Since most of the civil servants of the Zhao State were killed by Su Dingfang in the Bohai Sea, Tian Feng and Xun Kan, who accidentally escaped, have become the pillars of the civil servants of the Zhao State.
Under the persuasion of Tian Feng and Xun Kan, Yuan Tan, who had been hesitant, finally made up his mind and decided to abandon Yecheng and break out with Han Xin.
After Han Xin learned about it, he was secretly relieved. After all, if Zhao Jun did not join, it would be impossible to break out from the encirclement of more than 200,000 Qin troops with only the 30,000 unlimited Korean troops under his command.
"The entire city of Ye is under siege by the Qin army. If our army wants to successfully break out of the siege, it must choose the right direction."
Han Xin looked at the people below and said unhurriedly.
Hearing what Han Xin said, all the civil and military ministers of Han and Zhao could not help but have a flash of doubt in their eyes.
Yuan Honggang wanted to ask a question, but Ma Shanwei beat him to it.
"King Han, we only have base in northern Hebei. Apart from the north, can we break out in other directions?"
Seeing this, Han Xin couldn't help but have a flash of surprise in his eyes, and everyone else's eyes also flashed a hint of surprise.
After Wang Mang fled to Sanhan, Ma Shanwei, who became an abandoned general, became taciturn and rarely made any peace remarks. He did whatever Han Xin arranged for him, but he did not expect to speak at this critical moment of life and death.
Before Han Xin could speak, Jushou answered on his behalf: "General Ma doesn't know something. It's precisely because the only remaining territories are in the north. In order to prevent our army from breaking through to northern Hebei, the Qin army must set up layers of ambushes on the road to the north."
, so we can only break out to the north."
Ma Shanwei showed a look of surprise: "I see, I understand."
"But the three directions, east, west and south, even if they break out, are still the territory of the Qin army. How should we return to northern Hebei?" Yuan Hong asked.
"I have already thought of this problem."
Han Xin walked to a huge map, pointed at it and said: "Look, everyone, this is the terrain around Yecheng. The terrain of Jizhou is flat and smooth, so there is no need to worry about having no way to go.
As long as we can break out of the encirclement, rush east for a hundred miles, then turn north and take the road from Yin'an County, we can also reach northern Hebei.
Similarly, after traveling south for eighty miles, turn north and take the road from Yuancheng County, you can also reach northern Hebei.
As for the route to the south to break out of the encirclement, although it is a bit troublesome, it can also be diverted to reach northern Hebei."
"Is this risk too great?" Yuan Tan asked uneasily.
"Isn't the risk of staying big?" Han Xin asked.
Yuan Tan was speechless for a moment and simply shut up. Han Xin was deeply moved to blame him.
When Han Xin saw that Yuan Tan had stopped talking, his face immediately showed a tell-you-knowing expression. He was completely speechless by Yuan Tan's indecisiveness, so his temper has been a little bad recently, and he couldn't help but attack Yuan whenever he had the chance.
Tan.
"Okay, everyone, you will know exactly where to break out of the encirclement when the time comes."
Han Xin's eyes were full of solemnity and he said solemnly: "The most urgent task is to block the Qin army's offensive and delay the final preparations for a breakout."
It is impossible for a 110,000-strong army to just leave. The march route of hundreds of miles is not short, and there may be attacks along the way. Therefore, it is necessary to bring enough supplies such as food, grass, arrows, etc.
Even moving these massive supplies will still take a certain amount of time, and during this period it is impossible for the Qin army not to attack the city.
"All the defensive equipment on the east and west gates were destroyed. Even if we took out all the survivors from the treasury, it would not be enough to fill this big hole.
At present, we can only demolish the east wall to repair the west wall, and transfer some past emergencies from the north and south gates, and this will inevitably cause the defense of the north and south gates to decline.
Yecheng's defensive power has dropped significantly, but the Qin army's offensive power will not drop, but will be hurt by last night's victory."
Han Xin looked at everyone below and said seriously: "The next battle to defend the city will be the most difficult one so far. I will personally go to the city tower to boost morale. I also hope that everyone can work together to overcome this difficulty."
"No." All the generals shouted in unison.
In this way, Han Xin and Yuan Tan divided their labors and cooperated, with Han Xin personally leading the army to resist the Qin army's attack, while Yuan Tan was responsible for preparing materials for a breakout.
As soon as the day came, the Qin army had already reached the city gates and launched an offensive in Yecheng.
What Han Xin didn't expect was that the number of people attacking the city was much smaller than before, so the offensive was not as fierce as he expected.
"How come the number of people attacked by the Qin army was half less than before? Where did the other half go?"
Han Xin's eyes were full of doubts. After all, the Qin army had twenty armies and there was no shortage of troops. Why did it reduce the number of siege teams?
"Report...to inform my lord, our army's spies outside the city have made important discoveries. The Qin army has mobilized a large number of troops in three directions: east, west, and south."
"What?"
Han Xin was stunned at first, and after pondering for a long time, he suddenly showed a solemn expression.
After guarding the city for most of the day, preparations for a breakout were fully prepared, and Han Xin also called everyone over.
"Everyone, there is bad news, and there is good news." Han Xin said with a serious face.
Hearing this, Yuan Tan's heart suddenly trembled, and he quickly asked: "What's the bad news?"
"Qin Hao expected that our army would break through, so he mobilized a large number of troops in three directions: east, west, south, obviously to set up ambushes so that he could catch us all in one fell swoop."
"What?"
All the generals exploded at once. After all, they couldn't escape even if they wanted to. How sad it is for a war to reach this point.
"It's over, it's completely over."
Yuan Tan wailed, but when he thought there was another good news, he immediately asked expectantly: "What is the good news?"
"The good news is that the Qin army deployed ambushes in three directions, east, west, and south, but ignored the north." Han Xin said with a smile.
Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as long as there was still a glimmer of hope.
Tian Feng frowned and asked: "In order to prevent our army from escaping, the Qin army set up ambushes on three routes. Why did they leave out the nearest north?"
"If Su Dingfang leads the army back, the Qin army will naturally set up ambushes on all sides to ensure that nothing is missed.
But now the Qin army only has 200,000 troops. If we forcefully divide our troops and set up ambushes on all sides, we will have a serious shortage of troops. At that time, the ambush troops will be in danger of being swallowed up by our army."
At this point, Han Xin's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he sneered: "The Qin army calculated that our army would not break out from the north, and they did not know which side our army would break out from, east, west, south, etc., so they set up ambushes in the three directions.
, and the most dangerous north has become the safest direction."