Li Zuoche rushed to Han Xin's tent as soon as he received the edict.

After hearing Li Zuoche's report, Han Xin frowned and said disbelief: "Is Fan Kuai actually defeated by the defeated Chu army?"

Han Xin was similar to Liu Bang. At first, he refused to believe that Fan Kuai would be defeated by a defeated Chu army. No matter what, Fan Kuai was a general who had been through many battles. The Chu army was just a defeated soldier. How could it be the opponent of the three thousand elite soldiers led by Fan Kuai?

However, the fact is that Fan Kuai was defeated, and it was a crushing defeat!

"Yes." Li Zuoche nodded, "The general thought it was a defeated army with a disintegrated army, but it was not the case. After chasing Shouchun, Fan Kuai underestimated the enemy, and ended up digging into a trap carefully arranged by others. Most of the three thousand elite soldiers were killed, and in the end, they fled to Quyang with less than three hundred remaining soldiers."

"Shouchun!?" Han Xin changed his mind slightly, "Has the Chu army actually fled to Shouchun?"

"Yeah." Li Zuoche nodded again, "It's really unbelievable to say that this remnant of the Chu army marched for more than 200 miles in one day, and ran directly from near Dongcheng to near Shouchun. What's even more unbelievable is that this remnant of the Chu army actually captured Shouchun. It is said that it has not been difficult for him to do anything, and I don't know what kind of food Zhou Yin left to defend the city!"

"What, there is such a thing?" Han Xin immediately closed his roll and stood up, carrying his hands on his back and forth in the big tent.

Han Xin is worthy of being a military savage. His sense of military smell is unmatched. He has already smelled a dangerous breath from the only clues. It seems that the remnants of the Chu army that suddenly emerged from the near Dongcheng are not simple. They ran for more than 200 miles in one day. Although it was surprising, they could imagine that it was for the purpose of escaping their lives.

However, the soldiers took Shouchun without bloodshed and planned to defeat Fan Kuai, which made it aroused the alarm.

Not everyone can do this by relying on the fact that thousands of defeated soldiers with weakened morale and lost fighting spirit can conquer a strong city like Shouchun and defeat Fan Kuai's three thousand elite soldiers. This is not something that anyone can do! This not only requires extraordinary leadership skills, but also extraordinary wisdom and strategy. Who is leading the remnants of the Chu army?

Why have you never heard of such a powerful general under Xiang Yu before?

Could it be Long Qi or Fan Zeng? No, no, both of them are dead.

Seeing Han Xin pondering but not speaking, Li Zuoche took out the edict of Liu Bang and asked, "King, the King of Han has issued an edict, with the last general as the main general, Jin Xu and Fan Kuai as the deputy general, and 50,000 troops to attack Shouchun. Will the last general be subject to the edict or not?"

"Since it is the order of the King of Han, of course it must be followed." Han Xin paused and said, "However, you should bring Xiang Yu's head to the front. After the army advanced to Shouchun, remember not to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. If the opponent is really difficult and it is difficult to defeat it in a hurry, then fly the cavalry to repay it quickly, and I will personally raise the army to fight."

"No!" Li Zuoche bowed respectfully and took the order.

Watching Li Zuoche's figure fade away, Han Xin's thoughts were still not freed from the question just now. Who would be the chief general of this remnant of the Chu army?

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When Xiang Zhuang strode into the blacksmith shop, Yu Ziqi was making an object by himself.

Seeing Xiangzhuang, Yu Ziqi quickly handed the small hammer in his hand to the soldier beside him who was trying to get a shot, then came forward and bowed to Xiangzhuang for a long time, and said, "General, the object you want will be ready soon."

"No hurry." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and smiled, "General Ziqi, you are busy."

Yu Ziqi claimed the crime and took the small hammer from the soldier and beat it. The soldier swung a large hammer weighing dozens of kilograms. Under the guidance of the small hammer under Yu Ziqi, he began to forge it hard. Under the forging of the two of them, the objects on the anvil gradually took shape, and it was a bronze stirrup with a simple shape!

At this time, the Huns might have invented stirrups, but they certainly did not join the promotion, let alone introduced them to the Central Plains.

The influence of stirrups on cavalry was revolutionary. Before the stirrups appeared, the only function of cavalry was to cavalry and shoot, and they could not engage in close combat.

The so-called riding and shooting actually means riding a horse to one place, then stopping and firing an arrow, then running to another place, stopping and firing an arrow again. When riding and running, the cavalry cannot shoot arrows because the war horses at that time were not equipped with stirrups, and the cavalry must free up one hand to grab the saddle, otherwise it will fall off the horse's back.

Even Xiang Yu, who was born with divine power, could only fight in the melee because the horse battle was too exhausted.

However, the emergence of stirrups changed this situation. The stirrups perfectly integrated the cavalry and the war horses. From then on, the cavalry's hands were completely liberated. Not only could they ride horses and pull bows and shoot arrows while riding, but because the center of gravity was stable, the cavalry could also perform large-scale killing actions, and the combat effectiveness of the cavalry underwent a qualitative transformation!

The stirrup completely overturned the status of the cavalry. A small stirrup made the cavalry directly change from an insignificant auxiliary army to a decisive strategic army! The Huns, who were once defeated by the Qin Empire, used stirrups revolutionarily, became an indelible haze for the Han people!

As a time traveler, Xiang Zhuang naturally knew how important stirrups were to cavalry.

Long before the Battle of Gaixia, Xiang Zhuang had thought of equiping stirrups to the Chu cavalry on a large scale. Unfortunately, the Battle of Gaixia broke out soon, and then he was defeated again, and then he fled with his defeated generals. Xiang Zhuang could not spare time to prepare for the creation of stirrups. It was not until after capturing Shouchun that he finally had some time.

The object was barely formed, and Yu Ziqi then clamped it with iron pliers and immersed it in water. After cooling, he wiped off the water stains on the surface of the object with a rag. Then he picked up another bronze stirrup next to him, and put it together and handed it to Xiang Zhuang and said, "General, finally, he has fulfilled his mission. I will make it according to your pattern."

Yu Ziqi is worthy of being a famous blacksmith in Chu. Although time is fast, he still created the stirrups according to the drawings provided by Xiang Zhuang. Of course, due to the limitations of the times and time, the manufacturing process is very rough, but in terms of practicality, it will never be much worse than the exquisitely shaped stirrups in later generations.

Xiang Zhuang happily took the bronze stirrup and then strode out of the blacksmith shop.

In the yard outside the blacksmith shop, Gao Chu had already brought a black horse, and Jing Qian next to him was holding a saddle. This saddle was also customized by Xiang Zhuang, and the raising of the front was much higher than that of the low-bridge saddle of this era. The low-bridge saddle basically has no protective effect on the abdomen of the knight, but Xiang Zhuang's custom-made saddle can perfectly protect the knight's abdomen.

Xiang Zhuang personally put a saddle on the black horse, tied the bronze stirrup tightly, and then rode on the back of the horse.

"Go!" Xiang Zhuang just urged him gently, and the black horse immediately raised his head and neighed, then threw away his four hooves and ran.

Xiang Zhuang was free and let the black horse run forward along the street, leaving the West Gate of Shouchun, and stepped onto the vast wilderness. The north wind was strong, and the earth under his feet was retreating like a tide. In his extremely happy mood, Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but whistle to the sky. At this moment, Xiang Zhuang's long-suppressed negative emotions were finally exaggerated.

After all, Xiang Zhuang is also a flesh-and-blood body, not a steel machine. After consecutive defeats and continuous strong marches, ordinary soldiers will be exhausted and nervous, and Xiang Zhuang will also feel the power of his heart. What's more, he has to think more and bear more. If he hadn't been a soldier in his previous life, he would have been mentally broken.

It was not until half a day later that Xiang Zhuang rode a black horse back to Shouchun City with unfulfilled feelings.

This stirrup is indeed a good thing. If used properly, it may become a killer to turn the world around. Unfortunately, the Chu army now has only a few horses, so if you want to use stirrups on a large scale and cavalry on a large scale, you can only think about it. This is just a dream.

It is urgent to think about how to deal with the next wave of offensive of the Han army.

This time, even if Liu Bang didn't come in person, he would never be a brave and unscheming general like Fan Kuai, and his troops would never be a thousand more. Xiang Zhuang was really unsure whether the remnants of the Chu army could block the second wave of offensives of the Han army. However, this battle could be fought, and even if it was not fought, the remnants of the Chu army had no way out.

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Li Zuoche's 50,000 troops had already arrived in Quyang County.

Speaking of Li Zuoche, many people in later generations did not know who it was, but when it comes to his grandfather Li Mu, everyone knew it. Li Mu, Bai Qi, Wang Jian, and Lian Po were known as the four famous generals of the Warring States Period. Their use of cavalry was unmatched in the same era. Xiang Yu's cavalry long-distance raid tactics were impressive in later generations, and that was just the fur of Li Mu.

Li Zuoche's military talent may not be as good as Li Mu, but it will not be too far apart. When Han Xin attacked Zhao and Chen Yu listened to Li Zuoche's suggestions, Han Xin would not have been able to win the Battle of Jingxing. The dispute between Chu and Han was probably a different situation. Unfortunately, history has no assumptions, but Li Zuoche's ability can be seen from this.

As soon as the 50,000 army set up camp outside the city, Fan Kuai tied his hands into Li Zuoche's central army tent.

Seeing this, Li Zuoche quickly got up and loosened Fan Kuai, and smiled bitterly, "General Fan, what are you doing?"

Although the King of Han ordered Li Zuoche to be the main general and Jin Xu and Fan Kuai as the deputy general, Li Zuoche did not dare to really regard Fan Kuai as his subordinate. It should be noted that Fan Kuai was the confidant of the King of Han and was also the brother-in-law of the King of Han. His status was almost no less than that of the King of Qi. Li Zuoche was just a member of the King of Qi's tent, so how dare he be entrusted in front of Fan Kuai?

Fan Kuai avoided two steps and prevented Li Zuoche from loosening him. Then he said with shame: "General Li, Lao Fan is really embarrassed to throw him to grandma's house this time. You have to help Lao Fan."

Li Zuochelan: "Victory and defeat are common in military affairs, so why should General Fan care?"

"But this time is different." Fan Kuai said anxiously, "Old Fan has won a lifetime of victory, but after the end, he was defeated by a group of mobs and the little Xiami of Xiangzhuang. It is really shameful to say that it is so shameful. Therefore, General Li, Old Fan begs you to send 5,000 troops. Old Fan is willing to take back Shouchun for the front line!"

Li Zuoche thought that Fan Kuai was also a long-time general on the battlefield. The last time he lost the battle was because of underestimating the enemy. Now that he has learned the lesson, he will definitely not make the same mistake again. Then it is reasonable to give him a chance to atone for his sins. He nodded and agreed: "Okay, I will give you five thousand elite soldiers to be the vanguard of the army, and win Shouchun!"

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Chapter completed!