Chapter 426: Decisive Battle in Xiangyang and Qin Hao’s Prison Escape
Xiang Yu already has 200,000 elites in his hands, and has collected another 100,000 prisoners. Now the total number of soldiers directly under his control reaches 3. If Xiang Yu is a law-abiding person, forget it, the key is that his ambition is not concealed at all, if Continuing to expand the army will definitely get out of control, so how could Zhang Liang agree?
Most of Zhang Liang's thoughts are now spent on containing Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu's ambition is too great. If there are no checks and balances, he may have to expand his army by 500,000.
At this time, Xiang Yu's ambition was the most troublesome for Zhang Liang. It was precisely because of this that he was not aware of Qin Hao's little moves while he was still in prison.
In prison, Qin Hao carefully took the note from the hand of the prison guard who delivered the food, and after reading it, he swallowed it directly.
Late at night, Qin Hao looked at the night sky, a smile flashed at the corner of his mouth, and whispered to himself: "Almost, we will succeed soon."
Xue Rengui glanced at Qin Hao suspiciously, thinking about how to help his lord escape from prison.
On November 10, the Han army abandoned Wancheng and retreated to Fancheng to defend it.
After Xiang Yu bloodbathed most of Nanyang, he led an army of 400,000 and headed straight for Fancheng.
Lu Zhi also knew that Fancheng alone could not stop Xiang Yu, so while setting up a defense line in Fancheng, he reinforced other cities in the rear, preparing to block the attack step by step until the cold winter.
Xiang Yu was obviously not prepared to delay any longer. With an army of 400,000 in hand, he adopted the simplest and crudest method and directly pushed all the way.
On November 15, Fancheng was defeated, and Xiang Yu led his army across the Han River to attack Xinye.
On the 17th, the new field was broken, and from then on Nanyang fell into Xiang Yu's hands.
In more than half a month, Xiang Yu fought directly from Sizhou Henan Yin to Jingzhou Nanjun, fighting nearly a thousand miles away, and winning every battle. This restored Xiang Yu's declining reputation, and he was well-deserved as the God of War.
After settling in Xinye, Xiang Yu became more and more arrogant. Not only did he no longer listen to the advice of others, he also forcibly deprived Zhang Liang of his military power.
Xiang Yu had been dazzled by the victory and was still not satisfied with taking over Nanyang. He believed that with an army of 400,000, he could capture Nanjun before winter.
In order to prevent Zhang Liang from hindering him, Xiang Yu forced the defense of Xinye to Zhang Liang, and then continued to lead the army to attack Xiangyang, the gateway of Nanjun.
Xiangyang at this time was just a small county town, not the eternal fortified city that had resisted Yuan and Mongolia for more than ten years in the late Song Dynasty.
The administrative seat of Nanjun is still Jiangling, and Xiangyang became the administrative seat of Jingzhou after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou.
Liu Biao divided Nanjun into two counties, Jiangling and Xiangyang, and made Xiangyang the political center. Xiangyang's status improved.
Although Xiangyang is only a small city today, it has an excellent defensive foundation. Ding Yuan valued this very much, so after entering Jingzhou, he mobilized all the resources in Jingzhou and finally built Xiangyang into a defensive fortress.
The high-spirited Xiang Yu thought that Xiangyang was still vulnerable, but after a fierce attack, he discovered that the small city was much stronger than he thought, and the Han army in the city seemed to have changed a group of people.
Xiang Yu didn't care about this. With an army of 400,000 in his hands, he was not afraid of anything, so he still ordered a fierce attack.
Xinye is one of several county towns in Nanyang south of the Han River. It is located on the only way to Nanjun, so it has now become a storage place for the Yellow Turbans.
Grain, ordnance, medicine... countless supplies were transported from various counties in Nanyang to Xinye in preparation for the attack on Jingzhou in the coming year.
However, due to the total amount of materials plundered from the Nanyang family and the limited transportation conditions, Xinye's stockpile of materials is not large now, and the food and grass are only enough for an army of 400,000 for one month.
Xinye, county government.
Zhang Liang stood at the door of the room, looking up at the unpredictable starry sky, his expression becoming more and more solemn.
"Is the weather going to change? Looking at the sky, there should be heavy rain coming soon. It seems that there will be too much rain in Xiangyang before winter begins!"
Zhang Liang murmured, then shook his head mockingly, what's the use of thinking about it now.
After walking back to the room, Zhang Liang couldn't help but look at the map hanging on the wall and fell into deep thought again.
After a while, Zhang Liang seemed to see something. He stared at the map. A terrifying idea appeared in his mind, and his face became paler and paler.
"Coincidence? Or? No, it can't be a coincidence. If there are too many coincidences, it's a conspiracy!"
Zhang Liang turned his attention to Nanyang and Nanjun again, and felt a sudden enlightenment in his heart.
"No wonder the resistance along the way is so weak. Damn it, I didn't realize it until now."
Zhang Liang hurried back to the table, quickly wrote a letter, and then shouted: "Here comes someone."
A defender ran over, and Zhang Liang immediately said with a serious expression: "Hurry and hand this letter to General Xiang!"
The defender suddenly showed a look of embarrassment on his face and said coquettishly: "General Ren Gong, aren't you putting this in a small position?"
"Go quickly." Zhang Liang roared.
Seeing that the always gentle General Ren Gong actually showed such a panic expression, the defenders seemed to understand the seriousness of the problem and ran directly outside with the letter in hand.
"It should be too late, but will Xiang Yu listen to me?"
Looking at the back of the phone, Zhang Yang murmured: "Xiang Yu, if you don't listen to my advice again, you will become a sinner for the ages."
Zhang Liang thought of Qin Hao who was still in Xinye Prison, and his expression became solemn again.
"If it was all a conspiracy since Guangcheng Pass, what about before Qin Hao was captured?"
Zhang Liang shook his head and frowned: "No, it's just because it's too perfect, so there must be something wrong with it, but where is the problem?"
If Qin Hao was caught deliberately just to plot against Xiang Yu, it would be totally worth the loss, so Zhang Liang was puzzled by this.
"Qin Hao must have something he's not telling. No, we have to pry his mouth open."
With this thought, Zhang Liang hurried to Xinye Prison.
In Xinye Prison, Qin Hao, who was dressed in prison uniform, was not in the least embarrassed. It was obvious that Zhang Liang did not abuse him.
After watching the sky outside through the skylight, Qin Hao even showed excitement, then turned his head and whispered to Xue Rengui:
"Brother Xue, if nothing happens, we should be able to get out of trouble tonight."
Xue Rengui, who was already sleepy, suddenly trembled when he heard this, and said in disbelief: "Lord, what did you say?"
Qin Hao smiled mysteriously and was about to explain, but Zhang Liang strode in.
"Mr. Zifang, long time no see."
Qin Hao smiled and said hello, but Zhang Liang still had a cold face and said indifferently: "Qin Hao, is Jingzhou a bureau?"
Qin Hao's heart thumped, but he still kept a bright smile on his face. rw
