Linzi, in the palace of ten thousand years.

Liu Bang hadn't closed his eyes for a whole day and a night, and since the news of defeat came from the front, he had been restless, and his heart was extremely depressed.

Zhou Bo was not Han Xin's opponent, which was also something he expected, but he didn't lose so quickly. Originally, he wanted to rely on the big river as a line of defense to cut off the Qin army's southward movement, but now it has come to naught.

What made him even more angry was that he sent an envoy to seek an alliance with Xiang Yu, wanting to rely on the joint efforts of the two families to resist the fierce offensive of the Qin army. According to Liu Bang's idea, the enemy's enemy is naturally a friend, and now that Qin and Chu are fighting in the Central Plains, the Chu army is naturally no longer an enemy but a friendly army.

For example, today's trend has been clear, and after swallowing the fifteen counties of Hebei, the territory of the Qin State has been restored to the territory after the destruction of the Three Jin Dynasty in the Unification War. Ten points in the world, Qin has accounted for five points, and Chu only accounts for three points, Han and other small vassal states account for two points, if Xiang Yu wants to compete with Han Xin in the Central Plains, then he must unite himself as a constraint for the Qin army. Besides, in the final analysis, Liu Bang and his subordinates are also Chu people, and everyone fights for the world of the Chu people, while the Qin State is completely different.

Although the main force of the Chu army has been deeply trapped in the Central Plains, in order to defend against the Han army's robbery, Xiang Yu still deployed tens of thousands of elites on the front line of Pengcheng, and the corresponding Han army also stationed a considerable army on the southern front. If these horses can be transferred to Qidi, the strength of the Han army will inevitably increase greatly, and it will have a few more chances of winning against the Qin army.

It's a pity that Liu Bang is not Xiang Yu, and he can't see through Xiang Yu's thoughts. Xiang Yu not only did not promise, but humiliated Liu Bang on the messenger very arrogantly. Xiang Yu asked the Han envoy's ears and tongue to be cut off, pierced his eyes, and then expelled back to the Han Kingdom, only to let the entourage bring a sentence to Liu Bang, "I, Xiang Yu, am such a hero, how can I be in the company of rats like you." ”

Xiang Yu's contempt made Liu Bang furious, and in a fit of rage, he almost ordered to wave his troops and directly attack the state of Chu to avenge his hatred.

Since it was impossible for the reinforcements of the Chu State to arrive, Liu Bang had no choice but to rack his brains to find a way to resist the attack of the Qin army on his own. This is also his trouble, although the Han army is still twice as large as the Qin army, but the quality of it is self-evident. Besides, most of the Han kingdoms, from Liu Bang to the soldiers, had an instinctive fear of the Qin army, because Liu Bang had not won a decent victory since he fought Han Xin. The two armies had not yet fought, and the Han army had already lost half a point in momentum.

When Chen Ping hurried to the palace, Xiao He had already arrived, and he was browning there with his head down, while Liu Bang on the seat was sighing there.

"See King Han." Chen Ping bowed hastily.

"Sit down." Liu Bang waved his hand and replied weakly.

"King Xie Han."

Chen Ping straightened up and thanked him, and walked to Xiao He's lower position and sat down. Xiao He raised his head and swept his gaze, bowing his head slightly, as if he had said hello to Chen Ping. Chen Ping didn't dare to be casual, and hurriedly arched his hand.

Now Xiao He and Chen Ping have become Liu Bang's left arm and right arm, one is the left Xiangguo, and the other is the right Xiangguo. Although the political views of the two are different from time to time, and they have quarreled in the court, this does not mean that the two are on the same page. In fact, Xiao He and Chen Ping both knew that they were all trying their best to assist Liu Bang, although their methods were different, but their purposes were the same. They have all pinned their lives, honors, disgraces, and wealth on Liu Bang alone, so there is no conflict between the two at root.

Chen Ping is a smart person, he knows that although Liu Bang now values himself and calls himself to inquire about everything, on the contrary, Xiao He is often busy with government affairs and rarely enters the palace, but this does not mean that Liu Bang is alienated from Xiao He. The friendship between them is not comparable to the ordinary relationship between monarchs and ministers, but more like the righteousness of brothers who cherish each other in troubled times.

Without Xiao He, Liu Bang would most likely be annihilated in the hustle and bustle of this troubled world, and without Liu Bang, Xiao He could most likely only regret his life in the position of a small county official.

Therefore, although Chen Ping won Liu Bang's trust, he wisely chose to be respectful to Xiao He, and the two often quarreled politically, and even looked at each other angrily, but the etiquette in private never fell. This is also what Liu Bang is happy to see.

Liu Bang's brows tightened, and he could see that he was in a very bad mood, very bad. Chen Ping was not surprised, if he was Liu Bang, he would probably react like this after learning the news that the front line had been lost.

Thinking of this, Chen Ping opened his mouth and said with relief: "King Han, things have not reached the point where they are out of control, although General Zhou has suffered a small setback, the main force of our army still exists, and the Qin army has few soldiers after all, and it is an expedition of laborers." Who will win and who will lose is not yet known, and the king of Han does not need to worry too much. ”

Liu Bang sighed and said helplessly; "To tell you the truth, I'm really a little scared, this Han Xin is my nemesis at all, every time I meet him, I will be unlucky, I'm afraid this time is no exception."

Chen Ping couldn't help but be speechless, and he was stunned for a long time, so he had to sigh and say; "King Han, planning is in the sky, we just need to do our own thing, if God does not love us, it is also helpless. The big husband can be vigorous and vigorous, and there is no need to filter too much. ”

Xiao He, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but be a little impressed when he saw that Chen Ping could say such heroic words, and his eyes were also different. After hearing this, Liu Bang seemed to have an understanding, nodded heavily, looked up to the sky and said with a smile: "You are right, life is only a few decades in the world, and I, Liu Bang, have nothing, and it is a big deal to lose all the things I have won back, I am afraid that he will have a ball." ”

Liu Bang spread out the map, pointed and said; "Come, you two of my brains, give me ideas on how to get through this."

Xiao He pondered for a long time before he opened his mouth and smiled bitterly; "King Han, don't embarrass me, I can't think of any good way to come, if I really have to say it, then I can only say that stick to the city and try not to fight with the Qin army, this is the best policy."

Liu Bang looked at Chen Ping and asked; "What about you?"

Chen Ping paused before saying; "I have the same opinion as Xiao Xiangguo, the Qin army is a new and victorious division, and it will not benefit our army to fight head-to-head. It is better to withdraw the main army to various cities and rely on the city wall to hold the Qi land, Tian Hengbu also relied on this to drag down Xiang Yu back then, we might as well borrow it. ”

Liu Bang Zou Mei said; "This is too general, could it be that we only defend the city, so that we can drag down the Qin army?"

Chen Ping nodded affirmatively, "As long as we can hold on, then we will definitely be able to." ”

"Why?"

Chen Ping was not in a hurry to answer, and asked rhetorically, "King Han, what do you think is the most important thing in fighting a war?" ”

"The army? Generals? Morale? ”

Liu Bang said a few things in a row, but they were all vetoed by Chen Ping one by one, and gradually showed impatience on his face, urging; "Say anything quickly, stop talking nonsense, it's time to burn your eyebrows."

Chen Ping glanced at Xiao He and arched his hand; "I think Xiao Xiangguo should know."

"It's grain." Xiao He replied lightly.

"The three armies have not moved, the grain and grass go first, if there is no grain and grass, no matter how good he is, he can only collapse without a fight."

Chen Ping nodded, "What Xiang Guo said is extremely true, the reason why the Qin State was able to achieve the cause of the overlord in the past was nothing more than that there were two natural granaries in the country, Guanzhong and Bashu, and then relied on the farming and warfare system practiced by Shang Ying, so that it was able to mobilize a million troops and people to participate in the war in the Battle of Changping, which took half a year. ”

Liu Bang said thoughtfully; "You mean that the Qin army may be short of food?"

"It's not possible, it's certain." Chen Ping asserted.

"The Qin State has been recuperating for the past year and a half, but it has maintained a skirmish to grow its national strength, and now although it has recaptured the Bashu granary, it may not have much effect if the operation time is too short. Han Xin first sent troops to the Central Plains, and then made a surprise attack to pacify Hebei, and now the war has lasted for more than two months, I expect that their grain stocks will be exhausted. ”

"Besides, Hebei is a newly harvested land, and it is very good not to consume the grain in Qin, and the Qin army will attack our Han State, and it will inevitably come from Guanzhong to transport grain from thousands of miles, among which the consumption on the Minfu Road is an astronomical amount, according to the current national strength of Qin, it will not last, so Han Xin can only quickly capture Qidi, otherwise he will run out of food and retreat."

This is Xiao He also interjected: "I think what Lord Chen said is very reasonable, we have always habitually equated the current Qin State with the Qin State during the previous period of destroying the Six Kingdoms, and we always feel that the Qin State does not seem to worry about grain and grass, but in fact, it is not." In the 36th year of the first emperor alone, the loss of the population of the Qin people was worth the loss of Yingzheng's more than ten years of war to destroy the Six Kingdoms, and the Qin State had already suffered a great injury, otherwise it would not have mobilized a mere 300,000 or 400,000 troops to go out of the customs, you must know that Yingzheng sent 600,000 troops to destroy the Chu State. ”

"The Qin army seems to have won great victories in the past two years, but in fact, they have won very dangerously, and each time they have won with fewer victories and more dangers, relying on Han Xin's strategy alone. It seems that it is not that Han Xin is overconfident, but that he tries not to affect the foundation of the country as much as possible in order to recuperate, and every time he wins with a small number of soldiers and horses, he is really unwilling, but just helpless. On the other hand, during the Yingzheng period, although the famous generals were like clouds, whether it was Wang Jian or Wang Ben, the Qin army led by them was far superior to the opponent. ”

Liu Bang had a faint look of excitement on his face, "So it seems that as long as we hold on for a while longer and don't give Han Xin a chance to win quickly, then the Qin State will retreat?"

Chen Ping nodded happily, "Exactly, we only need to retreat to the major cities and give up the opportunity to fight Han Xin, the Qin army will definitely have no way to start, and can only be trapped in Qi and have nothing to do." ”

After a pause, a hint of fierceness flashed in Chen Ping's eyes: "Ping still has a plan, which can fill in the three-point chance of winning for King Han." ”

"Speak quickly, speak quickly." Liu Bang asked excitedly.

"When Xiang Yu's 600,000 troops entered the pass, Han Xincheng saw that Xiang Yu was fighting, so he adopted the method of clearing the field with a strong wall and not allowing the coalition army to get a grain from the pass. This greatly increased the difficulty of the coalition army's siege, and Xiang Yu had to transport grain from Chu for thousands of miles to survive. We might as well treat Han Xin in the same way as others, and let him taste it. ”

"Solid wall clearing." Liu Bang muttered a few times in his mouth, raised his eyes to look at Xiao He, and asked in a deep voice; "Old Xiao, what do you think?"