However, considering Zhou Yin's mysterious disappearance, it is possible that after the Jiujiang army returned to Chu, they were pursued and surrounded by Guan Ying, and thus captured such a large number of people out of thin air, which is barely plausible.
Based on this record, Hao Jiu knew that Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu might be the Left and Right Sima captured by Guan Ying in Dongcheng, and that they did not fight to the death. That's why he wanted to see how things went first.
If the historical records are accurate, then the Jiujiang army would probably have fought until only 12,000 men remained before surrendering.
Of course, this Chu-Han Contention world is not the Earth where Hao Jiu lived before his death, nor is it necessarily exactly the same as the historical Chu-Han timeline.
But at least for now, most of the historical trends are still pretty much the same. Hao Jiu's historical knowledge has already played a significant role, and he's really enjoying being a strategist.
To save someone, you need to seize the right moment to maximize their gratitude; offering help in times of need is always better than adding to someone's already good fortune.
So after the battle began, Hao Jiu let Xiang Yu rush over. Of course, he couldn't stop Xiang Yu from going either, as Xiang Yu now understood that Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu truly wanted to return to Chu.
Guan Ying attempted a flanking maneuver, but after Xiang Yu emerged from behind him, it was Guan Ying who was truly surrounded.
"Hey! You old bastard Guan Ying! Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, is here! Prepare to die!"
This time, Xiang Yu took Hao Jiu's advice and waited until they were almost there before shouting, so as not to give the enemy a heads-up in advance.
In this dimension, Guan Ying had not yet experienced the great defeat at Guantangpu, so apart from almost wetting himself in fear when he first heard Xiang Yu's roar, he was completely relieved after realizing that Xiang Yu was alone on horseback, and calmly commanded two thousand reserve troops to meet Xiang Yu.
However, Xiang Yu's roar did more than just frighten Guan Ying. Guan Ying's lie that Xiang Yu was dead was instantly exposed. Moreover, the Jiujiang army was separated from the Han army, and they did not know how many troops Xiang Yu had brought. They only knew that Xiang Yu had attacked from behind Guan Ying. In an instant, the morale of the Jiujiang army soared, while the Han army, unaware of the truth, was thrown into chaos.
Guan Ying was well aware of the implications, so he hurriedly issued orders to reassure the troops and displayed a calm and composed demeanor.
As the saying goes, "A general is the heart of the army." Guan Ying was able to remain calm and composed even when the Chu army launched a surprise attack from the rear. He relied only on the reserve army and his personal guard to meet the enemy and did not withdraw the main force to reinforce the Han army. The Han soldiers gradually calmed down.
"Hmph! Xiang Yu's attempt to disrupt our army's morale is nothing but a pipe dream." Guan Ying smiled smugly, then turned to look at the battlefield between the reserve army and Xiang Yu. He figured Xiang Yu must have been torn to pieces by now.
This Xiang Yu is truly a kind person; he actually made a special trip here to present him with a great victory.
Guan Ying was dumbfounded, his mouth stammering. The reserve troops he had just sent out were actually scattering and fleeing. Xiang Yu had broken through the encirclement of two thousand cavalry so quickly! How could this be!
At this time, Xiang Yu was much stronger than before he transmigrated, with significant improvements in strength, speed, reaction ability, and other aspects.
Xiang Yu sensed something; it seemed that after merging with his counterpart from the split dimension, his strength had almost doubled, essentially adding the complete attributes of the Xiang Yu who used the time-reversal item.
When Xiang Yu told Hao Jiu about this in his heart, Hao Jiu was initially very excited, but his mood soured after a short while.
"What a huge loss! What a huge loss! If I had known this would happen, I would have crossed over to the split planes sooner. If the overlords of these split planes were all alive, wouldn't my strength have increased sixfold? What a huge loss!"
The time flow rate of the branch plane is different from that of the main plane, but the time flow rate of the two branch planes will not be exactly the same, or the flow will be reversed. The starting point must be the moment when the time reversal item is used.
When Hao Jiu chose to travel to different dimensions, although he did not know the specific situation of each dimension, there were hints about the difficulty of the mission.
He didn't think much about it at the time and chose the easiest time travel option, which happened to take him to the time when Xiang Yu committed suicide at Wujiang.
Honestly, Xiang Yu's suicide at Wujiang was the least difficult moment in history. Hao Jiu couldn't think of any other period in history where Xiang Yu's situation was more difficult.
Therefore, this difficulty is mostly related to the target system Black Dragon. The simplest explanation is that the longer the accumulation time, the stronger the Black Dragon becomes.
The difficulty ranking of the missions can indirectly reflect how far back in time the missions are from the Battle of Gaixia; the greater the difficulty, the further away from the Battle of Gaixia.
If this conjecture is correct, then it is highly likely that Xiang Yu did not exist at all in the other branching planes!
That's equivalent to losing five times the combat power for nothing!
While Hao Jiu was struggling with regret, Xiang Yu had already engaged Guan Ying's personal guard. Unlike the reserve troops, the personal guard had no chance of scattering and fleeing. Instead, they fought desperately to kill Xiang Yu, even at the cost of their lives.
Of course, faced with Xiang Yu's overwhelming strength, no matter how suicidal Guan Ying's personal guards attacked, it was of little use. The five hundred guards fell from their horses one after another, like wheat being harvested.
Although Guan Ying ordered the main force fighting the Jiujiang army to return and was running towards the front himself, he was still extremely panicked. Xiang Yu truly deserves to be called a warrior capable of defeating ten thousand men!
As Xiang Yu relentlessly pursued Guan Ying on the battlefield, he still tried to comfort Hao Jiu, saying, "Why must you do this, God of Wine? Even if I hadn't obtained five times the strength, wouldn't I still be worthy of the title 'Invincible'?"
Furthermore, even if I were to gain five times the strength, I fear that in those advanced planes you spoke of, encountering powerful immortals, gods, or demons, I would still find it difficult to prevail.
"Huh? What King Xiang said makes sense." Hao Jiu felt a little better after hearing Xiang Yu's words. "We're lucky enough, too. If we had come any later, we wouldn't have been able to get the benefits of this plane."
"That's exactly right." Xiang Yu swept away several riders with a single halberd strike, and the only one left closest to him was Guan Ying.
Guan Ying panicked, and the Han soldiers panicked even more. It turned out that the general's calm and composure just now was all an act. Not only had he mobilized all the troops to come back to reinforce, but he had also run away.
However, when the Han army that came to their aid saw that only Xiang Yu was chasing Guan Ying, they were not so panicked. How powerful could one person be?
"Whoever kills Xiang Yu will be enfeoffed as a marquis with ten thousand households! Everyone, regardless of rank or rank, will receive a share!" Guan Ying was afraid that the reinforcements would be defeated at this moment, so he hurriedly announced the reward. With such a generous reward, there would surely be brave men.
Sure enough, upon hearing Guan Ying's words, many Han cavalrymen rushed towards Xiang Yu with all their might.
"Phew, I'm saved..." Guan Ying finally managed to sneak into his army, and then...
Whoosh!
puff!
A sharp arrow suddenly pierced Guan Ying's chest, shattering his heart instantly.
To the astonishment of the Han soldiers, Guan Ying fell off his horse with a thud and died instantly!
Chapter 126 Straight to the Black Dragon
"General Guan Ying is dead! General Guan Ying was shot dead by Xiang Yu!"
It's unclear which kind-hearted, loud-voiced Han soldier helped spread the word, but news of Guan Ying's death spread rapidly among the Han army. Guan Ying's troops immediately collapsed, and many soldiers who had witnessed Xiang Yu's might chose to surrender directly.
Upon hearing the news that Guan Ying had been killed by Xiang Yu, Zhang Meng, who had been flanking from the southeast, also led his army to retreat rapidly westward.
The soldiers of Jiujiang cheered, and Zhang Ning happily greeted Xiang Yu. What could be more exciting than Xiang Yu suddenly appearing to save them?
Not only did Xiang Yu not die, but rescuing them was tantamount to accepting them into Chu.
"This humble general Zhang Ning pays his respects to King Xiang!" Zhang Ning looked behind Xiang Yu and was surprised to find not a single Chu soldier in sight. Had they all gone to pursue the defeated army?
Zhao Yu also ran over and, together with Zhang Ning, clasped their hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "This humble general Zhao Yu pays his respects to King Xiang!"
"Are you two truly loyal to Chu?" Xiang Yu turned his horse around.
"We are all sincere! We are willing to fight to the death for King Xiang!" the two replied in unison.
"Then lead your troops to Juchao. The city's garrison commander, Fan Zhong, should be loyal to me. If he doesn't accept you, you can go to Liyang to find Feng Tang. The cavalry I recently subdued are all there. I have important business to attend to, so I'll take my leave first." With that, Xiang Yu spurred his horse and galloped north.
Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu exchanged a glance. "Are we dreaming?"
At that moment, a junior colonel from Jiujiang Army ran over.
"Reporting to the two commanders, according to the captured Han soldiers, Xiang Yu just charged in from the north alone, and the casualties of the thousand Han cavalry were all caused by Xiang Yu alone!"
"hiss……"
Guan Ying is indeed a talented person, but Xiang Yu had already tried to recruit him in the main plane, but the attempt ended in failure.
Therefore, in this split plane, Xiang Yu had no intention of wasting words with Guan Ying; he simply cut the Gordian knot and killed him.
Anyway, Xiang Yu came here to rescue Zhang Ning and Zhao Yu, and also to kill Liu Ji and deal with Guan Ying along the way.
As for whether or not to unify the different planes, Xiang Yu and Hao Jiu haven't decided yet, but even if they do want to unify them, they must first solve the major problem of the planes collapsing.
After Xiang Yu crossed the Huai River at Guantangpu, he had Hao Jiu activate the system radar to search for Liu Ji's location.
The area was all plains, and since they knew Liu Ji's approximate location, it was relatively easy to find him. Xiang Yu only swayed left and right for a short while before successfully pinpointing Liu Ji's location.
Next, we will strike straight at the heart of the enemy's lair, or rather, strike straight at the Black Dragon!
If Xiang Yu's judgment is correct, Liu Ji should be located about forty li west of the battlefield at Gaixia, in Guyangyi, a small town on the north bank of the Hui River.
After Xiang Yu broke out of Gaixia, Liu Ji moved into this city and requisitioned the best house in the inner city as a temporary palace. While waiting for news of the pursuit of Xiang Yu, he indulged in pleasure with Lady Qi day and night.
Because of Liu Ji, Guyang City was heavily fortified. Lü Ze and Lü Shizhi guarded the city inside, while Kong Cong and Chen He guarded the outside. A total of 100,000 troops, along with the Huishui River, surrounded Guyang City.
Before confirming Xiang Yu's death, Liu Ji dared not be careless in the slightest. However, with the arrival of news such as the victory at Yinling, no one, including Liu Ji, believed that Guyang would face any further crisis.
As night fell, the city gates of Guyang City closed on time, and most of the soldiers in the camp outside the city went to bed early as usual. The Huishui River also flowed quietly as usual.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a section of bamboo tube stood upright on the surface of the Huishui River, moving upstream at an extremely fast speed, heading straight for the south gate of Guyang City.
Because the south gate of Guyang has the Huishui River as a natural moat, it is the most defensive of the four city gates, but also the place where the defense is most easily relaxed.
"Ah..." The sentry on the city wall huddled against the wall, yawning repeatedly, feeling quite sleepy.
Another soldier threw down his spear and said, "Hey, it's freezing cold, what's the point of guarding this south gate?"
"The King of Han is inside enjoying himself with his beauties, while we're stuck on the city wall, exposed to the cold wind. It's infuriating to compare ourselves to others..."
"Oh, that Lady Qi is so beautiful. I only glanced at her once and..."
Whoosh!
"Huh? I think I just saw something fly past the city wall, whoosh, it was too fast to see clearly." The sentry craned his neck, but quickly pulled it back in when the cold wind blew.
"Don't be so alarmed. It's probably just a bat or an owl or something. How could a person move that fast?"
"Haha, brother is absolutely right. Tell me about Lady Qi. Is this place big?"
...
The bedroom of Liu Ji, a temporary palace in Guyang.
Lady Qi smiled charmingly, "Your Majesty has been working hard these past few days, why don't you rest early tonight?"
"The night is long, my lady, do not be anxious." Liu Ji said, then roared inwardly, "Old Black! Give me three more blue pills!"
"Look at your pathetic self. The medicine is good, but taking too much will shorten your lifespan. Aren't you afraid you won't live past sixty?" the black dragon said disdainfully.
"Enough nonsense, hurry up! I am blessed with the help of a divine dragon, it is the will of Heaven. How could Heaven allow me to die young? Besides, Old Black, you are a divine dragon, surely you have a way to live forever? My immortality would also benefit you."
Liu Ji felt strange. That foreign system claimed to grant immortality, so why did the Black Dragon say it couldn't?
The black dragon's disdain deepened. "Even if you have the secret to immortality, I won't let you use it. The sooner you die, the sooner someone else will take your place."
"The path to immortality requires a pure and desireless mind. You? No chance! I've already put three divine pills in your stomach, so don't bother me anymore!"
"Why would I need you if I already have this divine medicine?" Liu Ji nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself, what good is a life of tranquility and abstinence for immortality?
Soon after, the guards in Liu Ji's inner quarters all smiled knowingly; the King of Han was truly vigorous for his age.
However, what they didn't know was that a killing god had already quietly infiltrated outside the walls of Liu Ji's palace.
Hao Jiu, perched on the wall, watched a patrol of soldiers walk by. "Xiang Wang, remember we're going to assassinate Liu Ji this time. Don't reveal our whereabouts."
I know you could easily kill Liu Ji by just charging in, but aren't we worried about something going wrong when we use the "Mixed Ball" item to take down the Black Dragon? If you're having a tug-of-war with the Mixed Ball and another group of enemy soldiers shows up, that would be dangerous.
Oh, by the way, if Liu Ji happens to be with that Lady Qi later, Your Majesty, please don't go easy on her. If that woman comes, she'll scream...
"I understand. What is the situation inside? May we enter?" Xiang Yu was dressed in all black, without armor, and even his face was painted black, blending perfectly into the night.