My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 156: Massacre or Not
"General, these generals are all from aristocratic families in the city. In order to resist our Great Chu this time, they contributed all their family slaves, cloth, food, and money, and bribed the people in the city to defend the city. As a result, we have not been able to capture the city for several days. It can be said that this Zhuo City is rotten to the core, and it would be best to kill them all." Huang Zhong, who had made the contribution of being the first to attack, couldn't help but shout in a hoarse voice.

In this battle, many of his soldiers were killed or wounded, so he felt extremely resentful towards the stubborn defenders.

"Young Master, give the order! We have to teach that bastard Zang Tu a lesson." All the generals bowed and asked Xiang Chang for orders.

Seeing that all the Chu generals were demanding a massacre of the city, Gan Meng's face showed a hint of joy.

Xiang Chang remained expressionless and raised his hand slightly. All the generals' pleading voices stopped at the same time, and they all looked up at him solemnly.

Looking at this scene, Gan Meng did not expect Xiang Chang to have such prestige. Even Overlord Ying was no more than this. A hint of surprise flashed across his eyes.

Xiang Chang took a few steps forward, gently patted Gan Meng on the shoulder, looked at all the captured Yan army generals, and said leisurely: "I understand your thoughts. You can't escape the death penalty, so you want to drag the whole city with you. Although it will not help, it can also strengthen the resistance of the cities behind. You are really Zang Tu's loyal ministers and filial sons. Unfortunately, I can't let you do what you want."

Hearing Xiang Chang's words, all the generals, including Gan Meng, thought that he was going to let them go, and a hint of joy flashed across their eyes.

Qu Fu felt that letting these Yan army generals go so easily was too easy for them, and wouldn't the Yan army's defenders in the city behind them be more powerful in resisting? He stepped forward and whispered his concerns to Xiang Chang.

Xiang Chang grinned at him, "Oh, you misunderstood me, didn't you? I can't do what these guys want and not massacre the city. The people know nothing. They were just bewitched by these bastards. Their crimes are not punishable by death. As for them, their crimes are so heinous, how can we let them go? Therefore, we need to kill all these generals, including all the noble families in the city, and collect all their land and property and distribute them to the meritorious soldiers in this battle. If there is any surplus, we will evenly distribute it to the people in the city."

When the Yan army generals heard this, they were filled with shock and anger. They twisted their bodies violently and cursed at Xiang Chang, but were slapped in the face by the soldiers next to them. Their teeth broke, blood splattered, and their mouths were slapped shut.

"General, the people in the city won't cherish the land because they got it without any contribution. These generals and the noble families in the city should not be killed in vain, but should be escorted into the city. All the people who want the land can be given the land by stabbing them, how about it?" Tian Jian thought of Xiang Chang's bold move at Gaixia, and said to Xiang Chang with shining eyes.

Upon hearing this, all the generals of the Yan army looked at Tian Jian with fear and resentment. They trembled slightly all over and wished they could eat him alive.

Xiang Chang nodded with satisfaction: "Very good! Let's do it! At the same time, send a message to the entire army of Da Chu, and in the future, any city that dares to resist will be treated in the same way!"

It must be said that this move was too vicious! The deterrent effect on the nobles and generals in the city would be even greater than the massacre, which would greatly undermine their resistance, and the people in the city would undoubtedly be difficult to be bewitched by them again.

After that, the Chu army spent another two days to clean up the mess. The soldiers who died in battle and those who made contributions received satisfactory rewards. The nobles and generals in the city all died tragically at the hands of the people in the city. The people who had obtained the land, which was like their lifeblood, also became staunch supporters of the Chu army.

After everything was arranged properly, the Chu army rose up again and headed straight for the next stop - Ji County.

During this period, Zang Tu also sent envoys to meet Xiang Chang, attempting to surrender to the Great Chu again and continue to keep his throne. However, Xiang Chang retaliated by cutting off the envoy's nose and driving him back brutally.

As for Zang Tu, looking back on his past and combining it with the records of him in the history books of previous lives, Xiang Chang had already made a judgment on him, that is - an ungrateful and shameless villain!
Zang Tu was originally a general of the State of Yan. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started an uprising. Chen Sheng sent Wu Chen, a Zhao man, to conquer Zhao. Wu Chen arrived in Zhao and quickly stabilized the situation, and then sent Han Guang to conquer Yan.

As a result, Han Guang was well received when he arrived in Yan, and was soon supported by the local nobles to become the King of Yan. Zang Tu was just a general under Han Guang at that time.

Later, Zhang Han led 300,000 Qin troops to besiege Zhao, and Zhao asked for help from the righteous army in the world. Yan Wang Han Guang sent Zang Tu to lead troops to rescue. After Zang Tu arrived, he was no different from the other princes who came to rescue. He was afraid of the Qin army and watched from the sidelines without daring to intervene.

In the end, the Overlord Xiang Yu showed his great power, killed Song Yi, led the Chu army to "burn his boats", defeated Zhang Han, and defeated the main force of the Qin army in one fell swoop. He staged a magnificent personal show and shocked the world!
Seeing how powerful Overlord was, Zang Tu immediately licked him, confusing Overlord, who had no idea of ​​people, and made him respect him even more.

After the Overlord conquered Qin and divided the world among the people, he made Zang Tu the King of Yan on the pretext that he had made great contributions, and established his capital in Ji County. As for Han Guang, the former King of Yan, he was moved to the King of Liaodong and sent far away to the cold land of Liaodong.

Han Guang, who had just had a few days of being the King of Yan, was sitting at home for no reason, and was beaten up by the sky. How could he accept that his subordinates went out for a walk and came back to ride on his head and pee and shit? He just refused to move.

As a result, Zang Tu, who had gained the support of the Overlord and became more confident, defeated and killed his former master without any mercy, and then took over both Yan and Liaodong.

Just based on the dirty things Zang Tu did, you can tell that he is not a good person.
Later, Han Xin conquered Zhao State. In order to conquer Qi State as soon as possible, he sent an envoy to deliver a letter to Zang Tu, using threats and inducements to coerce him.

Seeing that Overlord was in a bad situation and Liu Bang was gradually growing in power and had the potential to conquer the world, Zang Tu immediately changed his position, abandoned Overlord, submitted to Han Xin, and surrendered to Liu Bang.

Xiang Chang had found the chance to make such a shameless fellow with a thick skin and a black heart, who took betraying his master as a common thing, so how could he let him go so easily with just a few sweet words?

Of course, even in his previous life, Zang Tu did not have a good ending.

After Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, he hunted down and killed Xiang Yu's former subordinates. Even though Zang Tu joined forces with Han Xin, King of Chu, Ying Bu, King of Huainan, Peng Yue, King of Liang, Wu Rui, King of Changsha, Zhang Er, King of Zhao and others, and immediately respected Liu Bang as emperor, and spoke servilely and begged for mercy, he still did not receive forgiveness from the equally thick-skinned and black-hearted Liu Bang.

Obviously, Liu Laozei was disgusted by his shameless behavior of repeatedly betraying his former master. He became extremely vigilant and determined to get rid of him.

In desperation, Zang Tu was unwilling to sit and wait for death, so he raised an army to rebel against the Han Dynasty again. He was captured by the thief Liu and beheaded on the spot!

"My father's judgment of people is really speechless. What kind of people are those he promotes?" Thinking back on Zang Tu's past, Xiang Chang couldn't help but secretly criticize his father again.

Just as he was thinking about this, a positive character who could show that Overlord had the ability to judge people appeared unexpectedly.

Meng Xia brought a dusty scout to pay a visit. It turned out that the scout was sent by General Li Yi, who was attacking Qi. General Li Yi led 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to Ji County, and was only a dozen miles away from Xiang Chang.

Xiang Chang was overjoyed when he heard this, and instantly forgot about the scum Zang Tu. He immediately ordered the army to station there, and then could not wait to take Qu Fu, Tian Jian, Huang Zhong, Xiang Xi, Meng Xia and other generals, and braved the cold north wind to personally meet the enemy several miles away.

It was winter now, and the weather in Yan was extremely cold. The chilly north wind penetrated into people's bones.

Qu Fu and other generals were so cold that their faces turned blue. They looked at each other in confusion. Although Li Yi defended Qi and was loyal, he was only a minor general after all. He was not outstanding in either military merit or military position. Why did the eldest son welcome him with such a grand ceremony?

Not long after, a Chu army of 20,000 people was seen marching quickly towards them against the biting cold wind.

After receiving the report from the scouts, General Li Yi, who was in charge, was surprised to hear that the eldest son Xiang Chang was coming in person to greet him. He hurriedly left the army and rode forward.

From afar, he saw Xiang Chang had dismounted his horse early and was leading a group of meritorious generals to stand in front of the horse to greet him. Li Yi could not help but feel even more panicked. He galloped to Xiang Chang's horse, which was still more than ten meters away. He dropped the saddle and dismounted, performed the ceremony respectfully, and knelt down to greet him.

Finally, Xiang Chang met General Li Yi, who was trusted by his father and had been fighting hard in Qi. Seeing that he had a mighty body, wearing a half-worn armor with traces of swords and guns, with a square face, dignified looks, resolute and calm, and a pair of tiger eyes under a pair of drooping eyebrows, Xiang Chang could not help feeling very happy.

Xiang Chang hurried forward to help him up, and took a closer look. He saw that Li Yi's cheeks were full of cracks and bloody wounds caused by the biting north wind. With endless emotion in his heart, he pulled Li Yi's hand and shook it vigorously: "General Li, you have come a long way to chase after the defeated generals. It must be hard for you."

This General Li Yi was the man his father secretly arranged for his son before he abandoned Gaixia and planned to flee to the Wujiang River. He ordered Xiang Zhuang to take him to Qi to seek refuge.

It has to be said that my father had misjudged countless people in his life, and this General Li Yi finally saved some face for him.

In his previous life, after his father was defeated and died, General Li Yi still fought to the death and refused to surrender, which made it difficult to pacify Qi. Later, Liu Bang sent his father's head to him, and he gave up completely and asked his soldiers to surrender to the Han camp to save their lives. He buried his father's head solemnly, built a tomb for his father, and then committed suicide in front of his father's tomb.

How could Xiang Chang not respect from the bottom of his heart this loyal general who was the only one to follow his father to death?
Li Yi had also heard a lot of rumors about Xiang Chang recently. He had always respected him very much. Now that he saw that Xiang Chang valued him so much, he was flattered and hurriedly said that he dared not.

After the greetings, Xiang Chang mounted his horse and rode side by side with Li Yi back to the camp together.

Li Yi also hurriedly sent a message to his troops to follow.

Arriving at the military camp and dismounting, Xiang Chang saw that Li Yi and his cavalry guards were all wearing very thin clothes. He knew that they must have been fighting in Qi for years and were extremely poor and suffered a lot. He immediately ordered Qu Fu to settle Li Yi's troops and send a portion of the military uniforms and rations to ensure that the soldiers would not have to worry about hunger and cold. Then he personally took Li Yi's arm and went into the main general's tent together.

Qu Fu, Tian Jian and other generals stared more and more, feeling extremely surprised: even important generals like Zhongli Mei and Xiang Sheng had never been treated like this in front of Master Chang.

After entering the tent and kneeling down, Xiang Chang asked some questions and found out why Li Yi had strangely appeared here from Qi.

It turned out that after Li Yi got the help of 40,000 troops from the Hengshan Kingdom, he was even more powerful and defeated Han Xin's generals Wang Zhou and Ji Bi who were left behind in Qi. Wang Zhou and Ji Bi fled to Yan State with their defeated troops and fled to Ji County, where they took refuge with Zang Tu. However, he led his soldiers to chase them all the way.

Xiang Chang was even more delighted to hear that the two armies had the same goal. He then held a banquet to entertain Li Yi. After the banquet, the next day, the two armies joined forces, with a force of more than 50,000 soldiers, and marched to the city of Ji County.

Facing the 50,000-strong army of the Great Chu rushing towards them like a raging tide,

In Ji County, King Zang Tu of Yan and his son Zang Yan in the Yan royal palace were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. On the one hand, they hurriedly ordered General Gao Mao, Weiwei Yuan Chu and other important generals, as well as the two surrendered generals Wang Zhou and Ji Bi to come to the palace to discuss countermeasures. At the same time, they kept asking whether there was any news from the envoys they sent to Zhao and Han for help.
Zang Tu was less than fifty years old, with a hedgehog beard, eyes as big as copper bells, and an extremely ugly face.

Born a general, he became the King of Yan after being supported by Xiang Yu. He indulged in wine, sex and pleasure every day. His body swelled rapidly as if it was inflated. Now he is like a huge meatball. He can no longer lift a sword or ride a horse. He has become a useless person.

The news that the Chu army had defeated the Han camp, which had an absolute advantage, in the battle at Gaixia had already reached the Yan State. Then, Zang Tu heard that the Chu army was sweeping over and was obviously going to take down the Yan State as well, which made him panic. Therefore, he had sent envoys to beg for mercy and withdrawn all the troops of the kingdom to defend the capital Ji County. When he heard that Han Xin's brave generals Wang Zhou and Ji Bi had surrendered after being defeated, he regarded them as treasures and attached great importance to them. He did not reduce his military rank and directly continued to employ them as the original deputy general.

As for Zang Tu's son Zang Yan, he was no good either. In the past, Liu Bang put down the rebellion of the State of Yan and killed Zang Tu. He then made his childhood friend Lu Wan the King of Yan, but Zang Yan managed to escape and fled to the Xiongnu. Later, this fellow hooked up with Zhang Sheng, a subordinate of Lu Wan, and after some trickery, he actually persuaded him, and then persuaded Lu Wan through him, secretly communicating with the Xiongnu, and became the culprit of Lu Wan's rebellion against the Han State.

Not long after, all the generals, fully dressed in armor, hurried into the palace.

Upon hearing Zang Tu asking about the city's defense, General Gao Mao patted his chest and vowed that as long as he was there, and with the high and thick walls of Ji County, the Chu State would be defeated and return empty-handed.

Zang Tu was overjoyed and immediately appointed General Gao Mao as the chief commander of the city defense. He said, "Don't worry, we have reinforcements. I have sent envoys to Zhao and Han, and reinforcements from the two countries will arrive soon."

Gao Mao was even more excited after hearing this, and said, "When the reinforcements from the two countries arrive, we can lead the army out of the city to attack. With the cooperation from inside and outside, we can kill Da Chu and Xiang Chang and his son under the city."

Zang Tu was overjoyed and immediately ordered a banquet to be arranged to entertain all the generals.

During the banquet, Zang Tu comforted the two generals Wang Zhou and Ji Bi, and ordered them to serve under Gao Mao.

(End of this chapter)