My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 3 Love to hear and see
Han army camp. In front of the commander's tent.

On a wide flat ground, under the illumination of more than a dozen bonfires, mutton was stewing in a pot and lamb legs were roasting on charcoal. A banquet was taking place.

Surrounding them were teams of strong Han soldiers wearing armor, holding spears and halberds, and guarding closely.

Han Xin, the current commander-in-chief of the 600,000 Han army, did not sit at the head of the banquet, but sat at the opposite table.

The Han Emperor Liu Bang, who wore a high crown and casual clothes, had a high nose bridge and prominent brow bones, and had a very distinctive appearance. He sat at the top with his legs spread out, scratching his messy beard, holding a large wine jar in one hand, and said with a smile:
"Xiang Ji was desperate and attacked the city the night before. Fortunately, the King of Qi planned and deployed carefully. Not only did he fail to steal the chicken, but he was defeated and lost more than half of his remaining capital. This is really a great achievement. Seeing that defeat is inevitable, - Come, King of Qi, drink this cup!"

Liu Bang fought with Xiang Yu for many years, both large and small battles, but he never defeated Xiang Yu.

Especially the Battle of Pengcheng that shocked the world, he took advantage of Xiang Yu leading his army to march into Qi to suppress the rebellion of Tian Rong, and gathered all the troops. His advisers and generals such as Zhang Liang, Chen Ping, Han Xin, Lu Ze, Zhang Er, Xiahou Ying, Guan Ying, and Fan Kuai came out in full force. He also "hijacked" the armies of five major princes, including Zhang Er, King of Changshan, Shen Yang, King of Henan, Zheng Chang, King of Han, Wei Bao, King of Wei, and Ang, King of Yin. He gathered a total of 560,000 troops, marched straight into the heart of Chu, occupied the Jianghuai area in one fell swoop, and captured the Chu capital Pengcheng. The situation was very good, and almost everyone thought that Xiang Yu's defeat was imminent.

But who would have thought that in a rage, Xiang Yu led 30,000 elite cavalrymen to march day and night to attack and rescue, and unexpectedly defeated the 560,000 Han army in one fell swoop. Liu Bang escaped with only a dozen cavalrymen, and his family fortune that he had worked hard to accumulate for several years was wiped out. Even his father, wife and children were captured by Xiang Yu.

This was the biggest defeat since the uprising.

It was precisely because of the terrible torture he suffered at the hands of Xiang Yu that Liu Bang finally realized that his military talent was far inferior to Xiang Yu's. Therefore, in this crucial battle between Han and Chu, he did not dare to serve as the commander-in-chief himself, but handed over the military power to Han Xin.

It has to be said that Liu Bang was indeed a scoundrel and had a flexible bottom line in his actions, but he also had a flexible mind, was able to know people and appoint them to the right positions, and was magnanimous and good at accepting advice.

It was precisely because of his correct decision that Han Xin, a peerless man who was later praised as the God of War, was able to act freely, set up ambushes on all sides, and trapped Xiang Yu, the terrifying and invincible beast, at Gaixia, preventing him from escaping.

Han Xin, a tall man with a full forehead, raised his thick and short eyebrows as sharp as willows and swords when he heard the words. With a faint and self-conceited smile on his face, he stood up, took the wine jug and drank it all in one gulp.

At present, he is equivalent to Xiang Yu at the Hongmen Banquet. Although his life is not as glorious as being named King of Qi or Overlord, he is also at the peak of his achievements in this life.

Seeing that Han Xin stood proudly without any words of modesty and accepted his praise calmly, a cold light flashed in Liu Bang's eyes, but his face became more affectionate and happy.

Turning to his confidants and confidants, including Guan Ying, the cavalry commander, Fan Kuai, the butcher of the Han army, Xiahou Ying, the leader of the central army and the groom, Cao Shen, the outstanding military achievements, Zhou Bo, the brave and courageous, Chen Ping, the originator of conspiracy, and others, Liu Bang said with great pride: "Xiang Ji is surrounded in this small city of Gaixia and is at the end of his rope. It is difficult for him to turn the situation around this time. Come, everyone, drink a full cup and wish you success in advance."

The generals responded loudly and raised their glasses.

At this time, Zhang Liang, who was thin with a feminine and handsome face, came slowly from afar. After Liu Bang stood up and greeted him warmly and respectfully, he walked over and knelt beside Chen Ping, who was tall and handsome.

"King of Han, everything has been arranged." Zhang Liang bowed slightly to Liu Bang, smiled and said softly.

The generals and counselors sitting around were all cheered up.

When Zhang Liang made a signal for silence, everyone stopped talking and drinking and pretended to listen attentively.

"In September, deep autumn, frost flies across the fields; the sky is high and the water is dry, the cold geese are sad..."

In the camp, thousands of soldiers suddenly sang the Chuci tune.

The tune is mournful and sad, like crying and complaining, and the soldiers in the army can't help but feel a strong resonance when they hear it, and they feel tired of war, homesick and longing for their families.

Even the generals who were sitting in a row couldn't help but look melancholy.

Liu Bang suddenly became interested. He jumped up, knocked on the copper cauldron with his dinner knife, and hummed along:

"The hardest thing is to be on the frontier, wandering day and night; wearing armor and holding a sharp weapon..." After singing a few lines, he couldn't sing anymore, dropped his knife and grinned:

"Damn, this Chuci tune is quite difficult to sing. Drink, drink!"

All the generals raised their glasses, but they were all a little absent-minded. Including Han Xin, they couldn't help but look towards the direction of the Gaixia city wall.

Although there were many brave generals and good ministers, and an army of 600,000, no one dared to take it lightly, let alone confront Xiang Yu head-on and fight to the death.

After all, that man had created so many miracles and glories that everyone present here felt a sense of uneasiness. Until the moment his head was chopped off and he was truly killed, everyone's heart was hanging in the air and no one dared to guarantee victory.

Actually, the reason they followed Liu Bang to Commander Han Xin's tent was naturally not for a banquet, nor for celebrating the victory in advance, but to witness this thin and delicate-looking but unfathomable wise sage come up with another ingenious plan to undermine the morale and confuse the Chu soldiers, and give the final fatal blow to the overlord who was at the end of his rope!
The 50,000 Chu soldiers who remained under the command of the truly invincible overlord were composed of the 8,000 soldiers from Jiangdong as their skeleton and the soldiers from Chu as their flesh and blood. They had followed him in battles for many years and were real warriors who had experienced many battles and had amazing combat power.

If he really chose to fight to the death, then even if the Han army won the final victory, it would have to pay a huge price. Many of the generals present would probably die here, and even Liu Bang could not claim to be safe.

Therefore, even the commander-in-chief Han Xin was overjoyed when he heard Zhang Liang's plan, and immediately agreed to implement it without hesitation.

Even though the truly invincible man had become a trapped beast, he still put tremendous pressure on this small group of people who were considered to be the best in the world in terms of both martial power and intelligence.

At the moment, they are like a group of hyenas waiting to bite and share the dying lion king. They dare not fight, and can only surround the lion king with their advantage in numbers, and then patiently and anxiously wait for the lion king to collapse.

In order to avoid the fatal blow from the lion king, he had to use tricks to undermine the lion king's fighting spirit.

Seeing the generals' anxiety, Liu Bang smacked his lips, feeling a little uncomfortable, but smiled to himself and asked Zhang Liang:
"You selected the surrendered Chu soldiers, taught them to rehearse and sing, and spent so much effort. Can this mere Chuci tune really be so powerful that it can cause the trapped Chu soldiers to collapse without a fight? If so, isn't it enough to defeat hundreds of thousands of elite troops?"

Liu Bang was essentially a scoundrel and a complete pragmatist, but he would never give up practical benefits for the sake of face.

In his opinion, as long as it can lead to victory, no matter how despicable and dirty the means are, they can be used.

However, Zhang Liang had followed him for many years and had many wise strategies that had been tested over time. He actually had no doubts at all. The reason he said this was to give the generals a psychological massage and relax their tense and uneasy minds.

In fact, Liu Bang himself also felt that this time he was safe. No matter how brave the truly invincible man was, he was still a human being after all, not a god. He was trapped in a cage and there was absolutely no way he could turn the tables this time.

At this time, the Han soldiers who were gathering information at the foot of the city came to report one after another, saying that in the face of the sad Chu songs from the Han camp, there was a dead silence on the top of Gaixia City, with faint cries of Chu soldiers coming from the city. There were also Chu soldiers cursing at the people below the city, asking the Han soldiers to stop singing, as if their emotions had collapsed!

The generals were overjoyed and looked at the man with a face as soft as a woman in amazement: This method actually works!
Zhang Liang smiled slightly and said softly: "This is just the beginning. Let the emotions brew for a while. We will see tomorrow. The effect will be even greater."

Liu Bang was very happy and drank another cup. He was drunk and happily talked about the topic that the generals liked to hear:

"It is said that Xiang Ji has a favorite concubine named Yu, who is always with him even in battles. When we captured Pengcheng last time, we captured all of Xiang Ji's concubines, but unfortunately she was missed. When we capture the city this time, generals, please pay attention and make sure to take that girl in good condition. I want to see what kind of beauty she is that could seduce a hero like Xiang Ji."

Generals Fan Kuai, Guan Ying, Cao Shen and others laughed strangely and agreed repeatedly.

At this moment, the dull and exciting sound of war drums, "boom, boom, boom," suddenly rang out from the top of the city wall.

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(End of this chapter)