears of excitement, and choked up: "It's here, it's finally here!" ”

"General, look!"

At this time, the accident happened suddenly, and the black military flags of the Qin army on Dangxian County suddenly fell, and were replaced by an earthy yellow Chu military flag suddenly appeared, and at the same time, the Qin army soldiers also saw from a distance that the east gate of Dangxian County was suddenly opened, and an army with the flag of the Chu State army strode out of the city, and rushed directly to the Qin army without stopping.

"Chu thief! It's the army of Chu thieves! How can it be? How can it be? ”

Desperate shouts sounded in the ranks of the Qin army, and the soldiers of the Qin army, who had been extremely happy before, were also like boarding a roller coaster, and they fell to the bottom as soon as they rushed to the peak, and countless soldiers of the Qin army suddenly looked colorless, and Zhang Ping himself was even more desperate, and shouted with a pale face: "How is it possible? How could the army of Chu thieves suddenly appear here? That is this army of Chu thieves? Where did they come from? ”

The appearance of the banner of the word 'Feng' told Zhang Ping the answer, riding a horse and walking in front of the young marshal soldiers, Feng Zhong, the head of the small pavilion of Shiling Pavilion back then, was more proud and proud, more high-spirited and high-spirited, and laughed wildly: "Tyrannical Qin dog thief, you have made General Ben wait so hard, General Ben almost thought that you were not coming." ”

Adopting the suggestion of the soldiers surnamed Han, he threw away the Xiangxian County that he had just taken, and pulled the main force of the southern front to the remote town of Dangxian, for this decision, Feng Zhong was of course questioned by the generals of the young marshal's army, and Feng Zhong himself was also worried, for fear that he would make a mistake in his choice and miss the precious fighter plane that surrounded the Qin army with the main force in front and behind. However, after Feng Zhong won this bet, the result was to fully grasp the initiative, and it also completely shattered the Qin army's last hope of escape.

In order to survive, the desperate Qin army could only sacrifice their lives to move forward and desperately attack Feng Zhong's army that was intercepted, but how could the soldiers of the Qin army, who were already exhausted to the extreme, win the Feng Zhong army that was waiting for work now? Even if Zhang Ping personally led the army to charge, and even if Zhang Ping directly dispatched the elite assault of Longxi, the once brave and invincible elite of Longxi could not break the rabble under Feng Zhong at this moment, on the contrary, he was killed by Feng Zhong, who calmly faced the battle, with corpses all over the field and blood flowing.

At this time, Xiang Kang had also arrived at the scene with the young marshal's army chasing soldiers, and saw that Feng Zhong's main force was actually in Dangxian, Xiang Kang, who was originally extremely worried, was of course ecstatic to the extreme, and did not hesitate, and immediately urged the troops to attack, and Feng Zhong flanked the Qin army before and after.

Things have come to this point, even if it is replaced by a personal soldier surnamed Han to lead the Qin army, it must be powerless to return to the sky, not to mention Zhang Ping, who became the chief general of the Qin army by virtue of his brotherly relationship, the main force of the young marshal army only charged, and the tired and desperate Qin army brigade immediately collapsed, and the soldiers scattered and fled, Zhang Ping had no choice but to hurriedly change into the clothes of ordinary soldiers, throw away his general flag, and flee with the cavalry. and captured a large number of Qin prisoners.

This battle was the pursuit, but the real battle ended in less than half an hour, the more than 50,000 Qin troops who entered Pengcheng in the west were almost all wiped out, Dong Ke and many other Qin generals were either captured or killed in battle, only a few cavalry escaped from the battlefield, and the rest of the army was either annihilated by the young marshal army or forced to be taken prisoner, and at the same time, the western city of Pengcheng, which the young marshal army had been forced to give up or voluntarily abandoned, almost all returned to Xiang Kang's clutches.

Before the sporadic battle was over, Xiang Kang had already rushed to Feng Zhong on horseback, and after meeting, Xiang Kang didn't say a word, and immediately smashed several punches on Feng Zhong's body, and then strangled Feng Zhong's neck, and asked viciously: "Tell me, how did you know that the Tyrannical Qin army would come here, and pulled your main force to Dangxian County early to wait for work?" ”

"Analyze, analyze." Feng Zhong said with a smile: "Although I don't know that the young marshal will force the Tyrannical Qin army to this step, but since the Tyrannical Qin army that was chased and killed by me fled to Xiangxian first, and abandoned the city and fled west before me, I think that the tyrannical Qin army in Xiangxian County will definitely send someone to contact Zhang Ping before abandoning the city and retreating, if Zhang Ping receives this news, he will definitely not go to Xiangxian again, and he will definitely not dare to go to Xiayi, which is still controlled by us, and will only come to Dangxian, so I will quickly take the main force to Dangxian first." ”

"Then you're not afraid that the tyrannical Qin army in Xiangxian County failed to contact Zhang Ping's puppet in time, and that puppet went to Xiangxian?" Xiang Kang asked curiously.

"It's okay, even if it happens." Feng Zhong said with a smile: "I asked Brother Xiang You to stay in Xiangxian with 4,000 troops, and told him that the Tyrannical Qin army was at the end of the road, so he immediately sent troops to intercept it, if the Tyrannical Qin army was strong, it was only allowed to defend the city, not to fight, and then the Tyrannical Qin army could not enter the city, and the supply of grain and grass could not be supplied, so it could only continue to enter Mangxian County, I only needed to keep in touch with Xiangxian at any time, and if I found that the Tyrannical Qin army was entering Xiangxian, I immediately pulled the main force to Mangxian, and I could still block the Tyrannical Qin army under Mangxian County." ”

"Yours!" Xiang Kang tightened tighter, and said with a smile: "When I was with you before, why didn't I find out that you have such a powerful ability, Senior Brother Feng?" I knew that you were so good at using soldiers, so I should have worshiped you as a general and asked you to lead troops to fight for me, so that I would have a lot more peace of mind. ”

Feng Zhong was begged for mercy by Xiang Kang, and he also peeked at the appearance of the soldiers surnamed Han several times, every time he wanted to say and stopped, and wanted to recommend the soldiers surnamed Han to Xiang Kang, but there was no way, everyone has selfish psychology, considering that if the soldiers surnamed Han were asked to leave by Xiang Kang, he would have any right-hand men to help in the future, Feng Zhong still closed his mouth and chose to hide one day at a time, and did not explain his hole cards to Xiang Kang.

Dangxian County is small, even the main force to accommodate Feng Zhong is very difficult, so while cleaning the battlefield, Xiang Kang had no choice but to let the army camp outside the city to rest, and at the same time, under the introduction of Feng Zhong, he met Chen Ying, who had volunteered to join the young marshal army with the army and territory, and Feng Zhong unearthed several rising stars of the young marshal army for himself in actual combat, and appeased them with kind words, and at the same time let people arrange a banquet in the newly established Chinese army tent to celebrate this great victory with the generals.

During this period, the soldiers surnamed Han, who were already familiar with Feng Zhong's faction, did not care about Feng Zhong's habitual repeated grabbing of merit, nor did they rush out to tell Xiang Kang that Feng Zhong's beautiful battles during this period were actually fought by himself, but he patiently took this opportunity to carefully observe Xiang Kang. Fortunately, the first impression of Xiang Kang, the soldier surnamed Han barely felt good, he had no shelf, he could treat the generals under Feng Zhong's command with courtesy, talk about Swen, and his cultural level was more than a little higher than that of Feng Zhong, who was born with authentic mud legs.

"Don't worry, let's take a look first." The soldier surnamed Han made up his mind and said secretly: "Anyway, he is just a young marshal, and he has a marshal Xiang Liang on his head, even if he is reused at this time, when Xiang Liang comes, I still have to prove myself in front of Xiang Liang." Instead of risking offending Feng Zhong at this time, it is better to patiently observe and see if the Xiang family's uncles and nephews are worthy of my assistance, and who is more worthy of my assistance. ”

When the soldiers surnamed Han quietly made up their minds about this, an accident happened, and someone outside the tent suddenly entered the account to report, saying that there was a riot in the prisoner of war camp, and some Qin prisoners launched a riot, forcing Ding Ji, who led the army to guard the prisoners of war, to kill the killer, and had killed some Qin prisoners to suppress the turmoil by force, Xiang Kang listened strangely and asked: "Why do the prisoners riot?" Is there a reason? ”

"Back to the young marshal, I heard that it was the tyrannical Qin captives who wanted to eat, and our rear army would not be able to cook for a while and a half, so the tyrannical Qin captives said that we would deliberately starve them and then execute them all, so there was a commotion." The messenger of Ding Jijun, who came to report the news, replied truthfully.

"These dog thieves!" Zhu Jishi scolded when he heard this, and said: "Young marshal, you don't need to be polite, anyway, they are all violent Qin dog thieves from Guanzhong, so just kill them all." ”

Several young marshal generals who hated the tyrannical Qin court echoed one after another, and they all felt that the Qin army prisoners captured this time were all from Guanzhong, and there was no need to have any mercy, rather than wasting food in vain to feed, it was better to slaughter them directly with a knife. Fortunately, Xiang Kang didn't listen to these bad ideas, and subconsciously remembered his cousin Xiang Yu's masterpiece in history - killing 200,000 Qin army prisoners, and the people of Guanzhong hated the old Xiang family to the core.

It was precisely because of Xiang Yu's bloody example, so after just a little thought, Xiang Kang quickly ordered: "General Chao Zhi, you take your headquarters to help Ding Ji, first control the prisoner of war camp, but don't kill people casually, I will immediately go and personally appease the prisoners of war." In addition, he told Ding Ji to give priority to controlling the prisoners of war and not to kill innocent people indiscriminately. ”

Chao Zhi received the order, and immediately went out of the tent to lead the army to dispatch, Xiang Kang said again: "Generals, it seems that we have to celebrate again in a while, everyone will go with me to take a look at the situation, if this matter is not handled well, it will definitely have a great impact on our future wars." ”

The generals agreed, and the soldiers surnamed Han also glanced at Xiang Kang, and said secretly: "Look at your ability, if this matter is not handled well, it will have a great impact on your war today, but if you handle it well, you will benefit immensely in the future." ”