News of Tian Rong's rebellion quickly spread throughout the world. Almost at the same time he got the news, Liu Bang took action.
As early as when he sent Liu Bang to Hanzhong, before Zhang Liang said goodbye, in addition to leaving behind the strategy of "burning the plank road to calm Xiang Yu's heart", he also formulated a plan for Liu Bang to "accumulate the wealth of Bashu and use Chencang to return the Three Qins". .
Chencang is today's Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, located at the western end of Qinchuan, eight hundred miles away, and is the throat between Guanzhong and Hanzhong. There used to be a rugged and difficult trail between Hanzhong and Chencang. Later, due to the paving of plank roads, this path gradually fell into disuse and was gradually forgotten. Therefore, Zhang Han and others were undefended in this direction.
To get out of Hanzhong, you must first get to Chencang; to get to Chencang, now there is only this neglected path. However, if the Han army blatantly charged out from this path, the scouts such as Zhang Han and others would definitely be able to detect it in time. At that time, the armies of the Three Qin Dynasties swarmed in, and the result could only be to block the Han army in front of Chencang. Therefore, the action of seizing Chencang must be done without the knowledge of gods and ghosts, and there is no room for any mistakes!
General Han Xin had already planned this. He first called for Linwu Marquis Fan Kuai and Weiwu Marquis Zhou Bo, and ordered Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo to bring 10,000 men and horses to repair the plank road, which must be completed within one month. When Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo heard this, they were very worried and went to Han Xin to reason: "General, what are you doing? It only took us a few days to burn this plank road, but it took only three years to build it. How can we finish it? It took hundreds of years to pave the road, and if you ask us to finish it in a month, you might as well kill us now!"
Han Xin's face sank: "You can just do it if you are told. There is so much nonsense! The king wants to come out of Hanzhong to seize the world. After you have cultivated for three years, what else will you seize? Now this task is handed over to you, there must be no mistakes!" "
The military orders were overwhelming, but Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo had no choice but to mobilize their troops and work day and night, working in shifts to repair the plank road.
The most brilliant conspiracy must first deceive one's own people. In order to keep it secret, Han Xin did not tell other generals about the plan.
As soon as Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo started construction and prepared to send troops from Baoxie Road, the news was hurriedly reported to Zhang Han by spies. Zhang Han laughed loudly after hearing this: "Has the King of Han been stimulated and become confused? If I had known today, who would have made you burn in the first place? Let you repair, and when you come over, I will beat you back. Not only that, I will also follow the plank road you built to fight into Hanzhong, so that you will die without a place to die." Zhang Han thought for a while and asked again: "Find out who gave this bad idea to the King of Han." Not long after, Zhang Han In return, it was said that the King of Han had appointed a man named Han Xin as a general, and it was Han Xin's order to build the plank road.
"General? Han Xin? Who is this person? Why haven't you heard of him?" Zhang Han asked doubtfully.
The spy had already found out clearly and reported: "Your Majesty, no wonder you don't know. This man is a famous coward in his hometown. Once he was bullied and got under someone's crotch. He used to be a guard under King Xiang. I just arrived at the King of Han not long ago."
The spy told the story in detail, and Zhang Han clapped his hands and laughed: "The King of Han is so pitiful. He has no subordinates, so he hired a crotchless guy to be his general. A guy like this still wants to follow me." Fight? Now it seems that I have already counted. I will send a team of people to wait at the entrance of the plank road. When they are almost repaired, they will report to me! "
Zhang Han was deceived by Han Xin and really thought that the Han army was planning to fight out from the original route and focus all its attention on the plank road.
August of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC) was the harvest season. The Han army has prepared supplies, repaired and started to take action!
Liu Bang and Han Xin led the army from Nanzheng, passed through the narrow paths covered by weeds, and arrived at Chencang without anyone noticing. They effortlessly defeated the unsuspecting defenders of Chencang and occupied this city, which was a matter of life and death in Hanzhong. He then sent troops to cross the Wei River from Chencang Ancient Ferry and attack Dashan Pass (located at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in the southern suburbs of Baoji City).
When the news came that the Han army had captured Chencang, Zhang Han was stunned. Did the Han army capture Chencang? How can it be! The plank road has obviously not been repaired yet, where did they come from? Could it be that it had wings and flew here? Zhang Han didn't have time to investigate carefully, so he hurriedly mobilized his troops to try to recapture Chencang and cut off the lifeline of the Han army.
Han Xin and Zhang Han fought in Chencang. The soldiers of the Han army were trapped in Hanzhong for four months, and their homesickness was uncontrollable. The strong desire to return home made these Han troops who had experienced countless battles even more life-threatening bravery. Looking back at Zhang Han's army, the Qin soldiers were languid and not trying their best. Many of these soldiers were descendants of the Qin people. They had always resented the three traitors Zhang Han, Sima Xin, and Dong Yi. How could they be willing to die?
At this time, Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo, who were building the plank road, also received orders and came out along the mountain road to join forces with Han Xin. The enemy and ourselves were intertwined, the ancient city of Chencang became a meat grinder, and countless living lives disappeared on the battlefield.
The Han army, which was eager to return east, faced the Yong army, which had no desire to fight, and the Han army won a beautiful victory. The fierce general Zhang Han, who once fought in less than half of China and wiped out countless enemies, now became a sheep for the slaughter. He fled in a hurry towards Haorui (now Haorui Village, Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province) in the pursuit of the Han army. The Han army pursued Zhang Han one after another and defeated Zhang Han again in Haozhen. In desperation, Zhang Han took the remaining defeated soldiers and fled back to Feiqiu City, unable to hold on.
The energetic Liu Bang sent heavy troops to besiege Feiqiu, and ordered other generals to attack Sai and Zhai respectively. Even Zhang Han couldn't stop the Han army, and Sima Xin and Dong Yi were no match. After only a few battles, the Han army defeated the Sai army and the Zhai army, discarding their helmets and armor, and directly killed Sai King Sima Xin and Zhai King Dong Yi. Kaicheng surrendered, and the Sai country was destroyed and became Weinan County and Heshang County of the Han Kingdom. , the State of Zhai was destroyed and became the Shangjun of the Han State. It didn't take long for all the eight hundred miles of Qinchuan except Feiqiu to fall into Liu Bang's control.
However, Zhang Han's reputation was not in vain after all. He did not despair, persisted in defense and refused to surrender. Zhang Han believed that Xiang Yu would never sit back and watch Liu Bang return to the Central Plains, and would definitely send a large army to support him. As long as he persists until that day, the Han army will die without a burial place. Therefore, under the siege of the Han army, Zhang Han used all his strength to defend Feiqiu watertight. The crumbling waste hill refused to fall, wearing down the patience of the Han army day by day.
What Zhang Han didn't expect was that Xiang Yu, who had a blood feud with him, didn't care about his life or death at all, and directly led his army to attack Tian Rong.
After receiving the report of Tian Rong's rebellion, Xiang Yu sent Xiao Gongjiao and others to attack Pengyue, while he reorganized his troops and prepared to send troops. At this time, the report of Liu Bang's troops entering Hanzhong also arrived.
Originally, Tian Rong and Liu Bang acted one after another, and Xiang Yu had difficulty deciding which one to fight first. However, considering Fan Zeng's insistence on getting rid of Liu Bang and his dislike of Liu Bang, Xiang Yu was more inclined to attack Liu Bang first.
At this moment, news came that Xiao Gongjiao and others were defeated by Peng Yue, and Zhang Liang also suddenly received a letter.
But it is said that after Zhang Liang said goodbye to Liu Bang in Hanzhong, he returned directly to South Korea. At that time, King Jicheng of Han was not in the country.
It turned out that Xiang Yu was greatly angered by the fact that Jicheng originally sent Zhang Liang to assist Liu Bang in entering Xianyang and that Zhang Liang had been maintaining close contacts with Liu Bang. He thought Ji Cheng was ungrateful.
At that time, Liu Bang took Zhang Liang with him to defect to Xiang Liang. Zhang Liang was particularly envious when he saw Xiang Liang establishing Xiong Xin as King Huai of Chu. He discussed with Xiang Liang: "General, you have now established a descendant of King Chu, and the flag of Chu has been raised. However, in this situation, Chu The country seems too lonely and lacks allies. Several of the sons of King Han are still there. Among them, Junji Hengyang is a good person and can take on big responsibilities. I would like to ask you to make Jun Hengyang the king of Han. If Korea If you can restore the country, you can become an ally of the Chu State, which will definitely be beneficial to your anti-Qin cause." Of course Xiang Liang hoped that the situation in the Qin Dynasty would be as chaotic as possible, so he immediately agreed and asked Zhang Liang to find Ji Cheng and establish him as his The King of Han allocated thousands more people to Jicheng to seize the territory.
Therefore, if it were not for Xiang Liang, Ji Cheng would have been buried for the rest of his life.
From this point of view, Xiang Yu feels that South Korea should be particularly close to Chu. But Han Wang Jicheng and Zhang Liang were very close to Liu Bang. This made Xiang Yu very unhappy, and he regarded South Korea's assistance as an important factor in Liu Bang's first entry into Xianyang. Therefore, after the enfeoffment of the world was completed, Xiang Yu picked up King Jicheng of Han on his way home and forcibly took Jicheng from Xianyang to Pengcheng.
In Pengcheng, Xiang Yu quickly demoted the King of Han to the title of Marquis of Han. Not long after, around the time Tian Rong killed Tian An, King of Jibei, Xiang Yu learned that Liu Bang had escaped from Hanzhong, and Xiang Yu also killed Ji Cheng. As a Korean aristocrat and dedicated to helping the King of Korea, Zhang Liang was filled with hatred when he heard the news. He expected that Xiang Yu would definitely attack Liu Bang first, so he wrote a letter with the purpose of cheating Xiang Yu and on the pretext of thinking about Xiang Yu.
Zhang Liang said in the letter:
The King of Han was supposed to get Guanzhong, but he failed to get it. Now the king of Han is launching a war just to get back the fiefdom he deserves, not to target you. As long as he can become the master of Guanzhong as agreed back then, the King of Han will be satisfied and will never do what he wants again. The priority is to your north. Qi State and Zhao State have now formed an alliance. I have their letters inciting the princes to rebel, and I will submit them to you as evidence. The two countries are openly challenging you. Please make your decision early.
What Zhang Liang meant was: Liu Bang just planned to get back what he deserved, and had no intention of going eastward. You Xiang Yu broke the original agreement. This is your fault. You should not try to stop Liu Bang. Qi and Zhao are now openly rebelling, and the evidence is conclusive. You should go fight them.
Xiang Yu's face turned red, green, and white after reading this letter from Zhang Liang. Xiang Yu is a good-looking person. He himself also knew that no matter what, Liu Bang entered Guanzhong first, but he drove others to Bashu, which was unjust. Now Liu Bang goes to get it himself, which is reasonable and reasonable. What's more, Zhang Han was the one who killed his uncle Xiang Liang, so he couldn't bear the reputation of betrayal for saving Zhang Han. Besides, Liu Bang was obedient to Xiang Yu at the Hongmen Banquet, and after the Hongmen Banquet, he even asked him to go west but he did not dare to go east. And what about Tian Rong and Chen Yu? Not only has he never helped the Xiang family when they needed it, but he has never expressed his surrender to Xiang Yu. Now he is even inciting the princes to turn against Xiang. Who should be hit? It's obvious.
There are too many people in the world who understand Xiang Yu's character, but there are very few people who are as good at grasping Xiang Yu's psychological weaknesses as Zhang Liang.
Xiang Yu was very cooperative and fell into the trap. He gave up his plan to march west to support Zhang Han and prepared to march north to attack Tian Rong. At this moment, news came that the Han general Wang Ling and his troops were about to arrive in Yangxia (now Taikang County, Henan), which made Xiang Yu wary of Liu Bang. He quickly named his friend Zheng Chang the King of Han and asked him to resist Liu Bang. At the same time, he sent a group of elite soldiers to block the royal tomb in Yangxia.
After Zhang Liang sent the letter to Xiang Yu, he began his second escape in his life and defected to Liu Bang.
With anger towards Xiang Yu, Zhang Liang wanted to help Liu Bang kill the Overlord of Chu, and Xiang Yu had one more mortal enemy.
So we say that people's success comes step by step, and people's failure also comes step by step.
