"Li You doesn't fight, we try to make him fight, isn't it?"

Chen Ping replied very easily, and Xiang Kang, who knew how much Chen Ping had damaged and bad, was also immediately relieved, and hurriedly asked Chen Ping how to act, Chen Ping replied with a smile: "Why is the young marshal so anxious? We are only speculating now that Li You is going to temporarily contain our main force for Zhang Han, which is not yet certain, why do we need to be so anxious to lure or force Li You to fight? ”

"What the gentleman said is very true, I am in a hurry." Xiang Kang thought about it carefully, and said with a smile: "Okay, let's not worry, wait until we confirm Li You's movements." ”

"The young marshal forgives the sin, and I think we can't just sit and wait." Chen Ping arched his hand and said: "In my opinion, we should immediately send a first army to cross the chasm to the west to set up camp and hold the bridge and crossing, so that we can not only cover the defeated troops of the two generals Yingbu and Lu Chen to withdraw to Chenliu as much as possible, but also seize the position on the west bank in advance, so that the main force of our army can quickly cross the chasm if necessary." ”

"Mr. Chen Ping, isn't this too careful?" Zhou Zeng next to him questioned and said: "Just like you just said, we can't confirm whether Li You really wants to contain us for Zhang Han, and at this time, we will divide our troops to cross the chasm and set up camp, if our judgment is wrong, won't our soldiers have to work hard in vain?" ”

"Besides, even if our judgment is not bad, Li You really wants to temporarily contain the main force of our army for Zhang Hanlai, seeing that our army has set up camp on the west bank of the chasm in advance, how can Li You dare to approach the chasm and go down to the village?" Zhou Zeng added: "When Li You is far away from the chasm and set up camp, if the main force of our army wants to get a decisive chance, it must cross the chasm in advance, and at the same time, in order to gain a partial advantage in troops, we also have to recall General Feng Zhong's troops on the north bank of Gushui to participate in the battle. When the time comes, Li You will fight and retreat, and gradually lure us away from Chen Liu, wouldn't Zhang Handpifu be more assured to attack Linji and deal with Tian Dan? ”

"What Zhou Saijiu said is extremely true, our army set up camp on the west bank of the chasm in advance, and there will indeed be these drawbacks." Chen Ping nodded, calmly admitting that Zhou Zeng's analysis was very reasonable, and then said: "But if we don't cross the chasm first and set up camp and protect the temporary bridges and ferries of the Xidu chasm, then Li You's army will bully the chasm and go down to the village, won't Chen Liu's initiative on the battlefield fall into his hands?" When the time comes, our westward attack will not only be time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also the danger of being attacked by Li Youdu, how can it be more convenient than having an army set up camp on the west bank in advance? With this great benefit, if we make a mistake in judgment, it will only make the soldiers work hard in vain, but if we judge correctly, then we will benefit immensely in the next war. ”

After pointing out in detail the advantages of setting up camp on the west bank of the chasm in advance, Chen Ping said: "As for the issue of Li You setting up camp far away from the chasm, we don't have to worry too much, Li You will never be able to pull him too far away from us in order to contain us. Moreover, our army crossed west and set up camp in advance, not necessarily to cover the main force to cross the river and attack, if necessary, it may be able to play a more important role. ”

Chen Ping answered a little vaguely on this question, but considering that this time the strength of the young marshal's army had a slight upper hand, and it was undoubtedly more beneficial for his side to get the initiative first, and it was better than the time-consuming and labor-intensive force crossing the chasm and then launching a decisive battle, Xiang Kang quickly made up his mind and ordered Zhu Jishi to lead the 5,000 young marshal army, including 2,000 Lishan prisoners, to cross the chasm in advance, set up a camp at the ferry, protect the bridge across the river, and at the same time grab two temporary bridges, so that the main force of the young marshal army could cross the river faster and fight a decisive battle if necessary.

The young marshal's army has a good grasp of the rhythm this time, Zhu Jishi's camp has just been established, and the two temporary bridges have just been built, and the defeated soldiers of Yingbu and Lu Chen have fled to the west bank of the chasm like a frightened bird. At the same time, the pursuers under Li You's command did not dare to forcibly attack the camp of the young marshal's army, and chose to stop ten miles northwest of the ferry, waiting for Li You's main force to come to reinforcements, and temporarily maintain peace with the west bank army of the young marshal's army.

As Chen Ping expected, after fleeing back to Chen Liucheng in embarrassment, Lu Chen and Yingbu really didn't dare to dream of anything to be on an equal footing with Xiang Kang, and rushed to the Chinese army tent of the young marshal army as soon as possible to ask Xiang Kang to see them, asking Xiang Kang to help them with grain, grass and military tents, and expressed their willingness to follow Xiang Kang's orders to fight and follow the young marshal army as a servant army. And Xiang Kang, because the young marshal's army also had to obey Xiang Liang's orders immediately, did not take advantage of the fire to rob too much, pulled down his face to forcibly absorb the remnants of Lu Chen and Yingbu, nodded and accepted their request.

In the afternoon of the same day, Li You's main force also approached the chasm battlefield, and chose to set up camp at the rendezvous with the former army, and used most of the troops to dig trenches and establish barracks, directly putting on a posture of confronting the main force of the young marshal's army for a long time, and also indirectly verified Xiang Kang's inference, proving that he came to temporarily contain the main force of the young marshal's army for Zhang Han this time. After confirming this situation, Xiang Kang and Chen Ping also seemed to have taken the wrong medicine, so they sighed together and said in unison: "It's a pity that it's too late." ”

Or after saying this sentence together, Xiang Kang and Chen Ping found out that the situation was not right, and hurriedly asked each other: "Young Marshal (Mr. Chen Ping), how can you say that it's a pity that it's too late?" ”

I didn't expect the other party to say the same thing again, Xiang Kang and Chen Ping couldn't help but be together again, after coming back to his senses, Xiang Kang seemed to understand something, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Chen Ping, it seems that we should want to be together, otherwise, let's write what we think in our hearts and see if that's the case?" ”

Chen Ping agreed, and when Xiang Kang and Chen Ping picked up the pen together, they each wrote two words in the palm of their left hand, and when they showed it to each other, they saw that two words were clearly written on the palm of both sides - Hu Hai! They couldn't help laughing together, and they all expressed their admiration to each other.

Unable to stand the dumb riddle between Xiang Kang and Chen Ping, Zhou Zeng asked curiously why Xiang Kang wrote the word Hu Hai on his hand, Xiang Kang sighed with a wry smile: "If the distance is close and the time is enough, Li You is really not difficult to deal with, we just need to spread a little rumor, just say that Li You only defends in front of us and does not fight, is secretly colluding with us, and is ready to help us drag down Zhang Han's main force, and then find a way to let Hu Hai hear this rumor, Hu Hai will definitely force Li You to immediately enter the army and fight a decisive battle with us." It's a pity that the distance is a little far, and it must be too late in time, and even if we are sure, we won't have a chance to use it. ”

Zhou Zeng rolled his eyes, and finally understood why Xiang Kang and Chen Ping were so familiar at first sight. However, Xiang Kang refused to give up, and asked Chen Ping again: "Mr. Chen Ping, if you don't have a chance to attack Hu Hai, can you make some trouble with Zhang Han and let Zhang Han force Li You to enter the army as soon as possible?" ”

"I'm afraid it's hard." Chen Ping shook his head and said: "Li You, as the county guard of Sanchuan, left the land to confront us on the battlefield of Chenliu in Dangjun, this must be from Zhang Han's arrangement, Li You himself would never dare to make such a decision." Since this is from Zhang Han's instructions, if we use any more divisive tactics, not only will it be difficult to play any role, but on the contrary, it may backfire, and strengthen Zhang Han's determination to let Li You only defend without fighting. ”

The discord plan must also have a crack to drill before it can be implemented, and Xiang Kang, who is also a master of discord, is of course very clear about this truth, so Xiang Kang did not continue to count on the common skills of himself and Chen Ping, but just asked Chen Ping again: "Mr. Chen Ping, it's up to you now, you said before, Li You doesn't fight, we just need to try to let him fight." Now that Li You is here, how to let him fight with us, please help me plan more. ”

This is also Chen Ping's first opportunity to perform since he promised to be Xiang Kang's accomplice, of course Chen Ping can't do it if he doesn't want to, after carefully thinking about it for a long time, Chen Ping said: "Young marshal, I don't know much about this person Li You, but since he was able to hold Xingyang for several months, and at the same time resolutely obeyed Zhang Han's orders, and took on the heavy responsibility of containing the main force of our army with a county soldier, this person must be a very stable and conscientious person. If we want him to show his flaws and be swayed by us, I am afraid that there is only one way, which is to make a fuss about Li You's stable personality and conscientiousness. ”

"Make a fuss about Li You's steady personality and conscientiousness." Xiang Kang listened to it for a while, and said suspiciously: "What we are most afraid of now is that Li You will defend without a fight and resolutely entangle us for Zhang Han, why are we still making a fuss in these aspects?" ”

"Young marshal, it seems that you are a wise man, and you have an occasional mistake." Chen Ping smiled and said: "Young marshal, you said it yourself just now, Li You wants to resolutely entangle us for Zhang Han, since he wants to entangle us, then if we make a move, in order to do it for Zhang Han, wouldn't he have to have a corresponding action?" As long as we grasp the fact that he must entangle us, then the opportunity for us to engage in war will not come out? ”

Xiang Kang patted his forehead and admitted that he had indeed drilled the tip of the horns, forgetting that compared to holding the camp, Li You's more important task should be to entangle the main force of the self-army and not give the main force of the self-army a chance to go north to reinforce Linji. After remorse, Xiang Kang hurriedly asked again: "Mr. Chen Ping, then what should we do?" ”

"I have to trouble the young marshal to write two letters first, one to Li You, and one to the current king Wei Wang Wei." Chen Ping replied: "As for the content of the letter, please write the ...... the young marshal separately." ”

…………

Let's take a look at the situation on Li You's side, in fact, as early as when he knew that the young marshal's army had deployed an army in advance on the west bank of the chasm, Li You, who had been familiar with military books since he was a child, had already understood that it was difficult for him to rely on the chasm to block it, and it was relatively safe to confront the main force of the young marshal's army. However, out of duty, Li You still rose to the challenge, insisted on establishing a camp ten miles northwest of the chasm ferry, and continued to carry out the task entrusted to him by Zhang Han.

The strength is at a disadvantage, and the combat effectiveness of the army is not as good as the main force of the Qin army led by Zhang Han, and at the same time, there is no way to stop the main force of the young marshal's army from entering the west bank of the chasm, Li You is of course a bit risky to do this, but Li You, who is burdened with heavy responsibilities, has no choice, in addition to letting the army seize the time to desperately repair and strengthen the camp, Li You also made up his mind early, that is, no matter what tricks Xiang Kang plays, he will stick to the camp and not come out, so as to respond to all changes, and never give Xiang Kang any chance to take advantage of.

However, there are some rules that Li You still has to abide by, at noon the next day, Xiang Kang's messenger came to the door of the Qin army camp to deliver the letter, and Li You, who was a famous minister, remembered the ancient precept that the two countries fought and did not kill the envoy, or let the Qin army soldiers treat Xiang Kang's messenger with courtesy, and read the letter signed by Xiang Kang for the first time. As a result, after carefully reading Xiang Kang's letter, Li You, who has always been calm, rarely had a gloomy face, and even a little drumming in his heart, and the subordinates next to him saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked: "County guard, what did Xiang Kang's traitor say in the letter?" ”

"Xiang Kang told the official that he already knew the purpose of our coming here." Li You replied: "He directly pointed out that we came here to confront his thief army, not to fight them, but to entangle his thief army, so that General Zhang Han's main force can deal with the two traitors Tian Dan and Wei Qi in Linji with peace of mind." ”

"This traitor is so powerful? Can you see through our purpose directly? The general was surprised and asked, "What else did he say?" ”

"The rest is all nonsense." Li You snorted coldly and said: "In addition to boasting about the strength of his traitor army, saying that we will never win, and spreading rumors and slandering that General Zhang Han sent us to Chen Liu, he wanted to kill the official with a knife, and create an opportunity for the general's cronies to replace me as the Sanchuan County Guard, and persuade the official to withdraw as soon as possible to protect himself, otherwise, as long as he takes the main force across the chasm, he will be able to kill us immediately." ”

"Bluffing." The general snorted coldly: "If this traitor really had this certainty, he would have come directly a long time ago, and he still needed to talk such nonsense?" ”

Li You didn't care about the disdain of his subordinates for Xiang Kang, and after carefully thinking about it for a long time, Li You ordered: "Send more scouts to work carefully, give me close monitoring of Xiang Kang's every move of the thief army, and report to me immediately if there is a situation." Xiang Kang's traitor has seen through our tactical intentions, and wants to prevent him from suddenly sending troops north, getting rid of our entanglement, and going to make trouble for the general's main force. ”

Li You also had to do this, because the task given to him by Zhang Han was to entangle the main force of the young marshal's army, so as not to let Xiang Kang have the opportunity to go north to Linji to make trouble, and now Li You's tactical purpose has been directly seen through by Xiang Kang, Li You of course has to prevent Xiang Kang from suddenly sending troops to the north, getting rid of his own containment and entanglement, resulting in the failure of his mission. - Otherwise, how can Li You be worthy of Chen Ping's comment that he is conscientious?

But fortunately, in the next two days, Xiang Kang's side did not make any moves, neither transferred back to Feng Zhong's army stationed on the north bank of Gushui, nor did he bring the main force across Suishui, and went north to meet Feng Zhong, always holding his troops still. And Li You also kept in mind the advice of Zhang Han, Dong Peng and others, in addition to closely monitoring the movements of the main force of the young marshal's army, he also did not make any moves, and confronted Xiang Kang very patiently across the river.

On the evening of the third day, an accident occurred, and a fast horse of the Qin army from Daliang rushed into Li You's camp and brought Li You an urgent letter from Zhang Han, and Li You also summoned the messenger at the first time to read the letter. As a result, the content of the letter surprised Li You again, it turned out that when the soldiers of the Qin army under the command of Zhang Han were patrolling the south of Linji City, they caught a messenger sent by Xiang Kang to contact Wei Qi, and found Xiang Kang's handwritten letter to Wei Qi, on the letter, Xiang Kang comforted Wei Qi that although the main force of the young marshal's army was temporarily entangled by Li You, Li You's character was too cautious and conservative, and he was sure that he could get rid of Li You's entanglement at any time, and calmly went north to save Linji.

At the same time, Zhang Han's army and the fallen army of Qi have also entered the critical stage of the decisive battle, and they do not want to suddenly change on the southern front and disrupt their tactical deployment. At the same time, Zhang Han also told Li You that even if he couldn't entangle Xiang Kang's main force, he must bite Xiang Kang's tail, and he must not give Xiang Kang a chance to easily run to the southern front of the main force of the Qin army to stir up the situation.

Originally worried that Xiang Kang would suddenly send troops to the north, and received this warning from Zhang Han, Li You of course kept a closer eye on the main force of the young marshal's army, and the result was that the hard work paid off, late at night on the fourth day, Li You was suddenly woken up from the couch by his own soldiers, and reported that he found that the young marshal's army stationed on the west bank of the chasm Zhu Jishi's department was secretly withdrawing troops to cross the river, Li You was in high spirits when he heard the news, and hurriedly asked: "What about the west bank of the chasm?" Xiang Kang's main force of the traitor, has there been any action? ”

"Back to the county guard, I haven't received a report yet." The soldier replied truthfully.

"Quick, send more people to the west bank of the chasm to investigate the main movement of Xiang Kang's rebels!" Li You got up quickly, and couldn't wait to order: "Blow the trumpet, let the soldiers get up and prepare for the battle, and gather all the generals to wait for the Chinese army." ”

Although it is only an ordinary county soldier, but after several months of actual combat experience in the defense of Xingyang, the Qin army soldiers under Li You have made great progress, even if they get up in a hurry at night, the Qin soldiers and soldiers still quickly prepare for war, and it didn't take much time to complete the assembly task, and at the same time, the Qin generals in Li You's army also quickly rushed to the Chinese army's big tent to standby. Then it didn't take long for Li You's long-awaited military intelligence report on the west bank of the chasm to finally arrive—as Li You expected, the main force of the young marshal's army had indeed pulled out of camp overnight and was quickly crossing the river through the Suishui Bridge.

"Xiang Kang Xiao'er, sure enough, I went north overnight!" Gritting his teeth, Li You did not hesitate, and immediately said loudly: "Generals, the thief army is moving the camp overnight, if nothing else, Xiang Kang will leave an army to confront us across the river, and lead the main force north to reinforce the Wei thief!" If he succeeds, General Zhang Han's southern front will inevitably be in chaos! Our army cannot hesitate, we must immediately launch a pursuit, who dares to be the vanguard to pursue the Xiang Kang thief army who is crossing the river? ”

"The last will go!"

Several Qin generals stood up and volunteered to take up the pursuit mission, but there was also a Qin army general with a more cautious personality who stood up and said: "County guard, although it is a fighter at the moment, it is too risky to fight late at night. ”

If it was changed to normal times, Li You, who had a more cautious personality, would definitely adopt the advice of this general without thinking about it, but the current situation is different, if the young marshal army successfully completes the relocation of the camp and successfully builds a chasm defense line, then Li You's subordinates will definitely be difficult to rush across the chasm to catch up and entangle the main force of the young marshal's army. So just weighing the pros and cons a little, Li You, who was extremely conscientious, still shook his head and said: "Can't delay, if you let the thieves complete the camp, then the thieves only need thousands of soldiers and horses, and they can block our army for a long time with the danger of the chasm, this fighter must not be missed, only seized!" ”

After that, Li You did not delay any longer, and immediately ordered: "Shi Xi, Guan Kong, you immediately lead an army of 6,000 to attack, serve as the vanguard of our army, and attack the thief army on the west bank of the chasm that is moving to the camp, and be sure to seize the bridge and open the road for our army to advance westward." Wu Qingxiang, Luo Fen, the two of you led an army of 8,000 to stay in the camp, ready to pull out the camp and get up at any time, and follow the main force of our army to pursue the thief army. The rest of the generals will lead the main force of the Chinese army with me, and serve as backup for the two generals Shi Xi and Guan Kong! ”