After coming to this era, Xiang Kang set foot in Yingchuan County, which is located in the heart of the Central Plains, for the first time.

Knowing that Yingchuan is an area where the Qin army and various anti-Qin rebels have repeatedly tug-of-war, it has been severely poisoned by the flames of war, before crossing the border of Yingchuan County, Xiang Kang and the young marshal soldiers have long been mentally prepared to face a ruined wall, but after really going deep into the territory of Yingchuan in the wind and snow, Xiang Kang and the young marshal soldiers found that they still underestimated the extent of the damage to Yingchuan.

On the snow-capped land of Yingchuan, the broken road has only traces to be found, the fertile soil of the Central Plains on both sides of the road is full of dry thorns and weeds, it is obvious that it has been abandoned for a long time, the snow on the side of the road is shoveled up casually, and the white bones of people can be seen everywhere, not to mention people in the wilderness, even wild dogs and hares can not see one, only a few crows rise and fall on the snow, and the screams of seeping people make people's hearts hairy.

If it weren't for the fact that you could still see some collapsed houses and blackened earthen walls burned by the flames along the way, the young marshal and soldiers would definitely suspect that the self-army was on the wrong path, and this was definitely not Yingchuan County, which was once densely populated, rich and prosperous. We've seen those places where we've fought before, it's already miserable, why is it ten times worse here?! ”

"I didn't expect Yingchuan to be so badly damaged by the war, if the central and southern parts of Yingchuan were also like this, then it would be difficult for us to raise grain, grass and military supplies."

Xiang Kang is also worried, for fear that the whole territory of Yingchuan is like this, which will affect his plan to fight the southern expedition, and at the same time, what annoys Xiang Kang is that because there is no one along the way, the young marshal army can't find a guide to guide the way, and at present, he doesn't even know where the self-army has been, and he doesn't know the closest to the Yingchuan city, so Xiang Kang is inevitably a little worried, for fear that the main force of the young marshal army will lose the road and get into a large no-man's land at the junction of Yingchuan and Chen County on the map.

Fortunately, the scout who went forward in fear, and the scout who went to the front to explore the way finally sent the news, saying that he had found a city garrisoned by the Qin army, and it was also likely that the young marshal's army planned to seize the county seat of Wei's county, Xiang Kang heard the great joy and hurriedly urged the army to speed up the march, but when Xiang Kang finally saw the dilapidated small county town, the young marshal army scout ran to Xiang Kang with a sad face and pleaded for guilt, saying: "General Right forgive us, we went the wrong way, the front is not the county seat of Weishi, but Yuanling City." ”

"What? Is it Yuanling Castle? No wonder it took so long to find the city! ”

Entering the Wei clan, but in a daze, he ran to the Yuanling City, which was more than forty miles away from the Wei clan in a daze, Xiang Kang's nose was almost crooked, and he roared: "Take down the person in charge of the pathfinder immediately, and beat forty military sticks hard!" ”

The unlucky person in charge of pathfinding was immediately taken down and beaten with a heavy baton, and most of the young marshals next to him were also crying and laughing, all of them couldn't believe that the main force of the army could make such a low-level mistake and deviate the route of the army so outrageously. However, Chen Ping was more calm, and suggested to Xiang Kang: "General Right, since we have taken the wrong road, it is better to make a mistake and take down Yuanling City first, first, to seize some grain and grass to supplement the army, and second, to find locals in the city who are familiar with the geography of Yingchuan roads to act as guides, so as not to repeat such a mistake." ”

"That's it." Xiang Kang sighed, looked at the tattered Yuanling County from a distance and said to himself: "I hope there can be a little food in the city, don't let us work hard in vain to attack the city." ”

Fortunately, although Xiang Kang has never liked to attack the fortifications head-on, the walls of Yuanling City are too dilapidated, even if you can climb the city wall directly without relying on the flying ladder empty-handed, the defenders in the city are very pitiful, the total number is only five or six hundred, so after quickly preparing siege weapons, the young marshal's army directly took Yuanling City with only one strong attack. However, after rushing into the city, the young marshal soldiers were extremely dumbfounded to see that the city of Yuanling, which was the county seat, was also ten rooms and nine empty, full of ruins and broken walls, and the defenders and soldiers who were captured by the young marshal soldiers were all yellow and thin-skinned, ragged, and tattered weapons, and their appearance was only a little better than that of beggars.

It is worth mentioning that the Yuanling County Commander is quite backbone, after being captured by the young marshal soldiers, not only did he refuse to bend his knees and surrender, but also shouted vigorously, asking the young marshal soldiers to execute him immediately, and after being escorted to Xiang Kang, he kept scolding and shouting: "Traitor!" Traitor! If you are a hero, you will kill this official with a sword! Don't torture your own officials with those shameless means! Otherwise, even if this official is a ghost, he won't be able to spare you! ”

"Quite backbone." Xiang Kang snorted coldly and said, "Don't be stubborn yet, as long as you obediently answer General Ben's question, General Ben will not only not torture you, but on the contrary, he may let you go home and reunite with your family." ”

"Less of this!" The Yuanling County Commander was willing to believe it, and shouted again: "Don't use these lies to deceive me, who doesn't know that you traitors kill people without blinking, commit adultery and plunder, and do all kinds of evil, and you can do anything to our Daqin officials, the last Yuanling County Commander was boiled alive in the Ding by you traitors!" This official will never fall for you! Kill me, kill me right away! ”

"What do you mean by that?" Xiang Kang heard that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked, "Listen to your tone, Yuanling City has already been breached once?" ”

The Yuanling County Commander refused to answer, and still scolded non-stop, Xiang Kang became angry and ordered: "Prepare the knife, I'll ask you again, this Qin thief will cut off one of his ears if he doesn't answer, cut off two ears if he doesn't answer two sentences, and cut off his nose if he doesn't answer the third sentence!" ”

The soldiers sang the promise, immediately pressed the Yuanling County order, drew the knife and put it on his ear, and then Xiang Kang asked: "General Ben asks you again, has Yuanling City been broken once?" ”

The knife was on his ear, and the Yuanling County Commander hesitated, but still said with a sad face: "It's not just once, even if it's you this time, Yuanling City has been breached for the fourth time, the first time is the Zhang Chu thief army, and the last two times are the Han thief's army." ”

"The army of Korean thieves?" Xiang Kang was stunned again, and then immediately came to his senses, and hurriedly asked: "The Han thief army you are talking about, is it the army of Han Cheng, who claims to be the king of Han?" ”

"Yes." The Yuanling County Commander nodded and said, "More than two months ago, his thief army broke through Yuanling City twice, killed the two predecessors of this official, and was beaten away by our Yingchuan county soldiers twice. ”

"No wonder Yuanling City has become like this." Xiang Kang suddenly realized, and hurriedly asked, "Where is Han Cheng's army now?" ”

"I don't know." Yuanling County Ling shook his head, and hurriedly added: "I really don't know, I only know that they went to the south after being beaten away, and I don't know where they are now." ”

"How much grain is there in Yuanling City?"

Xiang Kang asked casually again, but it was okay for Xiang Kang not to ask, before he finished asking, the Yuanling County Order was already full of tears, sobbing and said: "Whether you believe it or not, anyway, there is no food at all in Yuanling City now, even the official relies on wild vegetable porridge to fill his stomach every day, you just kill the official, and the official can't give you food." ”

Sobbing, the Yuanling County Order gradually cried out of his voice, a handful of snot and tears, "The thieves came to rob, they went to rob, the soldiers came to rob, they went to rob, even the grain mountains in Yuanling City have long been robbed, people starve to death in the city every day, and none of the women in the city have not been ruined, even the half-grown children have all been dragged to become soldiers, and the sin of our Yuanling people is that we can't finish talking about ten days and ten nights!" ”

"Pull down, pull down." Xiang Kang hurriedly waved his hand, for fear that he would be soft-hearted if he listened to it again, and in turn took out military rations to help the people in the city. However, having said that, after the Yuanling County Order was temporarily suspended, Xiang Kang immediately issued an order to prohibit the young marshal and sergeants from looting the innocent people in Yuanling City, and he couldn't bear to make the people of Yuanling who were already suffering worse.

The matter is not over, the education received since childhood is different after all, after confirming that the county treasury in Yuanling City does not even have a single grain, Xiang Kang, who wasted his strength to attack the city, still couldn't bear it, and rejected the suggestion of directly dismissing hundreds of Yuanling defenders, and ordered those captured Yuanling defenders to eat a full meal first, and planned to pick out the guide who led the way and then send dry food to be dismissed.

As a result, what made Xiang Kang cry and laugh again was that it didn't take long for Zheng Bu, who was in charge of guarding the prisoners of war, to come to report and say: "General Right, it's terrible, those tyrannical Qin prisoners of war have just eaten a full meal, and they are immediately scrambling to join us." There is also the Yuanling County Order, who is also crying and shouting, not saying that he still wants to see you, saying that he misunderstood you, and he wants to apologize to you in person. ”

"These are troubled times." Xiang Kang sighed, but still ordered: "Bring that county order, I still have a lot to ask him." ”

After the Yuanling County Order with the name of Yu Que was brought to Xiang Kang again, his attitude was naturally a 180-degree turn, and then through his careful introduction, Xiang Kang had a general understanding of the current situation in Yingchuan, and Han Cheng, who was originally named the king of Han by Xiang Liang, returned to Han with the army sent to him by Zhang Liang and Xiang Liang, and took advantage of the opportunity of the main force of the Qin army to be attacked by the Chu army and the anti-Qin coalition army, and attacked the city and plundered the land in Yingchuan County. It caused great damage to Yingchuan County. In addition, the Qin army and Zhang Chu's army had repeatedly fought in this area, and the remnants of Zhang Chu had also been wandering around Yingchuan, which seriously damaged agricultural production, so Yingchuan County basically had no harvest in the second year of Qin II, there was a shortage of food everywhere, and there was starvation everywhere, and the population dropped very badly.

"Is the food shortage so severe?" Xiang Kang frowned, and asked again: "Could it be that there is not a city with sufficient food in Yingchuan County?" ”

"Back to the right general, there is." Yu Que replied honestly: "In order to recruit the thief army, our Gao Junzun transferred all the grain that can be mobilized from all over the country to Yingchuan County to govern Yang Zhai hoarding, and Yang Zhai has always been heavily guarded, and the thief army did not dare to go over to die, and last year some grain was collected, whether it was the county treasury or the people, there was some food. ”

"How many tyrannical Qin defenders are there in Yang Zhai?" Xiang Kang asked.

"This villain doesn't know." Yu Que replied: "The villain only knows that Gao Junzun recruited tens of thousands of soldiers to form county soldiers in order to quell the thieves, some of them were used to guard Yang Zhai, and the other part was led by Xu Juncheng of Yingchuan to recruit the thief army everywhere, but I don't know how many soldiers and horses they have. ”

"Looks like we're going to have to fight another mess." Xiang Kang muttered in his heart, and then asked Yu Que, "In Yuanling City, is there anyone who is familiar with the main road of Yingchuan?" ”

It is also a coincidence that Yu Quan, who once served as an assistant official under Yingchuan County, has often traveled to and from various cities in Yingchuan in order to perform official duties, and is very familiar with the big and small roads in Yingchuan. Yu Que, who escaped death, did not hesitate, and immediately knelt down and expressed his willingness to be an accomplice to Xiang Kang as a lackey, Xiang Kang was even more overjoyed, and hurriedly picked up Yu Que with his own hands, and casually gave him an official position, letting him act as the guide of the main force of the young marshal army, and guide the young marshal army to the south.

That night, Xiang Kang convened a military meeting in the big tent of the Chinese army, introduced the situation of Yingchuan in his possession to the young marshal army and the military force, and announced that he had decided to enter Yangzhai to seize the food and military supplies there to replenish the army, and then go south to Nanyang. As a result, because the young marshal's army had not much food and grass, the young marshal's army also unanimously supported Xiang Kang's decision, and then discussed going west to Xinzheng first, and then directly marching from Xinzheng to Yangzhai.

There was not much military rations, of course Xiang Kang did not dare to waste time, after finalizing the idea of entering Yangzhai, early the next morning, Xiang Kang took the main force of the young marshal army to stride westward, and drove to Xinzheng against the wind and snow in the sky, crying and shouting and begging to join the young marshal army, and the hundreds of Yuanling defenders who cried and shouted and begged to join the young marshal's army were also accepted by Xiang Kang with a soft heart. However, Xiang Kang's kindness is also very limited, after arriving at Xinzheng City in the evening of the same day, he just saw the same dilapidated city of Xinzheng Xiaocheng and Yuanling, Xiang Kang immediately shook his head and said: "Don't fight, don't fight again, Xinzheng can't get half of the food, and there is another bunch of drags." ”

After that, Xiang Kang asked the young marshal army officers and soldiers to immediately build a pontoon bridge on the Weishui River, and the next morning he took the main force of the young marshal's army to cross the Weishui south, but there was an accident in the matter, the main force of the young marshal army had just crossed the Weishui, and before he could continue to drive towards Yang Zhai, the scout came to Xiang Kang to report, saying that he had found a cavalry squad under the banner of the Korean army on the road from Xinzheng to Changshe. Xiang Kang was surprised when he heard this, and said, "Such a coincidence, could it be that Han Cheng's army is near here?" ”

As Xiang Kang guessed, after a period of time, after the cavalry squad of the Korean army got in touch with the main force of the young marshal's army, Xiang Kang just asked about the current situation of the main force of the Korean army, and the commander of the Han army who led the team immediately reported: "General Yuyou, our king and our main force are in Fu Jiting, less than thirty miles to the south, and the small ones are ordered to go north to explore the road, to find out the situation of the violent Qin army on the side of Xinzheng for the king, and see if there is an opportunity to attack Xinzheng in the north." ”

"That's great, please ......."

Xiang Kang was very happy when he heard this, and just wanted to invite the main force of the Han army to come over and join forces with the army to attack Yangzhai, but Uncle Zhou next to him spoke first and asked, "Are there any activities of the Tyrannical Qin army around you?" ”

"Xu Wei, the tyrannical Qin's Yingchuan County, is in Changshe with more than 6,000 tyrannical Qin troops." The cavalry commander of the Han army replied truthfully: "Originally, the Changshe was in our hands, but a few days ago, the Tyrannical Qin army chased after the Changshe, and we were forced to abandon the Changshe and move to Fu Jiting in the northwest of the Changshe. ”

"I see." Uncle Zhou nodded, and then ordered on his behalf: "Please go down and rest for a while, wait for us to discuss it a little, and then ask you to bring the letter back and present it to King Han." ”

The commander of the Han army agreed and immediately retired temporarily, and Uncle Zhou turned to Xiang Kang and asked: "General Right, the last general took the liberty of asking, did you just want to ask the main force of the Han army to immediately go north to join us in the division, and you also want to invite them to join forces with us to attack Yang Zhai?" ”

Xiang Kang nodded and admitted, and Uncle Zhou also said: "The last general thinks that this must not be the case, although meeting with the main force of the King of Han can strengthen our military prestige, and they can also take advantage of their familiarity with the road geography of Handi, but behind them is a main force of the Tyrannical Qin army, if we and their division are discovered by the Tyrannical Qin army, the Tyrannical Qin army of Changshe will definitely come back to the aid of Yang Zhai as soon as possible, making it more difficult for us to take Yang Zhai Jiancheng." Rather than this, it is better not to rush to join them for the time being, and use their strength to continue to contain the tyrannical Qin army of Changshe, so that we can take Yang Zhai more easily. ”

"General Right, the students think that General Zhou's words are reasonable." Chen Ping also said: "Invite the king of Han to join forces with us to attack Yangzhai, after they succeed, they will definitely share the grain, grass and military supplies in the city with us. Rather than being embarrassed in the future, it is better to ask them to temporarily contain the tyrannical Qin army of Changshe for us, and when we have conquered Yangzhai City, we can casually take some grain and grass and military supplies to thank them, and they have nothing superfluous to say. ”

Xiang Kang has always listened to persuasion, seeing that Uncle Zhou and Chen Ping were reasonable, and there were more than 30,000 main forces of the handsome army in hand, there was no need to surprise the rabble in Han Cheng's hands, so he immediately nodded, and immediately asked Chen Ping to repair a book for himself, and asked the cavalry team of the Han army to take it to Fu Jiting and hand it to Han Cheng, telling Han Cheng that he was going to attack Yang Zhai, and asked Han Cheng to temporarily contain the Qin army of Changshe for himself, and then thank Han Cheng again after the matter was completed.

After doing all this, Xiang Kang did not delay any longer, and immediately led the young marshal's army to the direction of Yangzhai on foot, and marched extremely fast while carrying heavy grain wagons and a large number of military supplies, and marched more than 30 miles on the day he crossed the Weishui. However, when Xiang Kang and the young marshal's army were both surprised and annoyed, in the evening, the main force of the young marshal's army stopped to set up camp to rest, and the scout ran to Xiang Kang to report that a South Korean army team with a South Korean flag had chased after him from the way he came.

"Didn't they tell them to help us contain the tyrannical Qin army of the Changshe? Why are you chasing it again? Xiang Kang said angrily.

"Nine out of ten are determined to take advantage." Chen Ping snorted coldly and said: "I didn't have the courage to stop the tyrannical Qin army from returning to Yang Zhai for us, and we wanted to use our strength to take down Yang Zhai and grab money and food, so I found an excuse to catch up." ”

"Rubbish! Now we have to have variables if we don't do well in Yang Zhai! ”

Scolding and scolding, no matter how dissatisfied he was in his heart, out of anti-Qin righteousness, Xiang Kang still summoned the envoy of the Han army who came to contact him later, fortunately, the envoy of the Han army also knew the etiquette, and he saluted respectfully as soon as he met, and said more respectfully: "The envoy under the command of General Han Xin, the Korean general, has seen the right general of Chu State, and General Han of my family was ordered to ......." ”

"Han Shin?!"

Before the Han envoy's words were finished, Xiang Kang had already pricked up his ears and blurted out, "Where is General Han Xin?" ”

"Returning to the right general, it is in our army." The envoy of the Han army pointed to the team of the Korean army not far away, and said with a smile: "General You, forgive me, the army is in a hurry, and our General Han must settle the army before we can come and see you." ”

"Quick!" Xiang Kang didn't think about it and ordered: "Prepare a banquet quickly, General Han Xin will come in a while, and I will personally go out of the camp to meet him." ”

The young marshal was stunned, and he didn't understand why Xiang Kang had changed so quickly - he was full of anger just now, why was he so angry when he heard Han Xin's name, and he had to go out of the camp in person to greet Han Xin, who led a group of rabble to take advantage? Xiang Kang's current most trusted young marshal general, Zhou Shu, is also a wolf, and then suddenly remembered that Xiang Kang had reminded him in front of him, saying that if he encounters an enemy named Han Xin on the battlefield one day, he must not have any carelessness against the enemy.

"This horseman is so powerful, can we pay so much attention to the right general who is talented in heaven?" Uncle Zhou muttered in his heart, "It's okay, take this opportunity, I must take a closer look at what kind of person this Han Xin is." ”