Late at night, the grief-stricken Xiang Yu planned to try again. He wanted to avenge her and do what he could for the woman he loved most in his heart. In this attempt, Xiang Yu cruelly decided to lead only a small number of elite troops to find weak links in the encirclement and break out of the encirclement. Whether more Chu soldiers will live or die depends on God's will.
With eight hundred cavalry, Xiang Yu broke through the encirclement, finally tore a hole in the allied encirclement and fled south.
At dawn, the Han army discovered that it was Xiang Yu who broke through last night. If a tiger enters the forest, the disaster will be endless. Anyone can let it go, but Xiang Yu can never let it go. Chase!
The cavalry commander Guan Ying took the lead and immediately pursued with five thousand cavalry. Finally, they found Xiang Yu's traces and followed closely.
Xiang Yu ran all the way. When he fled to Yinling (30 kilometers northwest of today's Dingyuan County, Anhui Province), unfortunately, he got lost in the open fields.
Those two roads, one on the left and one on the right, I wonder which road leads to Jiangdong? So Xiang Yu hurriedly asked a farmer. The farmer timidly pointed to the road on the left and said, "This one on the left."
This is very unfortunate for Xiang Yu, because the road on the left is wrong.
Many people said that the farmer hated Xiang Yu deeply and had a grudge against Xiang Yu, so he deliberately pointed Xiang Yu in the wrong direction. But it may be that the farmer doesn’t know how to get around Pengcheng at all. He was frightened by this large group of warriors covered in blood and carrying swords. He didn't dare to say that he didn't know, so he just pointed casually, but he happened to point in the wrong direction. Today, there are still many guides who are ashamed to say they don’t know and point the wrong way.
Xiang Yu didn't know that this was a dead end. When he galloped to the end of the road, he realized that there was an impenetrable swamp ahead. Xiang Yu hurriedly turned back and met Guan Ying and others who were chasing after him. Xiang Yu could still escape from the siege of hundreds of thousands of people, so why should he be afraid of these mere 5,000 people? Xiang Yu fought out again, turned east, and arrived at Dongcheng (25 kilometers southeast of today's Dingyuan County, Anhui). At this time, there were only twenty-eight warriors left around him.
At this moment, Xiang Yu looked up to the sky and sighed, and said to the twenty-eight last followers: "It has been eight years since I launched an army against Qin. I have fought more than seventy battles and have never been defeated. All my enemies have been defeated and all surrendered. That is why I can dominate the world. Now that I am trapped here, God wants to kill me! It is not a crime of war! Let me rush into the enemy's formation and kill them! Before I die, I must kill the Han generals and chop down the military flags. Everyone, please watch me show off my power immediately!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Han army quickly caught up with him. These twenty-eight people seemed so small among thousands of Han troops, but Xiang Yu was not afraid. He divided the twenty-eight people into four teams of seven people each, and ordered them to gather in all directions on the east side of the mountain. Xiang Yu took the lead in attacking. He pointed at the enemy troops and said to everyone: "Look, I will rush down now and kill a Han general for you."
After saying that, Xiang Yu sat down on his black horse and rushed towards the Han army. The Han troops were frightened by the Overlord's momentum and fled one after another. Xiang Yu took the opportunity to raise his gun, and sure enough, one of the men was about to be killed by Xiang Yu. Chiquanhou Yang Xi saw Xiang Yu riding alone, and wanted to take advantage of him, so he chased after Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu turned around, widened his eyes, and scolded Yang Xi angrily. Yang Xi was so frightened that he turned around and ran away a thousand meters away. Xiang Yu fled all the way, killing a captain of the Han army and more than a hundred cavalry during his escape, and met with the rest at the designated place. Of the twenty-eight knights, only two were killed.
Before the Han army had time to react, Xiang Yu fled to Wujiang on the Yangtze River (now Wujiang Town, 20 kilometers northeast of He County, Anhui). Crossing the Yangtze River is Xiang Yu's lair - Jiangdong. Along the way, the remaining twenty-six warriors were either killed in battle or captured, and all of them were gone.
The chief of the Wujiang Pavilion, who was loyal to Xiang Yu, was waiting for his boat to be moored. He hurriedly said to Xiang Yu: "Your Majesty, I am the only boat in this area. Please follow me across the river quickly. The Han army has no boats and cannot catch up!"
Xiang Yu looked at the leader of Wujiang Pavilion and smiled happily and sadly. When he was desperate, there were still such loyal people thinking about him. How could he not be happy? I still have Mr. Jiangdong thinking about me!
When the eight thousand people from Jiangdong followed Xiang Yu and crossed the Yangtze River, no one survived. How could he not feel sad? Xiang Yu said to the chief of the Wujiang Pavilion: "The sky is going to perish, so what's the point of crossing the river? Eight thousand people from Jiangdong followed me to conquer the world, but now I'm the only one surviving. How can I have the face to see my fellow villagers?" Forget it, I won’t go back. This raccoon horse can travel thousands of miles every day and follow me all over the world. I really can’t bear to let it die with me, so I will entrust it to you."
Xiang Yu forced his horse to the leader of Wujiang Pavilion, then turned back on foot to fight the pursuers, killing hundreds of soldiers and sustaining more than ten wounds on his body. At this time, Xiang Yu saw the cavalry commander Lu Matong among the chasing troops. Xiang Yu and Lu Matong met when they were young and are considered old friends. Therefore, Xiang Yu said to Lu Matong: "I heard that Liu Ji offered a reward of thousands of gold and food to thousands of households in the city for my head. I am going to die anyway, so why not give this benefit to you!"
After saying that, Xiang Yu immediately cut himself with his sword and died on the spot. It is really a pity that a generation of overlords died just like this. Many people also felt extremely regretful when they learned about this history. And how many famous poems were made in memory of him.
"Inscribed on Wujiang Pavilion"
Du Mu
The victorious and defeated soldiers have unexpected family affairs.
Being shy and enduring is a man.
The children of Jiangdong are many talented people.
The return of Juanshi is unknown.
"Wujiang Pavilion"
Wang Anshi
The brave warriors mourned after a hundred battles, and the Central Plains was unable to recover from its defeat.
Although the children of Jiangdong are here today, are they willing to come back for the king?
"Summer Quatrains"
Li Qingzhao
You should be a hero in life, and a hero in death.
I still miss Xiang Yu and refuse to cross Jiangdong.
When the overlord of Western Chu died, the Han army immediately became bolder, and everyone swarmed forward to grab Xiang Yu's body. Some people even killed each other in order to fight for it, and Xiang Yu's body was cut up with swords. In the end, Langzhongqi Wang Yi, Langzhongqi Yang Xi, Cavalry Sima Lu Matong, Langzhong Lu Sheng, and Langzhong Yang Wu each got a part of Xiang Yu's body and were rewarded by Liu Bang.
After Xiang Yu committed suicide, all the Western Chu surrendered, except the Lu region. Because Xiang Yu was granted the title of Duke of Lu by King Huai, he adhered to the Chinese military ideology of Confucius and Mencius and refused to surrender. Liu Bang originally wanted to massacre the city, but he was grateful for the Lu people's observance of etiquette and righteousness and their sacrifice for the Lord, so he finally pardoned the Lu people. The Lu people also gave up their last resistance after seeing Xiang Yu's body.
Liu Bang finally made Xiang Bo a marquis and gave him the surname Liu. He buried Xiang Yu in Lu State's Gucheng (today's Southwest Dongcheng Town, Pingyin County, Shandong), and personally presided over the ceremony and cried bitterly.
This cry is not all hypocrisy, but also mourning for that period of brotherhood.
Xiang Yu is dead and the world is at peace. Only Han Xin cannot reassure Liu Bang. Just like last time, Liu Bang suddenly rushed into Han Xin's tent and took Han Xin's general seal. Later, Liu Bang said to Han Xin: "The Righteous Emperor has no heir. Besides, you are familiar with the customs of the Chu land. Therefore, you should not be the king of Qi. I will make you the king of Chu instead." So Han Xin was moved to the king of Chu, and he was in Huaibei. It is a fiefdom and its capital is Xiapi. At the same time, he fulfilled his promise and made Pengyue King of Liang and made Dingtao his capital.
After arranging Han Xin and Peng Yue properly, Liu Bang issued a pardon order: The world has been in strife for eight years, and the people have suffered greatly. Now that the world has been settled, all prisoners except those on death row will be pardoned.
He is about to do the most important thing in his life.
