My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 12: Xiang Chan Offline
Among the generals under my cheap father, except for the generals of the Xiang clan, there were originally four major generals, namely King Ying Bu of Jiujiang, Grand Marshal Long Qi, General Zhongli Mei, and Right General Ji Bu.

Ying Bu had betrayed Han Xin and defected to Liu Bang two years ago. Now he had become a powerful force encircling Gaixia, with 90,000 soldiers. He and Peng Yue, who had 80,000 soldiers, were assigned by Han Xin to the two major flanks in the southeast and northeast as mobile forces.

Being assigned to these two positions undoubtedly showed Liu Bang's distrust of these two princes.

Of course, the list of people Liu Bang did not trust also included Han Xin, the "Military Genius".

However, Liu Bang knew that his military talent was far inferior to his, so he gave him the command of 600,000 troops out of helplessness in order to overthrow the Overlord. He also made many small moves to guard against him in secret.

Apart from Ying Bu who had already betrayed the army, Grand Marshal Long Qie had already died in battle, leaving only You Zhongli Mei and Ji Bu.

Zhongli Mei can be said to be a general who can barely show off his ability and can stand alone in the current Chu army. Although he is far inferior to military geniuses such as Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Ying Bu, he is about the same level as Guan Ying, Cao Shen, and Zhou Bo in the Han army.

Ji Bu, the right general who came from a heroic family in Chu, was also known to be brave and good at fighting. In the early stage of the Chu-Han War, he defeated Liu Bang many times and put him in great trouble. However, his military talent was undoubtedly far inferior to his reputation for keeping his promises.

That’s right, “A hundred pounds of gold is not as good as Ji Bu’s promise”, this is exactly what it means to him!
This is a trustworthy general, but not the kind of general who can stand on his own.

In addition, there are several generals such as General Ding Xun and Senior Official Huan Chu.

As for civil officials, there were only a few such as Wu She, the Right Counselor.

It can be described as extremely bleak.

As for the Xiang clan members, in addition to Xiang Chan, the Shangshu Ling, and Xiang Zhuang, the Hujun Duwei, there were also Xiang Sheng, who succeeded Long Ju as the Grand Marshal, Xiang Ta, who served as the Rear General, and Xiang Guan, who served as the Front General.

There was also Xiang Xiang, who had already taken several steps ahead of Xiang Yu, but was defeated by Liu Bang's cavalry general Guan Ying and chose to surrender.

In addition, people like Xiang Han, Xiang Ying and others had died in the early stages of the battle.

Xiang Sheng is the only member of the Xiang family who has the talent of a great general, except for Xiang Liang, the previous one and now his father. In fact, he has always led troops on his own. When Ying Bu betrayed the Chu State and joined Liu Bang, he and Long Ju defeated him, which shows his extraordinary military talent.

As for Xiang Ta, I can only say that this guy is really "collapsed"! Since he took command of the army, you can say that he has fought and fought again and again after repeated defeats, or you can say that he has fought and lost again and again, in short, he rarely won a battle, and he is infinitely close to being a useless general!
Thanks to his royal family status, even though he suffered so many defeats, his stepfather not only did not hold him responsible, but he still allowed him to lead the troops and serve as the rear general.

This also shows from another perspective that my father is lacking in knowing people and assigning them to the right positions, and that he also has the shortcomings of over-trusting and over-employing clan members.

Although Xiang Guan, the former general, might not have had enough military talent to stand on his own, he had always led the vanguard, which was the most elite force of the Chu army except for the elite cavalry in the central army and most of the soldiers were cavalry.

Whenever there was a war, he would serve as his father's vanguard, leading the cavalry to charge forward and fight bravely.

It was a pity that in the battle the night before, his vanguard suffered the heaviest losses, and now there are less than 10,000 troops, and most of them are wounded.

……

Not long after riding his horse, Xiang Chang had already counted all the generals under his father's command.

Secretly counting the plight of these few cats and dogs, and thinking of the prosperous scene in the Han camp with famous generals and counselors like clouds and rain, Xiang Chang sighed secretly and was naturally disappointed.

Xiang Chan's group of people who defected to the Han Dynasty did not seem to be moving very fast. The 800 elite cavalry led by Xiang Yu were the most elite troops carefully selected from thousands. Not long after they left the city to chase them, they could already see Xiang Chan and his group from afar.

Seeing a group of Chu cavalry chasing after him with the sound of thunderous hooves, and the leader was actually Xiang Yu, Xiang Chan's face changed, but he remained unafraid. He snorted coldly, stopped his horse and waited quietly.

Xiang Chan knew his good nephew too well. He had seen through him. He was lenient on the outside but cautious on the inside, but couldn't lose face at the critical moment. He interpreted the word "woman's kindness" vividly. At present, he was the Shangshu Ling of the Great Chu Empire, his uncle, and the patriarch of the Xiang family. They knew about his surrender to the Han Dynasty and had a tacit understanding. Therefore, no matter how angry he was, he would never touch a hair on his head.

Yes, Xiang Chan is so confident at the moment.

The two approached quickly.

Xiang Yu reined in his horse and glared at his good uncle. Just as he was about to speak, there was a sudden "whoosh" sound of a bowstring behind him, and a powerful arrow shot out, heading straight for Xiang Chan's face in a flash.

Xiang Chan was shocked. He never dreamed that someone in the Chu army camp would dare to assassinate him in public. He wanted to assassinate him, the high and mighty Shangshu Ling. For a moment, the hairs on his body stood up.

After all, he was a veteran who had fought hundreds of battles and was extremely experienced in facing the enemy. He swept out with the spear in his hand, and at the critical moment, he swept the arrow away.

However, before he could relax, another arrow came flying towards him like a meteor almost right after this arrow.

Xiang Chan had no time to parry or dodge this time. With a "puff" sound, the arrow pierced straight into his forehead!

With the arrow half-pierced into his head, his body stiffened, his eyes widened, his face filled with horror and fury, and then his whole body lost its energy, and he fell off the horse without power...

——Xiang Chan, the Chancellor of the Great Chu Empire, the patriarch of the Xiang clan, and the uncle of the Overlord, is gone!
This sudden change caught Xiang Chan and his son Xiang Ju, not to mention Xiang Yu and his generals, by surprise and unprepared.

Everyone turned their heads suddenly and saw Xiang Chang sitting upright on horseback, holding a hard bow with the bowstring still trembling, his eyes were cold and his face was ashen.

Everyone's heart trembled.

The Xiang clan members, soldiers, guards, including Xiang Ju, who followed Xiang Chan were completely surrounded by fear. They jumped off their horses, trembled all over, knelt on the ground, and dared not move.

Xiang Chang felt happy and cursed inwardly: Screw your family risk avoidance!
He slowly put away his longbow, rode forward two steps, stared at the kneeling Xiang clan members, and said coldly:

"Descendants of the Xiang family can only live standing up, not die kneeling! Even if he is the clan leader, since he has chosen to surrender to the foreign enemy, he has cut himself off from the family and his ancestors, and everyone can kill him."

"Humph, it would be a huge joke if such a scum of the family were still allowed to live. Anyone who feels wronged for him, including you, Xiang Ju, should go to the underworld and tell our ancestors!"

The relatives who had followed Xiang Yu and had been secretly ready to make some moves because Xiang Chan had defected to the Han camp, all felt a chill in their hearts when they heard this and dared not say a word.

All the clan members, including Xiang Sheng and Xiang Guan, could not figure out whether this was secretly authorized by Xiang Yu, and they all remained silent.

So, Xiang Chang, as a junior, brazenly shot and killed the clan leader, an act of treason, but no one at the scene spoke out to denounce him.

This was a matter of the Xiang clan, so Zhongli Mei and other foreign ministers and generals naturally had no right to interfere. They appeared to be staying out of the matter, but in fact they were all secretly happy.

In their view, in the current critical situation, the Overlord should use thundering means to kill and deter anyone who dares to cause division and shake the morale of the army. However, he was still as indecisive as ever, and remained silent and appeased, which made them greatly disappointed.

But now, the eldest son Xiang Chang acted decisively, regardless of the consequences, and shot his treacherous great-uncle to death with one arrow, which greatly boosted their morale.

PS: To all the smart and powerful readers, please collect and recommend this post...

(End of this chapter)