Zhao Ben led the Qin army to escape from the west gate and crossed the Si River to Chenggao. Wei Jie, the captain of Guandu, heard that the county governor was coming and hurriedly came out to greet him. Zhao Ben came to the gate and said to Wei Jie: "The thieves are rampant. I will personally go to Luoyang to mobilize troops. You must hold on to Chenggao. I will give you ten days. If you lose the gate within ten days, I will chop off your head!" Jay accepted the order. Chenggao was originally the ancient Dongguo State. It was founded by the Zheng State in the Spring and Autumn Period, also known as Hulao. It was an important place for the Zheng State in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Han State during the Warring States Period. There is Chenggao Ancient City in the northwest of Bishui Town, Xingyang City today. The Wei Liankui chapter of "Chronology of the Xingyang Sages" written by Chen Wanqing contains records of the Yellow River's destruction of Sishui land in the early years of the Republic of China, where the ancient city of Chenggao was destroyed.
Zhao Ben made arrangements and came to Luoyang. Luoyang is the county seat of Sanchuan County and stores a large amount of grain. In the past, Zhang Han built a new Wengcheng after he came here. The newly built city wall was tall, large, and very strong. Therefore, Luoyang City was the only place the Chu army had to pass before reaching Hangu Pass. Whether they could capture Luoyang was what the Chu army faced. The biggest challenge.
Zhao Bi arrived in Luoyang and immediately took charge of the overall situation. He summoned his subordinates and said: "The shepherd boy King Huai of Chu sent two armies to attack Qin, invading all the way to the north and all the way to the west. Liu Bang, who invaded the west, tried to attack Hangu Pass. Most of them were Some tough and ruthless people and desperadoes actually made it all the way to Xingyang. This is really a shame! I have already ordered to defend Chenggao. Now you must quickly mobilize some more soldiers and horses from nearby. I must reinforce Chenggao within ten days. We must Defeat the rebels." After hearing this, the county magistrate sighed and said, "The rebels are rampant and even General Li You cannot resist them. Besides, there is no army to send. It is better to ask the general to report to the court immediately and request for more troops. Cheng Gao It is a strategically victorious place. As long as there are deep ditches and high fortifications, and they stand firm and wait for reinforcements, the rebels will be unable to overcome them. If they wait for a long time, they will run out of food and will retreat without a fight. At that time, the general will send out reinforcements from all walks of life. We can capture Liu Bang alive." Zhao Bi listened to the Jun Cheng's suggestion and had to report to Xianyang first.
He quickly came to Xianyang and reported the situation in Sanchuan County to Zhao Gao in detail. Zhao Gao sent the officials back and suppressed the military situation without reporting it to the Second Emperor. Not only that, he also kept saying that Shandong was very peaceful to coax the second generation. At this time, the second generation was very fond of Zhao Gao and often obeyed his advice. This was undoubtedly because of the shocking plan in the sand dune. For more than two years, the second generation has always regarded Zhao Gao as a confidant, and always believed that without Zhao Gao, he would not be where he is now. However, after Zhao Gao took over the power, his desire for power expanded endlessly, and his abnormal psychology of excluding dissidents became more unscrupulous. He can be compared with the Yi Ya and Shu Diao of the previous generation. Although Zhao Gao is a great conspirator, his IQ is not low. On the contrary, he is clear-minded and cunning, and controls the current situation like a cunning fox. The closer Zhao Gao reaches the critical moment, the more he shows amazing rationality and the genius necessary for a conspirator. When he learned about the situation in Shandong from the envoy, he analyzed it carefully, weighed the pros and cons, and finally made a surprising decision: Zhao Bi and Yang Xiong must guard Luoyang City no matter what, and Liu Bang must not be allowed to Capture this city. He knew very well: If Luoyang was lost, it would mean the fall of Sanchuan County and the fall of the entire Central Plains region. As a result, Qin's eastern barrier, Hangu Pass, was directly exposed to the rebels' attacks. Hangu Pass is the throat from Shandong to Guanzhong. If Hangu Pass is lost again, the Qin State will be unimaginable. Therefore, holding on to Luoyang City is the top priority of the Qin State at present.
After Zhao Gao thought about it, he decided to let Zhao Bi, who had been defeated on the battlefield the previous time, reorganize a strong army, so he told the Second Emperor that he would pardon a group of craftsmen and recruit some strong men to go to Shandong. To resist thieves, strengthen the city's defense, and transport a batch of supplies to Shandong, turning Luoyang into the most powerful military stronghold in Sanchuan County to deter thieves. The Second Emperor followed his advice and quickly formed an army of 100,000 men, led by Lu Fan, to fight in Sanchuan.
After Zhao Bi received these reinforcements, he asked Han Meng to guard Luoyang and led his troops to Chenggao to prepare for a showdown with Liu Bang. On this day, when Zhao Ben led a large group of troops to walk halfway, suddenly a group of defeated soldiers escaped from the front. When he got closer, he saw that it was Wei Jie who was guarding Chenggao. Zhao Ben saw that he was in a very embarrassed state and asked what was going on. When Wei Jie saw that it was the county guard, he was so frightened that he rolled off his saddle and fell off his horse. Then he knelt on the ground and panted and reported: "Master Zhao, Cheng Gao... Cheng Gao has been lost!" Zhao Ben was shocked and asked what was going on. . Wei Jie replied: "Liu Bang has many tricks. He threatened to attack Gongxian, but he crossed the river from the upper reaches of Sishui. I was afraid that the thieves would cut off the retreat, so I led my troops to rescue Jingxian. But I never expected that Liu Bang would He tried to lure the tiger away from the mountain to trick me into leaving Cheng Gao, but he led his troops to sneak attack Cheng Gao, so the city gate was lost!" When Zhao Ben heard that Cheng Gao had been lost, he was furious and jumped off his horse to grab Wei Jie's collar. He roared: "Are you still a tiger? I think you are just a pig! I asked you to hold on for ten days, why did you lose Guancheng in less than ten days?" He ordered Wei Jie to be executed on the spot. Wei Jie shouted that he was wronged. He was beheaded in a moment. The rest of the soldiers were frightened out of their wits. Captain Guo Feng frowned and said: "Chenggao has been lost and the rebels will arrive soon. It is better to retreat to Luoyang City. Luoyang is the foundation of Sanchuan. As long as we can hold it, the rebels will not reach Hangu Pass." Zhao Ben raised his head and raised his head. After taking a deep breath, he had no choice but to return to Luoyang to set up the formation.
When Zhao Ben came to the city, Guo Feng suggested to him: "If the rebels arrive, they will fight on the plains to the east. In this way, we can better utilize the advantages of large army operations. We should form a formation outside the city in advance." A big camp, waiting for work." Zhao Ben asked Guo Feng to lead 7,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry to form a camp outside the city.
One morning a few days later, before dawn, the dark sky over Luoyang was already filled with clouds of war. The generals of the Qin Army who are rich in combat experience have already found out that a powerful army is coming here. It seems that all living things are trying their best to avoid this unimaginable and coming terrible disaster, so those birds and beasts have become invisible. Escape and hide as far away as possible. Sure enough, Liu Bang's army was marching towards Luoyang at this time. With the might of the Chu people and the great mission of destroying the Qin State, they set out from Chenggao and passed through Gong County towards Luoyang. Pei Gong thought that this march must not be discovered by the Qin army. He should get as close to the city gate as possible, and then launch a general attack and make a surprise attack as much as possible. However, Qin's sentry reported the news to the county guard as quickly as possible. At this time, Qin's new army troops had also arrived in Luoyang. Seeing that there was hope of defeating the Chu army, the county governor Zhao Bi deployed his troops as soon as possible, and sent a new army of 20,000 people to the back of Guo Feng's camp to assist in the battle, and wanted Guo Feng to attack in the east. A pre-emptive strike on the battlefield, an active attack, a powerful blow to the Chu army, and they must not be allowed to surpass the camp in the east of the city.
Since the Chu army marched westward, it has not encountered a particularly big battle, but today's attack on Luoyang was an unprecedented fierce battle. At this time, Guo Feng's 3,000 cavalry had formed a neat formation at the front of the position. Behind them were 20,000 new army soldiers who had just been transferred from Guanzhong. The 7,000 regular troops were arranged on the left and right wings. , to respond to the frontline at any time. The new army soldiers were all fighting for the first time, so they were a little excited. But precisely because it was their first time fighting and they didn't know how brutal the battlefield was, everyone showed a fearless look.
In a short time, the Chu army arrived in Luoyang. Seeing that the enemy was prepared, Pei Gong arranged his troops into formation. The two armies faced each other. Guo Feng took the lead and ordered the Qin army to charge first. The Qin Army's three thousand cavalry first met the Chu Army's charging cavalry, and the two sides immediately launched a desperate fight. Not long after, I heard deafening shouts of killing from everywhere. The cavalry of Qin and the cavalry of Chu fought in the first round. The two sides fought hard and ended in a draw. Both sides quickly withdrew their cavalry from the battle. Then the infantry of the two sides met. However, when the Chu army rushed into the Qin army's position, they found that the Qin army's combat effectiveness was very weak. Before they fought for a few rounds, the Qin army could not resist it. Guo Feng gave way. Regular troops on both flanks entered the battle. Seeing this, the Chu army launched an even more violent attack. The battlefield was filled with the sounds of clashing spears and shields, the friction of armor against armor, the sound of swords chopping each other, the shouts of sergeants, and the wails of the slain. , various sounds merged into a noisy dull sound, which performed a tragic war song on the vast plains. This is another process of light and darkness, progress and backwardness of the Chinese nation in the long history. , the showdown between justice and evil, is also a generous, tragic, and overwhelming battle full of positive energy and heroism.
The county guard Zhao Bi stood on the city tower and saw the battle ahead from a distance. It was difficult for him to distinguish the armies of both sides. Although he asked the county lieutenant to retain a regular regiment in the city, which was used to ensure the bottom line, he was more interested in welcoming Guo Feng's triumphant return. But after observing carefully for a while, he realized that he had made a huge mistake: the 20,000 new troops led by Guo Feng were quickly dispersed by the Chu army. The Qin army was obviously inferior in number. Chu army, but the Chu army seems to be several times stronger than the Qin army. Except for the 3,000 cavalry and 7,000 infantry that can compete with the Chu army, the infantry of the new army seems to be no match for the Chu army at all. The more he saw that the situation was getting worse, he hurriedly ordered Lu Fan to lead the 10,000 regular troops he had prepared in advance to immediately reinforce Guo Feng. Lu Fan heard the marching order and immediately led his sergeants to fight out of the city gate. Lu Fan was fully clothed and took the lead, leading the wolf-like Qin army towards the vast battlefield. The sergeants on both sides were like two wild torrents, violently rolling together and intertwining violently. The battlefield was once again There was a deafening dull sound. Guo Feng saw the county guard's reinforcements, and his confidence immediately increased, so he commanded the Qin army to continue fighting.
At this time, the horns were blaring and the war drums were rumbling. The leading generals, deputy generals, and staff generals of both sides led their respective teams and attacked each other from every corner of the battlefield. The two sides were fighting inextricably. After an hour of fierce fighting, suddenly the horn of retreat was blown from the top of Luoyang City. It turned out that the governor of the Qin Army, Zhao Bi, was worried that his regular army of more than 10,000 people might suffer heavy losses in the battle, so he had to issue an order to withdraw his troops. But when the Qin army was retreating to the city, Liu Bang, the clever commander of the Chu army, saw a rare opportunity and gave the order for the entire army to march. The soldiers took advantage of the situation to cover up and kill the enemy. They wanted to inflict a heavy blow to the enemy, so the Qin army suffered heavy casualties. stand up. When the Chu army reached the city, the heavy city gate was closed.
After the Chu army chased them to the city, Li Shiqi observed and said: "The enemy may be craftsmen sent from Guanzhong and have no combat experience. I estimate that the total number of regular troops will not exceed 20,000, and our army also has Thirty to forty thousand people have an absolute advantage in terms of numbers, and if there is a military strategy of "encirclement if doubled", now the east, south and north sides of Luoyang should be surrounded and attacked, leaving only the west gate, so that the enemy can only consider escaping. Instead of fighting with a hundredfold courage, if the stalemate lasts for a long time, the enemy may abandon the city and flee." Pei Gong thought for a long time, then agreed to Li Shiqi's suggestion, and then dispatched the siege troops. Deploy and divide the troops into three parts.
Peigong also joined the battle. He personally led Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo to attack the east gate, Cao Shen attacked the north gate, and Guan Ying and Li Shang attacked the south gate. After the order was issued, the three Chu armies swept towards the city like three balls of fire. Those ladders erected in the air were like ladders reaching the sky. They were erected on the city wall of Luoyang City. The soldiers let out an earth-shattering cry: "Come on! In order to enter the pass as soon as possible and eliminate the cruel Qin State! Go forward! Kill!" !..." From a distance, the soldiers climbing the ladder looked like ants climbing on the ivy on the cliff.
The Qin army also rose up to resist. They kept pushing down the ladders and throwing stones, wood and darts downwards. The Chu army attacking the city was like a tide, rushing towards the city one after another. The earth was groaning. Death also comes on every battlefield. The three Chu armies, led by their respective generals, fought for two hours. Arrows as dense as locusts flew through the sky, and soldiers on both sides fell at any time. However, the hard stones and rounded wood knocked down from the city broke and smashed the Chu army's helmets and armor. Some stones knocked the Chu army unconscious or even killed them on the ground. Seeing that the Chu army gradually became chaotic, the Chu army generals supervising the battle shouted at the top of their lungs: "Everyone must resist, don't be confused! Kill!" The Chu army at the front was attacked by the Qin army many times. They were violently attacked and had to retreat backwards. What was even more frightening was that the people in front pushed over the people behind and retreated on the fallen bodies. The generals were unable to stop this situation.
The battle at the east gate of Luoyang was the most fierce. Seeing that the Chu army could no longer resist, Pei Gong asked his surroundings what to do. In desperation, Li Shiqi asked Pei Gong to order the sergeants to put the shields together and hold them on their heads to form an umbrella-like square formation, using it to resist various attacking objects thrown from the top of the city. . Under the cover of this umbrella, the Chu army formed a very large rectangular formation. The soldiers braved the rain of darts and arrows and slowly approached the city gate. The sergeant hiding under the shield heard countless stones and arrowheads hitting the shield, making a deafening sound. This formation played a powerful role in protecting the sergeant below. Keep everyone from harm. When Pei Gong saw the shield formation formed by the soldiers approaching the city gate step by step, he felt relieved.
When the shield array arrived just in front of the city gate, a huge and thick log suddenly appeared in front of it. It turned out to be a temporary and simple crash car. This piece of wood is tied to a large bracket with ropes, and an axle and wooden wheel are installed below the bracket. In order to prevent the enemy from discovering it, the Chu army covered it tightly with shields. When the crash car drove under the city gate, it exerted great power. The car crashed against the big crimson city gate, charging like an angry bull after seeing the red piece of cloth teasing it. The tall and thick door panel made a loud rumbling sound, and the old dust that had accumulated for many years on the door cracks and door frames fell down, causing the sergeant in front of him to choke and cough.
Seeing that Li Shiqi's method was about to succeed, unexpectedly, the county guard Zhao Bi who was sweating profusely at the top of the city shouted loudly: "If the city gate is broken down, Luoyang will be doomed!" After saying this, he immediately gave the order. Dozens of strong men carried more than a dozen large stones. Under the cover of their companions, they threw the large stones down, and a large gap was opened in the Chu army's shield array. The Qin army's archers then fired arrows intensively into the gap, and the Chu soldiers holding up their shields fell down. That big gap was like a malignant tumor, slowly extending outward and spreading, getting bigger and bigger, and finally the shield formation collapsed. Seeing this, Zhao Bi and Qin's generals became even more excited. They loudly encouraged morale from the top of the city and continued to throw stones and darts downwards in person. After a while, the shield formation was finally shattered, and the huge wooden log was submerged in the sea of arrows and fire, and the city gate was saved.
Under the command of Cao Shen, the Chu army attacking the north gate launched a fierce offensive against the Qin army defending the city. Soldiers from both sides fought fiercely from the beginning. After the battle lasted for an hour, the Chu army's archers The Qin army on the city shot and killed a large number of people. At this time, Cao Shen's infantry captain Xu Yi saw a gap on the city wall, and immediately took the lead and climbed up the ladder. Xu Yi sacrificed his life in front to open a climbing path for his comrades behind him. But they never expected that the Qin army saw him and came to the female wall together to block the connection between the ladder and the battlement. When Xu Yi's head just emerged from the parapet, he was hit by a thrown stone, and he fell to his death on his back. Then the Qin army smashed the ladder with big rocks, and the ladder was also broken by the stones. The Chu army who was climbing below also fell heavily, and they were all killed or injured.
When Cao Shen saw this scene, his heart felt like a knife. He suddenly found that a Qin general was like a beast, picking up stones and throwing them down. Cao Shen was so angry that he drew his bow and arrow and shot the arrow. The Qin general immediately turned over and fell. Unexpectedly, another general jumped out from behind and continued to direct the battle.
At the south gate, Guan Ying and Li Shang directed the attack on the city. Because the Qin army was too fierce, the Chu army could not attack at all, and many soldiers fell. When the two saw this scene, they were very anxious and discussed it together. Li Shang insisted that Guan Ying stay in command and he would attack the city himself. Guan Ying had no choice but to agree. Li Shang then braved the stone to attack the city. He came to the edge of the city trench, lifted a ladder from the ground, crossed the trench and rushed over. Then he put the ladder up on the wall and began to climb. While climbing, he gave orders to those below. The archer takes cover. However, the Qin army kept throwing heavy blows from above, and Li Shang used his shield to hold them up and crawled hard. Seeing that they could not stop Li Shang, the Qin army poured fish oil on the ladder and set it on fire. Li Shang could not go up, so he had to retreat. Precisely because the Qin soldiers resisted so desperately, and because the county guards were commanding on the front line and the county lieutenants also participated in the battle, the Chu army failed to capture the city in the end. Such a bloody battle lasted until dark, and then the battle came to an end. By the time all Chu troops withdrew, everyone was exhausted.
After the Chu soldiers had dinner, it was already late at night, so they camped in an open land to the east of Luoyang City to rest. After the hustle and bustle of the day had passed, Pei Gong convened the generals in the big tent to discuss military affairs. Everyone talked for a while, and finally Xiao He suggested: "Now we should contact Mr. Zifang. If we attack Luoyang with the Han army, we will definitely be able to defeat the Qin army." After listening to Xiao He's words, Pei Gong thought for a long time. , thought this method was good, and sent a special envoy again to rush to Yingchuan to get in touch with Mr. Zifang.
Seeing that the Chu army could not win, Zhao Ben was immediately more confident, and immediately sent someone to notify Yang Xiong of Dongjun, asking him to raise troops as soon as possible, attack the Chu army from behind, and be sure to surround Liu Bang and annihilate him under Luoyang City. The special envoy rushed to Dongjun. Yang Xiong was overjoyed to learn that Pei Gong's attack on Luoyang had been thwarted. With Yuan Yang, Yang Chun, Pan Long, and Jin Choufu in the front, he immediately raised his troops and went south, rushing towards Luoyang. Dou Xian, the governor of Hanoi County, also led his troops to reinforce.
Under Luoyang City, one day, Lieutenant Han Meng was patrolling outside the city and caught the special envoy sent by Pei Gong to Yingchuan. He took him to see the county guard and found a letter written by Pei Gong to Zhang Liang from his body. Only then did Zhao Ben learn about Pei Gong's plan to unite with South Korea, so he told his subordinates: "There is a mountain called Ziyu in the southeast of Luoyang. There is a Ziyu Pass on the mountain, which is the throat from Sanchuan to Yingchuan. Liu Bang must pass through that pass to unite with South Korea. As long as we hold this pass, the rebels' plan to unite with South Korea will go bankrupt. What's more, General Yang Xiong and Hanoi Governor Dou Xian are already on their way south. They will arrive in Luoyang in more than ten days. The imperial court has also transferred troops from Hangu Pass. Ten thousand soldiers. All soldiers and horses from all walks of life will arrive soon. We are attacking from both sides, and Liu Bang will die without a burial place!" Guo Feng volunteered again and said: "Master Zhao, if we send another army to strengthen Shen If the guard at Yuan Pass closes the gate, it will be impregnable!" The county guard thought this plan was feasible and asked who could help guard it. Guo Fenglang said: "The general is willing to go!" Zhao Ben was overjoyed and sent him there immediately.
