When the Qin army invaded and annihilated 20,000 Chu troops. King Chu Hui also panicked, although King Chu Hui was a lord of Zhongxing, he was also ambitious and bent on restoring the glory of Chu. But he has a weakness, that is, he is not assertive. This also has a lot to do with the fact that King Chu Hui did not really control the power, first Zixi and Ziqi and Gongzi Qi controlled the government, and during that period of time, although King Chu Hui was the king, no matter what it was, King Chu Hui decided after discussing it with them.

Later, it was Ye Gong, even more than the first three, integrating Ling Yin and Da Sima into one, which was unprecedented since the founding of the Chu State. directly controls the government and politics with one hand, almost everything, Ye Gong can't decide if he doesn't nod. In the panic that he had not really controlled the power, King Chu Hui only instinctively ordered the cities and counties along the Hanshui to defend them.

King Chu Hui didn't know how great the impact of his seemingly correct order was, along the Han River, except for the old capital Yan Ying, who still had a little troops, there were hundreds of people in other cities, and the few were only a hundred or ten troops. And they are all old and weak soldiers, the strong ones have long been transferred north by the needle Yin Gu, and from the fact that there are only 4,000 people in Hanzhong, a major border pass, it can be seen that the Chu army in the Hanshui Valley is weak.

Although it is said that local nationals can be temporarily requisitioned in various places, it is no problem for each city to arm thousands of people, or even tens of thousands of troops.

But none of these people have been trained, and their combat effectiveness can be imagined. And it's not so easy to form an army, not to mention anything else, the officers who need to be appointed to form an army, and whether these soldiers will form a military formation, etc., all of which take time, will the Qin army give you time?

And now it is the Chu army that does not have the ability to protect the land in the upper reaches of the Han River, or even in the middle and upper reaches. The most important thing for the state of Chu to do is to break the arms of the strong men, give up part of the land, and let the local officials retreat with the local citizens and soldiers. The best way to find a strong and critical city to defend and stabilize the current situation is to slowly figure it out.

It's a pity that King Chu Hui has no ability around him, or he has already been killed and injured in the civil strife of the Baigong Rebellion, and the doctors left behind in the court don't know the consequences of this order. By the time Ye Gong knew about the order conveyed by King Chu Hui, it was too late to oppose it at this time, and the order had already been passed out for more than ten days.

Ye Gong looked at the sky and lamented, "Could it be that the sky is really going to kill me?!" ”

Shen Baoxu also said angrily: "How can the king give such an order!" In this way, when the Qin army descended from Wancheng (now Nanyang City), wouldn't it cut off the retreat of tens of thousands of Chu troops on the east bank of Rushui! ”

Ye Gong sighed and said, "Alas! Now it's okay no matter what! The most important thing is to save the current situation! ”

Shen Baoxu gritted his teeth and said, "Now it seems that the only way to ask for help is to ask for help from the Jin Kingdom!" With the current situation, it is really difficult for the Chu State to defeat the Qin army and the Han army in a two-sided war! ”

Ye Gong shook his head and said, "Duke Shen, you haven't been in the court for many years, and you don't know that the situation of the current princes is not as good as before. Since the death of Zhao Ying, the newly appointed ruler of the Jin State, Zhi Yao, has been rewarded for his merits, wisely and sparingly, and has devoted himself to the development of the Zhi clan's territory. And the relationship with the other three secretaries is not harmonious, but he just controls the Jin dynasty by power, which seems to be stable, but he doesn't know the truth that it is easy to break. For this reason, the eldest ladies of the Jin Kingdom have become cautious, lest the opponent find an excuse and weaken their own strength. ”

Speaking of this, Ye Gong paused and said with a wry smile: "Even if Zhi Yao agrees, he will not send troops." Instead, he took the opportunity to let the Zhao family, the Han family, and the Wei family send troops to support our Chu State, so that after the main forces of the three families went out, they would take the opportunity to seize the interests belonging to the other three families in the country. And how could the other three not know Zhiyao's thoughts? So how can you be willing to send troops? Under internal and external constraints, even if Zhi Yao really forced the three families to send troops, the three families would just send some remnants of the defeated soldiers to send them to death. ”

Although Ye Gong had many shortcomings in military affairs, he still saw it relatively clearly politically, and knew that the current Jin State could not be relied on and could not be relied on.

Shen Baoxu thought of another country and said, "What about Qi country? Although the Qi State cannot directly support our Chu State, it only needs to be heavily stationed on the southern border, which is enough for Yang Zilu not to dare to move. So that we can free up our hands to clean up the Qin State! ”

Ye Gong smiled bitterly: "The Qi State is not much better than the Jin State now, and the Qi State is now two tigers competing with each other. The left prime minister, the Guotian clan, and the Kan clan, with the help of the Duke of Qi, competed for power, and the Qi state was now simply not capable of disturbing the northern part of the Han state. And I suspect that one of the powerful ministers within the Qi State, the Kan clan or the Tian clan, secretly allied with the Han state. Otherwise, how could Yang Zilu send troops so smoothly, and Qi Guo did nothing. It must be known that although the doctors in the Qi State are fighting for power and profit, it is impossible for them not to know the consequences of the Han State becoming strong, how can they not do anything at all? ”

When Shen Baoxu heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, although he also had news in the mountains, he was indifferent to fame and fortune. Coupled with the reward of the ancestors, it is naturally not good to pay attention to the major events in the court, otherwise wouldn't it be a loss of face for yourself? Therefore, Shen Baoxu is just like an ordinary person, through ordinary channels, he knows some outdated or distorted news. But more than 20 years have made Shen Baoxu's thinking temporarily no longer adapt to the current political environment.

Ziguo, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly opened his mouth and suggested: "Marshal, old general, I think the most important thing now is to let an old and serious person go back to Zaiying to sit in town, and don't let the king use stupid tricks in the panic again." At the same time, a general was sent to defend Yan Ying. As long as Yan Ying is guarded, then Zaiying (the national capital) can be protected. Other things can be slowly figured out, although the army of Needle Yin Gu and others is trapped on the west bank of Rushui, but there is military food support, as long as the army's heart is not disturbed, there is no problem in guarding it for a year and a half! The situation is not as bad as we thought! ”

Ziguo said goodbye and looked at Shen Baoxu. The old and respectful person in his mouth is naturally Shen Baoxu, although Ye Gong can also be, but Ye Gong is the commander in the army, how can he leave easily? And Ziguo didn't have this prestige, and secondly, he didn't think that he had the ability to stabilize King Chu Hui, so Shen Baoxu became the best candidate.

Shen Baoxu also knew what Ziguo meant, so he said: "In this way, the old man will go to carry Ying to stabilize the king's heart!" ”

Ye Gong knew that now was not the time to be polite, nodded vigorously, looked at Shen Baoxu, and said sincerely: "So it will trouble Shen Gong, if Shen Gong's body allows, Zigao (Ye Gongzi) wants to ask Shen Gong to set off now, take Zigao's carriage, and the speed can be faster!" ”

Shen Baoxu nodded and said, "Okay, no problem!" The old man can set off now, but the carriage needs to be ready! ”

But Shen Baoxu still couldn't set off quickly, because just as he was preparing the carriage, a soldier came to report, and hundreds of Han soldiers rode outside the camp and shouted: "Jing Manzi, three days later!" Dare to fight! ”

Shen Baoxu had to delay his time to discuss with Ye Gong and them.

Shen Baoxu's face was a little panicked and said, "Yang Zilu probably knows about Qin Jun's affairs. The reason why the battle is now scheduled for the third day is to spread the news of the invasion of the Qin army, so that the hearts of our army can be disturbed by the time. If it is a war, I am afraid that this battle will be more defeated than won. But if you don't fight, you will lose morale, and in the future, you will face the Han army even more, and our army will probably be timid before fighting! Yang Zilu is really calculating! ”

Ye Gong gritted his teeth and said, "Yang Zilu really bullied me, and there is no one in the Great Chu Kingdom!" Send someone to inform all the armies, prepare everything, and fight with the Han army in three days! ”

Shen Baoxu frowned and persuaded: "Zigao, you don't have to be like this, it's too risky to start a war with the Han army." Winning is good, but it's on the move. The state of Chu will not have a large army to deal with the Han army! ”

Ziguo also chimed in: "Marshal, the current situation is indeed unfavorable to our army, I think it's okay to endure it for a while!" ”

Ye Gong smiled bitterly when he heard this: "I don't know what Shen Gong and Ziguo said!" But now our enemies are Han and Qin, but after a long time, will Yue take the opportunity to stab us in the back? There are also the Ba country in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the southern barbarian Baipu (now Hubei Province, south of the Yangtze River and other barbarians. Wait, even though they don't do anything now, do you think they're going to be in peace? Won't you take this opportunity to cut a piece of meat on the Chu State? Especially Baipu, they want to break away from the rule of Chu all the time. And now that our forces are constrained, if they raise troops against our Chu State in the future, it will be even more difficult at that time! So now the only thing I can do is give it a try! Otherwise, when the time comes, there will be no capital to fight if you want to! ”

When Shen Baoxu heard this, he was silent for a while, sighed and said: "Zigao, you have to see farther than the old man, the old man!" The only thing I can do is to help you keep an eye on the rear, your direction! If it really doesn't work, our Chu State will ask for peace with the Han State! ”

…… Han Army Camp ......

"Lord, the Chu army outside the camp sent someone to send a roll of bamboo slips, saying that it was a letter written by Ye Gong, the marshal of the Chu army, to the lord!" A soldier respectfully walked into the tent, knelt down on one knee, and raised a bamboo slip in the air with both hands.

Yang Zilu muttered curiously when she heard this: "I don't know what Ye Gong's letter to the widow means?" Is it a tactful refusal, or is it an invitation to war? ”

While Yang Zilu was talking to himself, Zigong stepped forward, picked up the bamboo slips in the soldier's hands, and ordered: "Go down!" ”

"No!" The soldier answered and slowly withdrew.

Zigong placed the bamboo slip on the wooden table in front of Yang Zilu.

Yang Zilu slowly opened the bamboo slip, Yang Zilu looked at the content of the bamboo slip and smiled. "I didn't expect Ye Gong to have so much courage! actually agreed to the agreement of the widow to fight in front of the open space of the camps of the two sides after three days! ”

Hou Xiong touched the beard on his chin and said, "In this way, I'm afraid that Ye Gong has something to rely on, otherwise he would not have agreed." And the minister thinks that he is not relying on the soldiers and horses in his hands! Although there are 150,000 Chu troops, more than half of them are composed of newly recruited people, needless to say, the armor is not neat, and the military spirit is not as firm as the veterans! ”

Zigong also nodded thoughtfully and said: "Lord, what Hou Xiong said is very true, just like what the Lord said before, Ye Gong is not decisive enough to deal with people. Although it can be said that the situation is forced by the times to have such courage this time, Ye Gong may dare to do so because of his dependence! Otherwise, how could it be possible to become decisive all of a sudden? ”

Yang Zilu nodded when he heard this, and said: "What you said is not wrong, but now it is time to have to fight, no matter what tricks Ye Gong has, only the widow is cautious and careful, even if he comes up with a hundred strategies, it is useless!" The conspiracy is under absolute strength, everything is scum! ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zilu paused and said: "Tomorrow, except for the armored cavalry, the other cavalry will stay in the field and will not be allowed to enter the mountains and forests, while the armored cavalry will change into light equipment and set off." The armoured mounts are all mountain bantams, and running in the mountains is not much worse than running on flat ground. Two thousand horsemen are enough for a widow! ”

Hou Xiong nodded, and stopped talking, but in the end he didn't say what was in his heart.

When Zigong heard this, he said thoughtfully: "Does the lord suspect that Ye Gong is preparing to set up an ambush in the mountains and forests?" ”

"Hmm!" Yang Zilu nodded and said: "Baiju is located between Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, only to the east and west, just pick one side and run around, it is a dense forest, easy to ambush soldiers." If we chase and kill, we are likely to be ambushed! So what the widow wants this time is just Baiju! After taking Baiju, no matter how Ye Gong retreated, he couldn't be faster than the widow's cavalry! More than 100,000 troops are trapped in the mountains, and the widows want to see how long the Chu army can support! ”

When Zigong heard this, the worry in his heart did not decrease, he thought for a while, and suggested to Yang Zilu: "Lord, be careful in everything!" It is better to let Bai Gongsheng and the soldiers sent by Wu Guo take the lead, even if Ye Gong has any conspiracy, they can also bear it instead of our Han army. What losses are better than the losses of our Han army! ”

Yang Zilu waved his hand disappreciably and said, "How can this be!" Although the battle of the widows was nominally to support the orthodoxy of the Chu State, have you noticed that although the cities captured by the widows along the way were appointed by Bai Gongsheng. However, in terms of garrison, on the grounds that Bai Gongsheng did not have many troops and could not be wasted, the Han army was stationed instead. For what, don't you understand? If the widow let Bai Gongsheng's soldiers and horses be the vanguard, if he wins, then he will give Bai Gongsheng the opportunity to be captured in a big way, and even let Bai Gongsheng enter Baiju first and seize Baiju's materials. I'm afraid that the widow won't be able to control Bai Gongsheng at that time! ”

Speaking of this, Yang Zilu paused, and then said: "In addition, you all know the quality of Bai Gongsheng's men and Wu Jun, in case Ye Gongsheng really wants to fight with the widow in a dignified manner." Aren't we the vanguard frustrated? In this way, Chu Jun can pull back a game. In this way, in terms of victory and defeat, our Han army will lower its hope of victory. So tomorrow's main force must be our Han army, and the widow must ensure that the Chu army can be defeated! ”

When Zigong heard this, he looked at the ambitious Yang Zilu, he could only be silent, and sighed secretly in his heart, he just hoped that Ye Gongzhen would be hot-headed for a while, not that he would have any certainty of defeating the Han army.

(To be continued)