Chapter 18 Chapter 18 The Road to the West

After Xiang Yu accepted Zhang Han's surrender and signed an alliance, he made him "King Yong".However, Xiang Yu left Zhang Han in the Chu army, appointed Chang Shi Xin as the general, and led the 200,000 surrendered Qin army. The reason why Xiang Yu accepted Zhang Han's surrender was not because of lack of rations. He just didn't have time to deal with the 200,000 Qin army led by Zhang Han. He must be the first to attack Xianyang.In other words, he was in a hurry. After accepting the army of princes who watched the battle at Julu, Xiang Yu already had four or five million troops under his command. Now with the addition of two hundred thousand Qin troops, the number suddenly increased to six or seven hundred thousand.This group of troops started from the southern part of Hebei Province and marched southwest along a line parallel to the Yellow River. After arriving near Mengjin in the north of what is now Luoyang, they crossed the Yellow River and reorganized their troops at a place called Xin'an.Judging from the current map, Xiang Yu should enter Luoyang. In fact, the city of Luoyang at that time was farther to the east than it is today.Therefore, Xiang Yu, who was in a hurry to go west, would never have the idea of ​​turning back.

Xiang Yu faced General Zhang Han in Zhangshui for four months. ——Liu Bang is still wandering around Changyi.They seemed helpless against the city. Xiang Yu received such information. ——What else can an army of about 20,000 do!How does a person who comes from a hooligan background know how wars are fought?At best, they will only fight in groups. Xiang Yu looked down on Liu Bang at all.He thought Liu Bang was not qualified to compete with him at all.It's just that since it's a competition, there is still time to rush, but he did look down on Liu Bang.What's more, during the confrontation with Zhang Han, the information he got from Henan was like this:

——Liu Bang was overwhelmed because he couldn't attack Changyi. ——Liu Bangjun is having a food shortage. It turned out that this was a fake report made by Zhang Liang's intelligence personnel who bought Xiang Yu.The reason for this is to make Xiang Yu careless. In fact, Liu Bang adopted Zhang Liang's advice, abandoned the Qin army in Changyi, and was rushing all the way to the west. After incorporating Gang Wuhou's four thousand soldiers and Peng Yue's bandit troops, Liu Bang's troops also exceeded 30,000.Of course, such a number cannot be compared with Xiang Yu's army, but a small army has one advantage: quick action.

Xiang Yu is used to doing everything by himself, which is the result of his self-confidence that he can do everything.In contrast, Liu Bang, who was born as a rogue Han, has self-knowledge.Taking combat as an example, he often said: "Zhang Liang is better than me, let him do everything!" In fact, he let Zhang Liang decide everything, or rather he tended to underestimate his own talents. Another thing he often said was: "Where can I find talented people?" After this incident spread, various people often came to Liu Bang's position to recommend themselves.Of course Liu Bang did not casually adopt these people.He can see through people who just talk but don't practice and have no practical ability.When it comes to Liu Bang's strengths, it is the vision of identifying characters!

Liu Bang hates Confucianists the most.It is said that when he saw a Confucian, he would feel like peeing.Confucianists all wear Confucian hats, and every time Liu Bang sees a Confucianist, he will say: "Take off your hat and give it to me!" and then urinate in it.The behavior of such a leader is really unflattering.The reason why he treats the Confucianists like this is that they like to talk high-spirited and talk about unrealistic things. There is only one exception. The man's name was Li Shiqi, and he was from Gaoyang, Chenliu County. Li Shiqi has made many achievements.He, who had a long history of friendship with the magistrate of Chenliu County, used Liu Bang's interests to make him open the city to accept Liu Bang's troops unconditionally.Chen Liu not only stored a lot of grain, but also had a lot of strong men.Li Shiqi's younger brother Li Shang led thousands of soldiers to follow Liu Bang, and he even lobbied the princes as a diplomat.He did this, of course, for Liu Bang.

As a result, Liu Bang's troops increased their troops successively on the way to the west.On the contrary, Xiang Yu, who had an army of hundreds of thousands at the beginning, was inevitably slow in his actions, and his marching speed was also quite slow. Chenliu is to the southeast of Kaifeng.Liu Bangjun attacked Kaifeng from this point, but the Qin army was unable to capture the city because of its strong defense.If Xiang Yu is replaced at this time, he will definitely do his best to attack to the end.However, Liu Bang gave up Kaifeng as he did in Changyi, and turned to attack the Qin army in the north at Baima (near Huaxian County, Henan Province), and then went south to attack Yingyang (southwest of Dengfeng County, Henan Province).

After attacking Yingyang, they went north to attack the "Danger of the World".This place used to be Han's sphere of influence. Therefore, Zhang Liang, who was born in the family of the Korean prime minister, brought great benefits and convenience to Liu Bang. At this time, he received information that Sima Ang of Zhao was planning to cross the Yellow River from the north in order to attack Hangu Pass.As a result, Liu Bang's army marched further north and destroyed the Pingyin Ferry in the east of Mengjin. Afterwards, he went south and confronted the Qin soldiers in the east of Luoyang. As a result, the troops were unfavorable, and they retreated to Yangcheng to reorganize the troops. The above is the general march of Liu Bangjun. is very elastic.Xiang Yu followed a straight line.

After Liu Bangjun continued to go south, he attacked Nanyang County.The governor of Nanyang retreated to Wancheng and held on to the city. "As usual, let's leave Wancheng and go west!" Liu Bang said. This was the case in both Changyi and Kaifeng. When the opponent was defending the city, they gave up the strategy and bypassed it. "It's not right now." Zhang Liang, who has always adopted the method of passing without a fight depending on the situation, expressed his opposition this time. "Why?" Liu Bang asked in surprise. "The situation in this place is different from that in Changyi and Kaifeng. The strong soldiers guarding this place. There are dozens of cities in this county, and the talents and products are extremely rich. We will pass without a fight, and if we go west, they will definitely come after us. .”

"Then what should we do?" "Go west for now." "Isn't this going without a fight?" "We will go around and attack again. However, we have to change the flag when we turn around." Zhang Liang replied. "Replace the flag..." Liu Bang thought for a moment, and suddenly laughed out loud, "Oh, so that's the case. I know! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The day after the 30,000 troops passed, another group of troops came to besiege the city—under such circumstances, the defenders would definitely think that these were two different groups of troops.It can be seen that the enemy's strength is not weak, and it is a planned way of fighting.If you stick to the fierce battle, the encircling army will definitely recall the 30,000 friendly troops that passed through before, and then work together to slaughter the city in one fell swoop.The enemy army in front of me can still deal with it, but when the other party invites powerful reinforcements, can the city still hold it?

The governor of Nanyang County, who was guarding Wancheng, tried to commit suicide in despair, but was dissuaded by diner Chen Hui. "Adults must not seek short-sightedness, let me deal with this situation!" Chen Hui then went out of the city and came to Liu Bang's camp to lobby: "It is not good for both parties to start a desperate battle now. Nanyang County is a big county. There are dozens of cities in the county, and the soldiers are very elite. Even if Wancheng is Your army must have suffered heavy casualties, and the other cities will not spare your army. It is said that the king of Chu promised that the first person to enter Guanzhong will be the king of Guanzhong. If your army fights to the end here, it is not impossible to be the first Breaking into Guanzhong?"

"Then what do you want us to do?" "I suggest that the two sides conclude a peace agreement, and at the same time seal Nanyang County as Marquis and stay in Wancheng, while your army continues to march west." "Aren't you going to chase from behind?" "Since the peace agreement has been concluded, it is the allied army. Your army can lead most of the defenders in Wancheng to advance to Wuguan in the west. In this way, you don't have to worry about being chased. And after the peace is resolved, all the generals in the county will look to this." "This..." Liu Bang glanced at Zhang Liang and moved his chin to ask him to express his opinion.Zhang Liang nodded immediately. "Okay, I see, let's make a decision like this! Please discuss the details with Zhang Liang." Liu Bang said. The governor of Nanyang County was granted the title of Marquis of Yin, and Chen Hui, who made contributions to the peace negotiations, received a salary of a thousand households. Those who make merit will be rewarded-this is Liu Bang's principle. Since Xiang Yu attributed all the credit to himself, there is no such thing as a reward for meritorious deeds.Those who saw Xiang Yu's prominence and joined him were not actually convinced of him. Under Liu Bang, there are many talents.When advancing westward from Nanyang, he sent Li Shiqi and Lu Jiaxian to Qin to buy the dignitaries of the Qin Dynasty.Many talented people have the opportunity to give full play to their expertise under Liu Bang. It was in July of the third year of Emperor II that Liu Bang surrendered to Nanyang.Xiang Yu formed an alliance with Zhang Han in the old capital of Yin (Yin Ruins) and named him King Yong, which also happened in the same month. It took Xiang Yu to cross the Yellow River to Xin'an between October and November of this year.At this time, Liu Bang had passed Wuguan and entered Guanzhong, but Xiang Yu didn't know about it yet. Xiang Yu's army has a huge problem, that is-the generals and soldiers are not in harmony. Most of its legions are "Shandong" soldiers.This Shandong is not the present Shandong Peninsula, but it means the east of Mount Hua (in Shaanxi Province), and it is also called "Guandong", which means the east of Hangu Pass. In the west of the mountains—the west of Hangu Pass—after Qin conquered the world, the people of Kansai were already the favored children of heaven, while the people of Kanto were reduced to the point of being dominated.For large-scale fortifications such as the construction of the Xianyang Palace, the Great Wall, and the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, all Kanto people were dragged to Kansai to do labor.At this time, the Kansai soldiers serving as supervisors all sent the Kanto people with whips. The 200,000 Kansai soldiers who used to stand as rulers were absorbed by the 400,000 to 500,000 Kanto soldiers who had been abused, and it was not an amalgamation of equals. "I have never forgotten the abuse I suffered when I was taken to work on the construction of the Efang Palace. The wound on my back that was whipped at that time has not healed until now! Shouldn't we seek some justice?" "Yes! The shoulder I was beaten in Lishan Mausoleum is still hurting. I will never be reconciled if I don't take revenge!" "Until yesterday, he was still showing off his power as a Qin soldier, but now he has transformed into a soldier of the princes. Isn't this letting them take advantage of it!" "Get rid of them!" The Kwantung soldiers were all so indignant, and showed a murderous spirit.Of course, the Kansai soldiers who surrendered quickly noticed this.They felt the hostility of the Kwantung soldiers and knew it had its origins. "Everyone be careful! They may launch a surprise attack on us at any time!" "We must be more vigilant together, otherwise, we will be plotted against!" They sent messages to each other, asking everyone to be extra careful. Commander-in-chief Xiang Yu already knew the sinister atmosphere pervading the legion, and he paid close attention to the inside story of the surrendered troops.In order to test the loyalty of this group of people.He not only tried various methods, but also sent spies to sneak in to find out the truth. The report Xiang Yu got from the spies was that 200,000 surrendered Qin soldiers were not convinced.In fact, there was a reason why these Qin soldiers were dissatisfied. And when the Qin army surrendered to the princes, the officials and soldiers of the princes took advantage of the victory and enslaved many slaves to make them lightly humiliate the officials and soldiers of Qin. From this record in "Historical Records", we can know that between the Yin Ruins and the crossing of the Yellow River, the surrendering soldiers were severely abused and retaliated for past events.Under such circumstances, they certainly cannot be convinced. "We must unite!" "Yes! We have an army of 200,000, so we can't suffer in vain!" "The Qin people who have won the world, how can they be humiliated!" "We were deceived by General Zhang Han! Zhang Han and Sima Xin betrayed us for glory. These two people will never forgive us!" "Let's have a fight with them!" Qin Bing's dissatisfaction could erupt at any time, it was only a matter of time. "When we get to Hangu Pass, it's our territory, let's show them some color!" Xiang Yu also knew that they had this intention.After entering Guanzhong, riots are likely to break out in the legion.Two hundred thousand is not a small amount.Moreover, after entering Guanzhong, the local residents are very likely to respond to them. Xiang Yu then made a frightening decision. "Kill all the 200,000 Qin soldiers! Otherwise, there will be big problems after entering Guanzhong. The only way to get rid of the cause is as soon as possible." He once slaughtered the city in Xiangyang, and now he is about to have another massacre.Seeing someone in the staff frowning, Xiang Yu said in a cold tone: "War is like this, either kill or be killed! When facing life and death, of course, you can't take care of this much!" Under Xiang Yu's order, all the Kwantung soldiers launched a night attack on the surrendered Qin soldiers. The Chu army attacked and pitted more than 200,000 Qin soldiers at night to the south of Xin'an City. "Historical Records" only records this line, but what is revealed between the words is a ghostly scene. Afterwards, Xiang Yu's army continued to advance towards Hangu Pass in the west. ——At this time, Xiang Yu knew that Qin had changed hands and that Liu Bang had entered Guanzhong.