Similar to the situation of the Linji War in history, Zhang Han also defeated the main force of the Weiqi coalition army with the trick of overnight raid, and established the victory of the Linji battlefield in one fell swoop.

It's a little unbelievable to say it, in the face of the main force of the Qin army led by Zhang Han himself, Xiang Kang, who has never fought a defeat since the start of the army, is trembling, and he is not sure or even dares to get too close to Zhang Han, but Tian Dan, the king of Qi who personally led the main force of the Qi army to save Linji, actually has some light enemies, and somewhat looks down on Zhang Han.

However, Tian Dan is also a little arrogant, because Tian Dan is indeed very good at fighting, when Zhou Fu, the prime minister of Wei who was still a minister of Zhang Chu, went north to attack Qidi, the Qin army of Qi was basically vulnerable in front of him, and Zhou Fu quickly took down a number of Qi cities, but after Tian Dan killed the county order of Di County with a strategy, he actually used the hastily assembled soldiers of a county to beat Zhou Fu's main force all over the ground and had to retreat to Wei. Later, Tian Dan swept the leaves with the autumn wind, and quickly won more than 30 Qidi cities, during which he also won a hundred battles, invincible, and the glory of the record was no less than Xiang Kang, a traverser, so of course Tian Dan was not complacent.

In addition to bringing more than 80,000 main troops of Qi, there are more than 60,000 Wei troops cobbled together from the Eastern Front by Wei Xiang Zhou Fu, and in terms of paper strength alone, it is enough to fight Zhang Han head-on. In addition, the main force of the young marshal army left by the garrison Chen was also one of Tian Dan's confidence, so after approaching the Linji battlefield, Tian Dan even took the initiative to attack the Qin army.

Tian Dan's recklessness of the enemy also fell into the hands of Zhang Han, Zhang Han's soldiers are very similar to the famous general Bai Qi of the Qin State, that is, he likes to show the enemy weakness in front of a strong enemy, avoid his edge to paralyze the enemy, and then suddenly attack the killer and attack the enemy unprepared. Therefore, in the face of the Qi army's active attack, Zhang Han tried his best to override public opinion, deliberately let the Qin army in the Pingqiu area retreat, and let the Wei and Qi coalition forces break through the Qin army's blocking position and directly kill under the city of Linji.

The purpose of the Wei Qi coalition army's trip was to rescue Linji, and after successfully meeting with the Linji defenders, the Wei Qi coalition army of course thought that the odds of victory were in hand, and they began to relax psychologically, even if Zhou Fu's subordinate general named Zhou Shu had already seen that Zhang Han was deliberately deceitful and paralyzed his own army, Tian Dan and Zhou Fu, whose military talent was even worse than Tian Dan, did not think so, and sneered at Uncle Zhou's warning, and did not take it as a matter at all.

As a result, Zhang Han of course had the opportunity to be surprised, on the same night that the young marshal's army broke Li Youjun, under the cover of night, Zhang Han suddenly dispatched the elite of Longxi under his account, and suddenly attacked the Qi army camp under Linji City, the Qi army was caught off guard, and was directly killed by the Qin army into the camp, and suddenly there was a big chaos, and the main force of the Qin army took the opportunity to attack and defeated the Qi army in the chaos. However, Zhou Fu once again rejected Uncle Zhou's suggestion to let the Wei army stick to the camp, and risked sending troops to reinforce Tian Dan at night, but not only did it not play any role, but was also rushed into chaos by the defeated troops of the Qi army.

After the fiasco, Tian Dan's cousin Tian Rong fled directly to Dong'e with a part of the defeated soldiers of the Qi army, while the Wei army was scattered, only a small part fled into Linji City, and the rest were either forced to surrender or fled to other places in embarrassment.

The rapid rout of the Wei Qi coalition army also completely disrupted Xiang Kang's wishful thinking, originally for the sake of Chen Ping's face, Xiang Kang also planned to try his best to help Wei Qi, join forces with the Wei Qi army to drag Zhang Han, wait for Xiang Liang to come over with reinforcements to help, and then calculate whether he could defeat Zhang Han in advance. However, the Wei Qi coalition army was suddenly defeated, and the defenders in Linji City were weak and could not play any role, and Xiang Kang did not dare to face Zhang Han head-on. Therefore, Xiang Kang had no choice but to rush south in Zhang Han's main force, and quickly recalled Feng Zhong's troops to chase after Li You's defeated army, preparing to quickly retreat eastward to avoid the edge of the main force of the Qin army.

Feng Zhong, who was lightly pursued, acted quickly, and on the afternoon of the second day when Xiang Kang received the news of the destruction of the friendly army, Feng Zhong quickly withdrew to Chen Liucheng with his troops, and at the same time, Xiang Kang had already asked people to load the grain and grass in Chen Liucheng into heavy ships and trucks, and quickly transfer them downstream. As a result, to Xiang Kang's surprise, at this time, Wei Bao, the younger brother of Wei Qi, who assisted Zhou Fu in commanding the army, also fled south to Chenliu with more than 2,000 remnants of the defeated army, asking for assistance from the young marshal's army.

Time is precious, and Xiang Kang didn't have time to meet Feng Zhong and Wei Bao, who arrived almost at the same time, and directly invited them all into the big tent of the Chinese army, and then it was okay, what relieved Xiang Kang was that Wei Bao, who was quite calm, did not force himself to send troops north to rescue Linji, and took the initiative to express his understanding of Xiang Kang's decision to retreat - because the strength of the young marshal army was indeed too different from the main force of the Qin army. And Feng Zhong also agreed with Xiang Kang's decision to retreat, feeling that the eldest husband could bend and stretch, and he had to run when it was time to run, leaving Qingshan behind, and there would be firewood in the future.

But on the question of where to retreat, Feng Zhong, who has always been obedient, rarely had a disagreement with Xiang Kang, who originally planned to retreat to the front line of Mangdang, relying on the complex terrain of the Mangdang Mountains to confront the main force of the Qin army, waiting for Xiang Liang's main force to come for reinforcements. However, Feng Zhong felt that it would be too much pity to directly give up the hinterland of Dangjun, which he had finally won, and strongly advocated retreating to Dangjun County to govern Suiyang, and confronted the Qin army on the front line of Suiyang to wait for help.

"Young marshal, Suiyang was taken down by the last general, and the situation there is more familiar to the last general." Feng Zhong said very eloquently: "The last general must admit that if it weren't for our main force at that time to annihilate the main force of Dangjun of the Tyrannical Qin army first, it would be difficult for the last general to take Suiyang, because Suiyang's city is very strong, and it is extremely difficult to attack head-on, which is enough to hold on for a long time." Such a strong city, if you give up directly, not only is it too much of a pity, but it may also be used by the Tyrannical Qin army as a foothold, threatening our army's western front at all times, even if our army successfully repels the main force of the tyrannical Qin on the Mangdang line, our army's western front will hardly have a peaceful day. ”

Of course, Feng Zhong's words also have some truth, but considering the too open terrain in the Suiyang area and the too far distance from the rear of Pengcheng, Xiang Kang was still a little worried and refused to adopt Feng Zhong's decision. But at this time, Xiang Kang, a general of the Wei army who accompanied Wei Bao to meet him, also suddenly spoke, and said to Xiang Kang: "Young marshal, the last general is a foreign minister, and he shouldn't have taken the liberty to intervene, but this matter is too important, and the last general still has to dare to say a few words, what General Feng Zhong said is that our army should retreat to Suiyang, and we must not directly retreat to the front line of Mangdang and give up the initiative on the battlefield." ”

"Uncle Zhou, this is the Chinese army tent of Young Marshal Xiang, do you have a part in speaking?" Wei Bao scolded unhappily.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang is a very knowledgeable person, and he didn't care about Wei Bao's generals casually interjecting, and asked the Wei army general who was called Uncle Zhou by Wei Bao: "General, you said that our army retreated to the Mangdang line and would give up the initiative on the battlefield, what does this mean?" ”

"Returning to the young marshal, because the terrain around Suiyang is open, it is extremely conducive to our army interspersed with detours and attack the weak points of the tyrannical Qin army." Uncle Zhou arched his hand and said: "The last general has carefully studied Zhang Hand's method of using troops, and found that this puppet likes to emphasize the front power and ignore the reserve, and likes to concentrate superior forces on a battlefield to grasp the initiative, but the protection of the rear grain route is obviously insufficient. Therefore, when he was in Chen County, he gave the two generals Lu Chen and Yingbu two opportunities to recover Chen County, and then gave the young marshal you the opportunity to attack Yangwu and cut off his grain route. Therefore, the last general can conclude that in order to annihilate the main force of the young marshal and avenge his partial division, Zhang Handpifu will inevitably concentrate his forces to attack Suiyang again, and will not leave too many troops to guard the rear and protect his grain route. ”

"In this way, the opportunity for our army will come out." Uncle Zhou continued: "Although Suiyang is the county of Dangjun, it is relatively far away from other cities, and the nearest Mengxian County is still located in the north, far away from the grain road of Zhanghan Pifu, which is very conducive to the army interspersed with raids and surprise attacks. Young marshal, when you confront Zhang Handan Pifu head-on in Suiyang, you only need to divide part of the division, you can maneuver and fight, directly threatening Zhang Handipfu's grain transportation road, so that Zhang Handan Pifu is difficult to take care of, tired of running for his life, and when the veterans of his division are tired, young marshal, you will definitely get a chance to win! ”

"But if you retreat directly to the front line of Mangdang, the situation is completely different." Uncle Zhou continued to point out: "There are many cities in the Mangdang area, and they are very close to each other, so it is easy for Zhang Han to find a relatively safe place to store grain, and it is also very convenient to transport grain to the front line. And the last general in the area of Mangdang has also been, there are more than a dozen hills, but the mountains are not high, only suitable for a small number of troops interspersed with detours, highlighting the odd soldiers, it is also difficult to receive a surprising winning effect, in addition, the young marshal you divide the troops to defend the two cities of Mangdang, and it is easy to give Zhang Handipfu the opportunity to break you through, far less favorable than concentrating troops in Suiyang City. ”

When Uncle Zhou was gushing about his opinions, Xiang Kang was listening intently, but the soldiers surnamed Han who were standing behind Feng Zhong were horrified in their hearts, looked Uncle Zhou up and down carefully, and couldn't help but say in their hearts: "I can't imagine that in the rabble of the Wei army, there is such a capable person, who can be the same as my opinion?" If this person is not only proficient in strategy, but also very proficient in tactics, I am afraid that this person's ability to use troops will not be under me. ”

After Uncle Zhou finally finished speaking, Xiang Kang gradually pondered for a long time, and then gradually realized that Uncle Zhou's words were indeed very reasonable, the terrain in the Mangdang area was relatively complicated, and it was more suitable for him to steal chickens and dogs, and cheat and deceive, but there were only a dozen small hills in that area, but it was destined to be difficult to cover his large-scale mobilization of troops, and suddenly launched a sneak attack. At the same time, you have to defend the mang, divide the troops to defend the city, and if you don't do it well, you may be broken by Zhang Han, and then it's too late to regret it.

After pondering it carefully for a long time, considering that Suiyang was tightly pinched on the water and land grain road behind Zhang Han's troops in Huaisi, Xiang Kang made up his mind, nodded, and said: "General Zhou is reasonable, and Brother Feng is right, we should not be able to retreat directly to the front line of Mangdang." It's decided, withdraw to Suiyang, where you can resist the eastward advance of the main force of the tyrannical Qin army, and wait for our reinforcements! ”

After finishing speaking, Xiang Kang also glanced at Uncle Zhou with great appreciation, and said secretly in his heart: "If the next battle proves that his opinion is correct, this person must be dug up and let him be used by me." ”

After making up his mind to retreat to Suiyang, Xiang Kang quickly arranged a retreat plan, arranged for Feng Zhong's subordinates, who were too tired after successive battles, to retreat first, and rushed back to Suiyang in advance to organize the people to strengthen the city defense, and rush to repair a strong camp similar to the Pengcheng battlefield, so that his army could be stationed for a long time. Then he arranged for Xiang Zhuang to take on the task of the palace, and he led the main force of the Chinese army to carry the three servant armies of Yingbu, Lü Chen and Wei Bao as the second team, and tried to carry the grain and grass along the way to Suiyang.

In addition, out of morality, Xiang Kang arranged for a few more fine works to rush to Linji overnight to contact Wei Qi, telling Wei Qi his helpless decision to withdraw his troops, and suggesting that Wei Qi abandon the city and break through as soon as possible, or go south to meet him, or don't go elsewhere, and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback in the future.

Xiang Kang somewhat underestimated Wei Qi's character, and the next morning, after Feng Zhong quickly withdrew to Suiyang with his troops, it was only in the afternoon of the same day that news came from the northern line, saying that Wei Qi had opened the gate of Linji City and surrendered to Zhang Han after obtaining Zhang Han's promise to give up the slaughter of the city, and then Wei Qi also burned himself to death in the city, and he was very noble to exchange his own death for the continued survival of the soldiers and civilians of Linji.

Hearing the news, Wei Qi's younger brother Wei Bao of course cried loudly and fainted on the ground, Xiang Kang also ordered the whole army to mourn while crying, and sacrificed Wei Qi, who had a good character, in order to express his respect for Wei Qi, and to buy the hearts of Wei people. Then Xiang Kang didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and hurriedly took the main force to abandon Chen Liu and retreat eastward early on the morning of the third day, for fear that he would be entangled by Zhang Han's main force if he walked slowly.

This is also the first time that the main force of the young marshal army was forced to retreat over a long distance under the threat of the enemy, of course, the morale of the soldiers is not very high, Xiang Kang's face is somewhat gloomy, and there is no smile all day, fortunately, the preparations for the retreat are sufficient, but there is no chaos, even if it is carrying a large number of military supplies, and there are three servant armies with serious uneven quality, the main force of the young marshal army still withdrew to Yongqiu City in the afternoon of the same day, and it has not been caught up by the Qin army for the time being.

All the stockpiles of grain and grass in Yongqiu City had already been loaded into the car, and Xiang Kang had just arrived at Yongqiu City, and the grain team immediately went out of the city to meet Xiang Kang. Seeing that the time was only Shenshi, Xiang Kang did not hesitate, and hurriedly let the army continue to advance westward, and hurried away from Zhang Han's main force as soon as possible. But at this time, Xiang Yang hurriedly came to Xiang Kang's face, and arched his hand and said: "Brother, there is an old Confucian named Li Yiji who wants to see you, and he also said that he has something very important to say to you in person. ”

"Calendar?" was embarrassed by this somewhat awkward name, and I didn't want to see it, but when I heard Xiang Yang say that he was old and a Confucian student, Xiang Kang still changed his mind, and while letting the army continue to advance, he pulled the road side and asked Xiang Yang to lead the Li Yiji to see him.

In a moment, an old man wearing a Confucian square hat was led to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang looked at him casually, and saw that he was about sixty years old, although he was skinny, his height was much taller than that of ordinary adults, and at the same time his expression was very arrogant. Fortunately, Xiang Kang has long been accustomed to dealing with such people, not only did he not mind this old man's rudeness, but he also immediately returned the salute and said with a smile: "Old man, it's hard work, I heard that you have something to see me, what is the important matter?" ”

sneered and looked Xiang Kang up and down, then the old man spoke, and said very arrogantly: "I heard that Young Marshal Xiang is a corporal who is humble and polite, and the old man thought it was true, but now that he has seen it with his own eyes, he knows that it is better to be famous than to meet, and the world is just exaggerating." ”

"What do you mean, old man?"

Xiang Yang next to him was furious, Xiang Kang helplessly stopped Xiang Yang, looked down at his situation carefully, and then immediately found that something was wrong, hurriedly whipped off the horse, stood on the ground and arched his hand to the old man and said: "The old gentleman has learned that the boy, as a junior, is indeed a little too rude to answer with the elder on a horse, and the boy corrected it and asked the old man for his guilt." ”

Seeing that Xiang Kang respected himself so much, the arrogant old man who claimed to be called Li Yiji nodded and said, "Young Marshal Xiang, you came in a hurry and left in a hurry, but because the Tyrannical Qin army is coming, you can't fight, so you can only retreat immediately?" ”

"What the old gentleman said is very true, and it is exactly so." Xiang Kang nodded, and said: "Presumably, Mr. Li, you have also heard that the violent Qin army of more than 200,000 has already broken through the Wei capital Linji and forced the Wei King Wei to death, and the boy has only 40,000 soldiers and horses, so he is really unable to fight the enemy, so he has to be forced to retreat to avoid its edge." ”

"Then young marshal, you want to leave your soldiers' families behind?" Old man Li suddenly raised his voice and said: "Young marshal, when you captured Yongqiu before, you coveted the large population of Yongqiu, and sent people to recruit soldiers in various townships and pavilions in Yongqiu. Now that the Tyrannical Qin is about to make a comeback, and you have to coerce these Yongqiu soldiers to stay away from their relatives and abandon their homes and go west, young marshal, you are not afraid that the Tyrannical Qin army will retaliate against their families? Or take the families of these soldiers hostage and force them to betray you? Aren't you afraid that your Yongqiu recruits will carry you on the way because they miss their families and family, shaking your military morale? ”

Xiang Kang was silent, in fact, there were often deserters in the ranks of the young marshal army because the soldiers missed their families, but Xiang Kang has always protected the rear very well, and most of the soldiers and their families are in the relatively safe rear of the young marshal army, so this situation is not serious, and it has not caused too serious consequences. And now not long after occupying Yongqiu, he immediately gave up after recruiting a large number of soldiers, and did not consider the feelings of local recruits at all, this situation Xiang Kang had never encountered before, so Xiang Kang really did not consider this hidden danger.

After hesitating for a moment, Xiang Kang bowed his hand to the old man and said: "Mr. Li is right, this point is indeed my inconsiderateness, originally I also had the intention to let these soldiers disarm and return home, but the Yongqiu recruits have been recruited by me, if they are disbanded on the spot, it will inevitably hit and shake the heart of my main force, and it is really a dilemma." If Mr. Li has a clever plan to teach me, please don't hesitate to give me advice. ”

Seeing Xiang Kang so humble, Old Man Li finally showed a smile on his face and said: "This matter is not difficult, since the young marshal has this heart, then immediately transfer the recruits you recruited in Yongqiu, let them form an army separately, and call your cronies to be in command, stay in Yongqiu for you, and when the violent Qin army pursues and kills Yongqiu, your subordinates will let the Yongqiu recruits choose their own way out, and those who are willing to leave will retreat west to chase you, and those who are unwilling to leave will be dismissed on the spot." In this way, young marshal, you can not only eliminate hidden dangers, not affect the morale of the army, but also win the hearts of the people of Yongqiu, and at the same time get some Yongqiu warriors who are willing to follow you? ”

Xiang Kang suddenly came to his senses, hurriedly thanked the old man, and then immediately ordered: "Order the whole army, temporarily stop marching, transfer all the recruits we recruited in Yongqiu, form an army separately, and let them stay in Yongqiu!" ”

The soldiers agreed, and hurriedly went to convey the order for Xiang Kang, but the old man nodded with satisfaction and said: "Young Marshal Xiang, the old man of others does not dare to guarantee it, but the old man's younger brother Li Shang who has already joined your army, the old man can guarantee that he will definitely follow you again." At that time, the old man may also have to go with the army and go to the defection with your brother, and I hope that the young marshal will not hesitate to include it, and how much will the old man and I eat a bowl of rice. The old man has no other skills, but he can write and calculate, and he is especially good at talking and persuading others, so he may be able to help you a little. ”

"Good at speaking and persuading others? With your temper, if you are asked to meet Old Man Fan, you will have a ghost screaming if you don't fight? Xiang Kang muttered in his heart, but he still arched his hand and said: "That kid is in Suiyang Jinghou Old Mr. Li's big ride." ”

"Suiyang?" Old man Li's white eyebrows raised, and he hurriedly said: "If the young marshal decides to retreat to Suiyang, then when passing by Xiangyi, please don't forget to raze the city wall of Xiangyi, doing so may also have a great effect on the young marshal's future." ”

"Raze the walls of Xiangyi?" Xiang Kang was completely stunned, because Xiang Kang immediately remembered an important question, if he razed the city wall of Xiangyi with his own hands, then from Yongqiu to Suiyang for more than two hundred miles, wouldn't the Qin army's grain transportation team no longer have any reliable foothold? If the self-army wants to harass and cut off the Qin army's grain route, won't there be countless more space and opportunities?

Then, of course, Xiang Kang immediately had a thought in his heart, and said secretly: "This powerful old man, it doesn't seem to be simple?" But Li Yiji's name, why don't I seem to have seen it in a book before? ”