The news of the resignation of Yafu Fan Zeng soon spread like a thunderbolt inside and outside the camps and armies of the Western Chu Army, and it also stunned countless generals and soldiers of the Western Chu Army.

At this historical level, Old Man Fan's influence on the Western Chu Army is even greater, and it is more difficult to replace, no matter what the ups and downs of the Western Chu Army over the years, and no matter what kind of big or small things, it is inseparable from Old Man Fan to give advice and guidance to Xiang Yu, and because Xiang Yu almost never cares about civil affairs, almost all the major and small affairs related to the national economy and people's livelihood are handled by Old Man Fan for Xiang Yu.

I don't know how many local officials were selected and appointed by Old Man Fan for Xiang Yu, I don't know how many indispensable policies to restore the agricultural economy were actually formulated and issued by Old Man Fan, I don't know how many officers and soldiers of the Western Chu Army were recruited by Old Man Fan to lead the officials of the Western Chu Army, and I don't know how much of the money, food, and military supplies spent by the Western Chu Army were raised by Old Man Fan himself, and because of Xiang Yu's irritability and lack of kindness, I don't know how many generals and soldiers of the Western Chu Army were comforted and condoled by Old Man Fan for Xiang Yu, and they were rewarded and punished under pressure, and were promoted, appointed and dismissed.

It is no exaggeration to say that if there was no Old Man Fan, the princes outside the Guanwai who were forced to surrender to Western Chu would probably have been completely torn apart by Xiang Yu's arrow, and the Western Chu army would definitely not be able to survive the Peng Feng Rebellion, when the operation center of the Western Chu court was completely paralyzed, and there was no possibility that they would still be able to hold on to the present despite repeated external blows and internal traitors.

But no one thought that after doing so many things for the Western Chu Army, and after countless efforts for Xiang Yu's overlord cause, Old Man Fan would not even say hello, and left the Western Chu Army alone, disappearing without a trace in the middle of the night, abandoning Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu that he had followed for many years, and also abandoning countless soldiers of the Western Chu Army who sincerely loved and respected him.

The camp of the Western Chu army was in an uproar, and countless generals and soldiers of the Western Chu army were stunned, and the morale and morale of the army were inevitably greatly affected, and they also rushed to inquire about the reason why Old Man Fan left overnight, but on this point, the insiders either gloated, or refused to admit their mistakes out of face, or the rabbit died and the fox did not dare to repeat the mistakes of the past, all of them were silent, and ordinary officers and soldiers of the Western Chu Army naturally could not know the truth, and could not know why Old Man Fan abandoned them and Xiang Yu.

What is very ridiculous is that the next day after Old Man Fan said goodbye, Xiang Yu, who had said that he would not evacuate the Puyang battlefield in any way, remembered Old Man Fan's previous resolute proposition, and finally made up his mind to retreat south, gave up the plan to take Puyang, which had long been impossible to achieve, took the initiative to retreat back to the hinterland of Western Chu, and began to prepare for retreat to the south on the same day.

The situation of the Western Chu army's great fanfare and preparation for retreat was of course quickly reported to Xiang Kang, and at the same time, relying on the efforts of the Han army, the news that Old Man Fan had left the camp of the Western Chu army was also reported to Xiang Kang almost at the same time, Xiang Kang of course attached great importance to this, and immediately asked Chen Ping, the head of the Han army's spies, to confirm the truth of this news at any cost.

Chen Ping's Han army spies have always worked well, just arrived in the evening of the same day, Chen Ping sent accurate information to Xiang Kang, and at the same time proved through a number of light and dark channels that the old man Fan had indeed left the news of the Western Chu army, coincidentally, at this time, accurate news also came from the Qidi battlefield, confirming Uncle Zhou's loyalty to Xiang Kang, not only beat away the rebel messenger sent by the Western Chu army, but also immediately sent troops south, and fled south to the remnants of the Chuji coalition army on the front line of Boyang to attack.

After carefully understanding the belief of Uncle Zhou in defeating the rebel envoy of the Western Chu army, Xiang Kang was relieved, and suddenly said thoughtlessly, "Zhu Jishi's luck is good, if nothing else, this time he can pick up a big credit for nothing." ”

Xiang Kang's words were very abrupt, but Zhang Liang and Chen Ping next to him immediately understood what Xiang Kang meant, and immediately nodded in agreement, and then Chen Ping smiled again: "This may be God's compensation to General Zhu, in the previous wars, he has always been responsible for dirty work and tiring work, not to mention tough battles, not to mention tough battles, and it is destined to be difficult to have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions. ”

Xiang Kang smiled and nodded, and also admitted that this may be the cause and effect in the dark, and then after a little calculation, Xiang Kang commanded again: "Xu Ji, immediately send someone to invite Guangwujun and Lou Shilang, just say that I have good news to tell them, and I also have important things to discuss with them." ”

Xu Ji sang a promise and immediately sent someone to follow the order, while Zhang Liang on the other side asked with a smile: "King, have you made up your mind to launch a battle to destroy Chu?" ”

"Such a great opportunity, we can't afford to miss it again." Xiang Kang nodded, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zifang, you are good at strategy, Mr. Chen Ping is good at strategy, although I am not bad at tactics, but I am clear if I listen to it, we had better ask for the opinions of Guang Wujun and Lou Shilang." ”

After that, Xiang Kang also asked people to bring wine and food, and prepared to discuss the next strategy and tactics with several important strategists, and then in a short time, Li Zuoche, who was good at tactics, and Lou Jing, who had unique insights in all aspects, were invited to Xiang Kang one after another, and Xiang Kang had nothing to hide from them, and immediately told them all the causes and consequences of Old Man Fan's negative departure, as well as the latest situation on the side of Qidi, and then said: "The situation is probably like this, fighters are rare, and this king has already made up his mind. Seize this opportunity to launch a battle to destroy Chu, give my brother and the Western Chu thief army the final blow, and completely end this troubled world, I just don't know what your opinion is. ”

Lou Jing's steady personality is well-known in history, and after a little calculation, he said: "King, is it a little more scheming?" Although we have a solid chance of winning on the battlefield of Qidi, the field has not been destroyed, and the manpower and material resources of Qidi have not yet had time to integrate and utilize, so do you wait a little longer? Isn't it too late to wait until we have completely pacified Qi Land and truly transformed Qi Land's manpower and material resources into our strength, and then launch a war to destroy Chu? ”

"Lou Shilang, I'm afraid you're a little too conservative this time." Li Zuoche immediately objected: "In my opinion, the king's decision is the most correct, if we don't seize this opportunity to decisively launch the battle to destroy Chu and give the Western Chu thief army a chance to breathe, then when we completely pacify Qi Di and then launch the war to destroy Chu, the Western Chu thief army must have re-expanded the army and established strong camps in various dangerous places, and it will only be more difficult for us to enter and destroy Chu, not easier." ”

"Don't forget Huainan and Jiangdong." Li Zuoche added: "Although the hinterland of Western Chu is currently a big injury, Huainan and Jiangdong further south have been very damaged by the war, and there is still still room to dig, in addition, coupled with the character of the king of Western Chu who is reckless, if he is given time, it is definitely not impossible to raise a large army again." ”

Lou Jing nodded, admitting that this was indeed the case, but Xiang Kang said: "There is a more dangerous possibility, without the restraint and hindrance of the father, with Liu Ji's traitorous skills, it is certain that he will be reused by my brother quickly, if we give him more time, with his ability, plus the follow-up strength of the Western Chu thief army, our trouble will only be greater." ”

Lou Jing smiled awkwardly and said: "It seems that His Majesty is not thoughtful enough, His Majesty retracts what he just said, please decide to the king, how can we fight the battle to destroy Chu?" ”

"This is also the purpose of my invitation to Guangwu-kun." Xiang Kang turned to Li Zuoche and said with a smile: "Guangwujun, it's time for you to show your skills, how to fight the battle to destroy Chu, what do you think?" Please feel free to speak. ”

Li Zuoche was very calculating for a while, and then he arched his hand and said: "King, Gao Jian doesn't dare to be, only a little shallow and foolish, His Majesty thinks that in the battle to destroy Chu, it is best for us to try to break the Western Chu thief army and gradually weaken it, and then try to completely annihilate the remaining main force of the Western Chu thief army, don't be lucky, hoping to destroy Chu in a battle." ”

"As for the reason, it's very simple." Li Zuoche continued: "The Western Chu thief army currently has more than 150,000 troops on the Puyang battlefield, and the strength is still above our main force in the middle. However, General Zhou's side not only divided his forces to deal with the capricious Tian Heng rebels, but also had to be responsible for annihilating the remnants of the Chuji thief army, which still had a little strength left, and it would definitely be difficult to join our main force in the middle in a short period of time. ”

"So we must not be in a hurry, we must be steady." Li Zuoche continued: "On General Zhou's side, in addition to letting him leave enough troops to deal with Tian Heng Pifu, we also have to make every effort to annihilate the remnants of the Chuji Thief Army in the hinterland of Xue County, and not give the remnants of the Chuji Thief Army a chance to join forces with the main force of the Western Chu Thief Army, which will increase the difficulty of our extermination of Chu. ”

"With the strength of Uncle Zhou's side, as long as you can surround the remnants of the Chuji thief army, it will definitely be no problem to annihilate them." Xiang Kang pondered and said: "The difficulty is that the terrain in the area of Xue County is open, and it is difficult to encircle and annihilate them, plus there are two puppets Liu Ji and Han Xin to cause chaos, it will definitely be more difficult for Uncle Zhou to encircle and annihilate them." ”

"King, a wise man thinks a thousand times, there must be a mistake, it's rare to see you miss a mistake." Zhang Liang reminded with a smile: "Your Majesty, why did you forget Jing Jia and Peng Yue who were entrenched in the area of Juyeze? With their current strength, it is definitely not certain to deal with the remnants of the Chuji thief army alone, but it is definitely not a big problem to entangle the remnants of the Chuji thief army for a while, as long as they buy a little time for General Zhou, will General Zhou be sure to annihilate the remnants of the Chuji thief army? ”

Xiang Kang slapped his forehead, and then realized that he had indeed forgotten Peng Yue - but this can't be completely blamed on Xiang Kang, mainly because Peng Yuejun had been bruised again after being pumped all over the ground by Liu Laosan and Han Xin in Xue County, and he had been hiding around Juyeze to lick his wounds afterwards, and there was no decent performance, so Xiang Kang didn't immediately remember that there was such a guerrilla force behind enemy lines on the flank of the Xue County battlefield.

After remorse, Xiang Kang hurriedly nodded and said: "That's it, immediately give Peng Yue an order to enter the hinterland of Xue County, find a way to entangle the remnants of the Chuji thief army, and create an opportunity for Uncle Zhou's side to annihilate the remnants of the Chuji thief army." ”

After everyone sang the promise, Xiang Kang turned to Li Zuoche again and asked, "Guangwujun, then how should we act in the middle lane?" And how to gradually weaken the Western Chu thief army? ”

"The middle side can only fight steadily, step by step, and at the same time draw troops from the rear to reinforce the middle battlefield and strengthen our middle road troops." Li Zuoche replied: "As for how to gradually weaken the army of the Western Chu thief army, we can only act on the road of pursuit. Fortunately, with the temper and character of the king of Chu in the west, he will give up many cities and lands in one breath and withdraw directly to Pengcheng, he will definitely be distressed and reluctant, and it is very likely that he will choose to divide his troops to stay in the important towns along the retreat road, as long as he does this, we must be sure to eat his left-behind army one by one, so that even if he withdraws to Pengcheng, he will not be able to bring back too many troops. ”

"But if the situation is beyond the expectations of his subordinates, and the king of Western Chu decisively abandons the city and land that is already destined to be impossible to defend, and concentrates all his forces to go south, then we will be more troublesome." Li Zuoche continued: "At that time, we can only find a way to use the river road to make a fuss, and even risk confronting the main force of the Western Chu thief army, desperately consuming our troops, and only when our reinforcements arrive can we hope to turn the situation around." ”

"Don't worry, with my brother's temperament and character, he will never directly give up so many cities and land, and concentrate all his forces to go south, he is too obsessed with the gains and losses of one city and one place." Xiang Kang replied confidently, and said even more confidently: "And even if he has this plan, I will try my best to let him divide his troops to defend the city, and create opportunities for us to break the rest of his army." ”

Knowing that Xiang Kang has always treated Xiang Yu as a monkey, Li Zuoche and Zhang Liang and others of course immediately nodded yes, and then Xiang Kang and everyone present carefully discussed, and decided to let Qi Gill lead the Sanchuan Han army to rush directly to the Puyang battlefield to reinforce, let Han Wangxin send troops from Yingchuan, and directly come to Dingtao to join the Han army in the middle by way of Chen Liuwaihuang, and at the same time order Uncle Zhou, and order him to arrange a general to lead a partial division to deal with Tian Heng, and lead the main force south to annihilate the remnants of the Chuji coalition army, and then rush to meet with the main force of the Han army in the middle to launch a decisive battle to destroy Chu.

In addition, Xiang Kang naturally had no choice but to let the main force of the Han army in the middle immediately start preparing for the pursuit, and as soon as the main force of the Western Chu army moved, he immediately sent troops to pursue it, making every effort to gradually weaken the enemy on the pursuit road, and lay a solid foundation for the final decisive battle to destroy Chu.

The matter is not over, during this period, when the Han army scribes wrote official orders for Xiang Kang, after very careful and second consideration, Xiang Kang instructed Chen Ping alone: "Mr. Chen Ping, work hard, personally give orders to Jing Jia and Peng Yue for this king, and the tone of the order is as strict as possible, so that they must entangle and stop the remnants of the Chuji thief army no matter what, and be sure to cooperate with our northern army to annihilate the Chuji thief army in the hinterland of Xue County." Finally, I reminded them clearly that this was the opportunity given to them by this king. ”

Chen Ping blinked his eyes, immediately nodded and sang a promise, and then personally took up the pen for Xiang Kang to Jing Jia and Peng Yue, who proclaimed themselves the king of Chu Chu and Chu Xiang, and wrote a rather stern attack order, and clearly reminded that this was an opportunity given to them by Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang personally read it and felt satisfied, so he signed the order with a seal, and sent a reliable messenger to send it to Ju Yeze immediately to Peng Yue and Jing Jia.

On the side of the Western Chu army, the size of the army of more than 150,000 had to carry a large amount of grain and grass and military supplies, and at the same time, it also had to consider the problem of dealing with the pursuit of the Han army.

It's still ridiculous, and it was still at this time that Master Xiang Boxiang, who replaced Old Man Fan as Xiang Yu's chief deputy, considered whether the Dingtao garrison should prepare in advance to carry grain and grass and retreat with the main force of the Western Chu Army, and when Master Xiang asked Xiang Yu about this question, Xiang Yu was also extremely hesitant and reluctant, and thought about it for a long time before saying: "This matter will be decided when we arrive in Dingtao, and ask Dingtao to prepare in advance to receive us from the south to Jishui, and other things will be talked about later." ”

Master Xiang hurriedly agreed, but Kui Che on the other side moved his lips, but he didn't know why, after hesitating for a while, Kui Che still swallowed the words that had been said back into his stomach, and he didn't dare to act in front of Master Xiang, let alone provoke Xiang Yu, who had been in an extremely bad mood since beating Old Man Fan without saying goodbye.

Early the next morning, the Western Chu army officially began to retreat, 150,000 troops were divided into three routes, led by Zhou Lan to open the road first, Xiang Bo and Huan Chu led the main force to protect the grain and grass and the military quartermaster was in the center, Xiang Yu personally led 20,000 elite palaces, orderly evacuated from the Puyang battlefield, and went south in the direction of Dingtao at a steady speed of forty miles a day. During this period, Xiang Yu also turned his head more than once and glared at the Han army camp under Puyang City, gritting his teeth, "Shaft, if you have the guts, come and chase it!" As long as you dare to come to a head-on battle with this king, this king promises to kill you without leaving a piece of armor behind! ”

The Western Chu army has just begun to retreat, and it can turn around and fight a decisive battle at any time, Xiang Kang of course will only send troops to pursue immediately if he is stupid, so after receiving the news that the Western Chu army has drawn up camp and raised troops, Xiang Kang only did one thing in addition to letting the scouts closely monitor - and Zhang Liang, who is outstanding in writing, made a Han army inscription, a persuasion that Tao soldiers and civilians would immediately open the city and surrender when the Han army arrived at the city, and Xiang Yu, who was red and white-toothed, was ready to abandon the Dingtao military and civilian officials and flee directly back to Pengcheng, Let the Dingtao military and civilian officials prepare in advance to welcome the Han army into the city and settle the people.

After the text was written, he looked at it carefully and felt satisfied, and Xiang Kang also handed the text to Chen Ping, and instructed: "Send a capable and meticulous work to the south first, and post this text on the city gate of Dingtao before the Western Chu army arrives in Puyang, and be sure to let my brother know that I don't look down on him at all, and it is expected that he will take the initiative to abandon the important town of Dingtao and flee south." ”

Chen Ping took it with a smile, and then suggested: "King, do you want to stop being angry with the King of Western Chu?" Why don't you write him a letter and persuade him to take the initiative to retreat to the south of Huaishui, and take the initiative to cede the land north of Huaishui, in exchange for us to reconcile with him and truce? ”

"Don't rush, step by step." Xiang Kang said with a smile: "Such a big move, keep it for later." ”