Although he was lucky enough to cross the Rushui River, which was very likely to cause huge casualties to Liu Xiang's coalition army, got rid of the Han army's close pursuit, and stabbed the Han army's dragon and his department when he left, Liu Xiang's coalition army was still like a frightened bird, even if he fled to Kunyang, he didn't dare to stop, just took a little rest, and immediately rushed south to Ye County, which made some determination, so that the exhausted Liu Xiang coalition soldiers could rest at ease, and at the same time collect the wounded soldiers who fell behind along the way.

However, even so, Li Ji, Lu Jia and the others still didn't dare to be completely reassured, in addition to reminding Han Xin to send more scouts to closely monitor the movements in the north, Li Ji also asked Han Xin very worriedly: "Can you guarantee our supply of grain and grass?" If we can't, we'd better plan early and not stay here and starve. ”

It was Han Xin's turn to verify Xiang Kang's judgment, but fortunately, he didn't even blink his eyelids, and Han Xin immediately replied: "Don't worry, no matter what method we think, we will ensure the supply of grain and grass in Ye County, and we can't make any other plans, we can only stick to Ye County and wait for our reinforcements to arrive." ”

"Why do you have to stick to Ye County?" Li Ji was even more worried, and said: "Ye County is too far away from Nanjun here, it is difficult for your main force in Nanjun to quickly return to the north to reinforce us, and the main force of the Han thieves must be on the way south, if the main force of the Han thieves rushes to Ye County first, our army will have to deal with the main force of the Han thieves' southern expedition alone." ”

"Can't we handle it?" Han Xin asked rhetorically, and said: "Before, we hurriedly retreated from Xincheng because the Han thieves rushed to Xiangcheng and cut off our grain supply, if we didn't withdraw quickly, we would all be starved to death, but now that we have withdrawn to Yexian and reopened the grain route, we can already put our minds at ease and hold on to the danger with all our might, waiting for our friendly troops to come for reinforcements, what else is there to worry about?" ”

"And Ye County can definitely defend it here." Han Xin said with great confidence: "The terrain here in Ye County, you have also seen it with your own eyes, the west is deep mountains and old forests, and the east is lakes and swamps, all of which cannot allow the Han thieves to deploy troops, only the north is the enemy, and it is the easiest to defend, such a good and dangerous place, if we take the initiative to give up, wouldn't it be too pity?" ”

"Also, the cities around Ye County have a large population, and it is easy to recruit grain and grass, military quarters, and people, and we will be able to concentrate the grain and grass from the surrounding three counties of Kunyang, Wuyang and Lixian in a few days, which is enough for us to support for a while." Han Xin continued: "In addition, the autumn harvest is coming soon, as long as we hold on for a while, and when the grain and grass in our hinterland of Nanyang are harvested, the rear can provide us with an endless supply of grain and grass, and we are completely sure that we will confront the main force of the Han thieves for a long time, and we don't have to worry about running out of food." ”

"There is a more important point, stick to Yexian and wait for reinforcements, we can wait for the reinforcements of the main force of your Western Chu Army faster!"

When he said this, Han Xin also had a smile on his face, and said with a smile: "With the character of the king of Western Chu who likes decisive battles, as long as he receives the news that the main force of the Han thieves is taking the initiative to attack us, he will definitely personally raise troops to fight the main force of the Han thieves, if the main force of the Han thieves is really led by Xiang Kang's traitor, then the king of Western Chu will definitely not hesitate, and he will definitely immediately raise troops to the south and personally come to find Xiang Kang's traitor for revenge and decisive battle." At that time, we not only have the hope of turning defeat into victory, but also have a great hope, defeating the main force of the Han thieves in one fell swoop on the battlefield of Yexian County, and capturing and killing Xiang Kang's traitors, it is not impossible to do so! ”

Listening to Han Xin's endless talk, Li Ji finally nodded and said, "Okay, as long as you can raise enough grain and grass, and the Han thieves also give us time to prepare in Ye County, I will accompany you to stick to Ye County and wait for our reinforcements to arrive." ”

After persuading Li Ji to lead the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army to help him defend the important places in Ye County, Han Xin did not waste time, and immediately went to the three cities of Lixian, Wuyang and Kunyang around Wen as the general of the Nanyang Army, and asked the Sancheng County Order to send all the grain and grass military supplies that could be collected to Ye County for stockpiling, and at the same time use the various equipment provided by Ye County, so that the officers and soldiers of the Nanyang Army and the Western Chu Army rushed to work day and night, and made every effort to build fortifications and prepare for the battle of guarding Ye County for a long time.

In addition, Han Xin naturally had to go to Liu Laosan, explain the current situation to Liu Laosan, and ask Liu Laosan to immediately lead the main force of the Nanyang Army on the southern front to the north and rush to Yexian to help him, and decisively stopped the action of luring the Han army in Hanzhong to enter the hinterland of Nanyang, and instead let the Nanyang Army in Xixian and Danshui make every effort to prevent Li Shang from sending troops from Wuguan, and adjust the original strategic plan of the Nanyang Army in an orderly manner.

The most critical thing is, of course, the main force of the Western Chu Army led by Xiang Yu, in order to ensure that Xiang Yu personally raised troops to help, before he had time to confirm who the commander of the Han army's southern expedition was, in the letter to Xiang Yu for help, Han Xin still insisted that he had received accurate information, and it was Xiang Kang who personally led the main force of the Han army to launch the southern expedition, and strongly persuaded Xiang Yu to seize the opportunity of the main force of the Han army to take the initiative to fight, and personally led the army to Ye County to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Han army. Capture the thief and capture the king first, completely reversing the strategic situation that the Western Chu army is currently seriously in a passive position.

Ye County is indeed worth holding, in addition to the dangerous terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, before this, whether it is the Qin army or the later Shenyang Army and the Nanyang Army, all have spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build strong fortifications in Ye County, these remaining fortifications as long as they are slightly repaired and repaired, they can be reused immediately, so it only took less than three days, the Nanyang Army and the West Chu Army built two strong camps in the dangerous terrain outside Ye County, and completely gained a firm foothold in Ye County.

There is also something that makes Han Xin happy, although he has been requisitioned in large numbers before, but because the autumn harvest is imminent, the officials of the Nanyang Army in Lixian, Wuyang and Kunyang still sent enough grain and grass and many military supplies for half a month to the Liu Xiang coalition army, which alleviated the urgent need of the Liu Xiang coalition army. In addition, on the Xiangcheng side, the Han army did not dare to launch a southward pursuit because the main force had not yet had time to arrive, and instead chose to divide its troops to seize the surrounding Jiaxian and Yingyang places, giving Liu Xiang's coalition army sufficient time to regain its strength in the deep ditch of Yexian County.

At this time, the scattered Nanyang Army and the Western Chu soldiers also basically returned to the team, and after some counting, what made Han Xin and Li Ji overjoyed was that even if they suffered a lot of losses on the way back, the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army still had about 22,000 troops left, and the Nanyang Army also had 17,000 people left, although the remaining troops were certainly not the opponents of the main force of the Han Army, but they were absolutely more than enough to defend the important places in Ye County!

"There is hope!" This is Han Xin's heart's words, "Not only is there still a lot of hope, as long as our main force on the southern front can arrive in time, and Xiang Yu's reckless man also personally raises troops to help, we can definitely turn defeat into victory and completely turn the tide of the war!" ”

…………

On the other hand, Liu Laosan also satisfied Han Xin's wishes, Han Xin's messenger went south along the gallop road, and it took only five days to send Han Xin's letter for help to Liu Laosan, who was still in Jiangling, and after reading the letter, although Liu Laosan also scolded Han Xin for being incompetent, he provoked himself to recruit Xiang Kang, a sworn enemy, in advance for himself, but after calming down, Liu Laosan only thought about it for a moment, and immediately gritted his teeth and said: "Pass the order, immediately prepare to set off to the north, and return to Nanyang tomorrow, Reinforcements of our troops on the Northern Front! Also, give Cao Shen an order, asking him to also come back with the main force of our southern expedition and go north to reinforce the Yexian battlefield! ”

"It's a pity, my lord." Xiahou Ying said with great distress: "The last news I received, Cao Shen and Lu Juan have already fought to Changsha County to govern Linxiang City, and they see that there is hope to take Changsha County. ”

"What's the solution?!" Liu Lao Sanji scolded angrily: "The main force of the Han thieves has gone south, Han Xin's erector and Liji's puppet have lost their troops on the way to retreat, and their vitality has been greatly damaged, if Nai Weng doesn't hurry back to help them, how can they be able to hold Ye County for a long time, let the main force of the Han thieves drive straight into the hinterland of Nanyang, then won't we even have a home?" With Nanjun and Changsha County, the two poor places that have just been taken, how can we be able to stop the Han thieves from continuing their southern expedition? (Remind me that at that time, the development level of Yunmengze was still very low, not only the population was small, the economic foundation was weak, but also there were poisonous snakes and miasma everywhere, and it was not the land of fish and rice now.) ）

"King, what about Changsha County?" Fan Xu asked: "And Nanjun, as soon as our main force leaves, Yingbu's puppet will definitely make a comeback, and with the help of the rest of his party, I'm afraid that the Nanjun we have taken down will not be stable." ”

"I'll have to wait until later." Liu Laosan replied helplessly, and said with a forced smile: "But fortunately, we still have a chance, if it is really Xiang Kang's traitor who personally raised troops to march south, with Xiang Yu's temper, he will definitely personally bring the Western Chu Army to Xiang Kang's little traitor to settle accounts, with his help, not only will we never lose, but also have a great chance to kill Xiang Kang's little traitor directly, and then everything will be easy to do." ”

In this way, because of the sudden and great changes on the northern front, the main force of the southern front of the Nanyang Army had to urgently adjust its strategy, and was forced to abandon the fat of Changsha County, which had already been eaten, and instead went north to reinforce the Yexian battlefield that Han Xin was determined to hold. During this period, although Liu Laosan ordered all the families of the chief officials of Nanjun who had been annexed to move north to Wancheng, because the Nanyang Army had not gained a foothold in Nanjun and the people's hearts were not attached, countless hidden dangers immediately appeared.

The chain reaction is not only this, it was confirmed that the main force of the Nanyang Army had been forced to return to the north, and received a letter from Xiang Kang who took the initiative to inform him personally to lead the army to the south, and Wu Rui, the king of Hengshan, who was still wavering, also immediately made up his mind and ordered the expulsion of the envoy sent by Liu Laosan, while continuing to claim neutrality, he quietly stabbed Liu Laosan in the back at any time - the reason is also very simple, Yingbu is Wu Rui's son-in-law, and his uncle's territory was robbed by Liu Laosan. As long as the father-in-law has the opportunity, of course, he has to help his half son avenge his anger.

…………

When Liu Laosan hurriedly took the army north to reinforce the army, Xiang Kang finally led the 66,000 army, including 10,000 Zhao troops, and went south to Xiangcheng via Xinzheng, Yingyin and Yingyang, and joined the former army led by Long Ji and Zhong Liwu, and at the same time took Xinzheng and Yingyin on the road, and divided 15,000 troops to Zhu Jishi, the general of the Han army who was transferred back from the Hanoi battlefield, and asked him to attack Yangzhai who was retreated by Zhou Chang, and completely dredged the fast grain route from the Wu clan to the front line. Although the autumn harvest has been gradual, it is easier to collect grain and grass on the spot, but for the sake of prudence, Xiang Kang, who is actually as timid as a mouse in his bones, still has to give priority to ensuring that his grain route is unblocked.

After the meeting, the first thing Xiang Kang asked was, of course, whether Han Xin was still in Ye County? After getting a positive answer, he heard that Liu Xiang's coalition army was desperately deep ditches and high bases in Ye County, accumulating grass and storing grain, and had already made preparations for long-term perseverance, Xiang Kang also applauded and said proudly: "Han Xin Pifu, you really made the most correct choice!" This time, look how this king will suck you to death with his own hands! ”

Hearing this, another Han Xin, who happened to be present, was of course extremely embarrassed, and the dragon who had just been put on by Han Xin was even more disgraced, so he could only honestly ask Xiang Kang for his guilt, and frankly admitted that he was greedy for merit and underestimated the enemy, and the ambush led to many deaths and injuries among the soldiers under his command, but Xiang Kang waved his hand generously, and said with a pun: "It's okay, it's okay, as long as you are okay, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, Han Xin, that traitor is so cunning, it's not strange that you suffer in front of him, this king won't take it to heart." ”

"Thank you, King Houen." Long Ji hurriedly thanked him, and said even more impatiently: "King, when will you go south to attack Ye County?" His Majesty asked for an order to be the vanguard and go to Han Xin's puppet to take revenge. ”

"There's no hurry." Xiang Kang replied with a smile: "Sharpen the knife and don't cut the wood, our main force has just arrived, it's not too late to take a little rest and then go south, and by the way, give Liu Ji's puppet a little time to go north, so that he can take the initiative to send him to death, saving us the hard work of going south for a decisive battle, which is not only a waste of time, but also a waste of money and food." ”

Xiang Kang's tone was arrogant and arrogant to this point, but none of the Chen Ping, Zhang Liang, Tang Bing and others present reminded Xiang Kang not to underestimate the enemy, on the contrary, Chen Ping also said to Xiang Kang: "King, in order to prevent the thief army in Ye County from running away, we had better use our old methods to send envoys to secretly contact Han Xin and Li Ji, and pretend to design a rebellion, so that Han Xin and Li Ji think that we are still ready to come to the old ways, intending to start from their inside and create fighters." In this way, Han Xin and Liji basically won't be in a hurry to run. ”

"Good idea, plotting against discord has always been our signature method, if we don't use it, Han Xin's traitor may be suspicious and find that the situation is not good." Xiang Kang nodded, and then casually ordered: "Mr. Chen Ping, this matter will be handed over to you, and you will act directly after the arrangement, without my consent, anyway, Han Xin will definitely not be fooled, don't worry about the backfire." ”

Chen Ping smiled and sang a promise, but Xiang Kang was in a hurry, and hurriedly beckoned Chen Ping to the front, attached to his ear and whispered: "If the envoy is to be selected in Yingchuan, it must be someone who does not know the situation of our thing, and we must prevent the messenger in our main army from leaking the news, so that Han Xin, the traitor, knows our trick to press the bottom of the box." ”

After Chen Ping smiled and agreed, only two days later, in addition to a letter of persuasion was sent to the chief general of the Western Chu Army, Li Ji, there was also a letter written by the old boss Feng Zhong to his old subordinate Han Xin, which was also taken to Ye County by a loyal Nanyang Army captured soldiers, and then because Chen Ping personally confessed that he must not let Zhou Bo and others know, the letter that could indirectly prove the secret collusion between Han Xin and the Han Army was also directly presented to Zhou Bo, Liu Laosan's sworn friend.

It's a pity that the reputation of the Han army in plotting rebellion and discord is too stinky, even if it stands on the cusp of the storm, it can withstand the wind and stink for ten miles, so Zhou Bo not only did not fall for it, but also immediately sent the letter directly to Han Xin, patting his chest to say that he could trust Han Xin, Han Xin thanked Zhou Bo for his trust in him first, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Sure enough, the country is easy to change, and the nature is difficult to change, Xiang Kang, the traitor's rebellion, is simply endless!" Just let the horses go, I want to see what new tricks you Xiang Kang traitor can play, and how can you break through my impregnable Yexian camp! ”

…………

Han Xin's choice to stick to Ye County was indeed too correct to be correct, and after a period of time, Han Xin's letter for help was finally sent to Xiang Yu, who had withdrawn to the mainland, not only Xiang Yu was immediately moved, but even Old Man Fan did not blink his eyelids, and immediately said to Xiang Yu: "King, this is a good opportunity to capture the thief and capture the king first, Xiang Kang personally led the army to the south, not only did he not have a strong camp to defend, but he also had no way to guarantee food and grass and military supplies. As long as we can rush to the Yexian battlefield before the Nanyang Army is broken by the Han thieves, we will definitely be able to break the main force of the Han thieves and directly capture and kill Xiang Kang's rebels, which is very certain! Fighters are rare, please don't miss them! ”

"What are you doing then?" Xiang Yu immediately shouted: "Send troops immediately, go to Nanyang to find Xiang Kang, that traitor, and fight to the death!" ”

"King, take the road of Chen County to enter the army." Old man Fan hurriedly suggested again: "Although there is no gallop on this road, but far away from the middle army and the northern army of the Han thieves, you can take this road to enter the army, you don't have to worry about making trouble for you!" ”

Anxious to seize the opportunity to kill the scum cousin, Xiang Yu was also unprecedentedly not afraid of shouting about how many thieves came, just nodded vigorously, and said with a cruel smile: "Don't worry, Father, I know the severity, this time, I must seize the opportunity and slaughter that shameless traitor with my own hands!" ”

This is also the correctness of Han Xin, as long as he holds the important land in Yexian, not only can he get an endless supply of grain and grass, but also the main force of the Nanyang Army will return to the division for reinforcements, and Xiang Yu, who received the news, will definitely send troops to Nanyang to help the Nanyang Army turn the tide of the war. However, of course, no matter how correct the choice, the premise must also be based on Han Xin's ability to hold Yexian and wait for reinforcements......