In the next two days, as Xiong Huai expected, driven by some important ministers in the court, many nobles thought that this donation was an act of the king of Chu to win over the nobles, and it was a helpless move to entrap the nobles.

As a result, many nobles in Yingdu, on the one hand, began to raise food, and on the other hand, they began to pay heavy bribes to the important ministers of the court, especially to the main generals on the front line and those responsible for evaluating military merits, on the one hand, so that their children had a suitable opportunity to go to the battlefield, and on the other hand, they circled the military merits in advance, and confirmed that their children could turn the title into a regular one, so as not to disappoint the King of Chu and Qu Yuan.

Just when the entire Yingdu was discussing the donation, the news of a change on the front line reached Yingdu.

"Great King, it's not good, five days ago, Han Xiang Han Chen led 50,000 Han troops to suddenly appear outside Fang City, and then launched a surprise attack on Fang City..."

When Xiong Huai heard this, he was first taken aback, and then thought about it, but he didn't want to believe it, so he hurriedly interrupted: "Xianqing, how is this possible, there are so many troops from South Korea, and our spies have not sent back the news of gathering troops in South Korea, where did Han Chen get the 50,000 Korean troops?" ”

Seeing that the King of Chu didn't believe it, Sima Jian interrupted his words, and immediately explained: "The king, according to the report from the spies, it is the Han army of Yang Zhai before. Before, South Korea gathered 100,000 Korean troops in Yangzhai, and then Yangzhai's Korean army was brought to Luyang by the Storm Kite, we thought that the 100,000 Korean troops all went to Luyang, but in fact it was not, the Storm Kite was just bluffing, in fact, he only brought 50,000 Korean troops.

Then not long ago, the spies came to report that there was a large fleet of ships coming down the Ru River from Yangzhai, and we thought that this fleet was to transport food and supplies to the Korean army in Yejun, but in fact it was transporting troops.

When Han Chen arrived in Shangcai, the Han army went out day and night, because most of Yejun had been controlled by the Han army, and the Han army deliberately concealed it, because our spies failed to detect the movements of the Han army, until the Han army appeared more than ten miles away from Fangcheng, it was not known to our spies. ”

"More than ten miles away! There are only two thousand defenders in Fangcheng..." Xiong Huai gasped, his face turned pale in an instant, and even his voice asked with a trill, "What is the situation in that Fang City, is it being taken advantage of by Han Chen?" ”

Sima Jian knew the eagerness in the heart of the King of Chu, and immediately comforted: "Don't worry, the king, Fangcheng is still in our hands. Previously, Qin and Han launched a surprise attack on the front line of Fangcheng, and the Han army led by Han Wei was not far from Fangcheng, although there were only 2,000 defenders in Fangcheng, and there was no war. However, the garrison remained vigilant day and night, and did not dare to slack off in the slightest.

Therefore, although Han Chen appeared suddenly, the defenders of Fangcheng quickly deployed their defenses, and did not let Han Chen succeed. ”

Xiong Huai let out a long breath when he heard this, and suddenly relaxed.

Just now, when he heard that Han Chen raided Fang Cheng, he was almost scared to death, you must know that although Fang Cheng is dangerous, there are only two thousand Chu troops to defend, once Fang Cheng is successfully attacked by the Han army, then with Fang Cheng's troops, he will definitely not be able to stop the Han army.

Once Fangcheng is lost, the gateway of Hanbei County will be opened, so that the Han army can drive straight into the hinterland of Hanbei, and in this way, the Danxi defense line and the Fangcheng defense line will also be self-defeating.

In this way, the state of Chu will inevitably suffer a great defeat in northern Hanbei, and will also declare the failure of this defensive battle.

In this way, Zhao Ju's plan, as well as the plan that he had negotiated with Qu Yuan for a long time to finalize, were all useless.

Such a consequence is not only not something he can bear, but it is not even something that Chu State can bear.

Now that Xiong Huai heard that Fang Cheng had not been lost, and the situation had not yet reached that kind of uncontrollable place, he took two deep breaths and barely held his mind.

On the other side, Sima Qian, who had been paying attention to the expression of the King of Chu, saw that the face of the King of Chu began to have a trace of blood at this time, and his breathing became calmer, and then he spoke: "Great King, after the commander of Hanbei County received the news of the Han army's raid on Fangcheng, he knew that the strength of Fangcheng alone was not enough to last for a long time, so he immediately transferred a large number of mining slaves and craftsmen from Wancheng, immediately gathered three thousand people, and then personally led these people to Fangcheng to garrison.

At the same time, Jiezi reported that in order to mobilize the enthusiasm of these slaves, he had promised those slaves who went to the battlefield that they could be removed from slavery after the war and turned into civilians. ”

As soon as Xiong Huai heard that the receiver had transferred 3,000 reinforcements, his tense heart became soothed.

Yes, Wancheng is not anywhere else, not only is the strategic location important, but also the largest iron-smelting center in Chu State, where a large number of craftsmen and miners in Chu State are gathered, and these people are directly under the jurisdiction of Chu State Gongyin.

In the past, when the Chu State was recruiting soldiers nationwide, these people who were in slavery were not within the scope of conscription, and now at this critical moment, they can also go to the top.

As for the question of slavery...

Xiong Huai immediately responded: "Okay, the pick-up has done a good job, pass the edict to the pick-up, tell him that the promise he made to those slaves is approved by the widow." ”

"The king is wise." Sima Jian bowed, and then hesitated: "Great King, although Fangcheng has three thousand reinforcements from Wancheng, but now that Han Chen is storming Fangcheng, I am afraid it will still be difficult to defend it for a long time with only those tired slaves."

Therefore, the minister asked the king to immediately transfer troops to Fangcheng, otherwise, it would be too late to change. ”

Xiong Huai nodded clearly, those artisan slaves who belonged to Gong Yin were better, and those mine slaves were simply not treated as people by the officials of Chu State, they were not clothed, they were hungry, they were mining day and night, and exhausting them was the only way out.

A group of such people go to the front line to fight, even if there is a reward for being exempted from slavery, it is difficult to guarantee that they will fight with all their might. Even if they are willing to fight with all their might, how much combat power can they have based on their half-dead and half-alive state.

Therefore, it is now urgent to immediately transfer troops to Fangcheng.

It's just that when he thought of the issue of troop transfer, Xiong Huai suddenly frowned, where did he get the troop strength to adjust now?

Thinking about it, he suddenly remembered the 20,000 Chu troops from Ye County, and asked, "There is news from Ye County, how is the situation on Zhao Slip's side?" ”

Sima Jian shook his head and said: "Great King, after we heard the news of Wei before, although we immediately issued the news of letting General Zhaohua retreat to Fangcheng, but, calculating the time, the order to retreat should have been blocked in Fangcheng and did not reach the hands of General Zhaohua. So..."

"So Zhao Slip and the 20,000 Chu troops are all trapped in Yecheng by the Han army!" Xiong Huai was startled, and then fell silent.

There was an accident in the Chu army that planned to defend Fangcheng, and in order to avoid falling into a protracted war of attrition, and also to avoid too many nobles turning positive in the future, in order to end the war as soon as possible, the Chu army in Huangcheng Jiangdong could not be transferred... Even now, it will take too long to issue an edict to transfer troops.

And on the side of Yingdu, the new nobles have just taken office, and their army has not yet been assembled, and it will take some time to wait for their army.

But the reality is that Fangcheng's has been besieged by 50,000 Han troops for five days, and Fangcheng's 2,000 Chu troops must have suffered many casualties. What's even worse is that although the 3,000 reinforcements in Wancheng are quite numerous, the army composed of slaves is not at all useful.

Therefore, now there is an urgent need for the Chu army to quickly reinforce Fangcheng, but he has no troops to send.

What should I do?

For a moment, Xiong Huai's eyebrows were tightly pressed together.

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