Zhang Liang's guess was correct. Gaixia City at this moment was like purgatory.
There was no food and grass inside, no reinforcements outside, it was the middle of winter, the wind was biting, and the soldiers trapped in the city did not even have enough winter clothes to keep out the cold.
Xiang Yu couldn't sleep at night, so he simply got up and inspected the defense. Everywhere he looked he saw soldiers complaining.
He was about to open his mouth to say something to encourage morale, but suddenly he heard a faint singing sound in the distance.
It was a folk song from the mountains and fields of Chu that they had sung since they were young. Now it was echoing strangely in the dark night sky of the Gaixia Plain, like a hundred ghosts crying at night, like impermanence demanding life, and like thin iron thorns. Through the eardrum, it penetrates directly into people's hearts.
Xiang Yu's heart sank, he knew that Han Xin had taken action.
Han Xin, who is good at outsmarting others, is most comfortable with psychological warfare;
And the strategy he adopted this time was to sing and be surrounded on all sides.
Having just suffered a disastrous defeat, the morale of the Chu army was already extremely low. Coupled with Han Xin's chilling psychological offensive, a mutiny in the army was about to break out. By then, let alone a counterattack, it was hard to say whether he would be able to save a whole body.
Unable to delay any longer, Xiang Yu decided to abandon Gaixia City and break out with 800 dead soldiers.
"Do you want to go together?"
After the deployment was completed, Xiang Yu hesitated and looked at Yu Ji.
Young Yu Ji, wearing a fox fur cloak, was looking up at the cold moon hanging high in the vast night sky.
Hearing Xiang Yu's question, she suddenly looked back and smiled sweetly,
"That's natural.
Over the years, I have never had the chance to use the riding and shooting skills you taught me. "
"As soon as we leave Gaixia City, the defenders in the city will open the city gate and surrender.
Now that Liu Ji is going smoothly and the situation is great, it is time to show off his posture to win people's hearts. He will definitely be extra tolerant towards the surrendered army, and he will not embarrass you, a woman.
If you stay in the city, survival is not a problem. "
Xiang Yu didn't mean what he said, and deep down in his heart, he didn't know what kind of answer he was expecting.
But when it comes to life and death, he is willing to let Yu Ji decide by herself. No matter what choice she makes, he will try his best to fulfill it.
"If the King of Han knew that I had your child in my belly, do you think he would still be tolerant to me?"
Yu Ji smiled again, and the fox fur around her collar was soft, trembling slightly with her breath, like colorful clouds accompanying the moon, highlighting a bright and beautiful face.
Xiang Yu couldn't help but laugh along with her,
“Okay, then you rush out of the city with us.
However, once we leave the city, you and I will immediately go our separate ways. You can run as far as you can and find a safe place to hide.
If I can survive, I will go find you; if not, you can just take care of yourself. "
"Don't worry, I've been following you for so long and I've learned some kung fu and sword skills. Most thieves can't get close to you.
If... things don't go as planned, what would you say to your children? "
Xiang Yu was silent for a long time.
"No matter whether the child is a boy or a girl, do not tell him your life experience.
Let him be an ordinary person and live out his life. "
"Don't you need revenge?"
"If you and your children live well, live for a long time, and have a family full of children and grandchildren, you will avenge me."
***
When the night was darkest, Xiang Yu led 800 knights of the guard and Yu Ji, who had changed into men's clothes, and broke out from the south gate, which was the weakest guard.
The group of people broke through the barrier at lightning speed. Yu Ji took a deep look at Xiang Yu, took the reins with her left hand, jerked the horse, and turned the horse around. She hit hard with the whip in her right hand, causing the horse to suffer pain and move far away. The dense jungle rushed away.
Watching her figure disappear into the vast night, Xiang Yu looked up to the sky and laughed, pointed to the south with his riding crop, and said to his left and right,
"In less than an hour, Liu Ji's pursuers will set off.
Let's go south, try to get rid of the pursuers, and take a gamble with God. "
The eight hundred cavalry traveled more than a hundred miles south, and some scattered and fled along the way. At dawn, when the group crossed the Huishui and Huaihe Rivers, only a few hundred cavalry were left.
After crossing the river, everyone continued to travel southeast, hoping to cross the Yangtze River during the day and return to Jiangdong to regroup.
***
The news that Xiang Yu and his party successfully broke out of the encirclement was quickly reported to Han Xin's office by the reconnaissance soldiers.
"good!"
Han Xin was overjoyed and immediately acted according to the original plan. He personally led the main army to persuade him to surrender and receive the remaining soldiers in Gaixia City to surrender;
Guan Ying, who was sent by Liu Jite, will lead five thousand elite cavalry who are ready to go to pursue Xiang Yu.
"There will be spies who will report their whereabouts to you, so you don't have to waste time stopping and searching during the journey.
If everything goes as I expected, you will find their traces near Yinling Daze. "
Seeing that Han Xin was so confident, Guan Ying led the team to set off with hesitation.
Sure enough, during the pursuit southward from Gaixia City, every thirty miles or so, there would be spies waiting by the roadside to report Xiang Yu's whereabouts to Guan Ying, so that the pursuers could fine-tune their itinerary at any time and not take long detours.
Along the way, Guan Ying admired Han Xin more and more sincerely, but also became more and more frightened:
Against an unparalleled opponent like Xiang Yu, Han Xin was not only sure of victory, but also expected the enemy to be as skillful as a god. This was simply not something that an ordinary person could do.
"Fortunately such a person is on the side of our Han army."
Guan Ying thought about this and actually broke into a cold sweat on his back in the cold winter months.
***
The sun was rising, and Xiang Yu and his party were tired and exhausted. After entering the Yinling Mountains, they seemed a little lost.
Coincidentally, a middle-aged farmer who was plowing the fields put down the iron head in his hand, pointed the direction to them, and said,
"You can follow this path, cross Daze, and walk for half a day to the Yangtze River."
Yinling Mountain is adjacent to the Chu River. The Chu River makes nine turns in the Yinling Mountain area, with twists and turns, and the terrain is very complex.
At the turn of spring and summer, the Chuhe River surges, and Jiudao Bay turns into a vast expanse of water. This is what farmers call the Yinling Daze;
But now it is the dry season in winter, there is no water in the swamp, and the bottom of the swamp is exposed. It is hoped that there will be a smooth road for people and horses to pass through.
Xiang Yu did not doubt that he was there and led everyone towards the depths of Daze.
Unexpectedly, in the dry season, although the surface of Daze was dry, the bottom of the swamp was full of sticky wet mud, forming huge swamp traps. A few soldiers accidentally stepped into it, and in a matter of seconds, all the people and horses were lost. Top, no more vitality.
At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and there was not a trace of wind in the swamp. The air seemed to be condensed, with only steaming water mist and grass smoke filling the air. The already confusing ground became increasingly unrecognizable, like an endless hell.
More than a hundred cavalrymen cursed and cautiously withdrew from Daze, following the footprints they had left.
Only then did Xiang Yu suddenly realize that from successfully breaking out of the siege to being trapped in Daze, he had fallen into Han Xin's trick and was arranged step by step to get here.
"You shouldn't have believed that farmer's words!" he cursed fiercely.
In fact, Xiang Yu still didn't fully understand, and he still underestimated Han Xin.
He didn't know that even if he hadn't met the farmer, there would still be countless old women sunbathing, young men herding sheep, and women herding cattle waiting there in the fields of Yinling Mountain, impatiently waiting to show him the way. .
After losing several more soldiers, Xiang Yu and his party finally turned back from Daze along the original route;
However, when they looked into the distance again, they could vaguely see the billowing smoke and dust raised by the Han army's pursuers.
Xiang Yu understood that Han Xin had arranged a path for him and he was not allowed to choose.
