In November of the third year of Qin III, the Central Plains north of the Huai River had become a boiling furnace. On the dense river, the banner of the Han army covered the entire river, and the endless flow of large and small ships continued to come and go on both sides of the river, transporting a boatload of soldiers and baggage to the opposite bank.

Because Xiang Yu's main army was still in Qidi, and Ji Bu's army was defeated under Daliang City, the Chu land in Huaibei was extremely empty. Liu Bang's three-way army did not encounter any resistance along the way, and easily joined Pengcheng and surrounded Pengcheng. Fan Zeng and Ji Bu gathered 50,000 remnants of the army, and on the one hand, they stepped up the consolidation of the city defenses, and on the other hand, they sent envoys to the south to recruit soldiers.

Liu Bangpei County claimed to be the son of the Red Emperor when he raised the army, so the banners and costumes of the Han army were still red, which was unique among the princes' armies and was very easy to identify. After entering the Chu region, Liu Bang's army progressed very smoothly, and successively recovered Dang County, Surabaya County, Dong County, Chen County, and Xue County.

Liu Bang raised troops from Pei County, Chu, and was originally a Chu person, and most of his generals and officials were local to Chu State, so the Chu people in Huaibei did not have any strong resistance to Liu Bangzhi. In addition, Liu Bang has always sold his reputation and reputation, and is known for his benevolence and righteousness among the princes, and after occupying the Chu land, everything is as usual, and the officials of the Chu State who are willing to take refuge in him are all retained, and these means also allowed him to quickly pacify Huaibei.

Although Liu Bang was proud at this time, he thought that most of the world had fallen into his hands, and arrogance inevitably rose in his heart. But deep down in his heart, he is still very jealous of Xiang Yu, you must know that there are still 200,000 elites of Xiang Yu's Chu army in Qidi, as long as Xiang Yu does not die for a day, he Liu Bang is like a fish in his throat, and it is difficult to sleep and eat, even if he indulges in lust, it is difficult to have fun. Therefore, on the one hand, he sent the general Xiahou Ying to lead heavy troops to deploy in Xue County at the junction of Qi and Chu to prevent Xiang Yu's army from suddenly returning from Qidi; On the other hand, he sent people to contact Tian Heng in Qi and agreed to share the world of Chu State.

Liu Bang's various arrangements seemed foolproof to him, and he hoped that Xiang Yu would really be able to wave his army back to help Pengcheng. As long as Xiang Yu's army comes back to help, Xiahou Ying's troops are enough to block it for a while, and then the Qi army that followed and the princes who came south to reinforce can easily encircle and annihilate Xiang Yu. If Xiang Yu does not come back to help, then Liu Bang will strike while the iron is hot, pull out the nail of Pengcheng, and then wave his army to the south, and take all the Chu land in Huainan Jiangdong into his pocket.

Liu Bang's wishful thinking is very good, and it is also very reasonable, everything seems to be under his control, the only thing that makes him a little worried is how Xiang Yu will make the next move to deal with his offensive. Xiang Yu is not a person who is willing to be trapped, he is very good at creating miracles. In the Battle of Julu, no one in the world was optimistic about the anti-Qin princes' army, which was already in a bad situation, but Xiang Yu's terrifying self-confidence and combat power made everyone dumbfounded.

As for the powerful Qin State in Guanzhong, Liu Bangzhi was not very worried that Han Xin would suddenly intervene, because his secret agent in Guanzhong reported news that made him feel at ease. Qin Ziying and Han Xin have already had a fierce conflict, and the entire Qin State has been involved in this conflict over power, even if either Ziying and Han Xin win, then the Qin State will definitely be greatly damaged in the internal strife, and will definitely be eager to appease the people and have no time to look east. If Liu Bang pacified Chu and could command the princes of the world, he was still afraid of what Qin would do at that time, even if he attacked Guanzhong to take Han Xin's head, it would not be a difficult task.

So Liu Bang feels that the good luck in the world is on his side, if he doesn't take advantage of the situation to pocket the world, it will really be intolerable.

Pengcheng, the palace of the king of Chu.

Although Xiang Yu is the co-lord of the world, he does not like the opulence and luxury, so his palace is only built with clear outlines and is extremely solemn. Although he is said to be lonely and likes to be lonely, on the contrary, he often summons his confidants and lovers to enter the palace to drink and have fun together, plus Xiang Yu never forgets Wu Cheng's Yu Miaoyi, and has never accepted a concubine to marry a concubine, and there are no famous female dependents in this palace, so there is a lot less avoidance. Therefore, the palace of the king of Chu is not so much Xiang Yu's personal belonging, but more like a large military camp, and his henchmen can enter and leave it freely.

The palace of Chu is located in the center of Pengcheng, and the four city gates are connected by gallops for easy command, so Fan Zeng honestly and unceremoniously requisitioned the palace directly as the camp of the Chinese army to command the defense of the Chu army in the city.

If there is still one person in the Chu State who does not need to look up to Xiang Yu's snort, it is probably Fan Zeng. He was worshiped by Xiang Yu as his father, and his status was extremely respectful, as if he was above many courtiers. And he has an extremely strong temperament, and many times when he disagrees with Xiang Yu, he speaks loudly, and Xiang Yu can't get off the stage in front of everyone. Xiang Yu, who had been arrogant over time, also became disgusted with Fan Zeng, and it was difficult to refute him in person, so he often avoided him, for example, this expedition to Qi left Fan Zeng in Pengcheng, for fear that he would keep talking crookedly in his ear.

Xiang Yu's thoughts were so much that he didn't care, he felt that he was an elder and Xiang Yu was his nephew, even if Xiang Yu didn't want to listen to him, he had to say it. Although Xiang Yu had a gap in his heart, he still worked tirelessly for Xiang Yu's Chu State, and he did not slack off at all.

Now that the Han army is besieging the city, he is busy reinforcing the city defense day and night, and he got up early in the morning today to inspect the city wall, and then came to the political hall in the palace.

Before he approached the hall, he heard snoring from a distance, Fan Zeng smiled slightly in his heart, and when he walked in, he saw Ji Bu lying on the table and sleeping soundly.

Last night, the Han army organized a night attack, and Ji Bu personally came to the battlefield to respond calmly before the night attack of the Han army was repulsed, and he was relieved to inspect for another night, until it was almost dawn before he dragged his tired body back to the political hall. I just wanted to take a nap, but I didn't expect to be so tired that I would snore loudly.

Fan Zeng tiptoed lightly, he didn't want to wake up Ji Bu, but he didn't let Ji Bu be extremely alert, and immediately noticed that Huo Ran sat up, and when he saw that it was Fan Zeng, he breathed a sigh of relief, scratched his head a little embarrassed and said, "It's you, Uncle Fan." ”

Fan Zeng nodded, his eyes fell on Ji Bu's haggard cheeks and couldn't help but feel a little distressed. Xiang Yu grew up with these people, and his feelings for each of them were extraordinary, so he couldn't help but feel a little unbearable when he saw Ji Bu working so hard, so he said; "Abu, if you are tired, go to the inner hall to rest, I am here, and there will be no chaos."

Ji Bu shook his head and said; "How can you let Uncle Fan do these physical work of climbing up and down the city wall, if King Xiang knows about it, he won't scold me to death. I've just slept and I'm already feeling refreshed. ”

After speaking, he stretched his waist and waved his fists and kicks as if he was deliberately pretending to be energetic. Fan Zeng couldn't help but smile, no matter how steady and decent these boys were in front of people, they were still as strong and competitive as children in front of their old man. Only Xiang Yu has been lukewarm to himself these days, thinking that he had urged him to temporarily put aside Qi Di and make every effort to solve the Wei State and Zhao State, but he didn't listen, and insisted on going to Qi Di to kill Tian Rong to vent his hatred, and it was Xiang Yu's single-mindedness that put Chu State into this extremely critical predicament.

"Abu, although the Han army has besieged the city these days, the offensive is not fierce, I think they are only coming lightly, and a large number of siege equipment is still being built and hauled. Therefore, Liu Bang's siege of the city these days should be just a bluff to attack us and make us frightened and self-inflicted. I don't think you have to work so hard these days, rest a lot and take care of your body. ”

Ji Bu shook his head, "Don't worry, my body is very strong and supportive." ”

His face showed a look of shame again, and he said in a low voice; "It is precisely because I lost the battle that I put the state of Chu in such a dangerous situation, even if I die a hundred times, it will be difficult to offset my guilt. As long as I still have a breath of air, I will never let Liu Bang succeed. ”

The corners of Fan Zeng's mouth moved slightly, and he sighed; "I've said it many times. The defeat of our Chu army this time was a strategic mistake on the part of Yu'er, not your fault. It's good that you can fight in the Central Plains for so long with a weak soldier. If it weren't for Liu Bang's sudden killing, you wouldn't have lost the opportunity to return defeated. Seven points of war mistake, three points of providence, so it has nothing to do with you. ”

Ji Bu gritted his teeth and insisted: "Uncle Fan, you don't have to comfort me, I, Ji Bu, am not a person who can't afford to lose, a victory is a victory or a defeat, there is nothing to be ashamed of." Although I lost to Liu Bang now, I will win back ten times in the future. ”

Fan Zeng smiled when he heard this, "It's best if you think so, I'm still worried that you will collapse, this is a big loss for me, you must know that Yu'er has too few people he can trust now." ”

The two of them had a hasty breakfast together, and then sat down together to discuss the affairs of the city. When talking about the city defense, Ji Bu couldn't help but Zou Mei said; "Uncle Fan, although Pengcheng is the capital of our Chu State, the solidity of the city and the support of the location are far inferior to the big city of Luoyang Xingyang in the Central Plains, and even Wucheng is not comparable. Once we stick to it, once the Han army cuts off the way south, it will become a lonely city, which will be very dangerous. How about giving up Pengcheng and heading south while the city in the south is still in our hands? ”

"You must know that the root of our Chu State is in the land of Huainan, especially the three counties of Jiangdong, where the Xiang clan has been the henchmen of several generations, and when you get there, you can easily collect 100,000 Jiangdong sons and daughters with just a shout, and when we wave our army north to fight Liu Bang with King Xiang, wouldn't it be better than to be trapped here?"

Fan Zeng's face hesitated for a while, and then he slowly shook his head and said: "It's not that I haven't considered what you said, tactically speaking, Pengcheng is indeed not a place to stay for a long time. But since you are the number one general of the Chu State, you can't just be limited to the gains and losses of one city, one place and one army, you must have an overall vision. ”

"Sun Tzu's art of war is cloudy, those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a domain, you and I are for the left arm and right arm of King Xiang, so naturally everything has to think about Yu'er's great cause. He set up the capital Pengcheng to command the world, if even the capital was abandoned by Liu Bang today, what majesty could be used to command the world. Don't forget that there are also the kings of Linjiang and Wu Rui, the kings of Hengshan, in the south, they are not good, the reason why they did not respond to Liu Bang is just waiting and watching, if we abandon half of the country, then they will definitely not hesitate to swarm with them. ”

"Besides, if the news of Pengcheng's loss reaches the Yu'er army, it will definitely be a big blow to the morale of the soldiers, and the gains will outweigh the losses."

Ji Bu was ashamed for a while, then looked ashamed, lowered his head and said convincingly; "Thank you Uncle Fan for your advice, it's because I'm short-sighted, I only care about temporary gains and losses, and I almost lose a big one because of a small one."

Fan Zeng stroked his beard lightly, smiled, and said; "Now we just need to follow Yu'er's instructions and stick to Pengcheng, and the rest will be left to him."

Ji Bu hesitated slightly and said; "The message sent by King Xiang is only one sentence, 'Stick to Pengcheng and wait and see what happens', but Pengcheng is not a place that can be defended for a long time, Pengcheng will be captured by Liu Bang in ten days at most, what does King Xiang mean? I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I can't think of any way to break the coalition in a short period of time. ”

Fan Zeng thought for a while, and then shook his head; "I can't think of any way, but I think since Yu'er told us so, then he must have a way to break the enemy, all we need to do is firmly believe in him. If we can all easily guess his thoughts, then wouldn't Liu Bang be the same. ”

Ji Bu smiled bitterly when he heard this; "It seems that we can only wait, King Xiang, King Xiang, you must not let your brothers down."

In fact, no one could guess Xiang Yu's thoughts, he was conceiving a shocking rush battle. His 30,000 elite horsemen left Huling from southern Lunan, turned behind the Han army in a big bend of thousands of miles, and finally arrived at Xiao County, southwest of Pengcheng. However, Liu Bang focused his attention on the defense line north of Pengcheng, thinking that it was the only way for Xiang Yu's army to go south, but he did not expect Xiang Yu to abandon the army, and just rode around the road.

The reason why Xiang Yu is Xiang Yu is because he is always unexpected and does not play cards according to common sense at all. When the opponent is the most paralyzed and the most dismissive, that is when he will be killed.

Xiao County is only a small city, and there are only 3,000 old and weak soldiers to guard against a small reinforcement force from the south of Chu State. Xiang Yu quickly captured the defenseless Xiao County, rested in the city for several hours, and replenished the manpower and horsepower. Then he left Xiao County in the night, galloped all the way from west to east, and arrived at the west side of the Han army camp at dawn, and then launched a fierce attack on the Han army camp.

At dawn, it was the time when people were most sleepy in the day, and the Han soldiers who ran out of the camp in a hurry couldn't distinguish between the southeast and the northwest, and only saw the overwhelming Chu army iron cavalry rushing to kill. Xiang Yu lined up the cavalry into a dense phalanx, roaring unstoppably like the top of a mountain and river, crushing all the delusional resistance in front of him into dust.

Xiang Yu appeared in the southwest of the most unlikely place, how old and spicy his eyes were, he chose to bite Liu Bang's Chinese army camp and chase and fight all the way, ignoring the reactions of the other princes. Liu Bang hurriedly urged his generals to lead the hastily assembled legions to meet the attack, but they were crushed one by one under the iron hooves of the Chu army.

This cavalry has followed Xiang Yu for many years, and has long been well aware of Xiang Yu's tactics and command. They continued to defeat the Han army that came up one by one, driving the rout with sabers and constantly attacking their allies, and Liu Bang's Chinese army banner became the target of the Chu army's attack.

The other princes were stunned and watched the chaotic Han army camp, but they did not receive the military order from Liu Bang for a long time, so they had to watch from the side without moving. Where did you think that Liu Bang was being chased by Xiang Yu at this time, how could he have time to give instructions.

The Han army finally collapsed, and the 200,000 army was defeated like a mountain, and it rushed towards the friendly camp in a panic driven by the hooves of the 30,000 Chu army. The Zhao army and the Han army, which bore the brunt of the attack, were soon engulfed in chaos and were forced to join the rout. Soon, the entire coalition army joined the ranks of the rout, and the various princes were as pale as dirt, terrified in the face of this inexplicable rout, and just fled desperately with their men.

Xiang Yu was undoubtedly a genius of war, he chose the right place at the right time, and caused the greatest panic to the enemy with the smallest number of troops. His cavalry was commanded by him one by one, like arms, constantly driving the enemy's routs to be the vanguard for them and attacking the enemy.

Because of the panic, the coalition forces trampled on each other, and there were countless casualties, but there were very few who really died under the swords of the Chu army. The Chu army, on the other hand, maintained a neat queue and drove the allied routs that could not be seen at a glance towards Gushui and Surabaya in the south. This feather attacked again and killed more than 100,000 people of the coalition army. In order to survive, the coalition army desperately fled south and fled to the east of Lingbi in the south, so that the coalition forces killed each other and were squeezed into the water by more than 100,000. The entire Suishui was covered with the corpses of the coalition troops, and a dense thick layer floated on the water.

Liu Bang fought desperately out of the encirclement under the escort of Fan Xu, grabbed the bridge and crossed the Suishui, but was bitten by Xiang Yu's army in Heyue. The enemy's eyes were red when he saw the outside, and when the baby saw the enemy who killed his father, his eyes were red, and he roared and waved his knife to kill Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu was bent on chasing and killing Liu Bang without intending to entangle him, and the halberd stabbed the infant like lightning, and the infant was stabbed off the horse in just three moves, and the horse chased directly to Liu Bang's carriage.

Seeing that Liu Bang's carriage was too obvious, Fan Hao took off Liu Bang's clothes in a panic and changed them with another soldier of similar stature, and asked him to pretend to be the King of Han and be escorted by Fan Hao to flee to the north. Seeing this, Xiang Yu was really fooled, and immediately led his troops to chase after him and bite this Han army to death.

Although Fan Xu was brave and unparalleled, he was still not Xiang Yu's opponent, and after only a few rounds of fighting, he was shocked in his heart, thinking to himself how could there be such a powerful person in the world, and he was not an opponent. In his heart, he was afraid to flee after a few moves, and Xiang Yu stared at Liu Bang and let him escape.

After killing the fake Liu Bang Xiang Yu who was pretending to be fooled, he roared angrily, and immediately turned around with his guards and chased after him again. Xiang Yu's personal guards are all thousands of miles of BMW under his crotch, and the speed is far from being comparable to ordinary knights, and sure enough, in Liu Bang's hometown Pei County, he caught up with the remnants of Liu Bang who fled east in a hurry.

Liu Bang was so frightened when he saw Xiang Yu coming, where did he dare to resist, he hurriedly climbed into an inconspicuous carriage and ran out of the city, throwing his father, wife and three children to Xiang Yu who had no time to announce in the city.