Sima Wei's luck in escaping for his life was quite good, although the west fled to Kaifeng, which was controlled by the Chu army, although it was sudden, and the Chu army officials in Kaifeng did not know Sima Wei, but after Sima Wei took out the Henan Wang Yin letter issued by Xiang Yu to prove his identity, the Kaifeng Chu army still gave Sima Wei the best treatment, and then according to Sima Wei's request, he sent someone to escort him north to Dongjun to meet with the former team of the Western Chu Army Huan Chu who was marching to Sanchuan.

When on the road, Sima Wei was also extremely worried that Huan Chu would be careless, not knowing that Sanchuan County had been lost, and stupidly bumped into the Han saber, but fortunately, just arrived in Linji, Sima Wei received the news, saying that the Huan Chu army had not yet arrived in the sour jujube and received the news of the loss of Aocang, Xingyang and other places, and urgently withdrew the Yan County defense, Sima Wei heard the great joy, and hurriedly led Li Zuoche and others to Yan County, and the Huan Chu army was united.

As early as the Central Plains War, Sima Wei and Huan Chu have fought side by side more than once, and they still have a lot of friendship with each other, hearing that Sima Wei is coming, Huan Chu of course went out of the camp to greet him at the first time, and just invited Sima Wei into his own Chinese army tent and sat down, and immediately couldn't wait to ask: "King of Henan, what happened?" How could your main army be defeated so quickly, and even the national capitals of Luoyang, Aocang, and Xingyang were lost so quickly? ”

"Don't mention it, I accidentally fell for Xiang Kang'er's tricks, and I lost consecutive battles, so I got to this point today."

Sima Wei sighed, first of all, he put aside the process of his successive fiascos, and probably introduced it to Huan Chu, during which he naturally had to exaggerate Xiang Kang's shameless methods to cover up himself, brag about his heroic resistance to show that he was not so incompetent, and shirk the responsibility as much as possible on Xiang Kang's despicable tricks and Shen Yang's shameless rebellion. However, even so, Huan Chu couldn't help frowning, and said: "I didn't expect Xiang Kang's thief to be so powerful, fortunately, I didn't dare to rush into the army when I received the news of your defeat, otherwise, my more than 30,000 troops may be in danger." ”

"General Huan, how is the situation of the remnants of this king's army in Sanchuan County?" Sima Wei hurriedly asked: "There are still my garrisons in Juan County and Yangwu to the east of Xingyang, what is the situation in those places now?" ”

"Don't be disappointed when you hear that." Huan Chu replied: "I received news that your garrison in Yangwu, Juan County, heard that you were wiped out in Xingyang, and thought that you had died in the chaos, so they all surrendered to the Han thieves, and we also lost contact with your other remnants in Sanchuan County. ”

"Those shameless puppets, obviously greedy for life and afraid of death, still use the excuse that they think that the king has died in battle." Sima Wei gritted his teeth, and hurriedly said: "But it doesn't matter, Handan County is still in the hands of this king, as long as this king crosses the Yellow River and returns to Handan, he will be able to raise an army again immediately." Oh, by the way, General Huan, what is the situation of the King of Western Chu now, when will he be able to return to the division to launch a counterattack? ”

"When will our king launch a counteroffensive, I don't know." Huan Chu shook his head and said: "We went north to crusade against Tian Shi and Tian Rong, two traitors, but defeated the thief army in Changguo, took Linzi by the way, and captured Wang Tian City in Jiaodong, but Tian Rong's puppet refused to be captured, and fled east into Jiaodong County to continue to resist stubbornly, after our king pursued and killed into Jiaodong, who knew that the great Kou Peng Yue of Juye Ze accepted the general seal given to him by Tian Shi and Tian Rong, and took advantage of the opportunity of the emptiness in our rear to suddenly send troops into Jibei, and now the two battlefields of Qidi and the east and west are in a mess, So I don't know when the king will be able to return to the division and launch a counterattack. ”

Sima Wei, who was anxious to regain the territory with the help of the Chu army, was disappointed when he heard this, but Li Zuoche, who was forcibly coerced to Chu by Sima Wei, was thoughtful, and suddenly said: "The king of Western Chu fell into the quagmire of chaos in Qidi, which is not necessarily a bad thing, if the tactics of the king of Western Chu are used properly, maybe he can also turn the passive into the initiative, reverse the passive situation of the loss of Aocang and the fall of Sanchuan in one fell swoop, and force Xiang Kang's rebels into a desperate situation." However, it also depends on whether the king of Western Chu has the courage to do so. ”

Thanks to the great name of his good grandfather Li Mu, of course Huan Chu also knew Li Zuoche, who had to pay tribute to Xiang Yu, and heard Li Zuoche's tone so big, Huan Chu couldn't help but be very curious, and hurriedly asked: "What does Guangwujun mean by this?" Our main force in Western Chu has fallen into the quagmire of melee in Qidi, why do you want to say that it is not necessarily a bad thing? ”

"Because of this situation, Xiang Kang's rebels can take the main force of the King of Western Chu lightly, thinking that the King of Western Chu will not be able to withdraw from the battlefield of Qidi in a short period of time, and then he will have the greed to take the opportunity to expand the results of the battle." Li Zuoche replied: "If the king of Western Chu can seize this opportunity, push the boat down the river and arrange a plan to lure the enemy, and divert the tiger from the mountain to lure the main force of Xiang Kang's rebels out of Sanchuan County, then not to say that it is to recapture Aocang Sanchuan, it is to take the entire Guanzhong, and it is all captured." ”

"Is there such a good thing?" Huan Chu and Sima Wei were even more curious when they heard this, and they all hurriedly asked: "Guangwu Jun, how should the king of Western Chu push the boat down the river, divert the tiger from the mountain, and lure the main force of Xiang Kang's rebels out of Sanchuan County?" ”

"Did it work?" Li Zuoche asked rhetorically and said: "The king of Western Chu is here again, besides, even if the king of Western Chu is here, he may not adopt the strategy below." ”

"Guangwujun, what's the matter?" Huan Chu persuaded: "If your plan is really feasible, you can immediately go to the king of Western Chu and persuade him to act according to the plan, maybe the king of Western Chu will really listen." ”

Sima Wei, who was anxious to regain the fallen territory, also persuaded him, Li Zuoche couldn't resist them, so he had to say: "The strategy under the plan is actually very simple, that is, it is divided into three steps, first, deliberately take the initiative to plunge the king of Western Chu into the quagmire of Qidi, and there is no way to immediately launch a counterattack, so that Xiang Kang's rebels feel that there is an opportunity." At the same time, General Huan Chu led the army south, went to Chenliu to arrange defenses, pretended to prevent Xiang Kang's rebels from taking advantage of the situation to enter Pengcheng, and reminded Xiang Kang and his subordinates that they had the opportunity to rescue their families and children as soon as possible. ”

"The second step is to let the Western Chu generals who stayed in the rear secretly surrender to Xiang Kang's rebels, and take the initiative to tell Xiang Kang the rebels about the defensive deployment of the King of Western Chu in the rear, and use them as bait to lure Xiang Kang's rebels to take the opportunity to enter Pengcheng, and then General Huan, you deliberately fight and retreat, luring the main force of Xiang Kang's rebels into the hinterland of Huaisi, away from Sanchuan and Aocang."

"The third step is simple." Li Zuoche continued: "Taking advantage of the opportunity of Xiang Kang's main force of the rebels to go deep into the hinterland of Western Chu, the king of Western Chu selected elite soldiers and strong generals in Qidi, rushed lightly along the Chi Road to attack Sanchuan, recaptured Ao Cang, cut off the connection between Xiang Kang's main force and the rear, surrounded Wei to save Zhao and forced Xiang Kang's main force to return to the division for a decisive battle, and then as long as the king of Western Chu can defeat Xiang Kang's main force, not only can no one in the world be his opponent, but it must be easy to seize the Han land in Guanzhong!" ”

Sima Wei and Huan Chu each calculated, but Li Zuoche sighed very regretfully, and said: "If the king of Western Chu can adopt the plan of the subordinates, and the subordinates can guarantee that this plan will be successful, even if Xiang Kang is a rebel, his generals will force him to do so, and the reason is very simple, their parents, wives and children are in the hinterland of Western Chu, and of course they hope to take them home as soon as possible." And once Xiang Kang's rebel thief is hit, his advantage in grain and grass and military supply will also be lost, and the king of Western Chu can be the main enemy, and he no longer has to worry about the supply of grain and grass for the main army to counterattack Sanchuan, and occupy all the initiative in the Central Plains battlefield. ”

After thinking about it for a long time, Sima Wei said: "Guangwujun's plan is indeed bold and magnificent, but it is too risky, and the King of Western Chu may not adopt it. ”

Huan Chu still didn't speak, and after a long time, Huan Chu suddenly said: "Not necessarily, after our king knows about your strategy of Guangwu Jun, he may not adopt it." ”

Sima Wei and Li Zuoche were a little surprised to look at Huan Chu together, Huan Chu smiled and said, "I dare to say that it may not be, it is definitely not a mouthful." There are two reasons for this, the first is that I am too familiar with the temper of our king, and the more daring and risky tactics he is, the more likely he is to accept them, and the more he dares to take such risks. As for the second reason, ....... ”

Speaking of this, Huan Chu arched his hand to Sima Wei and said: "Don't blame the king of Henan, the last general definitely didn't mean to look down on you, the last general was just out of caution, when he was ordered to lead the army to reinforce you, he once asked the king of Western Chu a question, that is, what if the last general led the army to Sanchuan, the battle situation in Sanchuan was out of control?" ”

"Then how does the king of Western Chu answer?" Sima Wei hurriedly asked.

"Our king was very clear about the general's explanation at that time." Huan Chu replied with a smile: "If the battle situation in Sanchuan is out of control, then the general must withdraw to the front line of Chenliu and Daliang as soon as possible to prevent Xiang Kang's rebels from attacking our national capital Pengcheng!" ”

"Is there such a thing?" When Sima Wei heard this, he was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "In this way, General Huan, you don't need to ask the king of Western Chu to decide to go south to Chenliu to set up defenses, and remind Xiang Kang that Xiao'er has the opportunity to take advantage of the situation to enter Pengcheng?" ”

"It's more than that." Huan Chu said very categorically: "Even if I take the initiative to spread the news that our main force has no way to return to the division immediately to counterattack, I dare to take the initiative to spread it, anyway, Xiang Kang's rebel thief must have been concerned about the situation on the battlefield in Qidi, and the current situation of our main force in Western Chu, he will definitely know it soon, rather than hiding it and not being able to hide it in the end, it is better to take the initiative to spread it and let Xiang Kang's rebel know, the big deal is to let Xiang Kang's rebel thief send troops to attack my army a few days earlier, and I have long wanted to compete with him head-on." ”

"Xiang Kang's traitors will not send troops early." Li Zuoche hurriedly said: "Xiang Kang has always been cautious in the use of soldiers, and those who are cautious must be suspicious, seeing General Huan, you take the initiative to spread the news, he will inevitably suspect that this is the general's plan to lure the enemy, and if he does not find out the accurate news through his own scouts, he will definitely not dare to act rashly." ”

Huan Chu nodded, recognized Li Zuoche's analysis, and after thinking for a while, Huan Chu said: "Let's do it separately, the king of Henan, you go to Handan County to gather the old troops to regroup, and I will lead the army south to Chenliu to set up defenses, prevent Xiang Kang's rebels from taking advantage of the situation to send troops to attack Pengcheng, and first carry out the task of the king of Western Chu asking me to protect the rear." As for Guangwujun, you should consider your plan as thoroughly as possible, write a letter, and I will send someone to send it back to Qidi on a fast horse and hand it over to the king, and if the king really agrees with your plan, we will immediately follow the plan. ”

I didn't expect Huan Chu to agree with his plan so much, Li Zuoche did not hesitate under great joy, and hurriedly agreed with Sima Wei, and then racked his brains to consider his plan to lure the enemy deeply, and wrote a long letter to Huan Chu, and Huan Chu, who became friends with Xiang Yu when he was in Wudi, also wrote a letter to Xiang Yu, reporting to Xiang Yu about the battle situation in Sanchuan and his own countermeasures, and strongly persuaded Xiang Yu to accept Li Zuoche's suggestion, and sent a fast horse to send back to Qidi along the gallop road and hand it over to Xiang Yu for decision.

With the ancient highway left by Qin Shi Huang, the traffic is convenient, but in six or seven days, the letter between Huan Chu and Li Zuoche delivered by the fast horse was sent to Xiang Yu who had led the troops deep into the territory of Jiaodong County, and Huan Chu also seriously underestimated Xiang Yu's ability to command the army, when he and Li Zuoche's letter was sent to Xiang Yu, the Western Chu army had already broken through the Qi town of Jimo City, and successfully killed Qi Xiang Tian Rong, who swore to fight Xiang Yu, and buried all the Qi army prisoners alive. Peng Yue, who was about to return to his division to deal with the giant wild Kou Peng Yue, who dared to stab the tiger's ass, had basically gotten rid of the quagmire of chaos in Qi Di - at least Xiang Yu thought so.

Huan Chu is indeed very aware of Xiang Yu's bear temper, and learned that Xiang Kang actually won the two counties of Sanchuan and Hanoi and the vital Ao Cang important land at lightning speed, although Xiang Yu lost his temper, scolded Sima Wei and the Henan army for being incompetent, and swore that he must find Xiang Kang to settle the new hatred and old accounts, but after reading Li Zuoche's risky strategy, Xiang Yu calmed down, and gradually moved, Xiang Yu also gathered several of his cronies to discuss the feasibility of Li Zuoche's plan.

Then needless to say, his wife and concubine Mei and Master Xiang Boxiang, who all the net worth are in Pengcheng, of course, are strongly opposed to such a risky act, worried that once they fail, they will really give the unfilial nephew a chance to break through Pengcheng and save his wife and children.

To Xiang Yu's surprise, Kuai Che, who has always liked to take risks, actually opposed the risky strategy proposed by Li Zuoche, and said openly: "King, Guangwujun's strategy is indeed wonderful, if it is used on other people, it can basically be guaranteed to succeed." However, Xiang Kang's traitor has always been cautious, treacherous and wise, and he will not see the danger of a lone army penetrating into our hinterland, and he is likely to make a plan and in turn set a trap to harm our rushing army. ”

"The best thing we can do is to play it steady." Kuaiche added: "Ignore Xiang Kang's rebels for the time being, concentrate superior forces, first kill our hinterland hidden danger Peng Yue rebels, and then actively contact the princes to discuss Xiang Kang's rebels, while stockpiling grass and grain, preparing enough military supplies, and marching from the front to Sanchuan, not seeking a quick victory, first seeking undefeated." ”

Master Xiang Boxiang, who hoped that his family's beautiful concubine would be safe, nodded his head, but unfortunately Kui Che's proposal did not appeal to Xiang Yu at all, and Xiang Yu didn't even bother to pay attention to it, but turned his attention to his most trusted old man Fan and Cao Ji. And Old Man Fan first thought carefully for a long time, and then talked to Cao Qi, who could influence Xiang Yu's decision, in a low voice, and unified his voice, before he said: "The king, the old ministers and others think that Guangwujun's suggestion might as well give it a try." ”

"Father also thinks it's feasible?" Xiang Yu asked with great joy.

Old man Fan nodded, and then said: "There are two reasons, the first is that since Ao Cang has been lost, if we adopt the tactics of steady and steady fighting, it is easy to be dragged into a bitter war of attrition by Xiang Kang's rebels, and when the time comes, the two armies will face off for a long time, and once our supply of grain and grass is not smooth, the consequences will inevitably be unimaginable." Only when we are bold and surprising can we have the best chance of winning. ”

"The second is that Guangwujun's strategy is quite feasible and quite safe." Old man Fan continued: "Although Xiang Kang is a traitor, he also knows how to capture fighters, seeing that Pengcheng has an opportunity, and our main force is far away, he may not have the greed to attack Pengcheng, and none of his old Huaisi troops will not be tempted." And even if he has some suspicions, or even sees through our strategy, we only need to let Sima Wei keep an eye on the movements of his main force for us, and report the situation to our Rush Raid at any time, and our Rush Raid can also adapt to the situation and adjust our tactics in time, so as not to fall into the trap of Xiang Kang's rebels. ”

"And we have another advantage." Cao Ji hurriedly added: "That is, we already have more than 30,000 cavalry, and the number of troops is enough to take on the heavy task of attacking, and there is a gallop road from Qidi to Aocang Xingyang, so that our cavalry can come and go like the wind, and rush like lightning, whether it is to attack by victory, or to retreat immediately when the situation is wrong, it is extremely convenient, even if the attack fails, it is not easy to suffer." ”

Xiang Yu nodded his head, and immediately approved Li Zuoche's plan to divert the tiger from the mountain thousands of miles away, and then rubbed his hands excitedly and asked: "Who will be sent to come forward to deceive and surrender, reveal the defensive deployment of our rear to Xiang Kang's traitors, and lure him to send troops to attack Pengcheng?" ”

"It's not enough to rely on one mole, you have to arrange two moles." Old man Fan raised a finger and said, "The king might as well immediately order our Dangjun guard Wan Yun, let him come out to surrender to Xiang Kang's rebels, leak our rear defense deployment, and take the initiative to ask Suiyang to lure Xiang Kang's rebels to send troops to our hinterland." Wan Yun is the former deputy of General Xiang Zhuang and the former subordinate of Xiang Kang's traitor, and he came forward to deceive and surrender, and it is easiest to gain Xiang Kang's trust. ”

"And we also have to let General Wan Yun really dedicate Suiyang to Xiang Kang's traitor, so that he can take it lightly under joy." Cao Ji hurriedly said: "During this period, we will arrange for another Pengcheng guard to come out to surrender to Xiang Kang's rebels, and continue to lure him to send troops to Pengcheng, so that not only is it timely in terms of time and distance, but it can also make Xiang Kang's rebels more easily deceived." ”

"Brilliant plan!" Xiang Yu applauded again, and asked even more impatiently: "Then we arrange for which Pengcheng guard to come out and surrender to Xiang Kang?" ”

"King, do you still need to ask this question?" Old Man Fan smiled and asked: "There are three of our main generals who stayed in Pengcheng, namely General Xiang Sheng, General Xiang It and General Feng Zhong, you said that which general we arranged for us to come out and surrender to Xiang Kang's traitor, it is easiest to gain the trust of Xiang Kang's traitor?" ”

Xiang Yu laughed loudly and said loudly: "It's him!" Tell him that if this matter is successful, the king will immediately make him the lower prime minister, and give him the entire lower prime minister to make food, so that the mud leg can go back to his hometown to enjoy the scenery! ”