Chapter 33 Chapter Two Gathering the Princes

Liu Bang issued an appeal to all regions of the country, taking the revenge of Emperor Yi as the theme, and united the princes of the world to fight against Xiang Yu, the direct descendant of Chu who killed Emperor Yi. Incorporate the anti-Xiang Yu forces in Chu Since Liu Bang's army left Guanzhong, except Chen Yu's remnants of Zhao State, all the princes of the Central Plains have surrendered one after another, and Yiran has ruled one-third of the world. The state of Qi in the east has become anarchic, and Xiang Yu's main Chu army is caught in the guerrilla warfare in Qi. Although Xiang Yu is good at fighting and brave, he still cannot restore order in this place in a short time.

The power of Chu State south of the Yellow River is still under Xiang Yu’s jurisdiction on the surface; but just like the Chu State alliance system in the early years, the loyalty of the Chu princes to Xiang Yu is not particularly high, especially Chu who originally supported Emperor Yi. The tribal elders in the western half of the country are even more uneasy. Zhang Liang suggested that Liu Bang should quickly integrate this anti-Xiang Yu forces. Therefore, Liu Bang ordered to enter Luoyang, the political center at the junction of the Central Plains and Chu State, and prepared to make a political appeal to Chu.

In order to maintain the corporate image when entering Guanzhong, Liu Bang ordered the army not to disturb the people wherever they went, and to abide by strict military discipline.This is completely different from the style of "giving food to the enemy because of food" since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, so the local elders are very grateful and support Liu Bang." Zhang Liang also arranged a "political show" to strengthen his image. He asked the three old Dong Gongs in Luoyang New City to cover Liu Bang's marching convoy, and said:

"Those who follow morality will prosper, those who follow morality will perish, and it is very difficult to succeed, so we must point out the scourge of the enemy in order to effectively conquer the enemy. Now Xiang Yu has no way, kills his doctrine emperor, this world is a great thief Also, the crime should be publicly condemned. The so-called benevolence does not rely on courage, and the righteous does not need violence. The king should immediately lead the three armies to pay tribute to the emperor of righteousness, and declare to the princes to attack Xiang Yu. It is a righteous deed of Shang Tang, Zhou Wen, and King Wu!"

Liu Bang knew that Emperor Yi had always supported him, so he also had some feelings for Emperor Yi.But back then, his status was not high, and he didn't have a deep relationship with Emperor Yi, so the shock of Emperor Yi's killing was actually not too strong for him.It's just that this is a "political show" arranged in advance, so he naturally has to perform well. Therefore, Liu Bang immediately announced the mourning for Emperor Yi. He took off his official uniform and exposed his white underwear to express his condolences. Their rejection of Xiang Yu became stronger.

Liu Bang even issued an appeal to all parts of the country, saying: Back then, all the feudal lords established Emperor Yi and surrendered to him in the north. Now Xiang Yu killed Emperor Yi in the south of the Yangtze River. , Go south to conquer Xiang Yu, hoping that all the princes can join forces to destroy this unjust thief who killed Emperor Yi. There is no lengthy theory and high-profile in this call-to-action, but it is very concise and powerful; in the article, Liu Bang sets himself as the role of accompanying everyone in the conquest rather than the leader, so that it is easy to get everyone's support.Because as long as the response is enthusiastic, Liu Bang will naturally become the leader.

Taking the Yi Emperor's revenge as the theme fully shows that he is not the enemy of Chu State, but a member of Chu State. Therefore, the enemy of the world is not Chu State, but the Chu traitor Xiang Yu who killed Yi Emperor; Liu Bang's brand positioning is indeed true. smart enough. From now on, it will be a situation where Liu Bang, the loyal lineage of the Chu State loyal to Emperor Yi, unites the princes of the world to fight against Xiang Yu, the direct lineage of the Chu State who killed Emperor Yi. Except for Xiang Yu's headquarters, and Jiujiang Wang Yingbu, Hengshan Wang Wu Rui, and Linjiang Wang Gongao who assisted Xiang Yu in killing Emperor Yi, the tribes of Chu State may respond to Liu Bang's call to fight Xiang Yu together.

Even these three Xiang Yu's buddies are afraid of public wrath, so they dare not show too much protection for Xiang Yu. Attack Pengcheng, go straight to Xiang Yu's lair In order to start a decisive battle with Xiang Yu, Liu Bang must work harder to integrate the forces in the north. So he sent envoys to negotiate with Chen Yu, the strongman of Zhao.Chen Yu was already flustered after Tian Rongzhan's death, but he was even more disturbed when he saw that Zhang Er was treated with courtesy after defecting to Liu Bang.This is the main reason why he refused to join the Han army. Since Liu Bang took the initiative to invite him, Chen Yu took advantage of the opportunity to make a request:

"Please kill Zhang Er to show your sincerity, and I will join you immediately." Naturally, Liu Bang would not kill Zhang Er, but in order to win over Chen Yu as soon as possible, he actually found a death row prisoner who looked like Zhang Er, beheaded his head and gave it to Chen Yu.Chen Yu didn't doubt that he was there, so he sent troops to join Liu Bang's Southern Expedition Army. However, the incident of Liu Bang's wooing Chen Yu also showed that due to the rush to integrate, Liu Bang's camp's awareness of assembly was rough and weak. Therefore, although the number of people was expanding rapidly, internal integration became more and more difficult day by day.

When entering Hanzhong, if you add the Chu army sent by Xiang Yu, the number of Liu Bang's legions is about 30,000, and about one-third of them fled along the way and fled back to the Central Plains, which means that the final core force is only about 20,000. The army recruited in Nanzheng was restored to about 30,000 under the formation of Han Xin. Except for a part of the troops left behind, almost all the rest have come out to attack Guanzhong. The supplementary army in Guanzhong is mainly composed of Qin people.The Qin State suffered heavy losses on the eve of the collapse of the royal regime, so its military strength was very limited. It is estimated that the armed forces that can be assembled are still less than 30,000. If the original number of troops is added, it is only less than 60,000.

However, Xiang Yu alone has 100,000 people in the main force of Zhengqi, and there should be more than twice as many defenders in Chu. Liu Bang's Guanzhong Army is going to compete with Xiang Yu for the world. Therefore, Liu Bang assembled a large number of troops from the princes. According to historical records, the strength of Liu Bang's camp when he entered Luoyang was as high as 560,000. The directly subordinate troops are less than one-tenth, but the alliance army has ten times as many people. The hardest one should be the commander-in-chief Han Xin. Liu Bang was busy dealing with the princes and horns who came to join him. Meetings and banquets alone were enough to keep Liu Bang busy. Zhang Liang and Chen Ping were busy communicating and coordinating the opinions among the leaders of these legions, so that they could barely maintain the superficial unity. Xiao He, who guards the pass, is responsible for the supply. Since he has information on granaries all over the country, it is not too difficult to distribute and provide food. Han Xin felt the most uncomfortable. He himself was an airborne force. It was not easy to fully command the main forces such as Fan Kui, Guan Ying, and Zhou Bo. The maintenance of military discipline is enough trouble." "There must be a common goal, otherwise the morale of the army will be slackened!" Han Xin continued to discuss with Zhang Liang and others, and jointly made suggestions to Liu Bang. Facing this huge miscellaneous army, Liu Bang was indeed a little helpless, so he could only say frankly: "How do you think the will of the people can be gathered?" Han Xin said categorically: "Attack Xiang Yu's stronghold—Pengcheng quickly." Attacking Pengcheng is tantamount to a face-to-face decisive battle with Xiang Yu's forces. Liu Bang really has no self-confidence, and his psychological preparation has not yet been completed. But Han Xin believes that only a difficult goal can improve everyone's consensus and build a sense of crisis. Zhang Liang and Chen Ping also agreed with Han Xin. Xiang Yu and his main force are still in the chaotic Qi area, and Pengcheng's defense is bound to be deeply affected. After Tian Rong died in battle, his younger brother Tian Heng collected tens of thousands of remnants and stood firm in Chengyang, Huaizhou in the southeast. Qi is the birthplace of strategists, so the people of Qi have always fought wits but not strength in combat. Although the level of bravery is relatively poor, they are top-notch in guerrilla warfare.Although Xiang Yu personally led the main force to conquer, he quickly defeated Tian Rong's main force, and Tian Rong was even killed by the rioters soon after.But the next battle was like punching a fist into a cotton ball, unable to exert any strength, which made the main force of the fierce and brave Chu army fall into the mudflat, experiencing the pain of being unable to move an inch. When Liu Bang's main force entered Waihuang, Pengcheng, the great horned head of Weidi who was born as a thief, also led more than 30,000 subordinates to join him. Xiang Yu's lair is vulnerable Pengcheng is now Xuzhou. Located in the middle of the plain, it is the north-south transportation hub, where goods are collected and distributed, and the crowd of businessmen and travelers don't take the military order of the nominal commander to heart at all. Although Xiang Yu is still far away in Qidi, if the main force of Chu State returns quickly, coupled with the unity of the pro-Chu camp, it is impossible for this group of mobs to be his opponents. The looting of Pengcheng caused serious damage to Liu Bang's "justice". Although this is the enemy's lair, it is still the headquarters of Chu State. The tragic experience of the soldiers and people of Chu State has made the elders of Chu State who supported Liu Bang completely take the Han army. A vigilant stance." What worries Han Xin even more is Liu Bang's attitude. He seems to be dazzled by this big victory. Ordered the confiscation of Xiang Yu's private treasures, wealth, and beauties, and held a celebration banquet in Xiang Yu's palace every day. Although old partners such as Fan Kui and Xia Houying tried hard to persuade him, Liu Bang still went his own way. The Overlord counterattacked, and the Han army collapsed Although Han Xin was resourceful and good at planning, he was inexperienced in leading the army. In order to lose military discipline, he himself was in a bad mood. He was busy coordinating disputes among the various legions all day long, and even forgot the most important task of defense when he was in the enemy's territory. The tragedy of the Han army is that they thought they had won a big victory, forgetting that Xiang Yu still led the complete main force in Qi. For Xiang Yu, the reason why he forgot about Pengcheng's defense was because he never thought that someone would attack his base. He thought he was invincible, and he couldn't understand Liuji, which is a very wealthy city. Mastering Pengcheng can control the wealth of the north and south of the river, so Pengcheng has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Large-scale battles have occurred here countless times, and they often become the key to the growth and decline of the strength of both sides. Pengcheng is surrounded by plains in all directions. Apart from putting up a decisive battle position head-on, it has always been very difficult to defend. But Xiang Yu never thought that he would need to defend one day. Xiang Yu, who is very aggressive, thinks that as long as he doesn't attack others, he is good enough for others. He seems to have no experience of being attacked. When he led the main force to attack Tian Rong, the defense near Pengcheng was very weak, and he didn't believe that anyone would dare to attack his base. Therefore, when Han Xin led an army of 500,000 to rush to Pengcheng, the defenders who stayed in Pengcheng seemed to have no strength to fight back. In view of Liu Bang's great momentum, the elders near Chu almost completely stood by, and the pro-Xiang Yu's Jiujiang Wang Yingbu and others did not want to get involved in this offensive and defensive battle for revenge for Emperor Yi. The cohesion of Xiang Yu's camp is indeed very poor. Capture Pengcheng.Make the momentum of Liu Bang's camp reach the highest point. However, Han Xin, the commander-in-chief, found that he had made a serious mistake, which may bring about an unprecedented crisis. The miscellaneous troops of the Han camp who attacked Pengcheng lost their military discipline at all. They were obsessed with plundering and killing, and they did everything they could. The armies even fought against each other for the purpose of robbing women and property. Although Han Xin tried his best to persuade the generals of the legions to maintain military discipline, why did this group of Wubang gather 560,000 soldiers and horses. Thinking of letting Liu Bang go without listening to Fan Zengjian's words when he was in Hongmen, Xiang Yu felt infinite remorse in his heart. He felt that the responsibility for his negligence was too great, and he was furious because he was deceived. Because Tian Heng adopted guerrilla tactics, Xiang Yu's tens of thousands of troops were scattered in various places to encircle them. The main force quickly returned to Pengcheng. When Pengcheng fell, Fan Zeng expected to be unable to defend, so he withdrew the garrison in time to preserve his strength, and camped in a small town called Xiao in the northeast of Pengcheng; Fan Zeng must have informed Xiang Yu of the news that the victorious Han army was in chaos, and the main reason why Xiang Yu dared to return to defense with 30,000 followers was because he judged that Liu Bang's army had no combat strength. The number of people was small, and the action was fast. Xiang Yu was eager to return to Liu Bang because he wanted to peel Liu Bang alive. He rushed down day and night, and soon arrived at Xiaozhen to join Fan Zeng. The Han army's celebration banquet was not over yet, and they were unaware of Xiang Yu's return to defense. At dawn, Xiang Yu personally led the army to attack the Han army deployed in the northwest of Pengcheng.At that time, most of the Han army was still asleep and unprepared, so they were defeated, and most of them retreated quickly to Pengcheng. Liu Bang in Pengcheng heard that the Chu army was counterattacking, and immediately assembled his troops to resist. However, the miscellaneous troops of the Han camp with chaotic military discipline did not operate well at all. Only a small number of troops under the direct command of Han Xin were barely concentrated, and they went all out to meet the offensive of the Chu army in the western field of Pengcheng. The Han army inside and outside the city was in a mess, severely damaging the morale of the Han army preparing for a tough battle, and Han Xin was a little nervous when he commanded a decisive battle for the first time. Xiang Yu's troops attacked quickly, and their impact was so strong that the defending Han army could not resist.In order to preserve his strength, Han Xin ordered to cover Liu Bang's evacuation of Pengcheng. Unexpectedly, as soon as the military order was issued, the army immediately collapsed. Han Xin had to send someone to notify Liu Bang, and he led the remnants to retreat quickly. The Han army in Pengcheng was in chaos and trampled on each other. Liu Bang commanded the troops directly under him to withdraw to the southern mountainous area, but was chased by Xiang Yu's army near Suishui to the east of Lingbi, and the army was defeated; During this period, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses of the Han camp were killed in Sui Shui, and Sui Shui did not flow. The Great Escape When Liu Bang attacked Pengcheng, he brought his family back to Peixian County, and Shen Shiqi, a fellow villager, took care of him. Like Zhou Bo, Shen Shiqi was a musician in charge of funerals, so he had good connections. Zhou Bo later followed Liu Bang in the uprising, but Shen Shiqi was still Engaged in his old business in his hometown until Wang Ling decided to intervene in the matter of saving his family, he was careful and thoughtful, so he was appointed as the internal response, and successfully rescued Liu Gong and Lu's family. After that, Liu Bang took care of him. The responsibility of the family is also handed over to Shen Shiqi. Pengcheng's defeat came suddenly. The judge judged that Xiang Yu's Chu army would come to Pei County to capture Liu Bang's family, but due to lack of preparation, they had to urgently transfer Liu Gong and Lu family to the mountain for refuge.At this time, Liu Bang's two children were not around, so Shen Shiqi had to tell his relatives to take care of them, and he took Liu Gong and Lu's family to evacuate first. After Liu Bang left the battlefield, he also hurried back to Pei County with Xia Houying, but Shen Shiqi and others had already evacuated. At this time, they happened to meet Liu Bang's two children, and Naizai fled with the car. The cavalry team sent by the Chu army to search for Liu Bang's family also entered Pei County at this time. Xia Houying then personally controlled the carriage, and dozens of cavalry escorted Liu Bang to flee north. The Chu army was chasing after him, Liu Bang was in a hurry, and ordered to abandon the two children to reduce the weight of the car, and thereby disturb the will of the Chu army to pursue, but none of his subordinates dared to carry out this order, so Liu Bang had to push down the two children with his own hands. , in order to allow the entire army to escape safely. Unexpectedly, Xia Houying stopped immediately and let the two children return to the car. Even though Liu Bang yelled at him angrily, Xia Houying remained unmoved.Liu Bang pushed the child down three times in a row, and Xia Houying stopped to rescue the child three times regardless of the danger, and declared loudly to Liu Bang: "Although the situation is urgent today, you can't run blindly in a panic, let alone abandon innocent children?!" Xia Houying even deliberately slowed down the speed of the carriage, and the cavalry who wanted to guard followed slowly. Childish, never regret it. Seeing that everyone was determined, Liu Bang let them go and squatted on the carriage with his eyes closed. Due to the unanimity of the people, he finally exerted his creativity, cleverly threw off the pursuit of the Chu army in the mountainous area, and escaped from Pei County safely. Then there is another troublesome thing, that is, where to escape to?There is not much food in the rush, and everyone needs to rest after running around for days. How to find a safe place to supply it? After waking up from sleep, I feel much better. When Xia Houying asked this question, Liu Bang thought for a while and then replied: "Let's go to Xiayi!" Xiayi is located in the northeast of Dangshan, Jiangsu Province, under the jurisdiction of the State of Wei. At present, it is guarded by Lu Ze, the elder brother of Zhou Lv. Get hold of the situation. If Xiang Yu knows that Liu Bang is in Xiayi, Xiayi will probably be breached in a few days, so this operation must be very secret. Lu Ze only has more than 1,000 soldiers, which is too small to be noticed. Perhaps Xiang Yu would not pay attention to this place instead. Xia Houying understood Liu Bang's thoughts quite well, so he wholeheartedly tried to enter Xiayi by the trail. During this period, the princes who had joined the Han camp rebelled one after another. Wei, Zhao and others all surrendered to the Chu army. Even Sima Xin, king of Sai in Guanzhong, and Dong Yi, king of Zhai, also fled to join the ranks of Chu army. The most unfortunate thing is that when Shen Shiqi led Lu Shi and Liu Gong to seek a rendezvous with Liu Bang, they were captured by the Chu army on the way, and Xiang Yu ordered them to be imprisoned in the barracks as hostages. What pleased Liu Bang the most was meeting Zhang Liang in Xiayi. It can be said that heroes see the same thing, Xiayi is the most dangerous and safest place. The most dangerous thing is that it is vulnerable here. The safest thing is that the people here are the most loyal, and the news is not easy to leak. With Zhang Liang, he probably knew how to start again, and Liu Bang was relieved a lot. According to Zhang Liang's information, Han Xin's headquarters is still firmly in the south of Sui River to contain many Chu troops, and many lost legions have gradually gathered there. The most important thing at present is to secretly summon the generals of the legions to Xiayi Come to discuss important matters. Lu Ze's administrative ability is very strong, and he has done a good job of keeping secrets. Liu Bang's trace has never been discovered by the Chu army. Of course, during this period, Xiang Yu's attention could not be completely focused on Liu Bang, because the Chu army in Qi was obviously no match for Tian Heng's guerrilla warfare. After Xiang Yu returned to the south, Tian Heng regained the three Qi, so Xiang Yu had to reorganize the Chu army Facing the new situation, the search for Liu Bang also slowed down. Therefore, Liu Bang can take a breath and calm down to plan a strategy for starting again. 【Chen Wende Commentary】 Laozi (Chapter 26 of Tao Te Ching): "Heavyness is lightness of roots, and tranquility is the king of impetuosity. Therefore, a sage walks all day long without leaving his baggage. Although he has a view of glory, how can he be the master of all vehicles and despise the world with his body? If you are light, you will lose your roots, and if you are impatient, you will lose your ruler.” To realize the "Tao" of nature, stability and tranquility are the most important. Frivolity and impatience will run counter to the "Tao" and eventually fail.Baggage may be a burden, but a sensible saint is always willing to face these responsibilities of life on the journey of life.Rongxian and Yanshi neither ask nor refuse, they are calm and not tempted. Only those who can be quiet and stable can bear the responsibility of life.What's more, he is a king of ten thousand chariots, how many people's lives and happiness are affected by him, how can he be frivolous and impatient?There is no stability when you are frivolous, and you can never be quiet when you are impatient. Timing is important, but if you are eager to succeed, you will often hide a great crisis. Winning and losing are intertwined. Fortune and misfortune depend on each other. Failure is the mother of success, and success is often the mother of failure. This is a factual phenomenon, a natural "Tao." When secretly crossing Chencang and occupying Guanzhong, Liu Bang had already laid the foundation for entering the Central Plains and took the first step to success.The most important thing at this time is to take a good look at your own situation, compare your own strength with Xiang Yu's, and carefully analyze and understand what the next step is? But success will cause impatience and lightness. In fact, Liu Bang is not the only one. I believe that Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Xiao He, who will be called the Three Heroes of Xinghan in the future, also have the idea of ​​​​taking advantage of Xiang Yu's absence in Pengcheng to win in their hearts. The alliance power is expanding like a snowball. I believe that Zhang Liang, who is in charge of planning, Han Xin, who is leading, and Xiao He, who is supplying supplies, must understand the dangers and difficulties involved. Before you have the basic strength, you will enter the war for the world. The key to the decisive victory was when the army Napoleon conquered Russia. The famous Russian general Kutusov would rather give up Moscow than cause the army to suffer heavy losses, because only by preserving his strength can he have the hope of counterattack and victory in the future. Xiang Yu's main force is still intact. Unless the capture of Pengcheng breaks the morale of the Chu army, the occupation and looting will only cause the collapse of one's own military discipline.In the face of an enemy with a high will to revenge, it must be completely collapsed. The pendulum theory between winning and losing (losers can often turn into winners, and winners often lose at the next opportunity, the fate of Taiwan's two-party elections has almost become a formula) is actually not fate. The main relationship still lies in personnel.