Chapter 27 Breakthrough (Part 5)
South of Gaixia, in the central command tent of the Zhou Yin Jiujiang army camp.
Zhou Yin paced back and forth in the tent, showing no signs of sleepiness. Although Liu Ji had just sent someone with intelligence about Xiang Yu's breakout, indicating that Xiang Yu would not break out from the due south direction, which was his defense zone.
However, based on his understanding of Xiang Yu, there was still a possibility that Xiang Yu would choose this place to break through. After all, he had stabbed Xiang Yu in the back, so it would be strange if Xiang Yu let him go.
However, as time went by, Zhou Yin's worries gradually faded, because the Chu army had been completely defeated by Zhang Liang's strategy of "Song of Chu on All Sides," and Chu soldiers who ran out of the fortifications to join him never stopped.
Moreover, more and more of Xiang Yu's proud eight thousand Jiangdong soldiers surrendered, and it is said that Xiang Yu pretended to be benevolent and did not stop them, allowing the Chu army to escape from the fortifications.
Judging from this situation, by the time Xiang Yu breaks out tomorrow at dawn, he probably won't have many soldiers left. No matter how brave Xiang Yu is, he can't defeat 100,000 men by himself, right?
Luckily, I surrendered in time. If I had waited any longer, Xiang Yu would have been destroyed, and I would never have been able to achieve such great merit.
At least after Liu Ji gained control of the empire, he would at least be granted a duke or marquis title. Although it wouldn't be as prestigious as the title of King of Jiujiang or King of Huainan, it would still be better than dying alongside Xiang Yu.
Zhou Yin suddenly looked towards the doorway as he thought of this.
Screech...
The sound of a spirited horse neighing came from outside. You could tell it was a fine horse just by the sound, but it sounded somewhat familiar.
Just then, a soldier came to report.
"Reporting to the Grand Marshal! Chu soldiers have stolen Xiang Yu's prized steed, Wuzhui, and intend to present it to the Grand Marshal!"
"Oh? Bring it over here quickly so I can see it!" Zhou Yin strode out of the central command tent as he spoke, and immediately spotted the magnificent black horse, Wuzhui. "Hahaha... This is truly a stroke of luck! Without such a fine steed, Xiang Yu's martial prowess will be greatly diminished! Who has offered this horse? A generous reward awaits!"
"Thank you, Grand Marshal!" A surrendered Chu soldier bowed deeply.
Zhou Yin looked at the other person. "Hmm, not bad. Could you be a member of the Jiangdong tribe?"
"Yes. This humble soldier is willing to serve the Grand Marshal to the death," the surrendered Chu soldier said, bowing his head.
"In that case, you will be in charge of looking after the black horse for the time being. After the war is over, I will give you an official position."
Zhou Yin smiled coldly. This man had no choice but to work hard. Stealing Xiang Yu's precious horse was a blatant betrayal, completely different from the Chu army that had surrendered empty-handed before. It also had the intention of stabbing someone in the back and kicking someone when they were down. How could such a person be kept around and given important responsibilities?
"Yes, thank you, Grand Marshal." The surrendered Chu soldier said, standing respectfully to the side.
Zhou Yin stroked the mane of the black horse, Wuzhui. He had long wanted to ride it, but he had never dared to ask Xiang Yu for the chance. Now…
Thinking of this, Zhou Yin pointed to the ground and said, "Kneel down."
"Yes, sir." The surrendered Chu soldier knelt down and crawled to Zhou Yin with his head down and gritted teeth.
Zhou Yin stepped on the soldier's back, using the momentum to leap onto the black horse. "Haha, what a magnificent horse... Ah!"
Screech...
Thump!
The docile black horse, which had been extremely gentle just a second ago, suddenly neighed and reared up, cleanly throwing Zhou Yin off the horse. Then, it raised one leg to step on Zhou Yin.
Zhou Yin was shocked and immediately dodged with a lazy roll.
"Men, kill it... Never mind, take it away first. Tomorrow, the Japanese general will properly train it!"
"Here you go."
...
A thousand riders are easy to find, but a fine horse is hard to come by. Zhou Yin was a bit careless just now; otherwise, with his skills, he wouldn't have been so easily defeated.
"Hiss..." Zhou Yin, supporting his waist, slowly walked into the central command tent. What bad luck.
...
At this moment, another wave of Chu soldiers surrendered at the gate of the Jiujiang army camp.
"Don't panic, line up. After you've been searched one by one, you can enter the camp. You've come to the right place to serve the Grand Marshal. We were all on the same side before, so it's only right that we look out for each other." The junior officer from Jiujiang Army stretched out his hand as he spoke.
The surrendered Chu soldier gritted his teeth, took out a few copper coins from his pocket, and placed them in the other's hand.
The junior officer from Jiujiang Army gave him a disdainful look. "Let's go, hurry up. Next... Hey, what's wrong with your eyes?"
Before the hunchbacked soldier with bandages around his eyes could speak, another tall Chu soldier who had surrendered and was supporting him spoke first.
"Reporting to your Excellency, my brother's eye was grazed by a stray arrow. This is just a small token of my respect."
The Chu soldier who had surrendered secretly took out two gold beans from his pocket and placed them in the other man's hand, almost blinding the junior officer of the Jiujiang army. The man was incredibly generous.
The junior officer from Jiujiang licked his lips. "Oh, what a pity such a big body. Alright, let's go. Once we get inside, mention Old Zhao from Jiujiang, and someone will arrange a fire for you to warm up. It's so cold out there. Hey, next."
"Thank you, sir."
The soldier thanked him and helped his blind brother continue walking inside.
Behind a hill in the distance, a Chu soldier stared intently at the surrendered soldiers lining up to enter the camp. Upon seeing this, he turned and ran back.
...
East of Gaixia, in the central command tent of the Qi army's main camp.
Han Xin looked at the intelligence report in his hand and sneered, "That beast Xiang Bo is even worse than Ding Gu."
"With Ding Gu dead, the credit will probably go to Xiang Bo. In addition, considering his several secret assistance to the King of Han and the important intelligence he delivered this time, he should be able to be made the King of Chu. It's just that his character is really despicable. Xiang Yu is really unlucky." Li Zuoche shook his head with a wry smile.
"If Xiang Yu doesn't suffer misfortune, then it's the allied forces' turn to suffer. To be honest, I'm quite disappointed that Xiang Yu didn't break out from our side. I'm afraid the credit for capturing and killing Xiang Yu will go to someone else, either Lü Ze or Guan Ying."
Han Xin's feelings were complicated. He hoped that Xiang Yu would break through his side to avenge the arrow wound he suffered during the day and gain great merit, but he was also a little afraid that Xiang Yu would really break through his side. With the might of the Overlord, who would dare to underestimate his desperate counterattack?
Li Zuoche smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the fact that Xiang Yu did not choose to break out from the east shows that he is wary of you. Although Xiang Yu did not come, Ji Bu and Zhongli Mei are going to break out from both sides of us. Annihilating these two Chu armies would be a great achievement."
Han Xin laughed heartily upon hearing this, "Haha, the strategist is absolutely right. Men, pass down the order to have Ding Fu lead his troops to the east to block the Xiao River with stones and lay in ambush on both banks. I want to see how the Chu army will break out by water. As for Ji Bu's group, I will personally go and meet them."
"Yes," Li Zuoche replied with a cupped hand, but in his heart he was wondering whether Han Xin intended for Zhongli to live or die through this arrangement.
...
On the north bank of the Xiao River, where the Chu army fortified their position at Gaixia, Ji Bu and Zhongli Mei stood side by side, watching the flickering firelight over Hebei.
“It’s a life-or-death battle, General Zhong. Actually, you didn’t need to risk your life with us. Given your relationship with Han Xin, he might spare your life,” Ji Bu said with emotion.
“Old Bu, not everyone is like Xiang Bo, capable of betraying their lord for an old friend. Besides, my friendship with Han Xin ended when he betrayed Xiang Yu and joined Liu Ji. Now we are each serving our own masters, how can I show favoritism? If Han Xin falls into my hands, I will definitely hand him over to Xiang Yu for disposal. If the roles were reversed, he would do the same.”
Zhongli sighed inwardly. Now that Han Xin was the King of Qi, how much of their past friendship would he still care about?
Just then, Xiang Zhuang walked over from a distance, "The Overlord is in position, prepare to break out, everyone board the ship!"
Chapter 28 Breakthrough (Part Six)
South of Gaixia was the Jiujiang army camp, a gathering place for surrendered soldiers.
Groups of surrendered Chu soldiers huddled together around scattered fires for warmth, and occasionally, the sound of weeping could be heard.
Being a prisoner was a terrible experience, and everyone had learned from those who came after them that Xiang Yu's attitude was that as long as they didn't fight the Chu army, he wouldn't blame them and even opened the camp gates to let them leave.
Xiang Yu was so tolerant, yet they abandoned him when he was in his most difficult time. How could they bear to do that?
Every Chu soldier who surrendered knew in his heart that Xiang Yu's days were numbered, and that his fellow Chu soldiers who still followed him were also going to die. It was a tragic and lamentable, yet heroic and valiant end.
At this moment, two more people arrived, supporting each other. Because they were both very tall, they inevitably attracted the attention of some people.
"The later they surrender, the more elite they become; they might even be from Jiangdong."
"Alas, King Xiang is truly pitiful."
"Hey, keep your voice down."
...
"Brother, there's an officer at the camp gate named Old Zhao from Jiujiang who said he could arrange a campfire for us to keep warm," the tall Chu soldier who had surrendered said, bowing to the Jiujiang soldiers who were standing guard with halberds.
The Jiujiang soldier scoffed, "Old Zhao from Jiujiang? Which Old Zhao? Whoever it is, he is him, and I am me. Arranging fires for warmth is no problem, but there are only so many fires. If you want to get closer to the fire, you'll have to bleed a little. Oh, is this guy blind? That's pitiful."
"Stop pretending, do it!" Xiang Yu ripped off the bandage from his eyes with his left hand, and at the same time grabbed the Jiujiang soldier by the neck with his right hand. With a gentle twist, the man died instantly.
At the same time, the tall Chu soldier who had just helped Xiang Yu kicked another enemy soldier to the ground, seized his halberd, and killed him with a casual thrust.
Everyone around, whether they were soldiers from Jiujiang or soldiers from the Chu army who had recently surrendered, was stunned. However, Xiang Yu did not stop at all. After snatching the halberd, he swung it and charged straight at several Jiujiang soldiers who were warming themselves by the fire. He swept across and killed five people instantly. His movements were incredibly fast.
A junior officer from Jiujiang nearby cried out in alarm and turned to run, shouting, "The Chu army is feigning surrender! Quickly report to the Grand Marshal... Ah!"
*Thud!* A single halberd severed his head!
Xiang Yu raised his halberd to the sky and proclaimed, "Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, is here! Brothers of Jiangdong, I will take you home!"
Just then, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves came from the direction of the fortress, instantly drowning out the humiliation of being surrounded on all sides in the silent night.
"Brothers, follow King Xiang home!"
"I want to break through the encirclement with Xiang Yu!"
"I've had enough of being a prisoner! Who says you have to be a prisoner to go home? You can do it just the same with Xiang Yu!"
"Stop standing there! King Xiang is here. If you don't want to be accused of feigning surrender, either follow King Xiang and break through to your home now, or help the rebels kill King Xiang now! But I swore I would not be King Xiang's enemy. What about you?"
After a brief silence.
Ugh!
"ah!"
A stone suddenly flew out from the group of surrendered soldiers and hit a Jiujiang soldier in the face. The soldier immediately threw down his weapon, covered his face, and howled in pain. A nearby elite Chu soldier leaped over, picked up the weapon, and without saying a word, charged at the guard next to him.
At the same time, hundreds of elite Chu soldiers rushed out from the crowd. Although they had no weapons, they had secretly picked up some stones after entering the camp. If they couldn't find any, they could dig them up by hand. Those near the campfire could use wood as weapons.
Even the elite soldiers, empty-handed, showed no fear in the face of the Jiujiang army. Even if they failed to seize weapons and were killed by the enemy, they would hold onto the enemy's weapons tightly before dying, creating opportunities for others.
"Kill! The traitor Zhou Yin's camp has been captured by Xiang Yu! Let's break through with Xiang Yu and go home!"
"Kill! Charge!"
...
In this situation, let alone the Jiujiang soldiers guarding the prisoners who only had halberds, even if they had machine guns, they wouldn't be able to stop them at all. Each Chu soldier could wipe out these guards with just a stone, not to mention that Xiang Yu was also on the Chu side.
The Jiujiang army suffered repeated defeats and instinctively ran towards areas with more of their own troops. Normally, after such a situation occurs, the army should first reorganize and form ranks before engaging the enemy. Charging forward in a disorganized and scattered manner would be futile.
Xiang Yu led his men to storm the camp gate. He had already changed his halberd twice. The one he was using now was taken from a burly junior officer of the Jiujiang Army. It was much heavier than an ordinary halberd, but it was still too light for Xiang Yu. He could only make do with it. It was too light and he was not used to it.