My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 61: Violent Stirring
"The military situation is ever-changing. How can we be rigid and general? If we only launch a surprise attack on one army, even if we annihilate it, it will still not help the overall situation! Only by defeating the newly surrendered Zhou Yin army and Ying Bu army, and destroying Xiang Yu's new advantage in one fell swoop, leaving him with only 50,000 exhausted remnants, and returning the situation to the starting point, can we truly shake his foundation! Such a merit in turning the world upside down and rebuilding the Han Dynasty is enough to surpass Cao, Zhou, Fan, and Li, and it is worthy of you and me!"

Ding Li's heart was pounding as he listened to Kong Xi's confident words.

After bidding farewell to Kong Xi and returning to his own tent, Ding Li took off his armor and had a hearty meal. Then he lay down on the wolfskin mat with his clothes on. His turbulent emotions were still difficult to calm down.

It is said that there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period and no gentlemen in the Warring States Period. This was also true for the end of the Qin Dynasty. It was just a group of profit-seeking people fighting each other for their own desires and power. After rounds of bloody battles, the weak were eliminated and the strong were retained. Those who have survived to this day are all those who are as utilitarian as charcoal fire. Once an opportunity arises, they will definitely pounce on it and grab it tightly without letting it go.

For example, Kong Xi and Ding Li now!
Ding Li had always admired Kong Xi's ability to command troops, especially his ability to choose and grasp opportunities, and had never doubted it. Thinking that if the battle tonight was really as Kong Xi had imagined, and the armies of Zhou Yin and Ying Bu were defeated in one fell swoop, their contributions would surely exceed those of the previous years of hard and bloody battles, and they would come out on top and defeat Cao, Zhou, Fan, Li and other generals in one fell swoop!

Thinking of this, Ding Li fell asleep in a daze. Years of tense and dangerous military career had made him develop the habit of sleeping whenever he could. When he had the chance, he would lie down and fall into a deep sleep in less than ten seconds.

Perhaps he was too excited tonight and slept uneasily, half asleep and half awake the whole time.

In the midst of the hazy air, I suddenly heard the sound of shouting and fighting. At first it was sparse and distant, but gradually it became clear and loud, which seemed quite harsh in this quiet autumn night.

Ding Li was still intoxicated with his beautiful dream and didn't want to wake up. He was still wondering: How come the fighting has already started when the troops haven't been dispatched yet? Could it be that Kong Xi secretly dispatched the troops first?
"General, wake up, wake up, the Chu army is coming!" Someone shook his body hard and said anxiously.

Ding Li was startled, but due to the conditioned reflex formed from years of fighting, he jumped up instinctively before his mind was fully clear.

After shaking his head a few times, the cool air of late autumn quickly seeped into his mouth and nose. Ding Li woke up completely and asked angrily, "What's going on?"

Several guards in the tent surrounded him, each holding a piece of armor, and hurriedly began to put on his armor. Some of them shouted in surprise: "The soldiers were sleeping soundly, but suddenly there was a loud shouting and the Chu army actually broke into the camp..."

"How many Chu troops are there?" Ding Li asked, but the guards shook their heads in confusion.

Ding Li suppressed his impatience and waited until he was fully equipped with his armor. Then he took the spear, left the tent, and jumped onto his warhorse.

At this time, the camp was in chaos. The sounds of fighting and shouting were deafening. In the darkness, no one knew how many Chu troops had arrived!

Then, rockets streaked across the dark night sky, shooting in all directions like shooting stars. It was obvious that the Chu army had tasted the great effectiveness of rocket attacks on the camp, and they used the same trick again tonight.

Fortunately, Kong Xi had been prepared after suffering two consecutive losses from rockets from the Chu army last night and today. During the day, he had the soldiers soak the tents with water, cover the food and grass with mud, and prepare clean water for firefighting. Now that rockets were filling the sky and falling all over the camp, they did not cause any fire that was difficult to control.

"Liu Bang is dead, and all the troops have fled. You are the only lone army left! Han army brothers, what are you still holding on to? Run away quickly! Don't be cannon fodder for those nobles in vain!"

"Han Xin just had a fight with Cao Shen and Fan Kuai, and killed them both. He is taking his army back to Qi! If you don't run away, you will die here." "The King of Chu has ordered that the Han army will not be killed if they surrender! The Han army will reward a thousand gold coins and make them a marquis! Brothers of the Han army, give it a try, and turn the common people into marquises, act quickly!"

……

The Chu army soldiers who attacked at night rushed left and right, hacking and killing, while shouting at the top of their lungs.

Ding Li roared and led the cavalry guards behind him, rushing towards the place where the shouts and screams were the most frequent.

On the way, they suddenly encountered a group of cavalrymen, who were surrounding a general and watching the battle from afar. Torches were lit around them, and with the help of the flickering flames, Ding Li saw that the general was Kong Xi, and hurriedly rode forward.

Seeing that it was Ding Li who came, Kong Xi nodded to him with a gloomy face and said coldly: "No need to go forward, the Chu army is less than 10,000 people. The generals are preparing for a night attack tonight. They are all prepared. When the Chu army attacks the camp, they will immediately reorganize the soldiers to resist. I don't think they will cause much damage. They won't gain any advantage, and the Chu army will retreat soon."

Ding Li breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

At present, both the Chu and Han armies have different degrees of night blindness, so they rarely choose to fight at night. If it weren't for the real merit worth the risk, Kong Xi would not choose to attack at night. It is precisely because of this that the army is very easy to be attacked at night!

In the light of the torches, Ding Li saw that Kong Xi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and it was so ugly that he could not help but smile bitterly in his heart. He knew that the dream of the two men to attack the Han army at night, inflict heavy damage on them in one fell swoop, and establish immortal merits was completely shattered by the interference of the Chu army.

"The Overlord is worthy of being the Overlord. His military prowess is beyond my reach!" Kong Xi let out a long breath and thrust the spear in his hand heavily into the ground!

Seeing Kong Xi's unwilling and helpless expression, Ding Li remained silent. Even if he was at a disadvantage, he would never sit and wait for death, but would take the initiative to fight, attacking instead of defending. This style of using troops was undoubtedly that of the Overlord Xiang Yu.

Originally, they thought that the Chu army was exhausted after a long battle and had lacked food in the past. Now that they had a precious chance to catch their breath, they should immediately rest and recover their strength. However, they never expected that they would unexpectedly choose to launch a night attack against the trend. This operation that went against common sense made them secretly realize that they undoubtedly had a long way to go if they wanted to defeat the Overlord.

Kong Xi's inference was very accurate. The Chu army stirred up the Han army camp like a shit-stirring stick, and soon they were exhausted by the siege of the Han army. Knowing that they could not gain any advantage, they quickly beat the diaodou, and before the Han army completed the encirclement, they quickly retreated from the Han camp and ran away in the direction they came from.

The Han general led his troops in pursuit for a while, but the autumn night was as dark as black glue and it was difficult to see. Fearing that they would be ambushed by the cunning Chu army again, they dared not pursue any further and angrily withdrew their troops.

Soon, all the generals gathered together to report to the chief general Kong Xi about the damage caused by the night attack by the Chu army. Hearing that the loss of soldiers was about 3,000, and the Chu army roughly estimated that there were more than 2,000 casualties, the two were almost the same, and it could not be considered a defeat. Kong Xi's ugly expression eased greatly.

(End of this chapter)