Xiang Kang's use of troops is as cautious as ever, although there is no decent Qin army team found in the east of Zhangxian County, and at the same time, Liu Laosan, who has just started his army, also dares to besiege the county seat in the south of Xue County, which also clearly proves that the main force of the Qin soldiers in Xue County is definitely not on the southern front, and it is the opportunity for the young marshal army to enter the land of Qilu, but for the safety of the rear hinterland, Xiang Kang still resolutely decided to turn around and go south to attack Fuyang and Pengcheng in the northeast of Surabaya County, consolidate his flanks, and let the rear of the subordinate minister, Xiapi and Xuan Xuan completely worry about it. He also waited for the opportunity to annihilate the remnants of the Qin army's Surabaya county soldiers, and laid the foundation for the next step of annexing the entire Surabaya county.

After finalizing this resolution, Xiang Kang made a series of military personnel adjustments to the northern part of the East China Sea, appointing Sun Gong, the former prime minister who had proved his loyalty through practical actions, to act as the acting Donghai County Cheng and preside over the civil affairs and financial work in the northern part of the East China Sea. The commander-in-chief of the army in the northern part of the East China Sea was handed over by Xiang Kang to Xiang Sui, the unfilial son of Xiang Bo, who was attacking Qu County, not only to reward Xiang Sui for helping him contradict Xiang Bo several times before, but also to gag Xiang Bo's mouth - I am not good to you, but I am so interesting to your own son, what do you want?

Two days later, the temperature in the Huaibei area dropped sharply again, the cold wind was like a knife, and the face was painful, and the main force of the young marshal army, which had broken through 9,000 people, was not afraid of the severe cold, and still went south according to the original plan, first went to Lanling to replenish a certain amount of grain and grass and military supplies, and then continued to go south along the county-level road, preparing to take the small city of Fuyang that held Qin Chi Road first, and then enter Pengcheng west along Qin Chi Road, and seize this big city with the largest money and grain population in Surabaya County.

According to the usual practice, while the army was still marching, Xiang Kang sent an envoy to Fuyang to try to surrender, but the Fuyang County Commander categorically rejected Xiang Kang's kind offer to surrender, not only actively asked for help from the rear, but also openly shouted the arrogant slogan that the city is in the people and the city is dead. Xiang Kang was not in a hurry after receiving the reply, calmly marched to the foot of Fuyang City, and then quickly built a batch of siege weapons for the defense of Fuyang City, and filled a few sections of the moat with earth, stone and sand bags, and the main force of the young marshal's army immediately launched a siege battle.

I have to admit that the resistance of the Fu Yang defenders is indeed quite tenacious, and the two ant attacks launched by the young marshal's army have been bravely repelled by the Fu Yang defenders by virtue of their condescending advantage. However, it is a pity that the huge gap in strength is destined to the performance of the Fuyang defenders will only be short-lived, with the full force of the third siege of the young marshal army, the defenders of Fuyang with less than a thousand people gradually can't parry, the people who were forced to go to the city to participate in the battle by the officials continue to flee, and the inexperienced main force of the county soldiers is also flustered, retreating in the face of the fierce offensive of the young marshal army, no matter how the officials in the city urge and force, there is no way to launch any decent counterattack offensive, expelling the young marshal soldiers who have already landed in the city to go down to the city.

In the end, the young marshal army Zhu Jishi who had not had much opportunity to perform before established the first merit, under the personal leadership of Zhu Jishi, who took the lead, became the first young marshal army to rush to the head of Fuyang City, the weak Fuyang County soldiers collapsed, and the young marshal's ramming car also took the opportunity to crash into the gate of Fuyang City, and slaughtered into the city, Qin soldiers and soldiers knelt down and surrendered, and the Fuyang County Order, who had threatened to live and die with Fu Yangcheng, was also captured alive by the young marshal soldiers and tied to Xiang Kang in front of the prisoner.

"Let go of me! Let go of this official! The official himself will go! You thieves, what are you angry about? As soon as our Zhao Junzun's army arrives, we will kill you cleanly, and no one will be left! Ouch! Dog thief! Soldiers can be killed, but they can't be humiliated, and if there is a kind of killing, the official is waiting for you to be a companion on the Huangquan Road! You wait, our Zhao Junzun's reinforcements will arrive soon! It's coming soon! ”

What is quite interesting is that after being escorted in front of Xiang Kang, even after being beaten and beaten by the young marshal's soldiers and soldiers, the Fuyang County Commander, who resolutely refused to surrender, was still stubborn, and kept saying that the reinforcements of Zhao Zhuang, the defender of Surabaya County, would arrive soon, Xiang Kang was puzzled and couldn't help asking: "Where are your reinforcements?" The scouts sent to Pengcheng by this young marshal have not seen half of your reinforcements as of the day before yesterday? ”

"You have to take care of it! Dog thief! Fu Yang County continued to scold, but he still couldn't help but say: "Don't take this set of deceitful officials!" Zhao Junzun personally told the official below, saying that his reinforcements would rush to Fuyang within the next day or two to kill you thieves cleanly. ”

Xiang Kang suddenly realized, and sneered: "Old horseman, Zhao Zhuang is playing tricks on you, he was defeated by Ben Shuai in Fuli, and the main force has long been lost, even if some rabble is reconvened during this time, it must be prioritized to defend Pengcheng and Xiangxian, which are important places in Surabaya, how can you waste troops for your innocuous small city of Fuyang?" He told you that there were reinforcements, but he was just lying to you to defend the city and give him time to survive, and he didn't even understand such a simple truth, and you still lived in vain to be in your forties! ”

"You talk nonsense! Zhao Junzun, he is the county leader of our Surabaya County, how can he lie to me? Fu Yang County shouted hoarsely, almost desperately: "The official document given to me by Zhao Junzun is in my county temple, how can he lie to me?" He won't lie to me! No! ”

Unwilling to waste saliva with this paranoid and almost naïve Fuyang County Order, Xiang Kang decisively ordered him to be beheaded on the spot, and ordered people to go into the city to find the official document that Zhao Zhuang used to deceive him, and arranged for the envoy to carry the head of the Fuyang County Order and Zhao Zhuang's official document to go south first, and rush to the county order handed over there by Pengcheng, so as to warn him. Zhou Zeng next to him laughed when he saw Xiang Kang's arrangement, and applauded: "Young Marshal Miaoce, the Pengcheng County Commander will definitely know what kind of character Zhao Zhuang is when he sees this document and this head." When our army comes to the city, it will definitely be much easier to recruit Pengcheng. ”

"You can't be careless." Xiang Kang said very cautiously: "Pengcheng is the first place of money and grain in Surabaya County, rich and prosperous, and it is still above the East China Sea, Zhao Zhuang's puppet can choose to give up Fu Yang, but he will definitely not give up Pengcheng easily, we will go south to Pengcheng next, I am afraid that there is still a big battle to fight." ”

When Zhou Zeng hurriedly nodded yes, the soldiers outside the banner suddenly came to report, saying that Xiang Sui had sent a messenger, and there were 100,000 urgent military situations that needed to be reported in person. However, when Xiang Sui's envoy came to Xiang Kang's face, there was no joy on his face, on the contrary, he knelt on the ground as soon as they met, and said in a somewhat nervous tone: "Young marshal, the villain is here to ask for the guilt of Xiang Duwei." ”

"What? Siege disadvantage? ”

Xiang Kang guessed the result, and Xiang Sui's envoy really paused and said: "Hui Yu young marshal, it is indeed a very bad fight, the violent Qin army in Qu County refused to fight, and desperately defended the city, Xiang Duwei He supervised the troops to attack the city several times, but failed to take Qu County, on the contrary, there were many casualties. In addition, we don't have much food and grass. ”

Xiang Kang didn't speak, but just took the urgent report of the military situation brought by Xiang Sui's envoy and opened it to watch, and saw that the situation reported by Xiang Sui was similar to that introduced by the envoy, all of which said that after the young marshal's army advanced westward to Qu County, the Qin army in Qu County refused to surrender or fight, forcing Xiang Sui to launch a frontal attack, but because the city of Qu County was strong, the defenders were tenacious, and the young marshal's army was only more than 2,000 people, and the strength was not too much advantage, and three large-scale sieges were launched in 13 days, all of which were killed and retreated by the Qin army, and more than 400 soldiers were killed and wounded. What's worse is that there is not much food and grass for the army, so Xiang Sui has no choice but to send someone back to report the situation to Xiang Kang and ask Xiang Kang to make a decision.

In addition, Xiang Sui, who has always respected Xiang Kang, also took the initiative to ask for guilt, blaming himself for his ineffective command of the army, lack of skills in attacking the city, and unable to even take a small county town, so he took the initiative to ask Xiang Kang to be punished.

Let's not say that Xiang Sui is not very wrong, just because he would rather offend Uncle Xiang than support his decision, Xiang Kang is of course reluctant to condemn Xiang Sui. Moreover, Xiang Kang also knew very well that the main force of Xiang Sui's descendants and Gongsun Qing's main force were defeated in the Battle of Yishui, and many recruits in the army lacked combat effectiveness, so it was natural that they could not defeat a fortified city, which was completely understandable, and their performance was better than Xiang Bo's other son, Xiang You, at least they were not attacked by the enemy to break through the camp of the young marshal's army.

It is precisely because of these objective factors that after reading Xiang Sui's military intelligence report, Xiang Kang not only did not feel a little annoyed, but also asked Xiang Sui's envoy to get up with a pleasant face, and then said with a smile: "It's okay, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and it is not unusual to fight a tough battle, and it is not unusual to not be able to defeat a city." Go back and tell you Xiang Duwei, just say that since you can't fight, then don't fight, first go back to Tancheng to regroup, wait for the recovery of vitality, expand the army, and then go to the tyrannical Qin army in Qu County to take revenge. ”

Xiang Sui's envoy breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly thanked him, and Xiang Kang asked Zhou Zeng to write again, and immediately wrote a letter to Xiang Sui, ordering Xiang Sui to immediately withdraw the siege and retreat, and return to Tancheng to regroup. Then the messenger who handed the letter to Xiang Sui immediately sent it, and the messenger thanked him and said goodbye, hurriedly got on his horse and galloped back to Qu County, and presented Xiang Sui's letter order to Xiang Kang.

More than two days later, Xiang Sui's envoy successfully returned to the city of Qu County, and reported Xiang Kang's reply to Xiang Sui's face, and Xiang Sui, who was worried, was also pardoned, and immediately ordered the camp to retreat, and the young marshal soldiers whose morale had been frustrated were also overjoyed when they heard the news, and hurriedly loaded the military weapons and baggage and the little grain that had been left, and put away the military flag and camp tent, and happily prepared to return to Tancheng to rest. And the Qin army of Qu County saw the young marshal's army preparing to withdraw from a distance in the city, of course, it was also full of joy, knowing that the self-army had won the victory in the defense of Qu County.

There was an accident, when Xiang Sui was hurriedly packing his luggage and packages and military documents with his own soldiers, there was a sudden noise outside the tent, and at the same time, there were also personal soldiers entering the tent to report, saying that the soldiers recruited by the young marshal army in Qu County gathered in crowds, shouting against the retreat, and asked to meet with Xiang Sui. Xiang Sui was afraid of a mutiny, so he could only hurry up and let the army enter a state of alert, and at the same time lead his own soldiers out of the tent to understand the situation in front of the Chinese army camp where the recruits in Qu County gathered.

"Don't retreat! Can't retreat! ”

"Can't go! We are gone, what will happen to our parents, wives and children? ”

"Captain Xiang, you can't retreat! We really want to follow you to overthrow the tyrannical Qin and rejuvenate the Chu State! But if we left without defeating Qu County, we don't dare to rest assured! ”

"You can't retreat! Keep playing! Fight to the death with the tyrannical Qin army! ”

It was already very noisy, and when he saw Xiang Sui wearing armor coming out, the recruits in Qu County suddenly shouted even more, and insisted on opposing the withdrawal of the army. Xiang Sui shouted hard, and finally let them calm down for the time being, and then Xiang Sui, who had already roughly understood why these recruits were making trouble, said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, you want to fight to the death with the tyrannical Qin army, Captain Bendu understands, but there is no way, our food and grass are running out, and we must temporarily retreat and return to Tancheng to get food." But don't worry, we will be back soon, Captain Bendu promised you, it won't be long before I will personally bring you back, and together with you, I will fight again in Qu County and rescue your parents, wives and children! ”

"Captain Xiang, it's too late!" A big recruit from Qu County had the loudest voice and roared the loudest, almost roaring: "Captain Xiang, you don't know how vicious the tyrannical Qin officials in Qu County are, if we leave like this, we, the soldiers who go with you, our parents, wives and children will be all finished!" You can't retreat, you can only continue to fight! ”

"But there is no food and grass, what can I do?" Xiang Sui spread his hands helplessly and said, "If there is grain and grass, how can I choose to withdraw from the army?" Don't you see that we have killed and wounded so many soldiers these days, and I don't want to avenge them? ”

"Captain Xiang, there is grain and grass!" Another tall recruit from Qu County spoke in surprise, and he squeezed out the crowd and said loudly: "Captain Xiang, the grain and grass are in Qu County!" Previously, the Tyrannical Qin army forced the grain and grass of all the townships and pavilions in Qu County to be transferred into the city, and conquered Qu County, you can have as much grain and grass as you want! ”

"Then do you have a way to take down Qu County?" Xiang Sui asked with a wry smile.

"I have!" The tall Quxian recruit was shocked, and said, "I'm just afraid that Captain Xiang will not accept it!" ”

Xiang Sui glanced at the recruit in surprise, and saw that in addition to his tall stature, his expression was also very fierce, not like the kind of reckless man who only knew violence, and then Xiang Sui couldn't help but be a little interested, and asked, "Then what is your siege method?" I'll hear it, and if it works, I'll take it! ”

"It's very simple, a fire burned down the camp, and even our tents were burned!" The recruit shouted, "Then send out all your armies and attack the city with all your might!" If you don't take Qu County, you will never withdraw your troops! ”

"Hahahaha!"

Hearing this, of course the veterans of the young marshal army next to him laughed, Xiang Sui couldn't help laughing, but the recruit was extremely unconvinced, and said loudly: "What are you laughing at?" Am I not right? burned the camp tent, and if you can't beat Qu County again, everyone will have to suffer from the cold, who else dares not to work hard? Also, how could the tyrannical Qin army not be afraid when they saw us burning our camps and attacking the city, leaving no way to retreat? They're scared, won't our chance come?! ”

Xiang Sui was stunned, because Xiang Sui suddenly found that the suggestion of this Qu County recruit was indeed very feasible, burn the camp camp and attack the city with all his might, the young marshal soldiers had nowhere to stay, if they wanted not to be destroyed by the sea breeze and the cold wind, there was really only one option left to attack the city with all their might.

"Captain, this is an opportunity, you must seize it, otherwise it will be too late to regret it in the future!" The recruits from Naqu County pointed to the city of Qu County in the distance, and said loudly: "Captain, you see, the Tyrannical Qin army is already cheering for victory when they see us pulling out the camp, and we suddenly launch an attack at this time, which will definitely catch them off guard, and it will be difficult for them not to be demoralized." Taking advantage of such an opportunity to attack the city with all our might, how can we not be able to take the city of Quxian County?! ”

Xiang Sui looked up and down at the recruit in front of him in disbelief, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Returning to the Captain, my name is Zhong Liwu!" The recruit replied loudly, and said: "Captain, as soon as you arrived here, the villain came to join the army, became the commander of the recruits, and participated in three siege battles, but each time he pushed the crashing car to the city and hit the door, and never had the opportunity to fight the ants, so he failed to behead and make meritorious contributions." ”

"Then do you have the guts to join the death squad and take the death squad ants to attack the city?" Xiang Sui stared at Zhong Liwu and asked.

"What don't you dare? I've been longing to go up and fight the ants! Zhong Liwu replied loudly, his tone extremely firm.

After hesitating for a moment, Xiang Sui, who had a completely opposite temper to his father and brother, made up his mind and said loudly: "Okay, I'll promote you to a hundred generals now!" Let you choose a hundred people at random among the recruits in Qu County, serve as the siege vanguard, and go all out to attack the city of Qu County! ”

"The last general commands!"

Zhong Liwu happily hugged his fists and agreed, and the new recruit from Qu County, who was big and loud before, quit, and said loudly: "Captain Xiang, one death squad is not enough, another one should be formed, and the villain is willing to lead this death squad to attack the city!" If I can't take Qu County, I will never come back! ”

"What's your name?" Xiang Sui asked casually again.

"Dragon House!" The big recruit answered in no uncertain terms.

"Very good, from now on, you are also a hundred generals." Xiang Sui replied more cheerfully, and said: "Like Zhong Liwu and Zhong Baijiang, you also randomly select a hundred people among the recruits in Qu County, I will give you the best weapons, the best armor, and let you attack the city with a death squad!" ”

Longju cheered and agreed, and the recruits from Qu County, who had high morale, also cheered, and couldn't wait to run in front of Zhong Liwu and Longju to volunteer, and took the initiative to ask for the death squad they led. But before the matter was over, Zhong Liwu bowed his hand to Xiang Sui and said: "The last general is brave, I still want to ask you for one thing, give us two hundred wooden cards, let us write our names!" ”

"What for?" Xiang Sui asked suspiciously.

"If we can't come back from the siege, please be kind to the captain and give us a bowl of wine on our tablet!" Zhong Liwu replied loudly and said, "Let's go to Huangquan Road, and there is also a bowl of wine to drink!" ”

The recruits of Qu County cheered again, and asked Xiang Sui for permission to go, and even if Xiang Sui's military talent was mediocre, of course, he also understood how much this would do to boost the morale of the army, and immediately agreed, and also according to Zhong Liwu's suggestion on the spot, ordered the young marshal soldiers to stop cleaning up the camp, and launched the siege weapons left over from the siege a few days ago, and the whole army went out of the camp to prepare to set off, and launched an attack on the city of Qu County again.

In a short time, the army was ready, Xiang Sui first ordered the soldiers to set fire, set fire to the camp facilities and the camp tents used by the soldiers to rest, and destroyed the foothold by himself, and then led the army to stride forward and kill the city of Qu County again. The result was the same as Zhong Liwu expected, seeing that the young marshal army who was already preparing to retreat came to kill again, and also set himself on fire to the camp without leaving a station, the Qin army defenders in the city were really in an uproar, and they all understood that the attack of the young marshal army this time was definitely not trivial, and the morale of the army was immediately affected.

After the formation was opened, the young marshal's long shield and crossbow team stepped forward first, to set up temporary fortifications under the moat, during which Zhong Liwu and Longju, who had already pulled the soldiers of the same township to form a death squad, came to Xiang Sui again, and handed the wooden plaque with the names of two hundred death squad warriors to Xiang Sui, Xiang Sui was excited to see it, and personally left the table to greet him, and encouraged Zhong Liwu and Long Ju Zhuang Sheng, and promised that before the death squad set out, he would toast before the battle, so that every warrior of the Quxian death squad drank a bowl of hot wine before going on the road.

After thanking Xiang Sui for his encouragement with Zhong Liwu, Long Ju picked up one side from the wooden plaque pile again and said: "Du Wei, this is the name tag of the last general, if the last general can't come back, if it is convenient for you, please send someone to send my name tag to my home and let my family know my situation." ”

Xiang Sui immediately agreed, glanced at the name tag in Long Ju's hand again, and said in surprise: "It turns out that General Long, your name is written like this, I thought it was the residence where I lived." ”

"Ha, homophone, often misunderstood." Long laughed, and the name tag in his hand clearly said his real name, his name was ......