The sky is gradually bright, the dawn shines on the land of Nanyang, along the road leading to Yangcheng in Ye County, the north gate of Nanyang, you can see the corpses of soldiers wearing military uniforms everywhere, horizontally and vertically, many corpses are still incomplete, dark red blood and dew are mixed together, slowly flowing, accumulating into small depressions in the low recesses, from time to time you can see the wild dogs holding human remains shuttling in the grass, hungry wolves rushing out of the dense forest, picking up a piece of human flesh and rushing back to the woods, the crows are cheering in the branches, hovering in the sky, rising and falling.

Xiang Kang was already accustomed to seeing such a scene, and Xiang Kang basically ignored it, and he didn't rush to ask the Han soldiers who were resting in the wilderness to clean up the battlefield, because Xiang Kang knew very well that the Han soldiers were too tired now.

In the course of one night, and in the case of a camp battle that had only been experienced on the first day, the soldiers of the Han army who hurriedly attacked pursued nearly sixty miles in one go, during which they also experienced a vicious battle with the rear team of the Nanyang Army who desperately intercepted them, and fought with the Nanyang Army many times on the way to pursue. forced the officers and men of the Han army to dispose of the bodies of the dead soldiers who accounted for the majority of the Nanyang soldiers as soon as possible.

When the hour was almost halfway through, the cavalry brigade of the Han army led the horse back in front of Xiang Kang, and the main general of the Han cavalry was covered with dust, blood and sweat marks, and also reported to Xiang Kangyu helplessly: "King Qiyu, his subordinates are incompetent, and they have been chasing and killing to the city of Yangcheng, but they have not been able to find the whereabouts of Liu Ji, the king of the Nanyang thief army, and Han Xin, the pseudo-general of the Nanyang thief army, does not know his whereabouts. ”

Xiang Kang smiled, his smile was even more helpless than that of the baby, and he smiled and said: "It's okay, it's normal, Liu Ji's puppet is famous for being good at escaping, the sky is dark and the battlefield is chaotic, it's normal that you can't find him." It doesn't matter, you can't kill him this time, and next time, he won't be able to run. And that Han Xin is the same, Skynet is magnificent, negligent but not leaky, and he won't be able to run away in the future. ”

After comforting Guan Ying and comforting himself, Xiang Kang casually asked about the current situation in Yangcheng, and Guan Ying replied: "Back to the king, when His Majesty led the army to pursue and kill Yangcheng, the Western Chu thief army had already fled to Yangcheng first, because the soldiers and horses were already very tired, and his subordinates did not dare to risk continuing to fight with them, but tried their best to eliminate the Nanyang thief army that could catch up, and quickly retreated. Fortunately, the Western Chu thief army should also be tired enough, so they did not take the initiative to send troops to fight with their subordinates. ”

"It's clever to count a few horses." Xiang Kang snorted coldly, and asked Guan Ying again, "What about the losses of our cavalry?" ”

"I haven't had time to count it carefully, but it's definitely over the 1,000 mark." Guan Ying obviously looked distressed when he replied to this, and hurriedly added: "But Your Majesty can guarantee that your subordinates' army killed at least six or seven thousand Nanyang thieves last night. ”

"Well done." Xiang Kang praised and said: "Coupled with the beheading and capture of our infantry, plus the separation and escape, even if Liu Ji's puppet is lucky enough to really escape to Yangcheng, it is impossible to regather the army that can pose a threat to us, and in this battle, we can basically achieve the goal of killing the main force of the Nanyang thief army." You take the cavalry to rest for a while, and then you withdraw first, and the king himself will lead the infantry brigade to your royal highness. ”

Guan Ying agreed, and then dragged his tired body back to the team to rest on the spot, and then after a while, the messenger sent by Long He also came to Xiang Kang, and reported to Xiang Kang that although Long He relied on the advantage of troops last night to annihilate most of the elite of the Nanyang Army led by Fan Xu, there were still more than 1,000 Nanyang soldiers who fled by night, and Liu Laosan's brother-in-law Fan Xu was also nowhere to be found, and was not captured by the Han soldiers.

In this regard, Xiang Kang himself did not think so, and he had already prepared in his heart, but Chen Ping, who came with the army next to him, was quite surprised, and said suspiciously: "Liu Jipifu and his subordinates, how can one run better than the other?" Liu Ji and Han Xin ran away, and Zhou Bo, who was playing against General Zhu Jishi, also ran away, why did even Fan Xu, who was at the back, run away? These puppets in Pei County are all loaches? ”

"In history, you and Zhang Liang are no better than there, and they are also oiled loaches." Xiang Kang muttered in his heart, and said with a smile: "It's not strange, they all crawled out of the pile of dead people, and they wouldn't have survived today without the ability to escape." Last night, our main brigade was able to behead Zhou Ke, the general of the Nanyang Thief Army, directly on the battlefield, and this king can be regarded as satisfied. ”

"Your Majesty, it's best to ignore the threat of these puppeteers." Lou Jing, another strategist who came with the army, carefully reminded: "Fan Xu, Zhou Bo and Han Xin, these thief generals, are either brave or wise and brave, and they are loyal to Liu Ji, the thief king of Nanyang, after they return to Liu Ji's side, as long as they give them a little time and opportunity, I am afraid that they will soon help Liu Ji form a threat to us." ”

Of course, Xiang Kang understands this truth better than anyone else, but there is no way, Liu Laosan and his Peixian friends can run one by one, Xiang Kang can't catch up with them and can't find them, what can he do with them? So Xiang Kang could only nod, and then asked casually: "Chen Ping, Lou Jing, in your opinion, if Liu Ji's puppet really escaped to Yangcheng, and took advantage of the opportunity that we didn't have time to go south to attack Yangcheng, and somewhat collected some remnants of the defeated army, what would he do next?" ”

After a little calculation in his position, Lou Jing, who has unique insights into strategy and tactics, quickly replied: "Returning to the king, in the opinion of his subordinates, Liu Jipifu should have two choices next, one is to resolutely retreat to Wancheng, use the strong city defense of Wancheng to compete with us for a long time, and wait for the main force of the Western Chu thief army led by the king of Western Chu to rescue." The second is to leave an army to defend Wancheng, and lead an army to retreat to Dengxian (now Xiangfan City), not only to use the city defense of Wancheng to gain time, but also to prepare to cross the Han River south at any time. ”

"Then, Liu Jipifu can act on the opportunity and adapt to the situation." Lou Jing continued: "If it is proved through actual combat that the strong city defense of Wancheng can withstand our new trebuchet, and there is hope of holding it for a long time, Liu Jipifu can wait patiently for the reinforcements of the King of Western Chu in Deng County. If Wancheng is also quickly breached by us, Liu Jipifu will definitely immediately withdraw to Nanjun, taking advantage of the natural danger of Hanshui and the long road to delay time, waiting for the rescue reinforcements of the king of Western Chu. ”

Xiang Kang deduced in his heart, and found that Liu Laosan was indeed left with only these two more secure choices when the main force was hit hard, so he nodded, and said: "Liu Jipifu himself fled directly to Deng County or Nanjun, although it is very beneficial for us to take Wancheng and the entire territory of Nanyang, but I hope he had better not do it, my brother's main force of the Western Chu Army is indeed a threat behind us, if our southern expedition is delayed for a long time, it is easy to cause extraneous branches, only in Wancheng to kill our remnants of the enemy on the southern front, a quick victory." , which is in our best interest. ”

"I'm afraid that Liu Jipifu will also come to this conclusion." Chen Ping said beside him: "Especially when we go south to Wancheng, we must take Yexian and Yangcheng, the siege will definitely expose the destructive power of our trebuchets on the city wall, as long as Liu Jipifu knows the situation through careful work, I am afraid that he will be even more determined to flee directly to Nanjun." ”

Xiang Kang pondered and didn't speak, but Lou Jing suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly said: "King, why did we forget to consider the existence of several departments of the Western Chu Thief Army?" If that puppet is used, maybe it can help us a lot? ”

"That's right, why are we so confused that we forgot to think about how many horsemen we can use?" Chen Ping also woke up, and hurriedly said: "The king, you made a promise yesterday, promising that as long as a few horsemen led the troops first, we would never send troops to hunt him down, and he did so, and you also fulfilled your promise, the king." With this tacit understanding, as long as we think of some more ways, maybe we can hope to kill Liu Ji directly with the help of Liji. ”

"How?" Xiang Kang asked quietly.

"Tempting to take advantage." Chen Ping said gloomily: "Li Jipifu is not very important under the account of the king of Xichu, and now the Nanyang thief army is seriously injured, and the destruction is imminent, the king, you only need to send an envoy to contact Li Jipifu, and ask him to take advantage of the opportunity to join forces with Liu Jipifu, and suddenly kill Liu Jipifu directly, and then divide the land of Nanyang to him, so that he can replace Liu Jipifu as the king of Nanyang, and Li Pifu covets the throne, maybe it is possible to agree." ”

Xiang Kang was of course moved when he heard this, but after careful consideration, Xiang Kang shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's difficult, first, Liu Jipifu is too cunning, and he won't prevent us from continuing to rebel against Liji, who has already betrayed him once." Second, Li Jifu is a general of Western Chu, not only his parents and family are all in Chu, but there are also many Western Chu generals who are loyal to my brother, and he secretly traded with him to persuade him to withdraw first, which is to give him a chance to protect the Western Chu thief army, he can agree, and his subordinates will not be too opposed, but if we let him lead the Western Chu thief army to openly betray, the generals of the Western Chu army who are loyal to my brother under his command will definitely not agree, and Li Jifu will not care about these. ”

"And, third." Xiang Kang added: "In order to win the support of the princes, my brother made Zang Di, Shen Yang and Sima Wei, who were originally generals, kings, and they have already made the world a big mess. If this king goes to rebel against the enemy again, he will assassinate the princes and kings, and reward him with a big reward to tear the earth and seal the king, and his behavior will be worse than my brother's, and he will definitely have endless troubles in the future! ”

Chen Ping and Lou Jing are both very politically minded, and they immediately woke up after hearing Xiang Kang's words, knowing that in Xiang Kang's position, they really can't use the means of sealing the king to plot against the Li and several groups of their own army to kill Liu Laosan - otherwise, if Uncle Zhou, Zheng Bu and Li Shang and other Han generals who are currently leading the army alone follow suit, it will be strange that the world is in chaos!

After categorically refusing to use the means of sealing the king to plot against Liji, Xiang Kang suddenly moved in his heart and said secretly: "I can't give Li a few kings, but I can give Li a few marquis?" With Liu Laosan's cunning, and I like to plot against discord, Liu Laosan will definitely prevent me from repeating my old tricks, and I have already betrayed his profits once, if I make some articles on this point, maybe I will hope to receive miraculous results. ”

After having this idea, he settled down and thought carefully for a while, Xiang Kang made up his mind and ordered: "Order the whole army to withdraw to Yexian County to rest." Pick a few Nanyang Army prisoners who are familiar with Liu Ji's appearance and give them a little preferential treatment, I will be of great use. Besides, arrange for meticulous work to closely monitor the situation in Yangcheng, and as long as it is confirmed that Liu Ji has fled to Yangcheng, he will report to me immediately. ”

The order was quickly conveyed in place, and the various units of the Han army, which had been resting on the spot for a period of time, also set off north in turn, and withdrew to the Yexian camp to rest in peace, needless to say during the period, according to the practice of this era, the soldiers of the Han army naturally did not forget to bring the enemy's head they cut off on the battlefield last night, ready to exchange for the rank reward after returning to the camp. At the same time, Chen Ping, who was in charge of the intelligence work of the Han army, also sent a detailed officer to closely monitor Yangcheng as required.

When the main force of the Han army returned to the camp in Yexian County, the sky was already slightly dark, and Xiang Kang, who had not slept for two days and one night, yawned for days, and hurriedly entrusted the night defense task to the Ding Ji Division, who did not participate in the battle yesterday, and then did not even eat dinner, and slept until dawn when he returned to the sleeping tent. Then when Xiang Kang was still having breakfast, Chen Ping came to him and said with a wry smile: "King, our detailed work has been confirmed, Liu Ji's banner of the puppet did reappear in Yangcheng City yesterday afternoon. ”

"Got it." Xiang Kang nodded, and then casually ordered: "Mr. Chen Ping, did you have breakfast?" If you haven't eaten, come with me, and I'll leave something to you after eating. ”

Chen Ping, who was in a hurry to report the situation to Xiang Kang, did not eat breakfast, and after sitting down to eat with Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang quickly took all the rough food in the bowl into his mouth, and then asked the guard to bring a silk pen while still wiping his mouth, and sat down to personally pick up the pen again, and wrote a letter to Li Ji, the commander of the Southern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army.

Out of curiosity, Chen Ping stood next to him with a bowl to watch Xiang Kang write a letter, but saw that Xiang Kang first thanked Li Ji in the letter, thanked Li Ji for helping him run first, and created an opportunity for himself to find Liu Laosan to take revenge and settle accounts, and promised that if there is a chance in the future, he will definitely thank Li Ji. Then he clearly told Li Ji, saying that he already knew that Liu Laosan had fled to Yangcheng, and guessed that Liu Laosan would definitely continue to flee south soon, and asked Li Ji to help persuade Liu Laosan to personally lead the army to retreat to the front line of Hanshui, and promised that as long as Li Ji did this, then no matter when Li Ji was willing to return to the Han army in the future, he would seal Li Ji as a candidate and give 1,500 households of food.

Seeing that Xiang Kang wrote here, Chen Ping also fully understood what Xiang Kang meant, and said, "King, do you want to capture the old man?" Deliberately let Liji persuade Liu Ji to retreat directly to Hanshui, arouse Liu Ji's rebellious heart, and lure Liu Ji to stick to Wancheng with all his might? Will this be counterproductive, but will it make Liu Jipifu make the most unfavorable choice for us? ”

"As long as you can talk about moving and persuading a few people, it will definitely not backfire." Xiang Kang replied confidently: "Liu Ji Pifu directly retreated to the front line of Hanshui, although it is really unfavorable for us, but he will not ignore the problem of the lack of money and food in the hearts of the people of Nanjun, and he will not be willing to give us the anointed land of Nanyang just like this, this puppet is treacherous, and he will definitely prevent us from secretly plotting against Liji, as long as Liji persuades him not to defend Wancheng and go south directly, he will definitely have suspicions, and then it is easier to tend to stick to Wancheng with all his might." ”

After saying this, Xiang Kang handed the letter to Chen Ping and instructed: "Arrange a capable and meticulous work, carry a generous gift, and send this letter to Liji's as soon as possible." ”

Chen Ping immediately sang the promise, and hurriedly took the letter with both hands, and Xiang Kang instructed again: "Also, our military officials should already be counting the heads, call out the few Nanyang Army prisoners I asked you to select yesterday, and let them choose one of the heads that looks like Liu Jipifu, the more similar the better......." ”

"Then send it to Yexian County, so that the Nanyang thief army in Yexian County thought that Liu Jipifu was dead, and took the opportunity to persuade the Nanyang thief army, which had been isolated and helpless, to surrender."

Chen Ping smiled and finished speaking for Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang smiled and said, "Those who know me, Mr. Chen Ping, please leave this matter to you, Mr. Also, if nothing else, Liu Ji will definitely leave an army to defend Yangcheng, buy him time, find out the situation of the Nanyang thief army left behind in Yangcheng as soon as possible, and try to find a way to break the city directly without our trebuchet, so that the Nanyang thief army can't figure out the details of our siege. ”

Chen Ping sang the promise again, hurriedly acted according to Xiang Kang's instructions, and selected a capable one from among the Han army spies under his command, and asked him to carry Xiang Kang's letter and a pair of jade buckets to immediately go south, and rush to Yangcheng to contact Liji. While arranging for the Nanyang Army prisoners selected in advance, they selected the heads that looked similar to Liu Laosan among the Nanyang Army head piles piled up in the crowd mountain, and then relied on the huge base, and really quickly found a Nanyang sergeant head who looked very similar to Liu Laosan in the head pile......

Let's take a look at the situation of the Han army here, a little out of Xiang Kang's surprise, because Yangcheng is only eighty miles away from Ye County, for the sake of safety, in fact, it was just past noon that day, Liu Laosan had already taken the remnants of the Nanyang Army to set off south, and hurriedly fled to the direction of Wancheng. The righteous spirit took on the task of the palace, so when the Han army rushed to Yangcheng, the target Liji had disappeared.

Fortunately, Chen Ping's detailed work was very effective and competent, and he inquired about the Western Chu army before leaving, and immediately chased after him on foot, and successfully caught up with the Western Chu army the next morning, and pretended to be Liji's old man to bribe the scouts of the Western Chu army, and got the opportunity to meet Liji, and personally handed over Xiang Kang's letter and thank you to Liji's hands.

Like last time, after reading Xiang Kang's letter, Liji still didn't make any statement, and directly sent someone to send the Han army away without making any reply. However, what Li Ji didn't know was that Liu Laosan, who was as treacherous as a fox, had not only been suspicious of him for a long time, but had also bought off his two personal soldiers with a lot of money, so the situation of his meeting with suspicious characters was directly reported to Liu Laosan after a period of time......