The war drums are dying down.

The Chu army lost troops and generals.

The 70,000 soldiers during the Western Expedition, only one month later, nearly 20,000 of the most elite soldiers were lost. Although there was still a partial army of Zhong Limei fighting outside, the atmosphere of defeat had already made the Chu army breathless.

Come.

Being deceived.

Being deceived.

Xiang Yu, who returned to the Chu camp, was troubled. While he was reorganizing his troops in preparation for his return, he also sent out several scouts to investigate the anomalies around Pengcheng and the situation in the Hanzhong area where Liu Bang, the king of Han, was in the army.

Li Yuan did not cheat.

Liu Bang had already set out from Xicheng of Hanzhong County at the end of June. After the Han army left Wuguan, they defeated the original Hancheng forces entrenched in Nanjun, allowing the Han army to regain an area in Yingchuan, Nanjun, and Nanyang counties.

enclave.

From a strategic perspective, Liu Bang and Li Yuan actually had the same idea. Li Yuan wanted to compete for a buffer zone east of Hangu Pass, while Liu Bang wanted to occupy a bridgehead for the Han army to move south or north.

Liu Bang's action did not obtain Xiang Yu's consent. For Xiang Yu, this was undoubtedly a challenge to his authority. Especially after the disastrous defeat at Hulao Pass, Xiang Yu cared even more about this nominal compliance.

.

July 20th, the second year of the Qin Dynasty.

Xiang Yu, who failed to get any benefits at Hulao Pass, finally retreated.

Along the way, the frustrated Overlord of Chu went on a killing spree against the opposition forces entrenched on the border of Chu. The first unlucky person to bear the brunt was an old acquaintance - Peng Yue, the thief of Juyez.

After a long absence, Peng Yue broke away from Liu Bang's coalition forces in Xingyang and returned to Juze to start his own business as a thief. For a period of time, when Peng Yue saw that the world was finally settled, he defected to Wei Bao, the king of the Western Wei Dynasty, and became Wei Bao's subordinate.

One of the fairly capable troops here.

Unfortunately, Peng Yue, who was used to living alone, soon had conflicts with Wei Bao's men. After a dispute, Peng Yue fell into his old habit again and left with all his brothers without saying goodbye.

Peng Yue had had enough of the days of being restrained.

As a big thief, what he longed for was a state where he could leave no trace and leave no trace for thousands of miles, and a life of discipline and restraint like that of a military camp. How could Peng Yue be willing to do so?

Of course, in the eyes of big thieves, there is no authority. Xiang Yu is the overlord recognized by the princes, but he cannot convince Peng Yue. Therefore, Peng Yue repeatedly took his brothers to the Chu land to perform tooth sacrifices, and this

This gave Xiang Yu the excuse and reason to conquer him.

Xiang Yu wanted to teach Liu Bang a lesson, but unfortunately he was too far away and couldn't hit him.

This Peng Yue was a thief, a thief was interested in profit, and he had a good relationship with Liu Bang, so it was very likely that he would listen to Liu Bang's instigation and send troops to attack Pengcheng.

Such a big hidden danger exists, and the threat to Xiang Yu is really big. Xiang Yu doesn't want to see signs of instability in the rear during another expedition, so Peng Yue must eliminate it and has no other choice.

The Chu army invaded in large numbers.

The bandits in Juyeze were suffering unspeakably, and the boss Peng Yue was increasingly questioned. A boss who brought danger was an unpopular boss, and he was no longer qualified to be the leader of the bandits.

——.

The battle between Xiang Yu and Peng Yue has just begun.

This was a duel between orthodox warfare and guerrilla warfare. It would take time to test who would win and who would lose. However, he guessed that the target of the attack on Peng Yue was not the thief but another criminal.

The 21st day of the seventh month in the Qin and Xin lunar calendar.

Jiujiang Hou Yingbu unexpectedly appeared on the outskirts of Pengcheng, and had a fierce battle with Lu Chen, the general of the Cangtou Army who was responsible for the defense of Pengcheng. Lu Chen failed in the fight and was defeated by Yingbu. At this time,

After hearing the news, Xiang Tuo, the Prime Minister of Western Chu, also led his descendants to help in the battle.

Yingbu launched a sneak attack on Peng Yue more than ten days later than expected. This was something Li Yuan did not expect, and the reason for this was that Yingbu was married.

The daughter of King Wu Rui of Changsha was Yingbu's newly married wife. Yingbu admired this beautiful Jiangnan woman endlessly, and the bad fate came from a time when Wu Ji was in danger while boating on the Yangtze River. At that time, she was killed by a man.

Wu Ji, who was being robbed by a gang of river bandits, was about to lose her life. It happened that Yingbu led a group of brothers to open up the dock and had a fierce battle with the gang of river bandits, which happened to save Wu Ji's life.

Since ancient times, heroes have loved beauties, and beauties have also loved heroes.

A wild and uninhibited figure like Yingbu was the favorite hero for Wu Ji, a girl who had been in the courtyard for a long time. What's more, this hero later raised troops to fight against Qin and became a famous general in the Chu army, and the only one

It is a pity that Yingbu was not able to become a vassal king like her father in the end, but was only granted the title of Jiujiang Marquis.

Newlyweds.

Yingbu did not summon his subordinates for several days in a row. Zhaoping went to Jiujiang for several days and could not see Yingbu. The letter he entrusted his entourage to bring in was also casually placed on the desk by Yingbu. When he was free, he opened it and read it.

, the fierce battle between Qin and Chu is coming to an end.

The opportunity just passed by in vain.

Yingbu felt extremely unwilling, and his resentment towards Xiang Yu grew day by day.

Although the best opportunity was missed, Yingbu did not intend to give up like this. He wanted to fight to the death. After the news from the scouts, the Chu army suffered heavy losses this time. The generals in the army were as capable as Zhong Limei in conquering and fighting.

, one of Jibu is far away in Hebei, and the other has lost his fighting spirit. The others are like Yu Ziqi and others. Who is Yingbu afraid of coming?

Having made up his mind, Yingbu led his troops to sneak across the Yangtze River on July 18th, then bypassed the Chu general Zhou Yin who was guarding Shouchun, and swooped in towards Pengcheng.

Yingbu rebelled, and internal strife broke out again in the Chu army.

For Li Yuan, this is good news. As for the short time, there is no need to worry about the Chu army coming from the east. As for the North and South Roads, let’s ignore them from the north for the time being. Han Xin has been crossing the river for more than ten days.

, has always maintained contact, and his 7,000-year-old army confronted Zhong Limei on the plains of Zhaodi. The two sides had a victory or defeat. However, in general, Han Xin was able to contain the Chu army, which was much stronger than himself, in a different place.

Very good.

Henan, south.

Formerly under the jurisdiction of South Korea, Nanyang.

The king's flag changes at the top of the city.

Han Cheng, who was named King of Han by Xiang Yu, died in Pengcheng without even having a good day. The days of house arrest were mental torture for every man, and Han Cheng could not survive it.

Han Cheng did not take office. The actual ruler of Nanyang was Zheng Chang, the magistrate of Wu County who was appointed by Xiang Yu. This was a figure very close to the Xiang family. With him stationed in Han, Xiang Yu's purpose was to defend the country.

Wuguan's mouth completely sealed his old rival Liu Bang in Hanzhong Mountain.

It's a pity that Zheng Chang's abilities are limited.

With the excuse to reinforce Xiang Yu, the vanguard of the Han army, led by Zhang Liang and Han Wangxin, raised the banner of national restoration, broke through the fragile defense line set up by Zhengchang County soldiers, and immediately surrounded Nanyang.

July 25th.

Nanyang City was broken, Zheng Chang was killed, and the Han army occupied the entire Nanjun and the western part of Yingchuan County. Subsequently, the main force of the Han army moved from Hanzhong County to Nanjun. The former Hanzhong County, which governed the west city, had gradually been taken over by Liu Bang.

give up.

Although the vast rear area can provide logistical supplies for the Han army, after all, Bashu and Hanzhong are too far away from the Central Plains. If Liu Bang had been staying in a small remote county, not many heroes in the world would do it.

I remember the once righteous Pei Gong.

With Nanjun.

The distance between Liu Bang and the Central Plains was suddenly shortened to the shortest possible distance. Like the knowledgeable people in the Yingchuan area, the Confucian scholars in Qilu could reach Nanyang as long as they followed the big river and Luo River to the west.

Of course, on their way westward, they had to pass through Henan, an enclave occupied by the Qin army. After all, the Funiu Mountains in Yingchuan County were still an area that barbarians could set foot in at this era.

——.

The situation in the world has undergone tremendous changes.

Every prince who is spying on the hegemony is striving for a greater living space, and famous figures like Yingbu and Chen Yu who have not been crowned kings are also using all their strength to fight for the chance to become king one day.

A lot of effort.

After the Chu army retreated.

Li Yuan left Chiang Kai-shek's army to guard Hulao Pass, and he led Zhang Ping, Cao Xin, Wang Shang, Meng Hu and other Qin generals to return to Luoyang. In the city, Chen Ping, the chief officer, and Zhang Zhong, the city guard, managed it for twenty days.

Finally, the city's calm was restored.

Chang'an is the capital in the west and Luoyang is the capital in the east.

Judging from the geographical location alone, Li Yuan is now very good. The two most important capitals in Chinese history are under Li Yuan's command. However, in fact, Li Yuan is extremely miserable.

Chang'an is still a city under construction, and many municipal facilities are being gradually constructed and improved. As for reaching the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties, I don't know how many years or months it will take -.

Luoyang, this small town had just made some progress, but it was successively plundered by military disasters. Shenyang's one-year governance could not even talk about any development.

Luoyang.

meeting hall.

Li Yuan, who had taken off his armor, was rarely at ease. On his left and right, a group of Qin army generals and officials were all very happy. He was able to defeat the powerful Chu army. It can be said that he won great prestige for the resurgent Qin State.

.Everyone is imagining that one after another intellectuals with ambitions in their hearts, carrying dreams and hopes, come to Luoyang from all over the Central Plains and defect to the banner of the Qin Dynasty that has never surrendered.

.

"Li Hou, this time our army won a great victory. When the news came back to Xianyang, the elders were excited. Even those who questioned the construction of Chang'an stopped talking." Zhao Ben, who had just arrived from Xianyang to escort grain and fodder, said excitedly.

victory.

It is a good medicine to cover up all contradictions.

In the face of Li Yuan's continuous military victories, even those who were dissatisfied with him had to restrain their critical attitude and applaud Li Yuan against their will.

Qin can live without anyone, but it cannot live without Li Yuan.
Chapter completed!