Thanks to the blessing of Surabaya, the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun, who fled north for many days like a lost dog, can finally stop and rest temporarily on the north bank of Surabaya, the West Chu army in the south is because of the Surabaya road, and the second is also exhausted because of the continuous rapid march, and has no strength to launch a rush operation, no matter how sorry and unwilling, they can only watch Feng Zhongjun sleep overnight on the north bank, and there is nothing to do about Feng Zhongjun for the time being.

The soldiers were really tired, even though Feng Zhongjun was known for his tenacity and tenacity in the ranks of the Western Chu Army, after the rest order was issued, countless Feng Zhongjun soldiers still immediately fell asleep with their weapons in their hands, many of them still had unchewed dry food in their mouths, and there were water hyacinths around them that had opened the plug but had not had time to take a sip, and they were just asleep with thunderous snoring, including many generals.

Feng Zhong himself was so tired that he was shaking when he walked, and his whole body was so sore that it was as if his bones had fallen apart, but even so, Feng Zhong still gritted his teeth and decided to lead the army to guard the ferry first, and then went to visit the Han army's family, and then sat on the high ground of the camp, rubbing his sore muscles, while trying to keep his eyes open, carefully guarding against the Western Chu army on the south bank suddenly launching a rush to cross, and at the same time he had been pondering a key question in his heart......

"Is what Ding Gu Lao Pifu said just now true or false? Do we still have any hope of retreating from the West? ”

Prior to this, of course, Feng Zhong also sent scouts to the west to investigate the situation, but Feng Zhongjun's scouts and war horses were also exhausted, and it was unrealistic to expect the scouts who had been exhausted to the extreme to quickly send accurate news, and at the same time, this pursuit battle was a movement war, and the enemy situation could change at any time, even if the scouts could confirm that there was no enemy in Xuanqiu, no one dared to guarantee that the situation would not be like Zou County.

In addition, Feng Zhong, who had fought with Xiang Liang in the northwest of Xue County, had to worry about another important question, that is, even if Feng Zhongjun was lucky enough to cross the Qiuqiu and advance westward? Can they successfully cross the two major rivers of Jishui and Wenshui and cross the complex terrain in the north of Juyeze under the front and rear pursuit of the Western Chu army?

After all, Feng Zhong had only been to the area around Junoze once, and he had very little understanding of the complex roads and terrain around Junoze, and it was not impossible for him to accidentally walk into a dead end that could not be turned back if he was a little unlucky.

"It would be nice if Peng Yue was still here, he was the head snake who started in Juyeze."

After sighing secretly, Feng Zhong could only take out the map he brought from Pengcheng and study whether he could find other safer ways to break through, but unfortunately, no matter which road it was, it was full of dangers and dangers, and the terrain of the road in the west was complicated, even if he was lucky enough to rush over, it was still under the control of the Western Chu army, and he still couldn't get rid of the danger of being blocked and chased by the Western Chu army.

It is easy to march north along the Chi Road, and there is no city garrison controlled by the Western Chu Army to stop it, but it must pass through Boyang City, the capital of the Jibei Army, and the Jibei Wang Tian, who is subject to Xiang Yu, will never give way to let go, and walking along the Chi Road is also a dead end.

The Yimeng Mountains to the east are definitely not blocked by the enemy, but the terrain there is more complicated than the surroundings of Juyeze, there are deep mountains and old forests everywhere, and there is no way to guarantee grain and grass, Feng Zhong is even more ignorant of the terrain and roads there, and the possibility of walking into a dead end will only be greater than going west, so unless it is a last resort, Feng Zhong will definitely not dare to take the Han army's family to venture there.

After studying and studying, there was still a glimmer of hope in the west, and Feng Zhong's heart was gradually inclined to continue to venture westward, but the voice of Li Shiqi, an important minister of the Han army, suddenly came from beside him, and asked, "General Feng, are you still thinking about what we should do next?" ”

Feng Zhong nodded and admitted, first invited Li Shiqi to sit down on the ground, and then told Li Shiqi about the situation that Ding Gu had voluntarily leaked to him, as well as his own plans, not only to relieve the pressure in his heart, but also to solicit Li Shiqi's opinions. However, after hearing Feng Zhong's plan to continue his adventure to the west, Li Shiqi frowned and said, "General Feng, isn't it too risky? Let's not say that Ding Gu Pifu's words may not be false, even if he is just intimidating you, there is actually no enemy in Xuanqiu, we have successfully passed Xuanqiu, and it is difficult to hope that we can successfully cross Jishui and Wenshui under the pursuit of the Western Chu thief army? ”

"Especially Jishui." Li Shiqi added: "The river there is wide and large, there is no fixed bridge, we can only rely on boats or pontoon bridges to cross the river, as long as we delay a little time, not only may we be caught up by the Western Chu thief army immediately, but the Western Chu thief army in the surrounding Zhangxian, Xuchang and Fanyang will also immediately send troops to stop us, and when the time comes, as long as they block the ferry, we will immediately be wiped out." ”

"I know that, too." Feng Zhong replied helplessly: "But we don't have any choice other than this path. ”

"Not necessarily." Li Shiqi's answer made Feng Zhong stunned, and then Li Shiqi surprised Feng Zhong even more and said: "The old man thinks that only by continuing to go north should be our only way to live." ”

"Is Mr. Li joking?" Feng Zhong said in great surprise: "Don't you know that the old gentleman in the north of Jibei Wangtian is Xiang Yu's people, and Boyang is still his national capital, so there must be heavy guards stationed there. ”

"General Feng misunderstood, the old man didn't want you to go to Boyang along the Chi Road, but suggested that you take this road."

Li Shiqi shook his head, and then drew the route on the map with his finger and said: "From here in Lu County, go directly north to Gangting on the bank of the Wenshui River, cross Wenshui in Gangting, then go north to Suiji, then go north to Lu County, cross Jishui in Lu County, and then find a way to go west back to Dongjun." ”

Feng Zhongyi's mouth opened wide and said in surprise: "Take the path north to Lu County to cross the water?" What should I do if the Jibei thief army sends troops to intercept it? ”

"Do you still have a surplus army to intercept us?" Li Shiqi asked rhetorically and said, "Has General Feng forgotten?" Previously, Xiang Yu had asked Tiandu Pifu to send 50,000 troops to assist Zhou Yin Pifu in reinforcing the thief army of Zhao State, Tiandu Pifu's territory was only a county in Jibei, and he sent 50,000 troops to reinforce Zhao State, how many troops could he have left? Even if there are some troops left, they must be stationed in Boyang to defend the national capital and prevent local rebellions, and how many troops can he still have stationed in remote cities like Luxian and Suiji, and how can they possibly pose a threat to us? ”

"Take a step back." Li Shiqi continued: "Even if that puppet in Tiandu is really loyal to Xiang Yu and dispatches his army stationed in the national capital to pursue us, he must first find out our movements before he can send troops, and when he confirms our movements and then send troops to pursue, we have already gone far, and where is the time and opportunity for him to pursue and intercept us?" ”

Feng Zhong patted his forehead, and then remembered that before he led the army anyway, Xiang Yu had indeed forced Tian Du to send 50,000 troops to reinforce Zhao State, and Tian Du, who was small and thin, must not be able to station too many troops to guard the place now, as long as he avoided Boyang City, the capital of the Jibei Army, the possibility of being blocked by a large force of the Jibei Army was indeed very small, and even if Tian Du made a move, when he received the news and reacted, he would have already thrown the Jibei Army away.

Discovering this way of life, Feng Zhong was of course very determined, and quickly discussed with Li Shiqi carefully how to break through to the north, and soon decided to send an army to go first, rush to Gangting to collect boats to build a pontoon bridge, and at the same time leave an army to guard the Luxian ferry to prevent Ding Gu from crossing the river too quickly to pursue, and buy time for the main force to cross the river. As for the difficulty of taking the path, of course Feng Zhong and Li Shiqi didn't think about it - anyway, there was no way to go west, and since they were going to take the path, they would definitely have to go in the safest direction.

It was after the second watch of the night, the scouts who went west to investigate came back to report, which proved that Ding Gu's words during the day were indeed not false words and intimidation, and in the evening, there was indeed a Western Chu army rushed to the river in Xiaqiu, and blocked Feng Zhongjun's westward road, but fortunately, the Western Chu army was also obviously very tired, and rested on the spot while crossing the river, and did not take the initiative to come east to attack Feng Zhongjun, but chose to wait for the rabbit in Xianqiu, waiting for Feng Zhongjun's westward march to die.

Confirming this, while worrying about the situation of Peng Yue's army, Feng Zhong did not dare to slack off, and asked the old man of the young marshal army Wei Bugen to lead the army first, and rushed to Gangting to open the way during the fifth watch, and the main force set off to the north at the fifth watch, and followed the front army to Gangting at full speed north, leaving only Xu Ci to lead two thousand troops to the rear of the palace, and to delay the pursuit speed of the Western Chu army as much as possible.

The real test has just begun, although all unnecessary baggage and light marching have been abandoned, and the soldiers have rested for more than ten hours to recover a certain amount of strength, but after leaving the gallop and taking the small road, Feng Zhongjun's difficulty has more than doubled, and on many seriously damaged road sections, the Han army's family can only get out of the car and walk, so as to reduce the burden on the horses. Fortunately, whether it is the family members of the Han army or the soldiers of Feng Zhongjun, they all know what will happen once they fall into the hands of the Western Chu army, so no matter how hard it is, there are still few complaints in Feng Zhongjun's team, and most of the people are trying to grit their teeth and go north, not daring to waste half of their time.

During this period, luck was once again on Feng Zhongjun's side, because it was determined that Feng Zhongjun had fallen into a desperate situation, and he failed to find that Feng Zhongjun's brigade had secretly withdrawn at the first time, and when it was dawn, even if it was found that Feng Zhongjun's brigade had left the north bank of Surabaya, the equally exhausted Western Chu Army's Ding Gu Department did not rush to launch a rush to pursue, but chose to continue to rest, patiently waiting for Feng Zhongjun's rear team guarding the ferry to retreat and leave on its own.

In the end, it was the Western Chu Army Zhou Lan's department that crossed the river in Xianqiu that was the first to discover that something was wrong-why did Feng Zhongjun's brigade leave the Luxian ferry, but did not come west? After discovering this situation through scout exploration, Zhou Lan did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly led the army to the east to kill, Xu Ci, who commanded the rear team of Feng Zhong's army, did not dare to fight, so he could only hurry to the north with the army, and at this moment, the time was already around the afternoon of the same day! Zhou Lan, who confirmed the direction of the Han army's retreat, shouted bitterly, so he had to quickly lead the army north to pursue, and Ding Gu also scolded and hurriedly crossed the river to pursue, and chased after Zhou Lanjun to Gangting one after another.

It was late, in the early morning of the next day, when Zhou Lan led the army to chase Gangting, Feng Zhongjun's main brigade had all crossed Wenshui, and then under the cover of the main force's bow and arrow, the rear team led by Xu Ci also quickly withdrew through Wenshui, and then needless to say, the long-awaited Feng Zhongjun soldiers immediately cut off the pontoon bridge at the first time, once again temporarily cut off the pursuit road of the Western Chu army, and once again won the precious time to rest across the river, Zhou Lan also beat his chest on the south bank of Wenshui like Ding Gu, but he was also helpless.

Then, when Ding Gu also chased the army to Gangting, Zhou Lan immediately started a dog-eat-dog with Ding Gu, Ding Gu accused Zhou Lan of poor pursuit, allowing Feng Zhongjun to successfully slip away, Zhou Lan angrily scolded Ding Gu for being negligent, and failed to find out as soon as possible that Feng Zhongjun was fleeing in the direction of due north without hindrance, and threatened to report the situation to Xiang Yu, and let Xiang Yu clean up Ding Gu.

In contrast, of course, Ding Gu was more at a loss, so after calming down a little, Ding Gu could only change his tune and admit defeat, saying: "Brother Zhou, don't fight, this matter is indeed my fault, I was too careless, I thought that Feng Zhong Pifu would only walk along the gallop road or flee west, but I didn't expect him to go directly north to Gangting, it was my fault." However, the most important thing for us at the moment is how to catch up with Feng Zhong as soon as possible and capture the family of the Han thief, otherwise if we really let Feng Zhong, the horseman, run away with the family of the Han thief, the king will pursue it, and you and I will not be able to get rid of it. ”

Seeing Ding Gu admit defeat, Zhou Lan also suppressed her anger a little, and changed her tone and asked, "Then you say, how should we chase after us?" ”

"Jibei is empty, and it is definitely unrealistic to expect the Jibei Army to stop Feng Zhong's traitors head-on." Ding Gu analyzed with a tactical mind: "If we just blindly pursue, it will be difficult to catch up with Feng Zhong's thief army directly, and if we are a little unlucky, it is possible for Feng Zhongpifu to find a hole in our defense line and escape to Puyang to join the main force of the Han thieves, so the best way is that we should divide our troops into two ways, one way to be responsible for the pursuit, and all the way to the place where the Han thieves are most likely to break through to intercept." ”

"Where are the thieves most likely to intercept?" Zhou Lan asked.

"It's absolutely impossible to go west or north." Ding Gu continued to analyze: "Therefore, the most likely direction for Feng Zhongpifu to break through should be to directly go west to Xuchang and cross Jishui, or take advantage of the opportunity of the emptiness of the hinterland of the Jibei Army to directly go north to Luxian County and cross Jishui to the north, and then turn around and flee westward in the direction of Liping and Dong'e. ”

Recalling the map of this area, Zhou Lan nodded, and asked again: "Where is the thief most likely to escape?" ”

"It should be Liping and Dong'a." Ding Gu replied: "Jishui is already wide and deep and difficult to cross, and there are many cities in the area of Xuchang, so it is easy for us to gather an army to prevent the Han thieves from crossing the river, and with the cunning of Feng Zhongpifu, the possibility of crossing the river from there is very small." And as long as we send fast horses to contact Suchang, we will soon be able to gather an army to prevent the Han thieves from crossing the river. On the contrary, if the Han thieves choose to cross the Jishui in the north of Lu County, they will undoubtedly have a much greater certainty, so I think we should focus on preventing the Han thieves from breaking through in Dong'e, because even if the Han thieves cross Jishui in Lu County, they must pass through Dong'e to flee eastward. ”

Zhou Lan nodded slowly, and pondered for a moment before saying: "I am responsible for going to Dong'a to block the Han thieves, and by the way, organizing the army to block the Han thieves in Suchang, you are responsible for pursuing the Han thieves, and on the Tiandu side, I will also send someone to contact him immediately, and ask him to send troops to help chase and kill the Han thieves." ”

"Brother Zhou is calculating." Ding Gu said with a dry smile: "From here to Dong'e, along the way are our city land, grain and grass supply is easy, chasing into Jibei County not only has to be led by the Han thief, grain and grass supply is even more difficult, there is a danger of starvation at any time, Brother Zhou will pick it." ”

"Would you like to?" Zhou Lan asked with a cold snort.

"Yes, yes." Ding Gu, who had been at a loss before, hurriedly agreed with a smile on his face, and then said viciously: "Shaft, give you some color and open a dyeing workshop, and see how the old man cleans you up in the future!" ”

In order to save time, Zhou Lan immediately took his army to the west, and hurried from the south bank of Wenshui to Taoting and Wuyan, but seeing this situation on the north bank of Wenshui, Li Shiqi's face suddenly became a little gloomy, and he couldn't help but say to Feng Zhong next to him: "The Western Chu thief army divides its troops to the west, whether it is to Taoting to cross the river to pursue, or to Xuchang to intercept us from crossing the river, we don't have to be afraid." I'm afraid that the Western Chu thief army, which is dividing its troops to advance westward, will rush to Dong'e first and completely cut off our westward road, then we will be in big trouble. ”