Chapter 56 55 Chu and Han struggle

Han Wang Liu Bang worshiped Han Xin as a general and Xiao He as a prime minister, rectified the rear and trained his troops.In August 206 BC, Han Wang and Han Xin led the Han army to attack Guanzhong.The people in Guanzhong originally had a good impression of the King of Han in the "Three Chapters of the Covenant", but when the Han army arrived, most of them were unwilling to resist.In less than three months, the King of Han wiped out the troops of Zhang Han, the former general of the State of Qin, and the Guanzhong area became the territory of the King of Han. This made Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu, very angry.Xiang Yu planned to send troops to the west to attack Liu Bang, but something happened in the east. Tian Rong of Qi State blasted away the king of Qi that Xiang Yu had appointed, and made himself king. The situation was more serious than in the west.Xiang Yu had no choice but to deal with Qi State first.

Liu Bang, king of Han, took advantage of Xiang Yu's stalemate with Qi to fight eastward and captured Pengcheng, the capital of the overlord of Western Chu.Xiang Yu had no choice but to abandon the other side of Qi, and rushed back to fight the Han army on the Sui River. The Han army was defeated. I don't know how many people fell into the water and drowned, and many were captured. The father of the King of Han, Grand Duke, and his wife, Queen Lu, were also captured by the Chu army. The king of Han withdrew to Rongyang and Chenggao (both in present-day Xingyang County, Henan Province) to collect scattered soldiers.At this time, Xiao He sent a team from Guanzhong, and Han Xin also brought an army to meet the King of Han, and the Han army cheered up again.

The king of Han adopted the method of attacking and defending. On the one hand, he defended Xingyang and held Xiang Yu's army with a small number of troops; Xiang Yu's counselor, Fan Zeng, advised Xiang Yu to take Xingyang quickly.The king of Han was very anxious.His counselor, Chen Ping, originally defected from Xiang Yu, and offered a plan to drive a wedge between Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng. Xiang Yu is a very suspicious person, and he was caught in a trick, and he really became suspicious of Fan Zeng.Fan Zeng was very angry, and said to Xiang Yu: "The great affairs of the world have been decided. Your Majesty, please do it yourself. I am old and frail, and it is time to go back to my hometown."

Fan Zeng left Xingyang, angry and sad all the way, fell ill, did not return to Pengcheng, and died of malignant sores on his spine. After Fan Zeng died, there was no one in the Chu camp to advise Bawang.The pressure on the Han army also eased.The king of Han used a small number of troops to restrain Xiang Yu's forces in the Xingyang and Chenggao areas, and ordered Han Xin to continue to attack the north and east. He also ordered General Peng Yue to cut off the Chu army's grain transportation behind the Chu army, so that Xiang Yu's army had to fight back and forth. Chu and Han confronted each other for more than two years.

In 203 BC, Xiang Yu went to attack Pengyue by himself, leaving his general Cao Jiu to guard Chenggao, repeatedly enjoining him not to fight the Han army. When the king of Han saw that Xiang Yu had left, he challenged Cao Jiu.At first, Cao Jiu didn't say anything and didn't come out to fight.The king of Han ordered his soldiers to insult the Chu camp all day long across the Si River (which flows through the west of Xingyang, Si sounds like si). After scolding for several days, Cao Jiu couldn't hold his breath anymore, so he decided to cross the Si River and fight the Han army to the death.

The Chu army had many soldiers and few boats, so they had to cross the river in batches.When the Chu army had just crossed halfway, the Han army defeated the front army of the Chu army, and the rear army fell into disarray and trampled on each other.Cao Jiu felt ashamed to see Xiang Yu again, so he committed suicide by the Sishui. Xiang Yu was winning the battle in the east, and when he heard that Cheng Gao had fallen, he rushed to the west to deal with the King of Han.In Guangwu (now northeast of Xingyang County, Henan Province), the Chu and Han armies faced off again. After a long time, the food of the Chu army could not meet.Xiang Yu had no choice but to tie up Hanwang's father, put him on the pig slaughter case, and sent someone to shout:

"Liu Bang killed your father before he surrendered." Knowing that Xiang Yu was threatening him, the King of Han replied loudly, "You and I were brothers once, and my father is also your father. If you kill your father and cook it into meat soup, please give me a bowl to taste." Xiang Yu gritted his teeth with hatred, and really wanted to kill the grandpa, but Xiang Bo persuaded him again. Xiang Yu sent an envoy to say to the King of Han, "The world is in turmoil right now, because you and I are at loggerheads. Do you dare to come out and compare yourself with me?" The King of Han asked the envoy to reply, "I can fight you, I won't compete with you."

Xiang Yu asked the King of Han to come out again and talk before the battle.The King of Han denounced Xiang Yu's ten crimes face to face, saying that he was not faithful, killed Emperor Yi, massacred the people and so on.Xiang Yu got angry when he heard this, and pointed forward with his halberd, and the archers behind him all fired arrows.The king of Han hurried back to his horse, but was seriously injured by an arrow in his chest. He held back the pain, bent his waist and touched his feet on purpose, and said cursingly, "The thief shot my toe." Left and right helped the King of Han into the camp.When the Han army heard that the King of Han was injured, they panicked.Zhang Liang was afraid that the army's morale would be shaken, so he persuaded the king of Han to get up, and went to the barracks to inspect it, and everyone settled down.

Xiang Yu was disappointed when he heard that the King of Han was not dead.Then, Han Xin defeated the Chu army in Qi, and Peng Yue cut off the Chu army's grain transportation route, and the grain and grass became less and less. Taking advantage of Xiang Yu's difficult situation, the king of Han sent someone to make peace with Xiang Yu, asking for the release of the Grand Duke and Empress Lu, and suggested that Chu and Han should use the boundary between Chu and Han (in the southeast of Xingyang), and the east of the gap should belong to Chu, and the west of the gap should belong to Han.

Xiang Yu thought it was not bad to delineate the "Chu River-Han Boundary" in this way, so he agreed, released the Grand Duke and Queen Lu, and then brought his troops back to Pengcheng. In fact, the king of Han's peace talks this time was just a tactic to slow down the army.Using Zhang Liang and Chen Ping's strategy, the king of Han organized Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Yingbu to join forces within two months, led by Han Xin, and pursued Xiang Yu.The final decisive battle between Chu and Han began.