Upon hearing this, Mei Xuan was overjoyed. The shield formation was excellent; it was less likely to cause friendly fire and was perfect for countering Xiang Yu!
Hundreds of shield soldiers immediately charged towards Xiang Yu, forming a dense formation as they ran, one after another.
As long as Xiang Yu is surrounded, his space for movement can be gradually compressed, and eventually he can be squeezed out with the shield.
However, Xiang Yu was a veteran of countless battles, and these tactics were already something he had already used before.
Before the shield formation was complete, Xiang Yu had already fought his way out. There were many other types of soldiers in the courtyard besides the shield soldiers. Even against shield soldiers, he could easily sweep away up to ten of them with a single halberd strike.
Xiang Yu moved with lightning speed, targeting areas with few shield-bearers to kill. He leaped across rooftops and walls, giving the enemy no chance to encircle him with shield formations.
As the fighting continued, another general arrived from the street. His warhorse was strong and jet black, somewhat resembling the black horse Wuzhui, except for the white hooves.
"Kill!" Xiang Yu charged toward the horse.
The poor officer hadn't even figured out what was going on when Xiang Yu killed him with a single blow of his halberd, snatched his mount, and rode away.
Mei Xuan looked at the pursuing barbarian soldiers with despair in his eyes. Even if Xiang Yu didn't have him as a human shield, these good-for-nothings probably wouldn't be able to hurt Xiang Yu at all.
He can move so nimbly while carrying a strong man weighing over 300 pounds on his back. If he didn't have this burden, he would be able to fly to the heavens!
Xiang Yu spurred his horse and galloped straight towards the east gate of Tongling, crushing all those who tried to block his way.
With the city gate right in front of him, Xiang Yu swung his halberd and smashed it against the bolt.
Snap! Bang!
The bolts, as thick as a human head and wrapped in copper sheets, bent and snapped instantly, and the two large gates flew out of the city.
"Charge! Help King Xiang annihilate the enemy!" Ji Xin saw the city gate was gone from afar and immediately raised his halberd and charged out, with the Chu soldiers behind him all fighting bravely.
Xiang Yu turned his horse around and charged back into the city, shouting, "I am Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu! Who dares to fight me!"
Chapter 77 The Decisive Battle of Jiujiang (Part Six)
Conley stared dumbfounded at the city gate that Xiang Yu had blasted open with a single blow. Was this even human? Or was he a god?
"I, I, I surrender!" When Conley saw Xiang Yu coming towards him, he lost all courage to run away. He threw down his weapon and ordered the surrender.
At this time, although Ji Xin's Chu army had not yet stormed into the city, the shouts of battle had already reached them, creating a very powerful atmosphere.
How to judge the strength of the enemy under the cover of night?
The shouts of battle are perhaps the most direct indicator; when tens of thousands of people shout together, the sound can terrify even the most timid person.
"We surrender!" One after another, the barbarian soldiers laid down their weapons.
Those who did not want to surrender to Xiang Yu hurriedly fled through other city gates, showing no intention of staying to fight to the death.
After all, General Mei Xuan was captured, Kang Sheng died in battle, Kang Li surrendered, and the remaining small fry were not so loyal to Wu Rui. They all wanted to make a fortune in Jiangdong and were extremely afraid of losing their lives.
When Ji Xin entered the city, Xiang Yu had already taken control of the situation. All that remained was to incorporate these soldiers and imprison those who did not want to join the Chu army.
Killing them is out of the question. These are all able-bodied young men. Keeping them as slaves or selling them for money, or even releasing them to win people's hearts, is better than killing them directly.
People are the primary productive force. The ancients understood this principle, they just didn't say it that way. Without people developing, everything else is nonsense.
"King Xiang." Ji Xin's face was full of fervor. He was also a fierce general, and his martial arts were even better than Ji Bu's, but he knew that even ten of him couldn't accomplish this task.
In fact, Ji Xin brought a small number of troops, many of whom were civilian laborers. Their ability to defend the city was barely adequate, but they might not be able to defeat the enemy army in a siege or a direct confrontation.
Xiang Yu nodded slightly. "General Ji, I'll leave things here to you. The main force of the Han army may cross the river tomorrow. I'll go to the Wuhu riverbank defense line to take a look first."
"Yes, Your Majesty! Rest assured, I will not fail in my duty to fulfill Your Majesty's instructions," Ji Xin said, bowing.
"Good. Mei Xuan's leg is injured. Bandage him up. If he wants to die, then grant his wish." After saying this, Xiang Yu untied the ropes and threw Mei Xuan to the ground, then spurred his horse toward the east gate.
"Here you go!"
...
The next day, just as Lü Ze and Zhou Bo were about to give the order to cross the river, Wu Rui's fleet rushed over in a great hurry.
"Generals, hold your attack! Last night, Xiang Yu led his army to recapture Tongling!" Wu Rui was heartbroken and filled with lingering fear. If he had gone to Tongling to rest last night, he would probably be Xiang Yu's prisoner now.
"Tongling has been taken back by Xiang Yu?!" Zhou Bo exclaimed in shock.
"Huh? Your Highness just said who's leading the army?" Lü Ze picked at his ear, he must have misheard!
"Alas! It's Xiang Yu! The soldiers who escaped said that Xiang Yu captured Mei Xuan alive, smashed the city gates, and his deputy surrendered with his troops. My army has lost more than half of its strength and is no longer able to attack the Chu army," Wu Rui sighed.
"Wasn't Xiang Yu trapped in Juchao? How did he end up in Tongling?" Zhou Bo asked, puzzled.
Lu Ze was also full of questions. "Yes, could it be that the soldiers made a mistake? Or is there someone in the Chu army impersonating Xiang Yu?"
Wu Rui also had doubts, so she asked many people to confirm repeatedly. There were a few points of doubt, but Xiang Yu could be impersonated, but the strength of this person could not be faked. If the Chu army had another general as fierce as Xiang Yu, wouldn't that be even more disastrous?
"I've asked many people, including one who guards Mei Juan's gate. According to him, Xiang Yu suddenly appeared at Mei Juan's residence, as if he had fallen from the sky. Xiang Yu ordered Mei Juan to surrender with his army, but Mei Juan not only refused to surrender, but also ordered his troops to surround Xiang Yu. As a result, Xiang Yu tied up Mei Juan and fought his way out of the encirclement. No one could stop him."
“Xiang Yu couldn’t possibly have flown, could he? He must have sneaked in from the outside, but Mei Xuan’s guards were not protecting him well enough, and Xiang Yu took advantage of the situation.” Zhou Bo felt that Wu Rui wouldn’t make things up like this.
"Now is not the time to discuss how Xiang Yu captured Mei Xuan. If Xiang Yu wasn't in Juchao, but on the other side of the river, would we still cross the river to fight according to the original plan?" Wu Rui shrugged.
“Crossing the river is already disadvantageous for our army. Now, without the support of the barbarian troops, we are at risk of being attacked by Xiang Yu while crossing the river. We should first inform the King of Han and the strategist about this matter,” Zhou Bo suggested.
Lu Ze nodded slightly. "Send the order down: halt the army's crossing of the river! Quickly send someone to inform the King of Han that Xiang Yu has recaptured Tongling, and double-check whether anyone broke through the siege last night, and whether Xiang Yu is still in Juchao!"
"What about General Cao and the Prince of Huainan?" Wu Rui knew that the three armies had agreed to cross the river together today. Lü Ze's side had paused, which would have put the other two armies in a difficult position.
Lu Ze frowned. "I'll ask you to go and inform General Cao. As for the King of Huainan, he's too far away to notify in time. Let them cross the river according to the original plan. Anyway, even if Xiang Yu is in Jiangnan, he's still in the Tongling-Wuhu area. If the King of Huainan can open up a situation in Guangling, making Xiang Yu unable to attend to both ends, that would be good."
"The General is right. I will go and inform General Cao immediately." Wu Rui said, cupping his hands in greeting, and then strode back to the ship.
Zhou Bo rubbed his chin. "General, why don't we send some scouts to the other side to investigate? Ideally, they should be people who have seen Xiang Yu before."
"General Zhou is right, and that's exactly what I was planning." Lü Ze looked across the river. He had mixed feelings. He hoped that Xiang Yu was in Juchao, he hoped that the person on the other side was Xiang Yu, and he even hoped that Xiang Yu had secretly broken through the encirclement from Juchao last night, crossed the river, captured Tongling, and then secretly returned to Juchao, still within their encirclement!
But then again, neither of the above answers would be good news for them.
If Xiang Yu were still in Juchao, it would mean that another powerful general with the strength of a hegemon had emerged in Jiangnan, and crossing the river to fight would probably not be so easy.
But if it is indeed Xiang Yu on the other side, then who is surrounding Juchao? And facing the riverbank guarded by Xiang Yu, is it still possible to cross the river?
What if we reach the other side? Mei Xuan has already lost...
But if it's the third scenario, where Xiang Yu seizes Tongling and then returns to Juchao, that would be even more terrifying. It would mean that Xiang Yu could come and go from Juchao at will, comparable to the ability to fly or escape into the earth!
Does that mean you can kill whoever you want and capture whoever you want?
Actually, there is a fourth possibility, but Lü Ze never wanted this answer in the first place: if the person trapped in Juchao and the person who seized Tongling were not Xiang Yu, then where would Xiang Yu be? It's terrifying to think about!
"Ah!" Lu Ze exclaimed and turned around.
Zhou Bo withdrew his hand from Lü Ze's shoulder in surprise. "General, are you alright? I'll arrange for the scouts to go to the other side."
"Ah, it's alright, you can handle this matter." Lu Ze calmed himself down; he had just thought Xiang Yu had arrived.
"Here you go."
...
South of Guangling, on the riverbank, at Guazhou Pavilion Ferry.
Ying Bu and Cheng Hei each led 20,000 troops to gather here, preparing to cross the Yangtze River.
Crossing the river to fight was originally a very dangerous thing, but with Xiang Yu trapped in Juchao and the main forces of the Han army, the main forces of the Qi army, and the main forces of the Fan army all coming out at the same time, crossing the river from Guangling became a safe and easy way to gain merit.
This is similar to when Xiang Yu fought the main Qin army at Julu, while Liu Ji led his army to steal Xianyang. Perhaps they could have swept through the enemy lines and occupied most of Kuaiji Commandery, which would have been a great achievement.
Even though Ying Bu had already been enfeoffed as the King of Huainan, he could still make a considerable fortune by occupying these cities.
Cheng Hei's imagination ran wilder. What if the King of Han was in a good mood and bestowed upon him the title of King of Jiangdong?
Therefore, after Shen Tu Jia secured the ferry and rafts, he was assigned to stay in Jiangbei and work with several other deputy generals to besiege the city.
Ying Bu and Cheng Hei judged that the Chu army in Guangling City was not large, but its fighting strength should not be underestimated, which is why they left nearly 40,000 troops behind.
The forces for crossing the river were somewhat insufficient, but part of the Chu army's elite troops were on the north bank of the river, and another part was also needed to defend the main force of the Han army on the west. It was very likely that the forces defending the Huainan army and the Zhao army were mostly new soldiers and laborers, and their numbers were not many.
Therefore, Ying Bu and Cheng Hei's 40,000 troops might not necessarily fail; whether they can succeed or not will be known after the battle.
"Send the order! The crossing operation begins!" Ying Bu waved his hand.
"Begin crossing the river!" Cheng Hei shouted with high spirits.
The Huainan and Zhao army soldiers, who were already prepared, set sail in their boats and headed straight for the south bank. The river was densely packed with ferries and rafts.
At this moment, Zhang Ning, the garrison commander on the south bank of the Yangtze River, began to breathe heavily, for he only had five thousand elite soldiers and five thousand laborers under his command, totaling a mere ten thousand men.
It's impossible to hold out, but we must do our best to buy time.
"All troops, prepare for battle!" Zhang Ning roared.
"Yes! Yes..." The Chu soldiers answered in different voices, some loud and some soft, clearly all shocked by the enemy's momentum.
Zhang Ning realized this wouldn't do; the fight hadn't even started and they were already backing down. He had to come up with a solution...
“Huh…” Zhang Ning suddenly remembered that Xiang Yu had told him how to boost morale when they met before. He remembered the phrases he had used, but he had almost forgotten them because he was nervous just now. Fortunately, he was prepared.
Thinking of this, Zhang Ning decisively took out a scroll of silk from his bosom, read it, took a deep breath, and shouted with all his might.
"Soldiers! The time has come to defend Jiangdong and protect our homeland! If we cannot hold it, the elderly, women, and children of Jiangdong will suffer! Although the enemy has many troops, they are in the water. Our army will surely win a great victory by attacking them while they are crossing the river! For the people of Jiangdong! For our families! We must fight to the death! Defend Jiangdong!"
"Defend Jiangdong!" the Chu soldiers shouted in unison.
"Defend our homeland!" Seeing the positive effect, Zhang Ning's confidence soared, and he shouted even more enthusiastically.
"Defend our homeland!" The Chu army's voices grew louder and louder, and were perfectly synchronized.
"For the people! For my family!" Zhang Ning shouted hoarsely, waving his arms.
"For the people! For my family!"
"Fight to the death!"
...
As the Chu soldiers and laborers shouted, they became less afraid, while the Huainan and Zhao armies in the river gradually became more apprehensive.
Such a force must be elite!
However, even if the enemy on the other side were all elite Chu troops, the Huainan army and the Zhao army would not back down. The strength of the two sides would only be known after the battle.
Soon, the fastest ship had entered the range of the crossbows.