Wear it quickly, it's better to live a miserable life than to die

Due to these miracles, Ding Yi's prestige began to spread to other places, and more and more people came to seek refuge with him.

Heroes emerge in troubled times, and more often than not, people who cannot survive in troubled times will take a gamble to save their lives and property.

There was a Marquis Lin in Prince Yi County, who was a disciple of an immortal.

Follow Lin Hou and you will have food to eat.

When Lord Lin shows his power, even heaven will give way.

Lord Lin is the savior of troubled times.

……

When all these rumors spread to other places, the various princes first made some ridicules and temporarily added Ding Yi to the last person on their list of people they needed to pay attention to.

When you are out, you give yourself an identity. Those who have no background and want to rebel and become king, all of them package themselves in this way and put on a cloak of mystery first.

They have seen many people who directly claimed to be immortals descending to the earth. A mere disciple of an immortal is not worthy of their attention. Adding the person to the list of people to pay attention to is already their greatest concern.

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

After all, they are people who have studied military tactics for many years.

But there were at least dozens of princes in the world, if not hundreds. The lack of attention from the great princes gave Ding Yi the opportunity to grow up.

When the Chen family army captured Yanlai City, the capital of Chaochu County, it showed its fangs in front of the princes for the first time.

There are five cities in Chaochu County, excluding the inferior city of Wangyi County, namely Yanlai City, Hao City, Dunhui City, Huxing City and Huayu City.

All five cities fell into Ding Yi's hands, and he became one of the princes of medium size.

With food and soldiers, after occupying Yanlai City, Ding Yi began to deploy a strategy to compete for the Central Plains.

Zhongyuan City has been a battleground for military strategists throughout the dynasties and has also been the location of the capitals of all dynasties.

There are dozens of cities between Yanlai City and Zhongyuan City. If you want to reach Zhongyuan City, you need to attack from all directions.

The reason why Chaochu County has always been disliked is because it is easy to be destroyed in a corner in troubled times, and it cannot gain benefits in prosperous times.

But now, the entire Chaochu County is under the governance of Ding Yi. The people live and work in peace and contentment. Everyone is eager to join the army to serve the Marquis of Chen and defend their homes.

Don't underestimate the temptation of being able to eat enough in troubled times, because this temptation has attracted many useful talents to Ding Yi.

Many people came here with their families.

With high-yield grain in hand, Ding Yi accepted all offers. Those who joined the army were enthusiastic, and those who farmed were equally enthusiastic.

Marquis Chen said that they were no worse than anyone else. Any family that did not have a young man in Marquis Chen's army would not be able to hold their head up in front of others.

We have both, who can dislike whom?

After conquering Yanlai City, Ding Yi made a three-year plan, building up grain reserves and slowly becoming king, while letting others fight. Three years later, Chen's army went out and unified the world in five years.

The Chen family army fell silent, causing the other princes to look down on them.

"It seems that he is also cautious. After occupying Chaochu County, he can only live in a corner. There is not much danger and it is not worth paying attention to."

Speaking caution from other people's mouths is no different from being a coward.

But we are all civilized people, and we cannot use rude language like the soldiers below, which is beneath our status.

Without anyone to disturb them, Chen's army developed rapidly.

The neighboring Lin Hou is short of food. He heard that there is a lot of food in Chaochu County, so he plans to lead people to rob it.

Halfway through the expedition, he was ambushed in a canyon by the command of Chen Wang. Out of a force of 10,000, only a thousand or so escaped, and Lord Lin died on the spot.

Following Ding Yi's instructions, the Chen army did not pursue the enemy. In Zhaocheng, Tongding County, where Lin Hou was located, news of Lin Hou's death came. His sons were busy fighting for power and fighting over who would take the throne. Tongding County was torn apart, and each city broke away from the Lin family army and became independent.

Ding Yi ordered Chen Wang to lead his men to defeat them one by one and capture Tongding County before the news got out.

At this point, the Chen family army had control over two counties and ten cities.

After completely occupying Tongding County, it was half a year short of the three-year plan set by Ding Yi.

The cowardly Chen family army was completely exposed in front of the other princes.

Half a year later, Ding Yi led his men to attack the territory of Marquis Wu. Marquis Wu occupied two counties and had a strong military force. In addition to a large number of infantry, there were also 3,000 light cavalry and 500 heavy cavalry.

This battle was a severe test for Chen's army.

As the first battle in which the Chen family army took the initiative to attack, they were defeated, and the morale of the Chen family army was half lost.

The Wu family army overestimated themselves and underestimated the Chen family army.

In the Battle of Fengcheng, the first stop after entering Shansui County, Marquis Wu was careless and did not send out cavalry to fight. Even Marquis Wu himself did not come. The person who led the troops was his third son Wu Ding.

Wu Ding was unstable and could not stay still. Ding Yi captured Fengcheng with great force. Wu Ding and his men fled in panic, but were besieged and killed by Chen Xiang's men.

In this battle, Ding Yi commanded the troops personally, and Chen Wang was sent back to take charge of the rear.

As soon as Fengcheng was occupied, the rear management personnel quickly moved in.

The common people of Fengcheng hid in their houses trembling with fear, but found that after the Chen family army took over Fengcheng, they did not kill innocent people indiscriminately, and even punished corrupt officials on the spot, killing people in the vegetable market. They all came out of their homes to cheer.

Ding Yi did not get carried away. Fengcheng was easy to attack but difficult to defend. Only by conquering Xicheng and Zhongyangcheng on both sides and using the city's strategic position as a pincer attack, and helping each other, could the conquered territory be held.

The Marquis of Wu was leading his troops to fight outside, and was fighting a life-and-death battle with the Marquis of Zi'an. After he captured two cities from the Marquis of Zi'an, he was so angry that he vomited blood when he heard the news.

I worked so hard outside, but I didn't expect that they would steal even more. None of the bastards at home are useful and can't even defend their own territory.

"Lord Chen, you and I cannot coexist." Lord Wu's eyes were bloodshot and his face was ferocious.

Four cities were lost, three sons died, including one of their eldest sons, and eight hundred cavalrymen were captured.

This was still old news when the news came. The Marquis of Wu was shocked by the speed of Chen's army and immediately ordered his generals to lead their men back to defend.

Once he left, he never came back.

The Marquis of Wu was pursuing the Marquis of Zi'an in front, while Ding Yi was taking over the Marquis of Wu's territory from behind.

By the time Marquis Wu received the news and freed up his hands, he had already lost all seven cities. At this moment, he was met with a desperate counterattack from Marquis Zi'an.

Ding Yi did not keep a low profile. Marquis Zi'an also got the news and felt that Ding Yi could cooperate. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Marquis Zi'an wrote a letter to Ding Yi, and they joined forces to fight the enemy and capture Marquis Wu. After the success, each side would rely on their own abilities.

The Marquis of Wu was attacked from both sides and knew that the situation was hopeless, so he led his heavy cavalry to attack and escape with him and his cronies.

Surrounded on three sides and with one side left open, the Duke of Wu fled for his life like a stray dog, but was trapped by Ding Yi in a forest and burned to ashes.

"It's a pity that the Chen family army doesn't have those heavy cavalry."

Ding Yi regretted that he did not spare any of them. Those who were able to escape with the Marquis of Wu were all his confidants, and there was basically no possibility of persuading them to surrender. The lethality of heavy cavalry was such that Ding Yi did not want to sacrifice the lives of his own men.

Marquis Wu was offline. Ding Yi had just met with Marquis Zi'an the night before and held a celebration banquet. On the third day, he led his troops south and followed closely behind Marquis Zi'an.

Marquis Zi'an kept cursing. He had seen people change their expressions before, but he had never seen one change so quickly.

Ding Yi: “…” One day should be enough for him to see the situation clearly. It’s not his fault if he can’t.