Except for Ding Ji's troops fighting a blocking war of not a large scale in Xiang County, the remaining wars were actually the voluntary retreat of the Young Marshal's Army and did not really resist with all their strength. Therefore, the Battle of Pengcheng was actually the first time since the Young Marshal's Army started fighting with the regular Qin army directly under the Qin court. It is of great significance, and the Young Marshal's Army must not fail. Otherwise, even if Xiang Kang still fled to Jiangdong with the remnants of defeated generals, the city land that the Young Marshal's Army had worked hard to conquer the north and north in the past few months would definitely have completely disappeared.

The young generals were also very clear about this, so the Qin army led by Zhang Ping had just arrived at the suburbs of Pengcheng. The young generals in and outside the city were immediately shrouded in a tense atmosphere. Unavoidable rumors arose in the army. The soldiers rushed to spread the powerful combat effectiveness of the regular Qin army in the Xiang County outpost battle. They still pulled the young generals Ding Ji's army to the ground and search for teeth. Generals at all levels were also extremely nervous and ran to Xiangzhuang, who was in charge of camp affairs outside the city to find out how Xiang Kang planned to resist the Qin army this time. His morale and fighting spirit were obviously not as high as before.

This is not a matter of blame for the timid and incompetent soldiers of the Young Marshal Army. The main reason is that the Qin army under Zhang Han's army fought so beautifully before. Not to mention the easy annihilation of the main force of Zhang Chu's Western Expedition Army, in just over a month, they killed the Zhang Chu army on the Western Front and collapsed, and almost without any effort to break through the capital of Zhang Chu. In addition, the battle against the Young Marshal Army Ding Ji's army in Xiangxian had suffered eight lifetimes of trouble and happened to collide with the Longxi elite of the Qin army's regular army. The loss was so miserable that the young Marshal Army soldiers would inevitably have to be full of soldiers and fear the enemy like tigers.

Xiang Zhuang, who had accumulated a lot of experience in actual combat, quickly discovered this danger and sent someone to the city to report the situation to Xiang Kang in the evening that day. Xiang Kang immediately made up his mind and decided to move his command center to the outside camp the next day to stabilize people's hearts, boost morale, and make him trustworthy Xiang Sheng lead his army to guard the city of Pengcheng. He then transferred a team of thousands of people from his directly affiliated central army to strengthen Xiang Sheng's troops and prevent the Qin army from bypassing the camp outside the city of the Young Commander's Army and directly attacking Pengcheng.

In response to this, Old Man Fan, who likes to be open and upright, raised his hands to support him. He felt that Xiang Kang had finally gotten a strong man. Zhou Zeng was quite worried and reminded Xiang Kang: "Young marshal, it's better to be careful. The tyrannical Qin army is powerful. After you leave the city, you may have a strange intention in the city, especially Wang Yong, the magistrate of Pengcheng County who had presented us to us before. He is a person who is jealous of money and falls with the wind."

"Don't worry, I will call Xiang Sheng carefully." Xiang Kang replied: "It's okay for Wang Yong to have any other intentions. If he dares to have a different intention, I will naturally have a way to deal with him."

After making the necessary and sufficient arrangements, the next morning, Xiang Kang led his personal troops out of Pengcheng in the wind and snow, and transferred his command to the main camp of the Young Marshal's Army outside the west gate of Pengcheng. At this point, the Pengcheng garrison of the Young Marshal's Army was basically established. Xiang Sheng led 4,000 troops to defend the city, and the camp outside the city gathered all the mobile forces that Xiang Kang could use at present, exceeding 20,000 in one fell swoop, completely breaking the highest record of the Young Marshal's Army's previous use of troops on a battlefield.

But unfortunately, the Young Marshal's army was still far inferior. Zhang Ping's army had 50,000 troops. In addition, the more than 6,000 Qin troops in Dang County who were ordered to reinforce, the total strength of the Qin army reached 56,000. Even though three thousand troops were left to guard Xiangxian and Xiaoxian, which had been seized before, the front-line troops were still more than twice the total strength of the Young Marshal's army. What made Xiang Kang even more worried was that Zhang Ping's army had an unknown number of elite Qin troops in Longxi. These elite troops were not only equipped with better equipment than the Young Marshal's army, but also had stronger combat power than the elite troops of the Young Marshal's army. Once they took action, under the same troop conditions, the Young Marshal's army was destined to have no chance of winning.

At the critical moment of life and death, Xiang Kang certainly did not dare to show it. Therefore, after relocating the command center to the camp outside the city, at the first combat meeting held, Xiang Kang's expression was as relaxed and relaxed as usual, and he was talking and laughing with the generals under his command, as if he was not nervous at all. When the young generals asked how to fight this battle, Xiang Kang immediately smiled and said, "Of course, the main focus is on guard. The tyrant Qin army came from afar, and the food and supplies could not be guaranteed to be stable. Why should we rush to launch a decisive battle with such a good opportunity? Are we still the people under the tyrant Qin army, and we still have to help the tyrant Qin army save food and grass?"

The generals laughed, and Xiang Kang said with a smile: "By the way, let me tell you a few good news. Our Marshal Xiang Zhuguo has sent a letter saying that he will soon lead the elite Jiangdong troops from our Chu State to cross the Yangtze River north to Pengcheng to reinforce us. General Feng Zhong's side will also lead our southern army from Jiujiang north to go to the Chi Road to reinforce us. In addition, in order to thank us for helping him save Fengyi last time, we will personally lead our army south to reinforce us. If it goes well, our total force will soon overtake the tyrannical Qin army."

There is one advantage of not being able to talk big and lies, that is, it is easy for others to believe it. So after hearing the good news made by Xiang Kang, the young generals of the young army suddenly felt much more relaxed and were no longer so nervous. Xiang Kang said again: "Okay, everyone knows the situation. Don't be anxious. Don't rush to fight the tyrant Qin army. First, put the battle-free sign and focus on closing the camp. If the tyrant Qin army likes to attack the camp, let them come. We only guard and not fight, and see how they break through the solid camp we have worked hard to build."

The generals sang their promises, and of course someone was curious about what the free-to-war card was. Xiang Kang then remembered that the free-to-war card seemed to be something in the Romance Storybook. But after the words were spoken, Xiang Kang still asked someone to take a big wooden sign and asked Zhou Zeng to pick up a pen and write the two big words "Free to War" on the wooden sign, and asked someone to hang it on the camp of the self-army, and use the methods in the Romance Storybook to tell the Qin army that the self-army did not have the interest in fighting against them in field formations. To be precise, he did not have the courage to fight against the Qin army in field formations.

Of course, the props in the novel "Romance of Legend" cannot play any role. It was noon on the day, and Zhang Ping, who was coming in a fierce manner, still sent envoys to the camp and asked Xiang Kang to send troops to fight the decisive battle the next day. Xiang Kang refused, saying that he was not interested in fighting the Qin army for the time being, and told the Qin army that he would not have to run back and forth in the future. If the war-free sign hanging in front of the camp gate for one day, he would not accept the Qin army's war battle for one day. After the Qin army envoy reported the news to Zhang Ping, Zhang Ping was furious and slapped the table and shouted: "Xiang Kang's rebel traitors will not fight! Let's fight! Tomorrow, send troops, line up outside the Chu bandit camp to insult Xiang Kang's rebel traitors to send troops! If he still doesn't send troops, he will attack the camp for me!"

In accordance with Zhang Ping's order, the next morning, the Qin army dispatched 46,000 troops to advance eastward in one breath, and set up a huge battle formation outside the Young Marshal's barracks. Many loud-sounding Qin soldiers were sent to the front of the formation to insult Xiang Kang's parents and ancestors. Xiang Kang, who was very shameless, was not moved at all. In turn, some loud-sounding soldiers were sent to the camp gate to curse, from Zhang Ping's eighteen generation ancestors to Zhang Ping's grandson who had not yet been born. Zhang Ping, who was not thick-skinned, was furious and ordered the troops to attack the camp regardless of the dissuasion of several subordinates.

Zhang Ping's impulse also hit Xiang Kang's thoughts. In order to defend Pengcheng for a long time, the Young Marshal Army built its main camp to be extremely strong. In addition to building a cemetery-high earth wall to defend the camp, a female wall was built for standing battles. A sheep and horse wall was built outside the earth wall. There were two trenches outside the sheep and horse wall to protect the sheep and horse wall. The trenches were protected by two trenches. The trenches were buried in the trenches and countless spikes were buried in the trenches to kill the enemy. If the Qin army wanted to break through the camp of the Young Marshal Army, in addition to attacking the camp gate with heavy troops guarding the Young Marshal Army, they could only use trenches to go forward with trenches and build trenches, and then they could touch the camp wall of the Young Marshal Army.

However, the Qin army was also prepared. In addition to building some trench bridge vehicles, it also built a large number of lightweight ladders to deal with the battalion walls of the Young Marshal's Army. Therefore, even if the attack on the battalion was launched in a hurry, the Qin army still fought in an orderly manner. First, they used a long shield to advance and formed a large number of temporary fortifications outside the Young Marshal's Army's camp, arranged crossbowmen to suppress the defenders of the Young Marshal's Army, and then promoted the trench bridge vehicle to attack, preparing to open a certain number of trench roads first, and then launch a general attack.

Amid the sound of war drums, the Qin army's long shields lined up in neatly and stole in a row. Although the Young Marshal's army tried hard to stop the arrows, unfortunately, the wide long shield blocked most of the feather arrows of the Young Marshal's soldiers. Therefore, the Young Marshal's crossbow blocking was not very effective. Even though he relied on luck, he could not stop the Qin army's long shield team's pace of advance. He watched the Qin army's long shield team reach forward and formed rows of temporary fortifications. Then the Qin army's crossbow drivers hid behind the long shield immediately shot arrows and fought back, and were very happy with the Young Marshal's soldiers hiding behind the sheep and horse walls.

It was when the Qin army's trench bridge chariot launched the charge that the bloody level on the battlefield suddenly increased by one level. In order to push the trench bridge chariot to the trench as soon as possible to build a bridge, the Qin army convoy had just entered the range of the crossbow of the Young Marshal's Army. The beat of the Qin army drums suddenly accelerated. The Qin army infantry with only round shields also charged at full speed like crazy. The Young Marshal's soldiers hiding behind the sheep and horse walls and on the battalion walls fired arrows at the head-on attack, and the Qin army soldiers without long shield protection were constantly being shot and killed and injured, and screamed in succession. In just a moment, dozens of Qin soldiers lay down on the battlefield forever.

The Qin army's trench bridge convoy was also close to the trench. The more powerful and dense the arrows of the Young Marshal's Army were. The soldiers hiding behind the sheep and horse wall took turns to shoot arrows and attacked the Qin army's infantry at close range. At the same time, dozens of large stones suddenly flew up after the Young Marshal's Army's camp wall, and they hit the Qin army directly on the head. The Qin army caught off guard and was immediately smashed into chaos. Zhang Ping behind him was shocked, and then immediately woke up and roared: "Shameless thief! He was still preparing a stone-capping machine in the camp!"

Before the matter was finished, the young generals helped the crossbowmen smash the Qin army's trench bridge convoy, and the young generals hiding behind the wall leaned against the looking and pointed at the top of the wall, and smashed the stones on the Qin army's long shield. The Qin army's long shield could not protect the sky above his head, and was soon smashed by the stones falling from the sky. The young generals behind the sheep and horse wall took the opportunity to shoot arrows one after another, shooting many Qin soldiers who had lost the protection of the long shield. The Qin army's long shield team became even more chaotic, and the strength to restrain the young generals' archers was also greatly reduced.

The unsuccessful attack on the camp made Zhang Ping even more angry. He shouted and immediately invested another thousand troops to strengthen the attack, and at the same time directly sent troops to attack the young commander's camp. Xiang Kang in the camp calmly commanded the army to fight. A thousand crossbowmen quickly left the camp from the north and south gates. With the protection of the sheep and horse wall, he ran to the west to participate in the battle, helping the declining Ximen defenders resist the enemy's attack. The camp gate even adopted the round-shooting tactic, using dense rain of arrows to shoot the Qin soldiers who rushed straight up and overturned the horses and corpses everywhere.

It was really impossible to withstand the fierce rain of arrows from the Young Marshal's Army. Since sending troops from Guanzhong, the Qin army has been forced to retreat for the first time. At the same time, Yao Ang and Dong Ke and other generals also advised Zhang Ping not to act impulsively, and not to use too much force when they were not prepared enough to defeat the troops. Zhang Ping had no choice but to have someone ring the golden horn and withdraw the front line army, leaving behind corpses and ragged trenches and bridges. As a result, the Qin army had just retreated, and the young Marshal's army, who had been extremely nervous, immediately burst into cheers, and his morale was greatly improved, and his morale was also encouraged.

Before the matter was over, the Qin army had just retreated. Xiang Kang immediately asked the young generals who had been scolding the formation to leave the camp and went out of the camp to continue to insult Zhang Ping loudly. Zhou Zeng saw it and asked quickly: "Young generals, the tyrant Qin army has thrown away the trench bridge chariots. It is obvious that they are no longer ready to launch an attack. Why are you still asking people to go out to scold the formation?"

"If the enemy is strong and we are weak, if the enemy is large and we are small, if the enemy is calm, our battle will be very likely to be in danger." Xiang Kang replied: "So there is no way. Only by desperately irritating Zhang Ping, making him lose his calmness, and always in an irrational state, can we have hope of winning in this battle."

Zhou Zeng woke up and nodded quickly. However, the old man Fan next to him snorted heavily and said disdainfully: "I want to take advantage of the opportunity again!"

The methods are a little more despicable, but despicable methods are sometimes more effective than open. After the young commander's army cursed, they ran outside the camp to insult Zhang Ping in public. Zhang Ping was indeed trapped and was furious. He almost wanted to urge the army to attack the camp again. In the end, although Yao Ang and others stopped him, Zhang Ping was so angry that he kicked the case in front of him and roared: "Get out the troops and go back to the camp, and do his best to build a trench bridge, a trencher and a flight ladder, and come to Xiang Kang to settle the score another day!"

In this battle, the Qin army suffered not much loss. There were only about 400 people killed in total, and only dozens of people were seriously injured. For the huge Qin army's troops, not to mention the damage to their vitality, they were not even injured. But there was no way. If they lost, they lost. The Qin army, which had not fought a defeat since they were out of Hangu Pass, was still affected by the morale of the army. Zhang Ping was even more angry about this. No matter how others persuaded him, it was useless. After returning to the camp, they just urged the soldiers to build equipment, and wished that they would launch an attack on the camp again tomorrow, arrest Xiang Kang's car and split the corpse, crushing the bones and ashes.

Xiang Kang was also very good at adding fuel to the fire. Not long after the Qin army returned to the camp, Xiang Kang sent someone to send letters, claiming that since Zhang Ping refused to agree to negotiate with him in person and was unkind and unrighteous, he sent troops to attack his camp. He was forced to helplessly, so he could only sign an alliance with Wei State, help Wei State to hold the Qin army, and gain the opportunity for Wei Ju and Zhou Fu's army to take the opportunity to enter Guanzhong. He also advised Zhang Ping to retreat and go back to rescue Guanzhong quickly and not waste time in Pengcheng. The tone of the letter was arrogant, and he fully expressed his fearless villain's face, and even mocked Zhang Ping for a few words.

Xiang Kang's arrogant attitude certainly made Zhang Ping furious, but Yao Ang next to him saw something wrong and hurriedly advised Zhang Ping: "General, calm down, Xiang Kang's rebels deliberately angered you, it is obvious that he wants to lure you out of troops to attack his strong camp so that he can consume our army with the battalion defense fortifications. Once our army cannot capture it for a long time, the teacher will be exhausted and fall into trouble. I hope that the general will not fall into a trap, act calmly, and do not just attack head-on, and find another way to defeat the enemy."

"There is no need to be so troublesome. A group of mobs, even if there is a strong camp, will definitely not stop our Qin army!" Zhang Ping said angrily: "We just lost in this battle today because we are not prepared enough. When we prepare enough attack equipment, we can definitely take down the camp of the thieves!"

If Zhang Ping was really unable to persuade Zhang Ping, Yao Ang had to sigh and give up. Zhang Ping personally visited the rear battalion to supervise the Qin army soldiers to build the attack equipment. In more than a day, he built 120 trench bridge vehicles, 60 drag-type trenchers, and 600 light stairs. Then Zhang Ping immediately urged the army to go to war. On the morning of the third day after the defeat of the attack, he once again launched a frontal attack on the camp of the Young Commander's Army.

The Qin army's dispatch was of course of great significance. In addition to preparing to launch an attack from both southwest directions, Zhang Ping also decided to use the Longxi elites who were regarded as treasures by Zhang Han to participate in the attack camp. When the news of the dispatch of the Qin army arrived in front of Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang immediately summoned the young generals to mobilize the pre-war mobilization, and said to the young generals with gritted teeth: "Whether Pengcheng can be defended depends on today's battle! The tyrannical Qin army came to attack our camp this time, and it must be the main force, and there will never be any further moves. What we face today must be a hard battle! A fierce battle! A bloody battle! I hope everyone will lead the army to fight bravely and firmly defend our camp! Guard our Pengcheng!"

"Tell every soldier that I have said that in today's battle, we only allow us to win, not lose! If we win, we will be able to persevere until reinforcements arrive and turn the situation around! If we lose, no one of us will survive! The tyrannical Qin has already spoken. As long as we break through our camp, no matter whether our soldiers surrender or not, we will kill them! No one will forgive us!"

It was also coincidental that the young generals sang promised in unison. After taking the order, the personal soldiers hurriedly brought a messenger from Liu Laosan, saying that it was the reinforcements led by Liu Laosan himself. They had arrived at the location only forty miles from Pengcheng yesterday evening. Today, they could arrive at the Pengcheng battlefield to reinforce Xiang Kang. Xiang Kang was overjoyed when he heard the news and immediately ordered: "Hurry, send Kuaima north to contact Peigong, tell him our current situation, and ask him to speed up the south and help me share the pressure."

"Young Marshal, there should be no need to tell Liu Ji about our current situation, right?" Zhou Zeng, next to him, whispered: "Otherwise, if he feels that our situation is critical, he may choose to watch the fire from the other side of the river, deliberately slow down the speed of advance to find out the wind and let him leave at any time."

Xiang Kang hesitated for a moment and said, "The matter has come to this point, and we can't hide anything from our friendly forces anymore. Don't worry, Liu Ji's person is clearly distinguished. He knows that once we are defeated, Zhang Ping's next target will definitely be him. For himself, he will not be confused about this matter."
Chapter completed!