The day after the main force of the Han army arrived in the suburbs of Henan County, Xiang Kang, who was good at treacherous and deceitful through envoys, really sent a messenger to visit Sima Wei with a white flag in his hand, saying that there was a letter from Xiang Kang to be presented to Sima Wei in person.

However, Li Zuoche also wronged Xiang Kang a little, Xiang Kang did not send envoys every time he stole chickens and dogs, cheated and abducted, and occasionally made dignified negotiations, this time was the exception, the letter brought by the Han army envoy was actually just a very ordinary war letter, inviting Sima Wei to fight to the death in the northern suburbs of Henan County, and did not intend to play any shameless tricks. If you insist on saying that Xiang Kang has any intentions, it is just that Xiang Kang was famous for being afraid of battles before, and he wanted to use this to seduce Sima Wei to fight quickly.

It's a pity that Xiang Kang, who is rarely a righteous gentleman, has a hot face on his cold ass this time, keeping in mind Li Zuoche's advice, Sima Wei not only did not summon the Han army envoy, but also did not even accept Xiang Kang's letter of appointment, and directly drove the Han army envoy away, and also asked the soldiers to clearly tell the Han army envoy, saying that if Xiang Kang sent the envoy to the camp next time, the Henan army would not talk about morality and directly execute the Han army envoy on the spot.

After the envoy reported the situation to Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang immediately understood that something was wrong, and said: "It's troublesome, it seems that Sima Wei doesn't want to deal with us this time, and he can't negotiate and liaise with him, so many of our methods can't be used." ”

"Who called you notoriously shameless, and at least nine times out of ten times you sent envoys to cheat?"

Zhang Liang and Chen Ping slandered together, and then Zhang Liang said: "King Han, Sima Wei flatly refused to meet with our envoy while deep ditch and high fortress, it seems that he is determined to hold on to help, waiting for the coalition army of the King of Western Chu and other princes, our army is coming from afar, and it is difficult to transport grain and grass, if Sima Wei is dragged into the confrontation and consumption, and the delay will be long, the situation will inevitably be unfavorable." It is better to take advantage of Sima Wei's camp not long ago, the fortifications are not strong enough, and send troops to attack and take Sima Wei's camp as soon as possible. ”

Xiang Kang was silent for a moment, and then said: "It's not so easy, this morning, I have personally gone to the vicinity of the Henan army camp to take a closer look, the fortifications of the Henan thief army have been quite perfect, and we are not very sure of the frontal attack." ”

Zhang Liang is not good at tactics, so he did not insist on a frontal attack, but just reminded: "Then the foreign minister reminded the King of Han that if the King of Han must get in touch with Sima Wei, it is not impossible, our army captured a lot of prisoners of war of the Henan thief army during the Battle of Mianchi, including some officials of the Henan thief army who are more weighty, King Han, you might as well submit your letter to Sima Wei through them, so as to learn from it." ”

Xiang Kang's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "This is a good idea, otherwise, I heard that Sima Wei is also a rude man with a relatively quick temper, let's just use my old method when I was in Huaisi, and ask the captives of the Henan thief army to send him a set of women's clothes to provoke him to fight, what do you think?" ”

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I'm afraid it will be useless to do this, and it will also lose your dignity, Your Majesty."

Chen Ping hurriedly dissuaded: "Sima Weipifu refused to receive our envoy, nor did he refuse to accept our letter of war, this idea must have been given to him by Li Zuoche." Seeing that we sent prisoners of war to carry letters and women's clothes through the camp, Li Zuoche would definitely understand that this was our radical plan, and not only would he definitely persuade Sima Wei to calm down, but he would also probably persuade Sima Wei not to read the letters and gifts, and directly destroy the letters, so that we would work in vain, and let the people of the world laugh at the king for your unscrupulous means and the style of losing the king. ”

Thinking about his bad reputation, as well as the information related to Li Zuoche that he had collected before, Xiang Kang found that there was really such a possibility, and immediately dispelled this idea - he had already become the king of Han, and Xiang Kang also had to pay attention to his demeanor and bearing.

Fortunately, although Sima Wei's attitude of sticking to the reinforcement is resolute, but the Henan Army is not completely seamless in terms of deployment, after pondering for a long time on the map sand table that has been prepared before the expedition, Xiang Kang quickly discovered a small loophole in the Henan Army's defense, that is, Henan County, which is guarded by the main force of the Henan Army, is about thirty miles away from Luoyang City, the capital of the Henan Army, although this distance is not far, it is not very close, and it is not so easy to echo and rescue each other. The Han army still has a certain chance to break the Henan army, or create fighters to besiege the city and send reinforcements.

(Note: Henan County at the turn of the Qin and Han dynasties is now Luoyang, and Luoyang at that time was located at the intersection of Yishui and Luoshui, which is now the ancient city of Luoyang in the Han and Wei dynasties.) ）

After discovering this opportunity, Xiang Kang did not hesitate, and immediately called Wei Heng, the general of the Henan Army who was captured and surrendered, to understand the specific situation of the Luoyang defenders of the Henan Army in front of him, Wei Heng also made the traitor very resolute, and immediately answered truthfully, saying that there were about more than 10,000 defenders in Luoyang City, and the defender was Sima Wei's brother-in-law Zhang Xian.

Xiang Kang nodded thoughtfully, and suddenly asked, "There are several city gates in Luoyang, are there urn cities?" ”

"Back to the king, they all have it." Wei Heng's answer disappointed Xiang Kang, and said: "Luoyang was originally the capital of Zhou Tianzi, including the south gate facing Luoshui, and the four city gates had urn cities. For this matter, the king of Western Chu later executed all the violent Qin prisoners of war in Luoyang to avenge it. ”

Xiang Kang was completely out of options, and said secretly: "There is no way, such a strong city, and there is an urn city to protect the city gate, if the army is sent less, it will definitely not be able to take it, and if it is sent too much, it will definitely immediately arouse Sima Wei's vigilance, not more, when we are preparing to attack the city, as long as he finds an opportunity to send 10,000 troops back to reinforce Luoyang, I will send 30,000 or 40,000 troops to the past, and it is difficult to be sure that I can take Luoyang City." ”

Thinking about this, Xiang Kang's heart suddenly moved, and he hurriedly said in his heart: "Wait, if you have less faction, you won't be able to take it?" That is to say, if I only send 10,000 or 20,000 troops to bypass Henan County to fight Luoyang, whether it is Sima Wei's main force or the Luoyang defenders, they must understand that I am feintifying to attack Luoyang and trying to deceive Sima Wei's main force to divide the army, and I will not take my partial division too seriously. If I have done enough ...... on this, won't I be able to take the initiative on the battlefield? ”

Having come to this conclusion and quickly thinking about it, Xiang Kang immediately asked Wei Heng: "General Wei, just now you said that Sima Wei's brother-in-law Zhang Xian is cautious, how cautious is it?" ”

"I was very steady, and when I was marching and fighting, no matter how rainy or snowy it was, I insisted on personally leading the team to patrol the camp every night." Wei Heng immediately replied: "When I was in Hengshan County, there was a time when the Tyrannical Qin army deceived and lured the enemy and wanted to lead him into an ambush, but he only chased five or six miles, and just saw that the road ahead was narrow, so he immediately chose to retreat and not pursue, so that the ambush that the Tyrannical Qin army had worked so hard to arrange fell through. ”

"No wonder Sima Weipifu would hand over Luoyang to him to guard." Xiang Kang snorted and asked again: "How did the alliance of princes break through Luoyang City in the first place?" ”

"With orthodox siege tactics." Wei Heng continued to answer truthfully, and said: "First filled in the moat of the north gate and the west gate, prepared enough siege weapons, and then attacked the northwest gate at the same time, it took a lot of effort to take Luoyang City." ”

"Why did you just attack the northwest gate at the same time, and didn't attack the east gate?" Xiang Kang hurriedly asked.

"Because in the northwest corner of Luoyang City, there is a high ground called Lingtai, which can condescendingly overlook the situation of the whole city of Luoyang, and the north is a river to get water, which is suitable for garrisoning the army, and it is also very convenient to command the siege." Wei Heng replied: "At that time, in order to facilitate his command, the king of Western Chu arranged his main camp on the Lingtai, and by the way, he also commanded the attack on the northwest two gates of Luoyang at the same time. ”

Xiang Kang nodded slowly, pondered for a moment, and then made up his mind, and said secretly: "Just do it, it's a big deal to let the army waste some more time, it's better than passively attacking the main camp guarded by Sima Wei head-on." It's really not good, Lao Tzu still has the option of really attacking Luoyang! ”

After making up his mind, Xiang Kang immediately ordered: "Call Zhu Jishi, I have an order to explain." ”

In the end, after Xiang Kang carefully explained his tactics to Zhu Jishi, Chen Pingcai next to him cautiously reminded: "King Han, although this can get the effect of anti-guest, but it is a waste of time, we have to prevent Shenyang from sending troops from Yingchuan to the north to reinforce Sima Weipifu." ”

"Strategically, we can safely defy our opponents." Xiang Kang replied with a famous saying, and said with a sneer: "My brother gave three counties to Sima Wei in one go, and only gave Shen Yang a ruined Yingchuan County, Shen Yang definitely has a lot of fire in his stomach, he will not send troops to reinforce Sima Wei so easily, he will only hide by the side and watch the excitement, there is not enough benefit, and he will definitely not act easily." ”

…………

According to Xiang Kang's instructions, early the next morning, Zhu Jishi led 18,000 Han troops, including some newly organized troops, to the east, bypassing the strong camp of the main force of the Henan army, passing through the wilderness north of Henan City, and going straight to the direction of Luoyang, Sima Wei's lair. Then it was exactly the same as Xiang Kang expected, seeing that Xiang Kang only sent less than 20,000 troops east to Luoyang, Sima Wei really laughed and said: "Is Xiang Kang Xiao'er daydreaming, with more than 10,000 troops, and he also wants to take Luoyang, the capital of this king?" ”

"King, this is Xiang Kang'er's plan to lure the snake out of the hole." Li Zuoche really fell into Xiang Kang's calculations, and immediately said: "The purpose of his feint attack on Luoyang is just to lure our main force back to the division to rescue Luoyang and win a field opportunity for him. ”

"It doesn't take that much to do." Sima Wei replied confidently: "What kind of temper Zhang Xian is, this king knows better than anyone else, no matter what happens, he will never risk going to war, if the Han thief army wants to lure him out of the city, don't even think about it." ”

Although he was also very aware of the cautious character of Sima Wei's wife's brother Zhang Xian, Li Zuoche still didn't dare to be careless, and said: "King, it's best to tell General Zhang." Also, be sure to remind General Zhang Xian that Xiang Kang is also very good at using deception, please General Zhang must guard against this. ”

Sima Wei thought about it, so he still sent Kuai Ma Xijin to tell his wife and brother not to fall into the evil of the Han army, and at the same time went to Wen Yingchuan again, asking his former comrade-in-arms Shen Yang to send troops north to reinforce him as soon as possible - if Shen Yang can quickly go north from Yangcheng to reinforce Sima Wei's back, Sima Wei naturally does not have to worry about his rear.

It's a pity that there has been no reply from Shenyang's side, on the contrary, after the Han army Zhuji Shi's department arrived on the outskirts of Luoyang, they immediately set up a strong camp on the high ground of the key Lingtai outside the city, and at the same time divided their manpower to carry soil and stones to fill the moat of the north gate of Luoyang, and at the same time cut down timber, rushed to make various siege weapons, and put on a posture of preparing to storm Luoyang. In this regard, Sima Wei and Li Zuoche both scoffed at it, believing that the Han army's deviation was just a bluff, and they wanted to trick the army into returning to Luoyang to rescue Luoyang, exposing flaws for Xiang Kang's main force to exploit loopholes.

On the third night of the Han army's eastward march to Luoyang City, there was a Han army general who claimed to be unable to stand Zhu Jishi's bullying, and sent two newly recruited Henan Army prisoners of war to infiltrate Luoyang City, declaring that he was ready to abandon the darkness and surrender to the light, and respond to the Luoyang defenders' sneak attack on the Han army camp. admitted that they were greedy for the heavy reward promised by Zhu Jishi, and entered the city to trick Zhang Xian into risking out of the city to attack the Han army camp. And after Zhang Xian reported the news to Sima Wei, Sima Wei immediately sneered and said, "Xiang Kang Xiao'er, can you play some new tricks?" How many times have you used it to deceive you, and who will fall for your evil again? ”

At this point, Xiang Kang did not disappoint Sima Wei, with the slow passage of time, after five or six days, Sima Wei gradually found that the situation was wrong, how to look at how it looked like a feint attack of the Han army Zhu Jishi Division, relying on unremitting efforts, actually really filled in the moat outside the north gate of Luoyang, and successfully opened the way for the Han army soldiers to directly enter Luoyang City, at the same time, the scouts of the Henan Army also found that Zhu Jishi's Department also really created a large number of siege weapons, It is possible to really attack Luoyang City at any time!

"Could it be that the Han thief army really intends to attack Luoyang? If that's the case, if there's anything wrong with Zhang Xian, my situation will be very bad. ”

In the early morning of the seventh day, Xiang Kang actually sent the Han army general Long He to lead 16,000 troops to the west and rush to Luoyang to reinforce Zhu Jishi, who had been fully prepared to attack the city. At the same time, in order to prevent the Henan army from sending troops to intercept it, Xiang Kang also arranged for Ding Ji, a famous fierce general of the Han army, to lead an army out of the camp to cover the dragon and bypass the Henan army camp to march eastward.

Seeing the movement of the Han army on the high ground of the self-army camp, not to mention Sima Wei, even Li Zuoche was shocked, and said in his heart: "Could it be that Xiang Kang Xiao'er really plans to attack Luoyang?" If that's the case, we're passive. ”

"Your Majesty, we may have been tricked. Xiang Kang Xiao'er deliberately only sent a partial division with insufficient troops to the east, and deliberately sent people into the city to surrender fraudulently, all in order to cover his siege preparations, deceive us into taking the Luoyang battlefield lightly, and miss the opportunity to divide troops to return to Luoyang in advance, so that he can suddenly increase his troops on the Luoyang battlefield and really launch a strong attack on Luoyang, the capital of our country. ”

The former chief think tank of the Henan Army, Du Wanda, carefully analyzed, and Sima Wei's face gradually began to turn blue, and after a little calculation, he asked Li Zuoche: "Guangwujun, what do you think?" ”

Li Zuoche was silent for a moment, and then said calmly: "King, what Du Shaofu said is very true, this time we were indeed fooled, and we fell for Xiang Kang Xiaoer's anti-guest strategy, and now the battlefield initiative in Luoyang, Henan Province has been grasped by him." ”