Xiong Bo led the army to move quickly, and it took him a day to reach the stronghold where food and grass were stored. However, camps have been set up and trenches dug around this stronghold, and it is obvious that they intend to hold on to it.
Seeing this situation, Xiong Bo's heart sank. Originally, he made up his mind and came quickly because he wanted to catch Huai State off guard and capture it again before Huai State had completed the construction of its fortifications.
Unexpectedly, Huai State was so cautious and built a camp overnight. It was not easy to capture the camp at this time, but the arrow was on the string and had to be fired because the Chu army no longer had enough food to withdraw.
Wang Sheng looked at the Chu army coming from outside the camp, but did not send troops to fight with it. At this time, the Chu army's morale was at its highest. If Chu's generals are powerful enough to inspire the army to fight to the death, Huai will suffer heavy losses even if they win.
So he planned to stick to the camp. After capturing the grain storage place, he had already interrogated the grain transport officer. The Chu army had carried half a month's worth of grain, and it had been ten days. When the Huai army captured the position, the grain transport team was preparing to set off.
In other words, the group of Chu troops outside only have three days of food left at most. He only needs to hold on for three days and then give some preferential treatment, and these soldiers will fall apart. Of course, there is a more ruthless move, just a direct blow The fire burned the food in the camp.
On the other side, Xiong Bo knew very well that his current situation was very dangerous. After letting the soldiers have a good meal, he directly ordered the army to attack.
He also preached that as long as the camp was captured, everyone would survive. If you can't capture the camp, you will have to starve to death. For a time, the morale of the Chu army rose sharply.
When the Huai army saw the Chu army attacking, they were not afraid, and were even a little eager to try. In order to survive, the Chu army's first attack was very fierce. Thousands of people attacked. The army surged up like a tide. Arrows flew out from the Huai army. A large number of soldiers were hit by arrows, causing countless casualties.
Before the two sides came into contact, Chu State had already suffered hundreds of casualties. When the Chu army climbed over the ditch and rushed to the front of the camp, the Huai army soldiers who had been prepared quickly attacked and killed all the Chu army in just a moment.
The Chu army took turns to attack three times, each time like a tide, as if to destroy all obstacles in front of them, but the Huaiguo camp was like a reef in the tide. No matter how hard you hit it, you couldn't break it. Instead, the tide was crushed by the reef. Crash.
The Chu army made repeated attacks but failed to break through the camp. After three times, the morale that had been built up through a decisive battle also dropped.
By this time, the battlefield was littered with the bodies of Chu soldiers. Xiong Bo was extremely helpless and had no choice but to withdraw his troops, because at this time the morale of the army had collapsed. If he continued to fight, it would only kill more soldiers and it would be impossible to break through the camp.
When the army returned to camp, the morale of the Chu army's camp was very low. Seeing this scene, Xiong Bo knew that if the camp was not captured during the day today, it would not be captured tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. After all, morale will become lower and lower with more failures.
Thinking of this, Xiong Bo immediately asked the army generals to select warriors, and then took out all the stored grain to feed the army.
He no longer planned to wait any longer and launched an attack under the cover of darkness tonight. Using the most elite warriors of each general as the vanguard, they took advantage of the darkness to make a sneak attack.
Now, Xiong Bo is like a gambler at the gambling table, betting all his chips. If he wins, the army will be difficult to defeat, and he can even occupy the land of Han. If he loses, everything will be lost.
The golden crow hangs in the west, and the jade rabbit rises.
A gust of night wind blew in the wilderness, blowing through the trees and grass, making bursts of whining sounds, as if weeping for the soldiers who died during the day.
There were only a few campfires in the Chu army's camp, which was very dull.
Time passed by, and the moon gradually became obscured by dark clouds. The earth became dark.
In Xiong Bo's camp, the lights were brightly lit, and all the dozen or so captains were there.
"Everyone, I am responsible for the failure of the expedition against the Huai State. I did not send people to protect the forage strongholds, which resulted in the army's lack of food and grass. Now the Huai State army has cut off the food and grass, and our army's retreat has been cut off. The army has reached a critical moment of life and death."
"If we cannot win this battle, we will die!"
"I hope you all will work together to defeat the Huai army!"
"I am willing to die for the general!"
"I am willing to die for the general!"
"I am willing to die for the general!"
Everyone said in unison, without any hesitation.
"Okay, if that's the case, then summon the most elite warriors under your command, and attack the Huai army at night as soon as the ugly time is over tonight!"
"Here!"
Everyone stood up and went to recruit their own private troops to prepare for tonight's night attack. Of course, not all of them are willing to fight Xiong Bo to the death. There are also some people who want to fight if they can and surrender if they can't.
Time passed quietly like running water, and soon it was Chou hour. This time was also the darkest time of the day. In the Chu army camp, an army of thousands of people had quietly formed an array.
Each of these soldiers is tall and strong, equipped with weapons and armor. You can tell at a glance that they are elite troops. These elites are the private soldiers of the generals and captains. It is precisely because they are the private soldiers of the nobles that their treatment is much better than that of ordinary soldiers, so they do not suffer from night blindness.
Thousands of people gathered here, but not a single sound was made. Soon I heard an order and the gate of the camp slowly opened. The army filed out silently.
Xiong Bo walked in the middle with his cronies, looking at the Huai Army camp in the distance like a ferocious beast in the darkness, and felt a sense of worry in his heart.
The army moved forward silently, and soon arrived near the battlefield during the day. The army moved forward cautiously. The sky was dark at this time, and it was almost impossible to see the five fingers of the hand. The firelight in the camp not far away was also very weak, and the Chu army was not found at all.
Soon the front group of soldiers had climbed over the ditch and were about to arrive at the camp. When the pioneer officer gave an order, the soldiers who had already arrived immediately rushed towards the camp.
But at this moment, a drum sound suddenly sounded, and the next second, rockets were seen shooting out from the camp.
Thousands of rockets streaked across the sky, dispersing the darkness of night. Then arrows rained down, and a large number of Chu soldiers were killed directly. At the same time, the Tengjia Army, which had been prepared for a long time in the camp, came out in full force.
A night attack already highlights the suddenness, but when this suddenness is gone, it is not even as good as an ordinary charge.
Huai's Tengjia army came out in full force. The Chu army was caught off guard and a large number of soldiers were killed. The night attack failed completely.
Seeing such a situation, many Chu troops knew that the situation was over and began to flee or surrender. The entire night attack army collapsed at an alarming speed.
...
In the third year of King Ping's reign, Huai attacked Wu. Wu sent envoys to Qi, Lu, and Chu for help. The Three Kingdoms attacked Huai, but the Huai army retreated. The Chu State besieged Han and waited for work. Xu Qing said: Cut off its food routes and cut off its retreat, and it will be in chaos. Duke Zhao accepted the advice and followed it. The Chu army was in chaos and was defeated. ——"Historical Records: Battle of Handu"
