In addition to recruiting more than 300,000 troops to rush to the front line to participate in the war, in order to transport military supplies to the front line, a larger number of ordinary people were forcibly requisitioned to participate in the transportation of baggage.

But what the people of Chu never expected was that they had been enslaved to this point, and the authorities in Western Chu still hadn't considered letting them go, Xiang Yu just gave an order, and the total number of 160,000 Western Chu troops went to the front line of Zhao and Nanyang respectively, followed by the more heavy exploitation and enslavement of the people of Chu by the officials of Western Chu, not to mention the increase in taxes and taxes, and the forced labor was even heavier to the point of almost terrible. Carrying all kinds of grain and grass and military supplies, it is difficult to move forward, and in the ditches on both sides of the road, you can often see the dead bodies covered with skin and bones, which are more miserable than the ochre clothes and blocked roads in the Qin II period.

Such a situation is more common on the Qin Chi Road left by Qin Shi Huang, especially the section of the Chi Road from Zou County to Puyang in Dongjun County, which was originally the main transportation artery from the rear of Chu to the front line of Xingyang, with the prolongation of the war in Xingyang, more and more grain and grass and military supplies were transported to Xingyang in the rear of Chu, and there were more and more baggage convoys on this road, and almost every day you can see the baggage convoys from all over Western Chu taking this road to the west, transporting grain and various military supplies to Puyang, Then it was transferred to the chasm camp of the Western Chu army.

Even if it rains is no exception, when the spring comes, Dongjun and the surrounding areas have been rainy and continuous, and the galloping road built by Qin Shi Huang with countless manpower and material resources is drenched wet and slippery, muddy and difficult to walk, but in the lewd rain, a heavy grain team from the rear of Western Chu is still struggling to move forward, and the eastward march against the wind and rain can also be heard from time to time to hear the scolding and roaring of the escort soldiers......

"Raised by a handmaid! Hurry up, hurry up, before dark, no matter what, rush to cross the river by hill! It's a long time, don't even think about having a good life for any of you maidservants! ”

Drinking and scolding, some of the grumpy Western Chu soldiers also waved their weapons, and used their spears and rods to whip the slow-moving cart people, whether old or young, the people did not dare to fight back, let alone dare to fight back, they could only moan and try to speed up their pace, trying to push and pull the heavy vehicles to speed up, the rain drenched their ragged clothes, flowing on their heads and faces, but they didn't seem to realize it, like a walking corpse.

"Wow, wow, wow, wow, ......."

In the crowd of people, suddenly remembered the cry of the baby, a young woman who was pushing a cart hurriedly stood up straight, untied the child on her back, and wiped the rain on the child's head and face for the child, while the Xichu soldier who came up to urge pleaded: "General, let the slave family feed the child for a while, he has not been able to eat a mouthful of milk since the morning, he must be hungry, please." ”

The muddy rough fingers lifted the young woman's chin, and after carefully examining the young woman for a moment, the owner of the finger laughed with evil in his voice, and said, "Okay, but tonight, you have to feed me too, would you like to?" ”

The young woman's fairly delicate face suddenly turned red to the base of her neck, but several Xichu soldiers next to her laughed lewdly, and scrambled to say: "That's right, it's okay to feed your son, but at night, you have to feed each of us a few bites." ”

The young woman was even more ashamed of herself, and the Western Chu soldiers had long regarded these things as commonplace with Xiang Yu's connivance, not only did they speak more and more obscenely, but they also directly moved their hands to pull and pull, and the young women struggled and begged for mercy, but these Western Chu soldiers didn't listen at all, and their superiors didn't bother to pay attention.

"General, there is a situation!"

The sudden shouting helped the young woman get out of her predicament, and when everyone looked up, they soon saw that in the direction of Junozawa to the north, a group of ragged soldiers, armed with various weapons, was suddenly appearing towards the galloping road at a very fast speed. And when they saw clearly the Red Red Army flag they were waving, the five hundred commanders who led the Western Chu Army roared in disbelief......

"Thief! The thief who came? The army of thieves fell from the sky?! ”

No one of the soldiers of the Western Chu army could know the origin of this Han army, and the Han army that fell from the sky was like flying, and soon rushed to the vicinity of the baggage team of the Western Chu army.

The Western Chu soldiers soon found out that they were delusional, although the weapons and equipment of the Han army that suddenly appeared were more messy, and they knew at a glance that they were not the front-line soldiers of the Han army, but their combat effectiveness was quite good, whether they were fighting in teams or fighting alone, they were quite fierce and ferocious, and the continuous rain made the strong bows and crossbows equipped by the Western Chu soldiers lose their effect, so this Han army not only rushed directly to the nearby place to fight without hindrance, but also only took a moment to kill the queue of the Western Chu army. Then he quickly interspersed and cut, using the numerical advantage to completely submerge the Western Chu soldiers, fiercely wielding weapons to slash and stab, killing the Western Chu soldiers to the point of screaming and falling to the ground.

In the melee, a Han army general wearing armor still held a steel knife, and rushed directly in front of the leading general of the Western Chu army, five hundred long, three times and two strokes of the Western Chu army, the five hundred long of the Western Chu army were cut to the point of parrying, and there was no power to fight back, the five hundred long of the Western Chu army were frightened, raised a spear to barely hold his knife, and asked in a panic: "Who are you?" ”

"Nai Weng Peng Yue!"

Peng Yue, who had been named the Marquis of Dingtao by Xiang Kang, roared, and suddenly slashed the knife, the blade slid along the shaft of the spear, and cut off the four fingers of the five hundred long right hand of the Western Chu Army.

Without the command of the leading generals, the leaderless Western Chu soldiers were soon completely defeated by the Han guerrillas led by Peng Yue, and then most of them were executed, only a small number of people fled to Chengqiu in the east in embarrassment, and asked for help from the regular army of the Western Chu Army stationed there, Peng Yue ordered his soldiers to quickly clean up the battlefield, collect all the materials that could be used, and then leave the road with the convoy and retreat to Juyeze, where he was entrenched before his troops.

When it's raining, it's hard for heavy vehicles to move on flat roads, and it's even more difficult to get on the side roads when they turn into soft soil. However, Peng Yue said that he refused to let the soldiers give up the baggage, and patiently just slowly went north, or after a period of time, when the Western Chu army stationed in Chengqiu to protect the Jishui ferry caught up, Peng Yue smiled fiercely, and immediately ordered his soldiers to give up the baggage and light equipment to advance, and the Western Chu army refused to give up after regaining the baggage, and continued to chase closely, Peng Yue did not turn back to fight, but only urged the army to speed up the march, leading the Western Chu army to gradually go north to the vicinity of Juyeze.

When he came to the lake, of course, Peng Yue's army was already in a big formation, and the defeat was exposed, but just when the Western Chu army thought that it could finally block the enemy, the woods on both sides of the road were killing loudly, and each had an army with the banner of the Han army to kill, Peng Yue took the opportunity to order the soldiers to turn back and fight to the death, under the attack on three sides, the Western Chu army was quickly defeated, even if the equipment and weapons had the absolute upper hand, it was still killed by Peng Yuejun, and the corpses were all over the field.

Peng Yuejun took advantage of the situation to pursue, in addition to recapturing the heavy vehicles that had been abandoned before, and chased straight to Chengqiu Ferry, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Western Chu defenders had lost most of the battle in the field, they easily and directly entered the Western Chu army camp, killed the enemy again, and captured all the grain and grass military supplies that the Western Chu army had not had time to transfer across the river, as well as a large number of weapons and ships.

Then, Peng Yuejun was also very bold to rest in Chengqiu for a night, and only in the early morning of the next day did he load the grain and grass military supplies that could be taken away on the ship and transport them to Juyeze by water, and then set fire to all the remaining grain and grass military supplies, and easily destroyed the wharf, and then the troops withdrew to Juyeze in two ways. When the Western Chu army in Dingtao received the news and rushed to the scene, Chengqiu, an important transfer node of the Western Chu army on the Qinchi Road, had already turned into ashes, seriously affecting the material supply of the main force on the front line in the rear of Western Chu.

This battle also announced that the Peng Yue army returned to the stage of the Central Plains War, from then on, the Peng Yue army, which had been heavily damaged on the battlefield of Qi State, took Juyeze as a base, constantly attacked the surrounding Western Chu army cities, broke the enemy many times in succession, captured countless military money and food, and continued to recruit people who were unwilling to continue to endure the tyranny of Western Chu to join the army, expand the army, and soon expanded the army to nearly 20,000 people, and at the same time intercept the baggage grain team of the Western Chu army as long as there is an opportunity, cut off the supply of grain and grass for the main force of the Western Chu army, Very resolutely carried out Xiang Kang's order to ask Peng Yue to make trouble in the rear of the Western Chu army.

At this time, the weakness of the Western Chu army to withdraw the main local forces was also completely exposed, except for a very few military towns that barely had the strength to compete with the Peng Yue army, other local garrison troops were simply vulnerable in front of the guerrilla genius Peng Yue, and were often broken by the Peng Yue army using the guerrilla tactics of attacking the east and the west or encircling the point to send reinforcements, and then Peng Yue broke through the city camp, and the surrounding area of Juyeze was soon completely chaotic, forcing the Western Chu army to continuously draw troops from Xue County and Dongjun and other places, The baggage and grain convoy that went all out to protect the Western Chu army greatly reduced the transportation efficiency, and at the same time, almost all the Western Chu troops in Xue County and Dong County were also attracted to the vicinity of Chidao, and the hinterland was even more empty.

This is not counting, seeing that the time is gradually ripe, and with the rapid growth of strength, the ambitious Peng Yue also set his sights on Zou County, an important town for the material transfer of the Western Chu Army far away from Juyeze, and began to discuss with the generals the tactical plan of taking the initiative to leave Juyeze and attack Zou County, as a result, not only Peng Yue's several important generals were all startled, but even Yue Mash, a pedestrian of the Han army who was sent by Xiang Kang to canonize Peng Yue, was so frightened that he blurted out: "Attack Zou County? It's almost 300 miles away from Junozawa, can we do that? ”

"And." Yue Mo hurriedly added: "Zou County is galloping, whether Pengcheng, the capital of Western Chu, is in contact with the main force of the Western Chu Army, or with their northern division, it must pass through Zou County, and the Western Chu Thief Army must have deployed heavy guards there, are we sure that we can take it?" ”

"Without that certainty, I won't say this." Peng Yue smiled confidently and said: "We rush to Zou County, there are three major chances of victory, the first is that Zou County is far away from Juyeze, where the Western Chu thief army will definitely not expect that we have the courage to attack them, and the prevention will definitely not be too tight, as long as we march covertly, pick a small road to march, and suddenly rush to the city of Zou County, it will inevitably catch the Western Chu thief army off guard, which is conducive to our victory by breaking the enemy." ”

"Second, although Zou County is important, he is only a county seat after all, the city is far less solid than Dingtao Puyang, and it is relatively easy to attack, even if the Western Chu thief army retreats to the city, we are very sure that we can attack the city."

"Third, we have been successful in guerrilla attacks before, and almost all the troops that the Western Chu thief army can still mobilize in Xue County have been lured by us to the south of Juyeze to protect their main grain route, and the county has completely no troops to adjust, we will rush to Zou County, so we don't have to worry about the Western Chu thief army in Xue County urgently sending reinforcements, and we can attack Zou County without distraction."

"There's another thing that's important." Peng Yue added: "Zou County is located on the road, the transportation is convenient, even if we can't take it, we can retreat calmly before the reinforcements of the Western Chu thief army arrive, and we don't have to worry about being surrounded by the Western Chu thief army on all sides." In addition, there are many markets and cities around Zou County, which is conducive to replenishing grain and grass on the spot, so we don't have to worry too much about food problems. ”

Yue Mo and Hu Yu and other Peng Yue's generals were still a little worried, but Peng Yue didn't bother to talk to them anymore, and immediately began to arrange the specific affairs of the attack on Zou County, and everyone had no choice but to obediently obey the order, and organize the army to prepare for the attack according to Peng Yue's order. At the same time, he secretly hoarded the previously seized grain to a hidden place on the shore of Juyeze Lake for future use, and Peng Yue arranged for a general to lead an army to continue to operate in Juyeze, bluffing under his own banner, so as to confuse the judgment of the Western Chu army.

In the end, it was only on the day of departure that the messenger sent by Xiang Kang later got in touch with Peng Yuejun and sent Xiang Kang's order to Peng Yue to make a big move in the rear of Western Chu to Peng Yue, but after reading Xiang Kang's order, Peng Yue, who had never met Xiang Kang, couldn't help but smile and said to Yue Mash: "Lord Yue, do you see it?" The king is also the same as I thought, taking this opportunity, it is best for us to make a big move as soon as possible, so that he can play more easily in Xingyang. ”

Yue Mo echoed with a wry smile, and hurriedly praised Peng Yue and Xiang Kang for their good hearts, but said in his heart: "You are crazy, don't look at you now almost 20,000 troops, but most of them are hastily cobbled together rabble, neither have undergone strict training, but the weapons and equipment are disorganized, if you can't take it smoothly in Zou County, the Western Chu thief army will quickly return to help along the gallop road, I think you will deal with it?" ”

Yue Mo probably shouldn't have cursed Peng Yue, who had already returned to the Han army, because after leaving Juyeze, it had only been more than two days since he took the small road to the east, and the previous Xizuo who had been sent to inquire about the enemy's situation sent an urgent report, saying that more than a day ago, a Western Chu army of about 6,000 people suddenly rushed to Zou County, and joined forces with the 2,000 defenders there, which greatly strengthened the strength of the defenders of Zou County.

Knowing this situation, the generals of Peng Yuejun and Yue Mash were of course disappointed, and they all turned their eyes to Peng Yue, but Peng Yue was silent, but carefully asked the origin of the Western Chu army and the generals who commanded the army, and as a result, Peng Yuejun's meticulous work was also quite dutiful, and immediately replied: "General Huiyu, that thief army is from the East China Sea, and the commander of the army and thieves will be the East China Sea County Shouganji of Western Chu." ”

"That's good." Peng Yue breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said to Hu Yu, Yue Mo and the others: "Don't worry, if it is the elite of the Western Chu thief army drawn from their Pengcheng Kingdom, then we have to retreat immediately." But since it is the Western Chu thief army from the East China Sea, then it must be the county soldiers formed by Gan Ji Pifu from several counties in the northern East China Sea, and it is definitely not as difficult to deal with as the elite of the Western Chu thief army in Pengcheng. ”

"But we're not necessarily sure." Hu Yu reminded: "Even if this Western Chu thief army is only a temporary county soldier, and its equipment and training can't catch up with the elite of the Western Chu thief army, as long as they stick to the camp and city, we don't have any confidence to take Zou County?" ”

"Hu, do you think this Western Chu thief army will stay in Zou County and wait for us to attack the city?" Peng Yue asked very strangely, and said: "The Western Chu thief army hurriedly formed the Donghai County soldiers to march west into Zou County, it must be because we have already beaten them in Juyeze, so they have repeatedly dispatched troops to reinforce the Juye battlefield, and want to join forces with the Dongjun and Xue County West Chu thief armies there to crusade against us." Since this is the case, how could they be stationed in Zou County for a long time, they must have taken a little rest and continued to march along the gallop road to Juyeze. ”

"Is that so?" Hu Yu was skeptical, and hurriedly asked, "Then what should we do now?" ”

"Keep marching!" Peng Yue paid attention to it and said: "Our detailed work is the news sent by the small road, which takes a lot of time, if nothing else, the Western Chu thief army led by Gan Ji will definitely not be in Zou County at this time, we just have to rest assured to enter the army and take Zou County!" ”