From February to March, the situation in the Central Plains was at a stalemate again.
The Qin army had 80,000 troops in Henan and Nanyang, while the Chu army had 70,000 troops in Chen and Dang counties. The two sides were in a stalemate at Sishui and Fangcheng.
The Qin army was on the offensive in Henan, using Chenggao as its base, constantly crossing the Sishui River in Beijing, and launching attacks on the Chu army in Suo. The Chu army's large force, a coalition of eighteen county officials, was stationed in Daliang, Chenliu,
Chu general Zhongli built a corridor to support Xingyang, but he could barely hold it.
On the southern front, Qin and Chu attacked and defended with different forces. In January, Xiang Ji left Nanjun, passed Shenxi, fought with Gongwei in Runan, and won the victory. He recruited the children of the Chu people in Huaixi to make up for the losses, and then took advantage of the victory to advance westward.
, want to break through Fangcheng and fall into Wancheng.
However, the Qin army had already set up a defense line in Nanyang. Chen Ying led his troops to defend it. The Chu army was exhausted and the powerful crossbows could not penetrate the silk. When they were hesitant and difficult to enter, Xiang Ji asked the captured generals to be brought to Fangcheng.
When he wanted to recruit his old troops to surrender, unexpectedly, even though he was tied up with his sword and ax at his side, he still shouted:
"Kill the thieves with all your strength, and don't let the regent down!"
Then he turned back to the Chu army and shouted: "Xiang Ji, my son, is not the enemy of Duke Xia. If you don't surrender, you will become a prisoner!"
Xiang Ji was angry and burned the generals, but the result was that the soldiers guarding Fangcheng worked harder, so Chu could not cross Fangcheng to the west.
Under the stalemate, Yingchuan, which happened to be sandwiched between Qin and Chu, became the place that suffered the most.
For the Qin army, this was the best gap to break through. Compared with the Chu people, the Korean resistance was minimal.
For the Chu army, this is another good place to search for food and catch soldiers. Isn't South Korea an ally of Chu? It will naturally contribute to the war.
As the "fake king" of South Korea, Zhang Liang, who is in Xinzheng, receives countless heart-wrenching news every day.
For example, Yuanling, where the battle between Qin and Chu took place, was the place where the tombs of the Korean kings were located. The two sides encountered each other here, regardless of the purity of the Korean kings. The Chu army relied on the tombs and ancient pines to try to prevent the Qin army from Yue Xiaomei.
Attack, the Qin army also launched a fierce attack here.
As a result of the fierce battle between the two armies, the tombs of King Han and King Huanhui of Han were brutally destroyed, countless ancient pines were burned, burial pits were dug, and the bodies of the princes and grandsons were randomly discarded. The Chu army said it was the Qin army, but Zhang Liang suspected it.
It was done by the Chu army...
Zhao Sao, a senior official of the Chu army in Sanlu, settled in Xinzheng. Many civilian houses were occupied by the Chu soldiers. The Chu army subsequently ran out of food and asked Xinzheng merchants for supplies of property, corn, wine and meat. This was never done by the Zheng and Han kings in the past dynasties.
If the Koreans disobey, they will be humiliated and beaten by the Chu people...
"This group of Chu monkeys treated the Koreans more harshly than the officials of Qin!"
This is the cry of the Xinzheng city officials to Zhang Liang. He was beaten black and blue by a Chu captain because he came out to defend merchants.
The officials of Qin still judged according to the law, but the people of Chu were completely unruly robbers!
Zhang Liang protested to Zhao Sao, but Zhao Sao only singled out the Chu generals who beat others and punished them moderately.
Although Zhang Liang was a false king, in the eyes of the Chu people, he was just a puppet of the Xiang family, no different from Zheng Chang.
The Chu people did not fully trust Zhang Liang. He only managed the area north of Yingshui River. As for Yingnan, it was still managed by Zheng Chang, the "Han Prime Minister" who was in Yangdi. It is said that the situation there was even worse.
As the main battlefields of recent battles, Jiá County (Jiaxian County, Henan) and Xiangcheng (Xiangcheng, Henan) in Yingnan suffered the most losses. The Yingbu Department of the Chu Army and the Wu Guang Department of the Qin Army fought in the surrounding area. A large number of local people only
Able to take refuge in Yangzhai.
Zhang Liang had a close acquaintance who was ordered to go to Yingnan in February and reported to him what he saw and heard after returning.
"When the officials were traveling between Yangdi and Xinzheng, they met dozens of poor people on the road. There were forty-fifty-one groups and more than a hundred groups. They were all from Jiaxian County and Xiangcheng. They came to stop the public and expressed their grievances, and their cries were loud.
land."
"They said that Qin occupied Jiaxian County and Chu occupied Xiangcheng. There were fierce battles for several days. In the two counties, most of the villages were burned down. Both sides came to grab food. However, if they could not hand over the food, many of them who could not escape in time were killed.
Even in a township in Xiangcheng, because he did not carry out the order of the Chu army to collect grain, he was falsely accused of being a traitor to the Qin Dynasty, and more than 70 people were brutally killed.
Not much better."
Within a month, the two counties that were once prosperous were reduced to a mountain of death, with nine out of ten houses empty.
A large number of refugees fleeing from the war-torn countryside are flooding into the city. According to statistics, the total number of refugees who have fled to Xinzheng in recent days has reached 9,000, and continues to increase. Yangzhai has more, but Zhengchang refuses to accept them and is closed.
The city gate keeps the refugees out, leaving them to fend for themselves...
Yingchuan, which had become a battlefield, was struggling in dire straits, thieves were rampant, order was broken, and the Chu people's extortion became more and more excessive, which made Zhang Liang worried.
"This kind of stalemate will only bring the greatest damage to Yongchuan! Spring plowing has been delayed, and food for autumn and winter has not yet been provided. If summer replanting is missed, half of the millions of Koreans in Yongchuan will starve to death, even if they do not die in the war.
."
This is the tragedy of small countries. Their destiny is never in their own hands.
It's ridiculous to say that when he was young, he tried his best to assassinate Qin and prayed for the restoration of chaos in the world. But when he got older, he longed for peace...
Perhaps at that time, he only saw the hatred of the country and the family, but now, he has more elders from the country and the country, and he begins to see the problem from their perspective.
Fortunately, as time entered late March, the person Zhang Liang had been waiting for for a long time finally came back!
On March 15, Li Shiqi, who had been away from Zhang Liang for two months, arrived in Xinzheng again under the escort of his trusted aides arranged by Zhang Liang!
…
"I thought that when Zifang saw Qin and Chu's stalemate again, he would regret it again and cost the old man his life."
When they met again, Li Shiqi became more confident and even teased Zhang Lianglai, who was always frowning because of the bad situation in Yingchuan.
"The state of Chu seemed to have withstood the fierce attack of the Qin army, and even won and lost, but in fact, this was just a return to the past..."
Zhang Liang knew very well that the Chu State had exhausted its war potential.
"As far as I know, the young and strong people in Guanzhong all farm at home during spring plowing. On the other hand, in Chu State, all the young and strong people in the country were recruited to Liang and Chen, and the eighteen county officials also sent soldiers to each other."
"It's like, right now, Chu has exerted ten points of strength, but Qin has only exerted five points. Once the spring plowing is over, it will be time to decide the winner..."
What's more, Xiang Yu's uncles and nephews are all in the Central Plains, Huainan will inevitably be empty, and Xiang Yu's military adventure cannot solve the consequences: Nanjun, Hengshan, and Jiangdong will back-attack the Chu army's base camp at any time.
Compared with the overall situation, even a little bit of tactical victory has nothing to do with the overall situation. Unless there are major accidents, the final result of this war will be the same as that of thirteen years ago, with Qin winning and Chu losing.
Since you can't beat it, you can only join.
Seeing that Zhang Liang could understand clearly, Li Shiqi burst out laughing:
"I don't hide it either. In the past two months, the situation in Hebei has been determined. Chen Sheng, the captain of Zhao, raised troops at Hengshan and attacked Handan in the south. General Han Xin has defeated Lu Goujian in Changping and captured 40,000 Zhao soldiers.
Forward, attack the eldest son and all the Taoists in Taihang. Zhang Er gave up on Shangdang and fled to Dongyang. Li Zuoche was also trapped in Taiyuan. Now it seems that Zhao State's strength has been reduced by half, and next, it is Chu State's turn...
"
"And Duke Xia, the regent of the Great Qin Dynasty, has also pledged to fight in the east. He has passed Hangu Pass now. After entering Xia, it will be the decisive battle between Qin and Chu in the Central Plains. Qin will defeat the Xiang family with several times the number of people!"
Li Shiqi saw what Zhang Liang was worried about and cupped his hands and said:
"Congratulations to Zifang, with this, South Korea can finally get out of its current predicament."
Zhang Liang said, "Did Duke Xia agree to my condition?"
"The Regent of Great Qin accepts your terms."
Li Shiqi stretched out two fingers:
"First, forgive all Koreans. You must know that Gongsun Xin once fought with the Han Xin Department under the regent in Kunyang. They were allies. Now they are forced to rely on the Chu army. They are just coerced. After the war, they will not be treated as
The officials and soldiers of Han will be punished for any crime such as treason or banditry."
"Secondly, after the surrender of Han, he transported 300,000 kilograms of grain from Luoyang and Nanyang to Yingchuan to alleviate the famine of the Koreans. He would even send agricultural officers to help the Koreans replant grain and let the judges sentence the captured Chu people
, seek justice for the Koreans who died and suffered financial damage!”
Zhang Liang listened carefully to every word and sighed: "Xia Gong, he is indeed broad-minded and deserves to win most of the world. In this case, Zhang Liang feels at ease..."
Li Shiqi then said: "But there is a condition for regent!"
"What does he want?"
When Zhang Liang became alert, he knew that things could never be that simple. What did Heifu want? Do you want Koreans to serve as gully fillers in the war? Do you want Yingchuan to pay punitive taxes after the war? Or do you want Koreans?
Children as hostages…
What price do Koreans have to pay for peace?
Zhang Liang really hoped that it would be as simple as just taking his own life...
"The regent said it himself."
Li Shiqi pointed at Zhang Liang who looked sick and said with a smile:
