Without God's perspective, I don't know if I can smoothly lead the disaster to Qidi, but while deliberately sending envoys to contact Tian Shi and Tian Rong, the Han army still began comprehensive combat preparations under Xiang Kang's orders. The reason is also very simple, if the disaster to the east can not be successful, the Han army will definitely have to be forced to meet Xiang Yu's strong retaliation, if the disaster water to the east is successful, the Han army must have troops to attack the surrounding princes, besiege Wei to save Zhao for Tian City and Tian Rong to share the pressure, lest they fall into a premature defeat, and the Han army will fall into a dilemma of complete isolation and helplessness.

During this period, in order to seize the opportunity as much as possible, Xiang Kang took precautions and calculated in advance that if the Han army took the initiative to launch an attack, which unlucky person should be chosen? And how to surprise as much as possible and give this unlucky guy a big surprise?

The persimmon picked up the soft pinch, of course, Xiang Kang first set his eyes on Sima Xin, who was weak and still had a firm foothold in Taiyuan, but after careful calculation, Xiang Kang found that if he attacked Sima Xin first, he would not be able to pose a threat to his overlord cousin, and it would not have the effect of forcing him to fight on two fronts to encircle Wei and save Zhao. The reason is that Sima Xin is far away from Chudi, and has a close relationship with Zhang Han and Dong Peng, the Han army will attack Sima Xin first, Xiang Yu will definitely give priority to mobilizing Zhang Han and Dong Peng's soldiers and horses to rescue Sima Xin, and will not slow down the attack on the ground for Sima Xin.

Zhao Guo, who was greatly injured, was as easy to bully as Sima Xin, but the Shangdang County of Zhao State, which bordered the Han army, was relatively far away from Julu, and a strong attack on Shangdang could not pose a fatal threat to Zhao State, Zhao Guoda could exchange space for time, patiently waiting for Xiang Yu to calm down Qidi and then go all out to recover Shangdang, and Xiang Yu would not be so confused that he would give up the opportunity to calm down Qidi with all his might for an inconsequential Shangdang County.

In addition, the Han army bullied Zhao Guo and indeed some divisions were unknown, before Xiang Kang deliberately sat back and watched the Guanzhong Three Kings Coalition Army seize Zhao State's Taiyuan, Yanmen and Daijun and other places, and the loss was the first, which had already made Zhao Guo gnashed his teeth and hate, which would be the first to send troops to bully Zhao State, not only morally unjustifiable, but also definitely attract desperate resistance from Zhao State, so Zhao State can only be excluded.

Liu Laosan and Yingbu on the southern front are not ideal choices, Liu Laosan is cunning and difficult, Yingbu is brave and good at fighting, it is quite difficult to send troops to attack them, and the road is narrow and long, and the grain and grass transportation is very difficult, once Liu Laosan and Yingbu take the opportunity to drag the Han army into a war of attrition, the Han army will not only not be able to receive the effect of encircling Wei and saving Zhao, but also may fall into the mud and fall into strategic passivity.

After the princes of the north and south were excluded by Xiang Kang, the innocent king of Henan, Sima Wei, naturally appeared in Xiang Kang's sight, and after careful analysis, Xiang Kang also found that if he took the initiative to send troops to the east, the most important thing to bully must be Sima Wei.

The first reason is that Sima Wei was sandwiched between the Han army and the Chu army, and he was Xiang Yu's hardcore younger brother, which hurt Sima Wei, and the Chu army was most likely to send troops to rescue. The second is that Sima Wei was originally a Zhao general, and he had no foundation in Hanoi and Sanchuan and other places, and there was no foundation for the people's hearts, and Zhao Guo hated Sima Wei deeply, not only could he send troops to rescue Sima Wei, but maybe he might stab Sima Wei in the back. The third is that the Aocang controlled by Sima Wei is very important, if the Han army can take Aocang before the Chu army returns to the rescue, then the situation in the Central Plains battlefield will be extremely beneficial to the Han army.

In addition, there is a very important point, Sima Wei and Xianyang are the closest, the road traffic is very convenient, Xiang Kang can personally lead the army to the east, not only to boost the morale of the army, but also to adapt to the situation in front, with his own good hands to steal chickens and dogs to clean up Sima Wei.

Of course, Sima Wei is not such a bully prince, first of all, among the surrounding princes of the Han army, Sima Wei is the strongest, and Xiang Kang and the Han army are not saying that they can clean him up. The second is that the Han army and Sima Wei share the danger of Cuihan, the Han army marched into Sanchuan, must first take Shaanxian, Mianchi and Xin'an three cities to break through the Cuihan Road, and then form a fatal threat to Sima Wei, if Sima Wei is prepared in advance, with heavy troops to defend these three cities, the Han army will lose the opportunity, and may be dragged into a war of attrition by Sima Wei.

At this point, Xiang Kang also took the time to discuss with Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others the possibility of quickly breaking through the Cuihan Road, and as a result, Chen Ping and Zhang Liang said to Xiang Kang after careful discussion: "King, if we want to quickly break through the Cuihan Road, the best way should be to fly with both wings, feint to attack Hanoi, and actually attack Sanchuan, first use a feint to divert the tiger from the mountain, lure Sima Wei to increase troops in Hanoi, and even lure Sima Wei to personally lead the army north to reinforce Hanoi, and at the same time quickly send troops to Guguan with elite soldiers. Then we can hope to break through the Kuohan Road with the least hope and the shortest time. ”

Xiang Kang nodded slowly, and all kinds of bad water kept pouring into his mind, and Zhang Liang said: "King Han, in this matter, the foreign minister thinks that you should ask General Zhou's opinion, first, he is currently in Hedong and is more familiar with the situation in Hedong than us, and second, General Zhou is better at tactics than us, and maybe there is a better way to achieve the effect of feint Hanoi to divert the tiger from the mountain." ”

As soon as Xiang Kang heard that he was in the middle of his heart, he immediately wrote a letter to Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han army in Hedong, telling Uncle Zhou his plan and seeking Uncle Zhou's opinions on this matter.

Hedong is not very far from Xianyang, and there is a gallop road to pass, only a few days have passed, Xiang Kang's envoy brought Uncle Zhou's reply back to Xianyang, Xiang Kang opened it and took a closer look, and quickly smiled, and praised: "It is worthy of General Zhou, when it comes to the use of tactics, we are really not his opponents." ”

"What good idea did General Zhou give to the king?" Chen Ping asked curiously.

"Uncle Zhou suggested that we plan to cover up the movement of our army by concealing the sky and crossing the sea, and by the way, arrange the illusion that we are preparing to send troops to Hanoi, so that we can more effectively divert the tiger from the mountain when we suddenly move."

Xiang Kang first replied briefly, and then carefully introduced: "Uncle Zhou proposed, we can use the pretense of attacking Taiyuan or Shangdang as an excuse to cover up the movement of the army, so that Sima Wei will take our transfer of troops to the east lightly, and after the army is deployed in place, he will be responsible for taking Yiguan, and march into Pingyin to pretend to cut off the connection between Sima Wei and Hanoi, and lure Sima Wei to send heavy troops to rescue Hanoi, and at the same time, if we suddenly send troops to Guguan, there is hope that we can quickly break through the Kunhan Road and threaten Luoyang City." ”

"There's another benefit to that." Xiang Kang added: "If it doesn't work out of transferring the tiger from the mountain, Uncle Zhou will really take Pingyindu, and then turn Sima Wei's hinterland in Hanoi upside down, so that Sima Wei can't care about each other, and is forced to ask my brother for help." ”

"Clever plan." Zhang Liang praised: "The close relationship between Sima Xin and the King of Western Chu is not under Sima Wei, it is natural for us to make a move against him, and Sima Wei will not be easily suspicious." The same is true of the state of Zhao, who took the initiative to tear up our covenant, and we marched to seize the Shangdang County of the state of Zhao, which can also confuse Sima Wei's judgment. ”

"It's better to use the excuse of joining the army to join the party." Chen Ping proposed: "Sima Xin, Zhang Han and Dong Fei are in the same breath, we arrange a false army to enter Taiyuan, if Zhang Han and Dong Fei believe it, maybe they will take corresponding actions, and invisibly put pressure on our flanks." Zhao Guo does not have such hidden dangers, Sima Wei is a traitor general of Zhao State, seeing that we are enemies of Zhao State, he will only be secretly happy in his heart, and it is not easy to be suspicious. ”

Xiang Kang nodded, and immediately agreed to the tactical deception plan of feints to attack the party, and then looked at the letter and said: "But there are troubles, Uncle Zhou also reminded us to pay attention to Sima Wei's Situ Guangwujun Li Zuoche, saying that this Guangwujun has outstanding tactical vision, and is the only person under Sima Wei's command who is likely to see through our tactical plan. ”

"Your Majesty is also trying to remind the king." Chen Ping hurriedly said: "The intelligence collected by His Majesty shows that this Guangwu Jun Li Zuoche is indeed extraordinary, at the beginning of the Central Plains battlefield, it was he who designed to help the King of Western Chu force Zhang Han to surrender, and later the Zhao army entered Hangu Pass, and it was also he who proposed that Chen Yu divide his troops to Hedong and attack Puban and Xiayang, almost causing us big trouble. With his talent, it is indeed possible for us to be seen through by him when we hide from the sky and cross the sea and divert the tiger from the mountain. ”

Although the history is sparse, and he doesn't even know what Li Zuoche has done in history, but even Chen Ping and Uncle Zhou are very wary of him, of course Xiang Kang doesn't dare to take Li Zuoche, who has never met before, and immediately frowned and said, "Then what should I do?" What is the relationship between this Li Zuoche and Sima Wei? Is there a chance to drive a wedge between them and make Sima Wei not listen to his bad ideas? ”

"I'm afraid it's hard to work in a discordant plan." Chen Ping said: "First, time is in a hurry, and it is likely to be too late to start a discord now, and second, Li Zuoche has a very good reputation, and he is the grandson of Li Mu, a famous general of Zhao State, Sima Wei respects him very much, and it is difficult for us to sow discord between them." ”

After vetoing Xiang Kang's best discord plan, Chen Ping thought about it for a while, and quickly said: "But we are not completely impossible, although Sima Wei respects Li Zuoche, he may not be completely obedient to Li Zuoche's words, as long as we do enough to hide the knife in our laughter, so that Sima Wei will completely take us lightly, we may not listen to Li Zuoche's advice and make arrangements that are unfavorable to us in advance." ”

"Then how do we hide a knife in our laughter?" Xiang Kang hurriedly asked.

"Your Majesty's meticulous work has found accurate information." Chen Ping replied: "Sima Wei was born in a poor family, his father had passed away before he was born, and he was raised by his mother begging for food, and he was very filial to his mother when he grew up. In this case, in the name of respecting our elders, we might as well send an envoy with a heavy gift to Sima Wei's mother, indirectly pleasing him, and taking the opportunity to tell him that we are going to join the army and join the party, and ask him to maintain restraint and neutrality. ”

"That's it." Xiang Kang made up his mind without thinking about it, and said: "Even if we don't direct my brother's anger to Qidi, and we don't have the opportunity to take the initiative to send troops outside the border, it doesn't matter, an old man's hard-working son raised is also worthy of our respect, even if we help Sima Wei fulfill his filial piety as juniors." ”

Chen Ping and Zhang Liang hurriedly agreed, and then quietly slandered together in their hearts: "Don't say that you seem to be really a filial son, if you are really filial, why don't you be filial to your Uncle Ji and Master Xiang?" ”

After the slander was finished, Chen Ping, who was good at taking advantage of the enemy's traitorous ministers, thought about it for a while, and then proposed: "King, for the sake of prudence, simply let our envoy send a generous gift to Sima Wei's henchman Cheng Lian by the way, and ask him to help persuade Sima Wei to be neutral. ”

"Okay, by the way." Xiang Kang still agreed, and muttered in his heart: "Anyway, sooner or later, I will enter Luoyang, no matter how many rare treasures I send out, I can get them back in the future, and it doesn't matter if I temporarily lend it to Sima Wei's people to appreciate it for a few days." ”

Xiang Kang sent the envoy this time and finally did not have to take any risk of killing the head, after the Han army envoy went east to Luoyang, he just presented Sima Wei with a generous gift to his mother, Sima Wei, who was filial to his mother, was really happy, not only thanked Xiang Kang again and again, but also personally set up a banquet to thank the Han army envoy, and the Han army envoy also presented Xiang Kang's letter to Sima Xin, under the pretext that Zhao State tore up the alliance, while claiming that the Han army was ready to send troops to the party to retaliate against Zhao State, while asking Sima Wei to remain neutral, Do not interfere in the war between the Han army and the Zhao state.

This time it was expected by Chen Ping, I heard that Xiang Kang was preparing to send troops to retaliate against Zhao State, Sima Wei, who had completely turned his face with Zhao State since the day he became king, was really even more happy, not only immediately expressed his stance of strict neutrality, but also took the initiative to say that he would strictly restrain the border army and not allow friction and conflict with the Han army, the Han army envoy was busy thanking Sima Wei again and again, and left with Sima Wei's reply and a happy farewell gift, and before leaving, he gave another generous gift to Sima Wei's servant Cheng Lian, and asked Cheng Lian to promise to try his best to persuade Sima Wei to strictly maintain neutrality.

It was only after the Han army envoy left Luoyang that Li Zuoche, who was scrunched by the Han army, issued a warning to Sima Wei and said: "King, Xiang Kang's little erector has nothing to do, and he is either a traitor or a thief, we had better be careful, don't fall for Xiang Kang's plan to hide a knife in his smile." ”

"Is Guangwujun too much hearted?" Sima Xin said with a smile: "Xiang Kang sent someone to give gifts to the queen mother, the purpose is very clear, one is to respect the queen mother and raise the king with hard work, and the other is to ask us to remain neutral in the war of the party, this is the smile of that man's hidden knife?" ”

Li Zuoche sneered, but said in his heart: "Because Zhao Guo tore up the alliance and sent troops to retaliate?" If Xiang Kang Xiaozhuzi is such a calm person, then he is too simple, making an excuse to mobilize the army to move eastward, Xiang Kang Xiaozhuzi should not want to hide from the sky and cross the sea, and suddenly attack us, right? ”

On the other side, after confirming Sima Wei's reply that he had promised neutrality, Xiang Kang and Chen Ping carefully estimated the time, and when they were about to receive the report on Xiang Yu's movements, they arranged for Zhu Jishi and Long He to lead more than 30,000 elite troops to march eastward along the Chidao, pretending to prepare to increase troops in Hedong to launch the Shangdang Campaign, and justifiably mobilize the army to move eastward. At the same time, he secretly prepared for the dispatch of the rear army, and when it was confirmed that Xiang Yu had sent troops, he would immediately send troops to attack Kui Handao.

In addition, Xiang Kang also agreed to Uncle Zhou's request to send someone on his own initiative, and agreed that after receiving the news that Xiang Yu had sent troops to Qidi, Uncle Zhou would immediately send troops to Hanoi without asking for instructions, blitzkrieg to lure Sima Wei to increase his troops in Hanoi, and deliberately prepared to give Sima Wei a big surprise.

Sima Wei actually still has a chance, because of the problem of distance and transportation, Sima Wei of course received the news that Xiang Yu sent troops to Qi a few days earlier than Xiang Kang, but when he learned of this situation, Li Zuoche immediately understood that the situation was not good, and immediately advised Sima Wei: "King, the king of Western Chu has postponed the western expedition to send troops to Qidi, after Xiang Kang heard the news, he will inevitably have the idea of besieging Wei to save Zhao to share the pressure for Tian Rong in Tian City, and it is very likely that he will choose to send troops to Sanchuan to force us to ask the king of Chu for help, for the sake of prudence, It is better for us to immediately increase our troops in Shaanxian, Mianchi, Xin'an and other places, and send reinforcements to Yiguan, so as to prevent any eventuality. ”

The rare treasures that Xiang Kang temporarily lent out also played a role at this moment, and before Sima Wei could consider Li Zuoche's decision, his servant Cheng Lian had already jumped out and objected: "King, you must not do this, we have promised the King of Han to remain neutral, and the King of Han has also been sending troops to prepare to enter the party, and now we have suddenly increased our troops on the border, and when the King of Han hears the news, there will definitely be a misunderstanding, which will affect the current friendly situation between us and the King of Han." ”

Just after a little calculation, Sima Wei nodded his head, thinking that he could not take the initiative to stimulate Xiang Kang at the moment, which would affect his major affairs of cleaning up potential enemies with the help of the Han army, and immediately rejected Li Zuoche's proposal, Li Zuoche's persuasion was useless, and he had no choice but to shut up.

The matter was not over, after persuading Sima Wei to dispel the proposal to increase troops on the border, Cheng Lian was still whimsical, and even proposed to Sima Wei with Li Zuoche on his back: "King, the king of Western Chu sent troops to the land, and there is no spare strength to march west for the time being, and the king of Han will inevitably be more assured to march to attack Shangdang after hearing the news." In this case, why don't we simply send a secret envoy to the west, take the initiative to tell the king of Han the news, so that he can rest assured that he can immediately enter the army and join the party, let us sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and take the opportunity to reap the benefits? ”

As soon as Sima Wei heard the applause, he immediately acted according to the plan, and really sent a secret envoy to ride a fast horse to the west, and sent the good news of Xiang Yu's troops to Hangu Pass as soon as possible, and took the initiative to leak it to the Han army.

After receiving the news provided by Sima Wei, the Hangu guard of the Han army sent someone to report to Xiang Kang, and in accordance with Xiang Kang's prior request, he sent someone to inform Uncle Zhou of the news as soon as possible. Uncle Zhou, the general of the Han army, didn't even blink an eyelid when he heard the news, and immediately personally led 10,000 elite soldiers to the west, and went straight to the Yiguan controlled by the Henan army to kill him. Then, after the Han army crossed Zhongtiao Mountain, crossed the Yuanqu Pavilion and set foot in Hanoi County, the unprepared Henan army Yiguan guards reacted, and while hurriedly preparing to guard the pass, they hurriedly sent people to Sima Wei to report to him.

Xiang Kang is also as decisive as Uncle Zhou, when the news of Xiang Yu's troops was sent to Xianyang, it was already late at night, and Xiang Kang, who had finished his fitness exercise with his concubine Bo, had just fallen asleep, but after hearing Xu Ji's loud report outside the door, Xiang Kang immediately jumped up with his bare butt and shouted: "Ring the bell and summon hundreds of officials to enter the court overnight!" Give the army an order, be sure to prepare for departure tonight, and send troops outside the border early tomorrow morning! ”