If Zhu Jishi had not arrived in time with reinforcements and completely defeated the two troops of Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo of the Nanyang Army at the last moment, creating a large number of opportunities for the chaotic Han army soldiers to behead and kill the enemy, then the Han army's troops would have lost their troops in this battle outside Wancheng City.

Even with absolute military strength advantages, the Han army still fought very passively in this battle. It can be said that it was at a disadvantage in every battlefield and was beaten by the Nanyang Army, whose troops were less than that of the self-armed army, and suffered heavy losses. In the end, it was entirely due to its size to achieve a reputational victory. The overall loss far exceeded that of the Nanyang Army. It can definitely be said that it was defeated even if it was victorious and was disgraced.

On the battlefield of the Han army's partial division, the three thousand Nanyang troops led by Lu Wan succeeded in a surprise attack and successfully entered the Han army's partial division camp, killing the Han army's partial division with more than 20,000 troops, and burning many tents and supplies of the Han army's partial division. Finally, Lu Wan retreated calmly under the circumstances of small losses. If it weren't for the Han army's troops who rushed to the west gate of Wancheng and cut off Lu Wan's road back to the city, the Han army's partial division would definitely have lost a big loss, and suffered a big defeat.

Even so, even with the help of friendly forces, the Han army's partial division successfully defeated the Nanyang army's partial division, beheaded nearly 1,800, and the lackey Xiangyun killed Lu Wan, who disguised as an ordinary soldier in the chaos army, and killed the Nanyang army general who was born on the same day of the same month as Liu Laosan. However, the losses of the Han army's partial division and Zeng Ji's troops combined exceeded the 3,500 mark. Not only did the losses of the troops were twice that of the enemy, but they also accompanied many camp supplies and military supplies.

The troops of Gongsun Tong, who were ambushed by the Nanyang Army, were even more miserable. The six thousand soldiers finally withdrew from the camp with Gongsun Tong only barely reached half. The Han cavalry led by Guan Ying lost more than 1,700 cavalry and nearly 2,000 war horses because they were forced to fight a tough battle with the Nanyang Army, which set the highest record of the losses of the Han cavalry in a war since its establishment. Guan Ying was so distressed that she threw her helmet directly after the war.

The loss of the Han army general Long Qi's troops was also heavy. The combined loss of troops exceeded the 2,000 mark. In the pursuit battle, he was cut into two halves by less than 2,000 enemies in the pursuit battle. He lost all the face of Long Qi, the number one general of the Han army, was so frustrated that Long Qi screamed and cut off a thousand Han general who was leading the escape on the battlefield.

The Han army general Chong Jun was seriously injured by a wandering arrow during the fierce battle. Before he could be carried back to the camp by his personal soldiers, he died on the road and became the highest-level general of the Han army who died in this battle. He led 5,000 Han troops because he resisted the crazy attacks of the four armies of Nanyang Army, Fan Kuai, Zheng Bu and Lu Ze, and finally returned to the Han army camp alive, with many injured.

In addition to the losses of Zhu Jishi's troops in the battle, the loss of the Han army in this battle reached an astonishing 14,000 yuan, and there were also many elite soldiers of the Han army in a hundred battles, including many elderly men of the Young Commanders, which also created the highest record of the loss of troops in a single battle. - The time when Zhou Shu guarded Xingyang was not counted, Zhou Shu fought with the elite troops of the Western Chu army many times, and the cumulative losses exceeded this number together.

It is precisely because of this that even though he was mentally prepared, when the casualties statistics were put in front of Xiang Kang, Xiang Kang was still shocked and blurted out: "How could there be so many? I thought that no matter how heavy the casualties were, our military losses would not be able to reach 10,000 people?"

Xiang Kang was still feeling distressed and shocked, but Liu Laosan was bleeding in his heart, so that Han Xin personally put the statistics of casualties in front of Liu Laosan. Liu Laosan covered his eyes with his hands for the first time and said repeatedly: "I don't look at it, and I don't want to know how many troops we have lost. Let's talk about it, how many people have we returned from the army that left the city?"

After hesitating for a while, Han Xin still replied in a heavy tone: "Report to the King, General Lu Ze's 3,000 troops came back 2,053 troops, General Jin Xi's 2,428 troops came back. The wounded soldiers of their two armies were more than 20%.

"I didn't ask Jin Xi and Lu Ze's army. They were fighting under the city and were protected by moats. Of course, the losses would not be great." Liu Laosan said in pain: "I asked other troops, Fan Gou'er and Zhou Suona's army, how many people have returned? And Wang Ni and Lu Wan's army, how many people have escaped?"

Having no choice but to answer, Han Xin could only say, "King, don't be too sad. General Fan and General Zhou's 6,000 troops, including the two generals, fled back a total of 1,221 people. General Wang Yu was killed, and his 2,000 troops were less than 100. General Lu Wan was missing, and rumored that he had already been killed, and his 3,000 troops were returned 777 people."

"Seven hundred and seventy-seven people? This number is a coincidence." Liu Laosan smiled miserably and said, "So, the total loss of our troops last night was about 11,000?"

Han Xin nodded in pain, but Liu Laosan's smile became even more sad. He said with a slutty smile: "Okay, in Wancheng City, all the troops have just exceeded 27,000, and they have won 1,000 in one battle. Among them, there are nearly 5,000 of them, which are the best equipped main combat soldiers. Now the next battle will definitely be better."

Previously, he had already thanked Liu Laosan and was forgiven and understood by Liu Laosan. At this time, there were many Nanyang military civil and military officials next to him. Han Xin, who was arrogant, did not say anything else, but just stepped aside with heavy steps. However, Cao Shen, Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo and others who were hanging their arms on their chests all looked gloomy. The eyes looked at Han Xin were extremely unkind and could not bear it. Zhou Bo also said directly: "King, someone must be responsible for this battle. If someone hadn't acted smart and divided our already thin troops one after another, how could we have suffered such a big defeat? He suffered such a heavy loss?"

When he said this, Zhou Bo's eyes were always staring at Han Xin. Han Xin turned his face away without saying a word. Liu Laosan stood up and stood up and said in a row: "Zhou Bo, I don't understand what you said? Someone must be responsible for this battle? Who is responsible? I am responsible? The tactical plan last night was arranged by Han Xin, but I nodded and sent troops before I sent me. I decided to fight this battle myself. Do you want me to be responsible?"

"Minister dare not." Zhou Bo quickly shook his head and said, "But if the general had not divided us again and again, how could we..."

"Stop!" Liu Laosan interrupted Zhou Bo rudely and said, "The general's tactical plan is not wrong. Last night we just lost to the few soldiers, and I can be sure that the losses of the Han thieves will only be more than us! We can fight like this with weak forces because the general's tactics are correct, and he caught several Han thieves off guard!"

Seeing that Liu Laosan firmly stood up for Han Xin, Zhou Bo could only shut his mouth obediently. Liu Laosan picked up the loss statistics that Han Xin gave to him in person and looked at it carefully. His face was a smile, but his heart kept bleeding - Liu Laosan was indeed sure that the loss of the Han army was above his own army, but the Han army had a large capital and a strong foundation, which could only be considered bleeding at most. The loss of the Nanyang army was a damaging force and touching the root of the problem, and he lost nearly half of the capital accumulated with hard work. If there was really a medicine for regret in the world, Liu Laosan would definitely not support Han Xin in fighting the battle last night!

After reluctantly laughing again, Liu Laosan first put down the statistics of the battle report, and then asked Han Xin: "General, what should I do next? Should I use our remaining 16,000 troops to defend Wancheng with all my strength? Or do I make other plans?"

Without hesitation, Han Xin quickly replied: "King, from the perspective of the ministers, in the current situation, it is best for us to prepare for retreat as soon as possible, and abandon the city and head south to the southern part of Nanyang before the Han thieves launched an attack on the city..."

"You still have to run?"

Before Han Xin could finish his words, he was interrupted by Fan Kuai who could not bear it. Then Fan Kuai roared again: "All have lost like this, can we still retreat? Wancheng is all plains, and the cavalry of the Han thieves are far above us. We may have stopped us before we retreat ten miles. At that time, the Han thieves and infantry cavalry blocked front and chased us. How many of our remaining more than 10,000 troops can escape to survive?"

"That's better than staying in the city and waiting for death!" Han Xin said coldly: "The Western Chu army stationed in Jiyang is only about forty miles away from Wancheng. As long as we escape to Jiyang and get the support and rescue of the Western Chu army, we can save more than half of the army."

"Jiyang is on the east bank of Yushui, and Wancheng is on the west bank of Yushui. How can we cross the river?" Zhou Bo asked sternly: "Also, is the Western Chu army reliable? When we were in Ye County, they left us to escape first, which caused us heavy casualties. If they put us together at this time, we would not have been wiped out?!"

"King, you must not place your hope on the man who is Liji." Cao Shen also said: "The traitor Xiang Kang has already told us clearly that Liji has accepted his bribe. Judging from the previous performance of Liji, this may be true! If we still place our hope on the man who is Liji, it is equivalent to sending our heads to him to seek credit from the traitor Xiang Kang!"

"King, we should do our best to defend Wancheng!" Xiahou Ying, who had a good relationship with Han Xin, also stood opposite Han Xin this time and said: "The thieves' thieves are very powerful, but no matter how powerful their thieves are, they cannot really smash the walls of Wancheng! As long as we guard the city wall, we have hope to persevere until the King of Western Chu personally leads his army to rescue us. At that time, we will not only be able to protect Wancheng and Nanyang, but we are still very sure to turn defeat into victory!"

"Yes, we can only guard Wancheng!" Fan Kuai roared and said, "The remaining troops we have left are for nothing to die when we leave the city, but it is definitely more than enough to defend the city! Moreover, we have sufficient food and grass, so there is absolutely no problem until the King of Western Chu's rescuers arrive!"

Seeing that Liu Laosan's important confidants firmly opposed the retreat of the city, Han Xin could only shut up his mouth, turn his eyes to Liu Laosan, and wait for Liu Laosan to make a decision. However, what disappointed Han Xin was that after tapping the case in front of him for a long time, Liu Laosan still gritted his teeth and said, "Defend the city with all his strength! Until the last moment, he will never consider abandoning the city!"

"King." Han Xin wanted to speak but stopped.

"General, don't say much." Liu Laosan shook his head and said, "Fan Kuai and Zhou Bo are right. In the current situation, we are going out of the city to die for nothing. Li Ji's man is not reliable and cannot entrust our lives to him. Only by guarding Wancheng to wait for rescue is our only hope."

Knowing that Liu Laosan had shaken his confidence in him, Han Xin had no choice but to lower his head slightly and said in his heart: "Sir, it's not enough to make a plan."

After finalizing this resolution, after experiencing a broken defeat last night, the Nanyang army had no choice but to give up the previous harassment tactics and instead concentrate their efforts to strengthen the city defense, preparing for the Han army's siege. After a day of rest, the Han army also started to prepare for the siege again. While building the unfinished fortifications, they dispatched personnel to mine a large number of quarries to prepare shells for counterweight catapults. At the same time, a large number of trees were cut down to build various siege weapons to assist in the siege. During this period, more than 20 trees were found in the rarely visited Zishan Sow Ridge area, and all of them were cut back and brought back to the camp to build more counterweight catapults.

Five days later, the Han army began to organize manpower to fill the moat at the two gates northwest of Wancheng. The Nanyang army used various weapons to block it with all their might, which did cause considerable casualties and injuries to the Han army, but it still failed to stop the Han army from filling the river. It took only four days for the Han army soldiers and the recruited civilians to fill most of the moat at the north gate of Wancheng, and opened large siege weapons such as ladder trucks and city-killing vehicles to reach the road under the city of Wancheng. At the same time, the Han army's partial division also filled several sections of moats at the west gate, preparing to take on the auxiliary attack tasks when siegeing the city.

Another day passed, and the Han army did not move any action during the whole day. At the same time, the scouts of the Nanyang Army trained by Han Xin also smelled the rich meat fragrance outside the Han army camp. They also saw that the smoke in the Han army camp continued, and the time for making meals was much longer than usual. The situation was reported to Han Xin, and Han Xin immediately understood that the Han army was feasting the soldiers and rushing to make dry food for distribution, and was about to launch a full-scale attack on the Wancheng city wall.

After confirming this situation, after hesitating for a while, Han Xin still found Liu Laosan. In addition to reporting the scout's discovery and his own analysis to Liu Laosan, he also spoke to Liu Laosan: "King, if nothing unexpected happens, the Han thieves will definitely launch an attack on the city tomorrow, and tonight will definitely let the soldiers rest at ease and maintain their strength to attack the city. The ministers believe that it is best for us to dispatch an army tonight to attack the main camp of the Han thieves in the middle of the night. Of course, it is best if we can succeed. Even if we cannot succeed, the Han thieves' army will not be able to get enough rest, which is conducive to our tomorrow's defense of the city."

Liu Laosan was also very rare and did not immediately adopt Han Xin's suggestion. After thinking for a long time, Liu Laosan said to Han Xin: "General, it's better not to take risks. Our troops are already thin enough. If there is any accident in the army leaving the city, it will definitely be more difficult to fight in the next battle to defend the city. To be safe, we should save our precious troops and use them all to defend the city."

Knowing that Liu Laosan had lost confidence in him, Han Xin did not insist, but just changed his words and said, "King, since you don't want to take risks, your subordinates don't object. But in order to prepare for the future, we'd better make a response arrangement in advance."

"What kind of response arrangement?" Liu Laosan asked quickly.

Han Xin whispered his arrangements and plans, but Liu Laosan finally did not refuse this time. He just calculated and nodded, and whispered: "I will leave this matter to you. Remember, keep it confidential, otherwise it will definitely shake the morale of the army and affect our morale."

In fact, Liu Laosan rejected Han Xin's suggestion to rob the camp again, because he was too clear about Han Xin's cunning and deceitfulness, and he knew that the preparations for his own army must not be hidden in Han Xin's eyes - even Uncle Zhou could judge the enemy's night attack tactics through the smoke of cooking, so it was naturally Han Xin. So on the first night before the official siege, Xiang Kang specially arranged 8,000 troops to go out of the camp, and the troops were divided into two groups to ambush on the left and right sides of the self-camp, and Han Xin sent troops to attack.

But unfortunately, because Liu Laosan had lost confidence in Han Xin, the arrangements made by Xiang Kang for Han Xin's military service style became a waste of effort. Eight thousand Han soldiers also fed mosquitoes in the wild for a night in the cold wind of late autumn.

But it doesn't matter much. As the saying goes, Xiang Kang has a strong capital and a strong foundation. The eight thousand troops worked hard all night. As long as they stayed at the camp the next day, they could rest with peace of mind. It would not affect the siege of the Han soldiers. So in the morning of the next day, after letting the Han soldiers have a good meal and good food, Xiang Kang still personally led more than 40,000 Han soldiers to line up south, carrying up to 72 counterweight trenchers and a large number of siege weapons, and rushed to the city of Wancheng with great momentum.

Then, after distributing twelve of the catapults to the Han army led by Ding Ji, Xiang Kang shouted to the Han army generals in the flag formation: "In this battle, no matter what, I will take Wancheng for me! I clearly tell my soldiers that the first person who climbed the top of Wancheng would be rewarded with 10,000 gold, and his thousand-person team would be rewarded with 30,000 gold! Those who obtained the head of Liu Ji would be granted with marquis, 10,000 gold, and 10,000 gold, and 10,000 households for food! Some who obtained the head of Han Xin, the pseudo-general of Nanyang, would also be granted with marquis, 10,000 gold, and 10,000 households for food!"

The reward was soon announced, and cheers burst out from the Han army's soldiers. At the same time, Liu Laosan also announced loudly at the top of Wancheng City, "As long as you defend Wancheng and repel the attack of the Han thieves! The rewards for this battle will be doubled! If you kill the heads of the Han thieves who rushed to the top of Wancheng City, you will be rewarded three times!"

While the soldiers of the Nanyang army were also yelling because of the heavy reward, Cao Shen, who was in charge of the main battlefield of the North Gate, urged: "King, the thief's catapult has begun to be prepared. Go back to the city quickly. This place is too dangerous, just leave it to the ministers."

After patting Cao Shen's shoulder heavily, Liu Laosan walked down the north gate of Wancheng without looking back, his expression still became extremely ferocious, and he kept saying in his heart: "Xiang Kang traitor, come on, I want to see if you have the ability to take down Wancheng where our Nanyang army is determined to stick to!"
Chapter completed!