The battle of Xingyang Aocang, set a record of the largest loss of the Han army since Xiang Kang raised the army, a battle, 26,000 soldiers of the Han army in Sanchuan, there were more than 16,000 people who closed their eyes forever, the Guangwu camp was breached, the Aocang camp was hit hard, Xingyang, Juan County and Yangwu County were almost slaughtered by the Western Chu army, the loss of people directly exceeded 40,000 people, and the loss of economic money and food could not be counted! It can be said that the blood can no longer be flowed, and the losses cannot be worse!

And just like that, it is still based on the good command of Zhou Shu, the chief general of the Sanchuan Han Army, and the superb tactics, and the bloody battles of the soldiers of the Sanchuan Han Army and the effective implementation of tactics.

In addition, the Han army Zhong Liwu army in Dongjun also suffered heavy losses, the 4,000 defenders of Yan County were completely annihilated by the Western Chu army, and Zhong Liwu's main force of Sour Zao also lost more than half, and was forced to give up the Sour Zao camp and countless military supplies, and his vitality was greatly damaged. And if you add the losses of the Han army of Daliang and Chen Liu, the total loss of the Han army in this battle is infinitely close to 30,000 people, and it can be said that the total strength of a medium prince was wiped out in one battle!

It was also thanks to Xiang Kang's strategy of hiding from the sky and crossing the sea, using the cannon fodder army of Daliang and Chen Liu's army to cover the main force to return to the Sanchuan battlefield, and the Han army finally regained some face, completely annihilated Sima Wei's rabble of more than 26,000 people before and after, and fought 20,000 of the 30,000 elite cavalry of the Western Chu army, and barely achieved a crushing victory, and the gains and losses were roughly offset - at least Xiang Kang himself thought so.

Don't be greedy and insufficient, complain that Xiang Kang is incompetent, failed to block the front and chase the enemy in an all-round way, and completely annihilate the Western Chu army and the Henan army, the Western Chu army is all cavalry, in the cup terrain of the central Henan Plain, the Han army with infantry as the main force wants to annihilate the Western Chu cavalry, it is a pipe dream, and it is a pipe dream to be able to kill the elite of the eight thousand Western Chu cavalry in one breath at the last moment, which is already the best ending created by the super level of the Han cavalry and the close cooperation of the Sanchuan Han army.

On the afternoon of the same day when the main force of the Han army returned to the city of Xingyang, before the Han soldiers finished cleaning up the battlefield and even before the Han soldiers set up a rest camp, the Han army in Hanoi sent an urgent report, saying that the Zhao generals Zhang Huang and Chen Ze led 30,000 Zhao troops from Anyang to the west in the name of rescuing the Sanchuan Han army.

Hearing this news, Xiang Kang's face of course immediately became gloomy, Chen Ping and Zhang Liang sneered, and Uncle Zhou gasped, but Tang Bing, the old man of Shangshan who had been hiding in Guangwu City before, spoke directly and said with a sneer: "Reinforcement us? I'm afraid it won't be that you want to take advantage of the fire to rob and take advantage of our Sanchuan emergency to eat our Hanoi County in one bite, right? ”

Wu Shi, another old man from Shangshan, was calmer, and immediately said to Xiang Kang: "Great King, the overall situation is important, it is not appropriate to turn against Zhao State at the moment, the best way is to immediately send an envoy to contact the Zhao army, and take the initiative to let them know that our main force has returned to Xingyang, so that the Zhao army can retreat in the face of difficulties, this is the best policy." ”

Xiang Kang, who held back the anger in his heart and didn't want to turn his face with the Zhao army now, nodded, and immediately asked people to repair a book, and took the initiative to tell Zhao Jun that he had returned to Sanchuan and defeated the Western Chu army, and thanked Zhao Jun for his initiative to rescue, and casually asked Zhao Jun's army to withdraw to Handan County immediately to avoid misunderstanding with the Han army. Then after sending the messenger out, Xiang Kang gritted his teeth and scolded: "Zhao Xieppie, open-eared dog thief, you wait for me, wait for me to free my hand, and then see how I clean you up!" ”

"Great King, seeing Xiang Yu sending troops to Sanchuan, even the army of Zhao State, which has concluded an alliance with it, wants to take advantage of the fire to rob it, and Zhang Han, Dong Fei and Sima Xin will definitely not miss such an opportunity." Wu Shi said again: "Shangjun and Yunzhong County, please also ask the king to make arrangements as soon as possible to prevent accidents." ”

"I'm afraid they don't have the guts!" Xiang Kang snorted coldly: "Uncle Ya and Chao Zhi have been training their soldiers in Guanzhong, and they can raise an army of more than 60,000 at any time, they really dare to send troops to Yunzhong Shangjun, there is no need to transfer troops back from the front line, just with our reserves in Guanzhong, we are sure to be able to take them away." ”

On the same night, Guan Ying and Yang Xi, who had crossed the chasm and pursued, also withdrew to Aocang with the Han cavalry to join the main force, and reported helplessly that the Western Chu cavalry had fled too fast, and the Han cavalry did not have any advantage in terms of numbers, so they only pursued until the evening and did not dare to continue the pursuit, and failed to further expand the results of the battle. Xiang Kang didn't force it too much, waved his hand and said: "It's okay, if you can't catch up, you can't catch up, we just suffered from the lack of cavalry this time, and the next time the Western Chu thief army will not have such good luck." ”

Neither worried about the threat of Zhang Han Dong Pin and others, nor concerned about the current weak number of cavalry, Xiang Kang is so confident, of course, because the Han army has strong war potential, and controls the two horse-producing areas of Longxi and Jiuyuan, and has always been strictly training reserve cavalry in the Guanzhong region, if necessary, Xiang Kang is extremely martial, and can organize more than 100,000 new troops to rush to the front line to participate in the battle to the greatest extent, especially the Han army has also taken Aocang, and there is no need to worry about the supply of grain and grass on the front line, so Xiang Kang dares to be so calm and calm.

However, Xiang Kang soon found that he seemed to be a little too optimistic, because it was only the next day, and the Chaoge defenders sent an urgent report, saying that after the Zhao army led by Zhang Huang and Chen Ze forcibly entered the territory controlled by the Han army, they asked the Chaoge Han army to provide them with supplies under the pretext that the reinforcement of the Sanchuan Han army needed food and grass and military supplies.

"Oh no, it's too late."

Calculating the time, he found that the envoy he sent out yesterday was no longer able to prevent the conflict between the Han army and the Zhao army in time, Xiang Kang had no choice but to hurriedly discuss countermeasures with the Han army, but Tang Bing, who was old and serious, urged Xiang Kang to act calmly and not to further expand the contradiction with Zhao State, and pushed Zhao Guo to Xiang Yu's side. Long Ji, Ding Ji and Zhu Jishi and other generals of the Han army were all furious, and they all said: "King, is it tolerable or unbearable, if we continue to endure it like this, the thief army of Zhao will only further kick their noses in the face and bully us even more to death!" Only by resolutely fighting back and letting the Zhao State thief army know how powerful we are, so that they will not dare to take advantage of the fire to rob us in the future! ”

Xiang Kang still hesitated a little, and never thought that Uncle Zhou also said: "King, General Long and General Ding are right, they can't bear it anymore." Zhao Guo saw that our Sanchuan was in a hurry, and immediately couldn't wait to take advantage of the fire to rob, which shows that they didn't take the alliance we concluded with them seriously at all, even if we continue to swallow our anger, as long as there is an opportunity in the future, Zhao Guo's thief army will definitely only go further! ”

Uncle Zhou's words reminded Xiang Kang, and after a little calculation, Xiang Kang also made up his mind and said: "Yes, you can't bear it anymore, and if you endure it any longer, it will definitely have no effect!" The Zhao State Thief Army shamelessly robbed first, even if we endure this breath, the Zhao State Thief Army will definitely understand that as long as there is an opportunity in the future, we will definitely send troops to retaliate, as long as my brother's side throws them a few more bones, they will definitely fall with the wind again, and fall to the West Chu Thief Army! Only by resolutely fighting back and forcing them to stand in line, so that we don't have to worry about being stabbed in the back by the Zhao State thief army! ”

After that, Xiang Kang first ordered Long He and Zhu Jishi to lead 35,000 Han troops north to meet the enemy, expel the Zhao army that took advantage of the fire to loot, and once again ordered Chen Hui to be the envoy to send Julu to contact and negotiate with Zhao Xie and Zhang Er, and clearly told Chen Hui: "After meeting Zhao Xie and Zhang Er, tell them clearly, just say that if you want me to stop pursuing the matter of Chaoge, you will take down the Licheng of Jibei County to me, and show me the sincerity of the alliance!" Otherwise, they will be responsible for all the consequences! ”

Chen Hui hurriedly sang a promise, and Mr. Shusun quietly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Xiang Kang finally didn't hand over this offended messenger to himself, and hurriedly sang Xiang Kang's wisdom and decisiveness, not bowing to the shameless villain of Zhao State, and most of the Han army civil and military forces present also echoed it, all of them thought that the self-army should treat Zhao Guo toughly. Only Zhang Liang said: "King Han, if you are determined to take a tough attitude towards Zhao, then the foreign ministers will not object. But the foreign minister thinks that you should also make a strategic plan for the future as soon as possible, the king. ”

"What Mr. Zifang said is very true." Chen Ping echoed: "In the future, how we fight with the Western Chu thief army, and what kind of attitude we should have towards the princes outside the Guanwai, we must solve these problems as soon as possible, and we can no longer blindly adapt to changes as before, which is very likely to be due to sudden changes in the situation." Causing us to scramble. ”

"The old minister agrees." Wu Shi also hurriedly said: "Facts have proved that any alliance treaty concluded with Zhao State is not reliable at all, and our so-called allies may see the wind at any time and suddenly stick a knife in our back." Instead of being so vain and wronged, it is better to use Mr. Shusun's treatment of Shenyang, let him call his ministers send troops to us, and force the princes outside the Guanwai to openly submit to us, and those who follow it will be used, and those who go against it will be destroyed, so that we don't have to worry about the so-called allies suddenly defecting, and we can really use the power of the princes outside the Guanwai to help us crusade against the Western Chu thief army. ”

"Mr. Yiliji, don't praise falsely, if you continue to say this, the king will force the lower officials to envoy the princes again."

Mr. Shusun's hurried obstruction made the Han army and civil and military laugh together, and Xiang Kang also laughed for a while, and then said: "Mr. Zifang is right, we have to decide the strategic policy for the future, and we can't blindly adapt to changes like before." Everyone, let's speak freely, how should we deal with the Western Chu Thief Army? ”

"Great King, the best way is to defend first and then attack, first lure the main force of the Western Chu thief army to the front line of the chasm for a decisive battle, and wait until the time is fully ripe, and then it is not too late to launch a counterattack. We can't take the risk of taking advantage of the opportunity like this time, and repeat the mistakes of the past. ”

Uncle Zhou preemptively replied, and said: "Because we took the initiative to attack, not only is the distance far away, the rear is easy to be attacked by the enemy, and the transportation of grain and grass is also very difficult. On the contrary, if we lure the Western Chu thief army to fight a decisive battle with us on the front line of the chasm, we can get the grain and grass supply of Ao Cang on the spot, and be invincible, and we can highlight the surprise soldiers and try to cut off the grain route of the Western Chu thief army, so that the Western Chu thief army will be difficult to take care of and completely fall into passivity. ”

Xiang Kang nodded his head and said calmly: "I won't hide it from you, in fact, I thought so at the beginning, but my attitude was not resolute enough, and I temporarily decided to send troops to attack Pengcheng, which gave the Western Chu thief army the opportunity to sneak attack Sanchuan, causing our Sanchuan defenders to fight so dangerously and difficult this time." ”

Including Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, the Han army who tried their best to ask Xiang Kang to take the opportunity to attack Pengcheng were all ashamed, and honestly bowed their heads to Xiang Kang to plead guilty, Xiang Kang waved his hand and said: "You don't have to blame yourself so much, you are also a good intention, and you just want to rush back our family members and children, this is also human nature, no wonder you." If you want to talk about responsibility, this time the responsibility is my greatest, and it is that I am also anxious to think about our family members, so I took the risk and almost caused a big disaster. ”

After blaming himself, Xiang Kang clapped his head and said: "The strategy of the frontal battlefield is so decided, in the future, we will no longer risk advancing lightly, the deep ditch and high fortress will lead the Western Chu thief army to fight us first, and then we will drag the Western Chu thief army to the exhaustion of the division veterans and the national strength will be exhausted, and then decide how to launch a counterattack." ”

Everyone sang the promise, and Xiang Kang asked again: "Hold on to the frontal battlefield, what strategy should we adopt for the princes outside the gate on the flanks?" What do you think? ”

"Since King Han has decided to hold on to the front, then of course he must develop an attack on both flanks."

Zhang Liang's words were somewhat selfish, and said: "The three horsemen Zhang Han, Dong Fei and Sima Xin in our north, as well as Liu Ji on our southern front, are either the sworn friends of the King of Western Chu, or the sworn enemies who have a common enmity with us. ”

After a slight pause, Zhang Liang added: "At the same time, we will force Zhao Guo and Yingbu to surrender to us, and send troops to help us crusade against the Western Chu thief army. Finally, he appeased Han Guang, Zang Tu and Wu Rui and other weak Guanwai princes, contacted Qi State, and destroyed Western Chu together. ”

Xiang Kang, who has always admired Zhang Liang's strategic vision, was rarely silent, and did not immediately express his acceptance of Zhang Liang's strategic proposal, and Uncle Zhou also objected, saying: "Mr. Zifang, we will attack together on the north and south flanks, although it can make the Western Chu thief army difficult to take care of, and I don't know which side to save, but this will put too much pressure on our rear, and it is easy to have the danger of insufficient support." Therefore, the best way is that we should first go north and then south, first pacify the Guanwai princes in the north, force them to send troops to help deal with Western Chu, and then solve the Guanwai princes on the southern front. ”

Xiang Kang nodded at this time and said to Zhang Liang: "Mr. Zifang, I know that you are in a hurry to save King Han, but there is no way, our strength is not yet able to attack the north and south at the same time, and the situation on our northern front is far more complex and severe than that on the southern front, so we can only give priority to sending troops to the northern front, and first solve the problem of Zhang Han, Dong Peng and Sima Xin in the northern Jin Dynasty, as well as the Zhao State behind them, and then we can consider the southern front." ”

After that, Xiang Kang also added, saying: "Don't think that Liu Ji is easy to deal with because his strength is relatively weak, you can solve his problem with a partial division, now under Liu Ji's account, there is a very terrible enemy lurking for us, in addition to me, in our army, I am afraid that only General Zhou Shu can be his opponent." ”

I had never seen Xiang Kang so wary of an enemy, Zhang Liang and the Han army were curious, of course, they all asked who that terrible enemy was? Xiang Kang replied with a sad face: "Don't ask, you will know in the future." In short, after we inquired about the origin of that puppet, I already regretted it. ”

Shaking his head and refusing to say the name that he regretted a lot, Xiang Kang quickly made up his mind and said to Uncle Zhou: "General Zhou, I will hand over the envoy to sweep away the princes of northern Jin, I have asked Uncle Ya and Chao Zhi to urgently recruit 60,000 troops in Guanzhong, and give you 32,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry, in addition, the 10,000 troops of Wang Ling I sent to Yunzhong County before will also be allocated to you for dispatch and command, a total of 50,000 troops, and kill Zhang Han, Dong Fei and Sima Xin for me, are you sure?" ”

Uncle Zhou hurriedly bowed to Xiang Kang and said, "Please rest assured, the king, if the last general can't destroy the three thieves in northern Jin under the command of 50,000 troops, then the last general will not have the face to come back to see you." If you can't get it, without the king's order, the last general will end it on its own! ”

"Then please." Xiang Kang nodded with satisfaction, and said: "Also, if Zhao Guo doesn't listen to my call, or falls to my brother's side again, Zhao Guo will also hand it over to you and kill Zhao Xie and Zhang Er for me!" ”

Uncle Zhou hurriedly agreed again, and Xiang Kang patiently told Uncle Zhou not to blindly use force, to know how to take advantage of the situation, and use what he can fight for to shake the enemy, giving Uncle Zhou a lot of autonomy to act at the opportunity, and also sent Cui Guang and Zhou Shu, the two old foxes who stayed in the pass, to Uncle Zhou, so that they could help Uncle Zhou deal with some political issues. Uncle Zhou thanked him and agreed one by one, and Xiang Kang also ordered: "Transfer the army, and go back to Guanzhong tomorrow to prepare for the expedition, Worm Da, Lu Kuang and Ling Jing are the people you can use, let them go with you, and Yang Xi will also follow you and help you lead the cavalry." ”

Uncle Zhou received the order again, and Xiang Kang thought about it a little, and quickly said: "I almost forgot how to lure my brother to send the main force to attack the first line of the chasm, but this matter is easy to do, a letter is enough." ”

After saying that, Xiang Kang turned to Mr. Shusun again, and said with a smile: "Mr. Shusun, I need a messenger now to carry my handwritten letter to contact the Western Chu Thief Army...... ”

Before Xiang Kang finished speaking, Mr. Shusun had almost peed his crotch, but fortunately, Xiang Kang continued: "Do you think you are willing to be the envoy of the Western Chu Thief Army?" Or are you willing to follow General Zhou Shu to conquer the northern princes? ”

"The lower officials are willing to follow General Zhou Shu to conquer the northern princes!"

Mr. Shusun didn't even blink an eyelid, he immediately jumped up and agreed loudly, volunteering to follow Uncle Zhou on the expedition to sweep away the princes who refused to submit on the northern front. But after Xiang Kang agreed, he saw the sinister smile on the corner of Xiang Kang's mouth, and Mr. Shusun was shocked in his heart, and secretly complained: "It's bad, it's the evil of this little erection!" There are so many princes on the northern front, and there will definitely be more dangerous envoys to the enemy camp! ”