Unable to resist Zhang Ping's repeated urging, in the early morning of the next day, Zhang Han personally arranged for Zhang Ping's deputy, Yao Ang, the general of the Qin army, to finally lead the army away, and took 10,000 Qin troops, including 1,000 elites from Longxi, to the south along the Chidao Road to attack Fuli County, which had hoarded a large amount of grain and grass and military supplies.

Because of Zhang Ping's repeated division of troops, coupled with the astonishing losses in the camp battle, the strength of the Qin army on the Pengcheng battlefield plummeted to about 27,000 people, and the core backbone of the Longxi elite was only in the early 3,000s, and the overall strength was sharply reduced. But fortunately, the strength and overall strength of the Qin army are still above the main force of the young marshal army, and the young marshal army, which is not good at battle in formation, is still firmly at a disadvantage, so Zhang Ping and the generals of the Qin army are not too worried about the danger, or after Yao Ang's department set off to the south, Zhang Ping calmly sent people north to contact another partial division Chen Kan's department, so that Chen Kan stopped chasing and killing Liu Laosan, and turned back to meet the main force.

Although there was no God's perspective, and there was no news from Fuli's side, as soon as he saw the Qin army dividing his troops south, Xiang Kang, who had long been suffocating, immediately understood that his plan to divert the tiger from the mountain had been successful, and at the same time, the southern line corps of the young marshal army led by Feng Zhong had also set off from Jiujiang County and was striding north along Qin Chi Road. In addition, the scouts of the young marshal army sent a report that the Qin army's Chen Kan headquarters was still in the county as of yesterday afternoon, Xiang Kang came to a conclusion and said: "The decision is today and tomorrow, if we can defeat Zhang Ping's main force in these two days, then we can have a good chance of winning this Pengcheng battle." But if we can't do that, this big war will still have to be fought, and no one will know who will win and who will lose. ”

Zhou Zeng next to him nodded yes, and the old man Fan on the other side squinted at Xiang Kang and said, "How does the young marshal plan to seize this opportunity?" Is it going to be a head-on showdown? Or do you continue to attack it unprepared, and win by surprise? ”

Still disappointed Old Man Fan, Xiang Kang, who was born to like to steal chickens and touch dogs, still lacked the kind of domineering spirit that Old Man Fan liked, and said without thinking about it: "Of course, we have to find a way to win by surprise, the Tyrannical Qin army is good at battle in formation, our army is not very sure of them head-to-head, and even if we can win, we will definitely lose a lot." Only by finding a way to attack the unprepared and take them by surprise can we achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost. ”

Old man Fan, who was getting more and more out of temper with Xiang Kang, shut up in disappointment, but when he saw Xiang Kang, he immediately ordered the army to seize the time to rest during the day. When preparing torches, dry food and other things for night battles, Old Man Fan couldn't help but say again: "If the young marshal wants to win by surprise attack in night battle, then the old man must persuade you, and you'd better not fight this idea." The Tyrannical Qin army is not a fool, after repeatedly dividing the troops, it will definitely be well guarded to prevent you from sending troops at night and sneaking up on their camp. ”

Of course, Xiang Kang also understands this truth, but there is no way, there is no certainty in the battle, only a sneak attack and melee is the only hope for the young marshal's army to defeat the strong with the weak, so Xiang Kang only thanked Old Man Fan for his reminder, but did not withdraw the previous order that required the army to prepare, and at the same time quickly calculated all kinds of shameless tricks that were harmful and vicious, and thought hard about ways to destroy the enemy.

This time it was Xiang Kang's turn to rack his brains, the camp of the young marshal army was less than ten miles away from the Qin army's camp, and the space for a roundabout attack was pitiful, and there was no favorable terrain to arrange ambushes, so there was no way to lead the Qin army into the ambush circle of the young marshal's army by deceitful defeat and lure the enemy. In addition, the Qin army is still in the upper reaches of the valley, even if it can find a way to lure the Qin army to the north bank of the valley, it is difficult for the young marshal army to quickly destroy the Qin army's river crossing pontoon bridge and cut the Qin army in half by relying on fireboats and rafts. After thinking about it repeatedly, Xiang Kang, who has always been very good at this aspect, felt a little helpless, and couldn't think of any reliable way to win.

But fortunately, Xiang Kang still has some time, so Xiang Kang is not in a hurry, and after many days, he rode out of the camp for the first time, and led a team of horseback soldiers to the nearby high places of the Qin army camp in person, condescendingly looking down on the deployment of the Qin army camp, and studying the method of sneak attack and breaking the camp.

Xiang Kang was disappointed, even after repeatedly dividing the troops, the Qin army's camp was still tightly and completely, and there were no flaws to be found, and at the same time, in the case of gaining the upper hand in strength, the Qin army was still very careful to pay attention to the construction of the camp, digging a trench to protect the camp, building a wooden fence, and the fortifications such as antlers, horses and watchtowers should be complete, and at the same time, an inner camp was also built, and grain, grass, and military supplies were also stored in the inner camp. But it is also an ordinary army that can be easily attacked.

When he was more and more worried, Xiang Yang next to him suddenly reminded: "Brother, there is a team of tyrannical Qin cavalry out of the camp, maybe they have already discovered us and want to come over and attack us." For the sake of caution, we'd better get back to camp as soon as possible. ”

Glancing at the gate of the Qin army's camp, he saw that the Qin army had indeed sent a team of cavalry out of the camp, and Xiang Kang, who had always been greedy for life and afraid of death, did not dare to slack off, so he hurriedly retreated with his own soldiers to the way he came, and ordered in passing: "Beat my banner out, and let the tyrannical Qin army know that I came to peep at their camp in person." ”

According to Xiang Kang's order, the soldiers immediately played the banner of the young marshal on behalf of Xiang Kang's identity, and the Qin cavalry who came out of the camp saw that their eyes were red, and they hurriedly slapped their horses and whipped them, howling madly and chasing Xiang Kang with all their might, but unfortunately, the distance between them was too far, and the riding skills of Xiang Kang and others were not rotten to the extreme, so Xiang Kang and his party finally returned to the camp of the young marshal army first, and the Qin cavalry shouted regretfully outside the camp, but they were helpless, and finally had to leave in disappointment with empty hands, and went back to report the situation to Zhang Ping.

Xiang Kang soon regretted letting his soldiers play his own banner, because after returning to the camp, Xiang Kang had just told Zhou Zeng about the situation, and Zhou Zeng, who had already experienced some military experience, immediately complained: "Young marshal, I'm not talking about you, why do you need to be so majestic?" Sneak attack and robbery camp is our only hope for the weak to defeat the strong, just now you let your own soldiers unfurl your banner, let the Tyrant Qin army know that you personally went to peep into their camp, isn't it the same as telling the Tyrant Qin army that we are planning to attack their camp? The Tyrannical Qin army has strengthened its defenses, and our hope of a surprise attack to defeat the enemy is even smaller? ”

After Zhou Zeng reminded him, he found that he was negligent in thinking about it, and Xiang Kang regretted it and was inevitably a little embarrassed, and said: "Uncle Ya blames it, I didn't take this into account." But there is no way, I have already played the flag, and now it is too late to take regret medicine, we can only find another way. ”

After saying that, Xiang Kang's heart suddenly moved, and he said secretly: "Since it's wrong, why don't I make it wrong?" After the Tyrannical Qin army has repeatedly divided its troops, Zhang Ping's side will definitely prevent me from taking the opportunity to attack him, just now I was not thoughtful for a while, revealing my intention to attack his camp, he will definitely suspect that I am preparing to attack his camp at night, and prepare in advance to prevent me from robbing the camp. In that case, why don't I take advantage of this to make him more fully prepared, give him the opportunity to eat my stealing army in one bite, and then I ...... again, wouldn't I have the opportunity to disrupt it? ”

After all, Zhang Ping's department was strong in combat, and although Xiang Kang already had a plan in his heart, it still took a lot of time to sort out a tactical plan that was not particularly certain. As a result, after Xiang Kang told Zhou Zeng and Old Man Fan about his tactical plan, Zhou Zeng, who had a relatively stable personality, immediately questioned it and said, "Young Marshal, although the plan is feasible, isn't it too risky?" As long as one of our troops and horses fails, the consequences will be unimaginable immediately, and the stalemate that we have fought with great difficulty before will be in vain immediately, isn't it better not to take such risks? ”

Zhou Zeng's questioning was also what Xiang Kang was most worried about, so Xiang Kang, who was not too sure, was inevitably even more shaken, and almost wanted to give up the tactical plan he had worked out with great difficulty. However, the old man Fan, who has always disliked Xiang Kang's methods of stealing chickens and dogs, was unusual, and said: "The old man thinks that this tactical plan is feasible, although this tactical plan is also stealing chickens and dogs, but it does not lose the heroic demeanor of daring to be a hero, once we succeed, we can immediately grasp the initiative of the entire Pengcheng battlefield, and it will be a foregone conclusion to completely repel the tyrannical Qin army, we can fight!" ”

After finishing speaking, Old Man Fan said again: "As for the danger, fighting a war is an adventure, and there is a battle in the world that must be won?" We don't seize the opportunity to take a risk now, and when the Tyrannical Qin army withdraws its northbound team, and the Tyrannical Qin army that goes south also finds out that the middle plan hurries back to reinforce the main force, what chance do we have to defeat the strong with the weak and win more with less? Counting on our reinforcements from Jiujiang? Feng Zhong's soldiers and horses, do they have the strength to turn the tide of the battle in Pengcheng? ”

Listening to what Old Man Fan said reasonably, Xiang Kang thought about it for a long time, and still said with a few shots: "What Fan Gong said is extremely true, this is our only chance to win, we can only seize it, we can't miss it!" If we lose the bet, we will lose our troops and be forced to retreat to the city to defend the city, and honestly wait for my second uncle to save Pengcheng! But if the bet wins, we will win this battle in Pengcheng! ”

…………

On the Qin army's side, as Zhou Zeng was worried, Xiang Kang personally ran to the high ground near the Qin army's camp to peep at the situation of the Qin camp, and this situation was reported to Zhang Ping, Zhang Ping in addition to scolding Xiang Kang for his boldness, he also immediately became vigilant in his heart, guessing that Xiang Kang was dreaming of a sneak attack on his camp, and taking advantage of the opportunity of the decline in strength after the repeated division of his army to lay a victory in one fell swoop, so Zhang Ping was not only determined to let the army strictly defend it, but also sent a large number of scouts to investigate the situation of the young marshal's camp, Look for all kinds of clues and analyze the movements of the young marshal's army.

The next thing was relatively simple, after strengthening the vigilance, the Qin army scouts soon found that the activities of ordinary soldiers outside the tent in the young marshal's camp were significantly reduced, but the rear camp in charge of logistics was busy, and the cooking smoke rose before the meal, as if it was rushing to make dry food, and these two situations were reported to Zhang Ping, who had participated in several Qin Annihilation Six Kingdoms Campaign, and Zhang Ping, who had participated in several Qin Annihilation Six Kingdoms Campaign, also immediately understood, knowing that the young marshal's army was likely to attack at night.

The matter is not over, at this time, Xiang Kang's special diplomatic liar Xu Shu was escorted to Zhang Ping by the Qin army again, when Zhang Ping asked Xu Shu's intentions, Xu Shu first presented Xiang Kang's handwritten war book, and then said: "General Zhang, the little envoy is here to write a war letter for our Xiang Shao Marshal this time, the general has made several appointments before, and our Xiang Shao Marshal has not agreed for various reasons, which has disappointed the general, and our Xiang Shao Marshal is really unhappy in his heart. If the general is still interested, our young marshal Xiang is willing to personally lead the main force of our army out of the camp tomorrow and fight a decisive battle with the general in the western suburbs of Pengcheng. ”

Zhang Ping laughed and said: "Xiang Kang Xiao'er really knows how to choose a bargain, he has never dared to fight a decisive battle before, but now that he sees that General Ben has repeatedly divided his troops, he wants to come and take advantage of the fire to rob?" ”

"The general misunderstood, our Young Marshal Xiang is definitely not taking advantage of the fire to rob, just for a fair decisive battle." Xu Shu Zhenzhen said with resignation: "Previously, the general had a large number of soldiers, and the strength of your army was more than twice that of our army, of course our young marshal Xiang did not want to suffer this loss." Now after the general divides the troops, the difference between the strength of the army and our army is not large, and it is of course extremely fair to launch a decisive battle again, general, you don't take advantage, we don't suffer a loss, it's just right, what else do we need to hesitate about Young Marshal Xiang? ”

After finishing speaking, Xu Shu also provoked Zhang Ping and said: "Of course, if the general does not have the courage to fight a decisive battle and fight with our army head-on, our young marshal Xiang will never be surprised." After all, it was our young marshal Xiang who refused to fight a decisive battle with your army first, and it is understandable that the general refused to fight a decisive battle at this time. ”

Zhang Ping laughed again, first approved the words 'decisive battle in the coming day' on Xiang Kang's battle book, and then threw it back to Xu Shu, and said with a sneer: "Go back and tell Xiang Kang Xiao'er that since he has the courage to come and send him to death, tell him to quickly wash his neck clean, and in tomorrow's decisive battle, our army will definitely cut off his head!" ”

Xu Shu sang a promise, picked up the war book thrown back by Zhang Ping and immediately said goodbye and left, but as soon as Xu Shu left on his front foot, the general next to him immediately asked: "General, Xiang Kang is treacherous and cunning, and at the same time timid as a mouse, it is impossible to have the courage to fight with our army head-on. ”

"Of course there is fraud." Zhang Ping sneered even more disdainfully, and said: "This traitor personally went to my military camp to peep outside today, and let his thief sergeants rest during the day, and the rear camp was busy preparing, and now he also asked his thief envoy to send a book to make an appointment for battle, making it clear that he wanted our army to only prepare for tomorrow's decisive battle, and neglected to take precautions at night, so as to create an opportunity for him to sneak attack our camp at night." ”

"The general is wise, and the last general is also so suspicious." The general first slapped a sycophant, and then asked, "General, how should we deal with it?" ”

"Do you need to ask?" Zhang Ping replied proudly: "Since Xiang Kang Xiao'er let his thief army take the initiative to send him to the door to find death, do we still need to be polite to him?" Immediately ordered the whole army to immediately start fighting at night, eat at the beginning of the shift, this general must kill the thieves who dare to come to steal the camp this time, and leave no armor behind! ”

According to Zhang Ping's order, the disciplined Qin army was quickly prepared for night battle, eating and eating at the same time, receiving dry food for eating at night, and the generals of the Qin army gathered in the commander's tent to listen to Zhang Ping's order, Zhang Ping, who had already been in the chest, was not polite, and soon arranged a tactical plan to ambush the young marshal army in the battalion, and arranged the backup army very carefully to prevent Xiang Kang from cheating, pretending to rob the camp and lure the enemy.

The days are short in winter, after the soldiers of the Qin army arranged the net according to Zhang Ping's arrangement, the sky was already completely dark, and the light of the night was still very poor, there was no moonlight in the sky, only a few lonely stars dressed up the night, and it was difficult to see the five fingers when they stretched out their hands, which was a good weather that was very suitable for a sneak attack at night. At the same time, the cold wind was like a knife, and the face was painful, but under the supervision of the generals at all levels of the Qin army, almost no one in the Qin army was lazy to sleep, and the whole army was calm and calm, patiently waiting for the young marshal army to come and attack.

The soldiers of the Qin army did not work hard in vain, and the bangzi of the third watch had just sounded, and a group of sneaky figures suddenly appeared in front of the door of the Qin army camp, sneaking close to the door of the Qin army camp, and the Qin soldiers guarding the door obeyed the order of the upper peak, pretending to be asleep, and let the group of black shadows quietly remove the door latch, and then when the group of black shadows pushed open the camp door, the Qin army soldiers hurriedly rang the alarm gong and fled to the inside of the camp in a mess.

"Kill!"

The shouting sound sounded at the same time, and a team of young marshals and soldiers rushed directly into the Qin military camp as if they came out of the ground, and at the same time, behind them, countless torches quickly lit up, dense, not to mention thousands, Zhang Ping, who heard the voice, rushed out of the big tent of the Chinese army and saw it with his own eyes, and suddenly shouted with joy, and said: "Okay! The more you come, the better! ”

It's a pity, the young marshal soldiers who rushed straight into the camp were very cunning, they didn't rush to kill much after entering the camp, and soon found that the front camp of the Qin army was empty, and they immediately understood the plan, and quickly shouted and turned around to flee for their lives, Zhang Ping did not hesitate, and immediately let people beat the war drums, and the Qin soldiers who were ambushed on both sides immediately rushed out, killing the enemy who entered the camp left and right, and the young marshal soldiers fled for their lives in a hurry, and quickly escaped from the camp gate, and the Qin army ambush was in hot pursuit, striding out of the camp to pursue.

After the Qin army ambushed all the soldiers out of the camp, the rear team of the Qin army arranged in order to prevent an accident also quickly assembled in the open space in the camp, but Zhang Ping, who was quite cautious, did not immediately urge the rear army to attack, but continued to observe the battle situation outside the camp and analyze whether the young marshal army could lure the enemy.

The results of the observation made Zhang Ping very relieved, after the Qin army's pursuers left the camp, the young marshal's army brigade outside the camp did not immediately retreat to deliberately lure the enemy, but chose to meet the battle on the spot, and the Qin army's pursuers fought in close quarters in the open space outside the camp.

It was still at this time that the young marshal army brigade that found that the Qin army was well prepared was forced to choose to retreat from the battle, and hurriedly fled to the east. There are ambush soldiers, Lao Tzu has a rear team to follow and protect, don't be afraid of you, there are no ambushes, Lao Tzu wants to see how your defeated soldiers return to the camp?! You open the camp gate and let your defeated soldiers flee into the camp, and Lao Tzu will take the opportunity to follow your defeated soldiers directly into it! You don't want to leave the camp gate, Lao Tzu will kill all your thieves outside the camp, and tonight's hard work will not be in vain! ”

Although the sky was very dark, and the army in front of you chasing me and fleeing was chaotic enough, but the young marshal's army really didn't have any ambushes, and it didn't take long for the Qin army to chase the defeated soldiers of the young marshal's army and fled east to the west gate of the young marshal's army's camp. Then it was similar to Zhang Ping's analysis, seeing that the Qin army's pursuers had been entangled with their own defeated soldiers, the young marshal's army camp really didn't dare to open the camp gate, and the young marshal's defeated soldiers had no choice but to quickly walk around the camp and flee to the south gate of the camp to find a way back to the camp.

Or because the Qin army chased too closely, the south gate of the young marshal's army camp also did not dare to risk opening the door, resulting in the defeat of the young marshal's army could only continue to walk around the camp, and gradually fled to the east of the young marshal's army camp, and plunged into the narrow space between the young marshal's army camp and Pengcheng. Seeing this scene, of course Zhang Ping laughed and said with a smug smile: "Okay! This time, see how you escape! To the north is Gushui and there is no way out, to the east is Pengcheng, and to the west is your camp, see who dares to open the door and let you in! ”

Laughing wildly, Zhang Ping urged the soldiers and horses, and quickly rushed to the southeast corner of the young marshal's army camp, blocking the way for the young marshal's defeated soldiers to flee south, and the Qin army's front army followed the young marshal's defeated soldiers directly into the narrow space between the young marshal's army camp and Pengcheng, and the young marshal soldiers who had no way out had no choice but to turn around in a hurry and fight to the death with the Qin army's pursuers! Xiang Zhuang, the general of the young marshal army who commanded the army and robbed the camp, also shouted: "There is no way to go, if you want to live, give me back and fight to the death!" Kill the tyrannical Qin and take my life! ”