Out of prudence, on the evening of receiving Feng Zhong's letter, Han Xin took a lot of time to entertain Feng Zhong's messenger and personally accompany him in the name of thanking Feng Zhong's messenger for passing the book thousands of miles away.

But it's useless, the situation introduced by Feng Zhong in the letter is not false, and the Han army did not deliberately ask the messenger who came to deliver the letter for Feng Zhong to lie, of course, the general situation of the Han army casually introduced will not be any different from Feng Zhong's letter, and every sentence is frank and open, without any false look, and finally coupled with the information of the Han army that Han Xin has mastered, it is also completely consistent with what Feng Zhong's messenger explained, there is no discrepancy, Han Xin quickly came to a conclusion, The current strategic situation of the Han army introduced by Feng Zhong to himself is not fake, and the main force of the Han army has already freed up its hands to launch a southern expedition, but it is in line with the current strategic interests of the Han army to give priority to taking Qidi.

It is precisely because of this that Han Xin, who had been a little shaken for a while, also strengthened his determination, completely dispelled the idea of retreating first, and decided to continue to act in accordance with the original strategic plan, and made every effort to lure the Han army's Li Shang Department out of Wuguan, and forced the Han army to open up the Nanyang battlefield, which was the most beneficial to his own army.

At the same time, in order to temporarily stabilize the main force of the Han army, Han Xin also personally wrote a reply to Feng Zhong, very politely declined Feng Zhong's solicitation kindness, saying that he led the army north to act on orders, unless he died in battle, or Liu Laosan ordered him to withdraw his troops, he would never give up the plan to go north, and responded to the bluff of the Han army with a bluff, inducing the Han army to think that his northward trip was just to hand over to Xiang Yu, and would not pose a fatal threat to the Sanchuan Han army that had already made adjustments.

Or after sending away the messenger sent by Feng Zhong, Han Xin personally visited Li Ji, the commander of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army, in the Western Chu military camp, and took the initiative to introduce to Li Ji the situation of his negotiation and contact with Feng Zhong's messenger, and was finally told to Li Ji by the real strategic purpose of the Nanyang Army's northward march this time - it was false to cut off the communication between the main force of the Han army and the rear of Guanzhong, and it was true to set a strategic trap to lure the Han army in Hanzhong to take the initiative to kill Wuguan!

Needless to say, after learning the real purpose of the Nanyang Army's northward march this time, Liji, who had been kept in the dark before, was naturally furious, and categorically refused to cooperate with the Nanyang Army with a black face, and asked Han Xin to take advantage of the situation to continue to go north and take Henan County, the transportation throat of the Han army, but Han Xin made Liji close his mouth with just one sentence, "It's easy to take Henan County, but if the main force of the Han thieves is forced to return to the hinterland of Sanchuan in a big way, how can we resist?" ”

Considering that the 30,000 Western Chu army in his hands could never be the opponent of the main force of the Han army, Li Ji could only sit down honestly and reconsider, "General Li, rest assured, we have arranged this way for the sake of the thief plan of the king of Western Chu, if we can lure the Hanzhong thief army led by Li Shang Pifu out of Wuguan, and then suddenly turn around and go back, and surround the Hanzhong Han thieves in the hinterland of our Nanyang, the Han thieves are forced to seek reinforcement from the Han thief master, and the main force of the Han thieves will definitely have to send troops back to the division to rescue, and the pressure on the king of Western Chu on the battlefield in the middle road will be greatly reduced, We will definitely approve of our approach. ”

"Even if we can't lure the merchants out of Wuguan, it doesn't matter much." Han Xin said again: "As long as we temporarily calm down and wait patiently for a while, and when we confirm that the king of Western Chu has returned to the middle battlefield and has been able to defeat the main force of the Han thieves head-on, we can rest assured that we can boldly go north with all our might, and directly cut off the main force of the Han thieves and the Chi Road in Guanzhong, and we can still establish great merit for the king of Western Chu, and at the same time, we don't have to worry about the main force of the Han thieves returning to Sanchuan in a big way and encountering danger, isn't this a better choice than going north directly?" ”

The Western Chu army invested too few troops on the battlefield on the southern front, and it was destined that Li Ji could only adopt Han Xin's suggestion, considering that he only had 30,000 second-line Western Chu soldiers in his hands, if it was too exciting, the main force of the Han army would be able to pump himself all over his face as long as he turned around and slapped him, Li Ji finally nodded, acquiesced in Han Xin's strategic plan, and then asked Han Xin: "Then what should we do next?" ”

"Temporarily garrison the new city, pretend to be preparing to go north in a big way, and delay it for a while." Han Xin replied: "Then we will see the opportunity to act, of course it is best to lure the Li Shang Pifu out of Wuguan, but I really can't lure it out, and the confrontation will be until we confirm that the king of Western Chu has returned to the middle road, so we will really go north, try to take Henan and Luoyang, and help the king of Western Chu break through the main force of the Han thieves." ”

"I don't have enough strength, so I have to do it." Li Ji sighed, first made an excuse for himself, and then formally agreed to Han Xin's decision, and at the same time, like Han Xin, he was very smart to forget that Liu Xiang's coalition army actually had another choice at present - that is, to hurry north and cut off the Sanchuan Gallop Road, force the main force of the Han thieves to return to Sanchuan in a big way, and create opportunities for the main force of the Western Chu Army to be on the middle road or the northern front battlefield - such a stupid thing, General Liji can't do it, and Han Xin can't do it, of course, Han Xin can't do it.

After successfully taking the new city, Liu Xiang's coalition army decisively stopped continuing to go north, and instead chose to confront the Han army in Henan and Luoyang, and the Han army in Henan and Luoyang also did not dare to launch a counteroffensive to recapture the fallen southern city because of the lack of strength.

During this period, Han Xin's greatest concern was of course the situation on the Wuguan side, and the result was just as Han Xin expected, and the news soon came from the rear, saying that the Wuguan side suddenly issued a customs closure order, prohibiting all idle people from entering and leaving Wuguan, and at the same time tightly blocking the Qinling Mountains, causing the rear of Nanyang to lose contact with the fine work sent to Hanzhong and Guanzhong to investigate the enemy's situation.

…………

Han Xin was secretly happy in the heart of the Xincheng battlefield, his colleague Nanyang Army Yingchuan County guard Zhou Chang, but gradually began to scold his mother in Yangcheng, more than 100 miles away, for no other reason, in order to cooperate with Han Xin to go north, Zhou Chang was forced to personally lead the troops to Yangcheng, to help Han Xin contain the Sanchuan Han army stationed in Cheyuan Pavilion and the Wu Clan, which naturally brought a lot of inconvenience to Zhou Chang, the Yingchuan County Guard, to deal with the affairs of the county.

At the same time, in order to supply nearly 50,000 troops led by Han Xin and Liji to fight on the front line, Zhou Chang was also forced to requisition many people in Yingchuan County to transport grain and grass to Han Xin and Liji, and now the autumn harvest is imminent, and the civil labor force is in dire shortage, and the people are looking forward to going home to harvest the crops as soon as possible, as a good official who is honest and loves the people, Zhou Chang certainly hopes to meet the wishes of the people under his rule as soon as possible, and naturally will not have any good opinion of Han Xin, who launched the northern expedition at this critical moment.

But it's okay, no matter how dissatisfied with Han Xin, Zhou Chang also understands that Han Xin is doing this for the sake of his Peixian boss Liu Laosan's great cause, so as long as it is a request or an order issued by Han Xin, Zhou Chang will only try his best to do it, and implement it without any discount, and never think of any prevarication and perfunctory.

However, because of this, Zhou Chang has recently added a new trouble, that is, since he confirmed that the main force of the Han army and Xiang Yu confronted each other in Julu and the plain, he lost contact with the fine work he had previously sent to Sanchuan County to investigate the enemy's situation, and there was no new news sent back for many days, Zhou Chang vaguely felt that something was wrong, so he had to quickly send a new fine work to Sanchuan to investigate the specific situation.

On this day, when the field was bowing his head and thinking about when to use the army to help the people of Yangcheng harvest the crops, the soldiers suddenly brought two men dressed as ordinary people to Zhou Chang and reported to Zhou Changyu: "Qiyu Junzun, the detailed work we sent to investigate the enemy's situation has returned, it is these two, who have experienced the identity, and they are indeed our people. ”

"Good." Zhou Chang nodded with satisfaction, and hurriedly asked the two fine works, "Have you found anything useful?" Have you been in touch with the people we sent earlier? ”

"Back to the county, the little ones are incompetent, they haven't been able to find anything useful, and they haven't even been able to cross the border of the Han thieves." A fine salute replied: "The small one waited to take the mountain path, who knew that the thieves in Jingxian County blocked all the mountain roads, and even the remote path where the medicine pickers went back did not let go, no one was allowed to pass by, and the small one was changed several roads and failed to get through, and the small one himself also aroused the suspicion of the Han thief, and was taken down and searched tightly, but fortunately nothing was found before the small one was released, and the small one saw that he really couldn't enter Sanchuan, so he had to hurry back to ask you for his life." ”

After that, the two dereliction of duty hurriedly fell to the ground and pleaded guilty, but Zhou Chang ignored them, and said secretly: "It's strange, why did the thieves over there in Jingxian block the road so tightly?" Why would they do it? Do you want to report this matter to the general? "Xinzheng

After thinking about it for a while, for the sake of prudence, Zhou Chang still wrote a letter on the spot, reported this situation and the recent situation in Yangcheng to Han Xin, sent a fast horse to Xincheng to deliver a letter to Han Xin, and then instructed his own soldiers: "Send someone to contact Xinzheng, and let Xinzheng send Xizuo to the north to investigate the situation in the area of Yangwu Sujuo, and if you find that the Han thief has a big move, report it immediately." Also, send a fine work to try your luck on the side of the Lun clan to see if you can avoid the blockade of the Han thieves and go to the Wu clan and Gong County to find out the enemy's situation. ”

Zhou Chang probably shouldn't have mentioned Xinzheng County, the middle gate of Yingchuan, in the afternoon, he had just returned to the military camp located outside the city, and before his butt was hot in the big tent of the Chinese army, a personal soldier suddenly walked in quickly outside the tent, saluted Zhou Chang and said: "Yujun Zun, Xinzheng has sent a fast horse messenger, saying that there are 100,000 urgent military information to report to you in person." ”

"Xinzheng?" Zhou Chang's heart jumped, and secretly said Why did I only think of sending someone to contact Xinzheng at noon, and now Xinzheng took the initiative to send someone to contact me? He also suddenly had an extremely ominous premonition, and hurriedly shouted: "Quick, bring in the messenger of Xinzheng." ”

The soldiers sang the promise, and then in a moment, a messenger was led to Zhou Chang's Chinese army tent, after entering the tent, the messenger didn't even have time to do the etiquette, and immediately stumbled in front of Zhou Chang and shouted: "County Zun! Save Xinzheng! Go and save Xinzheng! The Han thief suddenly rushed south from the north direction, and when we found out the whereabouts of the Han thief, the front army of the Han thief was less than thirty miles away from Xinzheng! ”

"It's not good news." Zhou Chang complained bitterly in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "How many troops does the thief have?" Who did the striker general ever find out? ”

"Back to the county, we haven't had time to find out how many troops the Han thieves have come." Xin Zheng hurriedly replied: "I only know that the number of the Han thief's front army is about 10,000 people, and the commander of the army is the Han thief general Zhong Liwu!" ”

"What?" Zhou Chang almost didn't suspect that he had heard it wrong, so he stood up and exclaimed, "The Guangqian team is tens of thousands of people? The commander of the army or the veteran of the Han thief, Zhong Lifu? How many troops did the rear army of the Han thieves have? Who is the manager? Who can command Zhong Lifu, that thief? ”

Of course, no one could answer Zhou Chang's question, and after Zhou Chang pondered nervously for a moment, he could only decide like this: "Quick, send someone to contact the general, report the situation to him, and ask him to decide how to deal with it." If there is more, you can pull out the camp and raise the army, and withdraw to Yang Zhai first! ”

"Junzun, what should we do with Xinzheng?" The messenger of Xinzheng, who had finally rushed to the police, hurriedly asked.

"It's too late." Zhou Chang closed his eyes painfully and said: "Yangcheng is hundreds of miles away from Xinzheng, when you found the Han thief, the front team of the Han thief was less than thirty miles away from Xinzheng, at this time, not only the front team of the Han thief must have surrounded Xinzheng City, maybe the rear army brigade has also arrived in Xinzheng, even if the thousands of county soldiers in the hands of this official go over immediately, it will only be in vain." Therefore, we can only rely on our Xinzheng defenders to defend the city by themselves. ”

The messenger of Xinzheng howled and cried when he heard this, but Zhou Chang looked helpless, so he could only ask his army to hurry up and raise the army, planning to withdraw to Zhiyang Zhai City in Yingchuan County to preside over the overall situation first, and then make a decision. However, just after Zhou Chang's troops loaded all the camp tents and grain and grass baggage, and before Zhou Chang could open his mouth and give the order to let his army immediately set off south, another fast horse rushed in front of Zhou Chang and said loudly: "Qiyu Junzun, the Cheyuan Pavilion thief army suddenly moved out and was rushing towards Yangcheng at full speed. ”

"The Cheyuan Pavilion thief army has already been dispatched?" Zhou Chang was stunned and said in surprise: "How is it possible?" So fast? How could a thief react so quickly? ”

"Junzun, the villain thinks he can ignore it." A doorman admonished: "Cheyuan Pavilion is forty miles away from Yangcheng, and when the Han thieves chase down Yangcheng, it will be dark early, and the Han thieves are in a hurry, and they will definitely not have time to prepare torches, dry food and other things for the night march, at most they will not be able to continue the pursuit when they reach Yangcheng, we just have to retreat with confidence, and we don't have to worry about being caught up by the Han thieves." ”

Zhou Chang thought about it carefully, and immediately ordered his army to go out immediately, taking advantage of the fact that the sun had not yet begun to set, and retreated from the Yangcheng battlefield at full speed, and then also traveled more than 20 miles in a hurry before dark, and then stopped to cut down trees, firewood, and grass, make fire, make food, and prepare to sleep and rest overnight, and set off again the next morning to continue the south.

Thanks to Zhou Chang's carefulness, he did not forget to arrange sentry posts on the high ground next to the road to monitor the surroundings, after the sky was completely dark, the soldiers of Zhou Changjun who had finished dinner had just fallen asleep, and the soldiers who kept vigil were still hurrying to make dry food for the next day's road.

"Hurry up, please look!"

Following the guidance of the sentry, just a glance to the north, Zhou Chang's face turned a little pale, and on the way from the north, at this moment, countless torches had appeared, lined up in a line, and they were quickly coming towards the camp where Zhou Changjun was sleeping. When Zhou Chang listened carefully, he could vaguely hear the sound of war drums and gongs coming from that direction, which was obviously the sound of golden drums from that team.

Here is an explanation of why there are drums and gongs, during the cold weapon war, if the army needs to march at night, and there is no need to keep the whereabouts secret, do not consider exposing the position of the army, then in addition to lighting the necessary torches, in order to guide the army forward and prevent the soldiers from falling behind, the army usually has to constantly beat the war drums or gongs when marching, so that the soldiers who are accidentally left alone or left behind know where their team is, which can effectively reduce the losses of the soldiers in the march, which is a very common means of night marching.

It is precisely because of this that Zhou Chang, who was standing on the high ground, suddenly had a feeling like falling into an ice cellar, and said secretly: "The thief is so well prepared, it seems that he has already made all the corresponding preparations, how could the thief know that this official will suddenly rush south?" Could it be that all this was expected by the thieves in advance? The thief had known for a long time that this would happen? ”

After thinking about it for a while, Zhou Chang resolutely decided to let his army line up to fight, ready to fight with the Han army in the black light, but after the pursuing Han army arrived seven or eight miles away to the north, it suddenly stopped advancing, and also chose to line up on the spot, and confronted Zhou Chang's troops several miles away.

After confirming these circumstances, Zhou Chang also immediately understood the meaning of the Han army, and said secretly: "Oh no, the Han thieves who chased from Cheyuan Pavilion are actually not in a hurry to defeat the official's army, they just want to entangle the official, and wait for the official to take the initiative to attack, it is of course best to defeat the official by defending and counterattacking, even if he can't defeat the official, he can also drag down the officer's marching speed." However, the official is retreating in the direction of Yangzhai, not directly to the east to save Xinzheng City, which is being attacked by Han thieves, why do the Han thieves still drag this official, there is no point in doing this? What the hell is the thief trying to do? ”