"Ah!" Xiang Sui never expected that Xiang You would actually kill his own brother.
"Tch, you're such a waste. Is that all?" Liu Ji said with a look of disdain.
"Xiang You, how cruel you are! Fine, Princess, I'll give myself to you. King of Han, please, for the sake of my father's great service, save me!" Xiang Sui pleaded, clutching his wound.
"Hmm? Then we'll have to ask your brother if he agrees. The competition isn't over yet," Liu Ji said with a smile.
Xiang Sui felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. "King of Han, I have already admitted defeat. Is that not enough?"
"Oh dear, my words are law! What should we do?" Liu Ji said with a troubled expression.
Xiang You gripped the dagger in his backhand and slowly raised it. "Then I'll trouble you, brother, to go and inform Father of the good news."
"Hiss... Xiang You, don't be foolish. Even if you kill me, the King of Han will not marry his daughter to you! Don't you understand? Have you forgotten Ding Gu and Zhou Yin?" Xiang Sui cried. Was this retribution for betraying his family?
Xiang You stopped what he was doing and then turned to look at Liu Ji.
Liu Ji curled his lip and said, "Womanly kindness, utterly useless, tsk tsk, oh ho."
puff!
Xiang You suddenly plunged the dagger into Xiang Sui's chest, then pulled it out and stabbed again, one stab after another, each stab more vicious than the last.
Puff! Puff! Puff! ...
"Agh..." Xiang Sui glared at Liu Ji with wide eyes, filled with resentment and anger, and died on the spot after spitting out blood!
"Reporting to the King of Han, Xiang Sui dared to disrespect Your Majesty and has been executed on the spot by me." Xiang You kowtowed.
"Haha, in that case, once Le'er comes of age, I will betroth her to you. As a reward, I will first bestow upon you the surname Liu and the rank of general. From now on, you will be called Liu You. From this moment on, we are family!" Liu Ji said with great joy.
"Thank you for the reward, King of Han. I am willing to go through fire and water for you." Xiang You kowtowed again, unable to hide his excitement.
Liu Ji nodded in satisfaction, "This child is teachable!"
Just then, a soldier came to report from outside.
"Reporting to the King of Han! Our army engaged in a major battle with Xiang Yu on the Huai River. The Tuyi Bridge was lost, and General Chai Wu was killed in action; the Dongfu Bridge was lost, and General Han Yong was killed in action; the five generals Wang Yi, Yang Xi, Yang Wu, Lü Sheng, and Lü Matong failed to provide reinforcements, and General Wang Yi was killed by an arrow! The total loss of troops is nearly ten thousand!"
Liu Ji's smile froze on his face. How could this be? Had he been killed in vain?
What can be done?
Chapter 47 Guantangpu
Was it all for nothing?
How is that possible!
Liu Ji never expected that he would receive such terrible news right after dreaming about losing an arm.
“Of course you can’t kill them for nothing. Your luck is full right now, so you probably killed them too late. Moreover, your luck indirectly affects your subordinates, so the effect is not as good. The farther away they are, the worse the effect becomes. You have to take action yourself.”
Heilong felt helpless. If Liu Ji were half as brave as Xiang Yu, or even younger, and with such incredible luck, he would be invincible on the battlefield.
But Liu Ji's combat strength is too weak now. Even if he goes to the battlefield, he can only use this energy to save his life or escape. It's such a waste of such strong luck.
"Very well, then I will go and meet Xiang Yu again." Liu Ji seemed to have made a great decision. "Send down the order: after dawn, the whole army will march towards the Huai River. I vow to annihilate Xiang Yu in Huainan and never give him a chance to return to Jiangdong."
"Yes, sir." Guo Meng agreed, then said to Xiang You, "General Liu You, would you mind helping me drag this corpse away?"
Liu You?
"Oh, alright, this subordinate will drag the body out right away." Liu You said, then grabbed Xiang Sui's ankle and dragged him out without the slightest hesitation.
Liu Ji chuckled, "What a good dog."
...
Just as dawn broke, Liu Ji, who was taking a nap, was woken up by Lü Ze.
"King of Han, the army is ready and can set out on the expedition," Lü Ze said, bowing.
"Then let's set off." Liu Ji yawned.
"Here you go."
...
At the same time, Guan Ying's army set off again, their destination being the mouth of the Mo River.
After suffering heavy losses in the battle last night, Guan Ying decided to change his strategy and temporarily abandon the pursuit of Xiang Yu, instead turning his attention to the Chu infantry that had not yet crossed the Huai River.
Times have changed. Guan Ying didn't intend to attack that Chu infantry force back then because he didn't believe Xiang Yu could cross the Huai River so quickly. As long as he could defeat Xiang Yu's forces north of the Huai River, that Chu army would be insignificant.
But now, Xiang Yu has not only crossed the Huai River, but also suffered such small losses. He has also destroyed the Dongfu Bridge and completely controlled the Tuyi Bridge. It will not be easy for the Han army to seize the bridge and cross the river.
If the stalemate with Xiang Yu on the Huai River lasts for several days, and that Chu infantry army also crosses the Huai River, then things will be very troublesome. There is even a possibility that Xiang Yu will take back the Jiujiang Commandery that we have already gained.
Moreover, the Han army needed a victory to boost morale, and that Chu infantry force was just right. It would be excellent to let Xiang Yu watch that Chu army be annihilated bit by bit from the south bank.
Guantangpu, north bank of the Huai River.
Rumble, rumble...
"Whoa! Hurry! Quickly build a pontoon bridge!" Left Sima Zhang Ning reined in his warhorse and roared.
At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot, and upon closer inspection, dark circles could be seen, indicating severe sleep deprivation.
In fact, it wasn't just him; all the Chu soldiers who followed him were in the same boat.
Because they could only sleep for a maximum of three hours a day, while the marching time reached an astonishing twenty hours a day, and the time spent eating, drinking and relieving themselves was less than an hour.
This is the kind of awareness one should have when fleeing for their lives. No one can say for sure how much time Xiang Yu can buy for them, or when the enemy will catch up. So they can only desperately move forward, and they can only sleep after they have safely crossed the Huai River.
Fortunately, Xiang Yu had previously captured many warhorses from Guan Ying's cavalry and sent them to them. It was because of these warhorses that they were able to ride them in shifts, which allowed them to reach Guantangpu so quickly. Otherwise, even without eating or sleeping, they would not have been able to arrive so soon.
When they were close to Guantangpu, the Left Sima Zhang Ning led three thousand cavalry to set up a pontoon bridge ahead, while the Right Sima Zhao Yu led the main force to continue their desperate journey.
In fact, crossing the river at Guantangpu was more than 20 li further than crossing at Mohekou, but it was a relatively safer marching route.
Just as the Chu army was searching for materials to build a pontoon bridge, a fast horse galloped from the north.
"Reporting to the Left Commander, Ying Bu's Huainan army is still thirty li away from our army."
"Thirty li? Ying Bu is catching up fast. But we still have enough time to cross the river," Zhang Ning murmured. He already knew that Ying Bu's Huainan army was pursuing them.
However, Ying Bu's troops did not rush as desperately as they did, so the distance between the two armies actually widened over time.
But judging from the intelligence that just came back, the British army has clearly accelerated its march, which is not a good sign.
Just then, another fast horse arrived.
"Report! Left Commander, scouts at the Mohe Pass have spotted a large number of Han cavalry!"
"Ah?!" Zhang Ning's expression changed drastically. Had the enemy cavalry still set their sights on them? Had Xiang Yu already crossed the Huai River, or had he been defeated by the enemy?
No, Xiang Yu will never be defeated!
"Quickly send someone to inform Commander Zhao to prepare to form ranks and meet the enemy!" Zhang Ning clenched his fist.
"Here you go."
"Whether we can escape this calamity depends on the speed at which the pontoon bridge is built..." Zhang Ning thought to himself and suddenly looked around. In the blink of an eye, he couldn't even see half a tree.
Without trees, there is no timber. Let alone building a pontoon bridge, it would be difficult to even build a few rafts. Moreover, the pontoon bridge at the mouth of the Mohe River had long been dismantled by the enemy, so there was no chance to seize the bridge. What should we do?
"Huh? That's..." Zhang Ning's eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at the opposite bank.
...
Huaibei, Mohekou.
After receiving Guan Ying's military order, Yang happy hurriedly led his troops to the mouth of the Mo River to intercept the Chu infantry who were trying to break through the encirclement.
Although he only had 6,000 cavalry, he could still disrupt the Chu army's crossing of the river and hold them back. Guan Ying's main force and Ying Bu's Huainan army were both heading this way.
Yang happy felt that his chance to make a name for himself had come. If he couldn't defeat Xiang Yu's elite cavalry, surely he could deal with these ragtag soldiers?
Lü Sheng, Lü Matong, and Yang Wu were all at Tuyi Bridge, so they had no chance to steal his credit. That was just bad luck.
However, to Yang happy's surprise, the Chu army arrived at the Huai River so quickly, and they even chose Guantangpu, more than 20 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mo River, as their crossing point.
"Faster! Faster!" Yang happy didn't let the army rest, but instead forced them to march a long distance to attack Guantangpu. He didn't want to let the credit that was within his grasp slip away.
Rumble rumble...
Twenty miles is not a long distance for cavalry. Yang happy had already decided to maintain this momentum and charge straight into the enemy lines. Perhaps the Chu army would be so frightened that they would surrender directly.
However, when Yang happy led his army close to Guantangpu, he was surprised to see a large cavalry force arrayed in front of him, showing no sign of panic!
"Whoa..." Yang happy could hardly believe his eyes and hurriedly ordered a halt to the advance.
Because he lacked the courage to confront the Chu cavalry head-on, even though he knew Xiang Yu would never be in front of him.
Yang happy knew the origin of the warhorses in this Chu army; they were all captured by Xiang Yu after killing Zhang Meng, a general under Guan Ying.
According to intelligence gathered by scouts, these warhorses had previously been used to transport the wounded and goods, but now thousands of cavalrymen had suddenly appeared. How could he not be alarmed?
Logically, the Chu cavalry should all be with Xiang Yu, so even if there are riders here, their combat effectiveness wouldn't be much higher.
But Yang happy dared not gamble, what if it really was the elite cavalry of the Chu army?
Wouldn't rushing over recklessly be like a lamb entering a tiger's den?
However, Yang happy couldn't just give up like that; he wanted to play it safe for now.
The Chu army formed its battle formation, and so did his. The Chu army did not attack, and neither did his. The troops were exhausted from the long march and took this opportunity to rest.
We should wait until the army has rested enough before launching an attack. In any case, it shouldn't be too fast for the Chu army to build a pontoon bridge. It would be ideal if we could maintain this stalemate until Guan Ying's army arrived.
In Yang happy's view, these Chu cavalrymen were mostly bluffing and did not dare to take the initiative to attack.
However, at that moment, the Chu cavalry on the other side launched a fierce attack on them!
Yang happy felt a chill run down his spine instantly; how familiar this feeling was!
"Retreat immediately!"
Chapter 48 Crisis Returns