Qin Official

In mid-June, Heifu officially attacked and broke through Wuguan within two or three days. However, at Hangu Pass, which was hundreds of miles northeast of Wuguan and blocked by Funiu Mountain and Xiaohan Mountains, Xiang Yu was still at a loss.

Hangu Pass is the gateway from Luoyang in the east to the throat of Qin in the west. It is a full one hundred miles from the Chu army's frontline position in Shaanxi County (Sanmenxia City, Henan Province) to Hangu Pass. In May, Xiang Yu led his people We walked for five whole days, and sometimes we could only advance ten miles in one day.

This letter road is the most difficult and dangerous route that Xiang Yu has ever walked in his life. Cheng Gao and Kangfu combined are less than eleven: Most of the roads in Xiaoshan Mountain are in the valley, which is as deep and dangerous as the letter, so it is called Han Valley. , here the shores are deep and the sky is high, the gorges and gorges have no square tracks for cars. There are pines and cypresses everywhere on the left and right, and pedestrians are in the deep valley, but when they hear the mournful cries of the old apes in the mountains, they can hardly see the sky when they raise their heads.

"No wonder hundreds of years ago, the Jin army set up an ambush here, and the three generals who were able to kill Duke Mu of Qin were completely wiped out."

The speaker was Zhong Limei, a former veteran and spy of the Chu State, and today a general under Xiang Yu. When Fan Zeng stayed in Chu to manage the rear area, he seemed to have become the intellectual leader of the Chu army.

It is a pity that after the Spring and Autumn Period, with the split of the Jin State, Weihan returned to the Qin State. The Qin people set up a pass here, and since then they have completely occupied Weihan. It then became a nightmare for the six countries to conquer Qin in the west.

"We finally reached this level."

When he arrived in Caoyang and could see Hangu Pass in the distance, Xiang Yu was filled with emotions. He had heard the name of Hangu Pass countless times since he was a child.

I especially remember that more than ten years ago, in Xiang's manor, Xiang Yan, the eldest father, told him the story of Lord Xinling and Lord Chunshen organizing the six kingdoms to join forces and attack Hangu Pass twice.

"When the princes heard about the general, they each sent their generals to rescue Wei. I was also among the Chu army. At that time, the prince Wuji of Wei gathered the princes in Daliang and led the troops of the five countries to defeat the Qin army outside the river and marched towards Meng Ao. Then he took advantage of the victory. Drive the Qin army to Hangu Pass and suppress the Qin army, so that the Qin army does not dare to come out..."

It was the fourth glorious victory of the Hezong. It was a pity that the King of Wei was suspicious of Lord Xinling and could not continue to expand the results. When the fifth and last Hezong battle in front of Hangu Pass was mentioned, Xiang Yan's voice It will be much lower:

"At that time, the princes took King Chu Kaolie as the commander, Chun Shenjun was in charge, and Pang Nuan was the general. The five kingdoms of Wei, Zhao, Han, Yan, and Chu arrived at Hangu Pass. Qin sent troops to attack, but the princes were defeated and Chu Kaolie was defeated. The king blamed Chun Shenjun and became more and more alienated from him..."

That was the last time the six countries united to fight against the Qin Dynasty. After that, as Qin Shi Huang took over the throne, he began to go eastward to Hangu to wipe out the six countries.

When setting up camp in Caoyang, Xiang Yu told Zhong Limei: "When my father was alive, what he wanted to do most was to organize the sixth vertical alliance, still make Chu the commander of the vertical, break Hangu Pass, force Qin to restore the Korean state, and return Zhao , the land of Wei, Yan, and Chu.”

It's a pity that in the end, the alliance was broken up and defeated. With Xiang Yan's defeat, Chu State was also destroyed by Qin.

"Now, after many years, Xiang Ji has finally realized my father's long-cherished wish, reopened the business, and stood here with the Chu people!"

Xiang Yu has eyes as bright as a torch and is determined to win this pass!

The Chu State has recovered. The reason why Xiang Yu insists on leading the main force of the Chu army to the west, shouting the slogan "Destroy the Qin Dynasty", is because he wants to avenge the Chu State.

The shame of King Huai of Chu entering Qin is something that every ambitious Chu person has heard since childhood. If I have to use an analogy, it is just like the people of Song Dynasty who often say "the shame of Jingkang has not yet snowed." The seeds of the Qin people.

What makes Xiang Yu even more ashamed is that Chu is five thousand miles away and has a million halberds. This overlord has the qualifications to be an overlord. Chu is so strong that no one in the world can match him. However, Bai Qi led tens of thousands of people and raised an army to fight against Chu. He defeated Yan Ying in one battle, burned Yiling in another battle, and humiliated the king's ancestors in three battles.

This century-old national hatred must be avenged. Xiang Yu must prove that the Chu people are not literate cowards who can only wear long sleeves and high crowns, recite poems and compose poems!

Family hatred ranks second to national hatred. His eldest father, Xiang Yan, died in the war against Qin. His head was missing. It is said that his body was torn apart by the Qin people's fight. Xiang Yu's father also died at the hands of the Qin people. .

Therefore, Xiang Yu's pursuit goes further than Xiang Yan did in the past when he broke Hangu and forced Qin to give in:

"I will flatten Han Valley, burn Lishan Mountain just like Bai Qi burned my Xiling, enter Xianyang to kill the Emperor of Qin, destroy Qin's seven temples, repay Qin's past humiliation and destruction to the six kingdoms tenfold, and then bring the The treasures of the Six Kingdoms captured by Qin left Guanzhong..."

"This is how a man takes revenge!"

The Chu people under Xiang Yu also had their own goals. Regional discrimination in the Qin Dynasty had always been serious. Specifically, the earlier the region joined the Qin Dynasty, the higher its status. The people of Lao Qin in Guanzhong are the highest, and the people of Chu are the lowest.

Many Chu people used to come to Xianyang to serve as garrison troops. The officials in Qin Dynasty were always arrogant and indifferent when they encountered them. I remember that tone to this day.

What's more, there is a proverb in the Chu region: "The richest in Guanzhong, the poor in Huainan." The wealth of the world is gathered in Guanzhong, so the land in Guanzhong is only one-fourth of the world, and the number of people is only two-tenths. However, measuring its wealth, Even the fifth!

If you can enter the customs, repay vengeance and injustice, and get a fortune to return to your hometown, why not do it?

So the Chu army officers and soldiers used all their strength to come to the west, but when they actually arrived in front of Hangu Pass, after seeing the appearance of this pass city clearly, and with the power of victory, the bloody officers suddenly lost confidence.

But in front of Hangu Pass is the Hongnong Stream, which forms a moat for Hangu Pass. It was early summer, and the water in the stream was so fast that it was difficult for people and horses to cross.

Tens of thousands of people under Xiang Yu had to cross the Hongnong Stream in the north of Hangu Pass. After crossing the river, they had to go south along the west bank of the river and enter a narrow road in front of the pass along the river and leaning on the high hills before they could approach Guancheng. The narrow road could only accommodate two horses running side by side, making it impossible for the army to spread out. Not only that, there are lofty loess plateaus at the east and west ends of Guanlou. They are like a natural city wall and become an insurmountable defense for foreign enemies.

There are many people guarding the pass, including Zhao Bi, the guard of Sanchuan, and Su Zhao, Su Jiao's brother, the captain of Hangu Pass. There are at least 20,000 guards, but only 40,000 of the Chu army came outside the pass...

The military orders were like mountains, and the soldiers bravely put up the ladders on the city wall. The first to be driven up were the Qin prisoners captured by the Chu army in Sanchuan County, and then the unlucky local people. Hangu Pass was well-defended, and for a time the city walls Arrows rained down, and rolling logs and stones were thrown down.

Screams continued, ladders kept being pushed down, and people kept falling from them and breaking their heads. The pile of corpses under the city grew higher.

Amid the shouts of killing, another attack failed. Looking at the danger in front of him, Xiang Yu had unwillingness in his eyes. He was full of rage, but he had to admit:

"This pass is the first of the nine fortresses in the world. No wonder the famous generals from the six countries often suffered setbacks here."

Xiang Yu was good at field battles, but attacking cities gave him a headache. Even with an army of 100,000, Hangu would be difficult to defeat.

Just when Xiang Yu was at a loss to attack Hangu Pass, his personal guards came to report:

"Shangzhu Kingdom, Zhao's envoy Chen Yu has arrived!"

After hearing this, Xiang Yu suddenly became unhappy:

"Chen Yu, he still dares to come to see me?"

…

The Chu army camp in Cao Yang was very unfriendly to Chen Yu's reception. The personal guards were holding halberds outside the camp. Chen Yu had to get through a bright blade before he saw the Shangzhu State of Chu.

"Your Majesty, Chen Yu, pays homage to Shangzhu Kingdom!"

Xiang Ji was wearing bright and eye-catching armor. After sitting at the table, he did not let Chen Yu see where he was sitting. He said with a calm expression:

"Minister? Lord Kuxing, shouldn't you call yourself 'foreign minister'?"

It turned out that Chen Yu had not been idle in the past six months. He and Chen Sheng were originally ordered by Xiang Yu to go to Hebei to proclaim the Prince of Zhao, who was close to Chu, as king. However, they found that they were a step too late. Zhao's Caotai team had already been set up, and without them What happened?

So the two simply surrendered to the State of Zhao and helped the State of Zhao attack Hengshan County. This was the center of Chen Yu's activities when he traveled in the north.

So after Er Chen captured Hengshan County, he relied on Chen Yu's local base to become the actual controller of the county. Chen Shengde was made the captain, while Chen Yu was named the Lord of Kuxing by the generous King Zhao Xie...

But this behavior of leaving Chu and joining Zhao will naturally arouse Xiang Yu's dissatisfaction.

Chen Yu quickly explained: "In the past, Gongsun Yan served as a minister of Wei and Han in order to join forces to attack Qin. Although Chen Yu was granted the title of king of Zhao, he never forgot that he was serving Chu..."

"Working for Chu?"

Xiang Yu sneered and said: "In that case, Chen Sheng told me that Chu, Wei and Han have been stationed in Sanchuan for more than a month. Han soldiers followed my order to march south to Yingchuan, while Wei soldiers guarded Luoyang and prepared to attack Hedong. Pengyue of Qi State, and even Lu Ze, Duke of Pei, each sent a team of men and horses to help me and escort me with grain and fodder. Only King Zhao delayed staying in Hebei and did not send troops to come? Could it be that he wanted to break the agreement to kill Qin? ?”

"Zhao Xiaoguo, how dare you do this!"

Chen Yu argued: "The king of Zhao and Chu fought hard to attack Qin. The Chu army fought in Henan, the Zhao army fought in Henan, and Lord Guangwu of Zhao defeated the Qin army in Hanoi. Therefore, Chen Yu was able to see Shangzhu here again. Chu and Zhao should be one." , together we serve the Shangzhu Kingdom as the vertical leader, how can we listen to the villain's words and make the two countries have problems..."

Xiang Yu's face softened slightly: "Then why are you here? To report the date of Zhao Jun's march south?"

"I'm here. King Zhao asked me to report two things to Shangzhu Kingdom..."

Chen Yu said: "The first thing is that someone raised troops in Haidong in the name of Qin Gongzi Fusu. Now he has been supported by the people of Liaodong. He calls himself King Zhao and confronts Zang Tu, King of Yan in the north, in western Liaoning. There are changes in the north, so the Zhao Kingdom Unable to dispatch all troops southward..."

"Fusu!?"

Xiang Yu frowned greatly, but after thinking about it carefully, he disagreed: "In the past year, there have been many people in the world using the name of Fusu to cause trouble. If I remember correctly, Chen Sheng, who went north with you, also falsely claimed that he was Fusu in Chen County. Su, if you think about it this way, the so-called Mr. Qin in Liaodong is probably also a fake, or it may be the plan of the local Qin officials."

"It's hard to tell the truth from the false, but you can't help but be on guard."

Chen Yufu bowed again and said: "The second thing was said by King Zhao himself. King Zhao and his adviser Kuai Che thought that compared with half a year ago, the situation was very different. In the past, the north was strong and the south was weak, but now Wang Ben has After death, Hefton's troops in Wuguan and Hanzhong are undoubtedly strong in the south and weak in the north."

"The Six Kingdoms' sudden attack on Hangu will probably allow Heifu to finally gain the advantage of the fishermen. If Qin reunifies in the south and Heifu takes Guanzhong, he will take advantage of the situation and send more troops to the east to attack the Six Kingdoms."

"For the sake of the Chu State and the plan of the world, it is better for Shangzhu State to go south and attack Nanyang, so that Heifu has no choice but to retreat. In this way, the Six Kingdoms, Northern Qin, and Southern Qin can still maintain the three-legged power!"

…

ps: Chapter 2 is in the afternoon...m.