According to the orders of Liu Laosan and Han Xin, when the sun began to set, Lu Jia, a strategist of the Nanyang Army who was famous for his tongue, hurried to the back camp gate of the Western Chu Army camp, and asked Li Ji, the commander of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army, to meet him.

Lu Jia was very surprised, after a period of time, Li Ji, who had always been above the top of the Nanyang Army's savior benefactor, actually came to greet him in front of the back camp in person, and when the flattered Lu Jia hurriedly saluted, Li Ji also rushed to say: "It just so happened that General Ben is still having an important matter, and I want to go to your camp to meet and discuss with the King of Nanyang in person, what is your matter?" ”

"It turned out that I was just about to go to see our king, and the official almost thought that you were an arrogant and crazy man who had changed his temperament and learned to be a corporal of etiquette."

Lu Jia suddenly realized, and only then did he understand why Li Ji would personally greet him in front of the camp, but he couldn't break it, so he could only reply: "General Hui Li, our king sent the subordinate here, there is an important matter that he wants to discuss with the general, can you ask the general to arrange a safe place and let the subordinate report to you in person." ”

It stands to reason that with Lu Jia's identity and intentions, Li Ji should have taken Lu Jia to the Xichu military camp to find a secluded military tent to talk, but it may be that Li Ji was anxious, looked left and right, and actually beckoned Lu Jia to the distance west of the camp gate, let his personal soldiers protect the surroundings, and then said directly: "What is the important matter?" Tell me quickly, General Ben still has very important things to do. ”

Lu Jia didn't dare to slack off, so he could only lower his voice and said: "General Li, you must have seen the situation with your own eyes today, the stone machine of the Han thief is sharp and unstoppable, no matter how strong our camp is, it is absolutely impossible to block the boulder smashing of the Han thief, if we don't make a decision quickly, then whether it is your army's camp or our camp, it will only be easily broken by the Han thief, and there is no possibility of survival, so our king would like to ask the general to agree and join forces with us to make tactical adjustments." ”

"That's what it is." Li Ji breathed a sigh of relief, and then hurriedly asked, "Mr. Lu, how does the King of Nanyang plan to adjust our tactics?" ”

"Our king plans to leave part of the army to hold on to Yexian County, and use the city fortifications to temporarily block the Han thieves and buy us time." Lu Jia replied: "As for the main forces of your and our two armies, abandon the camp and retreat together tonight, temporarily avoid the edge of the Han thieves, and then use the city defense of the northern cities of Nanyang, divide the troops and defend the city by city, try to gain time as much as possible, drag the grain route of the Han thieves, and wait for Xiang Bawang to personally lead the main force of the Western Chu army to rescue us." ”

Li Ji blinked his eyes and asked with some reluctance: "King Nanyang has really made up his mind?" We have spent so much manpower and material resources to build a camp in Ye County, and the terrain in this area of Ye County is more suitable for holding, is it a pity to give up like this? King Nanyang won't think about holding on for a few more days to see the situation? ”

"If Yexian is a big city and can allow our main force to be stationed in it, then our king will definitely be reluctant to give up." Lu Jia replied helplessly: "But General Li, Yexian is just a small city, even if the main force of your and our two armies is only stationed in it, it will definitely not be able to accommodate it, stationed outside the city, and we are like waiting for a lamb to be slaughtered, so in order to preserve the main force of our army, and in order to win the time for us to wait for the king of Western Chu to lead the army to help, our king can only make up his mind and decide to abandon the important place in Yexian and take the initiative to retreat." Please also ask the general to make up his mind as soon as possible for the sake of your soldiers. ”

After saying that, Lu Jia hurriedly added: "Also, General Li, please forgive the commander for reminding you, your army's camp is located in the north of our camp, if the Han thieves urge the army to attack again tomorrow, your army's camp will definitely bear the brunt, and there is no reason to be spared, please understand this General Li." ”

Lu Jia's intimidation really worked, and after thinking about it for a while, he nodded and made up his mind, and said: "Okay, Ye County is your land in Nanyang, since the king of Nanyang can make up his mind, then of course General Ben can also make up his mind." But how to retreat, what do you have in mind? ”

Lu Jia was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "General Li, our king thinks so, the Han thieves are treacherous, and they will definitely prevent us from abandoning the camp and retreating overnight, and once we find out our movements, we will definitely immediately send troops to pursue, and when the time comes, we will retreat in a hurry, and it will be difficult not to suffer losses." Therefore, our king has repeatedly calculated and come up with an idea, and I hope that the general must act according to the plan, which will definitely make the Han thief at a loss, just like in Rushui before, and miss the opportunity to pursue. ”

"What's the idea? Say it. Liji urged.

"Returning to the general, please arrange it like this." Lu Jia replied: "Please let the general prepare the soldiers to abandon the camp and retreat overnight as soon as possible, and assemble the camp at half of the third watch, ready to retreat, and at the same time select a team of elite soldiers to go north to ambush near the camp of the Han thieves, so that even if the scouts of the Han thieves who monitor your camp are vigilant and report the situation to the main force of the Han thieves in time, the Han thieves will also suspect that your army is preparing to send troops to their camp, and will not be in a hurry to move, and then when the fourth correction is made, your army's northbound army pretends to sneak attack the camp of the Han thieves, bluffing to disturb the Han thieves, Let the Han thieves not dare to rush to send troops, and at the same time, the main force of your army took the opportunity to go south at full speed to widen the distance between them and the Han thieves. In the end, when the Han thieves found out about the scheme, your army had already gone far. ”

Li Ji was not a fool, he just thought about it for a moment, and then immediately asked three key questions, "Then how are you going to retreat?" Also, why did General Ben send troops to pretend to attack the camp of the Han thieves? Why don't you guys do it? Finally, why did the fourth watch withdraw the troops? ”

"General Li, don't get me wrong, our king definitely doesn't mean to take advantage of you on purpose, there is a reason why your army is responsible for sending troops to pretend to attack the camp of the Han thieves."

Lu Jia hurriedly explained: "Because your army is the closest to the camp of the Han thieves, if your army does not deliberately divide its troops to the north and pretend to launch a sneak attack on the camp of the Han thieves, once the Han thief scouts find that your army is out of the camp late at night and report to Xiang Kang's traitor, Xiang Kang's traitor will definitely suspect that your army is preparing to retreat overnight, and he will definitely immediately send troops to pursue, and the situation will definitely be very bad for your army." Only by asking your army to send troops to the north for a sneak attack, only then can Xiang Kang's traitors think that your army is preparing to rob the camp and will not immediately make the decision to send troops to pursue it, which is the most beneficial to your army. ”

Li nodded and admitted that Lu Jia's words were reasonable, and Lu Jia said with a heartfelt voice: "As for the retreat of the fourth watch, it is also for the sake of our king's situation that your army is a guest army, and the soldiers are all Chu people, who are extremely unfamiliar with the terrain and roads in Nanyang, and it is not good to march in the middle of the night. The fourth watch retreats, and the sky will brighten up after a short time, so that it will be much easier for your army to retreat, and it can greatly reduce the situation of your sergeants and soldiers being separated and left behind. ”

Li Ji smiled, nodded and said: "That's the truth, we are not familiar with the terrain and roads of Nanyang, thank you King Nanyang for thinking about the soldiers of our Western Chu Army, General Ben thank you first." By the way, when is your army going to assemble out of camp and when is it going to retreat south? ”

"General Hui Li, our king plans to lead the army out of the camp and assemble at the third quarter of this evening (0:30 in the morning)." Lu Jia replied: "The plan will take half an hour to complete the camp and assemble the whole team at the beginning of the fourth watch, when your army has already begun to move south, we will wait for the main force of your army to cross our camp first, and then set off to the south, and by the way, take on the important task of the palace, for your army to block the pursuit of the Han thieves." ”

"Really?" When Li Ji heard the great joy, he said: "The king of Nanyang is so benevolent and righteous, is he willing to be the queen of our Western Chu army?" ”

"General Li has said, this is just a matter for our Nanyang Army, how dare you be a general so praised?" Lu Jia replied with a smile, and hurriedly added: "Also, please don't worry about your northbound army, during the fourth correction, our army stationed in Yexian County will send an army to ambush the only way for the Han thieves to pursue outside the city, after your army's northbound army retreats south, if the Han thieves are in hot pursuit, our ambush soldiers will suddenly kill, cover your army's northbound army to retreat south, and get rid of the pursuit of the Han thieves!" ”

"Then it's decided!" Li Ji slapped his thigh and said happily: "That's it, Mr. go back and tell the king of Nanyang, just say that General Ben will definitely act on time, please be ready to meet us!" ”

Lu Jia was even more overjoyed when he heard this, hurriedly thanked Li a few times, and patted Liu Laosan's chest to promise that he would definitely act on time, and then when he was leaving, Lu Jia suddenly remembered one thing and hurriedly asked: "General Li, didn't you just say that there should be important matters to discuss with our king?" There is still some time, would the general want to go to our camp with the subordinates? ”

Li was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "No need, General Ben originally wanted to go to the King of Nanyang just now to discuss how to join forces to defend Ye County, since the King of Nanyang has decided to give up Ye County and has already arranged a retreat plan, then General Ben has no need to discuss with him again." ”

After saying that, Li Ji said anxiously: "Mr. Lu, it's so decided, you go back and report to the king of Nanyang, and agree with him to act according to the plan for General Ben." The sun was already setting, and General Ben's army was not prepared at all, and General Ben had to hurry back to arrange for the soldiers to prepare dry food and torches, as well as to load the grain and grass weapons into trucks, and arrange for the army to feint north, so he would not keep Mr. for dinner. ”

Hearing that the Western Chu Army was unprepared, Lu Jia was of course secretly happy in his heart, and hurriedly said goodbye to Liji outside the camp, and then hurriedly returned to the main camp of the Nanyang Army in the southern suburbs of Ye County to return to Liu Laosan. As a result, after the sun all set, Lu Jia had just returned to the Chinese army tent of the Nanyang Army, and Liu Laosan, who was anxiously turning around in the Chinese army's tent, immediately split his head and asked, "How is it?" Did the puppet agree? ”

"The king is relieved and agrees." Lu Jia hurriedly replied: "Liji has personally promised his subordinates that he will retreat overnight with the Western Chu army according to the arrangement of the king. ”

Of course, Liu Laosan was extremely happy when he heard this, but Han Xin next to him refused to be reassured, and hurriedly asked: "Mr. Lu, on the side of the Western Chu Army, have you prepared to retreat in advance?" ”

"General, no." Li Ji hurriedly replied: "After discussing with the lower officials, Li Ji hurriedly arranged for his army to prepare for the overnight retreat. ”

Han Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Great, I'm only starting to prepare now, and now the Western Chu Army can't even think of giving us His Royal Highness." ”

"The king, the general, was in a hurry just now, and I didn't have time to ask a question." Lu Jia asked curiously: "Since we have decided to deceive the Western Chu army into being our royal highness, then why don't we find a way to temporarily stabilize the Western Chu army and let them stand still in the camp tonight?" Why ask them to retreat together, just to do something about the time issue, to buy us not a lot of time? ”

"There are two reasons for this." Han Xin, who was in a good mood, explained casually: "First, although Li Jifu is stupid, he may not be stupid to get home, and he will not know that continuing to hold on will only be a dead end, and his camp is in front of us, if the thief sends troops to attack the camp again tomorrow, his camp will definitely be in danger, so he may not understand that only retreating overnight tonight is his only chance." ”

"Second, we must guard against the soldiers of the Liqi and sit back and watch the thieves pursue us with all their might." Han Xin said: "If we find a way to deceive Liji to continue to hold the camp tonight, and we retreat overnight, after finding out that we have been deceived, Lijifu will be angry, and it is very likely that we will not move, deliberately let the Han thieves pursue us with all their strength, and borrow the hands of the Han thieves to seek revenge on us." Therefore, we can only ask him to retreat with him, and let him take the army out of the camp, so that when the Han thief sends troops to pursue, he can only be forced to meet and buy us time to retreat. ”

"That's ......." Lu Jia asked with some hesitation: "Then how will we explain to the King of Western Chu in the future?" ”

"That's for later, as long as you see the opportunity, is it difficult to find a reasonable excuse?" Liu Laosan replied lightly: "Zhao Guo is over, Qi Di's vitality is greatly damaged, and it is difficult to protect himself." The two main armies of Xiang Yu Pifu, Cao Ji and Zhou Yin, were also wiped out by the Han thieves, which also hurt their vitality. The strategic situation is so critical, as long as Xiang Yu's puppet has a little brain, he will definitely not dare to do anything to us. ”

Lu Jia smiled dryly, and could only secretly pray for the blessing of the gods, so that the drudgery that would come out to explain to Xiang Yu in the future would not fall on his head, and then asked more curiously: "Great King, Great General, then how do we retreat?" ”

"The third watch is out of the camp, complete the assembly, and retreat immediately." Liu Laosan said coldly: "Waiting for the Han thieves to react, the Western Chu army has almost completed the camp assembly, and when the time comes, Li Jifu just doesn't want to give us His Royal Highness, and it won't work." ”

"My lord, when your subordinates were guarding the camp today, they seized the palm thunder of two Han thieves on the corpses of the Han thieves." Han Xin said: "When the fourth watch is about to be over, or when the Han thieves react and send troops to pursue, we deliberately let those two palm thunders explode in our camp, pretending to be attacked by the Han thieves, leaving a foreshadowing, and we can have an explanation in the future." ”

"That's it." Liu Laosan laughed dryly and said: "There is an explanation, it is easier than talking casually in the future." ”

At this time, the sky has gradually begun to darken, so that after the soldiers have eaten a full meal, the dry food torches that have been prepared during the day are also quickly distributed in place, and at the same time, the necessary grain, grass, horse material and weapons on the retreat road have already been loaded, and they can set off to the south at any time, but it has not yet reached the scheduled time, and the Nanyang soldiers are still resting in their respective military tents and clothes, and they have enough physical strength to rush south.

During this period, the civil and military forces of the Nanyang Army led by Liu Laosan and Han Xin, of course, were also fully prepared for retreat, in addition to everyone bringing their own dry food and drinking water to prevent accidents, everyone also prepared a set of soldier clothes in the package they carried with them - Han Xin also brought an extra set of soldier clothes of the Western Chu Army, and at the same time, Liu Laosan also informed the congregation early that if they were scattered and gathered in Yangcheng, everything would be in place, and only Dongfeng would be owed.

There was an accident, not long after the second watch's bang rang, a guard suddenly rushed in outside the tent, rushed to Liu Laosan, who was closing his eyes and recuperating, and reported loudly: "King Qiqi, the sentry tower in the northwest corner of our army's camp is urgent, and in the northwest direction, a large number of troops suddenly rushed south with torches, and it is not clear whether it is friend or foe for the time being!" ”

"What?!" Liu Laosan's surprise was not trivial, in addition to immediately opening his eyes, he jumped up directly and exclaimed: "There are a large number of troops in the northwest rushing south? How can it be? Could it be that the thieves are here?! ”

Han Xin, who was guarding the side, didn't talk nonsense, and rushed out of the big tent of the Chinese army to look forward to the situation, and when Liu Laosan also hurriedly rushed out, he saw that the fire was bright in the northwest direction, and sure enough, an army was rushing south. Then Liu Laosan didn't hesitate, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, beat the gong and blow the trumpet, and gather all the troops to wait for their orders!" Besides, immediately send someone to check the situation and see if it is the army of Han thieves! ”

The gong sounded urgently, and the officers and men of the Nanyang Army, who had been prepared to a certain extent, hurriedly rushed out of the military tent to assemble and wait, and the Nanyang Army camp, which was extremely quiet just now, was also in chaos, and then before the officers and soldiers of the Nanyang Army completed the assembly, another guard rushed to the front of Liu Laosan, and reported loudly: "King Qiyu, our watchtower has seen clearly, it is the Western Chu Army!" It was the Western Chu Army that went south overnight! ”

"Western Chu Army?!"

Liu Laosan and Han Xin exclaimed at the same time, and then Liu Laosan couldn't help but add, "How is it possible?" It's not time yet, huh? Why did the puppet of Liji retreat south with his army? ”

Liu Laosan's question was quickly answered, when the Western Chu army began to bypass directly from the west side of the Nanyang army camp with torches, a Li Ji's personal soldiers were led to Liu Laosan, saluted Liu Laosan and said: "King Nanyang, our General Li let the villain inform you, I really can't help it, the Han thieves suddenly sent troops to attack our camp, and our army couldn't resist it, so we could only abandon the camp and retreat in advance." Where you are offended, you can hope that Nanyang Wang Haihan, please also ask Nanyang Wang to understand. ”

"Thieves raiding your camp?" Liu Laosanru listened to the dream words and asked in surprise: "Why didn't we hear the movement?" How many troops have the thieves sent to attack your camp, and why can't you resist it so quickly? ”

"Back to King Nanyang, it may be too far away, so you haven't heard it here." Li Ji's soldiers replied confidently: "As for how many troops the Han thieves sent to attack our camp, it was too dark, and we didn't know, we couldn't resist it, because we hurriedly prepared to retreat according to your requirements, and the army was flustered, so when we saw the Han thieves sneak attack, the soldiers couldn't restrain them, and they all ran out of the camp. King Nanyang, the villain has to go back to his life, so he will leave first. ”

After that, Liji's pro-soldiers turned around and left, leaving Liu Laosan stammering and dumbfounded in place, and then only when he saw the convoy of the Western Chu Army passing by the side of his camp did Liu Laosan come back to his senses and roared wildly: "This is called a hasty retreat? The queue is so neat, and even the baggage grain cart is brought with it, which also makes the soldiers unable to restrain themselves and retreat in a hurry? ”

"We've been tricked." Han Xin's face was gloomy, and he said with a dark face: "Li Jifu has already prepared to retreat, and deliberately retreated first, in order to force us to give him the queen and cover him from the pursuit of the Han thieves. ”

"How is that possible?" Lu Jia next to him was dumbfounded and exclaimed, "Li Jifu told me personally that his army was not ready to retreat?" How could he be so well prepared in such a short period of time? ”

Lu Jia is not stupid, just after a little calculation, he woke up on his own, slapped his forehead and screamed: "I was fooled!" No wonder the horseman of Liji wanted to go out of the camp to meet me in person, and only talked to me outside the gate of the big camp, it turned out that he was afraid that I would enter his camp, and seeing that he was ready to retreat! ”

"What?"

Liu Laosan was even more furious when he heard this, and hurriedly asked Lu Jia for details, and after Lu Jia finally told Liu Laosan the details of his meeting with Liji, Liu Laosan was so angry that he kicked him to the ground, and roared wildly: "Stupid!" Naion was killed by you! A few horses, you are ruthless! There has always been only Nai Weng who pits people, and even Xiang Kang, the traitor, has never been pit Nai Weng! Today, Naiong has finally been cheated by you puppet idiot! ”

"What are you doing? Ordered the whole army to immediately assemble out of the camp and prepare to retreat, the thieves are about to be killed! ”

At the same time, in the ranks of the Western Chu army, Li Ji, who was sitting in the car, was also constantly looking back, and there were words in his mouth, "Xiang Kang traitor, this general has met your requirements, and he will leave first with the army, and you must also fulfill your promise, don't chase me!" You swore that if you don't keep your word, your eldest father Xiang Yan and your second uncle Xiang Liang will definitely not spare you! ”