The pursuit battle outside Wancheng City is definitely the most painful battle of the Han army to beat the old enemy Nanyang Army, first the Han Army's partial division Ding Ji's department chased the Nanyang Army's ass and beat it fiercely, chopping melons and vegetables like picking up the Nanyang soldiers who fell behind, and then the Han cavalry rushed in, brandishing sabers in the crowd of defeated soldiers of the Nanyang Army who fled in a hurry, rushing left and right, like entering no man's land, and the infantry joined forces to kill the Nanyang Army to lose their armor and armor, and the corpses were scattered all over the field.

Immediately afterwards, when the Han army Gongsun Tongsuo, who was deployed fifteen miles away to the south in advance, joined the battlefield and blocked the defeated brigade of the Nanyang army, it completely sounded the death knell of the Nanyang army.

During this period, Gongsun Tong, the general of the Han army, kept in mind Xiang Kang's advice, even if he had received the good news of 'Liu Laosan's ambush, he did not dare to take it lightly, and continued to chase and fight with the army, capturing or killing almost all the soldiers of the Nanyang Army on horseback and carriage that could be found, and trying not to let a suspicious enemy slip through the net. However, it is a pity that after the war, after careful identification, it was really Ji Xin, the general of the Nanyang Army who looked quite imaginary with Liu Laosan, who escaped in a car under the banner of handsomeness, and at the same time, no matter how the soldiers of the Han Army identified the dead bodies and screened the prisoners, they were not able to find the whereabouts of the real Liu Laosan.

What's even more outrageous is that not only Liu Laosan himself, but also several core backbones of the Nanyang Army, such as Han Xin, Fan Xu, Zhou Bo and Cao Shen, also disappeared on the battlefield, but it was Liu Laosan's brother-in-law Lu Ze, who led the army to the palace, was beheaded on the battlefield by the soldiers of the Han Army, and the Han Army also captured or killed the generals of the Nanyang Army, Chen Xuan, Jin She, Guo Ting and others.

After these situations were reported to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang, who was familiar with Liu Laosan's temperament, was not surprised, but immediately sent people to Jianyang to investigate the situation of several departments of the Western Chu Army, and then as Xiang Kang expected, the Han army quickly confirmed that Liu Laosan's banner really reappeared in the city of Jianyang City, and the remnants of the Nanyang Army who were lucky enough to escape from the battlefield also rushed to Jianyang to rejoin Liu Laosan.

"Let our army rest for a day, seize the time to rescue the wounded soldiers and reorganize the army, and tomorrow we will go south to attack Thornyang, and kill the remaining Nanyang thief army!"

This is a decisive decision made by Xiang Kang, but it is a pity that Xiang Kang's decision is decisive, and the decision of the remnants of the Western Chu Army and the Nanyang Army is even more decisive, and it has just arrived in the early morning of the next day, and before Xiang Kang can lead the main force of the Han army to pull out the camp and raise the army, the scouts who are monitoring the enemy in Jianyang sent an urgent report, saying that the remnants of the Western Chu Army and the remnants of the Nanyang Army had abandoned Jianyang last night and fled directly to the south from the east bank of Yushui.

"Slip away so damn fast!"

Hearing this, Xiang Kang, of course, immediately scolded, and immediately began to think about whether he should pursue it with all his might. As a result, Zhang Liang, who was slightly deficient in tactics, first saw the danger, and hurriedly said to Xiang Kangjin: "King, you must not hesitate, you should pursue with all your might, and you must not let the Nanyang thief army and the Western Chu thief army escape from Hanshui, otherwise, with the Hanshui natural danger to block it, and with the support of Nanjun's money and grain, we don't know how long it will be until we want to annihilate Liu Ji's thief army and the Western Chu thief army." ”

Xiang Kang subconsciously wanted to nod, but Lou Jing next to him said: "King, Your Majesty thinks that there is no need to chase after us immediately, it is impossible for us to catch up with the enemy, and it is even more impossible to stop the Nanyang Thief Army and the Western Chu Thief Army from escaping from Hanshui. ”

"What does Lou Shilang mean by this?" Zhang Liang, who was not very good at tactics, asked suspiciously: "Although the Nanyang Thief Army and the Western Chu Thief Army set off from Jianyang last night, it is difficult to catch up with them after us directly, but they went south from the east bank of Yushui, taking just an ordinary road, and we went south along the Chi Road from the west bank of Yushui, it is completely possible to rush to Deng County to stop the thief army from crossing the river before these two bandits?" ”

"Zhang Fuji, there is no way to solve the problem of our ships quickly." Lou Jing made Zhang Liang close his mouth with a word, and said: "The Nanyang thieves currently guarding Deng County will be Liu Jipifu's brother-in-law Lu Shizhi, and they are also Liu Jipifu's henchmen who will never surrender to us, even if we can rush to Deng County before Liu Ji and Liji, Lu Shizhi will definitely transfer the boats first, so that we can't cross the Han River, and then he can also use these boats to help the remnants of the Nanyang thief army and the Western Chu thief army cross the river at other ferries, and we can only look at the river and sigh, Watching the enemy regain a foothold on the south bank of the Han River. ”

Even if he rushed to Deng County first, there was also a large Yushui River barricade in the east that had obtained the replenishment of the Tang River, and it would definitely be difficult to cross the river to intercept the enemy without boats, considering this, Zhang Liang could only nod helplessly, and said: "What Lou Shilang said is extremely true, it is indeed difficult for us to stop Liu Ji and Li Jifu from escaping from the Han River. ”

"Don't worry, it's not necessarily a good thing if you can't stop it." Lou Jing's words were shocking, and he turned to Xiang Kangjin and said: "King, the Nanyang thief army is at the end of the road, the Western Chu thief army is far away from the mainland, and the money, food, and baggage all depend on the supply of Nanyang. But if we suspend the pursuit and let Liu Li and the two thieves get a chance to breathe, the two thieves will inevitably have a dislike and contradiction, and even turn against each other, and then send troops to break them, it will be several times easier. ”

"King, what Lou Shilang said is extremely true." Chen Ping stood on Lou Jing's side this time and said: "Li Jifu has always been greedy and profitable, and the Nanyang thief army is now outnumbered, even if it successfully escapes the Han River, it can only rely on the Western Chu Thief Army to guard the Han Water defense line and resist our army going south, but the troops are only for the Nanyang Thief Army to protect the city land, how can the Li Pifu be willing to suffer such a big loss?" Make such a wedding dress for someone else? ”

"Therefore, His Majesty also thinks that instead of letting our soldiers continue to go south without resting, to fight for the small hope of annihilating Liu Ji and the two thieves on the north bank of the Han River, it is better to lure the Lijifu who has already wavered in his position, try to fuel his greed, get rid of Liu Jipifu with his hand, and then clean up the Lijipifu who have no foundation in Nanyang and Nanjun, it will definitely be much easier."

Xiang Kang sat down slowly, pondered for a moment before saying, "Then how to act?" This king has a word first, and he can't give a few letters to the king of Nanjun. ”

"You don't need the king to give Lijifu the title of king, it is enough to let Lijifu see the hope of being crowned king." Chen Ping replied: "Your Majesty suggests that the king might as well send an envoy to chase the Western Chu thief army, and clearly tell Li Jifu that our army is going south this time only to seize the two counties of Nanyang and Yingchuan, and has no interest in Nanjun, as long as he leads the army to withdraw directly to Nanjun and give up the land and city of Nanyang, we will never continue to pursue." ”

"In addition, let's tell Li Pifu again, let's just say that the reason why you and the King of Western Chu are killing each other is because Liu Ji Pifu slandered and framed him, and took the lead in provoking the war between Han and Chu in Hangu Pass, and now that Liu Jipifu has been wiped out, the king You also have a great reduction in hatred, and you intend to negotiate peace with the King of Western Chu, as long as the King of Western Chu is willing to hand over Liu Ji to us, we can share the world with the King of Western Chu with the existing territory as the boundary."

"In this way, Lijifu will definitely be tempted, and he will definitely see the opportunity arise." Chen Ping continued: "He must know that as long as he takes this opportunity to capture Liu Jipifu and annex Nanjun in one fell swoop, then if we succeed in negotiating peace with the King of Western Chu, he can become the uncrowned king of Nanjun." If we fail to negotiate peace with the king of Western Chu, he can also ride on the wall in Nanjun and watch the wind, and whoever gives him the title of king, he will serve whomever he wants. ”

"Brilliant plan!" Lou Jing applauded and said: "There is another advantage to doing this, that is, those Western Chu generals who are loyal to the king of Western Chu will also support Liji's annexation of the Nanyang thief army, because standing in the position of the king of Western Chu, they will definitely not be willing to fight bloodily to protect the land of the city for Liu Jipifu, who has been exhausted, and will definitely agree with Liji to take the opportunity to annex the land of Nanjun for the Western Chu army. ”

Considering that it was difficult for the army to prevent Liji and Liu Laosan from escaping from Hanshui, and considering that Liji was much easier to deal with than Liu Laosan, Xiang Kang quickly nodded and said, "Okay, just do it, immediately send someone to chase after Liji, and lure him to help us kill Liu Jipifu." Our main force will rest for a while and calmly take the other cities around Wancheng, and then think about how to go south to seize Deng County and other places and Nanjun. ”

…………

Liu Laosan's luck is indeed not covered, at noon the next day, when the envoy sent by Xiang Kang finally caught up with the Western Chu army, Liu Laosan, who had only more than 1,000 remnants left in his hands, actually happened to be by Liji's side, I heard that Xiang Kang sent a messenger to contact Liji, Liu Laosan of course did not dare to have any ambiguity, and regardless of whether Liji was willing or not, he just insisted on accompanying Liji to meet the Han army envoy, and Liji was not easy to refuse, so he had to acquiesce to Liu Laosan to accompany the reception.

The next thing is relatively simple, after meeting with Liji, the Han army envoy only needs to present Xiang Kang's letter to Liji, explaining his intentions, and he doesn't need to spend any words to directly persuade Liji to kill Liu Laosan and establish himself as the king in Nanjun, Liji also understands Xiang Kang's hints, laughs and just flatly refuses, and says: "Go back and tell you the king, just say that the general is ordered to reinforce the king of Nanyang, whether to withdraw the Hanshui directly, the general has his own opinions, and will not obey your king's arrangement." Also, if you want to ask for it, you can just send an envoy to contact our king, and this general has no right to intervene in such a big matter. ”

After sending away the envoy of the Han army in a few words, Li Ji patted Liu Laosan on the shoulder again, and said with a smile: "King Nanyang, don't worry, let's not say that our king will never agree to Xiang Kang's traitor's request for peace, even if he really talks with the Han thief, our king will never agree to hand you over to Xiang Kang's traitor, what kind of person is our king, don't you know King Nanyang?" ”

"Thank you, General Leigh." Liu Laosan laughed and said: "The king of Western Chu is Bo Yuntian, of course Xiao Wang knows this, how can he worry that he will hand over Xiao Wang to the Han thief for peace talks?" ”

Political genius Liu Laosan was of course smiling, when it was close to evening that day, he finally withdrew with the Western Chu army to Huyang City on the east bank of Yushui, and then entered the residence arranged by Huyang County Commander for himself.

also said that Liu Laosan was sad for the fiasco of Wancheng, and Xiao He next to him opened his mouth to persuade: "The king doesn't have to worry too much, victory or defeat is not a common thing in soldiers, although we have lost the capital of Wancheng, but Nanjun is still in our hands, as long as we cross the Han River, use the Han Water natural danger to block the army of Han thieves, and spend a little time recruiting troops in Nanjun, we will soon be able to make a comeback." ”

"It would be so easy." Liu Laosan smiled bitterly and said: "I'm afraid that when we get to Nanjun, that puppet from Liji will soon take down the king's head and take the opportunity to annex Nanjun and the northern part of Changsha County, which we finally won." ”

"What does the king mean by that?" Xiao He asked in surprise.

Liu Laosan smiled bitterly, and then told him about the envoy sent by Xiang Kang to contact Liji today, and Xiao He, who is also a political master, was of course shocked when he heard it, and blurted out: "The Han thief is clearly driving the tiger and devouring the wolf, instigating the Lijifu to help the Western Chu army directly annex our southern territory!" ”

"Wrong." Liu Laosan sneered and said: "That traitor Xiang Kang is not instigating Li Jifu to help the Western Chu army annex our territory, but luring Li Qifu to annex our city and land and establish himself as the king!" Look at it, after we have withdrawn from Hanshui, it would be better if the Han thieves were in a hurry to attack Nanjun, and the puppet of Liji would rely on us to supply money, food, and military supplies, but he would not dare to mess around, but if the traitor of Xiang Kang refused to go south, or even turned around and went north, the puppet of Liji would definitely make a move. When the time comes, it will be good to just put this king and you under house arrest, if we refuse to cooperate, it will be an ironclad matter for him to slaughter us with a sword! ”

"It's possible." Xiao He hurriedly nodded and said: "Nanjun is vast and sparsely populated, money and food are scarce and miasma is everywhere, Xiang Kang traitors don't need to take it immediately, deliberately give Li a few horses a chance to do it, there will definitely be no such possibility." ”

"That's why this king is so worried." Liu Laosan sighed and muttered: "Originally, when he was on the road, this king wanted to find a few puppets to be open and honest several times, and persuaded him not to do this kind of thing that hurts relatives and enemies are happy, but you don't know how greedy and selfish that puppet is, the temptation of the throne and territory is placed in front of him, plus Xiang Kang's traitor will definitely fan the flames behind his back and instigate demagogy, and it must be in vain." ”

"Then what else can the king do?" Xiao He hurriedly asked.

"This king thought about it and found that we still have two ways now." Liu Laosan said with a gloomy face: "First, after crossing the Han River, if Xiang Kang's traitors really didn't rush south and gave us a little respite, we would strike first, kill a few horses first, and annex the Western Chu army under his command!" ”

"Your Majesty, this is a must-have!" Xiao He hurriedly objected, and said in a deep voice: "To do this, let's not talk about whether we can do it, even if we can do it, with our current strength, how can we successfully annex the Western Chu Army?" Also, doing so will definitely completely anger the King of Western Chu, and if we offend the King of Western Chu again, we will not be able to stop the army of Han thieves. ”

Liu Laosan nodded silently, admitting that what Xiao He said was true, and Xiao He hurriedly asked again: "King, what is the second way?" ”

Liu Laosan hesitated for a long time, and then said slowly: "The second way, follow the example of Xiang Kang's traitors back then, take the initiative to dedicate our remaining city land to the Western Chu army, take our remaining men and horses to defect to the king of Western Chu, and start from scratch under the command of Xiang Yu's puppeteer." ”

Xiao He opened his mouth completely, but after a long time, Xiao He nodded slowly and said: "This is the safest way, take the initiative to dedicate so much land and city to the King of Western Chu, the King of Western Chu will definitely not treat us badly under great joy, and we still have hope of starting from scratch." It's just ......, it's a shame to do this. ”

"Strictly speaking, it's not too much of a pity." Liu Laosan said weakly: "Nanjun was originally snatched by us from Yingbu Pifu, and it hasn't been robbed for long, and the people there have not yet attached themselves to us, even if we withdraw to Nanjun, it will be difficult to gain a firm foothold, and the thieves only need to let a partial division and Yingbu Pifu kill into Nanjun, and it is likely that Nanjun will be snatched back." At that time, when we go to the king of Western Chu again, the words will not be so easy to say. ”

After that, Liu Laosan said with a wry smile: "Don't forget, before that, because we had an unstable foothold in Nanjun and the people's hearts were not attached, for the sake of prudence, we moved all the families of the local magistrates of Nanjun to Wancheng (see chapter 414 of this book), and now those people have fallen into the hands of Han thieves, with Xiang Kang's traitorous skills, how can they not make a big fuss about these people?" ”

"Then you, my lord, have you made up your mind?" Xiao He asked hesitantly.

"If only it could be so easy to make up your mind." Liu Laosan smiled bitterly and said: "No matter how remote and barren Nanjun is, it is still a piece of territory, so let this king give up the last territory and surrender his identity to Xiang Yu Pifu to call his ministers generals, how can this king be so easy to give up?" ”

Xiao He closed his mouth, and Liu Laosan waved his hand again, saying, "Don't pay attention to me, let this king think about it carefully again, and go and do what you have to do." Remember, bring all the good things that you can bring with you in Huyang City, Hu Yang will definitely not be able to keep it, or it won't be long before it will be returned to the Han thieves. ”

Xiao He sang the promise with a heavy expression, said goodbye and went down to run his own errand, leaving Liu Laosan to sit in place, and even if his body was already exhausted, Liu Laosan stayed awake all night, and his head was always thinking about countless questions, "Do you want to risk going back to Nanjun?" After arriving in Nanjun, did the king grasp the time and opportunity to stabilize the Liqifu and win the comeback? Will the puppet of Liji be greedy for profit and covet the land of the city and kill the king directly? ”

Liu Laosan is Liu Laosan after all, although the process of making a choice is extremely painful, but when the sky is light the next day, Liu Laosan still made a decision, patted the case in front of him, gritted his teeth and said: "Xiang Kang traitor was willing to give up dozens of cities in three counties, is this king not even as good as him?" Instead of risking to go to Nanjun and wait for death, it is better to ask Xiang Yu for a husband first, and go to his army to start from scratch! ”