Dou Huang proposed a plan that made Dou Jiao unexpected: "Father, we have insufficient troops, chaos and lack of food and grass, and our further march to Yingdu is doomed to failure. Therefore we should go north and take Luyi. The people of Luyi thought that if the Ao clan went south to attack Chu, they would definitely not be guarded.

"Lu is a big city, the terrain is dangerous and there is plenty of grain and grass. From Luyi, you can enter the Qin State by going against the Han River, and you can enter the Cai State to the northeast, and you can advance or retreat, and you will not be forced to a dead end. After we occupy Luyi, we can attack Deng, Luo, and if necessary, even Shenxian.

"In this way, the king can only go north to attack the Ruo Ao clan, and it will be more advantageous for us to wait for work than to attack Yingdu directly, and we can also contact Zheng, Cai, Chen, Xu, and even the Jin Kingdom. At that point, the initiative will be completely in our hands. ”

Dou Jiao agreed with his son's plan very much, and immediately led the army to turn around and go north.

King Chuzhuang looked forward to a decisive battle with the Ruo Ao clan day and night, but half a month had passed since the rebels expected to arrive, and the defenders of the city had not seen half a figure.

At this time, the scouts reported that the rebels did not know when they would pull out their camp and go north. The king of Chuzhuang and his ministers were really surprised, and the people hurriedly analyzed the strategic intentions of the rebels and formulated a new battle plan. But bad news followed, first Luyi was captured by the rebels, and then Deng and Luo were also lost.

Ruo Ao occupied three cities, controlled the Chu army's main road to Handong, and separated Shenxian from Yingdu.

King Chuzhuang immediately issued three orders: one was addressed to Shen Gong Wuchen, requiring Shen County to enter a state of emergency and do a good job of defense to prevent the rebels from attacking or fleeing north; The second was for Xi Gong, who asked Xi Gong to rush to Yi (about seventy miles south of Shenyi), where he would build a defensive line, and be sure to block the rebels in Fangcheng, and not let one go; The third is to the monarchs of the four kingdoms of Sui, Tang, Lu and Jiao, and ask the four countries to send troops to help.

However, the rebels blockaded Han Shui, and the messengers to Hanghe were captured. The king of Chu Zhuang did not dare to delay, he ordered the army to defend the country, and then personally led the Chu army north to crusade against Ruo Ao. At this time, the state of Chu ordered Yin to hunt for Bao Ai, and the big Sima for Pan Yu.

Readers may be very unfamiliar with the name Hunting, but that's okay; He also has a name called Ping Ao, you may still not know, but it still doesn't matter. The word Uncle Sun, so the world calls it "Uncle Sun Ao", so everyone knows who he is.

Yanshui originates at the northern foot of Jingshan Mountain, and flows slowly to the southwest, flowing through the southwest of Luoyi and then flowing into the Han River. Luo is located in the triangle at the confluence of the Yan and Han rivers, and the two rivers form a natural barrier to Luo.

The rebels demolished the bridges along the Yanshui coast and set up a defensive line on the east bank. After receiving the information, Bao Ai Hunt believed that the Wang division should be divided into two routes: a small army used as a cover, carrying a large amount of baggage, and continued to march along the original route until it reached the west bank of Yanshui, where it confronted the rebels defending Luoyi across the bank. The main army covered its tracks, traveled lightly, quietly crossed the Han River eastward and quickly moved north along the river, and then joined forces with Sui and Tang reinforcements to conquer Deng County.

Once Deng County was recaptured, Wang Shi regained control of Handong; The rebels were trapped in a narrow strip at the confluence of the Han River and the Yan River. If the rebels can't break through, they have to burrow into the uninhabited Jingshan Mountain, which is infested with poisonous snakes and beasts, and there is no way to escape.

King Chuzhuang decided to lead the main army to the battle, so he handed over his chariot banner and even the Zuoguang Guard to Pan Yu and the prince's side, and he ordered the prince to put on his own robe and armor, take the Guangcha, and said: "Side, you can be a valley!" The prince said, "Don't dare to be, just pretend." ”

After the two armies separated, Pan Yu planted military flags all over the baggage carts (as if all the king's divisions were in one place) and continued northward, reaching the west bank of Yanshui ten days later.

This place is a wide, densely vegetated plain, and behind the plain is the remnants of Jingshan Mountain. At this time, the water had already risen, and no swimming or boat could resist the turbulent current.

"Actually, it's best," Pan thought to him, "that the army can't cross the river anyway." What Pan Yan really feared was that the rebels saw the flaw, rushed to the other side, and eliminated the seemingly invincible "front soldiers".

Pan Yu then spread the stall very large, planted military flags everywhere he could see, and did everything with great fanfare, as if he was afraid that the enemy would not see it.

Day and night, the king cut down trees, built fortifications, and drove piles to build bridges. When the enemy came to observe, the opposite side was a scene of labor in full swing; The rebels were in constant fear and had to step up the construction and reinforcement of fortifications.

The rebels were deceived by Pan Yu, so they focused on defense rather than attacking, and Doujiao even drew a part of the Deng County defenders in Handong to strengthen the Yanshui defense line.

The east bank of the Han River is very calm, this area is the sphere of influence of Sui and Tang, and the two ** teams have already swept away the rebel scouts. In late June, Wang Shi joined up with the Sui, Tang, and Xi armies.

At the ensuing pre-war meeting, the generals learned that the rebels had built several rows of pontoon bridges side by side on the river between Lu and Deng (Lu and Deng were facing each other across the Han River), and that there were strong fortifications on the shore bridgeheads; If Deng County is attacked, the defenders of Luyi will inevitably rush to support through pontoon bridges.

On the question of how to deal with the bridgehead fortifications, the generals proposed two sets of plans: one was to capture the bridgehead fortress, destroy the pontoon bridge, cut off the connection between Deng and Lu, and then go all out to capture Luyi; The second is to hide the royal division and let the reinforcements go through the Han River to encircle and annihilate.

The first plan is very safe, especially fighting under the nose of the King of Chu, it is best not to have any accidents, so this plan has been approved by most people.

But Ai Hunt has a different point of view.

He said: "Everyone knows that 'soldiers are expensive and not expensive for a long time', and we can indeed quickly conquer Deng County, so what should we do after that?" How do we deal with the rebels of Lou and Luo? Doujiao will find that the main force of the Wang Division was originally here, and the army stationed in Yanxi was nothing more than a bluff; Then Doujiao will force his way across the Yanshui, crush our soldiers to death, and swagger into the Yingdu that we have given away with the heavy grain and a large number of people—you know, Yingdu is almost an empty city now!

"What if we lure the rebels across the Han River? Although the rebels were numerous and had been the main force of the Chu army, most of them were subservient to the obscenity of the old thieves, and they were still loyal to the country and the king in their hearts—many of whom were unwilling to flee here for the sake of the thieves.

"I asked some deserters, and they said that the last thing they dared to face was the king's banner, not the bloody blade. If the rebels suddenly saw the king's banner and the king's face when they crossed the Han River, would they not be shocked? Can you surrender without feeling remorse and fear?

"The old thief is a man who never admits defeat, even if he is doomed to defeat, as long as the pontoon bridge is still unblocked, he will continue to attack, so we will destroy most of the rebels in one battle, and the rest dare not surrender? Do you have a better way than to let the rebels cross the Han River? ”

The king of Chu Zhuang said: "Yes, the widow is the king of Chu, how can he be afraid of the army of those rebellious ministers and thieves!" No matter how many of them are, they are only thieves. ”