"The Western Chu Thief Army is here!"

A sharp-eyed Han soldier was the first to shout this sentence, and immediately after, a dark green line had already appeared on the galloping road leading to the plain of Tobu City, and it spread rapidly at an alarming speed, turning into green spots, and then turning into a dark green tide surging and rushing, which was particularly eye-catching on the brown and yellow earth.

Even standing at the top of the city wall, the soldiers of the Han army led by Ni Ji could still vaguely feel that the earth was trembling, and they could clearly see the moat under the city rippling slightly, and they also clearly saw the banner of the overlord of Western Chu fluttering in the wind in the ranks of the Western Chu army.

According to Ni Ji's order, when the cavalry of the Western Chu army rushed to the city of Dongwu, the five hundred Han soldiers lined up next to the moat immediately beat gongs and drums, and scolded the Western Chu army from the east.

Xiang Yu fulfilled Ni Ji's wish, the spear was just pointed at random, and a cavalry team of 100 people immediately rushed out of the huge cavalry team of the Western Chu Army, slapped the horse and whipped it, and rushed straight to the Han army soldiers lined up under Dongwu City, Ni Ji in the city was overjoyed when he saw it, and hurriedly shouted: "Release the arrow!" Kill all the cavalry of the Western Chu Thief Army for me! Exciting Yu Pifu is coming to attack the city! ”

The crossbowmen of the Han army, who had been gaining momentum for a long time, immediately fired arrows in unison, shooting countless arrows at the cavalry of the Western Chu army that rushed in front of them, and the five hundred Han warriors who were arrayed at the head of the moat bridge also immediately stabilized their positions, holding their weapons shoulder to shoulder, and the strong long shields were lined up to protect the front, and the sharp spears were pointed upwards obliquely, resisting the cavalry charge of the Western Chu army with the most orthodox infantry dense phalanx.

The sharp arrows shot at the cavalry of the Western Chu army one after another, but most of the arrows were bounced off by the bronze armor of the cavalry of the Western Chu army, and they could not break through the armor and pierce into the body of the cavalry of the Western Chu army, it was difficult to cause fatal injuries to the cavalry of the Western Chu army, and it was also difficult to cause death and injury to the horses of the Western Chu army wearing rhinoceros skin armor.

At this moment, a smug smile also appeared on the lips of Ni Ji, the young general of the Han army, who was both wise and brave, and with a cruel smile, Ni Ji also seemed to see the scene of the cavalry of the Western Chu Army hitting their heads in front of the infantry phalanx of the army, but the smile quickly solidified on Ni Ji's face, because what Ni Ji saw next was only a massacre of the infantry of the Han Army by the cavalry of the Western Chu Army.

In the billowing dust and smoke, the cavalry of the Western Chu Army, which was highly skilled in riding, still urged the horses to jump up directly in the charge without stirrups and saddles of high bridges, jumped high over the shield array and rows of spears in front of the Han army, and fell directly into the dense crowd of Han infantry.

Just in the blink of an eye, the originally solid Han infantry phalanx was broken, the front shield hand was cut down and stabbed by the spear sword from the front and back, the long shield fell to the ground one after another, and the cavalry of the Western Chu Army behind rushed directly into the Han infantry crowd like a tiger going down the mountain, fiercely wielding various weapons and stabbing and stabbing, even chopping and chopping, the blood of the Han infantry continued to gush, and there were war horses trampling, the Han soldiers who fell to the ground trampled to the ground screaming and shaking the sky, broken tendons and fractures, and even disemboweled. Within a few moments of the battle, nearly half of the 500 Han infantry had fallen to the ground and been killed or wounded.

Unable to withstand the fierce attack of the cavalry of the Western Chu Army, some timid Han infantry turned around and fled on the moat bridge, while several cavalry of the Western Chu Army chased after the bridge, roaring and stabbing out their spears one after another, stabbing the Han infantry who fled on the bridge from behind, and then immediately came back to their senses, and intercepted the Han infantry who fled on the bridge in the future, forcing countless Han soldiers to jump into the moat to escape, and the moat was soon crowded with Han soldiers who were struggling and calling for help.

really didn't bother to pay attention to these rampant and provocative Han army soldiers, just cut down and stabbed all the Han soldiers on land, forcing the remaining Han soldiers who knew how to water to jump into the moat and flee for their lives, this group of cavalry of the Western Chu Army went away, returned to the cavalry brigade of the Western Chu Army and continued to march west, leaving the corpses of the Han soldiers all over the ground, as well as countless Han soldiers struggling in the water, and among the bloody corpses, the corpses of the cavalry of the Western Chu Army were less than ten!

It was also at this time that Ni Ji, who was standing in the city, woke up like a dream, and muttered with a pale face: "He is worthy of being the overlord of Western Chu, fighting in the field head-on, and no one in the whole world can be his opponent!" ”

Xiang Yu himself thought so, so after completing the army assembly in Jibei, Xiang Yu immediately took 20,000 elite troops with mixed cavalry and cavalry to the north, rushed to the plain to cross the river, and rushed to the Julu battlefield day and night to reinforce the anti-Han coalition army, and let the infantry brigade escort the grain and grass and baggage to follow. Xiang Yu even firmly believed that as long as he could reach the Julu battlefield and join forces with the anti-Han coalition forces that were clinging to the danger, then there was no need for a follow-up infantry brigade to arrive at the Julu battlefield, and only the 20,000 elite troops in his hands and the remnants of the northern front could completely turn the tide of the battle in Zhaodi, and even directly cut off the head of his hateful cousin Xiang Kang.

This is exactly the case, if Xiang Yu can really successfully rendezvous with the remaining Northern Front Corps of the Western Chu Army, then with his invincible heroism on the battlefield, as well as the tragic terrain of the Julu Battlefield that is too flat and open, even if the two major corps of the Han Army join forces, they dare not say that they have a chance of winning in front of Xiang Yu, even if they are not killed by Xiang Yu, the lost chess game on the Northern Front battlefield may also be revived by Xiang Yu!

"King Qiyu, ten miles ahead is Cuo County! Like the news provided to us by the Jibei Army, there are not many Han thief defenders in Cuoxian City, and the city gate has been closed early! ”

The flying report of the scout in front made Xiang Yu nod with satisfaction, and Xiang Yu couldn't help but say with relief: "Okay, as long as the Han thieves haven't had time to divide troops to reinforce Cuo County, it proves that Zhou Yin and they are still holding on to the Julu battlefield, and we will win!" ”

After saying a word of relief, Xiang Yu ordered loudly to let the Western Chu army speed up its westward advance, and be sure to rush to Changtunji in the west of Cuo County before dark, so that the self-army could rush to the Julu battlefield within tomorrow for reinforcements. After the order was delivered, the high-morale Western Chu army chariot knights also slapped their horses and whipped their horses, galloping westward at the fastest speed, like a dark green dragon, swimming and galloping on the spacious and flat galloping road.

It didn't take long for the old and dilapidated Cuo County to appear in front of Xiang Yu, and as reported by the scouts, there were really not many Han army flags on Cuo County, there were few guards, and there was no one outside the city, and the surrounding people had already fled. Xiang Yu sneered when he saw it, and said, "Count you smart!" ”

"King! There is an enemy! ”

The sudden shouting made Xiang Yu stunned, and when he quickly stretched his neck to take a closer look, Xiang Yu immediately saw that on the horizon connecting the galloping road, a huge crowd really appeared, and the flag was still waving like an army. And when he charged forward again and carefully saw the banner of that army, Xiang Yu immediately roared angrily, "It's the Qi army!" How did they get here? ”

It was indeed the defeated soldiers of the Qi State who fled from the east on the Julu battlefield, and after finally seeing clearly that it was the Western Chu army coming from the east, the Qi army soldiers who fled in a panic like a frightened bird also sounded countless excited shouts, "It's the Western Chu army!" It's the Xichu rescuers! We are saved, we are saved! ”

Then, when it became clear that it was Xiang Yu who personally led the army to help, the commander of the Qi army, Tian Bu, immediately raised his heart to his throat, but there was no way, he couldn't hide anyway, he couldn't hide, and he had no choice, Tian Bu could only let the army temporarily stop advancing, pat his horse forward, and report to Xiang Yu about the before and after the disastrous defeat of his army last night.

In fact, there is no need for Tian to speak, just seeing the Qi army losing its armor and even the pitiful appearance of the grain transport vehicles, Xiang Yu already understands that the Qi army has suffered a big defeat, but Xiang Yu is of course more concerned about his own army, so just as soon as they met, Xiang Yu roared at Tian with red eyes and asked, "What's wrong?" What about our Western Chu army? What are they doing now? ”

With courage, Tian Yu had just told him about what happened last night, and before he could finish the situation, he had just heard that Tian Yu was fleeing alone with the Qi army, Xiang Yu had already flown up and kicked him heavily in the chest, making him gasp into the air and fly up, blood spurting wildly in his mouth, and then, before Tian Yu landed, Xiang Yu's crazy roar had already reached his ears......

"Piff! What a guts! Dare to leave our Western Chu army and run for their lives alone! ”

If it weren't for Xiang Zhuang, who came with the army, Xiang Yu would definitely be able to tear Tian Bu on the spot, and Tian Yu hurriedly covered the ribs kicked by Xiang Yu to defend his grievances, and said with tears in his eyes: "King of Western Chu, what can I do?" I've done my best, if I hadn't led the army to defend the camp, your camp would have been taken by the Han thieves in the chaos, and then the Han thieves took advantage of the situation to enter the camp of our Qi army, we couldn't hold it, and then didn't retreat to Julu to die? ”

"Dare to quibble!"

Xiang Yu, who was red-eyed, was about to rush up and tear Tian apart again, but fortunately Xiang Zhuang grabbed him and said, "King, calm down, General Tian has really done his best." Also, it's important for us to save our army now! ”

Thanks to Xiang Yu's eagerness to save the trapped Western Chu army, Tian Yu was lucky to save his life, carefully asked about the situation of the Western Chu army at that time, and learned that the civil strife of the Western Chu army at that time had been reconciled, and the camp was intact and could continue to hold on, Xiang Yu rekindled his hope, and hurriedly instructed Tian Bu: "Quick, take your army, take Cuo County for this king, collect all the grain in the city, and then take the grain back to Julu to obey the order!" ”

Tian Bu, who didn't dare to disobey the order, hurriedly agreed, and Xiang Yu couldn't wait to urge the Western Chu army to speed up and advance westward, killing the giant deer to rescue his remaining army with great momentum, and kept yelling on the hurried road, "Zhou Yin, Xiang Guan, you two must guard the camp for this king!" Be sure to keep it for the king! As long as you can hold on, we still have hope! ”

No matter how eager it is, it is useless, even if the Western Chu soldiers are afraid of Xiang Yu's heroic style, they can grit their teeth and march overnight, but the war horses of the cavalry and chariots of the Western Chu army are not perpetual motion machines that do not need to rest, so after crossing Changtun and the sky is completely dark, under the repeated persuasion of Xiang Guan and others, Xiang Yu still has no choice but to let the soldiers of the Western Chu army stop camping and rest, and wait for the war horses and soldiers to recover their strength with gloomy faces.

Seeing the eagerness in Xiang Yu's heart, Xiang Zhuang and Ji Xin and other accompanying cavalry generals could only persuade one after another, saying that with Zhou Yin's caution and Xiang Guan's bravery, there must be no problem in leading the rest of the Western Chu army to hold the camp, so that Xiang Yu does not have to be so anxious, as long as the army arrives at the Julu battlefield the next day, it will definitely be able to reverse the situation of the entire Julu battlefield immediately, and when the time comes, not only the trapped Western Chu army can be rescued, but it is not hopeless to turn defeat into victory.

Thinking about it carefully, it was found that this was also the case, Xiang Yu could only reluctantly nod, and ate dry food under the persuasion of Xiang Zhuang and others, but just as Xiang Yu began to eat, there was a sudden noise from the periphery of the camp, and then immediately after, a herald rushed to Xiang Yu's front and said tremblingly: "King Qiyu, General Xiang Guan is here." ”

There were two soft bangs, the water hyacinth and dry food in Xiang Yu's hand fell to the ground together, and the very handsome face immediately turned pale again, and Xiang Zhuang and Ji Xin and the others next to him were also colorless, and they blurted out and exclaimed: "What? General Xiang Guan is here? ”

The herald who knew the situation didn't dare to speak again, just nodded, while Xiang Yu slowly clenched his fists and said word by word: "Bring him here!" ”

According to Xiang Yu's order, it didn't take long for Xiang Guan, who finally left Xiang Kang's side, to be led to Xiang Yu. And unlike the usual high-spirited and brave Xiang Guan, Xiang Guan at this moment is already covered with mud, sweat and bloodstains, the armor is not in order, and the helmet is not even known to be thrown there, and slowly walked in front of Xiang Yu, Xiang Guan also slowly knelt down to Xiang Yu's knees, his mouth was not open, and tears had already burst out of his eyes......

"What about the army? What about our camp? Xiang Yu's voice was extremely hoarse.

"It's gone, it's gone." Xiang Guan's voice was even more hoarse, and he cried and said: "Zhou Yin's puppet rebelled and stabbed us in the back, the Han thieves took the opportunity to break through our camp, and the younger brother led the army to break through, and was caught up by the Han thieves on the bank of the Zhangshui River...... and ......, and was killed almost ...... the whole army. ”

Xiang Yu slowly stood up and took a step forward, but he didn't stand firm for the first time, and he knelt down on one knee, Xiang Zhuang and Ji Xin were shocked, and when they hurriedly stepped forward to help, Xiang Yu pushed them away, struggled to stand up, and pulled out the sword on his waist, and struggled to break the sword, and the sound of the roar suddenly resounded throughout the camping camp of the Western Chu army......

"Xiang Kangpiff! This king will not kill you with his own hands! Swear not to be a human being————! ”

"Spread the king's decree! Xiang Kangpiff will be officially expelled from our Xiang family tree! From now on, whoever obtains the head of Xiang Kangpiff will be rewarded with 100,000 gold! Seal the king of customs! ”

Xiang Yu roared wildly, and finally retracted his previous decision to leave Xiang Kang a way out no matter what, and made up his mind to take Xiang Kang's head. Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan next to him were in different moods, Xiang Guan, who also hated Xiang Kang to the bone, had a resolute expression, but Xiang Zhuang hung his head helplessly, and his heart was full of pain......

No matter how much you hate Xiang Kang, there is no way, the anti-Han coalition forces on the Julu battlefield have all been wiped out by the Han army, even if Xiang Yu barely rushed to the Julu battlefield, there is neither response, nor food and grass, and even the baggage army necessary for the camp, the Han army in Dongwu City has choked the grain route of the Western Chu army, the Julu Han army does not need to fight head-on, and the 20,000 elites of the Western Chu army can easily consume Xiang Yu to death with consumption alone, so no matter how unwilling and reluctant he is, Xiang Yu finally obeyed the wishes of Xiang Zhuang and Ji Xin and others, Trying to collect some of the defeated troops of the Western Chu army who had fled from the Julu battlefield, he honestly withdrew with the army and returned to Jibei to join the rear army.

Don't say that this is not in line with Xiang Yu's character, Xiang Yu is just stubborn, but he will not be stupid enough to insist on dying in vain, otherwise, after Xiang Liang sacrificed in Dingtao in history, Xiang Yu would not obediently flee back to Pengcheng with the army from Yongqiu, avoid the head-on decisive battle with Zhang Han, and would not flee alone with tens of thousands of cavalry with eight hundred cavalry when he was embattled.

Fortunately, Xiang Yu was smart and ran in time, in fact, during the day on the same day, just after taking the Qichu army camp outside Julu City, Xiang Kang had already begun to prepare to meet the Xiang Yu army that might come, and had already divided 20,000 troops to set up camp on the dune platform, guarding the only dune bridge in the Julu area that colluded with the east-west traffic of Zhangshui, and at the same time seized the time to reorganize the army and boost morale, just waiting for Xiang Yu to make a fool and continue to march west to die, if Xiang Yu did not run away as soon as possible, just a dune bridge, It would be enough to drain thousands of his troops.

That's not all, after receiving the scout report that the Western Chu army took the initiative to retreat, Xiang Kang regretted it, and also convened Uncle Zhou, Chen Ping, and the important civil and military forces of the Western Chu army to discuss whether they could take advantage of the victory to pursue and directly kill Xiang Yu in Zhao State or Jibei County, so as to end the turmoil caused by the conflict between Chu and Han as soon as possible?

"Let's talk about it, can we launch a counterattack now, and strive to kill my brother King Xichu in Zhao or Jibei, and end the turmoil in the world in one fell swoop? First of all, I think this hope should exist, because with my brother's fiery temper, as long as he sees us in pursuit, he is likely to turn around and fight us to the death, and even if someone advises him to act rationally, he will not necessarily listen. ”