In the third year of the Qin and Xin calendar years, between June and July.

While Li Yuan was besieging Bajun and Shujun, Han King Liu Bang also launched a campaign to attack Linjiang King Gongao of Nanjun. This time, the Han army went south as a mourning army. In order to prepare for this southern expedition, Liu Bang gave up

Reinforcing Cao Shen led to the defeat of the Battle of Xicheng, and the cost was huge.

The aftermath of the Battle of Xicheng continued to tremble. Although due to Cao Shen's desperate resistance, Han King Liu Bang had a chance to escape from the Hanzhong County that was about to fall, but after another lucky escape from Li Yuan's tiger paw, Liu Bang could no longer afford to fight with him.

The courage and thoughts of the Qin army’s desperate efforts.

Failed again and again.

The results became more miserable each time, which made Liu Bang feel frustrated and began to doubt his own decision-making.

Unlike in the past when the Han army had the advantage but often fell short of success, this time the Qin army attacked Hanzhong and pressed them with overwhelming force. This made Liu Bang suddenly feel the gap in strength with the Qin army.

The Qin army became stronger as it fought.

The Han army, on the other hand, was demoralized by successive defeats and had to rely on tactics to win even against King Xin of Han. Under this background, Liu Bang decided to retreat.

There are more than ten princes, large and small, in Guandong. If we want to resist Qin, everyone has a responsibility. Now all the princes are competing with each other for territory and to expand their strength. He, Liu Bang, holds high the banner and resists Qin alone. The hero is

Enough of a hero, but the burden is too heavy.

After understanding this, Liu Bang changed the target of his attack from the Qin army in the west to his former allies. After defeating King Xin of Han, Liu Bang decided to go south and capture Yingcheng, the old capital of Chu State.

North of Nanjun, Deng County.

In June, the Han army mobilized troops several times to appear outside the city at the gateway of Nanjun in the name of military exercises. The Linjiang army was a little wary of this at first. Then they gradually got used to it.

Under this situation, Liu Bang gathered nearly 20,000 elite soldiers in the Deng County area, with Zhongjuan Zhou Bo as the leading general of the southern expedition, and his cousin Liu Jia as the deputy general vanguard. Liu Bang himself, Zhang Liang, Lu Wan,

Zhang Er and other counselors were stationed in the central army, while Prime Minister Xiao He stayed in Wancheng and was responsible for the transfer of grain and fodder.

July 23rd.

Liu Jia took the lead in ascending the Han Dynasty. More than 2,000 soldiers took advantage of the night to occupy Deng County and opened the door to Nanjun. Afterwards, Zhou Bo gave an order and the main force of the Han army marched south along the Han River. They descended on Jingling and settled down.

Lu and several other counties forcibly placed most of Nanjun under Liu Bang's name.

Faced with the sudden attack of the Han army, Linjiang King Gong Ao was caught off guard. The military ability of Zhu Guo appointed by King Xiong Xin of Chu could only be considered mediocre. The reason why he could become a prince was because Xiang Yu had seen the past.

For the sake of friendship.

July 29th.

The Han army won consecutive battles and advanced to the outskirts of Ying City, Gong Ao's home base. The generals of the Han army, who suffered consecutive defeats in the battle with the Qin army, performed extremely well in the civil war among the Kwantung princes, making Gong Ao, who had looked down upon Liu Bang for some time,

The princes were suddenly stunned and at a loss.

War rages in the south.

Linjiang King Gong Ao was panic-stricken. This elder of the Zhu State of Chu was also an old acquaintance of Liu Bang. Recently, Nanjun and Nanyang County were close to each other, and the envoys between the two princes and kings were also in close contact. Gong Ao temporarily relaxed his vigilance.

.

Yingcheng.

Gong Ao hurriedly summoned his subordinates to discuss matters. The area around Yingcheng was the old capital of the Chu State. It was much more remote than the Central Plains area in the north. Fortunately, in recent years, due to the continuous wars in the north, there were also many refugees who moved south.

A wealthy family, this allowed Gong Ao to recruit several talents.

Wen Suihe, Wu Gongwei.

Gong Ao's team was very simple. Sui He was considered a famous figure in the history of the late Qin Dynasty. As for Gong Wei, he was Gong Ao's son.

It was more secure to have the army in the hands of his own people. After witnessing the death of King Xiong Xin of Chu by Xiang Yu, Gong Ao became more and more suspicious.

"Gentlemen, Liu Ji betrayed his trust and attacked our Nanjun. Now, the enemy troops have arrived at the city. What should we do?" Gong Ao asked, looking at the few important subordinates who followed him.

"Your Majesty, Liu Ji has betrayed his trust, why don't we go to the Overlord and file a complaint against him." Gong Ao was at a loss, and Prime Minister He glanced at the frightened companions on the left and right, stepped forward calmly, and admonished.

"Xiang Xiang, how can the overlord listen to us? If you want to know about King Huai -?" Gong Ao shook his head dumbly. Within the Chu State, there was a faction that supported King Huai of Chu, Xiong Xin, and a faction that supported Xiang Yu. Unfortunately,

, after Xiong Xin and Xiang Yu broke up, the relationship between Gong Ao, the bear support group, and Xiang Yu was tense. What would be the result of complaining to Xiang Yu at this time?

Suihe laughed it off and said loudly: "Your Majesty, whether the Overlord listens or not is his business, and whether we complain or not is our business. If we can take advantage of Liu Bang's invasion of the south to express our feelings to the Overlord this time, it will be a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.

"

Sui He means that after Xiang Yu killed Xiong Xin, what he urgently needed was justice and support. If Gong Ao could express his support, it would be no less than a timely help for Xiang Yu.

Hearing Sui He's analysis, Gong Ao's gloomy eyes lit up and he said anxiously: "It's a good idea from the Prime Minister, so I will quickly prepare a generous gift and send an envoy to Pengcheng. No, for the sake of caution, please go there with the blind date."

trip."

"I obey," Sui He smiled slightly and agreed. After bowing his head respectfully, Sui He stood up and left. This made all his colleagues look surprised and admired.

"Your Majesty, my subordinates are willing to accompany the Prime Minister to Pengcheng." A flexible official looked eager and stepped forward to ask for orders.

"My subordinates are also willing to go." At this time, all the officials who finally came to their senses rushed forward and said loudly.

"Well, now is the time for my king to hire people. You can stay in Yingcheng and follow me to fight against the invading enemies." Gong Ao's face darkened and he ordered.

Gong Ao was able to become the pillar of the Chu State. Although his military capabilities were not very good, in terms of insight into people's hearts, how could he not guess the thoughts of these officials.

No matter what Sui He's thoughts were, there was no doubt about his eloquence and ability. Among the officials in Nanjun, Sui He was the one to go to Pengcheng to persuade Xiang Yu.

As for the others, they are just pretending to be fake, and whether they go or not is the same.

Hearing what Gong Ao said, all the officials were dejected. At such a critical moment, Sui He, as Prime Minister, was able to leave first. What is this but a skill? Compared with Sui He's chicness, these eloquences are not as good as his ability.

A mediocre guy can only sigh.

After the officials left, Gong Ao left his son Gong Wei alone and asked, "My son, let me tell you the truth, can I defend Ying City for a month?"

If all goes well, it will take at least a month until Xiang Yu's mediator arrives. Gong Ao is old, and the army has been handed over to his son Gong Wei, who is not very clear about the strength and deployment of the Linjiang army.

"Father, I have a thousand guards in Jingling and two thousand guards in Anlu, but they were all defeated by the enemy in three days. The walls of Ying City are in ruins and it is really impossible to hold on." Captain Gong replied helplessly.

.

The Linjiang area was not densely populated, and due to the recent friction with Wu Ruiduo, the king of Changsha, Lieutenant General was relieved and transferred most of his troops to the south of the Yangtze River. However, he did not expect that the Han army would suddenly turn against the enemy.

.

"Can't Ying City really be defended?" Gong Ao asked unwillingly. In the past year, Gong Ao reclaimed wasteland and opened rivers in the Ying City area, finally restoring some of the grandeur of the Chu Kingdom in the past. However, he did not expect that,

In the end, it is a wedding dress for others.

"Father, it's not too late. The Han army has already moved east along the Han River. It's better for us to go to Shaxian (Xiakou) to take shelter first." Captain Gong said sadly.

In the past, when the Qin State attacked Chu, the capital of Ying was burned down. Although it has been restored in the past two years, many of the city's walls were damaged and it was almost impossible to defend. No matter how powerful the generals were, they could not defend a city.

Undefended city.

"Forget it, in the past few days, my son has secretly prepared many boats. When no one is around at night, he will transport all the wealth and silk in the house to the boats and hide them. If it is really impossible to defend, he can retreat at any time." Gong Ao nodded.

.

The Han army was pressing down on the border, and the people of Linjiang were in panic. The Gong family and his son had no confidence in defending Ying City. After the officials left the meeting hall, they were busy thinking of ways to escape.

Under such a situation, Zhou Bo and Liu Jia advanced with almost overwhelming force. The defenders of Ying City only persisted for half a day before they collapsed.

Under the protection of Gongwei, Gong Ao retreated from the waterway to Xiakou. Along the way, he encountered the Han army's Xian Dengzhou Division led by Liu Jia. The two armies engaged in a melee in the Han River.

In the end, the Linjiang boat carrying a lot of money was killed and defeated. Gong Ao's boat sank and drowned in the river. Only Gong Wei managed to fight his way through the chaos and escaped towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

go.

Ao died together.

The Linjiang Kingdom, which had been founded for only one year, was immediately destroyed. This was another feudal prince's fiefdom seized after King Shenyang of Henan. By the time Suihe persuaded Xiang Yu, it was already too late.

At the end of August, the Han army completely pacified Nanjun. After losing Hanzhong County, Liu Bang relied on a civil war to finally regain his status as a great prince.

Yingdu.

The new administrative seat of Liu Bang, King of Han Dynasty.

A fast horse galloped into the city from the northern border, bringing the news that Li Yuan, the Shenwu Marquis of Qin State, was seriously ill and was about to die. This made Liu Bang's relaxed nerves tense again.

"Another conspiracy?" After hearing this news, Liu Bang, Zhang Liang and other Han people's first instinct was this. After losing the intelligence network in Xianyang City, the reconstruction was not going smoothly. Now Zhang Liang has no idea about Guanzhong's intelligence.

Collection can only rely on word of mouth from businessmen, so the credibility and timeliness are greatly reduced.

"King of Han, let the other princes fight with each other this time and bleed. We must not fall for Li Thief's trick again." Guan Ying looked frightened.

The death of Cao Shen caused the Han generals to lose the courage to fight the Qin army one by one. Now, even fierce generals like Guan Ying cannot muster the courage to fight the Qin army. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!