It's time to take a look at the situation of the northern front of the Han army that has been transferred to the territory of Xue County, because of the relationship between roads and distance, after Xiang Kang decided to launch the battle to destroy Chu, the first army to receive the order to participate in the battle was of course Peng Yuejun, who was hiding around Juyeze to recuperate from his wounds. - Strictly speaking, it should be called Chu Jun now, and more strictly speaking, Peng Yue's direct boss is no longer Xiang Kang, but the new Chu King Jingjia, a descendant of the Chu royal family he supported in Pengcheng.

Xiang Kang, who is a villain, almost made it clear that he did not take Jing Jia, the so-called new king of Chu, in his eyes, and asked Peng Yuejun to send troops to the hinterland of Xue County to help Zhou Shu's corps annihilate the remnants of the Chuji coalition army, and it was also directly issued to Peng Yue, who actually held the military power, in the tone of an order, and he didn't even bother to let Jing Jia, the so-called king of Chu, go one, but after receiving Xiang Kang's letter order, Peng Yue not only did not mind at all, but also did not dare to force Liu Laosan to send troops to him as the king of Liang as in history, but on the contrary, he immediately came to see Jing Jia and discussed with him about sending troops.

Peng Yue is so well-behaved, of course, he was forced by the situation, after being defeated by Xiang Zhuang and Liu Laosan, Peng Yue's army, which finally relied on the assistance of the Han army to make a comeback, was seriously injured again, not to mention that there is no strength to influence the situation in the world, it is difficult to restore to the peak state when he just won Pengcheng, and the Han army has won victories on various fronts one after another, and has already formed an absolute strength advantage over the Western Chu army. How could Peng Yue become the uncrowned king of Jingjia's fiefdom?

Jing Jia also understood this truth very well, so after reading Xiang Kang's letter directly to Peng Yue, although Jing Jia's heart was angry, he didn't dare to show the slightest expression on his face, and nodded again and again and said: "King Han is wise, Xiang Yu is guilty of killing the king, mutilating living beings, and accumulating crimes, it's time to completely eradicate him." Our Chu State is a vassal of the King of Han, and we must do our best to help the King of Han to put down the rebels of Western Chu as soon as possible and capture and kill Xiang Yu's husband. ”

After saying it in a high-sounding manner, Jing Jia frowned again and said, "But I'm afraid our strength is a little insufficient?" After the last time the Zhu State was accidentally defeated in Zhangxian, although the King of Meng Han did not give up, and supported us with some grain and grass military supplies, helping us restore our strength to more than 14,000 points, but even if all the troops are dispatched, I am afraid that there is no certainty that Xiang Yu's thief army will be stopped head-on, how should this be? ”

"That's why your ministers have come down to see you, the king." Peng Yue replied: "Your Majesty wants to ask the king to personally lead two thousand troops to guard our grain land, and lead the main force into the hinterland of Xue County, mobile combat, try to contain the southward speed of Xiang Yu's thief army to the greatest extent, and help Zhou Shu, the general of the Han State, to encircle and annihilate Xiang Yu's thief army, I don't know what the king thinks?" ”

Glancing at Peng Yue, who seemed to be asking for his opinion, Jing Jia thought in his heart, and said secretly: "This puppet seems to have made up his mind a long time ago, he personally led the army to help the Han army, after the matter is completed, Xiang Kang Xiaozhuzi will definitely only thank him and will not thank this king, in the future, when Xiang Kang Zhuzi is rewarded for meritorious deeds, he will naturally be ranked in front of this king, and at that time, this king will not only have no hope of getting rid of his grasp, maybe it will be possible for him to take this king like Zang Di replaced Han Guang, and he will also cook this king like this, which has to be guarded against." ”

Thinking about this, Jing Jia immediately showed a cordial smile and said: "Peng Zhuguo, what you said is not right, you are also working for the King of Han, so that you can always charge in front of the battle, so that the widow can always hide in the back and enjoy leisure?" It is very important to enter Xue County, and the widow should personally take command of the expedition, so let's do it, the widow and the Zhu Kingdom will go to Xue County together, and let Lu Qing, Lu Aiqing, Chen Ying, and Chen Aiqing stay in the grain land. ”

"Piff, you really want to take credit from me." Peng Yue, whose ambition was not under Han Xin, snorted coldly in his heart, but said with a smile on his face: "King, there is no need to look down on the subordinates, the army is already very hard, we are going to the weak enemy this time, and we are fighting more with less, it is definitely indispensable to rush and intersperse, turn around, and not rest for a day or two nights It is ordinary, the king is a golden body, how can he bear this sin?" It's better to ask the king to stay behind and let his subordinates lead the army alone. ”

"A widow is a person who can't endure hardship?" Jing Jia said with a smile: "Zhu Guo forgot, when retreating from Pengcheng, the widow fought with you for thousands of miles, but did you ever call out bitter and tired?" It's so decided, it's a big matter, it's related to the overall battle situation of King Han, and it's also related to the revival of our Chu State, so let's go with you. ”

After speaking, Jing Jia hurriedly added another sentence and said: "Peng Zhuguo, don't worry, although the widow will go with you, he will definitely not interfere with your operational command and tactical decision-making, that is, to help you pacify the soldiers, encourage the morale of the army, and will not drag you back." ”

Seeing that Jing Jia insisted on going, and refused to change his words about anything, Peng Yue, who was a courtier of Jing Jia in reputation, had nothing to do, so he could only nod reluctantly, and agreed to lead the army with Jing Jia to carry out the task assigned by Xiang Kang, and then said in his heart: "Divide it, divide it, as long as the army is in my hands and rebuild the Chu State in the future, I still have the final say, if you don't know what to do, Han Guang will be your end." ”

In this way, under the circumstance of each harboring ghosts, Jing Jia and Peng Yue finally joined forces to march eastward from Juyeze under the banner of the King of Chu, and directly killed Chengqiu Xiaoyi (the same name, the Chengqiu mentioned in the previous chapter was later renamed Chengshi) in the southwest of Xianqiu, intending to enter Lu County, threaten the flank and the main artery of the Chuji coalition army, and delay the southward speed of the Chuji coalition army. Relying on the first-mover advantage of the sudden attack, the local defenders of Chengqiu were defeated in the first battle and this township-level town was taken, which essentially posed a threat to the Chuji coalition army that had just withdrawn to Lu County.

Peng Yue's guerrilla genius must not be said much, with his ability, plus Jing Jia, who is the nominal commander, does not dare to interfere in his operational command, dragging the remnants of the Chuji coalition army, which must carry a large amount of military supplies and grass south, to buy time for Uncle Zhou's side, of course, is not an impossible task. But it's a pity that because of the serious change in the track of history, what Peng Yue didn't know was that in the Chuji coalition army at this moment, there was not only a military genius unparalleled in the world, but also a dangerous enemy who happened to restrain him in terms of tactical style......

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On the side of the Chuji coalition army, as mentioned above, Xiang Kang and Xiang Yu made the decision to destroy Chu and withdraw south on the same day, so although the distance is farther, but because Peng Yuejun needs to prepare to set off and it takes time to march into the army, in fact, as early as two days before Peng Yuejun arrived at Chengqiu Xiaoyi City, Xiang Zhuang and Tian Da had already received Xiang Yu's order to withdraw to Pengcheng, and had already begun to prepare for the southward retreat.

The sudden attack of the Peng Yue army once disrupted the retreat plan of the Chuji coalition army, and the grain and grass brought by the Chuji coalition army from the capital of Jibei was not small, and there was also a lot of money and grain in the town of Luxian County, which had never been captured by the Han army or the Peng Yue army, and there was no sign of the Han army Zhou Shu's corps continuing to move south, Xiang Zhuang and Tian Da and others also planned to transfer these important materials to the south as much as possible, so as to meet the Pengcheng battle that was very likely to be faced, but the sudden appearance of the Peng Yue army, However, it seriously threatened the safety of the Chuji coalition army's march.

Therefore, even if he had not received the news that Chengqiu was taken by Peng Yue in the first battle, Han Xin, the de facto chief thinker of the Chuji coalition army, immediately issued a warning to Xiang Zhuang and said: "Zuo Sima, Peng Yue's sudden eastward march at this pass is definitely not untargeted, and the last general speculated that his eastward entry into the hinterland of Xue County this time was probably driven by the orders of Xiang Kang's traitors, in order to contain us, delay our advance speed, and buy time for Zhou Shupifu in the north to pursue us south. ”

After that, Han Xin also added, saying: "If nothing else, Uncle Zhou will soon send an army south to join forces with Peng Yue to attack us, and not give us a chance to withdraw to Pengcheng, and it is even possible that Uncle Zhou will personally lead the main force south." ”

"If that's the case, what are we going to do?" Xiang Zhuang asked thoughtfully.

"Peng Yue's tactics are flexible, especially good at interspersing detours, rushing and harassing, if we passively face the battle, we will definitely be harassed by him day and night, unable to go south at full speed." Han Xin said: "Fortunately, his troops are not many, and the combat effectiveness of the army is not very strong, we only need to divide an army to take the initiative to meet the battle, bite his tail and chase after him, so that he can not pull out to harass our main brigade, so that our main brigade can rest assured that the military money and food will go south at full speed." ”

Here is also by the way to explain the situation of the Chuji coalition army, because the Chuji coalition army took the initiative to abandon Boyang to rush south, the nearly 20,000 Chuji coalition troops who fled back from Licheng were defeated, as well as the four redundant Jibei defenders in Boyang, and Ji Bu, the general of the Western Chu army who took the small road and finally fled back to Boyang, all of them withdrew to Lu County unscathed. Earlier, more than 10,000 Qi troops who were forced south by the Western Chu Army to go south to Xue County, after reorganization, in addition to some of them being scattered and sent to other places to garrison, there were nearly 10,000 people left in the area of Lu County to listen to use, although the combat effectiveness of these soldiers is not very strong, but there is no problem with transporting grain and grass and military supplies, in addition to the original garrison in Lu County, so the current strength of the Chuji coalition army has not only not been reduced, but has also recovered to more than 34,000 people, and an army is divided to deal with Peng Yue alone. Of course, this is also possible.

Having said that, even if he felt that Han Xin's analysis was reasonable and the proposed method was feasible, Xiang Zhuang had to consider another question, and said thoughtfully: "Then who will be sent to deal with Peng Yue Pifu?" This puppet is not an easy person to deal with, and even our national capital Pengcheng was beaten by him at the beginning. ”

"I can only let Pei Gong go." Han Xin immediately replied: "Pei Gong's army can fight tough battles, and is good at appeasing the soldiers, inspiring the morale of the army, and can take the army on a long journey without the soldiers being scattered, so only he can bite the Peng Yue thief army to the death, so that the Peng Yue thief army can free up their hands to threaten our main force, and can also ensure that when the Peng Yue thief army is forced to fight a decisive battle, he is sure to win head-on, and he is the best choice to deal with Peng Yue's puppet." ”

Hearing Han Xin's words, Xiang Zhuang of course immediately remembered Old Man Fan's repeated instructions to him, asking him not to give Liu Laosan the opportunity to lead an army alone, so he immediately shook his head and said, "No, Pei Gong can't go!" I can't leave him by my side. ”

"Zuo Sima, who else can you send besides Pei Gong?" Han Xin smiled bitterly and asked, "Let the King of Jibei go in person?" Will he say yes? Is he familiar with the terrain and roads of Xue County? Let General Ji Bu go, he misunderstood that you left him in Jinjiling and fled alone, and he is still angry with you, and you still dare to let him command the troops alone? Xiang Guan, Xiang Han and Xiang It, the three generals Xiang, can they be sure to take on such a heavy responsibility? Or, if Zuo Sima you can trust the last general, how about letting the last general deal with Peng Yue Pifu? ”

Xiang Zhuang, who lacked talents under his command, was speechless, and he didn't dare to transfer Han Xin away from his side at this critical moment, and only replied after a while: "Don't worry, let me think about it." ”

Xiang Zhuang had just arrived the next morning and was forced to make up his mind, and the next morning, an urgent report came from Boyang, saying that Uncle Zhou, with the Han army general Li Shang as the vanguard, had set off from Boyang to the south, and strode directly to Lu County along the gallop road, and the forward team led by Li Shang alone had as many as 40,000 troops! Xiang Zhuang was shocked when he heard the report, in addition to ordering the Chuji coalition army to step up preparations to go south, he also had to adopt Han Xin's suggestion, so that Liu Laosan, the only one under his command who was sure to deal with Peng Yue, led 10,000 troops to deal with Peng Yue's army, which would definitely run to make trouble.

"Pei Gong, you must bite Peng Yue's thief army, don't worry that he will lure you into an ambush circle, he doesn't have the strength. Don't worry that he will lead you away from our main brigade, in order to curry favor with Xiang Kang, he will definitely not dare to stay away from the main road that we must take when retreating south, no matter how you rush, you will definitely turn around and return to the vicinity of the road soon. In addition, as long as there is an opportunity, we must seize the time to prepare more dry rations, and the army must always have dry rations for three days as a precaution. ”

This is Han Xin's repeated advice to Liu Laosan, Liu Laosan also thanked him, and then said in a big way: "Don't worry, I know what kind of character Peng Yue's puppet is, I may not be sure of dealing with others, but I am absolutely sure of dealing with him!" ”

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Let's take a look at the situation on the side of Uncle Zhou's corps of the Han Army, in fact, the Western Chu Army definitely has to complain that they are clever and delusional in trying to rebel against Xiang Kang's most trusted Han army general Zhou Shu to establish himself as the king, in fact, as early as when Xiang Kang had not made up his mind to launch the battle to destroy Chu, Uncle Zhou, who had the greatest autonomy, had already made up his mind one step ahead and decided to personally lead the 190,000 troops, including a part of the newly surrendered soldiers, to the south to pursue the remnants of the Chuji coalition army and launch an attack on the hinterland of the Western Chu army!

When Uncle Zhou made up his mind, Zhou Shu, an old man from Shangshan who regarded him as his nephew and nephew, immediately saw Uncle Zhou's thoughts, and asked Uncle Zhou in private: "General, you decided to go south to the hinterland of Western Chu now, is it because the Western Chu thief army plotted against you?" So you want to deliberately leave Qidi as a way to prove your innocence? ”

"That's exactly what it means." Uncle Zhou nodded, and admitted calmly: "Qi is far away from our Han homeland, the territory is vast, the population is large, and the money and food are quite abundant, although our king is wise and wise, and he will never be moved by rumors, and he will undress me, push food and food, and trust me to the fullest, but under the melon fields and plums, there is a Western Chu thief army to sow discord, if I don't leave Qi quickly, it will definitely only attract more gossip, which is not conducive to the unity of our army." Therefore, if I want to block the mouths of Youyou, the only way for me to do so is to take this opportunity to leave Qidi and leave those young people with nothing to say. ”

"In addition, strategically speaking, our main force must also immediately enter the hinterland of Western Chu." Uncle Zhou hurriedly added: "Up to now, the news we have received is that the main force of the Western Chu thief army is still in Puyang, even if the Western Chu thief army has begun to retreat now, it will be difficult to immediately withdraw to Pengcheng in a short time, we will now move south, and there is a great hope that the main force of the Western Chu thief army will be intercepted and killed in the middle of the road." ”

"Even if we can't do this, we can take advantage of the situation to seize Xue County, go west to open up contact with our king, compress the Western Chu thief army to the south of Surabaya, calmly occupy a large area of land north of Pengcheng, and then gather our manpower and material resources, it will be easy to destroy Chu."

After sighing with great regret, Zhou Shu asked again: "The general, who do you plan to let stay in Qidi?" At this time, whoever stays in Qi will definitely go to whom will definitely be given the credit for destroying the Qi country in the future, and who are you going to give this great credit to? ”

"Zhu Jishi, of course." Uncle Zhou replied without thinking about it: "He is a veteran under the command of the king, the king can trust him, and I can trust him, and he has followed the king to fight in the south and the north all these years, and every time he has bad luck, he specializes in fighting hard and vicious battles, and he has won the unjust war with no outstanding merits, and it is time to compensate him for the king." ”

"General, the old man really convinced you." Zhou Shuyi smiled bitterly and said, "The merit of destroying the country, you are actually willing to give it away." ”

"There are enough countries that have been destroyed by later generations." Uncle Zhou smiled and said: "It is difficult to reward the merits, Wu Anjun's lesson, the younger generation does not dare to forget it at any time, and they don't want to repeat his mistakes." ”

Zhou Shu didn't say much, just arched his hand to Uncle Zhou, and said sincerely: "General, in addition to admiring you, Lao Yu also admires our king's wisdom of knowing people, and in our Han Kingdom, only you are worthy of being our general." ”

At the military meeting the next day, in addition to announcing on the spot that Zhu Jishi, a veteran of the Han army, would stay in Qidi, Uncle Zhou also gave Zhu Jishi the command of Zhu Jishi, and the cronies and generals such as Zhong Gnat, Shen Ke and Xiao He, who had been hand-picked by him in the long-term campaign, as well as Zhao Xiangxia, who was familiar with the situation of Zhao State, were all assigned to Zhu Jishi's command, and at the same time reused Li Shang, Feng Zhong and Fu Kuan and other young marshals and old men who would never betray Xiang Kang, so as to prove that he had no intention of betraying the Han.

Needless to say, Uncle Zhou's decision has not been completely finished, and the Han army and civil and military forces present have already understood his thoughts, and the little worry and doubt that exists have been swept away immediately, and Zhu Jishi, who is about to defeat the great merit of destroying the Qi State, is even more moved, and took the initiative to say: "General, please rest assured, I will not fight the Qi State, and when you come back, you will personally lead the troops to fight." ”

"Don't." Uncle Zhou smiled and said: "If the fighter plane appears, I will fight it, I will leave 80,000 troops for you, in addition to letting you protect the grain road for me, that is, let you deal with the Qi country, don't give Tian Heng Pifu too much time to prepare for the war, otherwise it will definitely be more difficult for us to fight in the future." ”

Zhu Jishi didn't say much, just solemnly hugged his fist to Uncle Zhou, and his eyes couldn't help but burst into tears, but Li Shang, Feng Zhong and others next to him shouted together, "General Zhu, if you defeat the Qi State, you will have three big banquets, and you can't do one less!" ”

In this way, without receiving Xiang Kang's order, and not knowing that Xiang Kang was actually about to personally lead the army to attack the southern part of Xue County, Uncle Zhou had already made his own decision and personally led the 190,000 army south to Xue County. The Han Army Zhou Shu's Corps, the main force of the Han Army in the middle led by Xiang Kang, the main force of the Western Chu Army led by Xiang Yu, as well as the armies led by Xiang Zhuang and Liu Laosan, and the ambitious Peng Yue Army, a total of six armies, are about to launch earth-shattering bloody battles in a small Xue County, and they are destined to be chaotic to the extreme!