After talking all night, the remaining soldiers of the Chu army were finally able to sleep well.

Early the next morning, the scouts sent out also followed the signposts left by the Chu army and brought back news about the coalition forces of various countries. Yesterday afternoon, the Han army and the coalition forces of various countries had indeed withdrawn. Before leaving, they burned mountains. Now the mountains on the outside have almost all burned into barren mountains.

Before the departure, the last scout team rushed back and brought one person.

This is a young man with disheveled hair and ragged clothes, and he probably hasn't had a full meal for a long time. He looks pale and thin and his eyes are dull. However, when he saw Xiang Zhuang, his eyes immediately lit up, and he knelt down again, and then burst into tears: "The Third General, I'm looking for you, wuwu..."

"You are... Xiao Kai!?" Xiang Zhuang finally recognized this young man!

Xiao Kai was the nephew of the late general Xiao Gongjiao. Before Chu and Han divided the gap, Xiang Yu had already felt that the Chu army was insufficient and the military rations were even more scarce, so he sent the general Chen Ying and Xiang Guan, the son of the Xiang family, to return to Jiangdong to recruit troops and raise grain. Xiao Kai also returned to Jiangdong with Chen Ying at this time.

"Yeah!" Xiao Kai nodded and said with red eyes, "Three Generals, Jiangdong..."

"Shh!" Xiang Zhuang quickly gave Xiao Kai a message and then shut down everyone, including Jing Qian, and Gao Chu was also driven dozens of steps away. Although all the remaining soldiers of the Chu army could think of Jiangdong, they could think of knowing the truth from them. This was completely different. It would be better not to let them know the truth now.

Xiang Zhuang took off his dry food bag and water jug ​​and handed it to Xiao Kai, and said, "Xiao Kai, you can eat and talk."

Xiao Kai seemed to be really hungry. When he saw the dry food bag, his eyes suddenly turned green, and he grabbed it. He grabbed a handful of fried beans from the bag and chewed it hard. Until he finished eating half a bag of dry food, Xiao Kai drank half a can of water in a bamboo can, and finally stroked his chest and continued, "Three Generals, Jiangdong is over."

Xiang Zhuang's heart sank and he whispered: "Xiao Kai, don't panic, just say it slowly."

Xiao Kai nodded and said, "Half a year ago, the villain followed Chen Ying, Xiang Guan and Xiang Han back to Jiangdong to assist in recruiting soldiers and raising food and grass. In just a few months, the three generals had already collected 50,000 elite troops, plus a large number of military rations. Just as we were about to cross the river and go north to meet the king, Jiangbei came the bad news that the king had defeated Gaixia."

"Then, Guan Ying's five thousand cavalry crossed the Wujiang River, and General Xiang Han was defeated by Guan Ying in Moling."

"A few days later, Zhou Bo also brought an army of 20,000 across Wujiang. Chen Ying and Xiang Guan all formed the elite troops of Jiangdong to fight against him, but even Dantu, Qu A was defeated again and again, and the 40,000 troops were almost half lost. Now, Zhou Bo's army has almost swept across the entire Jiangdong. Most of the more than 20 counties north of Zhejiang (ancient name of Qiantang River) have been lost!"

"So, what about the two generals Chen Ying and Xiang Guan? Did they die in battle or lead their troops in?"

"I heard that the two generals Chen Ying and Xiang Guan were not killed, but only took 20,000 remaining troops to Qiantang."

Xiang Zhuang nodded, and at least half of Kuaiji County was not lost. He asked again, "What about Xiang Han? And how could you come here?"

Xiao Kai said: "After the villain followed General Xiang Han and was defeated by Guan Ying in Moling, he retreated to Danyang County. Guan Ying led 5,000 cavalry to chase him and surrounded Danyang County. More than half a month later, the food in the city was eaten up. When we had no choice, Guan Ying's cavalry outside the city suddenly withdrew!"

After saying this, Xiao Kai said again: "Later, after asking from many sources, we finally found out that it was the third general who defeated Fan Kuai in Shouchun and Li Zuoche's two armies, which caused panic among the coalition forces, so he recalled Guan Ying's cavalry back to Jiangbei. So General Xiang Han decided to lead his army across the river and go north to meet with the third general."

"Oh?" Xiang Zhuang said anxiously, "How many troops do Xiang Han have? Where are you now?"

Xiao Kai looked dark and said tragically: "When we crossed the river northward, we had more than 4,000 people, but because we had no food, we ran along the way and died. Now there are only more than 2,000 people left. As soon as we passed Anfeng, we heard that the third general was fighting with the coalition forces in the mountains northwest of Shouchun. The villain led more than a dozen scouts and came to explore the way first."

"Have you passed Anfeng County?" Xiang Zhuang said happily, "So, it's less than two hundred miles away!"

Xiang Zhuang said again: "In a few days, the Han army and the coalition forces of various countries will be divided into groups to trap Dabie Mountains. It will be difficult for you to enter the mountain and join us again. So, go back now and tell Xiang Han, let him lead the army into the mountain immediately and come to join our army as soon as possible. I will arrange a scout to respond along the way."

"No!" Xiao Kai bowed and turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait." Xiang Zhuang called Xiao Kai again, waved to Jing Qian again, Gao Chu took off the dry food bags on the two of them and handed them to Xiao Kai, and said, "Please take these dry foods, remember, be careful on the road!"

"Thank you, the three generals!" Xiao Kai was not polite, and reached out to take two bags of dry food, and bowed to thank him again.

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, but Gao Chu couldn't help but remind him: "It's not the third general, but now he is the general!"

"Uh, yes." Xiao Kai scratched his head and said ashamed, "On the way he came, the villain had already heard that the king had appointed the third general as the general of Chu before his death. The villain made a mistake for a moment, and asked the general to forgive him."

"It's okay, go quickly." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, and Xiao Kai then took the order.

#############

Two days later, Liu Bang's army successfully came out.

Riding on the horse and looking back, the vast mountains had already set fires, pushing the rolling smoke upwards, almost covering half of the sky. Xiahou Ying led more than a hundred teams of detectives to set fire everywhere. Liu Bang believed that even if the fire could not burn the entire Dabie Mountains, the mountaintops on the outer side would definitely be burned to pieces.

Since Shouchun was flooded and could not station the army, Liu Bang did not go out of the mountain along the original road, but went north out of the mountain and headed straight for Ruyin. Ruyin was located on the plain and next to the Gang of Gang. The grain transported from Ao Cang could go directly to Ruyin by water, unlike before, which had to consume a lot of manpower and material resources to transport it into the mountains.

At the same time, Liu Bang ordered Li Zuoche, Li Shang and Jin Xi to lead 30,000 elite troops to defend Quyang east of the mountain, six counties south of the mountain and Anfeng southwest. At the same time, he also learned from the practices of the Chu army and set up temporary beacon towers on the hills near each major road and dangerous pass. Once the traces of the Chu army were found, the beacon was immediately warned!

Liu Bang believed that Li Zuoche, Jin Xu, Li Shang and others would definitely be more vigilant after underestimating the enemy and suffered a great loss in Xiangzhuang. It would be difficult for Xiangzhuang to use strange tricks to defeat their army.

In this way, if the remnants of the Chu army wanted to escape, they had to climb westward through the deep mountains and forests.

Of course, Liu Bang was never worried that the remnants of the Chu army would really cross the mountains and flee into Hengshan Kingdom. If the Chu army really wanted to do this, Liu Bang really wanted it.

As for the army of Han Xin, Peng Yue, Ying Bu, Zhang Er, Han King Han Xin and other princes, they were naturally left in Ruyin by Liu Bang. After the previous battle in Dabie Mountains, Liu Bang became more and more worried about these princes, especially Peng Yue, who actually believed Fan Yang and Kuai Che's greedy words and sent only three thousand reinforcements, which was really hateful!

But after hatred, Liu Bang still has to endure it and cannot be too hasty.

#############

In the evening of that day, the exhausted Chu army soldiers also returned to the old camp in the mountains.

Wei Liao, who had already received the news, had already brought people to wait outside the gate of the old camp. Huan Chu, Ji Bu and more than a hundred of their personal soldiers were also out to greet each other. After completing the task of seducing the enemy, they each returned to the camp. This was also the arrangement of Xiang Zhuang.

Qin Yu's more than a hundred female soldiers, as well as more than 5,000 women and children, had already cooked hot rice, cooked hot dishes, and cooked hot bath water, waiting for the men to return triumphantly. The final result was naturally that some people were happy and some were worried. When the men returned, the women and children were naturally happy. The women and children who died were inevitably sad.

Wei Liao bowed to Xiang Zhuang for a long time and said solemnly: "General, please accept the bow of me!"

Xiang Zhuang hurriedly stepped forward and helped Wei Liao up, and said, "Military advisor, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing. I'm just thrilling in my heart and feeling it." Wei Liao waved his hand and said, "Since ancient times, there have been only two factions of military strategists. One is the brave warfare faction, with the late King Xiang as the leader, and the other is the planner faction, with the ancient Sun Wu, Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Bai Qi, and Zhang Liang and Han Xin as the leader. So far, no one has been able to get the essence of both factions."

Xiang Zhuang nodded when he heard this. Wei Liao's words were not bad. Not to mention before the Han Dynasty, even after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were very few military strategists in Chinese history who could fight bravely and make the essence of war. There were peerless heroes such as Xiang Yu and Ran Min, and Chen Qingzhi and Huo Qubing, but the only one who could truly claim to have the essence of both factions was the Soldier Yue Fei!

"But now..." Wei Liao paused and said again, "The General seems to have the essence of both factions!"

Xiang Zhuang smiled faintly and was naturally proud of Wei Liao's evaluation. Moreover, since the original Wild Horse Palm, his performance in this series of tough battles is indeed impeccable! Although when he killed Fan Kuai in the middle, he was suspected of taking advantage of the stirrups, no matter what, these achievements were real!
Chapter completed!