Xiang Yu deflected the feathers from his impenetrable halberd wielding and decisively abandoned the pursuit of Han Xin, breaking through towards the fortified position.
With his helmet askew and armor askew, Han Xin stopped, panting heavily. "Xiang Yu is indeed brave and invincible, but it's too late to break through now. I will be the ultimate victor!"
At this moment, the two hundred Chu cavalrymen who had broken through the encirclement encountered Han Xin's cavalry who had charged back.
Although they had already taken down some Qi cavalry with a volley of fire before the two armies clashed, it was still not easy to quickly eliminate these Qi troops.
After all, these cavalrymen were handpicked by Han Xin. They were not skilled in advanced combat techniques such as archery, but they were quite good at horsemanship and spear fighting. They fought and retreated, always blocking the route of the Chu cavalry back to the fortress.
Moreover, some Han cavalry have already rushed to the rescue from afar. If they can hold out for just a moment longer, Xiang Yu and his two hundred cavalry will be surrounded and killed outside the fortifications!
Han Xin smiled coldly. It was a pity that Xiang Yu was too arrogant. If an elite cavalry force had come out of the city to meet these two hundred riders, they might have had a chance to escape back to the fortress.
Zhang Liang also arrived at a place where he could see the battle. He squinted and kept tugging at his beard. His intuition told him that Xiang Yu must have a backup plan. However, the current situation meant that his plan was about to succeed. At most, Xiang Yu could only manage to retreat into the fortified camp, but there was no way he could close the camp gate in time.
Hao Jiu also had this doubt in his heart. He did not know what arrangements Xiang Yu had made inside the fortified walls, but he was sure that the fortified walls would not be breached by the Qi-Han allied forces in one battle. Otherwise, why would there be any need for the song of Chu on all sides?
At that moment, a furious roar echoed across the battlefield.
"Get out of here! Who told you to wait for me! Return to the fortress! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
Xiang Yu spurred his horse and charged towards the Chu cavalry in the battle.
It turns out that the Chu cavalry were not unable to break through the defenses of the less than two hundred Qi cavalry, but were waiting for Xiang Yu.
In fact, Han Xin's order to the two hundred cavalrymen was to hold Xiang Yu back at all costs. As long as Xiang Yu could not return to the fortress, the gates of the Chu army's fortress would not be closed.
As for the two hundred Chu cavalrymen, if they wanted to abandon Xiang Yu and run away, so be it; Han Xin didn't care at all.
However, Xiang Yu's order was precisely to let the Chu cavalry go first and ignore him. Cherishing his soldiers could be considered both Xiang Yu's strength and weakness. Even when it came to the point where he had to risk his life, Xiang Yu would choose to lead the charge.
With such a brave and courageous commander, it is no wonder that the Chu army achieved such incredible victories in the Battle of Julu and the Battle of Pengcheng.
Upon hearing Xiang Yu's command and seeing him approaching from afar, the Chu cavalry abandoned their plan to annihilate the Qi cavalry and charged towards the gate of the fortified camp. They then turned around and unleashed another volley of arrows.
Of course, it would be too difficult to hit them in this situation, and they could only gamble on luck. The Qi army was not so reckless as to leave their backs to the Chu cavalry.
At this point, the Han cavalry were not far from the gate, even closer than Xiang Yu was to the gate of the fortified camp.
Xiang Yu was blocked by more than a hundred Qi cavalrymen. Although many of them were wounded, about fifty of them were still in good fighting condition.
It wasn't difficult for Xiang Yu to kill a hundred enemy soldiers by himself; the difficulty lay in the fact that he didn't have much time left. At this moment, he had to race against time to rush into the fortifications and close the camp gates before the Han cavalry arrived.
"Kill!" Xiang Yu pierced through a brave Qi army junior officer with his halberd, then bent over and swung it forward.
Bang!
"ah!"
The corpse crashed heavily onto another soldier, and both bodies fell to the ground simultaneously.
"Kill Xiang Yu and you'll be enfeoffed as a marquis with ten thousand households! Charge! Xiang Yu is only one man! Stop him!" Another Qi army junior officer saw how brave Xiang Yu was and that no one else dared to go forward. He was immediately anxious and hurriedly repeated the matter of the reward.
They charged forward in groups of three, five, and ten, but they couldn't stop Xiang Yu in the slightest.
Xiang Yu, wielding his halberd, charged into the enemy ranks, dashing left and right. Wherever he went, Qi soldiers fell from their horses, some dead and others maimed.
"Overlord! Overlord! Overlord!"
"Invincible! Invincible! Invincible!"
...
The Chu soldiers on the ramparts shouted encouragement to Xiang Yu, believing that if Xiang Yu could return safely to the ramparts, it would be a great victory.
The encirclement continued, with several elite Qi soldiers simultaneously thrusting at Xiang Yu from various directions. This was an opportunity the Qi army had painstakingly gained to encircle him, and with so many spears attacking at the same time, surely one of them would hit him!
However, at this moment, Xiang Yu gripped the end of the halberd with one hand and swept it horizontally and then backhand, taking advantage of his speed, strength and weapon length to strike first despite being behind!
Click! Click! Click...
Puff! Puff! Puff...
Blood splattered across the sky, spears snapped, and men perished!
With a neigh, the black horse leaped into the air, bursting through the gaps between several ownerless warhorses, breaking through once again, leaving both the Qi and Han armies dumbfounded.
"Those who block my way shall die!!!" Xiang Yu roared, his voice shaking the heavens!
Chapter 13 The Battle of Gaixia (Part 6)
Wherever Xiang Yu looked, the enemy soldiers all paled. However, he could not disobey the military orders of King Han Xin of Qi. He had no choice but to risk his life or his entire family to buy time.
At this moment, the Qi cavalry besieging Xiang Yu had less than twenty riders left. These Qi soldiers fought and retreated, which could only slow down Xiang Yu's pace, but could not harm him at all. Even Xiang Yu's black horse, Wuzhui, was not harmed in the slightest.
The Qi army junior officer gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe Xiang Yu is that strong! Everyone, listen to my command, throw your spears together! Ready, fire!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
More than a dozen spears flew towards Xiang Yu almost simultaneously, but his horse Wuzhui instantly changed direction and dodged most of them. The rest were easily blocked by Xiang Yu with his halberd. His martial arts skills, reaction speed, and horsemanship were simply unmatched and unparalleled in the world!
Xiang Yu glanced at the positions of the Han army on the east and west sides out of the corner of his eye, then suddenly accelerated and charged past the group of unarmed Qi cavalry. He killed several more men as he passed by, and the camp gate was not far ahead.
However, the best horsemen and fastest riders among the Han cavalry had already blocked Xiang Yu's path.
"Xiang Yu, don't even think about it... Ah!"
Before the best-riding Han cavalryman could finish speaking, he fell from his horse and became a corpse, frightening the cavalrymen behind him who tightened their reins.
"Fools! What are you all standing there for! Quickly surround Xiang Yu and don't let him escape!" Chen He roared from afar.
Kong Cong also organized cavalry to form a battle formation to surround and kill Xiang Yu, as sending them one by one would only lead to their deaths.
In reality, the cavalry in Kong Cong and Chen He's armies were all officers, not actual cavalry, because their armies were originally responsible for attacking cities, so bringing cavalry would have been useless.
Zhang Liang's plan was devised on the spur of the moment, so naturally he wouldn't have prepared cavalry in advance. However, if he were to openly send two cavalry units over, it would be too obvious to break the agreement and surround and kill Xiang Yu.
Fortunately, Xiang Yu did not bring many troops this time. Kong Cong and Chen He each sent two hundred cavalry officers to hold off Xiang Yu for a while. As long as they could hold out until the main infantry force reached the camp gate, everything would be fine.
However, because the generals and officers had varying horsemanship skills, some were fast and some were slow, they could not immediately form a situation where two hundred surrounded one. They could only hold off Xiang Yu in groups of three or five, and then launch an encirclement and kill him after the main force arrived.
When Xiang Yu discovered that the enemy consisted entirely of officers and generals, he was no longer in a hurry to break through. He wanted to kill as many as possible, as these were the backbone of Kong and Chen's armies.
"Take it or leave it," Xiang Yu said, swinging his halberd and charging into battle. In a short time, dozens of the two hundred Han soldiers were killed, not much different from Han Xin's cavalry. It seemed that they were all being slaughtered at Xiang Yu's will.
Swoosh...
A stray arrow came flying, and as Xiang Yu dodged it, he reached out with his left hand to catch it, then threw it at another Han soldier not far away.
puff!
"ah!"
The arrow struck him squarely in the face, and the Han army junior officer fell from his horse.
"Hold on!" Chen He had just shouted when he suddenly realized that Xiang Yu's gaze had locked onto him. He was so frightened that he turned his horse and fled.
Fortunately, Kong Cong had already gathered more than a hundred cavalry officers and soldiers, and finally had the confidence to confront Xiang Yu head-on.
Instead of breaking through head-on, Xiang Yu tried to bypass the formation of a hundred cavalrymen and kill some isolated Han generals and officers.
Kong Cong was not about to let Xiang Yu bypass him. He led his troops to follow Xiang Yu as he moved, but they could not help but retreat towards the camp gate.
Seeing this, Han Xin finally understood one thing: using a thousand men to surround and kill Xiang Yu was far from enough. What else could such bravery be called if not being able to defeat ten thousand men?
Zhang Liang was becoming increasingly calm. Although Kong Cong and Chen He could not kill Xiang Yu, they should be able to hold out until the main forces of the two armies reached the camp gate. The attack on the fortified camp was a foregone conclusion, unless the Chu army was determined to lock Xiang Yu out now, but was that possible?
Xiang Bo was stamping his feet anxiously on the city wall. "Quickly prepare to close the camp gates! The Han army is about to charge! If we don't close the gates, we'll all die!"
"Xiang Zuo Yin, what do you mean by that? Do you mean to lock King Xiang out?" A junior officer from the Chu army beside him asked coldly.
Xiang Bo was furious. "Don't talk nonsense! I am Xiang Yu's uncle. How could I harm him? I said I was going to close the gate! Besides, even if we really close it, Xiang Yu is the only one left outside. We can just throw a rope down and he can climb back up. There's no need to put everyone at risk!"
"No need for Xiang Zuo Yin to worry. The camp gate has been occupied by the two hundred cavalrymen who just withdrew. Whether to close or open it is up to King Xiang. All men, ascend the city walls and prepare for battle. If the Han army dares to approach, fire upon them! Those who cannot fit on the walls, go to the inner camp and form ranks. This is King Xiang's order!" Ji Bu waved his hand.
"The inner camp?" Xiang Bo turned around and saw that the five-zhang-wide trench that had been dug overnight was already full of soldiers. Were they planning to defend the trench?
Yes, the ditch is ten feet deep, and with the soil dug out of it, the north bank of the ditch is nearly two feet high, almost as high as the outer wall of the fortifications.
Why did Xiang Yu arrange things this way? He could have...
Xiang Bo's expression suddenly changed drastically upon thinking of this. "Absolutely not! We absolutely cannot let the Han army break through the fortifications!"
When Xiang Yu saw that the main force of the Han infantry was about to reach the camp gate, he suddenly unleashed a more powerful fighting force than before, charging directly through the hundred Han cavalry officers blocking the way, killing several more in the process.
Kong Cong and Chen He led their troops in a rapid pursuit, but the main infantry force had already reached the camp gate, only to be killed by a volley of arrows from the Chu army.
However, everyone knew that when Xiang Yu rushed to the vicinity of the camp gate, the Chu army archers would not dare to fire arrows easily, and by following closely behind Xiang Yu, they could take the opportunity to rush into the fortified camp.
"Ignore the gate, mount your horses and head east immediately!" Xiang Yu shouted to the two hundred elite Chu cavalry guarding the camp gate.
"Yes, sir!" The cavalrymen immediately abandoned their posts at the camp gate and headed east.
In fact, the area enclosed by the outer wall of the Chu army's fortifications at Gaixia was quite large; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to accommodate so many soldiers.
"Follow Xiang Yu and charge in!" Kong Cong was overjoyed; the strategist's plan had succeeded!
"Continue the pursuit of Xiang Yu!" Chen He gave the order.
"Charge in!" Ding Fu led the Qi army and rushed over.
"kill!"
...
At this moment, Xiang Yu ignored the pursuing soldiers behind him, wielded his halberd to knock away all the enemy soldiers blocking his way, and rushed into the fortified camp.
Then, the Chu army rained down arrows and stones on the enemy troops who were trying to rush into the camp.
However, with the gates of the fortified camp wide open, the overwhelming force of the Qi-Han allied army was unstoppable, continuously pouring into the Chu army's fortified camp.
"Kill them!"
"Charge!"
...
"Hahaha... We've charged in!" Liu Ji came to Zhang Liang's side, his face full of excitement.
Zhang Liang frowned again. How could it be such a coincidence? If Xiang Yu had entered the fortification a moment earlier, the Chu army would have had a chance to close the gates. If he had entered a moment later, Xiang Yu might have been surrounded and killed outside the fortifications...
Han Xin's smile vanished. They broke in so easily? How could Xiang Yu have been unprepared inside the fortified walls!
After Xiang Yu charged into the ramparts, Hao Jiu leaped onto the ramparts and finally saw what was inside. "This is..."