Chapter 648: Farewell My Concubine (Part 2)
Chapter 648 Farewell My Concubine (Part 2)
Chapter 646: Farewell My Concubine (Part 2)
The Qingyou Allied Forces fought against Huang Chao in six formations and won all of them. Among them, Gongsun Xuanyuan was naturally the one who made the greatest contribution.
The four generals Zhu Wen, Wang Xianzhi, Huang Kui, and Shang Rang joined forces, but were easily defeated by Gongsun Xuanyuan. If Huang Chao hadn't seen that the situation was bad and directly used his army to cover up the attack, all four generals would have died at the hands of Gongsun Xuanyuan.
Subsequently, Gongsun Xuanyuan led Baima Yicong and directly penetrated Huang Chao's central army, wiping out nearly half of Huang Chao's main force in one battle. This led to six victories in six battles.
Under the stranglehold of the Qingyou coalition forces, Huang Chao was also forced into a desperate situation. The land of Qingzhou, one county and three countries that he originally owned was now only left with one Qi country and most of Donglai County.
Facing the still aggressive Qingyou coalition, Huang Chao had no choice but to petition for surrender, and was soon named the governor of Qi.
After Huang Chao surrendered, although most of the Qingyou coalition army had returned, the elite continued to go south, preparing to participate in the final action of hunting Xiang Yu.
On the Jizhou side, after Zhang Sheng retreated into the Taihang Mountains, the princes of Jizhou were busy grabbing the territory he had given up, so naturally they could not take care of Zhang Sheng.
Originally belonged to the two counties of Daming, and now they have been recaptured. The major princes in Jizhou have won great benefits, and Yuan Shao even monopolized Zhao Guo and most of the giant deer.
Yuan Shao occupies so much territory by himself, which naturally makes Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang jealous. If Huangfu Song's attitude was not so tough, the Jizhou coalition forces would probably have fought.
After that, Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng were busy consolidating their territory, while Yuan Shao led his elite troops to continue south to participate in the encirclement and suppression of Xiang Yu, and Han Fu also went with Han Xin's army.
In November, Xiang Yu led his army to break through to Jianghuai, but was blocked by the Yangzhou coalition forces.
This time, Xiang Yu did not retreat, but led the remaining 10,000 troops under his command to fight the Yangzhou coalition head-on.
Xiang Yu has no way to retreat. Behind him are Li Shimin, Yang Jian, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Liu Yu, Liu Bei, Song Jiang, Yuan Shao, Han Xin, Gongsun Xuanyuan, etc., and dozens of princes and hundreds of thousands of troops are chasing them. Only by advancing can there be a chance of survival. .
In order to prevent Xiang Yu from escaping to Dabie, the 100,000 Yangzhou Allied Forces were divided into two groups. One was led by Liu Yao to fight against Xiang Yu, and the other was led by Sun Jian to block Zhu Yuanzhang's rescue road.
Dabie Mountain, the Ming army’s stronghold and Zhu Yuanzhang’s camp.
"How can this be?"
Looking at the secret edict in his hand, Zhu Yuanzhang said with disbelief: "How could your Majesty issue such an order?"
Zhu Yuanzhang really couldn't believe that Zhang Sheng actually ordered him not to send troops to rescue Xiang Yu.
If it weren’t for the seal on the secret edict and the seal of the Emperor Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang would have even thought that the secret edict was a fake. But precisely because it was true, it was even more terrifying.
At such a critical moment, why did Your Majesty cut off his own arm and use the Han army to kill him?
Xiang Yu has always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty and has never acted deviantly. Besides, hasn't he always been His Majesty's man?
Although Zhu Yuanzhang didn’t know why Zhang Sheng wanted to borrow a knife to kill someone, he knew that Zhang Sheng must have a reason to do so. But what was the reason for Zhang Sheng, who had always been wise, to do such a stupid move of cutting off his own arm?
Why didn’t Zhang Liang advise His Majesty? Does he know that it's okay? If he does...
As soon as he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt cold all over his body, and a coldness surged out of his heart unconsciously.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Zhang Sheng was a kind and strong woman, and Ming Dynasty was a united and bright group.
But this secret edict gave Zhu Yuanzhang a new understanding of His Majesty, whom he admired, and of the Ming Dynasty to which he was loyal. Your Majesty is not as kind as you think, and the Ming Dynasty is much darker than you think, and the same goes for Zhang Liang...
Looking at the north, Zhu Yuanzhang murmured to himself: "Your Majesty, Zhang Liang, what are you hiding?"
Because of the admiration in his heart, Zhu Yuanzhang was unwilling to think bad things about Zhang Sheng. He just hoped that Zhang Sheng did have some difficulties, so he was prepared to obey orders.
At this moment, the arrival of Xiang Zhuang and other members of the Xiang family made Zhu Yuanzhang change his mind.
“General, you and Brother Xiang Yu are the pillars of the Ming Dynasty. Without either of you, we can’t survive.”
Xiang Zhuang led everyone in the Xiang clan and knelt down in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, pleading: "General, you asked Brother Xiang Yu to lend the Overlord Cavalry. Brother Xiang Yu sent us here without even thinking. Now Xiang Yu is surrounded by people. , please send troops to rescue brother Xiang Yu."
Zhu Yuanzhang's pupils shrank immediately when he heard this, and then he helped Xiang Zhuang up and said seriously: "Don't worry, General Xiang Zhuang, Zhu Yuanzhang will never ignore death."
Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's expression that didn't seem to be fake, Xiang Zhuang finally felt relieved.
“Thank you, General.” The Xiang clan said in unison.
On November 5, Zhu Yuanzhang ignored Zhang Sheng's order, and he and Xu Shiji each led an army and left the Dabie Mountains in two groups to rescue Xiang Yu.
However, after breaking through several blockades, Xu Shiji was blocked by Gongsun Xuanyuan who led the army. After several battles, he still could not advance, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also blocked by Sun Jian.
On November 10, Xiang Yu and Liu Yao officially fought in Hefei.
In order to monopolize the credit for killing Xiang Yu, Liu Yao launched a decisive battle in advance without waiting for the major princes to complete the encirclement, and the result was naturally a disastrous defeat.
Liu Yao's 70,000 Han troops were driven away by Xiang Yu's 10,000 remnant troops, with only more than 40,000 casualties. Xiang Yu also took advantage of this to break out.
Zhu Yuanzhang has not yet broken all the blockades of the Han Dynasty. Xiang Yu must not be able to wait any longer. He cannot go to the Dabie Mountains and can only continue to break out south.
At this time, the various princes of the Han army have successfully joined forces. Li Shimin, Yang Jian, Li Yuan, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Liu Yu, Liu Bei, Song Jiang, Yuan Shao, Han Xin and other princes gathered together to once again form a feast of princes.
“Everyone, Liu Yao was greedy for power and launched a war in advance before we arrived. As a result, he was severely defeated by Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu’s traitor also took advantage of this to break out of the encirclement.”
As soon as Cao Cao said this, the scene immediately fell silent, waiting for Cao Cao's next words.
"We, more than ten princes, and more than 200,000 troops have gathered here. If each fights his own way, even if Xiang Yu is finally killed, the casualties will be huge."
Everyone nodded subconsciously upon hearing this. Cao Cao smiled lightly and continued:
"There are no rules, no squares. I, Cao Mengde, propose to elect an alliance leader. We will all obey his command, integrate the strength of the entire army, and eliminate Xiang Yu at the minimum cost. Do you agree?"
"good."
Yuan Shao stood up and said with a smile: "This is a good idea, but who should be the leader of the alliance?"
“Of course, the person with the largest number of troops will be in charge.”
Yuan Shu quickly stood up and proposed, but Liu Yu immediately opposed it.
(End of this chapter)