Under Julu City, Wang Li did not give up the siege at all. He commanded the Qin army to launch attacks many times, but never captured the city. On one day, he organized a death squad to attack the city, and posted a notice in the camp saying: "Who can Those who capture Zhao Xie's head will be rewarded with five hundred taels of gold, and those who capture Zhang Er's head will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold. The generals read the notice and asked Wang Li in confusion: "Why did the general reverse the bounty?" Wang Li asked why. The generals asked: "Zhang Er is a minister and Zhao Xie is the king. Why is the reward of the ministers more than that of the master?" Wang Li smiled and said: "It is because of Zhang Er that the thieves can survive to this day. When the late emperor was alive, all We dare not underestimate this thief. There was a reward of 10,000 gold for his head in Daliang City, let alone now! Although Zhao Xie is the master, he is just an incompetent person. Once he leaves Zhang Er and others, he will be easily caught. "The generals all agreed very much after hearing this.
The Qin army has been besieging the city for almost three months. During these three months, the Zhao army in the city paid a heavy price: they wanted to resist the Qin army. After shooting arrows, they splashed the attacking Qin army with millet porridge. When the grain was finished, they poured boiling water on it, but they resisted tenaciously. Later, they slaughtered livestock to satisfy their hunger and forced the people to hand over grain. When the people had no food to eat, they peeled off the bark of trees. All the bark in the city was eaten up, and later on, cannibalism appeared again. However, under this situation, the Zhao army continued to fight, and they repelled the Qin army's attacks again and again with their fearless spirit. To this day, hundreds of Zhao troops have died in battle or starved to death.
King Zhao and Zhang Er were in panic all day long because Chen Yu did not come to relieve the siege. In recent days, I heard that the coalition forces have arrived in Julu, but they did not dare to fight Wang Li. The Qin army still surrounded the city like an iron barrel. I also heard that the Chu army had also crossed the Zhang River, but there was no hope. Come to them to attack the Great Wall Army? Are the Chu troops also afraid of Wang Li? If even the Chu army did not dare to attack Wang Li, then who else would dare to fight the Qin army? During these three months, Zhang Er and King Zhao became very haggard due to high levels of tension and panic. Zhang Er, in particular, was so anxious every day that his beard and hair turned gray. One day, he couldn't hold on any longer, so he crawled on the desk and fell asleep.
"Report! Prime Minister, the Qin army is attacking the city again!" Zhang Er was suddenly awakened and ran out of the house in panic. He came to the top of the city to watch and found that a Qin army was attacking the city. Zhang Er said Immediately ordered the sergeant to light a fire and boil water. After a while, the Qin army set up ladders and began to attack the city, and the Zhao army poured boiling water on them. The Qin army was burned to the point of crying and howling, and the battle ended after half an hour. At dusk, the Qin army launched a new round of offensive. This time the siege was more violent than during the day. Zhang Er continued to direct the battle. In a short time, Sima Mao came in a panic and reported that someone was privately talking about surrendering to the Qin army. Zhang Er was shocked when he heard this, so he and Sima Mao came to the city to investigate. Sure enough, they found someone taking the lead in making noises, and also said something about giving up resistance and confusing the morale of the army. Zhang Er was furious and ordered Sima Mao to behead the heckler immediately. Zhang Er was afraid of provoking a military rebellion, so he said sternly: "Chu General Xiang Yu has arrived at Julu and is preparing to attack the Great Wall Army. It will be a matter of time to rescue the siege. You must hold on! If Zhao is saved, I will give you credit for your efforts." Write it down and let the descendants of the Zhao Kingdom pass it down from generation to generation, and the people will definitely remember you! But if anyone surrenders to the Qin army, not only will they be infamy, your parents will also suffer, it is not worth it!" These words Sure enough, it worked, temporarily stabilizing the morale of the army. The soldiers shouted in unison: "Defend Zhao to the death and never surrender!" Zhang Er asked everyone to add a few more large cauldrons on the top of the city, and continued to light fires and boil water. Black smoke billowed, and morale greatly increased. The soldiers used large ladles to ladle boiling water and continued to pour it on the attacking Qin army. The Qin army's death squads were unable to attack the city. The battle lasted until dark.
In Julu City, a scene of disastrous defeat has appeared. The soldiers who were shot by the Qin army's crossbowmen were bandaging their wounds and wailing in pain. The uninjured sergeants were also lying exhausted on the top of the city, mouthing out loud. He was breathing heavily, and he looked really exhausted. At this time, dinner time had long passed. King Zhao and his ministers only ate some chaff and soybeans, and then came to the top of the city to inspect. When King Zhao saw the disabled and sick soldiers eagerly eating the body of a dead sergeant, he retched a few times, and then hurried back to the palace in fright. Zhang Er was the only one left patrolling the city. Seeing these tragic scenes, he felt very sad. He had sent people to urge Chen Yu many times to come and rescue the siege, but Chen Yu did not take any action. Zhang Er was worried that if Wang Li launched another attack, the city would fall, and both he and King Zhao might die. Zhang Er thought of this and saw the dark Qin army under the city. He stood there motionless like a puppet as nervously as a puppet.
I don't know how long it took, but suddenly someone came to report that King Zhao invited him to discuss matters. Zhang Er came to the palace. But this time King Zhao's attitude was very bad. When he saw Zhang Er, he said angrily: "Prime Minister, Prime Minister, what is your relationship with Chen Yu? The reason other countries refuse to save them is because we have no kindness to them. , but Chen Yu and you are close friends? You have been friends in life and death. It is really unjustifiable that he has not come to rescue you for so long? Just say that he did not come to save the orphan, why not come to save you, the prime minister? When Zhang Er heard King Zhao's reproach, he felt extremely ashamed and said, "What the king said is true, but I am wrong. I will send people to Chen Yuxiao right now to take advantage of Chen Yuxiao and order him to come to the rescue immediately. If this If he doesn't come this time, I, Zhang Er, would rather sever ties with him!" Zhang Er said simply, and immediately wrote a letter, sent his deputy generals Zhang Xiao and Chen Ze to take the letter, and then went out of the city to report to Chen Ze. I asked for help. The two of them accepted the task with great righteousness. So he was neatly dressed, Tigo mounted his horse, and opened the city to break through the siege. The two men fought desperately with the sound of killing shaking the ground. Finally, their clothes were stained with blood, they broke through the siege, and then rushed straight towards Chen Yu's camp. At this time, Chen Yu was writing letters to the generals from various countries in the Zhao camp, preparing for the war tomorrow morning. Suddenly he saw two people coming to the camp. He was surprised and happy, and asked how he broke through the encirclement. Zhang Xiao and Chen Ze explained the situation in the city and the story of the breakout, and then took out Zhang Er's letter for Chen Yu to read. Chen Yu quickly opened the blood book and saw that it read:
The general and I are close friends. We once vowed to live and die together and share adversity. Now, King Zhao and I have been trapped together for almost three months. The city will be breached at any time, not to mention that the city has long been out of food. The king and I only eat some chaff and soybeans to satisfy our hunger, and our days are like years. In order to save food for the soldiers, the people gnawed away all the bark of the trees. The soldiers defended the city desperately and were already snatching the dead bodies. The actual situation exceeded people's imagination. Your Majesty and I now place all our hopes on the general. If you still care about the old alliance, please lead your army tonight to relieve the siege. Unless tonight comes, I would like to sever ties with the general and never get entangled with him. Please think again!
After reading the letter, Chen Yu felt like a wake-up call and cried bitterly: "It's not that I forgot the oath I made in the past! It's not that I didn't save the king and the prime minister. It's really because of the lack of troops! If we use the current strength to rescue the siege, it's like What's the point of beating eggs against rocks and driving sheep to feed tigers?" Zhang Xuan and Chen Ze said anxiously: "In the opinion of the general, the king and the prime minister will undoubtedly die?" Chen Yu said: "That's not the case. The army of Chu State We have arrived at Julu, and their general has agreed with me to attack the Qin army tomorrow to break the siege of Julu. He also asked me to contact the generals from various countries tonight and gather at Jiyuan tomorrow. The purpose is to contain it first. Zhang Han, and then attack Wang Li. Please believe me. If the Chu army wins, the siege of Julu will be easily solved. So I cannot go to die tonight. This is also carrying out the order of the general of Chu. Please You two can understand me!"
Zhang Wei cried bitterly: "The State of Zhao is in danger. If Wang Li attacks the city again tonight, the State of Zhao will be doomed. How can we wait until tomorrow? General, please go rescue the king and the prime minister tonight. We would rather be the vanguard!" Chen Yu said: " You two, please don't force me. As the saying goes, "A little impatience will ruin a big plan." We all died in the battle tonight, so it doesn't make any sense?" The two repeatedly begged Chen Yu to send troops. Chen Yu just refused. Chen Ze said angrily: "In that case, please allocate some troops to the two of me. We will rescue the Prime Minister and the King. We will risk our lives to rescue them!" Chen Yu said: "You can divide the troops, but you two If you die in battle, what credit will you get?" The two men said solemnly: "I don't ask for credit, I just want to die without regrets!" Chen Yu looked ashamed, so he had to divide five thousand troops and let the two go to die.
When Wang Li saw Chen Ze and Zhang Xi break out, he quickly mobilized Meng Fang, Han Zhang, Li Yu, Zhou Xiong, Wang Guan and other powerful generals and said: "General Zhao must have gone to move troops. We are waiting here. We can't do anything anymore." Let them enter the city with dignity." Everyone claimed yes. Wang Li withdrew half of the Qin camp and ambushed his troops outside the camp. In less than half an hour, Chen Ze and Zhang Xiao led their troops back. Wang Li deliberately put them into the camp and then suppressed them from all sides. In the end, there was a big battle between the two sides. Unfortunately, Zhang Xiao and Chen Ze were loyal, but they were trapped in a tight siege. After fighting for a long time, they could not defeat the Qin army and could not enter the city. In the end, they were all buried in the Qin camp together with five thousand soldiers, and died heroically. The Qin army won a complete victory, and Wang Li led them back to the camp happily to celebrate. There is a poem praising the two generals Zhang Xian and Chen Ze:
Pinfu looked at death and suddenly felt as if he was home, and his righteousness was awe-inspiring.
Although the pebbles did not touch each other, Chen Yuying couldn't help feeling ashamed.
When Chen Yu learned in the Zhao camp that Zhang Xiao, Chen Ze and 5,000 Zhao troops had all been killed, he felt very sad and burst into tears. Then he and Zhang Ao, Zhang Er's son, came to the coalition camp to convey Xiang Yu's orders.
Zhang Er climbed up to the tower and looked east carefully, hoping that Chen Yu would come to rescue him. In the middle of the night, I heard a cry of killing coming from the northeast. I concluded that Chen Yu was sending troops to save him, so he said to his left and right: "I know that General Chen Yu will not sit idly by and do nothing to save him. Now he is finally here!" After that, he and King Zhao Let's go to the top of the city and watch. But after watching for a long time, there was no sound. The Qin army still surrounded the city like an iron barrel. Zhang Er was in a state of confusion and didn't know why. King Zhao said angrily: "Chen Yu must have withdrawn the sergeants again." Zhang Er was furious and said to King Zhao: "Chen Yu refused to save him, he is an ungrateful person. I will never be with that man again. We guys have met, and if we want to meet, we must meet with swords!"
Wang Li was chatting and laughing with the soldiers in the camp. Suddenly someone came to report that the Chu State's deputy general Xiang Yu had killed the general Song Yi and replaced him. He had crossed the Zhang River and robbed the army supplies at nightfall. Wang Li was defeated by Pei Gong and Peng Yue in Juyeze, and he was thinking of revenge. Now he heard that the Chu army had robbed military supplies, so he was furious and said, "Who is Xiang Yu? How dare he be so cowardly?" The civil servant named Shi Hua was very knowledgeable and said to Wang Li: "Xiang Yu is the grandson of the original Chu general Xiang Yan and the nephew of Xiang Liang. A month ago, the shepherd boy King Huai of Chu worshiped Song Yi as his general, and Xiang Yu was The lieutenant general prepared to rescue Zhao, but Song Yi did not dare to come to Hebei, so he stationed his army in Anyang City, Chengwu County, East County for 46 days. Unexpectedly, Xiang Yu was so eager to fight that he killed Song Yi in a rage and committed suicide. I have come to rescue Zhao on behalf of the general." Wang Li laughed and said: "Like this kind of army, the internal chaos must be the soldiers of Wahe before the army rises. How can they fight against our tiger and wolf army? I didn't expect that Xiang Yu is Xiang Yan. His grandson, Xiang Yan, was killed by my ancestor, and now his grandson comes to be slaughtered again? It seems that the descendants of their Lao Xiang family will die in the hands of our Lao Wang family. Hahaha!" Wang Li's laughter also It aroused laughter from the Qin army officers and soldiers.
At this time, a sergeant came in and said, "Report to the general, there is a strange man who wants to see you on something important." Wang Li asked him to come in and talk. After a while, the sergeant led a man in. Everyone looked carefully and saw that this man was indeed strange: curly hair with a beard, deep eyes and a high nose, yellow ocher skin, and a red robe wrapped around his thin body. When he saw Wang Li, he said: "I heard that Xiang Yu has learned skills that are invincible. Not long ago, in the battle of Dong'e, he defeated Zhang Han. This man should not be underestimated!" Wang Li originally had no idea. He took Xiang Yu seriously, and when he saw this man talking like this, he got angry and said, "Who are you, a monster, that you dare to come here to disturb the morale of our army?" The man then talked eloquently: "I am not a monster, I am from Tianzhu. Monk Shili Fang came to your country to preach on the orders of King Ashoka. He travels around the world, often eliminating disasters for people, and has been educating people for more than ten years. Now he sees that the general is in danger of escaping, so he came to rescue him. General If you can listen to my advice, you will definitely avoid the disaster of death." Wang Li asked: "Sir, what advice can you give me?" Sri Sri defended: "The poor Taoist only talks about cause and effect." Wang Li asked what It's cause and effect. Sri Sri defended: "This cause and effect means that if there is a cause, there will be a result. For example, if you sow melons, you will get melons, but you will not get beans. It means: In this world, whatever the cause is, you will get the same result. Generally, those who do evil will get evil retribution. Those who do good will be rewarded. By analogy, those who kill too much must be unlucky!" Wang Li said: "What does this cause and effect have to do with me?" Sri Lanka defended: "I heard that there is an old saying in China, 'The general has arrived. If the third generation is defeated, it will be defeated. Counting from the general's grandfather, it is already three generations to the general. Why do you say this? It's because generals often suffer bad luck due to excessive killing. So I am worried that the general will be killed. The retribution for the disaster!" Wang Li sneered and said, "Are you cursing me?" Sri Sri defended him, "No, I'm here to rescue you." Wang Li asked, "What should I do?" Sri Sri said: "If you can put down the butcher knife, you can become a Buddha immediately!" Wang Li asked what a Buddha is. Sri Sri defended: "Buddha is a sensible person who understands the truth of the world." Wang Li said: "My ancestors have been generals for generations, and they all understand the principle of loyalty to the country. I am a sensible man, and I am also a Buddha." Sri Lanka defended: "General You understand small principles, not big principles. My big principles can enable you to transcend life and death, have no worries, and regard fame and wealth as a passing cloud!" Wang Li smiled and said: "You mean to let me give up fighting and wander around with you. The world?" Sri Lankan Defense said: "Stop killing, I can save your life. I am indeed here to rescue you. Whether you listen or not is up to fate." Wang Li laughed and said: "This is really unreasonable. I live and die for the country. , but you said such irrelevant things, you are really a foreign lunatic!" He ordered the sergeant to imprison this man to see what reason he had to say.
After a while, the sergeant came to report that the strange man had crossed the camp and walked through the wall and walked away as if on the ground. Wang Li was shocked and wanted to send someone to arrest him. Shi Hua said anxiously: "No, General. I heard that this man had indeed been to Xianyang, and he also used this statement to lobby the First Emperor. The First Emperor regarded him as a heretic and imprisoned him in a cell. But that night there was a god in golden armor who will The prison door was broken and all eighteen of them were rescued. Seeing that they were all strange people, the First Emperor treated them with courtesy, gave them money and gifts, and allowed them to travel far away. There are so many professions in the world, and they can do anything. , Why should we be serious? But we are soldiers, and soldiers should protect our homes and countries with our lives. Even if we die, what regrets will there be?" Wang Li was convinced and did not send anyone to chase the Tianzhu monk.
At this time, another sergeant came to report that Zhang Han had gone to repair the tunnel himself. He also told the general to beware of Xiang Yu's night attack. Wang Li laughed and said: "I, Wang Li, led the army and galloped across the desert. I have killed many Rong chiefs and Hu generals. This Xiang Yu is just a small southern barbarian, what is there to fear? When he attacks, I will tear him to pieces!" You guys have a good rest, and we will attack Julu early tomorrow morning!"
