Although he knew that there was little hope, Liu Laosan hurriedly calculated it, and then arranged for a messenger to go north overnight and rush to Yangcheng to contact the guard general Fang Gong there, so that Fang Gong allowed the ordinary people and local soldiers in Yangcheng to go out of the city to collect grain, try their best to save the hearts of the people, leave the hope of being able to defend Yangcheng for a long time, and also let the Yangcheng defenders have more hope when they are forced to break through, and facilitate the Nanyang army to counterattack and recapture Yangcheng in the future.

Han Xin did not stop Liu Laosan's dying struggle, but after Liu Laosan sent the messenger away, and after more than 20 Yexian defeated soldiers retreated, Han Xin said: "I'm afraid there is no hope, even if our messenger successfully arrives in Yangcheng, Yangcheng has not yet been broken by the Han thieves, and the Han thieves will definitely use the excuse of killing the envoy to retract their previous promises and continue to detain the urine basin that disregards the people's livelihood to us." ”

"Let's be a dead horse doctor, anyway, Yangcheng will definitely not be able to hold it, try your luck and see if that fool can buy us a little more time."

Liu Laosan's tone was very helpless, obviously he had no confidence in his own move, and then Liu Laosan sighed very rarely, and asked Han Xin: "General, what should I do next?" Is it to make up our minds to quickly retreat to the front line of Hanshui, and exchange time with our Wancheng capital and Nanyang hinterland? Or do you want to hold Wancheng with all your might, hoping to rely on the city defense to delay time, and wait for Xiang Yu's horseman to come to us with the main force of the Western Chu army? Where to go, general, how do you think you should choose? ”

The military god Han Xin hesitated for the first time on the issue of tactics, and after hesitating for a long time, Han Xin replied: "The king forgives the sin, the matter is related to the future and fate of our Nanyang Kingdom, and your subordinates need to think carefully before they can give the king an answer." ”

"The sooner you give this king an answer, the better." Liu Laosan replied expressionlessly: "There is not much time left for us, if we can't make up our minds for a long time, it will be difficult for us to retreat to Hanshui to establish a strong defense line first." ”

Han Xin agreed, and when he retreated, Han Xin even forgot to pay courtesy to Liu Laosan, and Liu Laosan didn't mind such a trivial matter, but just sat on the throne in a daze, turning over and over in his heart, and kept thinking hard, "Is it a gamble to concentrate the army to defend Wancheng with all its might?" Or is it prudent to make up your mind to abandon the hinterland of Wancheng and Nanyang, and preemptively withdraw to the front line of Hanshui to deploy defenses? ”

On that day, Han Xin and Liu Laosan stayed awake all night, sitting alone in their bedrooms, Han Xin did not move for almost the whole night, in addition to thinking hard about the same problem, he continued to analyze the tactical possibilities of the Han army, and used tactics to seize the two cities of Yexian and Yangcheng, is it because of Xiang Kang's bad habit of liking to cheat, or is Xiang Kang deliberately preserving his strength and luring the self-army to gather troops in Wancheng to take the opportunity to fight quickly? also continued to deduce the various difficulties that Wancheng might face, racking his brains, and in one night, Han Xin turned a lot of gray hair......

In the end, when it was all dark, Han Xinzhong basically made up his mind, hurriedly made a little preparation, entered the Nanyang Palace with a pair of black circles, and said to Liu Laosan, who also had dark circles: "My lord, Your Majesty has thought hard all night, and I feel that for the sake of prudence, we had better choose to retreat to the front line of Hanshui, so that it is safest for us." ”

"Tell me why." Liu Lao replied without raising his head.

"There are three reasons for this." Han Xin replied: "First, although we can't know the damage to the city wall by the Han thief's trebuchet, Puyang and Julu were indeed quickly attacked by the Han thief, and the fortification of Wancheng's city defense is not much different from Puyang and Julu. ”

"But you also said that the Han thief captured the prisoner before, and the Han thief broke through Puyang, mainly by hitting the city gate with a city crash vehicle." Liu Laosan said: "There is also Julu, and it is also because of the rebellion of Zhao Guo that the Han thieves entered Julu City." ”

Han Xin didn't answer this question, but said again: "Second, when we were in Kunyang, the Han thieves had already played tricks, deliberately not using their trebuchets to attack the city, and retained their strength to kill us by surprise when they arrived in Ye County. Now the Han thieves still don't rely on the strong attack, and only want to use fraud to take the cities of Yexian and Yangcheng, although this may also be because the Han thieves want to save time and reduce the loss of their soldiers, but we absolutely can't rule out that Xiang Kang's traitors are still deliberately preserving their strength, thinking of Wancheng and then using their trebuchets to attack the city with all their might, and then kill us by surprise. ”

Liu Laosan was silent, and he didn't dare to deny that there was no such possibility, so he thought about it for a long time before asking, "What about the third?" ”

"Thirdly, of course, we withdrew to the front line of Hanshui, and we have more choice." Han Xin said: "If we can hold the Hanshui defense line, we can quickly retreat south, leaving the hope of a comeback, and it is almost impossible to be annihilated by the Han thieves." But if we choose Wancheng and are not sure to defend Wancheng, and then want to break through and escape, there will definitely be little hope. ”

Liu Laosan was still silent, and after a long time, Liu Laosan raised his head, said with a sad face: "This king also thinks so, but just giving up the capital of Wancheng and the hinterland of Nanyang, this king is really unwilling, and it is really a pity." ”

"King, stay in the green mountains, don't be afraid of no firewood." Han Xin's expression was equally painful, and he said: "Only by saving our lives and keeping our last army can we hope to make a comeback with the help of the King of Western Chu, but if our lives are gone, we will be completely finished." ”

Liu Laosan let out a long sigh again, and was thinking about whether he should make this difficult decision, but unexpectedly, a guard suddenly came in from outside the hall, and reported to Liu Laosan that Li Ji of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army came to visit, and said that there was an important matter to discuss with Liu Laosan, Liu Laosan did not dare to offend the Western Chu Army at this time, of course, he could only immediately order a summons, and then it didn't take long for Li Ji to be invited to the palace.

"The foreign minister has seen the king of Nanyang, hey, such a coincidence, you are also there, general? But what's wrong with you? Why are your eyes so dark? Didn't sleep well last night? ”

"It's true that I didn't sleep well, General Li, please sit down, come here, set up a seat for General Li."

After a few polite words, Li Ji was invited by Liu Laosan to sit down, and then when Liu Laosan asked about Liji's intention, Li Ji didn't sell it, and said straight to the point: "King Nanyang, the foreign minister is here to deal with the attack of the Han thieves." The foreign minister heard the news outside the city, saying that the Han thief had taken Ye County, and had already hit the city of Yangcheng, Yangcheng was only one hundred and twenty miles away from Wancheng, and there was no natural danger to defend along the way, as long as the Han thief took Yangcheng, he would definitely hit Wancheng soon, what to do next, we have to make up our minds as soon as possible. ”

Liu Laosan and Han Xin glanced at each other quickly, and then Liu Laosan didn't move, but asked directly: "General Li, then in your opinion, how should we deal with it?" ”

"King Nanyang, with all due respect, Wancheng may be difficult to defend, the best way is to ask you to make up your mind as soon as possible, and quickly take the army and our Western Chu army to retreat to the front line of Hanshui together."

Li Ji Zhenzhen said: "As for the reason, first, although Wancheng is a big city, but after your southern expeditionary army withdrew to Wancheng, you and I still can't all enter the city and station, there must be an army stationed outside the city, what kind of situation is stationed outside the city, presumably King Nanyang, you are also very clear, it is destined to only give the Han thieves the opportunity to break us, which is very unfavorable to us." ”

"Second." Li Ji said again: "The trebuchet of the Han thief is too powerful, I'm afraid that even the city wall of Wancheng can't stop it, even if we can all enter the city and station, it may be difficult to stop the trebuchet of the Han thief, and hold on until our King of Western Chu personally leads the army to help, so we'd better put all our hopes on the protection of the wall of Wancheng." ”

"As for the third." Li Ji continued: "Retreat to Hanshui, our room for return is much larger, and it is of course the best to use the Hanshui natural danger to block the Han thieves for a long time, but we can't stop it, and we are also sure to quickly withdraw to the hinterland of Nanjun and continue to gain time." But if we hold Wancheng with all our might, once the city is not protected, it will definitely be difficult for us to retreat. Therefore, the foreign minister thinks that King Nanyang, you had better make up your mind as soon as possible and retreat to the front line of Hanshui as soon as possible. ”

Liu Laosan pondered and calculated, and only after a long time did he smile and said, "Thank you General Li for your guidance, Xiao Wang will seriously consider your proposal and make up his mind as soon as possible." ”

Seeing that Liu Laosan did not categorically refuse, Li Ji was of course overjoyed, and hurriedly listed to Liu Laosan the various advantages of choosing to retreat to the Hanshui defense line, and tried his best to persuade Liu Laosan to make up his mind as soon as possible with the reason that he was not afraid of no firewood, and patted his chest to guarantee, saying that as long as Xiang Yu came with the main force of the Western Chu Army to defeat the main force of the Han Army, he would definitely help Liu Laosan regain all the lost city land, and would definitely not let Liu Laosan, a loyal ally of the Western Chu Army, suffer losses and be deceived.

During this period, Liu Laosan of course nodded again and again with a smile on his face, and constantly promised that he would carefully consider Liji's suggestion, but he never gave an accurate answer and promised to accept Liji's 'kind' suggestion. In the end, taking the opportunity of Xiao He to go to the palace, Liu Laosan sent the chattering Liji away with a smile on his face, and personally sent Liji out of the hall.

After sending away Liji, he returned to the palace, of course, Liu Laosan ignored Xiao He, who came to report the autumn harvest, and just asked Han Xin directly: "What do you think?" ”

"Liji's words are right." Han Xin replied in a deep voice, and said with doubts: "But it's a little strange, why would this puppet be so kind and spend so much time persuading the king to personally lead the army to retreat to Hanshui with him?" There's no need for him, huh? If he insists on retreating to the front line of Hanshui for the sake of safety, we will neither dare to stop him nor need to stop him, and the food and grass and military supplies will definitely not be short of him, why should he do this extra move, and pull the king to personally lead the army to retreat to the front line of Hanshui with him? ”

"Isn't it weird?" Liu Laosan sneered, and suddenly said in a shocking voice: "These words, if you don't know what Xiang Kang's little traitor wants him to say!" ”

Han Xin and Xiao He widened their eyes together, and Liu Laosan also said: "This king received accurate news, on the way back to Shiwancheng from Yangcheng, there was a very suspicious person, who once pretended to be a fellow villager of Lijifu, and met him in a hurry on the way, and brought him things and letters, and later Liqifu sent his cronies to send that person away. ”

"Something?!"

Han Xin was taken aback, and after seeing Liu Laosan nodding solemnly, Han Xin couldn't help but shudder, and said, "In this way, it's really Xiang Kang's little traitor who asked him to say this." ”

When Liu Laosan nodded, Xiao He next to him opened his mouth and said: "The king, the military ministers are not good, but Li Ji persuaded the king to personally retreat to Hanshui, and his ministers are resolutely opposed, Nanyang is our homeland, not only the land is fertile, the money and grain population is large, and now the autumn harvest has begun, if you personally lead the army to retreat to Hanshui, leaving only part of the army to guard Wancheng, it is equivalent to giving up all our Nanyang territory and the grain that has begun to be harvested and put into the warehouse to the Han thieves, which is not only a pity, but also tantamount to self-destruction of our foundation!" ”

Reluctant to give up the anointed land of Nanyang like this, it was the main reason why Liu Laosan was hesitant to make up his mind, and then heard Xiao He say this, and saw that Liji, who had a suspicious position, repeatedly persuaded himself to go south as soon as possible, Liu Laosan, who was already extremely inclined to accept Han Xin's suggestion, also changed his mind, and after thinking about it for a long time, Liu Laosan made up his mind and said: "Concentrate your strength and stick to Wancheng!" Wait for Xiang Yu's puppet to save us! ”

"King!" Han Xin was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "King, have you made up your mind to take the risk?" ”

"You have to take a risk, otherwise it's a pity to lose Wancheng and the hinterland of Nanyang." Liu Laosan said coldly: "This king doesn't believe it, the trebuchet of the Han thief is really so powerful, it can directly smash the walls of our Wancheng." As long as our city walls do not fall or collapse, the Han thieves want to take Wancheng by hitting the city and the ants, that is a dream! ”

Still constrained by the limitations of the times, although he still felt that it was too risky, Han Xin did not fully insist on his own proposition, and after hesitating for a while, Han Xin also said: "Since the king has made up his mind, then his subordinates fully support the king's decision." Your Majesty can also guarantee that as long as we can hold the city and drag it until the morale of the veterans of the Han Thief Division declines, we will definitely be able to find a way to retreat from the enemy! ”

In this way, in the case that there is still plenty of time to retreat to the Hanshui defense line, out of various considerations, Liu Laosan still chose to hold Wancheng with all his might, and then as Liu Laosan and Han Xin expected, only more than two days passed, and there was an urgent report from Yangcheng, saying that it was not long before the Han army launched an attack on Yangcheng, and the people of Yangcheng, who were in a hurry to go out of the city to harvest autumn grain, spontaneously organized to meet the Han army's siege, and many local soldiers of the Nanyang Army in Yangcheng also participated. Then by the rebel people and the Han army inside and outside a flank, of course, even more unable to resist the enemy, soon by the Han army easily knocked open the city gate, into the city to seize Yangcheng, most of the stubborn Yangcheng defenders were annihilated, and the fir himself was also lost in the chaos. In this regard, Liu Laosan, Han Xin and others of course gritted their teeth, but they were helpless.

Fortunately, on the same day, the last main force of the Nanyang Army led by Cao Shen and Lu Xuan, with more than 20,000 people, also successfully returned to the Wancheng battlefield, and immediately entered the city, providing Liu Laosan with sufficient troops to defend the city. At the same time, during this period, the soldiers and civilians of Wancheng naturally had to step up the harvest of grain and grass outside the city.

Liu Laosan and Han Xin and others were surprised, and it was more than a day later, the Yangcheng guard general Fang Gong actually fled back to Wancheng with injuries, Liu Laosan was both happy and a little suspicious when he heard the news, and hurriedly met with the injured Fang Gong in person, and asked him face to face Wancheng who fled back, and Fang Gong did not hide it, and honestly confessed that he was actually captured and captured by the Han army after the city was broken, and categorically refused Xiang Kang's personal surrender, and later took advantage of the opportunity of the Han army's lax guards, and stole a horse to escape back to Wancheng.

After being captured by the Han army, he could still steal a horse and escape back, of course Liu Laosan would not easily believe that there were such good things in the world, and naturally he had to carefully interrogate the details, but to Liu Laosan's surprise, the rectum of the fang Gong actually answered like a stream, not only did there be no flaw in his words, but there was no trace of falsification in his expression, Liu Laosan, who knew the Fang Gong very well, was gradually relieved, and finally believed that the Fang Gong was really loyal and fled back.

Before the matter was over, when Liu Laosan opened his mouth to ask Duke Fang to go down to treat his injuries and rest, Duke Fang hurriedly said: "King, it doesn't matter if your subordinates are injured, there is another important matter, which is very important, and your subordinates must report it to you immediately." ”

"What's the matter?" Liu Laosan asked.

"The Kingdom of Jibei rebelled against the King of Western Chu, and also joined forces with the army of the Han thieves in the State of Zhao to send troops to attack the State of Qi!" Fang Gong said loudly: "The country of Qi can't resist the enemy, and is forced to ask the king of Western Chu for help, and the king of Western Chu has also sent troops to Qidi, and there is no way to free up his hands to rescue us Nanyang for the time being!" ”

"How do you know?" Liu Laosan's surprise was not trivial, and Han Xin next to him was also surprised.

"It was His Majesty who heard it from Xiang Kang's traitor!" Gong Fang replied truthfully: "When His Majesty was escorted to Xiang Kang's traitor, it happened that Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han thief, sent someone to deliver this news to Xiang Kang's traitor, and it happened to be heard by His Majesty. Xiang Kang's little traitor applauded with joy when he heard this, saying that now he no longer has to worry that the king of Western Chu will send troops to save us Nanyang, and he can have enough time to attack our national capital Wancheng! He also said that he could let his thief army rest in Yangcheng for a few days, and there was no need to rush to go south immediately! ”

The Jibei Army suddenly rebelled, and Xiang Yu was forced to send troops to rescue Qidi, and he could no longer spare his hands to help the Nanyang Army! Hearing such bad news, Liu Laosan and Han Xin not only did not panic or be nervous, but on the contrary, they both breathed a sigh of relief together, and then Liu Laosan smiled and said: "No wonder, no wonder you were able to escape back smoothly, it turns out that this is the reason." ”

"What do you mean, my lord?" The fig-duke was confused, and said in confusion: "Why can't your subordinates understand?" ”

"If you can understand, Xiang Kang's little traitor won't let you escape back so lucky." Liu Laosan smiled even more happily and ordered: "Okay, no matter what, you are also loyal to this king, go down to heal your injuries, hurry up and take care of your body, this king will continue to reuse you in the future." ”

As soon as the prince heard the great joy, he hurriedly thanked Liu Laosan, and then went back to rest and heal under the guidance of the guards. The thieves are so unsure about taking Wancheng, we can defend the city with peace of mind, right? ”

"What the king said is very true." Han Xin replied with a smile: "The thief has no confidence, which is our greatest confidence!" Fortunately, the king was wise enough to make the right decision, otherwise, we would have to regret dying now! ”