Xiang Yu led his army to Yingchuan. He heard that the Qin army was guarding Xiangcheng, so he came to attack the city. But after two days of attacking, it was still not conquered. Xiang Yu was very angry, so he asked his sergeants to shout into the city: "From today on, those who surrender will be spared death, and those who resist will be buried alive after the city is broken!" The Qin army relied on the strong city and ignored Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu was furious and attacked the city himself. He held a big shield like a mad lion. After attacking the city, he quickly climbed up the ladder. Xiang Yu rushed to the top of the city, holding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right hand, slashing wildly. All soldiers and generals fell down, and he captured the government office in one fell swoop. In order to fulfill his promise, Xiang Yu asked his sergeants to take all 2,000 surrendered Qin troops and bury them outside the city. When the Qin troops in Yingchuan heard the news, they were all frightened to death, and they became even more determined to resist. After Xiang Yu occupied Xiangcheng, he sent fast horses to investigate the situation at Shenyuan Pass.
One day, Xiang Yu was discussing matters with Yingbu and others in the government office. Suddenly Xiang Taida escaped from Linji with Wei Bao, Zhou Shu, Baizhi, Feng Jing and others. They told the story of their defeat. It turned out that after Wei Bao said goodbye to Wei La, he met up with a few cronies. They heard that Chu general Xiang Qi was camping on the south bank of Jishui, so they came to Xiang Qi's camp to take shelter for a while. Decided not to take any more chances. Xiang Qiu led everyone to Yingchuan to meet Xiang Yu. After Wei Bao saw Xiang Yu, he told the story of King Wei's self-immolation to protect the people. Xiang Yu was very shocked when he heard this and said: "I really didn't expect that in such a short period of time, Zhang Han defeated King Qi's 100,000 troops and captured the capital of Wei. Is this Zhang Han incapable of having three heads and six arms? I'm going to do it now Let’s go meet him and see how capable this old guy is!” When Zhu Jian heard that Xiang Yu was going to meet Zhang Han, he quickly dissuaded him and said, “Now that the Qi army has been defeated, the life and death of King Qi is uncertain, and Linji City has been attacked again. The Qin army has taken over. At this time, we take the risk to attack Zhang Han. We are afraid that we will not have much chance of victory. The general should first withdraw to Xue County and report to Wu Xinjun and ask him to make a decision." Xiang Yu was hesitant and suddenly inquired about Fu Yuan. The sergeant of Guan Guan came back and said that Guan Guan was heavily guarded. Yingbu and others also began to persuade them not to take the risk of entering the army. Xiang Yu thought for a long time and decided to return to Xue County.
King Qi was unconscious in Jiyang. Tian Rong and others wanted to return to Qi, but they were afraid that the bumps on the road would harm King Qi. They persisted for a few days, but the military doctors still failed to rescue Tian Dan. King Qi, who was ambitious but not very talented, actually burped. Shit. Just after they heard that Zhang Han had captured Linji City, Tian Rong quickly took the body of King Qi and fled towards Qi with thousands of remaining defeated soldiers. When they came to Dong'a, they were afraid that Zhang Han would attack and bring disaster to Qi, so they stopped in Dong'a and sent the body of King Qi back to the country for burial. Then they called on the troops to resist the Qin army. At the same time, Tian Rong also asked Chu The state sent a messenger asking for help, preparing to block the Qin army in Dong'a.
Xiang Liang was training troops in Xue County. More than a month later, the army had mastered the essentials of marching, forming formations, and fighting, and all kinds of chariots and siege equipment were almost completed. One day, Xiang Liang and Fan Zeng were reviewing the army, and suddenly news came that the Qi army had been defeated and Zhang Han had captured Linji. Xiang Liang was so shocked that he hurriedly sent someone to inquire about Xiang Yu's situation. A few days later, people reported that Xiang Yu had returned with Wei Bao and others. Xiang Liang quickly summoned them to inquire about the situation. Wei Bao recounted what had happened in detail. When it came to King Wei's self-immolation to protect the people, he couldn't help but burst into tears. Xiang Liang said emotionally: "Chu and Qin are also incompatible with each other, and the decisive battle will happen sooner or later. General, please express your condolences, I will avenge you!" Suddenly, the envoy from Qi State also arrived at Chu State, and announced that the King of Qi was dead. Zhang Han launched another large-scale attack on Qi, and the Qi army retreated to Dong'a. Xiang Liang knew that Qi State was facing another disaster at this time, so he asked Fan Zeng what to do. Fan Zeng said firmly: "Zhang Han's next target is Qi State." We can fight him! "
The two of them led Qi's envoys and Wei Bao to see King Huai of Chu. They told King Huai of Qi's emergency situation, and then spoke generously: "Your Majesty, in today's Qin State, the second generation is unethical, and Zhao The high power has made the people miserable. In just a few months since Zhang Han came out of the customs, he has conquered two countries one after another, and also caused a heavy damage to a big country. The death of the King of Qi shows the extent of the Qin army's rampage. Now the atrocities committed by the Qin army have made people in Shandong panic. Zhang Han relied on the power of Qin when he conquered the six kingdoms to attack Qi. If Qi was captured by Zhang Han, the Qin army would be even stronger. Now Our Chu State has been stabilized, our troops have grown to more than 100,000, and our chariots and siege equipment have all been built. It is a great time to conquer Qin!" After hearing Xiang Liang's words, King Huai was overjoyed and said: "Love What you said is absolutely correct. Do you two have the same idea?" Fan Zeng said: "My idea is the same as that of Lord Wu Xin. The two of us cautiously report to the king: Now we can officially send out troops to attack Qin." King Huai saw that He was even more excited and said: "I have been living among the people for more than ten years. Thanks to Lord Wu Xin and Old General Fan for their loyalty and their loyal ambition to restore the Chu Kingdom, I have inherited the legacy of the late king. What's more, what you have done What you have done is a righteous act that a loyal minister should do. I hope that Xiang Qing will inherit your father Xiang Yan's loyalty and martyrdom, and formulate a plan with General Fan to attack Qin, and send troops to attack Qin immediately. I will give you your full help!"
Fan Zeng said again, "I have one more thing to do." King Huai said, "It doesn't matter." Fan Zeng then spoke eloquently: "In the past, Qin occupied the dangerous strategic points of Wei and Han and protected Guanzhong. This was based on the richness of Guanzhong, allowing Qin to advance and retreat on its own, and eventually swept the world and unified the six countries. Now Lord Wu Xin Raise troops from Wuzhong and cross the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. The big rivers and Huaihe River can also be regarded as natural dangers, just like the Qin State's Weishan Mountain and Hangu Pass, while the prosperous Jiangnan can be likened to the Qin State's Guanzhong. If the Chu State Being able to occupy the wealth in the south of the Yangtze River and the dangerous points of the Jiang and Huaihe Rivers can also be used as the basis for contesting with Qin in the future. Now the king should set off to Xutai, which is very close to the south of the Yangtze River. If the Northern Expedition does not go well, you can also retreat to Wu I will be on guard and continue to order the people to fight against Qin. I am just worried about the safety of the king, so I ask the king for his advice." King Huai smiled and said, "What you said is exactly what I want. I should drive to Xutai immediately." Xiang Liang asked King Huai again. It was recommended: "Lu Chen's father, Lu Qing, is a loyal elder. Let him assist the king with Shangzhu Kingdom." King Huai also agreed very much and immediately named Lu Qing a Situ. Wu Xinjun selected another 10,000 soldiers and an honor guard of 500 soldiers to escort King Huai southward. King Huai set out immediately. When he left Xue County, the soldiers all went out of the city to see him off, and the scene was very grand. King Huai also issued an order not to disturb the people along the way. In this way, the people all burned incense and lined the streets to welcome King Huai. The people ate pots of pulp along the way, and more and more people joined the army.
After King Huai left, Xiang Liang summoned all the soldiers to the general's mansion to listen to orders. Xiang Liang divided the Northern Expedition into four groups: the first group had Xiang Yu as the chief general, Zhu Jian as the marching commander, Yingbu and Pu as deputy generals, and ten generals, leading 20,000 cavalry. In the second route, Liu Bang served as the chief general, Lu Chen and Cao Shen served as deputy generals, and Xiao He served as the marching Sima, leading his own horse and infantry troops of 10,000 people in the center. Wu Xinjun personally served as the commander of the third route, Fan Zeng served as General Pi and deputy military advisor, Shen Mu was the military advisor, Song Yi was the marching Sima, Ji Bu, Zhong Limei, Huan Chu, and Yu Ying were deputy generals, and Zhao Ping was the captain. Thousands of chariots and one hundred thousand infantry. On the fourth route, Xiang Bo was the chief general and also in charge of the Su Duwei. Yu Ziqi served as the grain escort officer. Xiang Zhuang, Ding Gong, Xue Gong and others served as deputy generals. He led 20,000 sergeants to escort grain carts, nest carts, crash carts, and Siege equipment such as trammelers, ladders, sinking machines, and crossbows, as well as military supplies such as tents for camping, were selected to officially launch on the Jiazi day in the autumn and seventh month of the first year of King Huai.
On the day of departure, all the soldiers reported to the school grounds. They saw military flags and halberds shining brightly. The Chu army has a total of 150,000, and is known as 200,000. Xiang Liang killed animals to sacrifice the flag, and also paid homage to Chi You, the God of War, and then encouraged the soldiers: "In the past, when our great King Huai of Chu served as the commander-in-chief of the six kingdoms, how powerful was Chu? But later, Qin repeatedly deceived Chu. The war in Chu State was not going well. The three battles fought by King Huai at that time were frustrated one after another, and his dominance was gone. Thinking about the shamelessness, arrogance, and unreasonableness of the Qin State, it is simply too numerous to describe and outrageous: especially It was Zhang Yi, the unjust man, who actually deceived the Chu State by saying that the land of six miles was six hundred miles. Later, King Huai of Chu was deceived by King Zhaoxiang of Qin and detained in Wuguan, and finally died pitifully in the State of Qin. These old hatreds have deeply hurt every Chu people. Although Ying Zheng conquered the land of Chu with powerful force more than ten years ago, he could not conquer the hearts of the Chu people in the end! Soldiers, Who wants to be a slave to the subjugation of the country? If a person has no faith, he will not be established, and if the country has no faith, it will perish! The Qin State is so unreasonable, so our prophet Nan Gong said: "Although Chu has three households, if Qin is destroyed, Chu will definitely die"! This is A prophecy, but also a curse: As long as the Qin Kingdom is destroyed, we Chu people will never give up! The Chu Kingdom is thousands of miles away and there are millions of people with lofty ideals. How can we be willing to be the slaves of the Qin people? Seventy years ago, the loyal The great martyr Dr. Qu Yuan would rather throw himself into the river and die than become a slave to the country's subjugation. This feat still inspires our patriotism!" Xiang Liang's words were like a wake-up call, and they were also inspiring. They all shouted in unison: "Although Chu has three households, if Qin is destroyed, Chu will definitely die!" Then the Chu army marched north in a mighty manner.
The vanguard led by Xiang Yu passed Huling and came to Kangfu. At this time, Tian Rong's messenger for help arrived again. After seeing Xiang Yu, he said: "The Qin army has arrived in Dong'a. Please come to rescue the general as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the city falls, the Qin army will march eastward and Qin will be finished!" After saying that, I burst into tears. Xiang Yu immediately reported to his uncle. After receiving the report, Xiang Liang said impassionedly: "Since ancient times, rescuing people has been like putting out fires. Soldiers need to be quick. If I don't rescue them all, who will?" After saying this, he urgently ordered the entire army to speed up.
Tian Heng heard that Zhang Han had surrounded the city of Dong'a, so he led an overwhelming army to rescue Dong'a. In order to boost morale, Tian Heng first set up a mourning hall for the King of Qi after arriving in Dong'a to encourage the soldiers, and then said: "Qi and Qin are not at odds! We must kill Zhang Han, wash away Linji's hatred with blood, and replace Linji's hatred with blood. Your Majesty, take revenge." After saying this, he led his soldiers to attack the Qin army's camp. When Zhang Han saw Qi's army coming to rescue him, he immediately led his army to fight against Tian Heng. The two sides fought fiercely on the wide plains east of the city, and the Qi army suffered another disastrous defeat. After Tian Heng was defeated, he fled to Changping.
Zhang Han defeated Tian Heng's army and became even more unscrupulous. He surrounded Dong'a and attacked day and night. Suddenly, he reported that the Chu army had arrived. Zhang Han was not nervous at all when he heard that the Chu army was coming to rescue him, because he had defeated 100,000 Qi troops some time ago, so he didn't take the Chu army to heart at all. Dong Yi and Zhang Ping said humanly: "Since our army came out of the pass, we have successively killed Zhou Wen, defeated Wu Guang, conquered Tian Zang, destroyed Chen Sheng, killed Tian Dan, burned Wei Jiu, chased Tian Rong, and defeated Tian Heng. We are invincible. Now we have What's there to fear from millions of Chu soldiers? Besides, Xiang Liang's Chu troops are just vagabonds who have just been gathered together, they are just a mob. When Xiang Liang comes, we are willing to take the lead, and we can capture Xiang Liang alive in one battle, hahaha !”
But Li You was worried and said: "I heard that the general of the Chu army is none other than Xiang Liang. Xiang Liang is the son of Xiang Yan. With Xiang Yan's reputation, his descendants must have some tricks. We can't underestimate him too much. !" As soon as he finished speaking, a man stepped forward and shouted: "General, don't let other people's ambitions destroy your own prestige! If Xiang Liang comes, I will chop off his head first!" Li You saw that he was a tiger general. Peng Sheng said: "The general is brave indeed, but he is afraid that he will not be able to defeat Xiang Liang!" Peng Sheng relied on his martial arts skills and extraordinary courage, and because he had a good relationship with Sima Yi. After Sima Yi died, he often wanted to kill Chu people for revenge. Now that the time had finally come, he said this. Zhang Han heard Peng Sheng's words and pondered for a long time, so he had to let Li You besiege the city first, and he led his troops to the open plains a few miles south of the city to set up formations.
