On the other side, after a long journey of nearly half a month, Xiong Huai finally arrived in Wancheng with nearly 4,000 people.

At this time, the Hanbei County Guards stood outside the city gate, watching the team led by the King of Chu appear in front from a distance, and immediately led the officials of Hanbei County to meet them.

When he got closer, he saluted from afar: "The minister of Hanbei County guards to meet the king." ”

"Mr. Lao greets you, and please get in the car and enter the city with the widow."

"Yui."

The son got into the king's car, and when he saw that the king of Chu showed a tired face, he immediately said: "The king, the minister has prepared a soup bath and banquet in the city, and the king can..."

Before Jiezi finished speaking, Xiong Huai raised his hand and interrupted: "The matter of the bathing banquet is not busy, the military situation is urgent at the moment, so let's talk about the battle situation in the northeast and west of Hanbei County first." ”

Seeing that the tone of the King of Chu was full of undoubtedness, Jiezi knew that the military situation on the front line was the top priority in the heart of the King of Chu, so he responded: "Only." ”

At this time, Xiong Huai pondered for a while, and then spoke: "This time, the widow came to Wancheng, and he also brought Zuo Yin Xianyin's clansmen, including many of Zuo Yin Xianyin's wives and daughters and other female dependents, who were also enlisted. Zuo Yin and Xian Yin also know that although they are female dependents, they are in a crisis for the country, and since they are here, they have to go to the front line to help.

However, after all, it is a female streamer, and it is inconvenient to go to the front line, so I also ask my husband to arrange one or two, first arrange a place for them to live, and then arrange some things such as repairing, cooking, and transporting for them. ”

When Jiezi heard this, his face suddenly showed a hint of shock, he had long heard that the ministers over there in Yingdu were going to destroy their families and relieve the whole clan to go into battle, but now he learned from the mouth of the king of Chu that even Zuo Yin Xianyin's wife and daughter came, which still made his heart feel greatly shocked.

Thinking about it, Jiezi immediately sighed: "The country has such loyal ministers, and all the brothers and sisters in the country are united, so we will win this battle." ”

As he spoke, Jiezi replied: "The minister will arrange it, and he will not let Zuo Yin Xianyin's wife and daughter be unnecessarily wronged." ”

Xiong Huai nodded, and then spoke: "Also, many of the clansmen of other important ministers are already on the way to Hanbei, and there are also many female dependents, and the female dependents of these important ministers will also be arranged by Mr. Lao." ”

"Yui."

Soon, the king of Chu's royal car drove into Wancheng without hurry in the witness of the people of Wancheng, and then drove into the city guard's mansion.

Wancheng City guarded the mansion, Xiong Huaiyi sat down on the main seat, and after leaving the two of them, he looked at the pick-up who was standing first in the lower right of him, and asked, "Sir, I don't know how the war in Hanbei is going on now?" ”

When Jiezi heard this, he didn't dare to slack off, and immediately responded: "Back to the king, the current war everywhere is still scorching, and General Zhuang Ji in the west still refuses to defend the river, and he stops Gan Mao in the west of Xishui." Because of the water, although the loss of General Zhuang Ji's department was not large, the arrows and stones spent far exceeded that of Luyang and Fangcheng.

Fortunately, Danshui is still under our control, and the supplies that were shipped to the west can barely be supplied. ”

Xiong Huai nodded, the water was turbulent, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the sailors trained by Sima Cuo of the Qin State had already been wiped out as early as the Bashu Rebellion. It was also because Qin State did not have a water division, which greatly reduced the pressure on the Chu army to defend the Danxi defense line.

At this time, Jiezi said again: "Except for the accident of the Danxi defense line, the battle between Luyang and Fangcheng is not optimistic. Originally, although the offensive of the Qin-South Korean coalition army against the two places was fierce, it was still within our tolerance range, but since five days ago, the South Korean army began to launch a frantic assault on the two places regardless of casualties, so that the pressure on the two places doubled.

Up to now, the news that the minister has gotten that the casualties on Luyang's side have suddenly surged, and Sima has been in the past few days. Every day, he stayed at the city wall from the beginning to the end of the battle, and did not dare to leave the city wall for half a step, so he could barely hold the city wall.

As for the Fangcheng side, the original 2,000 defenders, there are currently less than 300 intact soldiers, and the 3,000 slaves sent by the minister have already suffered more than 2,000 casualties.

However, even with the Guards guarding the city, the slaves did not let them fight on the walls anymore, and now only let them help transport supplies.

And the King's Guard..."

Speaking of this, Jiezi hesitated for a moment before he spoke: "Since the guards arrived in Fangcheng ten days ago and immediately took over the defense of Fangcheng, in the past ten days, the casualties of the guards have approached five hundred. ”

When Xiong Huai heard this, he immediately gasped.

His guards have a total of only 5,000 people, all of them are the elite of thousands of choices, and they are also equipped with sharp weapons and rhinoceros wallets, in terms of equipment alone, Xiong Huai is conceited, and there is no better than this in all countries in the world, and in terms of the war quality of the soldiers, the guards are also among the best, compared to Wei Wushu and Qi Ji fighters, but it is not bad at all.

But such an army, which can be an army of ten, only defended the city for ten days, and the casualties have reached 10%, which is very abnormal.

If he continues to fight, when reinforcements from all over the country arrive, then his guards will be abolished by Han Chen, and he still thinks that after the reinforcements arrive, he will transfer the guards to Huaibei to participate in the decisive battle!

Thinking of this, Xiong Huai immediately asked, "Sir, what's going on over there in Fangcheng, why is the battle so tragic." ”

Hearing this, Jiezi couldn't help but sneak a glance at the King of Chu, Han Chen frantically attacked Fangcheng, it seemed that when the news that the King of Chu was coming to Hanbei, his guesses for a few days were all Han Chen would make such a move after he knew that the King of Chu was coming.

Of course, he couldn't say this reason to the King of Chu.

"King, I don't know what happened to Han Chen's side, five days ago, Han Chen suddenly took out all his family wealth to reward Han Jun, and announced to Han Jun that after breaking through Fangcheng, the army can loot all parts of my northern Han Dynasty, and all the finances obtained will belong to the army, and the women obtained can also let each soldier choose two people as slaves. What's more, Han Chen himself was also on the front line, braving the rain of arrows to participate in the siege.

As a result, the morale of the Korean army was greatly boosted, and the frenzied attack on the other city. Although in the past five days, the casualties of the Korean army have exceeded five times that of the defenders of Fangcheng, but the offensive of the Korean army has not decreased at all, so the casualties of the defenders of Fangcheng will be so large. ”

Xiong Huai was stunned, and asked suspiciously: "Han Chen, he is crazy, such a strong attack on Fang City regardless of casualties, is it possible that not only will the soldiers riot, or the siege will fail, and King Han will punish him after the battle?" ”

"This..." The picker was speechless.

At this time, Chen Zhen, who was opposite the pick-up, coughed lightly twice, and then replied: "King, regarding Han Chen's mentality, the minister has just gotten the news, so he may be able to speculate a little bit." ”

"Huh?" Xiong Huai immediately looked at Chen Zhen.

"The king, according to South Korea's internal report, not long ago, King Han suddenly fainted in the palace, and it is suspected that the limit has arrived. Now the Korean side has notified the prince in Qin and the prince in Zhao.

In addition, before the king of Han fainted, he issued an edict to severely reprimand Han Chen, the minister of Han, and the Qin side was also dissatisfied with Han Chen's failure to raid Fangcheng and ascend the throne, and the Qin side seemed to intend to let Han Min, who was in Qin, return to Korea to serve as the minister of Han.

Therefore, now Han Chen's behavior is to make meritorious deeds, so as not to liquidate him after the new king ascends the throne, and secondly, to establish immortal merits, to suppress Han Min, who is supported by the Qin State, and the uncle who is supported by our Chu and Zhao, so as to keep his position as Han Xiang. ”

"Immortal feat!" Xiong Huai was stunned for a moment, then sneered, and said disdainfully: "Could it be that Han Chen still wants to catch the widow and let the widow go to Xinzheng as a guest?" ”

Chen Zhen opened his mouth when he heard this, and he didn't know how to respond to King Chu's words.

After a pause, Xiong Huai saw that Chen Zhen's joints were all silent, and immediately knew that his words just now were not easy to answer.

So, Xiong Huai thought about it, changed the topic, and asked, "Chen Qing, how is it in Huaibei now?" ”

When Chen Zhen heard this, he immediately responded: "King, let Yin come to report, now the war situation in Huaibei is still scorching. However, there was strange news from the Song Kingdom. ”

"What news."

According to Doctor Zuo's report, not long ago the King of Song suddenly summoned the crown prince, and the two discussed for a long time in the Song Palace, after which, the King of Song announced that a total of 70,000 Song troops from Shangqiu and Yingdong would be transferred to Juyang to reinforce the Three Kingdoms alliance army in Huaibei. Then, Prince Zizhen also suddenly ordered Gongzifu to lead his army to Yingdong to garrison. ”

Xiong Huai couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this.

He could still understand that the Song King transferred his army to Juyang, it was nothing more than to attack Juyang with all his strength, and strive to drive the sphere of influence of the Chu State to the south of Huaishui, so as to keep the newly acquired land in Huaibei.

But the crown prince's behavior is a little abnormal, he transferred the prince's clothes to guard Yingdong, does it mean that the king of Song promised him something, promised not to abolish the prince, or promised to hand over the land of Yingdong to him.

So, he betrayed the state of Chu?

Thinking about it, Xiong Huai immediately asked, "How did Prince Zhen explain?" ”

Chen Zhen responded: "The king, according to what Doctor Zuo said, what Prince Zhen means is that he wants to completely control the land of Huaibei and dredge the Huaibei trade route.

In the past, the merchants of the four kingdoms of Qi, Wei, Zhao and Song were all bribing him, hoping to transport grain from his territory, so he sent troops to Yingdong this time to ensure that merchants from various countries could transport grain to our Chu country.

Moreover, the crown prince had sworn with the king of Song that Yingdong's army would not enter the Song mainland and would not betray the Song state, and at the same time, the king of Song promised that the Song state would not interfere with the merchants of various countries in transporting grain to the Chu state, on the contrary, the Song state would also provide some convenience for merchants from various countries. ”

When Xiong Huai heard this, he immediately knew the wishful thinking of the father and son, they wanted to bet between Qi and Chu at the same time.

If the five kingdoms win, the Song State will participate in the division of the spoils, and if the Chu State wins, the land of Yingdong will be returned to Yingdong through peace talks through the relationship between the crown prince and Zhen, so as to avoid the Song State being retaliated by the Chu State.

And the prince Zhen...

Xiong Huai couldn't help but sigh when he thought of Prince Zhen: "Prince Zhen is the prince of the Song Kingdom after all." ”

As soon as Chen Zhen heard that the King of Chu said that the crown prince and the Chu State were not of the same mind, he immediately nodded thoughtfully.

Perhaps on many issues, the crown prince will listen to the opinions of the king of Chu, but now when it comes to this kind of major matter related to the fundamentals of the Song State, the crown prince is undoubtedly on the side of the Song State.

Otherwise, with the current situation, as long as the prince ordered Gongzi to cooperate with the Chu people in Yingdu to cut off the return route of the Qi and Song armies, the war of the five kingdoms against Chu would soon end.

But apparently, the crown prince did not mean to do this, but only agreed to transfer grain through the Song State.

Thinking about it, Chen Zhen said with a heavy face: "King, the Song State has increased its troops to Huaibei by 70,000, and the Three Kingdoms Alliance Army in Huaibei will be reinforced, and its morale will be greatly boosted." The minister was worried that the situation on Ling Yin's side would change rapidly, and even Ling Yin would fall into a comprehensive disadvantage.

Therefore, the minister thought that we should order that the new nobles of Jianghuai should not come to Hanbei for reinforcements, but gather in Shou County to contain the enemy army in Huaibei. ”

Jiezi's face changed slightly when he heard this, but as soon as he remembered that the crisis in Huaibei was no less than that in Hanbei, he did not open his mouth to object.

On the other side, Xiong Huai heard Chen Zhen's words, groaned slightly, and shook his head.

"No, this is not appropriate, now the situation in Hanbei and Huaibei has taken a sharp turn for the worse, but the private army recruited by those new nobles is either transferred to the vassals of farming, or the ruffians and hooligans in various places, these people's combat power is extremely limited, so with their strength, they can only rescue one place, and cannot take care of it.

If you take care of both ends, the widow is worried that both ends will not be able to be preserved, so instead of gambling on the two places, it is better to go all out to protect Hanbei. ”

When Jiezi heard this, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as long as all the reinforcements from all over the country came to the rescue of Hanbei, then Hanbei would be stable.

Otherwise, with the current attack intensity of the Qin-Han coalition army on Hanbei, he really didn't dare to guarantee that he could hold Hanbei.

As soon as Hanbei was lost, whether the king of Chu fled or died in battle or was captured, this result was unbearable for him and Qu Yuan.

Thinking about it, Jiezi immediately arched his hand and said, "The king is wise." ”

At this time, Chen Zhen saw that the receiver had already opened his mouth to agree, so he swallowed back the words of persuasion.

Xiong Huai spoke, seeing that Chen Zhen still had a melancholy look on his face, he smiled, and said comfortably: "Fortune and misfortune are lurking, misfortune and fortune are relied on, the Song army reinforces Huaibei, this may not be the opportunity of my Chu State, according to the widow's opinion, this war widow will not only defeat the five countries, but also, the Song State at both ends of the first rat is not far from destruction." ”

Chen Zhen was stunned, and immediately looked at the King of Chu in surprise, as the intelligence officer of the King of Chu, although the King of Chu did not say it, but he also faintly noticed through some clues that the King of Chu had a big move in Huaibei.

Now that the king of Chu said so, could it be said that the reinforcements of the Song State were originally in the king's plan?

Thinking of this, Chen Zhen immediately lowered his head, and the uneasiness in his heart was slightly alleviated with King Chu's words.

At this time, Xiong Huai saw that Chen Zhen did not ask, smiled, and ordered: "Chen Qing, immediately send the widow's edict to the doctor Zuo in Song, telling him that the widow wants to formally break with the king of Song and let him humiliate the king of Song." ”

When Chen Zhen heard this, he suddenly raised his head, and when he saw the confident appearance of the King of Chu, he immediately responded: "Only." ”

After Xiong Huai finished instructing Chen Zhen, he looked at Jiezi again and said, "Xianqing, the widow was still hesitating when to start changing the law in Hanbei, but now, since the situation has reached this point, the change can begin." ”

"The king is wise." The receiver replied with joy.

Xiong Huai nodded and ordered: "Sir, the widow wants to ask Mr. to prepare in advance in Wancheng, and the widow plans to go to Fangcheng Luyang to inspect the city first, and when the widow returns, he will officially start changing the law in Hanbei." ”