My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 143 Leaderless
Liu Bang felt his eyes go dark, his body swayed, and he almost fell headfirst. He held onto the rough wooden railing, his lips trembling violently, and shouted angrily: "Lü Ze, you ruined my plan, you deserve to die!"

Liu Bang was indeed the King of Han who controlled most of the country. Although he had not yet become an emperor, he had already spoken the law of heaven. Then he saw another exhausted cavalryman covered in yellow soil galloping over, waving a small red flag and shouting hoarsely, "Military advisor, report to the King of Han, General Lu Ze killed Xiang Chang under Xincai City, Overlord Xiang Yu suddenly appeared, and General Lu Ze was defeated and killed!"

As soon as these words came out, the generals were shocked again. Liu Bang's old face turned blue, red, and white, anger, grief, resentment, and other emotions emerged in turn.

"Xiang Yu went to Xincai?" Han Xin's thick eyebrows jumped, and without hesitation, he shouted, "Beat the drums, gather the generals, and attack the city!"

Having said that, he ignored Liu Bang and walked down the lookout tower.

"Don't worry, King of Han. Although Gaixia City has sufficient military supplies, the Overlord is not here and the army is leaderless. As long as the general can capture it in one fell swoop and cut off their father and son's retreat, victory will still belong to us!" Chen Ping supported Liu Bang and comforted him gently.

"Now, what should I do now?" Old Liu Bang was really at a loss.

"Your Majesty should assist the King of Qi, suppress the generals, and make a concerted effort to capture Gaixia. After all, success or failure depends on this one move!" Chen Ping's face was solemn.

Liu Bang nodded heavily, hurriedly got off the platform, mounted his horse and rushed back to the commander's tent.

Not long after, as the drum sounded to gather the generals, Liu Bang, who was sitting in the commander's tent, almost got angry when he saw the generals who had hurried over.

Cao Shen, Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo and other generals all had red faces, unsteady bodies and were drunk. During this period, according to Han Xin's military order, the generals were not allowed to go out to fight without permission. They were bored in their spare time and could only feast and drink.

Liu Bang was naturally not annoyed during the drinking and feasting. He could smell the strong smell of alcohol coming from the generals, and it was the "detoxifying medicine" he distributed!
"We distribute the 'detoxifying medicine' to you so that you can have it in case of emergency. We are reluctant to distribute it to the wounded soldiers. It seems that you are feeding it to cows as if it were fine wine!" Liu Bang was so angry that his nostrils flared. If it weren't for the imminent war and the need for more people, he would have whipped them severely.

"Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai, and Wang Ling, the four of you lead your respective troops to attack the four walls of Gaixia respectively. Whoever is the first to capture the city will be granted the title of marquis of ten thousand households!" Han Xin directly selected the four bravest generals under Liu Bang, entrusted them with important tasks, and set up generous rewards.

"Although the Chu army's food has arrived and the morale in the city is high, Xiang Yu is not in the city. The only one in charge is Zhongli Mei. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I will watch the battle below the city and see you generals perform extraordinary feats! Similarly, whoever dares to shrink back, I will kill him without mercy." Liu Bang also stood up, drew his sword, and stabbed it hard on the desk in front of him, his voice stern.

Fan Kuai's eyes widened as he shouted, "We should have killed him long ago! Don't worry, my king. I can take down Gaixia City in one charge and present it to you."

Generals such as Cao Shen also realized that it was time to demonstrate their own value, and they all responded with enthusiasm.

Then the whole Han camp was in a frenzy, with flags flying, messengers running back and forth, and generals and soldiers frequently mobilizing and forming battle arrays in front of Gaixia City. In addition, various siege equipment such as nesting cars, chariots, and ladders were also continuously pushed out from the rear of the camp and transported to the city.

The Han camp had obviously not been idle during this period, as they had built a large number of siege weapons. It was obvious that they had already prepared for the siege, but they were afraid of Xiang Yu's reputation and the bravery of the Chu army and did not dare to act rashly.

Han Xin led 4,000 elite cavalrymen to sneak to the front of the battle formation, intending to personally lead a surprise attack on the two camps of the Chu army in the north of Gaixia City. However, when he arrived, he unexpectedly found that the Chu army stationed in the two camps had quickly retreated back to the city, which surprised him greatly. At the same time, he felt uneasy, as it was obvious that the Chu army in the city was determined to rely on the advantages of the high city and thick walls to hold on.

As a rare military genius, Han Xin found the most frustrating thing the head-on siege warfare. After all, facing a turtle that was determined not to stick its head out, there was no other way except to smash its hard shell with one hammer after another.

As expected, in the following battle, the Chu army held their ground and waited for the attack. Even though they had an absolute advantage and the feared cavalry of the Chu army, they still had no intention of leaving the city for a surprise attack.

Even though the Han army was very brave, and four great generals including Cao Shen and Fan Kuai were on the front line to supervise the battle, their efforts were still in vain in the face of the Chu army which had been well prepared in the city of Gaixia and had sufficient troops, food, fodder and weapons. They could not capture the city in a short time.

During this period, Han Xin either showed weakness to the enemy or sent people to insult them in front of the city. The defending generals in the city seemed dead and were not moved at all by his show of weakness. As for the verbal battle, it really touched the sore spot of the Chu army on the city wall. From Liu Bang to Fan Kuai, the dark history of the past was dragged out and they were severely whipped day and night, which in turn made the Han generals restless and furious.

What Liu Bang and Han Xin didn't know was that before Xiang Yu left, he handed over the commander of the Chu army in Gaixia City to General Zhongli Mei, and ordered him to hold the position and not to take the initiative to attack, and wait for his return. At the same time, he was afraid that Zhongli Mei would make the same mistake as Cao Ju again, fall into Han Xin's calculations, and go out of the city in anger to fight him in the field, so he deliberately added another insurance and left a military order for Xiang Zhuang, saying that if Zhongli Mei dared to order a soldier to go out of the city to attack the Han army, he would be killed immediately.

After attacking for five or six days, Han Xin became furious when he saw that Gaixia City was still as solid as a rock. He personally went to the front line and dispatched troops to attack day and night.

The Han army had a total of 160,000 troops, and they were extremely well-managed. They took turns to fight, relying on ladders to climb up the city walls on all sides like ants, and continuously attacked the top of the city walls. They engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat with the Chu army defending the city, and at one point made the defense of Gaixia city precarious.

Seeing this, Han Xin and Liu Bang, who were in charge of the battle, couldn't help but look excited, thinking that the city would be captured soon. However, who knew that the Chu army on the city wall suddenly started to make some bold moves.

Facing the Han army climbing up the ladders like ants, large clouds of colorful smoke rose from the top of the city. Wizards, with colorful cloth fluttering all over their bodies and their faces smeared with various colors of oil paint, beat gongs and drums, stretched their arms and legs, and danced in strange postures in the wizard dance that was very characteristic of the Chu area.

To the accompaniment of the wizards' music and dance, ladles of boiling, extremely smelly soup were poured over the Han soldiers' heads, scalding them to the point of tearing their skin and flesh. They howled in agony and were almost dead.

The soup was not fatal. Originally, Liu Bang, Han Xin, Cao Shen and others did not care much about it. They continued to command the siege and arranged for the wounded to be transported back for treatment.

But after the wounded were transported back, they kept wailing day and night, which was creepy. The most terrifying thing was that no matter what medicine the military doctors used, it was useless, even if they applied "detoxification medicine". In the end, all the wounded died of ulcers and stench. So rumors spread in the Han camp that the Chu army was protected by the gods, and anyone who dared to attack Gaixia would be punished by the gods and die a miserable death. They attacked for another six or seven days, but not only did they fail to break through the city, but the people in their own camp were panicked and the soldiers had no will to fight.

Naturally, both Liu Bang and Han Xin scoffed at the rumors of divine punishment. However, when faced with the foul-smelling soup, although they knew it was Xiang Chang's doing and they gnashed their teeth in hatred, they did not understand why and were helpless.

On the west wall of Gaixia, looking sideways at the gradually weakening Han army, Ji Xin, the brother of Right General Ji Bu and the military commander, tied his mouth and nose with cloth and led the soldiers to boil the steaming and smelly "gold juice". At the same time, he said in a muffled voice to the physician Li Zhong who was guiding him: "When I was a hero, my favorite thing to do was to carry a load of manure to the street, and throw a bucket of manure on the head of any ruffian I didn't like. I was invincible. I never thought that now that I am a general, I would go back to my old job - but I really didn't know this thing could have such a miraculous effect."

Li Zhong, who led a group of doctors to bravely climb the top of the city wall and boiled the golden juice day and night, rolled his eyes when he heard this and said proudly, "There are so many things you don't know. If you get hit by this thing, the only way is death, and it will be a miserable death. It can shake the morale of the enemy camp to the greatest extent. It is a precious weapon for defending the city."

Thinking of the miserable death of the Han army soldiers who were doused in gold juice, Ji Xin's heart skipped a beat. He put on the soaked weapons obediently and said in a muffled voice: "Your 'injured soldiers camp' is really powerful. If we win this battle, you will be the first to win."

Hearing this, Li Zhong laughed strangely like a night owl.

For brave generals like Cao Shen and Fan Kuai, climbing up the city walls in armor and holding sharp weapons, braving arrows and stones, was undoubtedly a common occurrence. However, after seeing the horror of the golden juice on the top of the city wall, they knew that if they were drenched in it, they would have no chance of survival and would die of the stench and rot. They could not help but resist and fear from the bottom of their hearts.

You have to know that they are in high positions and have great power. Not only do they have a lot of people following them, they can ride big horses and have beautiful women to play with, but the key is that they are also the rise and fall of their clan. If they die in this darkest moment before dawn, wouldn’t it be a big loss? Therefore, Liu Bang was like a wild cat with its tail burned, impatient and anxious, running around in circles. Every day before attacking the city, he would summon all the generals to yell and curse, but they were like quails, just turning a deaf ear and indifferent.

"King of Han, it would be best if we could break the gold juice of the Chu army. Anyone who is contaminated by this stuff will die. The soldiers all think that the Chu army is protected by gods, so they are all afraid and dare not attack." Seeing that Liu Bang's scolding was getting more and more unpleasant, Cao Shen couldn't stand it anymore, so he stood up and said with a stiff upper lip.

"Bullshit!" Liu Bang was furious. "What's the difference between dying from this thing and dying from a bow and arrow? You're so scared! I might as well just say you're all afraid of death!"

Faced with Liu Bang's vicious insults, Cao Shen looked ugly but had no words to say.

Han Xin's eyes flickered, and he slowly straightened his body and knelt in a straight position. While Liu Bang was taking a breath, he said decisively: "I have made up my mind to implement the 'Daqin Military Merit Reward System' in the military camp. I want to see if the soldiers will still worry about the punishment of the gods when faced with a huge reward?"

"There will always be brave men under a big reward! As long as the reward is sufficient, even if there is divine punishment, the soldiers are guaranteed to fight ten to one and defeat the Chu army in one fell swoop." Chen Ping said quietly.

When the generals heard this, they became very anxious and instinctively opened their mouths to object.

Yes, even now, facing the ready-made homework of the Great Chu Army, the Han camp still has not copied it well.

After the defeat in the battle of Gaixia against the Chu State, Chen Ping advised Liu Bang to implement the "Qin Military Merit Reward System" to boost morale. However, as soon as Liu Bang proposed it, it was unanimously opposed by all the generals and eventually came to nothing.

The generals were naturally very dissatisfied with Han Xin's re-introduction of the old strategy. Just as they were all looking up and eloquently expounding on the drawbacks of the "military merit reward system", they suddenly saw Liu Bang kneeling in the main seat, with his hand on the sword, his face cold and his eyes full of murderous intent, and their hearts could not help but jump.

They drove donkeys all day long, so how could they not know the temper of donkeys? They knew that Liu Bang was angry. If they dared to make noise again, they might not be able to leave the tent today. Therefore, although they were unwilling and angry, they did not dare to speak out in opposition.

Liu Bang hummed with satisfaction, pressed down the documents, turned to Han Xin and said, "General, please do as you please. I have only one request, that we take Gaixia before Xiang Yu returns to Gaixia!"

From then on, there were no more obstacles, and the "Qin Military Merit Reward System" was successfully implemented in the Han camp.

With the implementation of the "Qin Military Merit Reward System", the morale of the Han camp soldiers was indeed high, especially the grassroots officers and soldiers, who were fearless and brave, and continued to fight forward without the supervision of generals. They spontaneously increased the number of troops and pushed the rhythm to the limit every day, setting off one siege climax after another, and were not afraid of the gold juice poured on their heads.

The attack continued for another seven or eight days. The Chu army suffered a sharp increase in casualties due to the desperate attack. Especially in the last two days, the Han army attacked the city many times, and generals such as Zhongli Mei and Ji Bu had to take their guards to the battle in person to drive the angry Han army down from the city.

At this point in the battle, both Zhongli Mei and Xiang Zhuang realized that they could not hold out for much longer. If the Overlord did not return in time, the city could fall at any time.

Seeing Zhong Limei with bloodshot eyes, sweating all over and panting heavily, Xiang Zhuang gritted his teeth and said, "If we continue to defend, we will die. Ji Bu and I will each lead a cavalry out of the city to raid the Han camp and save our lives!"

Zhong Limei was not surprised at all. After a moment's thought, he shook his head and said in a hoarse voice, "I am afraid that Han Xin has set up an ambush outside the city. Once he attacks from the city, he will never return. Keep the cavalry. Once the city is breached, all the houses around the four city gates will have been demolished. At that time, we can concentrate the cavalry to attack, which will be enough to drive the Han army out of the city."

Although the Overlord left behind an order not to leave the city to fight, neither Zhongli Mei nor Xiang Zhuang were rigid and dogmatic people, and they knew that it was time for the cavalry to go into battle.

Xiang Zhuang said, "The king left behind a military order not to allow field battles in order to preserve the vitality of the Chu army. There are tens of thousands of cavalry in the city, and the terrain is narrow. Leaving 10,000 cavalry is enough to attack the Han army that has entered the city. Ji Bu and I will lead the rest out of the city to charge. Even if we fall into an ambush and the whole army is wiped out, we can delay for a while."

Zhongli Mei glanced at Xiang Zhuang unexpectedly and saw that his face was firm and he was obviously determined not to return. He took a breath, suppressed his excited heart, and nodded slowly.

(End of this chapter)