"There is no peace between Qin and the Six Kingdoms, nor is it true unification. It is just a twelve-year truce..."
And the war that once burned across the land of the Six Kingdoms finally reached Qin itself.
The vanguard was chasing the Sixth Army a hundred miles away, and Heifu led the army close behind. Looking along the way, Xihe was no longer as prosperous and peaceful as Sima Xin said.
There were originally two rows of pines and cypresses planted in an orderly manner on both sides of the Chi Road leading to Pujin. However, in order to attack the cities in Xihe, the Sixth Army cut down a lot of trees to make weapons and siege equipment. Now only a few trees are left bare.
The tree stumps, and the acres of millet and wheat fields beside the road were either looted, burned, or trampled into a mess by the Sixth Army passing through.
From this point of view, the harvest in Xihe this year may be impossible...
Along the way, I passed several pavilions and villages, but they were all deserted. It was as if I had been attacked by a group of wild beasts. The door of the pavilion was knocked open and the inner wall was knocked down. You can often see blood stains and corpses, and circling crows.
Wherever you go, you will definitely find the remains of sin.
Under Heifu's orders, whenever they encounter a corpse, the executioners wearing cloth masks are immediately ordered to move forward and bury them if they can. If they can't, they must be burned to prevent the spread of post-war diseases.
Although he was severely damaged by the disaster, Heifu was warmly welcomed by the local survivors in Dali, Linjin, and Xihe in every M city recaptured by the Northern Expeditionary Army. The enthusiasm was even the same as when he was in Yunmeng.
Ze raised his troops and fought back to Anlu County, just like when...
"The people of Xihe have been waiting for Master Wang for a long time!"
The three local elders who were lucky enough to survive were crouching in front of Heifu's carriage and weeping. Now they didn't even want to care that this "King Master" was actually the "Southern Rebel" in the government's mouth for more than a year.
In the eyes of the locals, those who can drive away the bandits from the Six Kingdoms and rescue the people of Xihe are the king's teachers! When the Sixth Army withdrew and saw the Qin Banner marching into Linjin, everyone rushed to tell each other, like a dead tree blooming in spring.
, and even spontaneously organized everyone to come to the city to greet him.
Hei Fu asked people to help the three elders up, took off his big cloak and put it on him, and sighed: "I only hate the traitor Zhao Gao for leading the wolf into the house, I hate the traitor Hu Hai for abandoning the people of Xihe, and I hate Hei Fu for not being quick enough and being late!"
During the twenty days occupied by the Sixth Army, Xihe was really abused. The nobles of the Six Kingdoms used the banner of revenge, so Xihe alone endured ten generations of hatred towards Qin from the people of the Six Kingdoms.
Heifu also made a promise to the people of Xihe:
"Anyone who died while resisting bandits will be given a first-level title and respected as a loyal soldier. Xihe was burned, killed, and looted by bandits, and suffered great damage. However, in all counties where the thieves passed, they will be exempted from land rent, city tax, and corvee service this year.
Moreover, most of the grain fields in the county were burned by the Chu people. Fortunately, the autumn harvest in Guanzhong is about to begin, and a large amount of grain will be shipped soon to help the refugees!"
When the people of Xihe heard this, they inevitably cried with joy, but some of the surviving men petitioned loudly:
"General, please don't exempt me from the garrison in Xihe!"
"Please general, let us join the army to avenge our fathers and family!"
The crowd was so excited that they wanted to immediately pick up weapons and chase the thieves. This made Han Sheng, the staff member who came with the army, very happy. Afterwards, he congratulated Hei Fu:
"Congratulations, lord, you have obtained Shi'anlu again!"
As we all know, when the Northern Expeditionary Army broke through Wuguan, the Anlu people occupied one division of the 100,000-strong Northern Expedition. In addition, there were also many Anlu children serving as military officials at all levels. This is because more than a year ago, Anlu people
Lu was broken and the Anlu people were forced to have no choice but to join the army. The old and the weak were placed in the rear. Almost all the young and strong enlisted in the army and followed Heifu to fight from the south to the north.
Although Xihe is not big, it has ten counties and 100,000 households. And these Xihe people who have survived the slaughter of the Six Kingdoms will be enough to become Heifu's core in dealing with the Six Kingdoms in the future...
Historically, in the name of revenge, the Guanzhong area was harmed even more. It is no wonder that Liu Bang was able to fight repeatedly and finally won the Chu-Han War, because behind it were millions of Qin people who hated the Chu people and longed for revenge.
ah.
"I only hope that after the six kingdoms are destroyed, there will never be a war here."
Heifu never doubted that he would win the final victory. All he cared about was the cost and time spent.
But now, the opportunity to end the war early seems to be fleeting.
When the army arrived at Linjin, Generals Luo Jia and Li Bi, who were searching for the enemy in front, also sent people to report back. They said that the Six Nations Allied Forces were divided into two parts, with Zhao and Wei in the north. They withdrew to Xia Yang and wanted to return by boat from Longmen Ferry.
To the east of Hedong, to the south is the Chu army, currently at Pujin, where there is a pontoon bridge built...
"The six countries retreated faster than I thought."
Heifu was a little troubled. For him, Xihe was undoubtedly a good place for a decisive battle. Not only did he have the numerical advantage, he could mobilize soldiers from Xianyang at any time. What was even better was that the people in Xihe would be happy to intercept the enemy and report the news to him.
But the other generation retreated quickly. This was not in line with Xiang Yu's temper that Heifu knew. Was Tiedan starting to listen to others' advice? Or...
There was a problem on the rear of the Six Nations.
Heifu thought of the forces in western Liaoning and eastern Liaoning proposed by the Chu envoy Wu She. However, it is more likely that when he entered Wuguan, he ordered Jiangdong to attack Huainan. It worked. The Chu people's rear was on fire, and there was no more
The desire to fight to the death.
"So it seems that my order was too urgent?"
Heifu was helpless, but ancient military communications were like this. Communication thousands of miles apart was far inferior to the dramatic changes in the war situation.
All they can do now is to quickly reach the river and annihilate as many as they can!
He asked the messenger in front: "In the direction of Pujin, who is the enemy behind?"
The messenger reported back what he saw: "In addition to the red phoenix flag of the Chu army, the Duanhou army also has the flag of Shangzhu Guoxiang!"
"Xiang Ji!?"
Heifu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately got up and boarded the car, pointing eastward:
"Leave the baggage behind, and all three armies will pursue you with light equipment!"
He will be the courage of the three armies, and Xiang Yu is the courage of the six nations!
"If we can kill Xiang Ji in Xihe, even if we let everyone else go, this battle will be a complete victory!"
…
Hei Fu was not the only one who had the same idea.
In late July, the cavalry troops led by the two surrendered generals Luo Jia and Li Bi, after marching for several days, had defeated the Chu army's rear line scouts who kept obstructing them, and reached the high bank of the river next to Pujin Ferry.
The Yellow River at this time was not as muddy as that of later generations. When everyone looked at it, they saw that the sparkling river was like a jade belt, with two pontoon bridges connected by boats crossing across it, leading directly to the east of the river...
Among the Six Nations Allied Forces, most of the Zhao, Wei and Chu armies wanted to withdraw. Only Xiang Ji wanted to fight in Xihe. However, after receiving the news that Huainan was attacked, Xiang Ji, who had always loved his family, finally listened to his father-in-law Zhong and Yafu.
He was persuaded, but he could only reluctantly agree to withdraw his troops for the time being.
At present, 50,000 Chu troops are slowly crossing the river through a narrow pontoon bridge. More than half of the loot and baggage have been collected. There are not many troops left on the west bank. Only Xiang Ji's Gao Ya Dajun, together with thousands of personal guards, are still there.
Set up at Jinkou.
"It was a little late, but the thieves ran away." Li Bi saw this scene and felt a little regretful.
"But if you can bite off that tail, you won't have gained anything!"
His colleague Luo Jia, however, stared at the Xiang flag, pointed over there and said, "That should be Xiang Ji, the commander-in-chief of the Six Kingdoms who killed their boss Wang Yi in Chongquan City."
He has made many meritorious deeds these days, and now Yang Xi, the cavalry leader who came back from the front to report, is eager to try: "Captain, if you can kill this person, you will be able to kill the general and capture the flag. Wouldn't it be better? It can also be considered as a death penalty.
Elder Xihe will give you an explanation."
Luo Jia shook his head: "On that day, General Wang Yi surrounded Chongquan and sent us to guard the east. Unexpectedly, Xiang Ji came from the north in a detour and broke the siege. General Wang Yi wanted to fight, but Xiang Ji personally broke into the center.
They were killed in formation. According to those who came back alive, this officer has the courage of ten thousand men, and no one can compare with him. His subordinates dismount and ride bravely, and they advance with all their might, no less than the armored cavalry of Shangjun, so it is better to be careful!"
"No matter how good the people of Chu are at riding horses, can they be as good as the people of Qin?"
Yang Xi didn't believe it. He had led his team to encounter some Chu people's mounted scouts before, but those little men who couldn't move freely on horses were beaten to a pulp by them.
Soon, everyone forgot about Luo Jia's "be careful" reminder.
Two more groups of the Northern Expeditionary Army arrived here. One of them was the "light soldiers" led by Yuan Yong, and the other was the barefooted Yue soldiers. Now the Qin army's chariots, cavalry, and warriors combined, there are enough
Thousands of people, but the people around Xiang Ji on the opposite side keep going to the east coast, and there are fewer and fewer, with only more than 3,000 left...
Seeing that we are strong and the enemy is weak, more and more people are willing to attack.
And the news brought by Yuan Yong completely ignited the fighting spirit of these ten thousand people.
"Marquis Wu Zhong has an order!"
The messenger flew past the vanguard troops gathered on the river bank and loudly told everyone Heifu's original words:
"Those who cut off their status will buy thousands of gold and thousands of households in the city!"
…
ps: Today there is still only a short and weak chapter.
