My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 15: Nemesis of the Chu Army
The tent of the Han army commander.

The banquet has just ended.

Seeing that the fall of the Chu State was imminent, Liu Bang and his loyal ministers and generals relaxed and drank till they were drunk.

Han Xin was also half drunk, but still able to stay sober. He respectfully escorted Liu Bang out of the tent and returned to the rear army under the escort of three thousand elite cavalry led by Xiahou Ying, who had not drunk any alcohol and remained sober.

Liu Bang, drunk, put his arm around Han Xin's shoulders, opened his eyes and said loudly to the generals and ministers on his left and right: "The King of Qi is the pillar of our Han Dynasty, and he is my most trusted military commander. I, Liu Bang, have the King of Qi, just like a dragon having clouds and a tiger having wind. From now on, you must all pay respect to him as a king and not be disrespectful."

Upon hearing this, Guan Ying, Xiahou Ying, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo and other generals all changed color.

Seeing that Han Xin was not at all frightened by Liu Bang's praise and tried to decline it, but instead accepted it calmly with a reserved look on his face, Chen Ping next to him sneered and Zhang Liang sighed inwardly.

At this moment, suddenly there was a deafening shout of killing from the northern camp, mixed with earth-shaking calls such as "Liu Bang die", "The great Chu will rise, Xiang will be the King", "Revenge for my wife", etc. Then, flames shot up into the sky, burning the camp, like huge torches, burning half of the dark night sky red.

Liu Bang shuddered in shock, his face showing no sign of drunkenness. "That little Xiang Yu has rushed out to attack us again?"

Xiahou Ying, who had been following closely beside him, crossed his hands and said solemnly:
"Xiang the bandit suddenly attacked at night. The King of Han might as well return to the rear military camp and take charge. The King of Qi will continue to command this place. I believe Xiang the bandit will not be able to cause much trouble."

When Liu Bang heard this, his face showed joy and he was about to nod in agreement.

At this time, a messenger came on horseback to report:

"Xiang Yu personally led a thousand elite cavalrymen to attack the northern camp at night. He is now driving thousands of defeated soldiers to attack the central army."

When Han Xin heard this, he thought of the King of Han's praise for him just now, and that he had led the army to defeat Xiang Yu the night before, but he did not see it with his own eyes because Liu Bang was in the rear army. He could not help but march at night in fine clothes, and immediately bowed solemnly to Liu Bang:
"Han Xin has been trusted by the king. He gave me his clothes and food. Now he has appointed me as the commander-in-chief and given me full power. How dare I not repay him with my life? The king will stay here and watch how I, Han Xin, defeat Xiang Yu again!"

"These 1,000 elite cavalrymen should be the last remaining assets of Xiang Yu. If we destroy them tonight, the elite cavalrymen of the Chu State, which are feared by the whole world, will be completely defeated and will no longer have the strength to charge out of the city. Xiang Yu will have no choice but to stay in the isolated city and wait for death!"

Hearing this, Zhang Liang next to him frowned, and Chen Ping rolled his eyes.

Liu Bang was also stunned, with a wry smile on his face, secretly regretting that he had flattered this guy too much and made this guy take it seriously.

Chen Ping coughed, smiled faintly, and was about to speak out to save the situation, but he didn't know that Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai and other generals around him were all stupid people without much brains, and they all shouted loudly:
"That's right! King of Han, just sit here and watch us defeat Xiang the bandit once again!"

When Liu Bang heard this, his face immediately brightened and he said decisively:
"Very good! I will be here to watch you generals display your might! King Qi, just give the orders and command, all the generals are at your disposal!"

However, Liu Bang did not add the words "including me", for fear that this guy might believe it and really send him out to charge.

In this situation, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping could only keep silent and could not say anything else.

Han Xin was greatly inspired, like an actor who had stepped onto the stage and was watched by an important nobleman. He was full of energy and desire to perform. He looked around at the generals with awe:
"Even if the elite cavalry of the Chu army is brave and valiant, how many casualties can they cause when facing 600,000 Han troops? Therefore, this is most likely a tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. But even if 50,000 Chu soldiers come out in full force, as long as we have tight defense and do not lose our footing, the Chu army will not be harmed no matter how hard it tries. Therefore, all the generals, send a message to Ying Bu and Peng Yue outside to immediately train the soldiers and strictly guard the camp. Without my order, no army can move rashly. As long as they can hold on tonight, it will be a great achievement."

After receiving the order, the messenger rode to the army of Ying Bu and Peng Yue to deliver the order. Cao Shen, Fan Kuai, Zhou Bo and other generals bid farewell to Liu Bang and returned to their respective camps to reorganize their soldiers and prepare for battle.

It was not until this time that Han Xin began to deal with the elite cavalry led by Xiang Yu.

Han Xin had never fought such a prosperous battle in his life, so even when facing the invincible King of Western Chu, he remained calm and commanded calmly.

Infected by his strong self-confidence, not only the remaining generals, but also Liu Bang were greatly encouraged.

"Fu Kuan, Xue Ou, Wang Xi, Ding Fu, the four of you will each lead 3,000 cavalrymen under your command, and send them out in turn to snipe at Xiang Ze's elite cavalry. Your role is to hold the Chu army tightly and prevent them from continuing to raid the camp recklessly, while constantly consuming his elite cavalry. - Tonight, I want Xiang Ze to come back without a fight!"

These four generals were all famous cavalry generals in the Han army. They were experienced in leading cavalry in battle and were brave and courageous. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang conferred the title of Eighteen Meritorious Marquises, and these four generals were among them.

The four generals received the order solemnly and left.

"As for you, Guan Ying, organize your 5,000 elite cavalry, line up in front of the camp, and wait for my order. Xiang Yu will lead the elite cavalry to attract our attention. The 50,000 Chu soldiers will rush out of the city gate and attack us. When the time comes, you will immediately lead the cavalry to meet them head-on and defeat them in one fell swoop!"

Guan Ying's face was solemn. He accepted the order in a deep voice and went to reorganize the Han cavalry under his command.

As Liu Bang's cavalry commander, Guan Ying has always been a very special existence in the Han camp. Unlike Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Fan Kuai, Xiahou Ying and others, he was not an old member of the team that followed Liu Bang to start the army, but joined Liu Bang's camp in the middle.

In the early battles with the Qin army, although he was extremely brave and made many military achievements, which earned him the appreciation and trust of Liu Bang, but that was all. He was just one of the many powerful generals under Liu Bang and was far from being among the first-line generals.

What really made him an important general that Liu Bang relied on and even indispensable was that in the great war with Chu, in order to fight against Xiang Yu's cavalry, Liu Bang specially formed a cavalry unit and appointed him as the chief general. This undoubtedly became another proof of Liu Bang's sharp vision in judging people.

Just as Han Xin seemed to be born for war, Guan Ying seemed to be born for cavalry.

After he became the commander of the cavalry, his natural talents and abilities were fully explored and he began to perform explosively on the battlefield. The cavalry, which was the pride of the Chu army and the nightmare of the Han army, gradually lost its luster.

First, in the first battle with the Chu cavalry in the east of Xingyang, he defeated the arrogant Chu cavalry. After that, he began to lead the cavalry alone under Liu Bang's order, becoming the main general of the front army and attacking the rear of the Chu army. During this period, he cut off the food supply of the Chu army many times, causing great damage to the Chu army, and defeated Xiang Guan, a famous cavalry general of the Chu army, in the area of ​​Lu.

After that, he assisted Han Xin in conquering Qi, and defeated the Qi army many times, killing and capturing many generals. He also captured the Qi capital Linzi and captured Qi's prime minister Tian Guang alive.

The most dazzling battle took place in Gaomi, Qi State, where he defeated the Chu general Long Ju and the second-in-command Zhou Lan, who were sent by Xiang Yu to rescue Qi State. Zhou Lan was captured by him personally, and Long Ju was killed by his cavalry general Ding Fu.

Later, in the Battle of Xia Pi, he defeated the Chu general Xiang Sheng and killed Xue Gong, a fierce general under Xiang Sheng; in the Battle of Pingyang, he again defeated the Chu cavalry and captured Xiang Ta, who was then the Great Pillar of Chu.

His most glorious moment in history was when Xiang Yu broke out of Gaixia. He was ordered to lead 5,000 cavalrymen to pursue him, and eventually forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide on the bank of the Wujiang River...

Throughout the Chu-Han contention, Guan Ying was the nemesis of the Chu cavalry. The first-class generals of Chu either died in his hands or were defeated by him. In the end, even the arrogant overlord Xiang Yu was killed by him...

(End of this chapter)