Let's take a look at Xiang Kang's side, there is no God's perspective, and the speed of information transmission in this era is more and more cheating, of course, Xiang Kang has no way to know the progress of his contact with Sima Xin, the general of Zhang Han's army, and he doesn't even dare to guarantee whether the messenger he sent to contact Sima Xin can see Sima Xin, whether he will abandon his post and abscond on the road, or encounter any accidents, so even if he is full of confidence in his strategy, Xiang Kang's heart is still uneasy, for fear that the sky will not fulfill his wish, and Zhang Han's main force will kill him directly, When the time comes, if you want to deceive Zhang Han, you won't have any chance to let yourself go for the time being.

It is precisely because of such worries that in order to prevent any eventuality, Xiang Kang also made preparations early, and preemptively withdrew the three troops and horses of Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Guan and Zheng Bu who entered Dangjun in the west, leaving only Ding Ji to lead the men and horses of his headquarters to garrison Xiangxian, and at the same time transport the grain and grass of the four cities of Mangxian, Dangxian, Xiangxian and Xiao County back to Pengcheng for hoarding as much as possible, so as not to give the eastward enemy the opportunity to take grain on the spot. In addition, Xiang Kang sent Chao Zhi to organize the soldiers and the people, and built a large camp with deep ditches and high fortifications in the western suburbs of Pengcheng, so that the main force of the young marshal's army could be stationed for a long time. After Xiang Zhuang and other troops retreated and returned to Pengcheng, they immediately stationed the whole army in this camp.

In order to prevent the Qin army from dividing troops into the rear of the young marshal Kou's army and ensure the smooth communication between Xiang Kang and the young marshal army on the southern front, Xiang Kang not only hoarded a large number of grain and grass military supplies in Fuli City, but also ordered Fu Li's general Xiang Han to make every effort to strengthen the city defense and rush to build various fortifications, and also sent 1,500 reinforcements to Xiang Han, so that Xiang Han had sufficient troops to use when defending the city.

"If the Tyrannical Qin army sends troops to attack Fuli, they are only allowed to defend the city, not to fight! Zhuyi City in the west can be given up at any time if necessary, and the Tyrannical Qin army bypasses Fu Li to attack Tu and Yu County, and you don't have to pay attention to it, only if you hold Fu Li, the Tyrannical Qin army will definitely not dare to go deep into our rear! This is Xiang Kang's clear explanation to Xiang Han in the letter.

After making these deployment adjustments, the news that Chen County was captured by Zhang Han's main force also spread to Pengcheng, and Xiang Kang was completely helpless, so he could only silently pray for God's blessing and let Zhang Han's main force not take a fancy to him, while sending people to Jiangdong for the third time, asking Xiang Liang to send troops north for reinforcements as soon as possible, and at the same time ordering Feng Zhong to gather troops and horses as soon as possible, ready to return to Pengcheng at any time, and was so worried that he was restless for several days.

In the end, it was only after Zhang Han sent the envoy to return the messenger sent by Xiang Kang before, and also sent a letter from Sima Xin to persuade him to surrender, Xiang Kang relieved his heart a little, and then immediately entertained the envoy of Zhang Han with the most sumptuous banquet, and personally came forward to accompany him, and the words were all extremely shaken, and he pretended to hesitate in front of the persuasion of the envoy of Zhang Han, pretending to be just worried that Zhang Han would not dare to make up his mind to surrender because he was not trustworthy, and his whole body was full of flaws. The success made Zhang Han's envoy feel that he had won the battle to surrender.

At the same time, the news that Zhang Han's brother Zhang Ping led an army of 50,000 troops from Xinyang to the west to enter Surabaya County was finally sent to Xiang Kang after being carefully probed by the young marshal's army.

As Xiang Kang expected, the complacent Zhang Ping categorically refused his request to let him postpone the march, and after easily taking the county seat of Chengfu controlled by Zhang Chu's army, Zhang Ping's 50,000 troops were non-stop, and immediately marched to Xiangxian, and at the same time, the county soldiers of Dangjun also counterattacked eastward under the leadership of Dong Ke. Xiang Kang did not hesitate when he heard the report, and immediately went to Wenxiang County, so that the defenders of Xiangxian County, Ding Ji's department, quickly abandoned the city and retreated after a little resistance, and sent Xiangxian to Zhang Ping.

Regarding Xiang Kang's decision to give up Xiangxian, Old Man Fan and Zhou Zeng, the two assistants in military affairs, didn't say anything, they both knew the purpose of Xiang Kang's move, but the generals of the young marshal army headed by Xiang Zhuang were extremely puzzled, and they all asked Xiang Kang: "Young marshal, why do you want to give up Xiangxian easily?" Xiangxian is the county of Surabaya, the city is strong, and there is the danger of Suishui, wouldn't it be a pity to give up like this? Also, as soon as Xiangxian County is lost, the second county of Mangdang, which we have fought hard, will be isolated immediately, isn't it equivalent to losing it? ”

"Because Xiangxian can be defended tactically, but strategically it can't be defended." Xiang Kang explained: "Zhang Handpifu's main force is still in Chen County, if we stick to Xiangxian and let his partial division enter the army unsmoothly, his main force is likely to come to help, and then we will have no hope." Only by giving up Xiangxian and making Zhang Han feel that his partial division is progressing smoothly will his main force not easily advance eastward, and we can hope to block his partial division and hold out until our marshal's reinforcements arrive. ”

Although Xiang Kang made a bitter explanation, but the young marshal generals still felt a little regretful, Ding Ji who had personally defeated Xiangxian was even more so, although he did not dare to openly disobey the military order, but he was not willing to give up directly, so after the forward of Zhang Ping's army arrived on the south bank of Suishui, Ding Ji not only did not immediately abandon the city and retreat, but also pulled the army to the north bank of Suishui, preparing to teach the vanguard of Zhangping's army that advanced rapidly first, and it was not too late to retreat after the main force of Zhangping's army arrived.

The cruel fact soon made Ding Ji regret his bowels, although the vanguard of Zhang Ping's army was indeed advancing too fast, a little out of touch with the main force, and the number of troops was not much only about 5,000 people, and at the same time, Ding Ji's department was also a quasi-first-class army in the ranks of the young marshal's army, and it was quite combative, but Ding Ji never dreamed that among the Qin army he was facing, there were a full 2,000 Qin army Longxi elite, so after the Qin army launched a rush to cross, Ding Ji's department, which was trying to attack halfway, kicked it on the iron plate. Not only did they fail to defeat the Qin army, but on the contrary, they were hammered all over the ground by the Qin army, and they were unable to stop the Qin army from crossing the river with heavy casualties.

In the end, there was really no choice, Ding Ji had to quickly retreat back to the city, pack up his weapons and baggage, abandon the city and flee east overnight, but the Qin army reacted quickly, soon launched a pursuit, and successfully defeated Ding Ji's palace team, forcing Ding Ji to abandon most of the heavy grain and grass and flee eastward, and finally got rid of the pursuit of the Qin army, and fled back to Xiao County in embarrassment.

Ding Ji's defeat made the young marshal's generals finally shut their mouths and stop complaining, and also made Xiang Kang more and more worried, but Xiang Kang was not worried that he couldn't stop Zhang Ping, Pengcheng's side was well guarded, and Zhang Ping's grain and grass had no stable and reliable supply source, even if he couldn't beat Zhang Ping head-on, as long as he resolutely took the defensive position and stayed up until Zhang Ping's food was exhausted, Xiang Kang still had this certainty. What Xiang Kang is worried about is still the main force of Zhang Han who is still in Chenjun County, it can be said that the main force of Zhang Han does not leave Chenjun for a day to find trouble with other anti-Qin rebels in other places, and Xiang Kang does not dare to have the slightest peace of mind for a day.

At this time, Zhao Yi, the previous envoy of Zhang Han, once again came to Pengcheng with Zhang Ping's handwritten letter, and continued to persuade Xiang Kang to lead the people to surrender for Zhang Ping. It's a pity that Zhao Yi is quite smart, not only did he not get any decent information by Xiang Kang, but he also threatened Zhang Han's main force in turn: "Young Marshal Xiang, according to the next opinion, you had better make up your mind quickly, our General Zhang Ping and your uncle General Sima Xin have a good relationship, for the sake of General Sima's face, he can open up to you." But if you continue to hesitate like this, once our general (Zhang Han) gets angry and personally leads the main force to attack Pengcheng, I am afraid that even if General Sima intercedes with you, our general will not be so easy to speak. ”

"Yes, thank you for your advice, thank you for your advice." Xiang Kang nodded again and again in a low voice, and simply asked directly: "Then may I ask the envoy, your general's soldiers and horses have already hit there?" ”

"Of course, it's not far from Pengcheng." Zhao Yi smiled and said: "The reason why our general did not personally lead the army to Pengcheng is because General Sima interceded for you, so he gave you such an opportunity." But if you continue to be obsessed, young marshal, our general's invincible hero will of course appear in front of you at any time. ”

Seeing that he was really speechless, Xiang Kang had no choice but to continue to excuse the need for time to consider, and reluctantly asked Zhao Yi, who was already full of wine and food, to take Zhao Yi to rest, and extremely shamelessly ordered to arrange two beautiful maids to serve Zhao Yi to rest, and then sat down to discuss countermeasures with Zhou Zeng and Old Man Fan.

"The old man thinks there is no need to do anything anymore." Old Man Fan's temper was still so hot, and he said directly: "Since we have succeeded in showing weakness, let Zhang Han only send a partial division to attack Pengcheng, then we should seize the opportunity, go all out to face the battle, and kill this partial division of Tyrannical Qin first." Let's play our prestige and morale first, and then think about how to deal with Zhang Handpifu's main force! ”

If Xiang Yu was facing such a situation, then needless to say, Xiang Yu would definitely not blink his eyelids, and immediately accepted Old Man Fan's suggestion and personally raised troops to fight Zhang Ping to the death. But it's a pity that Xiang Kang is not a hero like Xiang Yu, but a despicable villain like Liu Laosan, who doesn't like to fight uncertain battles, not to mention, and prefers to look at the long run, so Xiang Kang didn't take advantage of Old Man Fan's stubble, but just asked Zhou Zeng: "Uncle Ya, if you are Zhang Handip, under what circumstances, you will only let Zhang Ping's partial division be responsible for attacking Pengcheng, and you will take the main force to fight elsewhere." ”

"Unless it's an emergency elsewhere, I have to give priority to dealing with other anti-Qin rebels." Zhou Zeng replied very happily and said: "Otherwise, I will never let a partial division be isolated for a long time, especially since the grain and grass of this partial division cannot be guaranteed to be stably supplied." ”

Xiang Kang's face was gloomy, and he said regretfully for a while: "It's a pity that we offended the Wei army too hard last time, otherwise, at this time, I beg them to send troops to the west and take the opportunity to attack Xingyang Aocang, which are important places in the Central Plains, Zhang Han may let us go and hurry north to find trouble with Wei." ”

Zhou Zeng also sighed with regret, and regretted that he couldn't get help from the Wei army, but Xiang Kang was inspired again and hurriedly asked: "Uncle Ya, do you know a few people in Xianyang City who can speak in front of Hu Hai?" ”

"Why is the young marshal asking this?" Zhou Zeng asked suspiciously.

"If anything, I want to bribe him and let him spread rumors in Xianyang City." Xiang Kang said: "Let's just say that Zhang Han was reluctant to go north to attack Wei Ji because he had plans to establish himself as the king in Chu, and he secretly colluded with Wei Ji, Tian Dan and Han Guang to carve up the land outside the customs and rebuild the Six Kingdoms. ”

Hearing this, Old Man Fan immediately sneered with disdain on his face, but Zhou Zeng smiled bitterly and said: "Young Marshal, let's not mention the people I met in Xianyang City, they definitely don't have the courage to spread such rumors, even if they have the guts, the tyrant of Huhai may not believe it." Also, didn't you realize that this is far water can't quench your thirst? Xianyang City is so far away from Pengcheng, and the road is not smooth, and when our discord plan is successful, I am afraid that Zhang Handpifu's main force will even take Pengcheng. ”

After thinking about it carefully, Xiang Kang had no choice but to dispel this idea, and at the same time secretly hid this plan in his heart - although it is already too late to use it now, but if the time is ripe and there is a chance in the future, this hand may come in handy - with Hu Hai and Zhao Gao's bear temper, once he is suspicious of Zhang Han, Zhang Han will definitely not be able to say even if he has a hundred mouths.

After racking his brains for a long time, he couldn't think of any way to divert the attention of Zhang Han's main force, so Xiang Kang had no choice but to give up this plan, and instead thought about whether he could use the reason of death to ask the surrounding anti-Qin rebels to send troops to help, so as to share some pressure for himself. However, after remembering the Wei army in a critical position again, Xiang Kang moved in his heart again, and said secretly: "Although Wei Ji and Zhou Fu will definitely not take the initiative to jump out to block the gun eye for me and attract Zhang Han's firepower, why can't I take advantage of the opportunity to directly contact the Qin army to create some illusions, so that Zhang Han feels that Wei Ji and Zhou Fu have jumped out to block the gun eye for me, so that Zhang Han may temporarily let me go and go to Wei Ji and Zhou Fu for trouble?" ”

With ideas, of course, how to operate next is no longer difficult for Xiang Kang, just after a little calculation, another very vicious and despicable strategy quickly took shape in Xiang Kang's heart, but after Xiang Kang said his plan, Zhou Zeng, who had long been accustomed to Xiang Kang's despicable methods, applauded the case and felt that it was feasible, but Old Man Fan sighed again and said: "It is feasible, but it is feasible, but it is too vicious." ”

Xiang Kang didn't say a word, but immediately asked Zhou Zeng and Xiang Yang to organize manpower to arrange and act, and at the same time muttered in his heart: "What's wrong with the poison? What's wrong with meanness? It's better than Zhang Han cutting off our heads, I'm not Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, and I'm not as good as him. ”

…………

Let's take a look at the situation on the side of Zhao Yi, the envoy of the Qin army, although it is an extremely risky thing to send to the enemy camp, the last time he came to Pengcheng, Zhao Yi was also mentally prepared that he might not be able to go back, but this time it was different, Zhao Yi, who had tasted the sweetness last time, expected that Xiang Kang would definitely not dare to do anything to himself, and there was an increasingly approaching army of Zhang Ping to back up Zhao Yi, so this time Zhao Yi came to Pengcheng again, not only did he not have any worries, but on the contrary, he was very relaxed, Xiang Kang asked people to arrange two beautiful maids who served Zhao Yi, was also pulled into the bed by Zhao Yi that night.

Mei Zizi enjoyed the night, the next morning, under the gentle service of the two maids, Zhao Yi had just finished washing, and the waiter in the guest house immediately sent a fairly good meal, Zhao Yi, who had worked hard last night, also happily sat down with the two maids in his arms, but when Zhao Yi just pulled up the chopsticks, the previous waiter came in with a plate of more exquisite and sumptuous meals, and as soon as they met, they saluted Zhao Yi and asked for sin: "The envoy forgives the sin, the villain was confused just now, and accidentally brought the meal to the envoy of Wei to you, Let the superior make you wronged, please punish the envoy heavily, and please allow the villain to make up for his mistakes and change the meal for you. ”

The meal brought by the waiter to change was obviously more exquisite and rich, and even the chopsticks were made of ivory, of course Zhao Yi would not be too careful, and immediately nodded in agreement to change, and asked curiously: "This is a meal for the envoy of Wei?" How? Wei blamed that traitor, and also sent an envoy to contact your young marshal Xiang? ”

"Returning to the envoy, there is such a thing, and I came the day before yesterday." The waiter said respectfully: "He came to negotiate with our Young Marshal Xiang on behalf of the King of Wei to conclude an alliance, and was also arranged by our Young Marshal Xiang to live here temporarily, but please rest assured that the room he lives in and the tents he uses are only medium quality, and he will definitely not be able to catch up here." ”

"How does the envoy of Wei plan to form an alliance with your young marshal Xiang?"

Zhao Yi was quite competent, and he didn't care about how Xiang Kang treated himself differently from the envoys of Wei, and was more concerned about the alliance between Wei Yijun and Xiang Kang. But it's a pity, the waiter shook his head and said, "The envoy forgives the sin, the villain is just a small attendant, so can you know such a major event of a military aircraft?" ”

Zhao Yi thought about it, so he nodded, waved his hand and sent the waiter who had already changed the meal away, but this little episode was also destined to arouse Zhao Yi's vigilance, so that Zhao Yi couldn't help but say in his heart: "It's better to be careful, if the Wei Blame Rebel really has some kind of alliance with Xiang Kang's Traitor, then the official may be in danger." It's best to see Xiang Kang's traitor again in a while, and strive to get a little news from him, know yourself and your opponent, and win a hundred battles. ”

There was no need for Zhao Yi to find a way to meet Xiang Kang, and at noon that day, Zhao Yi had just inquired about the residence of the Wei envoy in the guest house, and Xiang Kang took the initiative to send someone to invite Zhao Yi to come over to meet, saying that he had something to discuss with Zhao Yi. As soon as Zhao Yi heard that he was in the middle of it, he hurriedly went out with Xiang Kang's personal soldiers, and entered the county temple in Pengcheng again, and successfully met Xiang Kang and Zhou Zeng who were discussing in a low voice in the back hall.

As before, Xiang Kang politely invited Zhao Yi to sit on the top, and asked Zhao Yi about his rest last night, Zhao Yi, who was really good, thanked him sincerely, and couldn't wait to ask: "Young Marshal Xiang, what are your instructions for summoning the little envoy to see you?" Have you made up your mind? ”

"It's hard to make up your mind." Xiang Kang said with a wry smile: "I take the liberty to ask the envoy to work hard again, and submit the letter to General Zhang Ping in person, and also ask General Zhang Ping to postpone the battle and give him time to think about it in the next point." ”

"Young marshal, things have come to this point, what else are you thinking about?" Zhao Yi was very puzzled and said: "Our general has personally promised that as long as you lead the people to surrender, he will not only not kill you, but will also give you the opportunity to atone for your crimes. ”

Xiang Kang was silent, Zhou Zeng's eyes wandered, obviously uncertain, Zhao Yi was about to persuade again, but unexpectedly, a middle-aged man strode out of the back room, and said loudly: "Young marshal, you really don't have to think about it, kill this tyrannical Qin envoy!" Join forces with our Wei State to fight against the tyrannical Qin! ”

The incident happened suddenly, Zhao Yi was of course taken aback, and blurted out, "Who are you?" ”

"Wei envoy Wei Tuo!" The middle-aged man replied loudly, and said loudly to Xiang Kang: "Young Marshal Xiang, since you can't make up your mind, then the little envoy will be the master for you!" ”

After that, the middle-aged man who claimed to be the envoy of Wei directly pulled out the sword in his waist and rushed towards Zhao Yi with a murderous stride on his face......