"Wait! Xiang Yu is at the pontoon bridge, so the Tu Yi Bridge must be vulnerable. We should split our forces into two groups: one to reinforce the East Pontoon Bridge, and the other to retake the Tu Yi Bridge." Lü Matong did not believe that the defenders of the East Pontoon Bridge could stop Xiang Yu.
“I agree. They can’t really make a difference if they all go to Dongfu Bridge.” Lü Sheng suddenly felt that Lü Matong was indeed worthy of being Xiang Yu’s personal guard. Not only did he understand Xiang Yu very well, but he also had a good grasp of military tactics.
"Then let's not waste any more time. I will go to the East Floating Bridge with the two Generals Yang. We will not only defend the floating bridge, but also keep Xiang Yu occupied. The two Generals Lü, please take the trouble to recapture the Tu Yi Bridge. Perhaps we can meet up at the Tu Yi Bridge. Let's go!" Wang Yi waved his hand.
"Let's go!" Yang happy had no reason to object; he had originally intended to go to Dongfu Bridge.
Yang Wu cupped his hands in greeting to Lü Sheng and Lü Matong, and then led his troops to set off.
After returning the greeting, Lü Matong and Lü Sheng led their troops to Tuyi Bridge. In his opinion, Dongfu Bridge was basically lost, but if he and Lü Sheng acted quickly enough and arrived at Tuyi Bridge before Xiang Yu, there might still be hope of retaking the bridge.
With a bridge in hand, pursuing Xiang Yu tomorrow will be much easier.
At the East Floating Bridge, on the south bank, the Han army camp was filled with the deafening sounds of battle!
More than 3,000 Han soldiers were squeezed into a small area around the south bridgehead. Unlike Liu Mang, the defending general Han Yong did not choose to flee, but chose to fight to the death.
"Hold on! General Liu has already gone to request reinforcements!" Han Yong didn't know when Liu Mang would be able to call for reinforcements, but if they wanted to hold the bridge, they had no choice but to take a gamble.
Without fortifications, he used the corpses of fallen soldiers to build them, while he himself, along with a few personal guards, blocked the south end of the bridge. Anyone who dared to escape would have their head chopped off.
Fortunately, Xiang Yu's army didn't seem to be very large, which allowed the situation to gradually stabilize.
Initially, Xiang Yu only led about 500 cavalry to pursue the enemy. After all, it would take time for the main army to cross the bridge. If he waited until there were more people, he probably wouldn't be able to catch up with the enemy who were fleeing on horseback.
However, as Xiang Yu pursued, small groups of Chu troops would occasionally arrive to reinforce him.
By the time the Chu army had amassed two thousand cavalry, the enemy had already formed ranks and reinforced their defenses.
Xiang Yu couldn't help but think highly of the bridge's commander, but that was all. He admired him, but he still had to kill him. On the battlefield, mercy to the enemy is cruelty to one's own people. The reason Xiang Yu didn't seize the bridge in one fell swoop was because he valued his soldiers.
With a bridge already in hand and the entire army successfully retreating to Huainan, it would be somewhat unworthy to expend a considerable amount of resources just to quickly seize the pontoon bridge.
The key question is, after Xiang Yu led 500 cavalry to seize the pontoon bridge, what should be done with the thousands of Han soldiers south of the bridge?
Completely annihilating this enemy force wouldn't be of much use, and taking prisoners and accepting their surrender would be a burden. Keeping them alive wouldn't provide enough food, and killing them would be seen as killing surrendered soldiers. Releasing them would be unfair to the Chu soldiers who had been wounded or killed in this battle. What's the point?
However, the defending general Han Yong was clearly mistaken. He thought that Xiang Yu was blocked by them and could not break through their defenses. As a result, he became overconfident and missed the best opportunity to retreat.
When Xiang Han arrived with the last wave of reinforcements, the Chu army had amassed 3,000 cavalry at Dongfu Bridge, all of whom were elite soldiers, true Jiangdong natives.
Why were Xiang Yu's eight thousand Jiangdong soldiers so strong?
Because they were all personally taught by Xiang Yu.
Without real skill, how could Xiang Yu have won with fewer troops?
In the past, Song Yi, as the supreme general of Chu, led his army to relieve Julu. He stayed in Anyang for forty-six days without advancing his troops. Xiang Yu used this time to give his eight thousand Jiangdong soldiers a qualitative leap in combat effectiveness.
After the baptism of the Battle of Julu, those who survived became the elite of the elite. While not all of them were top soldiers, they were at least equivalent to modern special forces.
"Since we're not going to run, let's stay here. All archers, prepare! Fire at full power!" Xiang Yu commanded.
Three thousand bows, three thousand arrows, drew three thousand graceful arcs, accurately striking the enemy's heads, eliciting endless screams.
After a volley of arrows, Han Yong's army immediately collapsed and fell into chaos.
"Run! Another volley of arrows and we'll all die!"
"Quickly retreat to the north side of the bridge!"
"Hurry up, you guys! Haven't you eaten? You're running so slowly!"
"Anyone who dares to block my way, I'll kill them!"
...
"General, we must retreat! We can't hold out!" Han Yong's personal guard pleaded.
"Retreat!" Han Yong saw that if they continued to hold them off, the soldiers would mutini, and they really couldn't withstand the Chu army's arrow rain too fiercely!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The second wave of arrows is coming!
Puff puff puff...
Ahhh...
Han Yong originally wanted to maintain order during the retreat, but no one listened to him anymore. They pushed and shoved each other towards the north side of the bridge, wishing they could grow wings.
As the saying goes, if a tiger is chasing you, you'll run faster than a rabbit.
As it turned out, with Xiang Yu chasing behind, the man ran even faster, while those who ran slowly could not escape the fate of being pushed off the bridge and fed to the fish.
"Kill!" Xiang Yu, carrying his halberd, chased after them all the way to the pontoon bridge. He didn't know how many people the pontoon bridge could carry, but the bridge, which should have been floating on the water, was now completely submerged.
"Overlord, should we go back first? What if this pontoon bridge breaks?" Hao Jiu trembled as he listened to the mournful sound of the pontoon bridge.
"It's alright. Both Wuzhui and I can swim. I can't say we can cross the Yangtze River, but the Huai River should be no problem." As Xiang Yu spoke, he swept away several enemy soldiers with his halberd.
At the same time, Xiang Yu also noticed Han Yong, who was dressed as a general in front of him. The man was being supported by two people and seemed to be injured.
Actually, Han Yong wasn't injured. He was just a little dizzy from the swaying of the pontoon bridge, and he was afraid of water and couldn't swim.
"Hurry! Cross the bridge!" Han Yong glanced back. Xiang Yu was getting closer and closer. If this continued, Xiang Yu might catch up with him. He had to think of a way.
Got it!
"Those behind, throw your weapons immediately and kill Xiang Yu! He's only chasing after me alone!" Han Yong didn't care whether Xiang Yu was alone or not; he just said it anyway. What if some fool wanted to make a name for himself and went back to surround and kill Xiang Yu? Even delaying him for a few more breaths would be good.
Just then, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the north side of the bridge, exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
Xiang Yu sent men to encircle them from the north of the bridge? Han Yong was shocked, but he quickly realized that if Xiang Yu wanted to slaughter them, why would he need to go to such lengths?
"Haha! Brothers! Our reinforcements have arrived! Let's all follow this general and charge back!" Han Yong was quite certain that the army coming from the north was indeed reinforcements. General Liu Mang was indeed a man of his word.
However, apart from Han Yong and his two guards, the rest of them continued to desperately flee northward.
How could they not run? They had already thrown their weapons, but they hadn't even touched a hair on the black horse; they had all been blocked by Xiang Yu.
Han Yong also realized at this moment that although the reinforcements had arrived, they could not get onto the pontoon bridge at all. They had to get off the bridge before the reinforcements could get on.
"Quick! Get off the bridge!"
"As you wish." Xiang Yu rode up and swept Han Yong away with his halberd, killing one of his two guards instantly and seriously injuring the other.
"ah!"
Thump! Splash!
"Help! Help...me, there's nowhere to go, nowhere to go..." Han Yong gulped down the fish soup and kept splashing on the surface of the water, floating up and sinking, then floating up again. After repeating this several times, he finally sank completely. Maybe he'll float up again after soaking. Who cares?
Wang Yi, Yang happy, and Yang Wu rushed to the north side of the pontoon bridge. After finally squeezing through the crowd of defeated soldiers, they saw Xiang Yu standing on the north end of the bridge.
On the entire East Floating Bridge, Xiang Yu was the only one on horseback.
"It's Xiang Yu! Charge over and kill him!" Yang Xi exclaimed excitedly. Xiang Yu was all alone!
However, Xiang Yu calmly swung his halberd and cut the fixed wooden stake at the north end of the pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge slowly drifted away from the north bank under the influence of the water flow.
"Xiang Yu, don't run!" Wang Yi was extremely anxious when he saw the pontoon bridge being washed away.
"Enemy general, state your name and face death!" Xiang Yu sheathed his halberd.
"I am General Wang Yi! You coward Xiang Yu, do you dare to fight me... Ah!" Before Wang Yi could finish speaking, he felt a strong gust of wind rushing towards him.
Whoosh!
puff!
Bang!
Wang Yi was unable to dodge in time and died on the spot, falling heavily to the ground.
Yang happy and Yang Wu were so frightened that they turned their horses around and fled into the crowd. How terrifying was Xiang Yu, the Overlord!
Chapter 45 The Battle of the Huai River (Part 7)
Rumble rumble...
Lü Matong and Lü Sheng led their troops at full speed and finally arrived at Tuyi Bridge.
The military camp north of the bridge was deserted, with not a single person in sight, except for a bonfire burning brightly.
"Charge through in one go?" Although Lü Sheng felt something was amiss, he also thought that it was normal for the Chu army to abandon their camp and flee.
Lu Matong gritted his teeth and said, "Charge! The faster the better. We need to take the Tuyi Bridge as soon as possible while Xiang Yu is away. Four riders in each rank, two ranks from each of our armies, me on the left and you on the right, how about that?"
"Excellent! Let's do it that way. Order the army to form two columns, charge along the right side of the bridge, and seize it!"
"Order the army to form two columns, move to the left side of the bridge, and charge! Take this bridge!"
The two gave orders in succession, and the Han army immediately launched an attack on the south side of the bridge with tremendous force.
"Charge! Kill!"
...
Lü Sheng and Lü Matong exchanged a smile. The vanguard was about to cross the bridge, but the Chu army had not yet taken any effective measures.
"Haha, without Xiang Yu, the Chu army is really nothing to fear. It's truly heaven's help to us."
"Perhaps Xiang Yu took the main force with him. Although the Chu cavalry is good at attacking but not good at defending, they are by no means insignificant." Although Lü Matong betrayed Xiang Yu, he was once a member of the Chu army.
"Oh, Xiang Yu was really stupid. Wouldn't it have been simpler to just have someone set the bridge on fire?" Lü Sheng said disdainfully.
Upon hearing this, Lü Matong frowned. "That's not right. How could Xiang Yu not have thought of such a simple method as burning the bridge?"
Lu Sheng scoffed, "Look, the vanguard has already successfully crossed the bridge. The Chu army certainly didn't set fire to anything on the bridge. How do you explain that? Surely their hands didn't shake when they lit the fire?"
Watching the vanguard successfully cross the bridge, Lü Matong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, perhaps he had been overthinking it.
“When Chai Wu lost this bridge, he didn’t burn it, did he? Perhaps Xiang Yu never intended to burn the bridge; he wasn’t afraid of us chasing after him.”
"Hmph, I'd like to see if Xiang Yu is afraid this time. The whole army should cross the bridge immediately and join forces with Wang Yi and his troops to surround Xiang Yu!" Lü Sheng thought Xiang Yu was too arrogant, not taking them seriously at all, and not even bothering to burn the bridge?
"I hope so." Lu Matong suddenly had a feeling that things might not go too smoothly for Wang Yi.
Just then, a fire dragon suddenly appeared on the south bank.
The Han army junior officer who was the first to cross the bridge paled horribly. "An ambush... Ah!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...