Whoosh!
puff!
"Ah!" Yang Wu screamed as he was pierced through the heart by a sharp arrow and died.
At this moment, the black horse also ran over. Although she felt that Xiang Yu seemed somewhat different from before, she still recognized him as her master.
Xiang Yu jumped down from the mountain of corpses, felt a pang of heartache looking at the injured black horse, and without saying a word, took out a healing pill and stuffed it into the horse's mouth, the whole action as smooth as flowing water.
"Xiang...King." Hao Jiu's heart also ached, but they had already finished eating, and it would be even more of a loss to displease Xiang Yu. Sigh, King Xiang's hand speed is getting faster and faster...
Xiang Yu stroked his black horse with one hand and deftly removed the arrows from its body with the other. "Does the God of Wine have anything to say?"
"Well, Xiang Yu, why don't you give Wuzhui some more energy?" Hao Jiu gritted her teeth, coaxing him for the sake of intimacy and energy!
But are the beings from the split planes real or fake? And would fake ones benefit from real healing medicine?
“The God of Wine is absolutely right.” Xiang Yu didn’t stand on ceremony and directly took out another stamina potion and fed it to his horse, Wuzhui.
Then he leaped onto his warhorse, halberd in hand, and chased after Lü Matong in the direction he had fled.
Lu Matong was very panicked. He had finally mustered up the courage to look back and glance at the five vanguard officers. Now he was the only one left alive!
Could it be that Xiang Yu deliberately left him to be last?
Lu Matong grew increasingly frightened. Although the vanguard still had more than two thousand cavalrymen left, he couldn't muster even the slightest thought of rallying his troops to fight Xiang Yu.
Of course, these two thousand-odd riders are now in a state of scattered flight, and only about a thousand riders are actually following Lü Matong or fleeing in the same direction as him.
"All troops, listen to my command! Slay Xiang Yu and be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households! Xiang Yu is only one person! None of you should run!" Lü Matong shouted as he ran.
However, if the general is the fear of his soldiers, and the general is fleeing in panic, how can the soldiers under his command not run away?
What's more, just now, a flash of white light and all of Xiang Yu's injuries were completely healed. That's too miraculous. Who saw the sword slaying the white snake or the five stars gathering at Kui?
Everyone witnessed Xiang Yu's miraculous feat, as well as the astonishing celestial phenomenon when Xiang Yu was about to commit suicide, which was as if a hole had been punched in the sky!
Lü Matong's shout only made things worse; it caused all the Han cavalry to move away from this man whom Xiang Yu was determined to kill.
As a result, fewer and fewer people ran in the same direction as Lü Matong, until finally Lü Matong was left running for his life.
My life is over!
Lu Matong's mind was filled with thoughts of how to survive, but after much deliberation, it seemed that only kneeling and begging for mercy might work, just like at the Feast at Hongmen...
Upon realizing this, Lü Matong hurriedly slowed down his warhorse. Even if he wanted to kneel down and beg for mercy, he couldn't do so on a galloping warhorse; he had to stop the horse first.
"King Xiang, I have inside information to report. Please, King Xiang, show mercy and allow me to explain!" Lü Matong turned around and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Kneel down!" Xiang Yu shouted sternly.
“Look! King Xiang…” Lü Matong was overjoyed and hurriedly dismounted and knelt down.
Ugh!
The Overlord's Halberd whistled past, accompanied by the sound of wind...
A round thing, dripping with red juice, flew high into the sky!
Chapter 124 The Battle of Dongcheng (Part 1)
Many Han soldiers witnessed the moment Lü Matong's head flew off. There was no surprise, no sympathy, no escape; instead, a large number of them dismounted and surrendered.
Having witnessed Xiang Yu's power today, they have completely given up any intention of being his enemy. They would rather not be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households or even King than Xiang Yu himself!
How can one possibly win against God?
"King Xiang, we are willing to surrender!"
"We are willing to surrender!"
...
Xiang Yu scanned the crowd and slowly asked, "Who knows where Liu Ji is? And where is Guan Ying's main army?"
Everyone trembled with fear and dared not raise their heads; for a moment, no one dared to answer Xiang Yu's question.
At this moment, a young Han army officer hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. "Reporting to King Xiang, Liu Ji of Han is probably still at Gaixia. Guan Ying's army should have already passed Zhongli County and entered the territory of Dongcheng."
"Hmm? Guan Ying's army didn't go through Yinling?" Xiang Yu asked in confusion.
"Reporting to King Xiang, I learned of this news by overhearing a few generals discussing it. Guan Ying's main force changed course halfway to quell the rebellion because a portion of the Jiujiang army rebelled against Liu Ji," the Han army junior officer said, clasping his hands in greeting.
"Is this true? Do you know why the Jiujiang army rebelled against Liu Ji?" Xiang Yu thought to himself that this was strange. Zhou Yin had wholeheartedly betrayed Chu and joined Han, so why did he rebel against Liu Ji after the Chu army was defeated at Gaixia?
"Reporting to King Xiang, I do not know the specific reasons. I only know that the one who led the army against Liu Ji was the Left and Right Sima of the Jiujiang army," the Han army junior officer replied truthfully.
"So it was them..." Although Xiang Yu didn't know what had happened to the Jiujiang army, it was quite possible that Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu had rebelled against Liu Ji.
"What is the brave warrior's name? Where is he from?"
"Reporting to King Xiang, my name is Feng Tang, and my home is in Dai County."
Xiang Yu nodded slightly, then said to the crowd, "Since you are all willing to surrender, then gather your troops and let General Feng Tang lead them to Liyang."
"Here you go!"
The surrendered soldiers were overjoyed and bowed in gratitude. But when they looked up again, Xiang Yu had already ridden alone northward, with no intention of taking them with him.
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances. Feng Tang then shouted at the top of his lungs, "King Xiang, wait! We are willing to accompany you and protect you!"
"No need! You all quickly assemble your troops and do not allow the defeated army to harass the people!"
"Uh, well!" Feng Tang thought for a moment and realized that with Xiang Yu's power, he really didn't need any guards, and besides, he couldn't catch up with Xiang Yu!
Xiang Yu and Hao Jiu didn't have time to stay in this split plane and slowly develop their army to unify the world. They wanted to fight a quick battle and eliminate Liu Ji and the Black Dragon in this split plane as soon as possible, and then move on to the next split plane. This was a strategy that Xiang Yu and Hao Jiu had discussed before they came.
Therefore, even if these people were willing to follow Xiang Yu, Xiang Yu could not lead them to fight Liu Ji because they were too slow.
Swoosh...
Xiang Yu rode his black horse at full speed, and soon left Dushan behind.
Under normal circumstances, warhorses can only maintain this high-speed sprint for a very short time before they run out of energy.
However, after taking the healing and stamina-boosting medicine, Wuzhui felt as if it had inexhaustible strength. This feeling was so wonderful that even though Xiang Yu was not in a hurry, Wuzhui wanted to carry its master and gallop at full speed.
Now that he had learned of Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu's whereabouts in this dimension, Xiang Yu could no longer ignore it. Moreover, if Liu Ji was still in Gaixia, going east to Zhongli County and then crossing the Huai River at Guantangpu would be the shortest route.
If he hadn't learned of this news, Xiang Yu would have been heading towards Yinling, intending to capture Zhang Liang as well.
Of course, taking down Guan Ying first is also a good option.
At the border of Dongcheng County and Zhongli County, east of the Yinling Mountains, the two armies faced each other.
On one side was the imposing army of 30,000 Guan Ying cavalry, while on the other side was the somewhat disheveled army of 50,000 Jiujiang soldiers.
"Guan Ying! You have no grudge against us, why won't you give us a way out!" Zhang Ning roared.
"Guan Ying! Although the Han army's cavalry is strong, my Jiujiang army is not to be underestimated!" Zhao Yu said through gritted teeth.
Guan Ying sighed, “Oh dear, why are you two doing this? Zhou Yin was killed because he tried to assassinate the King of Han. The Jiujiang Army has been incorporated into the Han Army, and you two will still be the Left and Right Commanders. What’s wrong with all the soldiers of the Jiujiang Army serving under the King of Han?”
Zhang Ning sneered, "Do you take us for three-year-old children?"
“What’s wrong with that? Zhou Yin, the Grand Marshal, made tremendous contributions, but instead of being rewarded with a title, he was killed! Ding Gu once saved the life of the King of Han and made great contributions at Gaixia, but he was also beheaded by the King of Han. Isn’t that chilling?”
Zhao Yu knew perfectly well that if Liu Ji wanted to annex the Jiujiang army, killing Zhou Yin alone would not be enough. The best outcome for him and Zhang Ning would be to hand over military power and become puppets.
At this point, it didn't matter whether Liu Ji had them or not. In fact, accepting them would only cost him more rewards in the future, which would be more detrimental than beneficial to Liu Ji.
Guan Ying frowned. "Ding Gu, taking advantage of the emperor's favor, has shown disrespect to the King of Han. Zhou Yin is plotting to assassinate the King of Han and rebel. Their deaths are not a pity. You two can rest assured that I can guarantee your safety."
Furthermore, Xiang Yu suffered a crushing defeat at Yinling; he's probably already beheaded. You all betrayed him at his most crucial moment; what's the point of returning to Chu now?
Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu gasped upon hearing this. Xiang Yu had been defeated after his breakout? Then their return to Chu at this point would indeed be meaningless.
"Guan Ying! Stop talking nonsense and disrupting the morale of our army!" Zhao Yu rebuked Guan Ying with a forced smile. If Xiang Yu were to die, the morale of the army would surely be thrown into chaos.
"No, the infant-injection is just stalling for time!" Zhang Ning suddenly realized.
Just then, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the eastern rear of the Jiujiang army.
It turns out that Guan Ying's cavalry force was not only 30,000. Guan Ying's trusted general Zhang Meng led 20,000 lightly armed cavalrymen and had already circled around to the rear of the Jiujiang army!
Guan Ying sneered, "If you two don't surrender soon, you'll be dead without a burial place."
"Kill! Annihilate the rebels of Jiujiang! Those who refuse to surrender will die!..."
A deafening roar of battle cries came from behind, and the Jiujiang army panicked.
Zhang Ning gritted his teeth and said, "Let's fight! I'll lead 20,000 troops to hold off Guan Ying, while General Zhao will break through to the south with all his might and carve a bloody path out!"
"Let's fight!" Zhao Yu said, leading his troops to meet Zhang Meng's cavalry army.
"Hmph! Unrepentant to the death! All troops, charge!" Guan Ying brandished his sword.
"kill!"
...
The battle was one-sided from the very beginning. Although the Han cavalry was not as elite as the Chu cavalry, the infantry, without the support of a city, was almost certain to be defeated when the numbers were equal.
Just as Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu were feeling hopeless and wavering, a long howl suddenly came from the western rear of Guan Ying's army.
"Hey! You old bastard Guan Ying! Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, is here! Prepare to die!"
Chapter 125 The Battle of Dongcheng (Part Two)
Xiang Yu had actually been there for a while, but on Hao Jiu's advice, he decided to observe for a while longer before taking action.
After all, Zhang and Zhao's experiences in this plane are different from those in the main plane, and no one knows what they are really thinking. What if Xiang Yu goes there directly and the two of them surrender to Guan Ying again?
There is a bizarre account in history that Xiang Yu led eight hundred cavalrymen to break out of Gaixia, but then got lost and surrounded at Yinling. He managed to escape with only twenty-eight riders.
Then he was defeated by Guan Ying at Dongcheng. Guan Ying made great contributions in this battle, capturing the left and right Sima, a large group of officers, and 12,000 Chu soldiers.
This doesn't mean that Sima Qian was confused, but rather that the book "Records of the Grand Historian" was extensively revised twice during the Han Dynasty, to the point that it was unrecognizable.
The credibility of accounts such as Fan Kuai's performance at the Feast at Hongmen, Guan Ying's impressive record in Dongcheng, and Liu Ji's skill in using mobile tactics to defeat Wang Li from a distance is not very high.