Chapter 427: The decisive battle in Xiangyang and Qin Hao's prison escape
Chapter 427 The decisive battle in Xiangyang and Qin Hao’s prison escape
Chapter 426: Decisive Battle in Xiangyang and Qin Hao’s Prison Escape
Xiang Yu already had 200,000 elites in his hands, and he also collected 100,000 prisoners. Now the total number of soldiers directly under his control reaches 300,000.
It would be fine if Xiang Yu is a law-abiding person, but the key point is that his ambitions are not concealed at all. If he continues to expand his army, it will definitely get out of control, so how can Zhang Liang agree?
Most of Zhang Liang's thoughts are now spent on containing Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu's ambition is too great. If it is not checked and balanced, he may have to expand his army by 500,000.
Hang Yu's ambition at this time was what caused Zhang Liang the most headache. It was precisely because of this that he was not aware of Qin Hao's little moves while he was still in prison.
In prison, Qin Hao carefully took the note from the prison guard who delivered the food, and after reading it, he swallowed it directly.
Late at night, Qin Hao looked at the night sky, a smile flashed at the corner of his mouth, and whispered to himself: "Almost, we will succeed soon."
Xue Rengui glanced at Qin Hao suspiciously, thinking about how to help his lord escape from prison.
On November 10, the Han army abandoned Wancheng and retreated to Fancheng to defend it.
After Xiang Yu bloodbathed most of Nanyang, he led an army of 400,000 and headed straight for Fancheng.
Lu Zhi also knew that Fancheng alone could not stop Xiang Yu, so he set up a defense line in Fancheng and reinforced other cities in the rear, preparing to block the attack step by step until the cold winter.
Xiang Yu was obviously not prepared to delay any longer. With an army of 400,000 in his hands, he adopted the simplest and crudest method and pushed directly all the way.
On November 15th, Fancheng was defeated, and Xiang Yu led his army across the Han River to attack Xinye.
On the 17th, the new field was broken, and from then on Nanyang fell into Xiang Yu's hands.
Within half a month, Xiang Yu fought directly from Henan Yin in Sizhou to Nanjun in Jingzhou, fighting nearly a thousand miles away, and winning every battle. This restored Xiang Yu's declining reputation to its peak, and he was well-deserved as the God of War.
After settling in Xinye, Xiang Yu became more and more arrogant. Not only did he no longer listen to the advice of others, he also forcibly deprived Zhang Liang of his military power.
Xiang Yu was already dazzled by the victory. He was still not satisfied with occupying Nanyang. He believed that he had an army of 400,000 and could capture Nanjun before winter.
In order to prevent Zhang Liang from further hindering him, Xiang Yu forced the defense of Xinye to Zhang Liang, and then continued to lead the army to attack Xiangyang, the gateway of Nanjun.
Xiangyang at this time was just a small county town, not the eternal fortified city that resisted the Yuan and Mongolia for more than ten years in the late Song Dynasty.
The administrative seat of Nanjun is still Jiangling today, and Xiangyang became the administrative seat of Jingzhou after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou.
Liu Biao divided Nanjun into two counties, Jiangling and Xiangyang, and made Xiangyang the political center. Only then did Xiangyang's status improve.
Although Xiangyang is only a small city today, it has an excellent defensive foundation. Ding Yuan also valued this, so after entering Jingzhou, he mobilized all the resources in Jingzhou and finally built Xiangyang into a defensive fortress.
Xiang Yu, who was high-spirited, thought that Xiangyang was still vulnerable, but after a fierce attack, he discovered that the small city was much stronger than he thought, and the Han army in the city seemed to have changed a group of people.
Xiang Yu didn't care about this. With an army of 400,000 in his hand, he had no fear of anything, so he still ordered a fierce attack.
Xinye is one of several county towns in Nanyang south of the Han River. It is located on the only way to Nanjun, so it has now become a storage place for the Yellow Turbans.
Grain, ordnance, medicine... countless supplies were transported from various counties in Nanyang to Xinye in preparation for the attack on Jingzhou in the coming year.
However, due to the total amount of supplies plundered from the Nanyang family and the limited transportation conditions, Xinye does not have much supplies now, and the food and grass are only enough for an army of 400,000 for one month.
Xinye, county government.
Zhang Liang stood at the door of the room, looking up at the unpredictable starry sky, his face becoming more and more solemn.
"Is the weather going to change? Looking at the sky, there should be heavy rain coming soon. It seems that there will be too much rain in Xiangyang before winter begins!"
Zhang Liang murmured, and then shook his head mockingly, what's the use of thinking about it now. After walking back to the room, Zhang Liang couldn't help but look at the map hanging on the wall and fell into deep thought again.
After a while, Zhang Liang seemed to see something. He stared at the map. A terrifying idea appeared in his mind, and his face became paler and paler.
"Coincidence? Or? No, it can't be a coincidence. If there are too many coincidences, it's a conspiracy!"
Zhang Liang turned his attention to Nanyang and Nanjun again, and felt a sudden enlightenment in his heart.
“No wonder the resistance along the way is so weak. Damn it, I didn’t realize it until now.”
Zhang Liang hurried back to the table, quickly wrote a letter, and then shouted: "Here comes someone."
A defender ran over, and Zhang Liang immediately said with a serious expression: "Hurry and hand this letter to General Xiang!"
The defender suddenly looked embarrassed and said coquettishly: "General, you are embarrassing me."
“Go quickly.” Zhang Liang roared.
Seeing that the always gentle General Renggong actually showed such a panic expression, the defenders seemed to understand the seriousness of the problem and ran directly outside with the letter in hand.
“It should be too late, but will Xiang Yu listen to me?”
Looking at the soldiers leaving, Zhang Liang murmured: "Xiang Yu, if you don't listen to my advice again, you will become a sinner throughout the ages."
Randomly, he thought of Qin Hao who was still in Xinye Prison, and Zhang Liang's expression became solemn again.
"Since Guangcheng Pass, if it was all a conspiracy, what about before Qin Hao was captured?"
Zhang Liang shook his head and frowned: "No, it's just because it's too perfect, so there must be something wrong with it, but where is the problem?"
If Qin Hao was caught deliberately just to scheme against Xiang Yu, it would be totally outweighed by the gain, so Zhang Liang was puzzled by this.
"Qin Hao must have something he's not saying. No, we have to pry his mouth open."
With this thought, Zhang Liang hurried to Xinye Prison.
Qin Hao, who was dressed in prison uniform in Xinye Prison, was not embarrassed at all. It was obvious that Zhang Liang did not abuse him.
After viewing the sky outside through the skylight, Qin Hao even looked excited, then turned his head and whispered to Xue Rengui:
“Brother Xue, if nothing happens, we should be able to get out of trouble tonight.”
Xue Rengui, who was already sleepy, suddenly trembled when he heard this, and said in disbelief: "My lord, what did you say?"
Qin Hao smiled mysteriously and was about to explain, but Zhang Liang strode in.
“Mr. Zifang, long time no see.”
Qin Hao smiled and said hello, but Zhang Liang still had a cold face and said indifferently: "Qin Hao, Jingzhou is a game, right?"
Qin Hao's heart thumped, but he still kept a bright smile on his face.
It’s not that Liuxiang broke his promise, but that the electricity really hasn’t come yet. Liuxiang has been without electricity for two days now, and this chapter was played on his mobile phone with the help of a power bank. This month’s perfect attendance will definitely be gone. It hurts a little!
(End of this chapter)
