Waving the flag of righteousness, Liu Bang led his troops into Chu State and marched to Pengcheng. The main force of the Chu State was following Xiang Yu to defeat Tian Heng, and the country was empty. Liu Bang took advantage of it, and Pengcheng was quickly conquered. Liu Bang entered Pengcheng and was so proud that he took the women and gold and silver treasures in Xiang Yu's palace as his own. Every day he held banquets and gathered people to drink. At this time, Fan Kuai was sent out to attack other cities in Chu State, while Zhang Liang had been recuperating due to poor health. Liu Bang committed an old problem, but unfortunately no one was around to persuade him.
Liu Bang thought that this was the end of Xiang Yu. Of course Xiang Yu couldn't do what Liu Bang wanted. When he learned that the Han army was attacking the Chu State, Xiang Yu ordered his men to continue attacking Chengyang, and he galloped over with 30,000 people. Thirty thousand versus 560,000? Can it be done? Xiang Yu was naturally courageous and was not afraid at all. Don't look at the 560,000 Han troops. However, under Liu Bang's dispatch, a considerable part of the army was sent out to expand the results. There were only about 300,000 Han troops left in Pengcheng and nearby areas.
Even if there were 300,000 people, in a head-on confrontation, the Chu army would probably be no match for ten, so Xiang Yu did not choose a head-on confrontation. Instead, he launched a surprise attack early one morning. In half a day, he defeated the Chu army from Xiao County (today's Xiao County, Hefei, Anhui). County) fought to Pengcheng and caught the Han army by surprise.
The distance between the two places is more than 600 miles, and Xiang Yu only spent half a day fighting all the way. This shows how fast the Chu army advanced and the difference in combat effectiveness of the Han army. Although Liu Bang was in charge of Pengcheng, due to the influence of the defeated soldiers, the morale of the army was unstable and morale was low. It was not long before Xiang Yu took it back. Liu Bang fled frantically with his defeated army, while Xiang Yu did not stop, leading 30,000 Chu troops to chase them like tigers herding sheep, and actually killed more than 100,000 Han troops. Hundreds of thousands of people fought against 30,000 people, but 30,000 people killed hundreds of thousands. This is rare in history.
Because Liu Bang was defeated and fled, the Han army's command system was paralyzed and unable to organize effective resistance. Xiang Yu clung to Liu Bang's main force and did not give Liu Bang a chance to breathe. He forced the Han army to the Suishui River (one of the tributaries of the ancient chasm, which has been cut off now).
It is said that a last-ditch battle can inspire soldiers' courage, but this trick did not work against the Han army. The Han troops who lost their command all scrambled for their lives. Under the crowds of men and horses, more than 100,000 people fell into the water and drowned. The densely packed dead bodies blocked the Sui River and stopped it immediately!
Unable to advance or retreat, Liu Bang was tightly surrounded by the Chu army, and he was about to become the target of Xiang Yu's sword. Maybe Liu Bang was destined to die, and I don't know what happened. At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew from the northwest. It is said that the strong wind made the sky dark and the earth dark, making it difficult to distinguish between west and east. For a time, houses fell down, sand and rocks flew, as if the gods were angry or demons were causing trouble.
The strong wind came so suddenly and violently that the Chu soldiers and horses were immediately thrown into disarray. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, under the protection of dozens of guards, Xia Houying drove a carriage and pulled Liu Bang out of the encirclement. After the strong wind passed, the Chu army officers discovered that Liu Bang was missing, and immediately sent out troops to search everywhere.
Liu Bang, who was lucky enough to save his life, didn't know that the pursuers were behind him, so he fled through Peixian County. Firstly, he was along the way, and secondly, he planned to take the opportunity to take away his family. When he arrived at his home in Peixian County, Liu Bang saw that his father and wife had escaped earlier than him and had disappeared. However, Liu Bang's two children, Liu Ying and Liu Le, were left on the road. These two children were very lucky, and they happened to meet Liu Bang on the road. Liu Bang felt extremely distressed when he saw the children looking like neither humans nor ghosts, so he quickly picked them up in the car and cried together with the children.
Liu Bang was wiping his tears when he heard the people behind the car shouting and the horses hooves rumbling. He looked over and saw that it was the Chu army. He couldn't help but panic and ordered Xia Houying to advance quickly. Xia Houying hurriedly raised his whip to urge his horse, and it ran as fast as fire. However, no matter how fast a carriage can run, it cannot run faster than a horse that is not pulling the carriage, not to mention that there are four people sitting in the carriage. I saw the chasing Chu army running closer and closer, becoming clearer from the shadows.
Liu Bang felt anxious, stretched out his hand to push, and could only scream "ah" and "wow". Xia Houying looked back and saw the two children Liu Ying and Liu Le being pushed out of the car by Liu Bang. The two children fell into disgrace, their arms and legs were bruised, and they sat on the ground crying. Xia Houying was so warm-hearted that he could not bear this. He hurriedly pulled the horse and quickly carried the two children back. Because of this delay, the Chu army pursued them even closer. Liu Bang pushed the two children down again this time, and Xia Houying stopped the car again to pick up the children. After going back and forth like this, it was clear that Liu Bang didn't want the burden of having a child, but Xia Houying was reluctant to part with it. Maybe Liu Bang wanted to kill Xia Houying at that time, but he was worried that his driving skills would be poor and he would be unable to escape, so he had to let the latter go.
Unexpectedly, Xia Houying was really powerful. With so many Chu troops chasing him, he still ran away with Liu Bang and others.
To be honest, I admire Xia Houying very much. His conduct is really admirable and he values his children so much. Therefore, as mentioned in the previous article, he served as an official in four dynasties, and his Xiahou family survived from the founding of the Western Han Dynasty to the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
It is the inherent nature of living things to avoid death and injury, but it is also the natural instinct of living things to protect the next generation. Tigers are so ferocious that they will not eat their own children. However, in comparison, Liu Bang and Lu were not like this. Lu could leave her child behind when she was running for her life, but Liu Bang could not bear to leave his child behind in order to escape for his life. This situation is really sad.
Liu Bang escaped and his two children were also saved. Together they ran to Xiayi (now Dangshan, Anhui) to take refuge with his brother Lu Fei, who was leading the army. Liu Bang's father and Lu Fei were originally escorted by Sheren Shenshiqi to go to Liu Bang, but they bumped into the Chu army and were captured by Xiang Yu.
After Liu Bang's defeat, the princes who took advantage of the situation re-elected their factions. Sima Xin, Dong Yi, and Ji Bao took the opportunity to defect to Xiang Yu again. Tian Heng of Qi State took advantage of Xiang Yu's absence to quickly recover Qi State, and established Tian Rong's son Tian Guang as the new The King of Qi, Xie with the King of Zhao, and Chen Yu, the acting king, extended an olive branch to the Chu State.
In Xiayi, Liu Bang gathered some defeated troops, and Xiao He also hurriedly recruited men and horses in Guanzhong. If he couldn't find the young and strong, he called in the old and the weak, and gathered a large number of people and sent them to the front line. Liu Bang stabilized his position, and at Zhang Liang's suggestion, he instigated Wang Yingbu of Jiujiang, who was at odds with Xiang Yu, forcing Xiang Yu to send General Long Qie to conquer and disperse his forces; he contacted Peng Yue and received support from Peng Yue. South of Xingyang (now north of Xingyang, Henan Province), Liu Bang, who had gathered his troops, fought against Xiang Yu again and successfully blocked Xiang Yu's offensive. After returning to Guanzhong, Liu Bang made Liu Ying the prince, and Han Xin was also worshiped as the prime minister of Zuo. Liu Bang adopted Han Xin's strategy of "lifting Yan and Zhao in the north, attacking Qi in the east, cutting off Chu's food route in the south, and meeting the king in Xingyang in the west", and arrived in Xingyang again to contain Xiang Yu's main force and create opportunities for the Han army to find fighter opportunities in other battlefields. .
Chu and Han entered a stalemate stage.
