My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 22: Old Restless
Just as Xiang Yu attacked the Han camp at night, killing people and setting fires, the entire Han camp was in chaos. The camp of the Zhou Yin and Ying Bu coalition forces in the southeast of the Han camp was also in chaos.

All the officers in the military camp put on their armor, assembled and trained their troops, settling down in the camps and making preparations for defense.

In front of the military camp, three generals, one old, one middle-aged and one young, all in full armor, sat upright on their mounts. Guarded by a group of elite cavalrymen, they kept looking at the chaotic Han army camp where flames shot up into the sky and shouts of killing were loud.

The veteran leading in the middle was of medium build, with a tuft of half-white beard neatly combed on his chin, and a narrow, wrinkled face with a red glow in the darkness. His eyes were sharp, his words were sonorous and powerful, and he had his own majesty!
This person was Liu Bang's distant cousin, Liu Jia, who was extremely active in the Chu-Han contention at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

This old guy was older than Liu Bang. In that world where life expectancy was generally very low, he should have been an old coffin waiting to be buried. However, he refused to admit his age and stuck his head in his crotch, following Liu Bang out to fight around the world.

He is a man who is restless inside and will never be at peace until he dies!

But he was also extremely brave in battle, and he became more and more outstanding in the later period. In the early period, when Liu Bang defeated Qin and entered Guanzhong, he did not make much contribution. But when the Han and Chu were fighting, this old guy suddenly shone!

For example, he followed Peng Yue to Liangdi and harassed Xiang Yu's rear. Although he was defeated by Xiang Yu many times, he was like an indestructible cockroach. During this period, he cut off the food supply of the Chu army countless times, which made Xiang Yu, the overlord, very annoyed.

And at the end of the Chu-Han Contention, he was so powerful that he managed to persuade Zhou Yin, the Grand Marshal who was left behind by Xiang Yu in Chu, to surrender with just his eloquence.

The fact that Zhou Yin surrendered under his advice had extremely serious consequences for Xiang Yu's Chu. It directly triggered a series of chain reactions and ultimately led to the complete collapse of the situation in Chu!

As the base camp of the Chu State, it is Xiang Yu's only hope for a comeback after his defeat in the Central Plains!
The surrender of Zhou Yin not only cut off any hope of a comeback, but also directly cut off Xiang Yu's roots and his retreat. As a result, Xiang Yu had nowhere to retreat after his defeat in the Battle of Chenggao, and ended up being surrounded at Gaixia!
Therefore, it can be said that this old man's bad mouth was a major culprit in Xiang Yu's complete defeat.

The young general standing on the left side of the old man was about thirty years old, with a sturdy figure, handsome appearance, broad chest, two thick eyebrows like painted, and a pair of round eyes that gleamed coldly!
The most eye-catching thing is that there is a line of black words tattooed on his cheek, revealing his original identity as a tattooed criminal.

The most flashy thing was that he was wearing a set of golden armor, which made him very eye-catching among the generals wearing iron and leather armor.

It was Ying Bu, who was originally named King of Jiujiang by Xiang Yu and was named King of Huainan after surrendering to Liu Bang.

On the right side of the old man was a middle-aged general in his forties, with a thin and tall body. His straight back like a pine tree seemed slightly hunched, and his weather-beaten face was full of sternness. He was the Grand Marshal Zhou Yin, who was originally trusted by Xiang Yu and handed over all the military and political power of Chu to him.

"That little Xiang Yu just suffered a defeat at the hands of the King of Qi the night before, and now he's restless again tonight and has raided the Han camp. What's going on? How can the dignified King of Chu be like a child when it comes to marching and fighting, doing whatever he wants?" Liu Jia stroked his beard, his old face full of disdain.

"A fish thrown onto the chopping block and a cow tied up with ropes, about to be slaughtered, will jump and roar a few times, let alone a dignified overlord." Ying Bu's words were extremely vicious, but he regarded his former master's night attack on the Han camp as cows and fish that were powerless to resist and waiting to be slaughtered.

Ying Bu left Xiang Yu and surrendered to Liu Bang. Xiang Yu was furious and sent Long Ju to defeat Ying Bu and killed all his wife and children. Therefore, the two of them went from being brothers in life and death to being blood enemies. It is not surprising that Ying Bu made such vicious remarks.

"The Overlord was also a great hero, but now he is deserted by his friends and relatives and surrounded by enemies. He can't blame anyone else but himself for being self-righteous, stubborn, refusing to listen to good advice, and having no ability to judge people." Zhou Yin, as Xiang Yu's Grand Marshal, obviously saw the situation very clearly and shook his head and sighed.

Ying Bu and Liu Jia looked at each other and felt relieved.

The three of them seemed to be close, but in fact, there were undercurrents. The three of them had a total of more than 90,000 troops, but they were divided into two distinct groups. One was the 40,000 Han army led by Ying Bu and Liu Jia, and the remaining 50,000 were the Chu army led by Zhou Yin that surrendered to the Han army.

Originally, Zhou Yin's army was placed at the outermost edge in the southeast, with Ying Bu and Liu Jia's army closely following. But now that Xiang Yu attacked the Han camp overnight, Ying Bu and Liu Jia immediately ran over to keep an eye on him, clearly showing their distrust of this surrendered general.

At this time, the commander-in-chief, the King of Qi, sent a messenger to deliver military orders, asking the three generals to guard the camp firmly and stop Xiang Yu if he tried to break out. Otherwise, they were not allowed to act rashly.

When Ying Bu heard this, he immediately said goodbye and hurried back to the camp.

However, Liu Jia stayed with a smile, wanting to have a night talk with Zhou Yin to express the respect between heroes.

The two men watched for a long time, but they felt uncomfortable sitting on their horses. They guessed that Xiang Yu's mere thousand cavalrymen would not be able to break through the Han army camp and reach their outer barracks, so they felt relieved and asked the soldiers to build a charcoal fire on the spot to roast the lamb and enjoy it deliciously.

By daybreak, the momentum of Xiang Yu's thousand cavalrymen had weakened, and he ordered the cavalrymen to report that they had fled back to Gaixia City. The two men were completely relieved.

After all, Liu Jia was an old man who was too old and could not bear all the hard work. He said goodbye to Zhou Yin and found a tent to catch up on his sleep.

Zhou Yin looked at the lamb leg with all the meat eaten up in front of him, the white skeleton sizzling as it was roasted on the charcoal fire. His eyes were vague and he remained silent.

At this time, his trusted lieutenant Qu Fu came over with a young general.

"Grand Sima Zhou, I haven't seen you for a long time. I am so happy to see you as healthy as ever!" The young general walked up to Zhou Yin and stood proudly in front of him. He didn't even salute him, but stared at him and said coldly.

Zhou Yin looked up and was startled. He turned around and saw that his trusted guards were all around him. He felt relieved and frowned, saying:
"It's you? What are you doing here? Oh, it was your father's idea, right? It seems your father knows that he can't escape this time. Don't worry, just stay here. For the sake of our past relationship, I will protect your life."

This young general was none other than Xiang Chang, the eldest son of the Great Chu Empire and the General of the Central Army of Chu.

Just as Xiang Yu led his elite cavalry to chase and kill Ding Fu's 3,000 fleeing cavalry, Xiang Chang quietly left the team, tore off his outer cloak and threw it away, revealing the Han army uniform underneath. He identified the direction, and rode towards the southeast.

The Han army camp was suddenly attacked by Xiang Yu tonight. There was panic and chaos in the camp, with scattered cavalry everywhere. Xiang Chang rode his horse into the camp, but the Han army thought he was a defeated soldier and no one paid any attention to him.

Xiang Chang successfully escaped from the Han army camp and arrived at Zhou Yin's camp. Although Zhou Yin had surrendered to the Han, there were still many officers in the camp who remained loyal to Xiang Yu, such as this deputy general Qu Fu. After contacting him through previous information channels, he was successfully brought to Zhou Yin.

Xiang Chang saw that the old man calmed down in an instant and didn't seem surprised by his arrival. He looked like a man who had seen many storms and was not moved by the collapse of Mount Tai. He secretly admired him, but said coldly on the surface:
"My safety is not something that Grand Sima Zhou needs to worry about, but you are about to die without a burial place, so you should think more about yourself."

(End of this chapter)