In fact, compared with Xiang Yu, this time when he returned to the ranks of the Western Chu Army, the person Liu Laosan was most afraid of seeing was not Xiang Yu, who had been played by him more than once, but Xiang Yu and the Western Chu Army's honorific father-Fan Zengfan.

As for the reason, of course, it is very simple, Old Man Fan must not only have long been clear about the matter of Hangu Pass, but also must understand the real reason why Liu Laosan took the initiative to dedicate the rest of the land and city to the Western Chu Army, and he is far more treacherous and spicy than Xiang Yu, and he will definitely not be coaxed by Liu Laosan as a child like Xiang Yu.

And what's worse is that because of the influence of Xiang Kang's demon moth wings, Chen Ping, the number one lack of virtue at the end of Qin, never started to frame Old Man Fan, Old Man Fan is still very trusted by Xiang Yu, as long as he sends a casual sentence, as in history, he instigates Xiang Yu to kill Liu Laosan, Xiang Yu will definitely slaughter Liu Laosan without even blinking an eyelid, and even Master Xiang Boxiang may not be able to save Liu Laosan as in history.

That's not all, Old Man Fan, who is over seventy years old, is still a master who is not greedy for money and lustful, Liu Laosan wants to deal with him by dealing with Master Xiang Boxiang, but it can only be self-inflicted and counterproductive!

Because of this, as the main force of the Western Chu army withdrew to Pengcheng, he just saw Old Man Fan, Liu Laosan immediately bowed his head, respectfully and respectfully called Ya Father, and was more polite and polite to Old Man Fan than Xiang Yu, not to mention, and kept beating drums in his heart, for fear that Old Man Fan would look at him unpleasantly, investigate the previous matter, and give away his life in a word.

Fortunately, for various reasons and considerations, Old Man Fan chose to forgive Liu Laosan temporarily, picked up Liu Laosan with his own hands, and held Liu Laosan's hand to talk and laugh, and praised Liu Laosan for taking the initiative to offer land and land, and patted Liu Laosan on the shoulder and asked Liu Laosan to serve Xiang Yu loyally, and joined forces with the ministers of Western Chu to assist Xiang Yu in achieving the great cause, Liu Laosan hurriedly agreed, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said secretly: "The most difficult level has finally passed, and the next thing for this king can be done." ”

Because the Western Chu army entered the hinterland of Yingchuan this time and got a lot of money and grain benefits, and expanded the territory in reputation, so since the beginning of the Chu-Han War, Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng City for the first time in the Chu song celebrating the victory, and his heart was naturally more comfortable than usual, plus after half a year of repair and reconstruction, the Western Chu palace that was burned down by Peng Yue and Feng Zhong has also been completely new, and Xiang Yu, who has not lived in the palace for a long time, is of course even more happy in his heart, Immediately, he ordered a banquet to be held in the rebuilt Western Chu palace to celebrate that the Western Chu army had finally taken advantage of the Han army this time.

Silk and bamboo singing and dancing, orchid paste and bright candles, far more luxurious than the Han army court banquet banquet, Xiang Yu, who was finally not pitted by the scum cousin, was in a very good mood, and the Western Chu army frequently exchanged cups and lamps, most of the Western Chu army civil and military were also flattering, and repeatedly praised Xiang Yu's brilliant victory this time, Leng beat Xiang Kang so that he did not dare to move, and was forced to adjust the overall strategy, and wished Xiang Yu to conquer Xianyang as soon as possible, capture and kill Xiang Kang's traitors, and enjoy Xiang Yu's monarchs and ministers.

Of course, there are also discordant pictures, at least the smiles on the faces of Old Man Fan, Kuai Che and Han Sheng and other strategists of the Western Chu Army make people see that they are obviously pretended, and Old Man Fan, the de facto number two person of the Western Chu Army, is still distracted from time to time, and he didn't even notice that Xiang Yu took the initiative to invite him to raise a glass together, but he came back to his senses under Han Sheng's pull and reminder, and hurriedly drank with Xiang Yu. As a result, even Xiang Yu saw that something was wrong, and took the initiative to ask, "Father, what's wrong?" What do you seem to have on your mind? ”

"Nope." Old man Fan hurriedly shook his head and said, "The old minister has nothing on his mind, the old minister is just thinking about what the thief will do next, so he is distracted, please forgive the king." ”

"It's hard to be happy, why do you think about all those troubles?" Xiang Yu said in a big way: "Father rest assured, there is no need to worry about what the thieves will do next, it is their luck that the thieves dare not take the initiative, if they dare to take the initiative, this king will kill them cleanly!" ”

Old man Fan nodded with a strong smile, but said in his heart: "After all, it is still not as brainy as your cousin, if you don't prepare for a rainy day, if the thief suddenly makes a move, I'm afraid that it will be too late for us to react." ”

Old man Fan's words became a prophecy, and not a few days after Xiang Yu returned to Pengcheng with the main force of the Western Chu army, Huan Chu, the general of the Western Chu army, sent someone to send an urgent report from Dingtao, saying that the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han army sent 15,000 troops from Puyang and launched an attack on Zhencheng in the east of Puyang. As a result, Xiang Yu didn't hesitate, and immediately shouted: "Give Huan Chu an order, tell him to immediately send troops to meet the attack, and be sure to kill all the thieves!" ”

"My lord, I'm afraid this matter will have to be discussed carefully." Old man Fan hurriedly said: "General Huan Chu only has a total of more than 30,000 troops in his hands, but the strength of Zheng Bu's troops against him is nearly 60,000. ”

"Afraid of what?" Xiang Yu said angrily: "The decisive battle will be the decisive battle, it's a big deal that the king personally led the army to reinforce Huan Chu, and I am afraid that he Zheng Bu will not succeed." ”

"I knew you would say that, you wouldn't be willing to toss our last main force away." Old Man Fan muttered in his heart, but for the sake of Xiang Yu's dignity and face, of course Old Man Fan didn't say this, but just suggested: "King, if it's not like this, gather our main civil and military forces, brainstorm ideas, and discuss how to deal with this situation." ”

Of course, Xiang Yu didn't want to bother so much, but he couldn't resist Old Man Fan's repeated persuasion, Xiang Yu still nodded reluctantly, Old Man Fan was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered Xiang Yu to convene the main civil and military gathering of the Western Chu Army. ”

"Father, why do you still name Han Xin's crotch boy to also come to our court meeting?" Xiang Yu asked a little unhappily: "His identity is also worthy of participating in such an important court meeting?" Besides, you don't know about his situation, suspicious! ”

"King, Han Xin's matter is clearly a shameless discord between Xiang Kang's traitors, give him a chance." Old man Fan persuaded: "Before, he advised you to enter the hinterland of Yingchuan, and the traitors not only did not dare to move, but also forced to adjust the overall strategy. ”

For the sake of Old Man Fan's face, Xiang Yu didn't say much, and then according to Old Man Fan's instructions, Ji Bu, Xiang Zhuang and Kui Che and other important civil and military forces of the Western Chu Army quickly gathered, Liu Laosan also happily came to the Western Chu Palace with Han Xin, who had no expression, and bowed respectfully to Xiang Yu, but Xiang Yu still still couldn't look at Han Xin, who had drilled through the butcher's crotch, and deliberately did not let people sit for Han Xin, so that Han Xin stood behind Liu Laosan to participate in this military meeting.

After Xiang Yu told everyone about the situation, the civil and military voices of the Western Chu army attending the meeting all thought that there was no need to make a big fight for such a small county as Zhencheng, so that the Huan Chu Department of the Western Chu Army, which was greatly injured, and the Zheng Bu Corps of the Han Army took the risk of a decisive battle, and they all felt that it was enough to let Huan Chu decide for himself how to reinforce Zhencheng, even if he really lost Zhencheng, it would not be a big deal, and he would just take it back when he counterattacked in the future.

In this regard, the fanatical militant Xiang Yu was of course full of displeasure, but what made Xiang Yu even more unhappy was that after seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Han Xin, a child under his crotch, also spoke cheekily, and said quite arrogantly: "King, Father, adults, don't you think it's very strange? Zhencheng is just a small county town, there is not much money, food and materials, and the geographical location is not important, why did the Han thieves send 15,000 troops to attack such an inconsequential small city? Isn't this a knife to kill a chicken, and empty labor and military strength? ”

"Needless to say?" Ji Bu said angrily: "Of course the Han thieves want to besiege the city and send reinforcements, luring General Huan Chu to start a decisive battle with them?" ”

"A thief can be so brainless?" Han Xin laughed and said, "Or does the thief think that General Huan will be so brainless and will launch a middle-lane decisive battle with them for the sake of an innocuous small county in Zhencheng?" Or ignore our Dingtao Town? ”

Ji Bu was speechless, and Old Man Fan asked very calmly: "General Han, in your opinion, why did the Han thieves send so many troops to attack Zhencheng County?" ”

"Of course, it is to open up direct contact with Peng Yue's thief army." Han Xin replied lightly: "After taking Zhencheng, and then taking the Duguan next to it, the Han thieves can open up the road contact with the Peng Yue thief army, and then the Han thief's military weapons and grain and grass baggage can be directly handed over to the Peng Yue thief army, with the Han thief's ordnance, money and food support, the Peng Yue thief army, who is good at wandering, can make a comeback, and form a direct threat to our hinterland." ”

Before Han Xin's words were finished, Old Man Fan, Kuai Che and other clear-eyed people had already changed their faces, and then Old Man Fan hurriedly nodded and said: "It makes sense, as long as the thief helps Peng Yue to solve the problem of grain and grass weapons, with the ability of this thief, he will indeed soon be able to pose a threat to our hinterland, so that we will continue to live in peace day and night." ”

I had personally fought with Peng Yue, and I knew how difficult Peng Yue was and how capable he was, so when he heard this, Xiang Yu's heart suddenly tightened, and he hurriedly said: "We must not let the Han thieves get their wish, we must increase our troops in the Zhencheng area as soon as possible, cut off the contact between the Han thieves and the Peng Yue thief army, and strive to kill the Peng Yue thief army as soon as possible." ”

"King, I'm afraid it's hard to do this." Han Xin replied: "Let's not talk about whether we are still in time to increase our troops in Zhencheng, even if we have time, deploying heavy troops in the area of Zhencheng, where the geographical location is not important, will only waste our mobile forces, and then it is possible that we will be gradually lured by Han thieves to increase our troops and fall into strategic passivity." ”

"What should we do in your opinion?" Old man Fan asked without moving.

"Back to Ya Father, the last general feels that there is no need to go all out to prevent the Han thieves from opening up contact with Peng Yue's thief army, and the matter of Zhencheng can be handed over to General Huan Chu to deal with by himself, and it will be as long as he can stop it." Han Shin replied, "The Admiral believes that we should prepare for the next step and the next step of the overall strategy, so that we can prevent accidents." ”

Of course, Old Man Fan likes to hear this, so Old Man Fan hurriedly asked, "Then how should we take precautions?" ”

"Assemble troops in Xue County in advance, prepare for battle, and wait for work so that you can meet the Peng Yue thief army in the future!"

Han Xin's tone was calm, and he said: "The last general can conclude that once the Han thieves have opened up contact with the Peng Yue thief army and provided food and grass for the Peng Yue thief army, Xiang Kang traitors will definitely order the Peng Yue thief army to invade Xue County in a big way, as for the reason, the Peng Yue thief army entering Xue County can not only effectively weaken our national strength, but also interfere with or even cut off our smooth communication with Qi Di, and indirectly support the Han thief Zhou Shu's troops to enter Qi Di, and when we are forced to send troops to rescue Qi Di in the future, It can also contain and harass our reinforcements to the north, and cooperate with the operations of the Han thieves on the northern front. ”

"So, we don't need to let the thieves lead the way." Han Xin continued: "You only need to take precautions and gather an army with sufficient strength in Xue County in advance, so that when the Peng Yue thief army is ordered to march east, you can meet the head attack with ease and wait for work, and strangle the Peng Yue thief army that has just recovered a little vitality." And in the next step, once there is a change in Qidi, we can also mobilize the nearby Xue Jun army to the north to reinforce and block the northern line of the Han thieves from taking Qidi in the east! ”

Old man Fan smiled, smiled very happily, and said: "General Han, no wonder Pei Gong will let so many heroes and generals when he was the king of Nanyang, but he promoted you to the general of Nanyang State, and no wonder Xiang Kang traitors will take such pains to target you, the old man used to feel a little strange, but now the old man understands that when you were under the king's account in the past, it turned out that the king and the old man looked away from you." ”

After praising Han Xin in a different way, Old Man Fan did not hesitate, and immediately turned to Xiang Yu and said, "King, General Han Xin's plan is very clever. Yes, in the current situation, even if we still hope to be able to block the Han thieves from opening up contact with the Peng Yue thief army, we must station a large number of troops in the west of Juyeze, wasting our large number of mobile troops. Rather than this, it is better to gather troops in Xue County first, and prepare to meet Peng Yue's thief army, and at the same time, if there is a sudden change in Qi Land, we can also transfer troops north to reinforce Tian Jiao and Tian Da in Xue County, which is far better than us transferring troops from Peng Cheng to the north. ”

Xiang Yu pondered and asked, "Father, are you sure that the Peng Yue thief army will definitely enter Xue County in a big way?" If the Peng Yue thief army is still as before, it will focus on harassing the Donghai Avenue that we are connected with Dingtao. ”

"Absolutely not." Old man Fan replied confidently: "Even if Peng Yue's traitor wants to do this, Xiang Kang's traitor will definitely not agree, because before this, the main force of our army was concentrated on the Xingyang battlefield, and Peng Yue's thief army harassed our Dongkaidao, but it could be of great help to Xiang Kang's traitor." ”

"But the situation is completely different, the main force of our army has withdrawn to Pengcheng to recuperate, and General Huan Chu has hoarded a large amount of grain and grass in Dingtao Jiancheng early, no matter how Peng Yue's thief army harasses the Donghai Avenue in the south of Juyeze, it will not affect the overall situation. Xiang Kang's traitors will never pay money and food to feed Peng Yue's thief army in vain, only by letting Peng Yue's thief army invade Xue County in a big way, and indirectly cooperating with the Han thief Zhou Shu's troops to march into Qidi, is it most in line with the strategic interests of Xiang Kang's traitors, so the old man can be sure that once the Han thieves open up the contact with Peng Yue's thief army, the next offensive direction of Peng Yue's thief army will only be our Xue County! ”

After that, Old Man Fan added another sentence and said: "Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if Peng Yue's traitor refuses to obey Xiang Kang's traitor's order, or if he finds out in advance that we have gathered heavy troops in Xue County and wait for him to come to his door to die, and dare not make any moves, we will gather the army in Xue County in advance, and we can also go north to rescue Qi at any time, so as not to waste time and give the Han thieves an opportunity to attack Qi Di." ”

Xiang Yu, who is not good at taking precautions, is still a little hesitant, but he can't resist the repeated persuasion of old man Fan, Kuai Che and Han Sheng and other strategists, plus Master Xiang Boxiang didn't jump out to make trouble, Xiang Yu thought about it for a long time, and finally nodded reluctantly and said: "Well, since Father Ya thinks that this should be done, then arrange it like this, Zhen Cheng's side, leave it to Huan Chu to deal with it himself, gather troops in Xue County in advance, and prepare to clean up Peng Yue's traitor!" ”

Xiang Kang expected, before Xiang Yu's words fell, Liu Laosan couldn't wait to jump up, and took the initiative to ask: "King, let the ministers go down, when the ministers raised troops in Pei County, they had a long time in the territory of Xue County, and they knew the situation in Xue County very well, and they were also very familiar with the situation around Juyeze, so let the ministers go to Xue County to prepare to meet the Peng Yue thief army, as long as the Peng Yue thief army really dared to enter the hinterland of Xue County eastward, the ministers would keep and kill him without leaving a piece of armor!" ”

Fortunately, this time it was expected by Lou Jing, and before Liu Laosan finished speaking, Ji Bu, Ding Gu and Wu Dian and other generals of the Western Chu army had already changed their faces, and they immediately refuted, thinking that Liu Laosan, who had just returned to Xiang Yu's account, was not qualified to lead the Xue County army alone, Xiang Yu was also a little disdainful, and said: "Don't be busy, first discuss how to assemble the army in Xue County, and who to send to Xue County to command the troops, this king should think carefully." ”

"Your Majesty obeys." Liu Laosan was a little embarrassed to clasp his fists and sing a promise, but said in his heart: "This is an opportunity, this king must seize it!" As long as he can go to Xue County to lead the troops, he will definitely be able to go north to Qi for reinforcements in the future, and when he arrives in Qi and is far away from Xiang Yu, this king will have hope to make a comeback. ”

Because Old Man Fan had already recruited and trained a group of reserves for Xiang Yu before this, the problem of how to mobilize the army to assemble in Xue County first was very easy to solve. However, after solving this problem, Old Man Fan made another difficulty, and said secretly: "Who will the Lord send to Xue County to command the troops?" It is definitely not possible for the king to go in person, Ji Bu is a choice, but the main army is inseparable from a fierce general like him, and he is rigid in fighting, especially not good at maneuvering, and Peng Yue, who is more cunning than a fox, will definitely suffer. ”

"Ding Gu? No, this puppet is too greedy and selfish, and he is not a general. Wu Dian is even worse, not as brave as Ji Bu, but also more rigid than Ji Bu. Zhou Lan is not qualified enough, and the last time he led the army to pursue Peng Yue's traitors alone, he was also led by Peng Yue's thieves. Wang Fen, Dongfang Tai and Zheng Mi are more junior and unreliable. The children of the Xiang family ....... ”

When he was forced to consider letting the children of the Xiang family command the army alone, Old Man Fan once again found that compared with Xiang Kang, Xiang Yu was too good at employing people and cultivating generals, during the period of the young marshal's army, Xiang Kang treated the generals with foreign surnames and the children of the Xiang family equally, and sometimes deliberately handed over the dirty work to the children of the Xiang family. Xiang Guan, Xiang Sui and others have also become promising young marshals and capable generals.

But after Xiang Yu took charge of the army, the situation was completely different, what kind of good positions were beautiful, fat, and oily, all of them were arranged to the children of the Xiang family, although the children of the Xiang family enjoyed a good life that was far more comfortable than when they were in the young marshal army, but it also led to the corruption and degeneration of the children of the Xiang family, unwilling to endure hardships and sin anymore, and rose to the occasion, and even Xiang Zhuang, who was once on a par with Xiang Kang and Xiang Yu, was used by Xiang Yu as an ordinary general who would only obey his orders, and no longer had any opportunity to be in charge of his own training. Now let him take on the heavy responsibility of Xue Jun alone, of course, Old Man Fan will not dare to rest assured no matter what.

Shaking his head helplessly, after putting these regretful things aside, and continuing to consider the selection of the commander of Xue Jun's partial division, Liu Laosan of course jumped into the head of Old Man Fan - he has enough experience in commanding troops, and his ability to take charge alone is not to be said, his combat style is flexible, he is good at appeasing the people, and he is also good at fighting bitter and vicious battles......

"Do you want to give this puppet another chance? If this puppet is as ambitious as before, it will be difficult for the tail to do this? ”

It also happened that when Old Man Fan was solemnizing Liu Laosan, in the evening of the same day, his guards suddenly came to report, saying that it was Liu Laosan's brother-in-law Lu Shizhi and Lu Jia and others from the old department, with more than 300 old troops of the Nanyang Army, came all the way to Pengcheng to join Liu Laosan, Old Man Fan didn't mind when he heard it, just said casually: "Just screen your identity, don't pay attention to it." ”

When the guards sang the promise, Old Man Fan's heart moved again, and he hurriedly asked, "Wait, did Lu Shizhi and Lu Jia bring any vehicles carrying goods?" ”

"Father, how do you know?" The guard's face was full of surprise, and he said, "Bring it, there are more than a dozen vehicles in their team that are specialized in pulling goods." ”

"Humph!" Old Man Fan snorted heavily, sneered and muttered, "No wonder you want to send Lu Jia to help Liji take over the land city, Xiang Bo, that shameless puppet, will definitely be able to make a fortune again." ”

After sneering, Old Man Fan finally made up his mind, and said secretly: "If nothing else, Xiang Uncle Pifu will definitely help Liu Ji speak, okay, let Xiang Zhuang go, let Liu Ji Pifu give him a hand, and tell Xiang Zhuang not to let him lead the army alone, so that he can not only give full play to the strengths and advantages of this horseman, but also prevent him from messing around like before." ”