My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 49: The Mighty King of Qi
Han Xin said solemnly to Fan Kuai and Li Shang, who had been waiting for orders, "It is time for you to take action. Lead your respective armies to attack Xiang Yu's cavalry and defeat them in one fell swoop."

Fan Kuai and Li Shang were both among the 18 founding heroes of the Han Dynasty, and they were both fierce generals. Especially Fan Kuai, who was born as a dog killer, was fearless and brave in battle, often charging at the front, but at the same time he was meticulous and alert, and would not fight a stupid or deadly battle, which made him the best choice to charge and win at a critical moment.

Fan Kuai and Li Shang had been carefully observing the status of Xiang Yu's 20,000 cavalry. When they heard Han Xin's order, they hesitated a little. In their opinion, Xiang Yu's 20,000 cavalry were not yet exhausted. If they launched a final fierce attack at this time, the casualties would be much greater, which was not the best choice.

However, seeing Han Xin's determined look, which would not tolerate any doubt, the two men looked at each other and solemnly accepted the order.

Han Xin continued to issue military orders and adjust the battle formation. Suddenly, he froze in place, tilted his head to the back and listened, and asked hesitantly: "Did you hear anything? Is someone shouting something?"

All the generals listened attentively, and sure enough, they could hear a faint noisy shouting coming from the rear of the army, but it was not very clear.

Han Xin's heart began to beat rapidly for no apparent reason, and he had a vague and terrible guess.

Sure enough, as the generals hesitated and shook their heads, the shouting was approaching quickly, gradually becoming clearer from vague and chaotic, until everyone could hear it clearly, it was the ecstatic roar of a group of soldiers:

"Liu Bang is dead! Liu Bang is dead! Liu Bang is dead! Good news, tell me three times."

"King Ying Bu of Jiujiang raided the rear of the Han army and killed King Liu Bang of Han!"

"The Chu State won a great victory, and the rear army of the Han army was completely defeated and annihilated!"

"Liu Bang is dead, the Chu State should be established!"

"Run away quickly! Liu Bang is dead. If you run away too late, it will be your turn."

……

The terrifying guess in his heart became a reality, and Han Xin was even more unbelievable. He instinctively felt that this was just a bluff by the Chu army to disrupt the morale of the army. How could the rear army suffer such a great defeat in such a short time? That was an army of 60,000. Even if there were 60,000 pigs scattered all over the mountains and plains for Ying Bu's army to catch, it would take at least a day or two.

The faces of the generals gathered around him changed drastically, and they became extremely agitated. They saw that the battle was going well and they were about to surround and kill Xiang Yu, but they didn't expect the situation to change so suddenly, and their home was robbed and their commander was beheaded. This was simply too much.

"Don't panic. The rear army has 60,000 soldiers, and there are generals such as Xiahou Ying, Zhou Chang, Xue Ou, Wang Ling, and Yong Chi. It is not so easy to destroy them. This must be a bluff by the Chu army."

Han Xin forced himself to remain calm and shouted to his generals, while immediately sending out scouts in two groups, one to rush to the rear army, and the other to investigate the group of Chu soldiers who were howling in joy like crazy.

Not long after the scouts galloped out, Cao Shen, who was in charge of the central army, had received accurate information and sent a messenger to come at full speed: "The rear army was ambushed by Ying Bu's cavalry and suffered a great defeat. The King of Han fled and his life or death is unknown."

The generals no longer had any hope. For a moment they were shocked and terrified, looking at each other in speechlessness.

At this time, whether it was the besieged Xiang Yu army, or the Zhou Yin army, or the Ying Bu army, they all learned the news through these messenger cavalry. It was as if they were given a shot of chicken blood. Suddenly, their spirits were boosted, their morale was greatly increased, and their fighting power soared.

Fan Kuai and Li Shang, who were preparing for war, heard the news and ordered their troops to stand by. They turned around and ran back, saying to Han Xin in a deep voice:
"General, we believe that the most urgent task is no longer to destroy Xiang Yu, but to quickly withdraw the army and find the King of Han."

Fan Kuai and Li Shang saw clearly that the rear army was defeated and Liu Bang's life and death were unknown. As the news spread among the army, it was bound to cause the army's morale to fluctuate, and the soldiers would lose their will to fight and the generals would want to retreat. As one side gained strength while the other side lost strength, the morale of Xiang Yu, Zhou Chang, and Ying Bu's army was high and their combat power soared. In this situation, if they did not retreat in time, they might suffer a great defeat if they were not careful. As soon as the two spoke, the surrounding Han generals immediately responded, saying yes, and they were eager to leave the battlefield.

It has to be said that Han Xin's strict military discipline and strong military strategy were indeed worthy of his reputation. In such a situation, everyone from the generals to the soldiers did not panic, but instead let the situation fall into complete chaos.

Han Xin was not angry at the generals' behavior which was tantamount to disobeying orders. He frowned and patiently explained the interests involved to them.

In Han Xin's view, although the rear army was defeated at the moment, it did not affect the overall situation, and the Han army still had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower. As long as the soldiers were encouraged to withstand the final counterattack of Xiang Yu, Zhou Chang, Ying Bu and other armies, victory would still belong to the Han army.

If he retreated at this time, Liu Bang's years of hard work and huge price paid for him and Peng Yue to form a siege against Xiang Yu would be a complete failure. This ambush from all sides could not kill Xiang Yu, and he was given a chance to catch his breath. There would undoubtedly be no such opportunity again in the future.

Gaixia City, which had been quiet since the war began, suddenly started howling again from the loudspeakers on the top of the city walls:

"Han Xin, what are you waiting for? We have already destroyed Liu Bang as agreed. Now it's up to you!"

"King Qi, remember our original agreement. We will cooperate with the outside forces to destroy the Han army!"

"The King of Qi is mighty and will replace the Han Dynasty!"

"The Qi-Chu coalition is invincible."

"The only heroes in the world today are Overlord and King Qi."

……

Hearing this serious shout, the surrounding Han army generals suddenly looked at Han Xin, and their eyes suddenly became strange.

Logically speaking, these generals could naturally hear that this was just a divisive ploy by the Chu army. In the past, they would have just laughed it off and would not have believed it at all.

But he had just rebelled against Zhou Yin and Ying Bu. No matter how loyal Han Xin was to the King of Han, could he be compared with Ying Bu's hatred for Xiang Yu? But he surrendered to Xiang Yu again. Who could guarantee Han Xin's loyalty?

What’s more, the most crucial thing is that Han Xin himself had shit under his butt, which made the generals have to be suspicious.

Since the beginning of the war, it was the Han troops under Liu Bang who suffered heavy casualties in the battle with Xiang Yu's army under his command. As for the Qi army under his own command, it had never been involved in the battle and was led by Cao Shen in the central army, and had lost almost no soldiers.

It would have been fine if Liu Bang was safe in the past, but now that Liu Bang's rear army was suddenly attacked and Liu Bang's life or death was unknown, this was extremely eye-catching.

At a time when the situation is volatile and people's hearts are in turmoil, if this guy really has evil intentions, then the entire Han army will be doomed.

It has to be said that the Chu army's shouting accurately grasped the grudges between the Han and Qi armies. At the same time, the timing was chosen when Liu Bang was severely injured and his life or death was unknown. It attacked people's hearts and calculated human nature. It cannot be called a strategy of sowing discord, but rather had a bit of the flavor of an unsolvable conspiracy.

(End of this chapter)