In mid-January, when news of the siege of Huaiyang was learned, Xiang Yu's 20,000-strong army had just left Suiyang, where they had spent the winter, and arrived at Zhe County, Chen County (Zhè City, Henan Province).
Zhe County got its name because there is a Zhe ditch circulation in the city, and there are many Zhe trees on both sides of the bank. The leaves of the Zhe trees can be used to feed a kind of "Silkworm". The Zhe County silk produced is bright and shiny, and the clothes made of it are famous.
Liang, Song.
However, Zhe County recently received an order from Shangzhu State of Chu State, requiring all the embroiderers in the county to weave a flag: a flaming red banner with the word Chu!
Outside, the embroiderers were flying with needles and threads, but inside the county temple, the generals of the Chu State were arguing about an important matter concerning the rise and fall of the Chu State.
"I'm afraid it's hard to save Chen Ying."
The speaker was General Pu. He brought hundreds of tribesmen to seek refuge with Xiang Yu when he attacked Donghai County. He was quite brave, but his proposal today was very conservative:
"Our army only has 20,000 troops, while the Qin army that besieged Chen Ying numbered at least 60,000, or even more. There is a gap across the road, which is clearly to lure our troops to rush for reinforcements, and then we can cross the border and attack, Shangzhu State, we
Don’t be fooled!”
Another person in the room had a different view.
"But if Chen Ying is lost, Chu State will suffer great losses. Huaiyang controls Cai, Yingzhijiao, Wanliang, and Song Dynasty. If there is trouble in Huai and Si, follow the river to the east. If there is trouble in the north and south, we must fight here."
This man is short in stature, but extremely calm in situations. If Heifu were here, he would definitely scream in surprise. This is actually Zhong Lizhen, an old acquaintance who left an arrow hole in his leg and disappeared for many years!
Zhongli Mei continued: "More than ten years ago, Lord Changping used Chen Ying to rebel against Qin and attacked Li Xin's back. Chu Sui won a great victory."
"After a year, with Wang Jian as general, Chen Ying was easily defeated, and Chu Sui no longer had a barrier, and was destroyed overnight."
"I know that the gain or loss of Chen Ying is related to the survival of the Chu State. If the Qin army captures Chen Ying this time, they can control the gap again, send warships from Aocang, transport grain and soldiers along the way, and threaten Shouchun.
The tragedy of the country’s subjugation in the past will happen again!”
Zhong Limei said: "Therefore Chen Ying must rescue, but what General Pu said makes sense, we cannot rush across the gap. Why not follow the old plan of Qi Sun Bin to surround Wei and rescue Zhao. Our army will go north, attack Chen Liu, take Daliang, and fight with the divisions of Han and Wei.
If we join together and push Chenggao from the west, threatening Aocang, the Qin army will release Chen Ying and return to help Chenggao!"
Although Han and Wei were severely beaten by the Qin army and even two kings were killed, Han Zhang Liang and Gongsun Xin led thousands of people to fight Qin in Putianze and launched a guerrilla attack. Wei also
He quickly made Wei Bao king and captured all of Dongjun. His strength became stronger than that of Wei Jiu.
General Pu agreed with this proposal: "Yes, Chen Ying still has 10,000 guards, and Ji Bu is the general. He has always kept his promises. Before the major general left, he said he would defend, and he will definitely be able to defend! There is also enough food in the city, so we should
We can resist the Qin army for more than a month, as long as we..."
But his words were interrupted by a young man who had been kneeling in the center for a long time.
"Chen Ying does have ten thousand defenders, and Ji Bu is the captain."
"In addition, there are tens of thousands of Chu people, including my Yafu."
The majestic and elegant Chu crown cannot hide Xiang Yu's martial spirit. He has a chin and a tiger's beard, and his arms are so strong that he can smash a table to pieces with just one slap!
"The opponent is Wang Ben. This old man uses troops very much like his father. He will never relax the defense of Chen Liu and Cheng Gao just because he wants to capture Chen Ying. When our army reaches Cheng Gao, we will be blocked by the soldiers and cannot attack.
We cannot retreat, but Chen Ying may have been defeated."
"Yafu is my confidant, and Jibu is my brother and sister. If I go away with one heart and one arm, how is it any different from death?"
Xiang Yu glanced at General Pu and Zhong Li: "This battle must be fought!"
General Pu was anxious: "But..."
Xiang Yu didn't give him a chance to speak.
"When I was a child, I heard my father Zhong say that Chu was the most powerful country in the world. When King Wei of Chu was at its most prosperous, there were Qianzhong and Wujun in the west, Xiazhou and Haiyang in the east, Dongting and Cangwu in the south, and Xing in the north.
Fortress, Xiyang, an area of more than 5,000 miles, with a million armors, a thousand chariots, and ten thousand horses, and ten years of grain production. These are the qualifications of an overlord."
"I think that the strength of Chu and the virtuousness of the king are unparalleled in the world. Therefore, the princes are called Dukes, Marquises, and Bos. Only I, the great Chu, can proclaim myself king and compete with the Zhou Dynasty."
"It is precisely because the State of Chu is so big that it does not care about its weak rulers and mediocre ministers. Therefore, when King Huai of Chu cut off Shangyong, it didn't matter to the Northern Han Dynasty and the State of Qin. It was in vain to forget that this was obtained inch by inch by our ancestors."
"When he arrived at the time of King Qingxiang of Chu, he was defeated by Bai Qi, burned the tombs of the ancestors, lost the country, and rushed eastward in a hurry, destroying half of the mountains and rivers."
"By the time of Fu Chu, in order to seek peace, Chu had ceded Chen Ying. To the west of Qingyang, Chu had become a small country leaning on the Jianghuai River and eventually fell."
"Now, the Chu State has finally been restored. The mistakes of the past cannot be repeated. As long as I am still the Shangzhu State of the Chu State, when the Chu State enters the land, as long as it is recaptured, I will not give in even a foot or an inch!"
He patted General Pu and Zhongli Mei and said:
"When we restore the country and kill Qin, we don't have many soldiers and our armor is not strong. We rely on one breath."
"A breath of resentment that has been holding back for more than ten years since the fall of Chu! Even though Chu has been dead for more than ten years, Chu people still secretly remember those words!"
General Pu and Zhongli Mei were deeply moved and said in unison: "Although Chu has three households, if Qin is destroyed, Chu will definitely die!"
Xiang Yu nodded: "That's right, if this energy dissipates, it will go back to its old self."
"Just like more than ten years ago, we were defeated along the way and lost cities and territory."
"In the end, the country was reduced to ruins, the Chu people were slaughtered by Qin officials, the nobles and common people were reduced to exiles, and the traditions were trampled underfoot..."
"Therefore, even if we die, we cannot give in. Huaiyang must be saved!"
Xiang Yu's beard was twitching: "The people of Qin want to lure me into fighting? Well, Xiang Yu won't give way much. If he wants to fight, then let's stop fighting. Let this battle be used to determine the situation in Liang and Chen!"
…
A few days later, Xiang County (Chenqiu, Henan Province), a hundred miles south of Chen Ying, was the end of the chasm and the first fiefdom of the Xiang family.
Zhongli Mei rode his horse to report: "In Shangzhu State, General Pu's lure to the enemy was effective, and the Qin soldiers sent 10,000 people northward."
Xiang Yu nodded, and he asked General Pu to take 3,000 men and go north along the chasm with great fanfare, making a gesture of attacking Chenliu. The Qin army quickly responded and sent 10,000 men back to Liang to aid.
The main force of the Chu army followed Xiang Yu south to Xiang County. The Qin army's Sima Yang tribe in Runan had not yet attacked this area. Xiang County, under the control of Xiang Yu's younger brother Xiang Sheng, had 3,000 newly recruited soldiers and ships to support them.
They cross the chasm.
But just after the Chu army crossed the chasm, they dug a stove and prepared a meal. While everyone was eating, Zhongli Mei, who had been ordered to patrol the periphery, returned again and sent an urgent report to Xiang Yu!
"Shangzhu Kingdom! From the direction of Nandun Township (Xiangcheng, Henan), a large number of Qin troops are marching towards Xiang County!"
Xiang Yu immediately spat out the food in his mouth:
"How many people and how far away?"
"At least 40,000 people! It's only twenty miles away!"
Twenty miles, if you march quickly, you can get there in an hour, if you march slowly, it will take two or three hours...
"Twice as big as me?"
Xiang Yu smiled and said, "I'm afraid this is an ambush. It seems that the Qin army moved north to chase General Pu. I'm afraid they may have used a trick. They have set up spies along the river to monitor the movements of various places. They are waiting for our army to cross the chasm and are about to come."
Surround and attack!"
Zhong Lizhen was unsure about this battle: "Shangzhu Kingdom, it's still too late to cross the river back to the east bank to avoid the Qin army..."
"It's too late." Xiang Yu shook his head: "Although the army is slow, the chariots and cavalry will arrive in half an hour. By then, our army will be attacked halfway across the river and suffer heavy losses."
"What's more, if we retreat now, the ambition to win every battle and conquer the mountains and rivers since we raised the army will be completely broken, and the Chu Kingdom will be finished!"
Zhongli said: "Or, go to Xiang County ten miles away? Although the city is small, it can still..."
"no!"
Xiang Yu flatly refused. He stood up and glanced around: "Give everyone another half a moment to assemble after eating!"
"I have something to say to everyone!"
…
"Soldiers of Chu, I am Xiang Yu!"
To have a loud voice is to be willful. When speaking in front of the formation, Heifu had to hold up a simple copper-rolled trumpet, but Xiang Yu did not use it. The sound was like a loud bell, spreading throughout the countryside.
The soldiers of the Chu army with colorful clothes and armor looked at each other. In the past six months or so, General Xiang Yu, who was born in a noble family and was invincible in battles, often went in and out of the military camp and shared food and clothing with the soldiers, but he rarely spoke to everyone like this. Not every time.
Everyone has seen him.
And they also learned that the enemy army was twenty miles away, so they whispered, the army was a little scattered, and everyone was worried.
Xiang Yu's voice came again:
"People in Chu say that Xiang Yu is two feet tall!"
"You can lift a thousand-jin cauldron with one hand!"
"Every time he fought, he killed hundreds of people!"
"He also said that my pair of double pupils can spit out fire, turning everything it touches into ashes."
"With a loud roar, the earth will shake and the mountains will shake, and thunder will fall to destroy the Qin army."
Everyone laughed when they heard this, because Xiang Yu was too young, only twenty-four years old. Since he started his army, he had recovered several counties and won every battle, so the people of Chu gradually began to add some myths to him.
But Xiang Yu admitted today that he is a mortal.
"Among these rumors, only the one about killing hundreds of enemies in every battle is true."
He scanned the crowd: "Although Xiang Yu is brave, I can't annihilate the tens of thousands of Qin troops more than ten miles away!"
For a moment, everyone fell silent, and uneasiness grew in their hearts. If Major General Xiang couldn't do it, then who can do it?
"I can't do it alone."
Xiang Yu added, pointing to the less than 20,000 people in front of him, and loudly encouraged them:
"But there are still you, so you can join me in formation and fight. As one unit of soldiers, we can be invincible and capture everything!"
No one answered.
Xiang Yu continued: "I know that the timid and fearful people will hide at home and will not join the Chu army. Those under Xiang Yu's command are either unwilling to be bound by Qin's laws, or they are too poor to survive and are reduced to
They are criminals and thieves. These heroes of Chu stand under the flag of Fengniao to resist the violent Qin."
He pointed behind him, and there was dust flying in the distance. They were the Qin Army's chariots...
"Now, the Qin army is coming. There is no way to avoid it. This is a fierce battle."
There was some restlessness among the Chu army, but there was indeed no trace of fear in Xiang Yu's voice.
"Fight or die."
"If you surrender, you will die!"
"Death, or life."
"Only a few people can escape and hide in the mountains and survive, at least for a while."
"But you can't hide for a while. In a few years, you will be captured by the Qin officials. When you come out, you will find that the land of Chu has been devastated. Your family members, wives and daughters have been reduced to slaves and prisoners, so they were beheaded in
City, or die of exhaustion in Lingnan, or starve to death in Lishan Mountain, the Great Wall..."
At this moment, Xiang Yu thought of his elder father who died in the battle, and also thought of his father Zhong and his younger brother Xiang Zhuang who were sent to the frontier.
The blood feud between the Xiang family and the Qin State can never be resolved.
And those who are willing to join the Chu army and follow Xiang Yu to fight against Qin are almost all like this. Either their family members died in the unification war, or they were severely punished for making a small mistake and became prisoners and ministers.
Many of them even have tattoos on their faces!
Xiang Yu raised his head and asked with red eyes: "Second and Third Son, Xiang Yu dares to ask, if that is really the case, at the moment before you die in humiliation, are you willing to trade all this lowly suffering in exchange for today!"
"For an opportunity, we only have this one opportunity!"
"Come back here, beside the chasm, on the land of Chu, under the banner of the red phoenix, facing the people of Qin, holding your head high, telling them that the people of Chu will never be slaves, and that the people of Chu also have ambition!"
What is the ambition of Chu people?
According to Xiang Yu's understanding, it is his own land and he has the final say!
"We are willing to fight to the death with the general!"
Some people cheered, but some were silent, and some looked left and right.
Xiang Yu didn't know if this was a successful speech, or how many people would risk their lives to fight in a while.
Not everyone can understand the justice of family and country.
Not everyone has a brave heart.
But Xiang Yu, who always goes straight forward, knows how to make them have no way out and can only move forward!
"The Leaky Cauldron!"
He gave orders to Xiang Sheng.
"Sink the boat!"
He yelled at Zhongli Mei.
The pottery cauldrons on the stove were knocked over to the ground and smashed into pieces with swords and spears. Some of them still contained leftover rice porridge...
Hundreds of small boats of different sizes were also burned by the fire and slowly sank into the water...
In this firelight, the Chu people on the shore all had red eyes like Xiang Yu.
The general will destroy the cauldron and sink the boat, telling the soldiers that they will die, and none of them will return the favor!
Now, they really have no way out!
This time, when Xiang Yu gave the order again, everyone consciously moved closer to their companions and fellow countrymen, and tightly held the Ge contradictory sword in their hands.
"If you can't go in or out, you can't go back. The plains suddenly become too far..."
A song of Chu slowly sung from the mouths of nobles and military officials, tragic and powerful!
"When you carry a long sword, you hold the bow of Qin. If your head and body are separated, your heart will not be punished."
As if to embolden themselves, even though most people didn't know the words, they still opened their thirsty mouths, licked their cracked lips, and hummed the tune in response to the aching throat.
"Sincerity is both brave and martial, but ultimately strong and undefeatable!"
The voice became louder and louder, and he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the spear.
"When the body is dead, the spirit is the spirit, and the soul is the ghost."
Xiang Yu shouted this last sentence!
More than ten years ago, in Qinan, his eldest father, Xiang Yan, led a hundred thousand Chu men, shouted Chuyin's swan song, and shed blood on that land...
And now, the nephews of those who died in the war are back!
They took up arms again, held high the flag, and sang the song of national mourning, but they will usher in a different fate!
Xiang Yu could feel that the ancestors of the Xiang family were looking at him, the emperors and ministers of the Chu Kingdom for eight hundred years were looking at him, Zhu Rong, Donghuang, Dongjun, mountain ghosts, and the mountains and rivers gods of Chu were all looking at him!
Blood debts must be paid with blood. This battle is the best sacrifice to them!
Since there is no way to retreat, we can only move forward and fight our way out!
Smoke and dust billowed, and the Qin army was already five miles away!
That ugly flag is still as dark and depressing as before.
Just like the banner of the Chu people, it is so bright and blood-red!
Standing on the military chariot, Xiang Yu put on the most gorgeous red armor so that everyone, including enemies and subordinates, could clearly see him.
The halberd pointed forward.
"After this battle."
"Those who are alive should be outstanding people."
