For this reason, the three armies of Wang Yi, Yang Wu, and Lü Sheng were actually following Yang happy and Lü Matong not too far behind.
After meeting with Fan Kuai, Yang happy sent Lü Matong to Shuxian County, and then caught up with Fan Kuai himself. He was so frightened by Xiang Yu that both he and his men were terrified, and he barely escaped with his life.
Lü Matong did not go to Shuxian, but rested in place and waited for Wang Yi and the others. Then they marched quickly to catch up with Yang Xi, but instead encountered Yang happy's defeated army and learned of Fan Kuai's defeat.
Shocked, Wang Yi and the others frantically pursued Xiang Yu. They knew that Xiang Yu was about to reach the riverbank, and if they missed a boat and let Xiang Yu cross the river, they would regret it to the core.
Even if it meant exhausting thousands of warhorses in the pursuit of Xiang Yu, it was all worth it.
As they chased after him, they spotted the smoke signal and rushed towards it with all their might, finally catching up with Xiang Yu.
At this moment, Xiang Yu led his remaining twenty-six Chu cavalrymen to form ranks on the riverbank, and a small boat could be vaguely seen behind him.
"Huff, huff, since there are boats, why didn't Xiang Yu cross the river?" Wang Yi asked, panting heavily.
"Hmph! Xiang Yu has always been arrogant. Does he really think he can defeat us with this small force?" Yang Wu said coldly.
Lu Sheng smiled slightly, "Xiang Yu's personal martial prowess is extremely strong, and his command ability is unparalleled in the world. We must not underestimate a Chu army with Xiang Yu, no matter how small the Chu army is, we must not be careless."
“General Lü is absolutely right. Just now, someone was defeated by Xiang Yu with two Chu soldiers, wasn’t he?” Lü Matong raised his eyebrows as he adjusted his helmet.
Wang Yi couldn't hide his smile. "General Yang happy, why are you remaining silent?"
"Hmph! You'll see how powerful Xiang Yu is later, and then you won't be laughing anymore. Isn't General Lü Matong Xiang Yu's trusted personal guard? If you want to know why Xiang Yu didn't cross the river, just ask this treacherous villain!" Yang happy glared fiercely at Lü Matong.
"What are your thoughts, General Lü?" Wang Yi asked, turning his head.
Lu Matong pondered for a moment, "Xiang Yu cherished his soldiers the most. He had boats but didn't cross them, probably because the boats were too small to hold so many people. He simply decided to fight to the death with everyone."
"Hehe, it's true the boat is too small, but a fight to the death is not necessarily the case. Once most of the men are dead, the remaining men can all get on that boat. Xiang Yu will definitely get on the boat, right?" Wang Yi smiled slightly.
"In that case, our next tactic is either to kill as few Chu soldiers as possible, or to kill Xiang Yu along with them. Otherwise, Xiang Yu might escape." Lü Sheng shook his head.
"Then why not just send troops to the riverbank and drive the boat away?" Yang Wu felt that Lü Sheng's method was a bit too complicated.
"Heh heh, if that were really the case, Xiang Yu would probably have boarded the boat before our army even reached the riverbank. He's not boarding now because he hasn't reached a dead end yet." Wang Yi didn't believe that a way out was right in front of him, yet he chose a dead end. Those who would die for their confidants were all fools and should have died long ago.
Lu Matong nodded and said, "What the generals have said makes sense. I have a plan that may satisfy you all."
"Oh? General Lü, please speak freely." Wang Yi didn't have any ill feelings towards Lü Matong. Everyone looks out for themselves, and it's only natural to betray one's master for personal gain.
"Xiang Yu is arrogant. We can send troops to attack in batches, starting with a small number, then increasing to a hundred cavalry, two hundred cavalry... five hundred cavalry, and so on, until our troops can hold Xiang Yu back. Then, our two flank armies will quickly rush to the riverbank to cut off Xiang Yu's retreat. We will have no worries about the success of our great cause."
Furthermore, to prevent Xiang Yu from boarding the ships prematurely, the soldiers could be strictly ordered to kill only Xiang Yu and not other soldiers. If given the opportunity, these troops could rush to the riverbank to seize or drive away the ships, thus ensuring success. Lu Matong smiled coldly.
"This plan is brilliant!" Wang Yi exclaimed, clapping his hands.
Lü Sheng, Yang Wu, and Yang happy all nodded in agreement, saying, "This plan is excellent; we should use it."
Moments later, the first suicide squad rushed forward.
Those chosen all have a miserable look on their faces; it's an opportunity to make a name for themselves, but the risks are also extremely high.
The key is that if they don't go, they will be killed by the troops behind them immediately. Only by fighting Xiang Yu with all their might can they have a chance of survival.
Based on this formation, the first hundred riders are undoubtedly cannon fodder. The second batch of two hundred riders has a much higher chance of success, but there is still not much certainty.
The best group would probably be three hundred or four hundred cavalrymen, and the credit for killing Xiang Yu would most likely have come from one of these two groups.
As for the remaining 500 cavalry or even more, they would hardly have a chance to appear.
The Han army's hundred cavalry charged forward, which Xiang Yu and the Chu soldiers naturally saw, but none of them were afraid.
"Charge!" Xiang Yu gave the order and spurred his horse, Wuzhui.
Twenty-six Chu soldiers followed behind Xiang Yu, forming an arrowhead shape, with Xiang Yu himself being the most dazzling point of that arrowhead!
"Kill!" Xiang Yu roared.
"kill!"
...
boom!
The two cavalry armies, fighting desperately, clashed instantly!
Puff puff puff...
Ahhh...
Xiang Yu swung his halberd and swept it wildly, and the rest of the Chu soldiers also fought bravely.
In the first clash, the Chu army emerged victorious!
The Han army's square formation of one hundred cavalrymen was instantly pierced by the Chu army's wedge formation. The idea that they could only kill Xiang Yu and not the soldiers was meaningless; even if these one hundred Han cavalrymen wanted to kill those twenty-six Chu soldiers, they couldn't.
"Kill the left!" Xiang Yu immediately issued his second order after breaking through the enemy lines.
The Chu soldiers immediately abandoned the half of the enemy on the right and rushed to the left. Under Xiang Yu's leadership, they finished off the thirty-odd enemy cavalrymen on the left in the next round.
Without Xiang Yu giving any orders, the entire army rushed towards the remaining Han cavalry, chasing them all the way to the vicinity of the riverbank and slaughtering them all.
Then, a second wave of two hundred cavalry charged forward, and Xiang Yu used the same tactic, once again breaking through the enemy's arrow formation with his own arrow formation.
The wedge formation is just a formation that anyone can set up, but its power is determined by the sharpness of the arrowheads.
But who in this world can rival the might of a tyrant?
No!
Chapter 122 Suicide at Wujiang
The two sides clashed in a wedge formation, with the Chu army having 27 cavalrymen and the Han army 200 cavalrymen, and the Chu army won a complete victory.
After splitting the enemy formation in two, Xiang Yu did not rush in to fight as he had done before. Instead, he continued to use the wedge formation to charge the enemy until they were completely scattered before swarming in to finish off the remaining enemies.
However, this time the Han cavalry almost reached the riverbank, startling the Wujiang Pavilion Chief who was hiding in the boat with a shield in his hand. This pavilion chief was quite resourceful, as he had even placed a shield in the boat for self-defense.
“If the Han cavalry gets any closer to the riverbank, you should stay away from the shore,” Xiang Yu said to the ferryman at Wujiang.
“Yes, Your Majesty, you need not worry about me. I am prepared.” The ferryman of Wujiang raised the shield in his hand.
Xiang Yu nodded slightly, then said to the Chu soldiers beside him, "Have you noticed that the Han army seems hesitant to kill you?"
"Hehe, of course I found out. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I really want to thank the enemy general who issued this order." The Chu army junior officer wiped his sweat.
"Hahaha..." The Chu army members all laughed.
Although the enemy did not kill, there were still some friendly fire incidents, and almost all of the twenty-six Chu soldiers were wounded.
Xiang Yu's smile faded. "The decisive battle is about to begin, gentlemen. Once the enemy has a chance to reach the riverbank and force the small boats to leave, their main force will swarm in and attack you all, even indiscriminately firing arrows. Why don't you get on the boats now? Even if you have to swim to the middle of the river by holding onto the small boats, we can help each other and save more lives."
"King Xiang, there's no need for further words. We've already killed enough. Killing any more would be a huge profit. But King Xiang, remember to break through the encirclement and board the boat to cross the river as soon as we are killed!" The Chu army junior officer looked at Xiang Yu.
"You need not say more. I, the King, have never liked being led by the nose. When the enemy comes, charge into battle!"
Xiang Yu led his army to charge again!
At this moment, Wang Yi and the others could not hide their excitement. They could see that after this wave of attacks, the overall situation would be settled!
Because the Chu army was outnumbered, it was impossible to stop three hundred cavalrymen from charging towards the riverbank at the same time. Xiang Yu's only way out was to avoid fighting the three hundred cavalrymen and instead board a boat to cross the river.
However, Xiang Yu and the twenty-six Chu soldiers charged forward again, moving away from the riverbank.
In modern terms, Xiang Yu got carried away and became so hot-headed that he thought he could wipe out this wave of troops as well.
Lu Matong laughed heartily, never expecting that Xiang Yu would one day be defeated by him. Who said Han Xin was the god of war? I am the god of war!
"Fourth and fifth teams, prepare to attack immediately after Xiang Yu clashes with the third team. Fourth team, flank from the left, and fifth team, flank from the right, and charge straight to the riverbank to cut off Xiang Yu's retreat! Then, archers, prepare to shoot them dead with a hail of arrows if those three hundred cavalry fail to kill Xiang Yu!" Lu Matong roared fiercely.
"Hahaha..." Wang Yi and the others burst into laughter.
"Xiang Yu is truly unlucky to have a personal guard like you." Yang happy glanced at Lü Matong with disdain. This man's heart is truly filthy!
At this point, the two armies, in the midst of their charge, finally clashed!
"Kill!" Xiang Yu's sharp edge shone once more, instantly extinguishing the enemy's momentum.
At the same time, the fourth and fifth detachments of the Han army, totaling nine hundred cavalry, also moved, bypassing from both sides and heading straight for the riverbank.
Seeing this scene from afar, the ferryman at Wujiang quickly rowed his small boat towards the center of the river, a nameless sorrow welling up in his heart. He feared that once Xiang Yu departed, he would never return…
With only 27 riders, it wouldn't be easy for the 300 riders in the wedge formation to break through quickly. Moreover, the 26 Chu riders were also struggling to keep up with Xiang Yu's pace. Or perhaps Xiang Yu had no intention of waiting for them at all, and he continued to advance, forward, alone on his horse!
Twenty-six Chu cavalrymen fought desperately, cutting through the enemy lines while sustaining multiple injuries. Gradually, some fell in battle or were separated from the main force. However, in this clash of the wedge formation, the Chu army still managed to break through the enemy lines.
According to the script from the previous two times, the Chu army would turn around at this point and continue to form a wedge formation to charge at the separated Han cavalry, either to the left or the right.
The remaining two hundred or so riders of the third squad had also urgently turned around and formed ranks, preparing to deal with the attack.
However, this time, the Chu army did not turn back!
Xiang Yu led the remaining twenty Chu soldiers in a wedge formation and continued to charge forward, heading straight for the five generals' banners!
"Enemy general! Prepare to die! Kill!" Xiang Yu's horse was fast, which allowed his advance to break away from the Chu army behind him, but in the eyes of Lü Matong and others, Xiang Yu became exceptionally tall.
If you don't run, you'll die!
Yang Xi felt a chill run down his spine and was the first to react, turning his horse to flee!
Lu Matong was the second to realize that if Xiang Yu really came here, the five of them would definitely kill him first if they were given the choice!
However, even as he retreated, Lü Matong didn't forget to give orders: "Archers! Fire! Fire immediately!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Countless arrows flew towards Xiang Yu, who wielded his halberd to block them with all his might.
Puff, puff, puff.
The rain of arrows was so dense that both Xiang Yu and his horse, Wuzhui, were hit, but none of the wounds were fatal.
Just as Xiang Yu was about to charge over, the three detachments of troops that Lü Matong had sent out to seize the riverbank and cut off Xiang Yu's retreat were still far away and could not come to his aid in time.
Wang Yi, Yang Wu, and Lü Sheng were a little panicked when they saw Yang happy and Lü Matong run away. But the other side only had about twenty men, while they had several thousand cavalrymen at their disposal. How could they be scared away like this? Did they have no pride?
"Royal Guard, attack!"
The cavalry guards surrounding the three generals charged at Xiang Yu, but Xiang Yu instantly killed several of them.
Wang Yi and the others suddenly realized why Yang happy had suffered such a crushing defeat and why Lü Matong had run away so quickly!
If you don't run, you'll die!