In broad daylight, considering that the Qin army was suddenly preparing to retreat such a big move, of course, it was impossible to hide it from the eyes of the scouts of the young marshal's army, but it was a pity, because of the lack of experience, coupled with the fact that the Qin army directly abandoned the entire camp in order to speed up the retreat, the scouts of the young marshal army could not immediately judge that the Qin army was preparing to abandon the camp and retreat, and the first thing to report to Xiang Kang was that there was an unexplained commotion in the Qin army's camp, which misled Xiang Kang and failed to respond in time, and missed the best opportunity to assemble the army in time to prepare for war.

In the end, when he saw the vehicles of the Qin army assembling in the camp from a distance, and when he saw the Qin army fleet on the east bank of Surabaya beginning to approach the west bank, the scouts of the young marshal army realized that the Qin army was preparing to cross the river and retreat, and hurriedly returned to the city and reported the news to Xiang Kang. As a result, Xiang Kang, who was thinking about how to force Chao Zhi to surrender, immediately jumped up when he heard this, and shouted in great surprise: "The violent Qin army directly abandoned the camp and crossed the river to retreat? How can it be? Chao straightened that puppet without a head? At this time, even if he doesn't lose his head, he will be sent to Lishan to be a prisoner?! ”

"Xiang It, quickly, blow up the account, let our army assemble, let Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan and Xiang Sheng come here immediately!"

Xiang Kang is also a very quick person, without waiting for others to answer his question, he already realized that his exclamation was just a waste of time, and hurriedly opened his mouth to order the promotion of the troops, or after Xiang He hurriedly went out to command Xiang Kang's personal soldiers to blow up the account, Xiang Kang asked the scout who came to report the news: "Have you seen it clearly?" All the vehicles of the Tyrant Qin army have indeed been assembled into a line? Could it be that the watermill is preparing to go to the river to prepare to carry water? ”

"Returning to the young marshal, you can see clearly that all the vehicles of the Tyrannical Qin army have indeed been assembled." The scout replied truthfully, and said: "And the little one also saw with his own eyes that there were still many things on the vehicles of the Tyrannical Qin army, but they were too far away to see what was loaded. ”

"Continue to explore again, and report back immediately if there is any movement!" Xiang Kang drank again, and the scout sang the promise and left, but after the scout left, Xiang Kang turned to Zhou Zeng next to him and asked, "Uncle Ya, what do you think?" ”

"I don't know much about military affairs, so I don't dare to speculate." Zhou Zeng was very cautious to explain that he didn't dare to make a conclusion, and then said: "But I think that if the Tyrannical Qin army is really preparing to withdraw, then there should only be two possibilities, one is to take the county order to order Chao Zhi to lead the army to retreat, and Chao Zhi has to comply for some reason, and the other is that the Tyrannical Qin army has changed commanders on the spot, Chao Zhi has been replaced by others, and the Tyrannical Qin army is ready to retreat under the leadership of others." Otherwise, with Chao Zhi's record in this expedition, even if he borrowed ten guts, he would not dare to lead the army to retreat without authorization! ”

"So which one is the most likely?" Xiang Kang asked thoughtfully.

After deducing and analyzing from the perspective of the officials of the Qin Dynasty, Zhou Zeng replied: "The first possibility is the largest, and the second possibility is small!" Because Chao Zhi is the county left lieutenant who is worried about it, he has always been responsible for the conscription and convocation of the guards, although he does not have the right to lead the troops in peacetime, but he is worried about the formation of the county army, and the generals in the army must use his old subordinates, and his prestige in the army is relatively high. ”

"This battle has been fought like this, considering that if the county commander changes the commander on the spot, Chao Zhi must understand that he is already dead, plus Chao Zhi has been obviously shaken in the face of our surrender before, the possibility of being caught in this way is very small, even if he does not mutiny with the old department, he is likely to run out and defect to us. But now there is no turmoil in the Tyrannical Qin army, and Chao Zhi has not come to us alone, which is enough to show that the Tyrannical Qin army is likely not to change commanders on the spot, and Chao Zhi should still be the chief general of the Tyrannical Qin army. ”

Of course, Zhou Zeng's answer was a bit one-sided, because he didn't take into account the possibility that Chao Zhi might be captured by someone and capture the king first, so Xiang Kang didn't dare to fully agree with this view, just tapped the case with his fingers, and after a while, Xiang Kang made up his mind and shouted: "Come on, quickly pass Xu Shu!" Uncle Ya, I bother you to ghostwrite, write a letter to Chao Zhi for me, don't mention the surrender, just write some kind words to see him off. Xiang Yang asked someone to prepare a pair of jade buckets immediately, and asked Xu Shu to send it to Chao Zhi as a send-off gift. ”

Knowing that Xiang Kang wanted to test Chao Zhi's reality and Qin Jun's current situation under the banner of seeing off the candies, and also knowing that time was urgent, Zhou Zeng didn't dare to talk nonsense, so he hurriedly wrote a send-off letter to Chao Zhi in the name of Xiang Kang and handed it to Xiang Kang for signature and seal. At the same time, Xu Shu in the county temple also hurriedly came to Xiang Kang's front to wait for the order, Xiang Kang hurriedly explained the envoy, and asked Xu Shu to spy on the enemy under the banner of seeing off, as a result, Xu Shu did not live up to the recommendation of his old boss Zhou Zeng and Sun Gong, even if he knew that this trip was dangerous, he did not hesitate to take the order, and hurried out of the city with letters and jade buckets, and quickly went south to the Qin army camp to contact Chao Zhi.

After Xu Shu left, Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan and Xiang Sheng, the commanders of the three young marshals, also came to Xiang Kang's front to wait for orders, Xiang Kang also immediately dispatched troops, and arranged for Xiang Guan, who was relatively cautious, to lead the army to stay in Xiaxiang Chengchi to prevent accidents, and led the Chinese army to send troops together with Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sheng, and hurriedly went south to the Surabaya ferry to block the Qin army from crossing the river. However, when Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sheng excitedly asked how to fight this battle, Xiang Kang was a little undecided, and said: "When the time comes, whether to stop the Tyrannical Qin army from crossing the river with all their might, or attack it halfway and eat the Tyrannical Qin army in one bite, I will make a decision depending on the situation at that time." ”

After speaking, Xiang Kang turned to Zhou Zeng again and said, "Uncle Ya, work hard, come with me, you are more familiar with the tyrannical Qin officialdom than me, go and help me advise." Zhou Zeng agreed, and immediately went out with Xiang Kang, Xiang Zhuang and others, and led a young marshal army of about 1,200 people out of the city in a hurry, all the way to the south, and went straight to the ferry where the Qin army had originally crossed the river.

It was confirmed that the Qin army abandoned the camp and retreated late, and when Xiang Kang, Xiang Zhuang and others hurriedly arrived at the scene with the army, they thought that the Qin army had already abandoned the camp and camp tent, and moved to the ferry with various vehicles of all sizes, and also arranged for the palace army to wait in front of the ferry in advance, and established temporary fortifications, and lined up more than 50 chariots brought by the army in front of the formation, ready to resist the attack of the young marshal's army at any time. At the same time, all kinds of military supplies were also quickly loaded on the ship under the handling of the Qin army, and some of them had been transported across the river.

The enemy has been carefully prepared, of course Xiang Kang will not be stupid enough to rush directly to find death with the rabble of the young marshal army, after stopping the team outside the ferry, Xiang Kang first sent a ranger to step forward and peep at the banner of the main general of the Qin army, and after learning that the banner of the main general of the Qin army was still written with a word Chao, Xiang Kang breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked the scout of the self-army who came up to report the enemy's situation: "The messenger sent by this commander has made contact with the violent Qin army?" ”

"Hui Yu Young Marshal, I should be in touch." The scout replied: "After the envoy of our army approached the enemy with a white flag in his hand, he was immediately taken down by the enemy and taken to their army, but he never saw the envoy of our army return. ”

"Didn't come back?" Xiang Kang was stunned, and an ominous premonition suddenly came to his mind - Chao Zhi, who had treated the young marshal army envoy politely twice, suddenly went against the norm and detained Xu Shu, the young marshal army envoy who was already barely an old acquaintance, which was not a good sign.

At this time, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Sheng had already beaten their horses and came to Xiang Kang one after another, asking if they should attack immediately, Xiang Kang hesitated, and only asked Zhou Zeng after a while: "Uncle Ya, you just said that Chao Zhi's sudden withdrawal of troops was because it was the greatest possibility of directly ordering the county order, and Chao Zhi had to comply with it for some reason. So in your opinion, what is the most likely reason why Chao Zhi had to do this? ”

Zhou Zeng pondered, and said in a deep voice: "Coercion is absolutely impossible, Chao Zhi was already shaken, and if he was forced to go back to death by the county order, he would definitely reverse immediately." It is impossible to threaten with any official position, Chao Zhi knows what is important to life and official position. If he threatens his family, Chao Zhi may be shaken, but Chao Zhi should also know very well that if he goes back to confess his guilt, his family will definitely not be able to escape the sitting, according to the law of Tyranny Qin, his family will not be able to run away from Lishan to be a generation of prisoners, Chao Zhi should not be so stupid as to give his life and let his family continue to suffer. Inducements....... ”

Pondering and analyzing this, Zhou Zeng's eyes lit up, and he patted his leg and said, "Yes!" Inducements! Only the temptation is possible! If I am worried about the county order, if I want Chao Zhi to go back with the army obediently, the only way is to lure! Lie to Chao Zhi and say that he will not be held responsible, he will be given the opportunity to make meritorious service and atone for his crimes, say all the good things to deceive him back, and then when the matter is done, as soon as the military power is collected, I can do what Chao Zhi wants, and I can do what I want him to do! ”

Xiang Kang nodded, and said suspiciously: "But Uncle Ya, why did the county order use this method to deceive Chao Zhi to return to the army?" Now Chao Zhi is only losing consecutive battles, but the main force is still there, there is still hope to hold it, and the Surabaya County Army may also come to reinforcements soon, so why should the county order deceive Chao Zhi to return to the army by any means when there is still hope? ”

After thinking about it from the perspective of taking care of the county order, Zhou Zeng replied categorically: "There are only two possibilities, one is that the county order is not trustworthy, and he is worried that he will lose all the army, so he will do it in order to keep the army!" The second one may be the biggest, the discord plan you sent someone to implement three days ago has already succeeded, and the county commander suspects that Chao Zhi is going to rebel, so he will do whatever it takes to trick him back and protect the tyrannical Qin army! ”

After quickly calculating the time, Xiang Kang found that in the case of a short distance, it was entirely possible for the people he sent to implement the discord plan to arrive within two days to take care of the plan, and after the matter was successful, under the premise that there was a waterway, the document or messenger who took the county order to deceive Chao Zhi to withdraw the army could also go down the river by boat from the consideration of the county and rush to the front line to get in touch with Chao Zhi within one day, or even less!

Thinking about this, although he was not completely sure, it might just be futile, and it might even backfire, Xiang Kang still decided to go all out to fight for it, and shouted categorically: "Order the whole army, shout this sentence in unison - Chao Zhi, don't be fooled, it's to trick you to go back and die!" Shout neatly, the neater the better! ”

…………

At the same time, in the open space behind the Qin army's array, Chao Zhi and Peng Zhenglun, the chief official of the Qin army, who had only arrived at the front line this morning, were of course closely watching the young marshal's every move, and while carefully preventing the young marshal's army from attacking, they urged the soldiers to step up their efforts to carry the baggage onto the boat and cross the river. At the same time, Zheng Lun also bloomed with lotus flowers, constantly praising Chao Zhi for his loyalty to the Great Qin court, steadfastness, and resolutely arresting the thief messenger who tried to buy his surrender to prove his innocence.

Finally, the rest of the ordnance, grain and grass have all been loaded, and the first batch of Qin soldiers who crossed the river also began to board the ship one after another, out of gratitude and gratitude to Zheng Lun, Chao Zhi also took the initiative to say to Zheng Lun: "Lord Zheng, you get on the boat and cross the river first, the things behind the palace are too dangerous, and I will do it." ”

Zheng Lun couldn't ask for it, and just wanted to pretend to persuade Chao Zhi to hurry up and cross the river after opening his mouth to thank him, but unexpectedly, the young marshal army in the distance was full of people, and thousands of people shouted the slogan neatly, the slogan was still relatively chaotic at first, and then quickly unified, and gradually became the same voice, and when the specific content of the slogan was heard, Chao Zhi and Zheng Lun's faces suddenly changed together, Chao Zhi also said in surprise: "Don't be fooled?" Are you tricking me to go back and die? What do you mean? ”

"Chao Zhi, don't be fooled, it's to lie to you to go back and die! Chao Zhi, don't be fooled, it's to lie to you to go back and die! ”

The slogans of the young marshal soldiers became more and more neat and loud, and the expression on the face of Chao Zhi, who was not stupid enough to be at home, of course became more and more shocked, and he couldn't help but subconsciously look at his colleague Zheng Lun next to him, and found that Zheng Lun's face was a little pale, Chao Zhi suddenly became suspicious, and asked Zheng Lun tentatively: "Lord Zheng, what does it mean that the thief army shouted this sentence neatly?" ”

"This ......." Sweat obviously appeared on Zheng Lun's forehead, and he said with a sigh: "Captain Chao, how can this subordinate know? The subordinates only arrived at the front line today, and they don't know the situation of the thieves, how do they know what they are doing with this sentence? ”

After speaking, Zheng Lun hurriedly said: "But Captain Chao, you are the one who must not fall for the thief, our county lord asked you to withdraw the army and go back, because we want you to lead the troops to defend the county seat, and wait for the reinforcements of the county guard, there is absolutely no intention of harming you." Okay, it's not too early, it's time for me to get on the boat, Captain Chao Zuo, take care of yourself, hurry up. ”

As he spoke, Zheng Lun, who was already quietly retreating, turned around and wanted to leave, but when things came to this point, Chao Zhi would not let Zheng Lun leave unless he was stupid, and he casually bowed to his own soldiers, and the two Chao Zhi soldiers immediately stepped forward and stretched out their arms to stop Zheng Lun. Zheng Lun was shocked, and quickly turned around to Chao Zhi and asked, "Captain Chao, what do you mean by this?" ”

Chao Zhi didn't answer, but subconsciously thought about the fate he might get after he retired and went back, and immediately thought of what it means to go up to the house and draw a ladder, cross the river and tear down the bridge, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. At the same time, at this time, the pro-soldier next to him suddenly pointed in the direction of the young marshal's army and reminded: "Captain Zuo, look, there is a fast horse coming over from the thief's side." ”

Chao Zhi hurriedly raised his head, and saw that a knight had rushed out of the young marshal's army formation, and quickly rushed to the front of his own army, raised his hand and released a crossbow arrow, the arrow of the crossbow arrow was thick and white, obviously tied to something, and flew to the front of the Qin army and fell not far away. Chao Zhi understood and immediately shouted, "Bring me that arrow!" ”

The order was conveyed, and the crossbow arrows shot by the cavalry of the young marshal's army were quickly sent to Chao Zhi, and there was indeed a bundle of white cloth tied to the arrow, Chao Zhi took off the white cloth with his own hands and unfolded it, and saw that a piece of vernacular was scribbled on the cloth, and the full text is as follows:

"Brother Chao Zhi must not fall for the trick, do not hide it from my brother, in order to persuade you to surrender, three days ago, I sent someone to the city of Tseki to welcome your wife, children, and children back to the prime minister, and falsely claimed that you have secretly surrendered to me, brother. Now that the people I sent have not heard from you, and you have suddenly withdrawn from the army, I suspect that the county commander has caught my secret envoy, and I am worried that you will really surrender to me, so I will deceive you into withdrawing from the army, and then confiscate your military power and harm you! It's presumptuous, but brother, don't fall for it! Young Marshal Da Chu, Xiang Kang. ”

Before he finished reading the letter written by Xiang Kang in a hurry, Chao Zhi was already full of anger, and when he roughly read the letter, Chao Zhi was of course even more furious, roaring loudly, "Xiang Kang child! You're fucking ruthless! ”

Hearing this heartfelt roar, Zheng Lun, who was already as pale as paper, was of course like a shot of heart booster, and his face suddenly regained some blood, and he hurriedly asked Chao Zhi: "Captain Chao, what did Xiang Kang, that traitor, say in the letter?" ”

What answered Zheng Lun was Chao Zhi's angry and violent gaze, but Chao Zhi was still a little sensible, and after his eyes moved slightly, Chao Zhi strode forward, grabbed Zheng Lun's collar, lifted Zheng Lun, who was a little short, directly off the ground, and asked angrily, "Where is my wife?" What about my child? What have you done to them? ”

"Captain Chao, what do you mean by that?" Zheng Lun's forehead was dripping with sweat again, and he said tremblingly: "Your wife and your children, of course, are in the city. ”

"How dare you lie to me?!" Chao Zhi roared angrily, "Say, what did you do to them? Don't say it, Lao Tzu will kill you! ”

Zheng Lun didn't dare to speak, the panicked and frightened look on his face couldn't be concealed, Chao Zhi, who originally suspected that this was Xiang Kang's trick to divide the army, gradually came to a conclusion in his heart, simply pulled out the sword in his waist, and asked with a hideous expression: "The surname Zheng, let me ask you one last question, did you come to trick me into retreating and going back to death for the surname Wang?" My wife and children, what's going on? ”

The sweat on Zheng Lun's face was enough to wash his face, Chao Zhi slowly raised his sword with a murderous face, Zheng Lun completely collapsed, and said that Xiang Kang had already told the secret in the letter, and he couldn't care so much when he was so frightened, he opened his mouth and screamed: "Brother Chao spare your life!" Brother Chao spares his life! I was also forced, it was Wang Xianzun who forced me to trick you into going back to death! If I don't come, he will cure me for disobedience, and I really can't help it, so I will lie to you for him! ”

The truth was finally revealed, but Chao Zhi didn't have time to congratulate himself on his escape from death, he just shook Zheng Lun's body and roared, "What about my wife?" What about my child? How are they? ”

"They're fine, they're okay." Zheng Lun hurriedly replied: "They all live in your house decently and are not implicated by you." ”

"Fart!" Chao Zhi said angrily: "You are all ready to trick me back and slaughter me, can they still be good and not implicated by me?" ”

When things came to this point, Zheng Lun couldn't help but tell the truth, and said with a sad face: "Brother Chao, even if you borrow a hundred guts from me, I don't dare to lie to you, they are really fine, because it was your wife who personally reported you to the county honor, which is considered self-confession, so she does not need to be implicated, and your children do not know and are not implicated." ”

"Fart!" Chao Zhi was even more angry, and roared: "How could Shui'er report me? I have been in love with her husband and wife for so many years, how could she report me?! ”

"Brother Chao, you really don't know?" Zheng Lun's tone was suddenly a little strange and surprised, and he asked tremblingly, "Brother Chao, you really haven't heard any rumors?" ”

"What wind do I hear?" Chao Zhi was even more surprised than Zheng Lun.

"Of course, it's Mrs. Zun's ......, and the rumors of Wang Xianzun ......." Zheng Lun's voice trembled even more, and he said: "There have long been rumors in the county that your wife and our county ...... have a ...... and that ....... The younger brother also heard that when the messenger of the thieves found your house, your wife happened to be in the ...... with our Wang Xianzun, ...... together, and with that ....... So, Brother Chao, your wife, will definitely be fine. ”

With a bang, Zheng Lun's body fell to the ground, and Chao Zhi's face completely became sluggish, full of disbelief and despair. In the end, when Zheng Lun quietly crawled in the direction of the dock, Chao Zhi, who was shrouded in a certain cloud overhead, came back to his senses, pointed at Zheng Lun and shouted: "Take him down!" ”

The two pro-soldiers who blocked the road before stepped forward and slipped Zheng Lun up like an eagle lifting a chicken, and easily re-erected it in front of Chao Zhi, Zheng Lun desperately begged for mercy, but fortunately, Chao Zhi did not kill Zheng Lun with a sword, but sneered and said: "Tie up!" This is my gift to Young Marshal Xiang! ”

After sneering, Chao Zhi yelled at his own soldiers who were in charge of the flag order: "What are you still doing? Flag? The whole army is scattered! Take one tun as a team and spread out to the left and right! Again, stop crossing the river, and all the soldiers who have already boarded the boat will disembark! ”

In accordance with Chao Zhi's order, Chao Zhi's personal soldiers brought out from the Zuo Lieutenant's Mansion waved their banners, although the Qin army team lined up in front was inexplicable, but because they were all troops trained by Chao Zhi, the Qin soldiers still faithfully obeyed the order, and scattered around a team of fifty people, pulling the queue bigger and bigger. At the same time, the soldiers of the Qin army on the chariot also followed Chao Zhi's order, all turned the head of the car, aimed the yoke equipped with sharp blades, and aimed it at the Qin army's own small formation of fifty people, and then according to Chao Zhi's order, they all got off the car and waited for orders......

At the same time, Xiang Kang, of course, also gave the order to march with a cruel smile, and shouted: "Order the whole army, shout the slogan of surrender and not kill, and no one who lays down his arms and surrenders will not be killed!" ”