In the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, at the end of September, the New Year was very close. The weather was getting colder day by day, and the autumn wind was bleak, giving people a headache.
More than ten miles south of Wan County, Nanyang County, there is a township called "Nanzhenju". It was originally a gathering place. Later, as the number of residents gradually increased, a township was established. In fact, it didn't even have walls.
Most of the men in the village were conscripted by Marquis Tongwu to transport Wancheng's grain to Fancheng. There were only some old and weak women and children left in the village, as well as some rural officials who stayed behind.
So when a group of "rebels" armed with weapons came to attack the door, Nanzhenju failed to put up any decent resistance and fell.
This army was led by Wu Guang. He led his men to attack the rural temple and forced the warehouse officials to open the rural warehouse, only to find that it was filled with the rent collected from the fields this month - which had not yet been processed.
Millet.
Wu Guang asked someone to randomly grab a thin old farmer on the street who had no time to hide, but he saw that in such a cold late autumn, he was still wearing a summer coat with holes in it. It was made of rough brown cloth and had not been washed for an unknown period of time. He looked dirty.
Stainless and hard, he was standing in front of Wu Guang, trembling.
"Old man, you don't have any winter clothes?" Wu Guang asked casually.
Wu Guang spoke with a Chenjun Yangxia accent. It took the old Nanyang farmer two or three times to understand. He quickly bent down and almost bowed to the ground:
"Shang Li, there are some, but they are all worn by my second son to serve in the army."
Wu Guang nodded: "Second son? Aren't you allowed to conscript two people from one household?"
The old farmer said: "The officials from Wancheng said that the front is tight and they need people to transport food. As long as they are old enough, they have almost all been recruited. If there are no strong men in the family, they will draw the boys one by one. As long as they are over six feet tall, they will be sent to serve.
, our hometown alone has recruited hundreds of people."
As for when they would return, there was no definite date. The officials who recruited soldiers only said, "Marquis Tongwu loves his soldiers like father and brother, and the rebels will be wiped out in a few days. Why do you need to shed tears?" and told them not to worry.
But how could we not be worried [the rebels have all reached the hinterland of Nanyang, and Marquis Tongwu, they must be defeated, right?
After listening to the old farmer's account, Wu Guang understood clearly. No wonder General Han Xin said that tens of thousands of people were constantly transporting food for Wang Ben's army from Wan to Fan. It turned out that most of them were locals from Nanyang.
How could he not understand the feeling of this? A few months ago, Wu Guang, who was living an ordinary life in Yangxia, was not forced to serve in the army by a conscription order? If he and Chen Sheng had not turned against each other halfway, they would have been killed long ago.
After filling in the ravines, I don’t know what happened to my hometown.
Wu Guang could imagine the situation when the people of Nanzhen were conscripted. The middle-aged people's families had their relatives come to see them off, and large and small bags were stuffed into their hands with money, grain, and winter clothes. Those from poor families could only give away their family's only wealth.
Put on your clothes and wear straw sandals that tie your feet and hit the road.
Thinking of this, he sighed, looked around, and asked someone to take off the fur from the local stingy man's body and put it on the old man.
I was always afraid of retaliation, so I waved my hands to refuse in vain. After putting on the fur, I felt warmer, but I felt uncomfortable all over, scratching here and there.
Perhaps because Wu Guang was not as aloof as ordinary military officials, the old farmer also began to confide:
"General, the government says you are rebels and thieves who are here to massacre the city, but I think the general is kind and not evil."
Wu Guang smiled: "Can you still believe what the government says?"
"I can't believe it."
The old farmer suddenly became angry: "At the end of summer, the government sent people to the countryside to tell them that the First Emperor was gone and the new emperor had succeeded to the throne. He wanted to grant amnesty to the world and reduce rents and taxes. Unexpectedly, since the autumn, there have been continuous
The recruitment of soldiers and the corvées were heavier than in previous years.”
"In the first half of the month, I went to pay the rent with the old woman at home, and it was indeed reduced by half. But before we were happy, in the second half of the month, the village asked everyone to make up for the reduced grain. It was exactly the same as in previous years. This is not
Is it a lie?"
The old farmers were filled with indignation, but Wu Guang knew it. Soon they followed Han Duwei to fight in the rear, and successively cut off the grain roads from Yingchuan and Sanchuan to Nanyang. Food was tight on the front line, and the court officials in Wancheng had no choice but to collect grain locally in Nanyang.
Although there is a reason for the incident, in the eyes of Nanyang people, this is a naked fraud, and the government's credibility may have been completely ruined.
He smiled and said: "He is really reducing rent for us in the south. Marquis Wu Zhong loves the people like his sons and does not let the soldiers take advantage of the people. I heard that even if there is no corvee, the people of Nanjun will spontaneously let their children carry poles."
, go to the front line to deliver food to the army."
"Is there such a thing?" The old farmer couldn't hide his doubts in his eyes.
Time was tight, so Wu Guang didn't say anything more. He asked someone to take out the bag of grain from the country warehouse, handed it to the old farmer and said, "Old man, go home!"
The old farmer waved his hands quickly and wanted to take off his fur: "I don't dare, I don't dare. I might be caught by the officials if I collect your grain."
Wu Guang sneered, pointed at the stingy man who was hanged in the temple, and said: "Now that Nanyang is in chaos, the officials themselves cannot protect themselves, so they have no time to worry about these things."
"It won't be long before Marquis Wu Zhong can capture Nanyang. By then, your second son will be able to return, so you don't have to worry about anything anymore."
The old farmer thanked him profusely, but when he left, he muttered in a low voice:
"It doesn't matter who comes, and it doesn't matter how much the rent is."
"As long as we don't fight any more, it'll be good if my eldest and second child can come back safely!"
Seeing the old farmer leaving, Wu Guang sighed, turned around, and waved his hand.
"Second and Third Sons, move all the grain that can be moved from the country warehouse. If you can't move it all, pile it on the street and tell the people in the village that this is the grain that was taken away by the government. Anyone who wants it can come by themselves.
Get it!"
The Art of War says: Therefore, if you are wise, you will feed the enemy. If you feed the enemy one bell, you will be rewarded with twenty bells. If you avoid using one stone from your pole, you will be treated with twenty stones.
This is Han Xin's strategy in Nanyang County. As long as the counties and townships he conquers, although in principle they do not disturb the people and do not loot grain from the common people, they cannot leave a grain of grain in the government's warehouse, even if it is given to the people for free.
If no one dares to take it away, it will be burned!
When Wu Guang returned to the camp with grain and fodder, the two generals of the expeditionary force, the first and second generals, were looking at the tall Wancheng and sighed.
"Father told me."
Li Cang looked up at Wancheng, the capital of Nanyang County, with its gates tightly closed, and said: "Fifteen years ago, he served as a corvee with Marquis Wu Zhong and took dozens of prisoners to Huaiyang, because Wang Ben was besieging that place in the east.
Uncle Men, Uncle Ji, Uncle Gong, etc. are all around."
"When everyone walked to Wancheng, they happened to hear the news that Wang Bi had conquered Huaiyang. Then there was an order to send the Nanjun garrison to Wei. Under Wang Bi's orders, they flooded the beams and attacked Wei. Marquis Wu Zhong
It was the one who helped Yin Shang in that battle."
"Who would have thought at that time? Today, Wu Zhonghou, who is just a commander of a village, would be divided into two armies with the former general Wang Ben to fight against Jianghan. And we, who were still ignorant children fifteen years ago, would also leap thousands of miles.
Moved to fight in four counties and shocked the Central Plains!"
When Han Xin heard this, he laughed and said: "This means that Wang Ben is old!"
And they are in their prime!
Han Xin is qualified to say this. The strategy he formulated to "take Luyang from the west first and avoid the edge of the Nanyang Army" was proved to be correct. The Nanyang Lieutenant was eager to wipe out the "rebels" in the rear, and he went straight towards the enemy.
Yingchuan went to kill him, but he chased the other Han Xin and fled in a hurry until he reached Zhaoling.
In early September, when the Nanyang army attacked the wrong people, Han Xin led a surprise attack on Luyang Pass with 15,000 men, intercepted a large amount of grain, took some of it, and burned most of it together with the city.
Immediately, they quickly went south and entered Nanyang County, which was empty after the county soldiers went north to "quell the rebellion". They traveled sixty miles a day and appeared on the outskirts of Wancheng. Several hundred cavalry in the vanguard almost rushed into the city gate, which immediately caused a shock in Wancheng!
Feng Quji, the prime minister of the left who was in charge of supervising the army, was already worried about the chaos of cutting off the two grain roads in the rear. He ordered the Nanyang defenders to deal with the enemies of Yingchuan. There were only five thousand Wancheng defenders left.
Unexpectedly, the enemy army just sent back the victory report, and the enemy troops suddenly came to the city as if falling from the sky. He was shocked and immediately sent someone to report the emergency to Wang Ben.
The army will perish if it has no baggage, and once Wancheng is lost, the army will completely lose its rear. This also made Wang Ben almost break through the Han River defense line, but he had to withdraw his troops, and his success was in vain.
On the other hand, Han Xin and Li Cang also knew the importance of Wancheng. It was the distribution center for grain for Wang Ben's army, a famous iron smelting center, and a large city with a household registration of 20,000.
But because of this, trying to capture the city with 5,000 people is tantamount to wishful thinking. After showing off their power under the city and destroying some roads and bridges outside the city, Han Xin and Li Cang thought that it was almost time to run away.
Li Cang nodded: "It's time to leave. Our scouts in the south have reported that there have been several times more scouts from Wang Ben's army coming north in recent days. Wang Ben is afraid that he will return to the army."
Not only Wang Ben, but also Nanyang Shou, who was tricked by Han Xin and went to Yingchuan to suppress the Korean uprising, was hurriedly withdrawing. It was expected that the forwards of the northern and southern armies would arrive in Wancheng in three days. By then, they would
We were surrounded and couldn't leave even if we wanted to.
But after the various troops that were scattered near Wancheng to seize food returned, everyone was ready to go. But what shocked Li Cang was that Han Xin issued a military order that made him unbelievable.
"March westward!"
"Wait a minute!"
Li Cang was horrified: "General Han, shouldn't we go east and return to Runan?"
"That's right." Han Xin nodded: "It is indeed the most convenient way to go to Wuyin, pass through Fangcheng Xia Road, and then return to Runan."
"Captain Danli, have you ever thought about it? If you can think of it, how can Wang Ben not think of it?"
"What does General Han mean?"
Han Xin said: "If my prediction is correct, Wang Ben will have sent people to the east to intercept him when he returns to Nanyang. We went east, but we fell into his trap!"
"So why not do the opposite and go to the west!"
Li Cang couldn't help but sweat: "Captain Han, to the west of Nanyang is Wuguandao, which is heavily guarded by the enemy."
"That's just right."
Han Xin smiled and said: "We have disrupted Yingchuan, burned Luyang, and cut off the two grain roads in Nanyang, but it is still not complete. Feng Quji will definitely ask Guanzhong to send more grain, so he will go to the west and fight from
The soldiers and supplies coming from Guanzhong were caught off guard, and they burned hundreds of thousands more stones!"
After inserting behind enemy lines, bridging the enemy's nose, and after a series of victories and miracles, Han Xin's self-confidence has reached its peak. He is becoming more and more daring to use those seemingly dangerous tricks. Deep down in his heart, he regards the generals in the world as nothing!
Li Cang was worried because he knew how dangerous this move was.
"Even if we are lucky enough to cut off the Wuguan Road, is it possible that with our small force, we can break through the Wuguan Pass and break into the middle of the pass?"
"We can go to Danyang, Henan and Xichuan), and then"
Han Xin, however, had already thought of his retreat and pointed to the west, as if he had already seen his next prey: