My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 98: Extraordinary Courage
Han Xin always remained calm and composed when leading his troops. Even when he suffered a crushing defeat, he seldom got angry. But now he lost his composure like this, and it was obvious that he was really furious!
The key point is that Kong Xi's army was not in place. Even if Han Xin's follow-up army caught up, it would only be a melee with the Chu central army and would not achieve the goal of destroying the vitality of the Chu central army.

If the central army of the Chu State safely leaves the battlefield and retreats to Gaixia City, even if the left and right armies win, it will not be considered a complete success.

Thinking of the earnest instructions given to him by Emperor Liu Bang of Han before the battle, and the military order he had confidently signed at the time, promising that this battle would wipe out Xiang Yu's Chu army in one fell swoop, Han Xin became even more anxious.

As for whether Kong Xi's army might have been defeated by Xiang Chang's army and thus delayed their arrival, this speculation was not an option for Han Xin at all, and he had never even thought about it.

After cruising for a while, they saw that Zhongli Mei had arranged the troops' battle array strictly. Even when the Chu army was retreating, its battle array was still strict and its defense was thorough. In particular, the cavalry had been following slowly. Not only did they protect the infantry tightly, but they were also ready to go. They were as still as a mountain and as powerful as thunder. Han Xin's cavalry could not find any opportunity to take advantage of.

Han Xin's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

"General, give the order to charge! Xiang Ji is not here, so he must have gone to rescue his cubs with the right army, and therefore delayed Kong Xi's army as well." Li Shang thought of a possibility and stepped forward to advise.

Han Xin nodded slowly. Gaixia City was getting closer and closer. Horns began to sound on the city walls. It was obvious that the defenders in the city were ready and could go out to rescue at any time. If they delayed any further, there would be no chance. He sighed slightly and said, "Well! It's impossible to keep all of this Chu army, so let's just kill as many as we can!" At the end, his tone was cold and a strong murderous intent rose to the sky.

"Good news, good news, great news..."

At this time, a cavalry of hundreds of people came galloping from the east, shouting with joy.

The sound of waves and the beat of horses' hooves were heard, and the soldiers of the Han and Chu armies all looked up.

Seeing that the cavalry was holding a large cowhide trumpet and coming from the east, Han Xin's brows, which had just relaxed, frowned again.

"General Xiang Chang defeated the Han army, the Han army leader Kong Xi was beheaded, and the 60,000 Han army was completely wiped out!"

Hearing the shouts of this cavalry, the Chu army, which was already on edge and feeling uneasy at the sight of the Han cavalry cruising around them, was overjoyed and burst into cheers.

Commander Zhongli Mei was also surprised and delighted, with a strong sense of unreality in his heart: defeating the Han army and killing Kong Xi, could Master Xiang Chang do this?
Since Ying Bu's army was defeated, Zhongli Mei was immediately aware that the central army of Chu was in danger. Upon receiving the military order conveyed by Xiang Yu's horn, he immediately understood the Overlord's intention. While commanding the army to retreat, he dispatched his generals to ensure that the marching formation was tight.

Han Xin's surprise attack with his army confirmed his and Overlord's guess. Once Kong Xi's army defeated Xiang Chang and led his army to join them, their Chu army would be finished.

Zhongli Mei, who was anxious, only hoped that Overlord's 10,000 cavalry could hold back Kong Xi's army. Then, he would command the central army, with the protection of Xiang Guan's cavalry and the support of Xiang Sheng's troops in the city, and there was still hope to withdraw to Gaixia.

Of course, there is an inevitable price to pay.

According to Zhongli Mei's estimation, at least half of Xiang Guan's cavalry would be wiped out, and it would be good enough if two-thirds of the infantry could be preserved. After all, that man was so terrible at using troops, and it was obvious that he came here with the determination to win.

As for Xiang Chang and the 30,000 troops under his command, he had forgotten them.

In the subconscious mind of General Zhongli Mei, he had already been destroyed at the hands of Kong Xi. Especially Xiang Chang, it was unclear whether he was still alive, so it was naturally not worth thinking about it anymore.

However, to the surprise of General Zhongli Mei, Xiang Chang actually defeated Kong Xi's army and won a great victory, which really gave him a huge surprise!
"Could this kid really be a military genius like Overlord?!" Zhongli Mei couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Li Shang, the general of the Han army, was surprised and suspicious by the excited shouting of the Chu army. He instinctively blurted out, "How is it possible that Kong Xi would be defeated by that kid? That kid is the son of the Overlord, not the Overlord. How could he be so strong?"

Han Xin sneered and glanced at Li Shang, seeming to be quite dissatisfied with his surprise. He said coldly: "Don't think too much. This must be another trick of Xiang Chang. He wants to scare the Han army and let the Chu army escape safely!"

When Li Shang heard this, he thought of the lies Xiang Chang told the three kings at Gaixia City, and the endless tricks he used to fool the three kings and his own Han army camp. He immediately relaxed his mind and cursed:

"This kid has tasted the sweetness and is not going to stop. With his pitiful military strategy, I don't think he can defeat Kong Xi. General, give the order, don't give the Chu army a chance to catch their breath, we must strike quickly and not lose the opportunity."

Han Xin nodded slowly and was about to issue an order when he suddenly saw the defenders on the top of Gaixia City waving their flags towards the east, and then they disappeared from the top of the city while cheering. Then the city gate opened wide, and a cavalry swarmed out and charged at the Han army waiting for an opportunity.

Han Xin raised his short, thick eyebrows, but before he could react, a rolling earth dragon rose into the sky from the east, followed by the sound of dense horse hooves.

The scouts who were patrolling and investigating came quickly to report: "General, Xiang Yu is leading the Chu cavalry to attack!"

There was no more doubt at this point, and Han Xin and Li Shang looked at each other in horror!
Not to mention the two of them, no one in the Han camp had thought that Kong Xi could be defeated by Xiang Chang. All the cavalry generals were horrified.

Han Xin let out a long breath, and the anger, annoyance, and unwillingness on his face disappeared in an instant. He said coldly: "Send the order, retreat!"

Li Shang's heart sank, and a deep layer of bitterness rose up: Han Xin had spent so much effort in planning this big game, but now it had all failed!
Throwing the whip in his hand to the ground angrily, Han Xin's hair and beard flew up in the air, and he shouted: "Kong Xi, who ruined my plan, I will kill him!"

Xiang Yu arrived with his cavalry and saw that Han Xin's army had retreated in a tight formation, leaving no opportunity for him to take advantage of. So he gave up the idea of ​​fighting again and slowly led his army back to Gaixia.

Zhongli Mei, Huan Chu, Ji Bu, and Xiang Guan all rode over impatiently, asking Xiang Chang how he defeated Kong Xi. Xiang Yu was also very happy, and just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered that Xiang Chang's achievements were due to the "Great Chu Military Merit Reward System". He looked at the generals deeply and said in a calm voice: "After the battle, let the eldest son explain it to you in detail."

The generals looked at each other, confused.

After all, Xiang Yu was still worried about Xiang Chang. Seeing that the crisis of Zhongli Mei's army had been resolved, he sent Xiang Guan to lead 5,000 cavalry to meet Xiang Chang again.

After arriving at the city of Gaixia, he met up with Xiang Sheng, Zhou Yin and Wu She who had led their troops out of the city to support him, and then he retreated safely back into the city.

At this time, Xiang Yu remembered Ying Bu who was beaten up by Han Xin. After a little hesitation, he turned his horse's head and headed towards Ying Bu's military camp in the west of the city, intending to comfort him.

Arriving at Ying Bu's camp, Xiang Yu looked around and was shocked to see that the camp was empty, without a single person.

Just as he was feeling doubtful and uncertain, two riders came galloping from the direction of Gaixia City. They were messengers sent by Ying Bu, who were waiting for Xiang Yu in Gaixia City. When they heard that the Overlord was coming to Ying Bu's camp, they hurried over.

"My king was defeated by Han Xin and has no face to see the Overlord. He has led his army back to his fiefdom to recruit soldiers, reorganize the army, store food and grass, and accumulate sufficient strength before returning to help the Overlord."

After hearing the messenger's extremely respectful report of the details, Xiang Yu's face darkened.

With his intelligence, he knew very well that after Ying Bu was defeated, he immediately understood Han Xin's plan and intention. He secretly estimated that the Chu State would definitely be defeated this time, so he took the lead, led the remnants of his army back to his fiefdom, and vigorously expanded his army to prepare for war to protect himself.

This guy had the "big killer" stirrup, but he still suffered a crushing defeat and almost ruined himself. Xiang Yu was already very annoyed, and now seeing that he was defeated, it would have been fine, but he actually deserted so easily, which made him even more furious.

What puzzled him was that, based on his understanding of Ying Bu, he was an expert at marching and deploying troops, so his judgment and reaction to such a major situation should not have been so quick and decisive.

Zhou Yin, who was standing beside him, said coldly to the envoy, "Your king was defeated, and I sent troops to support him. I saw an envoy from the Han camp, Chen Ping, meeting your king. Then Ying Bu led the defeated army and abandoned the Great Chu and returned to Jiujiang. Is that right or not?"

The messenger was shocked.

Xiang Yu was furious: "He has the heart to be killed! He has the heart to be killed! Ji Bu, quickly gather 10,000 cavalry, and I will catch up with him and beat him severely."

Ji Bu made a grim face, agreed, and was about to go and reorganize the cavalry. Xiang Zhuang stepped forward and shouted at him to retreat, then he bowed and said to Xiang Yu anxiously: "Overlord, the King of Jiujiang is ashamed of his defeat and returned to his fiefdom to reorganize the army and horses for our Great Chu. He has made contributions and has no faults. How can you chase him?"

Seeing that Xiang Zhuang dared to object to his military orders, Xiang Yu became even more furious, his pupils widened, and a violent and powerful aura surged: "Get out of my way!"

Sensing the rage of its master, the black horse raised its neck and neighed, its front hooves restlessly kicking the ground, its huge body leaping, as if it would crash into Xiang Zhuang in the next moment. Xiang Zhuang felt a chill down his spine, cold sweat dripping down his forehead, but he gritted his teeth and refused to retreat: "Your Majesty, please think twice. The King of Jiujiang must not be pursued. Otherwise, please send someone to ask Master Chang for his opinion."

When Xiang Yu heard this, his violent aura stagnated. He sat upright on his horse, and the surging mighty aura gradually disappeared. He groaned for a while and said, "I will leave this matter to Master Chang to handle!"

After saying this, he turned the horse's head, and the black horse galloped like a dragon back to Gaixia.

Zhongli Mei, Huan Chu, Ji Bu, and Zhou Yin all rode their horses past Xiang Zhuang, looking at him up and down with surprised eyes.

Just now, even if the Overlord was not angry at them, they were still trembling and unable to sit steadily. However, Xiang Zhuang, who was the first to bear the brunt of the attack, actually withstood it. It would have been fine if he had withstood it, and actually made the Overlord revoke his order. But who gave this guy such courage?

A huge golden sun slowly emerged from the colorful mountains in the east, pouring handfuls of golden powder onto the winding river.

A small camp of more than 200 cavalrymen stationed by the river woke up from a night of sleep. Under the command of the commander, the cavalrymen took action, packed up their tents, took care of their weapons and armor, fed their horses with water and food, and prepared to set off.

On a huge white stone by the river, Zhang Liang, with a frail figure and a haggard look, sat sideways, staring blankly at the gurgling river, with his chest half exposed, allowing a military doctor to clean his wounds and re-apply medicine.

A tall, dark-faced, middle-aged general with a pair of fierce eyes stood by the river with a sword in his hand, looking at Zhang Liang's sickly appearance with a worried look on his face.

However, he was the first general under Liu Bang in the Han camp to be awarded a high title - Yong Chi, who was granted the title of Marquis of Shifang by Liu Bang.

This was a smart man with a lot of ideas. Knowing that he had the original sin of betraying Liu Bang, he fought bravely and fearlessly after surrendering to Liu Bang again. He was usually cautious and prudent, not daring to make any mistakes.

Because he had a clear understanding of himself, Yong Chi never thought about being granted a title of nobility. His goal all along was to gain more military merits and avoid being killed by Liu Bang later. It was enough for him to save his life and family.

He was unexpectedly conferred the title, and learned that it was Zhang Liang's remonstrance to Liu Bang, so he was grateful to Zhang Liang. Therefore, Liu Bang specially sent him to escort Zhang Liang back to Hanzhong to recuperate, and he really served Zhang Liang meticulously along the way. This also shows that Liu Bang really cared about Zhang Liang.

After treating the wound and re-bandaging it, the military doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed to Zhang Liang tremblingly, and stepped down from the big white stone with the medicine box.

"Wait!" Just as the doctor bowed to him and turned to return to the barracks, Yong Chi shouted coldly, "Let me ask you, why is the military advisor's injury always the same day after day, with no improvement? You bastard, can you cure the military advisor?"

Yong Chi was also a brave general who had fought for many years and killed countless enemies with his decisiveness. He glared at Huan with murderous intent and shouted coldly, almost frightening the doctor to death.

"Master Military Advisor's wound is festering. Although he takes medicine every day, dead muscles still keep appearing. As long as the medicine can work, dead muscles will no longer appear, and recovery will be not far away." The doctor said with his hands in his sleeves, his throat moving, and a sad face.

Yong Chi was furious: "When will the medicine take effect?"

Zhang Liang sniffed the chest and found that even after applying medicine and bandaging, there was still a faint stench coming from it. His heart turned cold and he waved his hand and said, "Don't scold him. Life and death are in the hands of God. How can we force it? We can't force it, and we can't wrongly accuse others."

As he spoke, Zhang Liang waved his hand and asked two maids standing behind him, holding cloth and earthenware basins, to fetch water for him to wash. He turned his head and looked east again, and said worriedly, "I don't know how the current Han-Chu war is going. It stands to reason that with General Han Xin in charge of the military strategy, there won't be any accidents, but I always feel a little uneasy."

"Military advisor, don't think about the military situation right now. Think more about your own injuries." Yong Chi stamped his feet, frowning.

Zhang Liang's injury was not getting better every day, but was getting worse. If he died on the road before being sent back to Hanzhong, wouldn't Liu Bang be furious? Wouldn't he also be convicted and be afraid that his newly conferred title of marquis would be stripped away?

On the fields of the east, a series of rapid horse hoof sounds came from afar, breaking the dead silence of the early morning. A horse galloped towards them like an arrow, tearing through the autumn wind.

Yong Chi turned his head suddenly like a frightened tiger or wolf, and only felt relieved when he saw that the knight was dressed in Han army uniform and was alone. Several cavalrymen in the camp had already ridden to meet them, and several scouts were scattered around to patrol the surroundings.

Yong Chi had served in the army for many years and was able to make repeated military achievements even though Liu Bang did not like him. Not only was he personally brave, but he was also very good at commanding the army.

Not long after, two cavalrymen half escorted and half led the cavalryman to Zhang Liang and Yong Chi.

The two of them found him familiar, a cavalry guard beside Liu Bang. His face was weather-beaten, and his leather armor was covered with a layer of yellow dust, which made him look quite embarrassed. It was obvious that he had been in a hurry.

"But has there been an unexpected change in the war with Da Chu?" Zhang Liang's pale face flushed. With the help of the maid, he stood up and asked anxiously.

The knight saw that Zhang Liang looked extremely ill and was struggling to get up so anxiously. Fearing that Zhang Liang would die from excitement, he hurriedly took out a small clay pot from his arms and explained his purpose.

It was Liu Bang who got the secret recipe for the "poison-clearing medicine" and immediately sent his guards on horseback to deliver it to Zhang Liang after the successful distillation. As for the Han-Chu war, it had not yet begun when the cavalry set out.

Upon hearing the escort cavalry say that this "detoxifying medicine" had miraculous effects, especially for external injuries, Yong Chi was overjoyed and hurriedly called a doctor to treat Zhang Liang immediately.

Zhang Liang had a solemn expression. He stood up straight and bowed several times solemnly towards the direction of the Han army camp in the east where Liu Bang was.

After the worship, the doctor, with the help of the cavalryman, unwrapped Zhang Liang's wound and cleaned it with "detoxifying medicine".

The "detoxifying medicine" was applied on the rotten and slightly smelly wound. Zhang Liang bit a piece of cloth tightly in his mouth. He was shaking violently in pain, the veins on his neck were throbbing, and his handsome face was instantly covered with beads of sweat. He almost fainted.

Yong Chi was so shocked that he almost pulled out the sword in his hand to kill the cavalryman on the spot.

The escort cavalry had obviously been trained by Chen Ping on the use of the "detoxifying medicine". With his assistance, the doctor cut off Zhang Liang's rotten flesh, then cleaned it with the "detoxifying medicine", applied the medicine, and bandaged it.

In order to relieve the pain and divert attention, Zhang Liang carefully asked the cavalry what latest information Chen Ping had learned about the Chu camp.

After the re-bandaging was completed, both the soldiers and doctors, as well as Yong Chi who was standing next to them, were exhausted from the busy work.

After seeing off the cavalryman and returning to the Han camp, Zhang Liang felt that the "detoxifying medicine" seemed to be quite effective. The pain from the wound was actually greatly reduced.

Forcefully cheering himself up, Zhang Liang stood up, turned to Yong Chi and said solemnly, "General Yong, let's not go back to Hanzhong for now, but head to Shouchun to meet General Lu Ze."

Yong Chi was greatly shocked.

Zhang Liang's face showed a trace of bitterness, and he sighed:
"According to the information obtained by Captain Chen, Xiang Chang not only refined this 'poison-clearing medicine', but also implemented the 'Qin military merit system' in the Chu army camp. This boy has a lot of ambitions and strategies. The King of Han is not paying enough attention to him. I'm afraid it will be difficult to destroy Chu in one fell swoop. The two armies will inevitably enter the battle of Chenggao."

After a pause, Zhang Liang said with emotion,
"Once we are facing each other, it will be a battle of logistics. The Han army doesn't have to worry about the supply of military supplies, but the Chu army can only get its military supplies from one place, the land of Chu."

"Chu currently has General Lu Ze in charge, assisted by generals such as Chen Xi and Gu Feng, and 50,000 soldiers and horses under his command. We don't have to worry. The military advisor should focus on recuperating from his injuries." Yong Chi said hesitantly.

Zhang Liang shook his head: "The Chu camp knows that Chu is now under the control of the Han Dynasty, so who will they send to conquer Chu and collect military supplies?"

Yong Chi lowered his head and thought for a moment before his face changed. He blurted out, "Xiang Chang kid?!"

"It must be him! This kid is thoughtful, strategic, domineering and decisive. If he goes to Chu, where he was born, he will be like a fish in water and General Lu Ze will have trouble dealing with him." Zhang Liang looked up in the southeast direction of Gaixia City of the Great Chu, his eyes flashing with wisdom. "I will go there and have a good fight with him! Let's see if he can turn the situation in the old Chu land around again like he did in Gaixia City, or whether the old Chu land will become his burial place. Captain Chen used the soldiers' mouths to tell me the information he had gathered about the Great Chu, and it was obviously this intention."

(End of this chapter)