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."
To be continued...