When the Han generals Feng Zhong and Lu Kuang joined forces to pursue and bite the main force of the Western Chu Army, the main force of the Han Army led by Xiang Kang in the middle of the road finally joined forces with the main force of the Han Army on the northern front led by Zhou Shu under the city of Huling, completely ending the history of the two main forces of the Han Army for a long time and only fighting separately.

This is also the largest reunion of the Han army's civil and military ministers after a few years, the scene is naturally touching, Xiang Kang took the initiative to hug Uncle Zhou who really did not betray him as soon as they met, and the tears were hazy to describe each other's farewells, and then accepted the choked salute of the young marshals and old men such as Worm Da, Ling Jing and Yang Xi, who had never met since Uncle Zhou was in charge of the northern front battlefield alone, also hugged Uncle Zhou tightly for a long time, and Mr. Uncle Sun crawled in front of Xiang Kang and cried, exaggerating and showing off his lover's feelings, The four old men of Shangshan who finally got together again also held hands with each other and sighed, glad that they could meet again in their lifetimes. - In terms of age, this is indeed quite a miracle.

These circumstances also led to the initiative to surrender Huling County, which made Li Teng feel neglected, seeing the main force of the Western Chu army throwing Huling and retreating on its own, and seeing the number of more than 200,000 Han troops meeting outside Huling City, although Xiang Kang and Zhou Shu were too lazy to send people to the city to shout and persuade them to surrender, Li Teng, who was already scared, hurriedly took the only few hundred county soldiers in the city out of the city to surrender, and then because the Han army had no time to deal with him, even if he took the initiative to surrender, he was temporarily detained by the Han army soldiers in the distance, I haven't been summoned by Xiang Kang for a long time.

Fortunately, in order not to chill the people of Xichu, after coming to his senses, Chen Ping hurriedly reminded Xiang Kang not to completely forget the Huling County Order that took the initiative to surrender, and then came to Li Teng with Xiang Kang's password and said: "Li Xianzun, the king will be too busy to see you for the time being, but you can take the initiative to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, our king is still very pleased." Therefore, the king's decree is to make you the county of Surabaya, with a reward of 5,000, so that you can listen to the army, and then summon you when you are free. ”

As soon as Li Teng heard the great joy, he hurriedly thanked Chen Ping again and again, Chen Ping, who was busy with official business, did not have time to continue talking with him, and instructed Li Teng to go to the Han military officials to report and receive the reward and prepare to leave, but Li Teng, who was anxious to show his loyalty, hurriedly said: "Lieutenant Chen, please wait a moment, the lower official has another very important matter, I want to ask you to play the king." ”

"What's the matter?" Chen Ping asked casually.

"Lieutenant Chen, Xiang Yu, the puppet king of Western Chu, has been injured, and the injury doesn't seem to be light." Li Teng hurriedly replied.

"What? Is there such a thing? Chen Ping's heart sank, and he hurriedly asked, "How do you know?" ”

"Xiaguan heard what Master Xiang Bo of Western Chu said with his own ears." Li Teng hurriedly replied: "Last night, when the Western Chu army began to retreat, the lower officials didn't know what to do because they didn't receive the order, so they hurried out of the city to ask for orders, and then when they saw Xiang Bo, Xiang Bo casually said that Xiang Yu, the puppet king of Western Chu, had been injured, and asked the lower officials to defend Huling, so that they could retreat to buy time, and the lower officials would hold on for more than three days before breaking through to Pengcheng to meet them. ”

Chen Ping blinked, then quickly nodded and said: "Very good, the news you provided is very important, I will go to report to the king, if the news is true, there will definitely be a reward in the future." ”

After that, Chen Ping hurriedly returned to Xiang Kang and told the news to Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou and others, but after hearing the news, Xiang Kang and Uncle Zhou immediately glanced at each other, and saw the surprise look in each other's eyes, and then Xiang Kang suddenly understood something, and blurted out: "Could it be that last night, my Uncle Ji, who had never led a soldier, led the army to let Feng Zhong choose a big bargain, and it was for this reason?" ”

"Possibly." Uncle Zhou also immediately said: "Although the king of Western Chu is irritable and cruel, he has never been greedy for life and afraid of death, basically every time he retreats, he personally leads the army to the palace, although he retreated immediately after just fighting a big battle last night, it should be that he personally led the army that did not participate in the battle, and he was forced to use Xiang Bo to lead the army, probably because he was injured." ”

After saying that, Uncle Zhou frowned again and said, "I just don't know how the injury of the King of Western Chu is, if it is only a minor injury, I am afraid we will not have much chance." ”

"Regardless of whether my brother is slightly injured or seriously injured, this opportunity cannot be missed!" Xiang Kang made a decisive decision and immediately said: "Ignore other matters for the time being, and the establishment of the army will not be adjusted for the time being, general, you will immediately lead our main force on the northern front to go first, and go all out to pursue the remaining army of the Western Chu thief army, first catch up with the Western Chu thief army, and then say, grain, grass, military supplies and baggage, this king will personally lead the army to escort you for you." ”

Knowing that the fighter plane was rare, Uncle Zhou did not hesitate, and immediately led the main force of the northern front of the Han army, which should have been handed over to Xiang Kang's command, and followed Feng Zhong and Lu Kuang to chase the rest of the Western Chu army, while Xiang Kang temporarily took over the grain and grass left by Uncle Zhou, and led the main force in the middle to protect the grain and grass. Then it didn't take long for the 40,000 Sanchuan Han army led by Qi Gill and Bao Kua to get in touch with Xiang Kang, saying that they had crossed Surabaya at Yutai Pavilion, and then quickly led the army to rush forward, followed by Zhou Shu and Xiang Kang's second army to launch an all-out pursuit of the Western Chu army.

…………

When the Han army decisively launched an all-out pursuit, because of the bite of the tail by Feng Zhong and Lu Kuang, the main brigade of the Western Chu army only retreated to the vicinity of the Surabaya Pavilion that Liu Laosan was very familiar with, and the result made Liu Laosan feel a lot of emotion What made Liu Laosan feel a lot of emotion was that now the pavilion chief of the Surabaya Pavilion was not only still Qiu Yue, a fellow villager of Pei County, whom he knew, but also when he had just arrived at the Surabaya Pavilion, Qiu Yue took the initiative to run to him to say hello, and couldn't wait to say that he had asked his daughter-in-law to kill his own dog. Be sure to invite Liu Laosan and Fan Hao and other Peixian villagers to have a few drinks.

"Brother Qiu, I appreciate your kindness, but there is no way, military affairs are in my body, so I am afraid that I will not have a chance to taste your dog meat, and I can only wait for the opportunity to drink in the future."

After thanking Qiu Yue with a wry smile, Liu Laosan, who has always been generous, personally took out a few gold to thank his fellow villagers for their kindness, but maybe God must let Liu Laosan stay in Surabaya Pavilion, just when Qiu Yue was full of disappointment, Xiang Yu's guards suddenly rushed over to give an order, ordering the Western Chu army walking in front to stop advancing, and also asked the soldiers of the Western Chu Army to immediately set up a camp in Surabaya Pavilion and prepare to rest for the night. Liu Laosan was shocked when he heard this, and said, "What's wrong?" Why set up camp in Surabaya Pavilion? Doesn't the king know that the thieves are likely to catch up with us soon? ”

"I'm afraid it has something to do with the king's injury." Han Xin guessed, and then suggested: "Pei Gong, you'd better go and check the situation immediately and inquire about what the king plans to do next." ”

Liu Laosan nodded, and hurriedly thanked the fellow who kindly invited him to drink wine and eat meat, temporarily handed over the army under his command to Cao Shen and Zhou Bo and others to lead, and hurried to Xiang Yu's handsome banner to check the situation, and then the situation was really expected by Han Xin, when Liu Laosan saw Xiang Yu again, Xiang Yu's face was not only obviously paler than before, but also surrounded by several military medical workers to redress the wound. Liu Laosan didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly asked in a low voice to Master Xiang Boxiang next to him: "Master, is the king's injury aggravated?" ”

Xiang Bo nodded with a gloomy face, and said in a low voice: "The wound has cracked again, and the medical worker said that he must rest immediately, otherwise the injury will only get worse." ”

"But the thieves are about to catch up?" Liu Laosan hurriedly said: "Can you please hold on to the king, continue to ride south, and don't stop and waste time?" ”

"Do you think the old man didn't persuade him?" Master Xiang replied in a low voice angrily, and said: "The king has already made up his mind, he will set up a camp here in Surabaya Pavilion to guard for a few days, and when his injuries improve slightly, he will fight to the death with the Han thieves, and no one will listen to him." ”

Of course, Liu Laosan secretly complained when he heard this, but he never thought that Xiang Yu had noticed him at this time, and shouted angrily: "Liu Ji, why are you here if you don't lead the army to build a camp?" Didn't the king's guards give you the command? ”

Liu Laosan was also completely helpless, so he could only stubbornly say: "King, your subordinates are here for this matter, and the thieves are about to chase after us, are we better not waste time and insist on continuing to retreat south?" ”

"No withdrawal!" Xiang Yu roared angrily: "This king has thought about it carefully, even if we retreat to Pengcheng, the Han thieves will definitely chase Pengcheng, instead of being chased and weakened by the Han thieves on the way to retreat, it is better to take the initiative to stop and rest, and when the king's injuries are slightly better, we will fight to the death with the Han thieves here!" ”

"But my lord, the thieves have more than twice as many troops as us." Liu Laosan said cautiously: "In a decisive battle here, our chances of winning are not good." ”

"Fart!" Xiang Yu roared again and roared: "This king dominates the world, invincible, who have you been afraid of in a head-on battle?" No matter how many Han thieves have troops, can they have more violent Qin troops than Zhang Han and Wang Li? As long as Xiang Kang, that traitor, dares to fight this king, his strength will be doubled, and this king doesn't need to be afraid of him! Get lost! Get back to camp! ”

Seeing that Xiang Yu had committed a bear temper again, afraid that his injuries would continue to worsen, and even more afraid that he would kill himself with a sword in anger, Liu Laosan had no choice but to obediently surrender and retreat, and honestly go back to lead the soldiers to build a camp, Xiang Yu yelled again, and ordered Xiang Bo and Xiang Zhuang and others to urge all departments of the Western Chu Army to step up their camps, and be sure to build a strong enough camp in the shortest possible time, so that they can recuperate from their injuries and reorganize the army with peace of mind.

Let's look at the situation on Liu Laosan's side, after returning to his own army, Liu Laosan of course told Han Xin and other cronies about Xiang Yu's decision at the first time, but to Liu Laosan's surprise, after some careful calculation, Han Xin actually said: "Although the king's decision is impulsive, it can also be regarded as a correct choice, our army has been bitten by the Han thieves, and he is injured and cannot personally lead the army to the palace, no matter which direction he retreats, he can't escape the fate of being gradually weakened by the Han thieves, There is also a danger of being chased and surrounded by the main force of the Han thieves. Rather than this, it is better to regroup the army in a deep ditch and high base here in Surabaya Pavilion, and wait for his injuries to recover a little, and then we can break through and transfer more certainly. ”

"But the problem is, the king doesn't plan to break through and transfer at all." Liu Laosan said distressedly: "Listening to his tone, he has already made up his mind, as long as his injuries improve slightly, he will fight the thieves here to the death." ”

"If the king can adopt my strategy, even if it is a head-on battle, we may not lose." Han Xin replied very confidently: "The terrain in this area of Surabaya Pavilion is long and narrow from north to south, with Surabaya protecting our flank in the west, and the terrain in the east is complex, which is not conducive to the march of large armies, and it is difficult for the army of Han thieves to deploy, and it is difficult to give full play to the advantage of troops. ”

Of course, Liu Laosan didn't dare to believe this kind of conclusion, but there was no way, Xiang Yu had already made the decision to set up camp in Surabaya Pavilion, and Liu Laosan didn't dare to disobey it, so he could only execute the order, and then it didn't take much time for Liu Laosan to find that Xiang Yu's decision was actually very correct, because the time had just arrived in the evening of the day, and Uncle Zhou had already led the main force of the Han army's northern front to travel lightly and hurriedly pursued to the vicinity of Surabaya Pavilion, completely shattering the dream of the Western Chu army to get rid of the Han army's chasing soldiers. It was all because Xiang Yu had already let the Western Chu army build a rudimentary camp defense line, and the tired Han army from afar did not dare to attack immediately. - Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the Han army can't confirm Xiang Yu's injury.

Seeing this scene, Liu Laosan had no choice but to completely dispel the idea of persuading Xiang Yu to continue to retreat, and instead asked Han Xin for advice on what strategy Xiang Yu should adopt to deal with the attack of the Han army, Han Xin replied very directly, and said: "Our army soldiers are tired, and the king is injured, so we can only try our best to buy time and temporarily stabilize the Han thief, and wait for us to breathe this breath, and then we can hope to counterattack and break the enemy." But if the thieves know about our situation and take advantage of the fact that our camp has not yet had time to build and complete the attack, we will definitely be in danger. ”

"Then is there any way for you to stabilize the thief temporarily?" Liu Laosan hurriedly asked.

"Of course there is, but it depends on Pei Gong whether you can convince the king to act according to the plan." Han Xin immediately said: "First of all, the first point is that we must ask the king to patrol the camp with the wounded, pretend to be injured and stabilize the morale of the army, so as to prevent our soldiers from leaking the news and being heard by the Han thieves." Second, we must ask our king to forbear for the time being, make some fuss with the feelings of the same clan, pretend to send an envoy to sue for peace, and use the negotiations to buy time, and then as long as our camp is built, we will be sure to block the attack of the Han thieves. ”

After thinking for a while, he found that the army did only have these two ways at present, so Liu Laosan no longer hesitated, and immediately rushed to the camp of the Western Chu Army, which was just beginning to take shape, to meet Xiang Bo, and first persuaded Master Xiang Boxiang, who was in love with him, and then met Xiang Yu under the guidance of Master Xiang, and persuaded Xiang Yu to adopt Han Xin's strategy.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Xiang Yu of course accepted the suggestion of letting himself patrol the camp with injuries without hesitation, but on the second question, Xiang Yu, who wanted to save face, was inevitably extremely hesitant, but it was okay for Liu Laosan and Master Xiang, considering that the soldiers were tired and it was difficult for him to go into battle to kill the enemy, despite the reluctance in his heart, Xiang Yu finally nodded reluctantly and said: "Okay, you say, how to show weakness to Xiang Kang traitor to buy time?" ”

"King, there is only one way, invite your second and third uncles out to force Xiang Kang's traitors to stop attacking temporarily." Uncle Xiang, who had already discussed a good idea with Liu Laosan, immediately said: "Tomorrow, let Xiang Zhuangxian's nephew serve as an envoy to see Xiang Kang's traitor, and say that your two uncles are already on the way north from Pengcheng, and they will personally mediate the war between you and Xiang Kang's traitor, and let Xiang Zhuangxian's nephew beg him to temporarily stop the war, and wait for your two uncles and aunts to meet him." ”

"Xiang Kang's traitor was raised by your two uncles and mothers, and Xiang Zhuangxian's nephew once saved his life when he exterminated the bandits, and Xiang Kang's traitor will definitely not give them the face of Xiang Zhuangxian's nephew." Master Xiang continued: "Then don't have more, as long as the thieves give us three days, we can build a strong barracks, so that our soldiers can rest and recuperate, and you can recuperate with peace of mind, and when your injuries improve, we don't have to be afraid of anything." ”

Using female elders as shields to buy time for himself, the arrogant Xiang Yu was of course unwilling to do such a humiliating thing from the bottom of his heart, but he was forced by the situation, and Xiang Yu, who finally left the rest of the Western Chu Army and only fled with 800 cavalry in history, hesitated for a long time, and said in a weak voice: "Then do it." ”