Chapter 166 Return to Da Chu
Li Shang chose the exit of the canyon as the battlefield, firstly, to prevent the Chu cavalry from rushing out in a swarm and suppressing his army with its numerical advantage, and secondly, to use the numerical advantage of his own army to push the Chu cavalry that had rushed out back into the valley in one fell swoop, disrupt the large force of the Chu army behind them, and then his entire Han cavalry could press forward, which would be enough to defeat the larger force with a smaller one, and defeat the Chu army in one fell swoop, putting it in a situation where it would be trampled and slaughtered.

But what he didn’t expect was that the first thousand Chu cavalrymen who rushed out were not frightened, but instead hastily arranged themselves into battle formations and charged towards his cavalry fearlessly!

Under the faint light of torches and rockets, the hastily formed Chu cavalry and the Han cavalry collided fiercely!
The heart-wrenching dull sounds of violent collisions between galloping war horses, the crisp clashes of weapons swung with all their strength, the high-pitched shouts of the charging soldiers, and the shrill screams of the dead and wounded soldiers all intertwined into a ball, turning the dark night sky into a mess.

Although the Han cavalry had an absolute advantage in numbers, their forward momentum was forcibly curbed by the fearless sniping of more than a thousand Chu cavalry, and they were caught in a bitter battle.

The 7,000 cavalry led by Li Shang were considered the elite of the Han camp. However, with 7,000 people, seven times their number, they were still unable to defeat a mere 1,000 Chu cavalry.

Li Shang was extremely anxious, his heart trembling violently as if it was burned by a branding iron. If they were to continue to be dragged here by these one thousand Chu cavalry, once a large force of Chu cavalry rushed out of the valley, these seven thousand Han cavalry would be completely wiped out.

Li Shang immediately led hundreds of escort cavalry to leave the battle formation, pass the more than a thousand Chu cavalry, and rush to block the exit of the valley.

However, the commander of the more than 1,000 Chu cavalrymen had a high level of tactical literacy and knew his intentions well. He laughed fiercely, hacked and killed wantonly, and shouted to the Chu cavalrymen who were trapped in the encirclement:

“Soldiers, look at these bastards, they are trying to block the exit of the valley and suffocate our rear army in the valley! General Tian Jian and Master Xiang Chang are watching from behind, what should we do!”

When the 1,000 Chu cavalry heard this, even though they were hastily attacked and surrounded, they were still furious – these bastards actually still had the energy to block the exit of the valley, who are they looking down on?
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” A thousand Chu cavalrymen held their heads high, veins bulging on their necks, and let out deafening roars. They rushed towards Li Shang, who was trying to leave the battle formation, and dragged him to the ground, unable to escape.

At this time, torches were lit at the exit of the valley, and the Chu cavalry poured out in an endless stream.

It was the Chu Cavalry in the rear who received the message, and the front army commander Tian Jian came in person with 3,000 elite troops.

After leaving the valley, seeing that more than half of the 1,000 Chu cavalry were killed in the battle, Tian Jian was still able to keep a cool head. He did not rush to lead his troops to attack immediately. Instead, he waited patiently until the 3,000 elite cavalry were arranged into a formation. Then he led his troops in a semi-arc and kicked hard at the back of the 7,000 Han cavalry.

As soon as he saw the large force of the Chu cavalry rushing out of the valley, Li Shang, the top cavalry general in the Han camp, knew that the game was over. He saw that the Chu cavalry did not rush into the battlefield, but circled around and focused on attacking his back door – they wanted to surround his 7,000 cavalry and swallow them all in one bite!

Li Shang was filled with shock and anger, and he cursed endlessly: “How dare a mere 3,000 cavalrymen do this? How dare they do this! How dare they do this!”

At this time, the Chu cavalry had already engaged in battle with the Han rear army.

Before the close combat, the Chu cavalry first launched a wave of spear attacks, then raised their thick, straight and long spears, arranged themselves into a formation, and used the impact of their horses to sprint and stab the enemy again and again…

As soon as the battle started, the Han cavalry was shattered into pieces like a peach pit being hit by a sledgehammer.

Watching the situation at the rear end become a mess, and the 3,000 elite cavalry of the Great Chu continuing to swallow up the front half of the army without slowing down their momentum after swallowing up the rear end, Li Shang felt a chill on his scalp, as if he was wearing an ice cap.

At this moment, he finally understood the feelings of Ji Bu and Xiang Guan who were defeated by his night attack in Jiujiang.

The key point is that the one who defeated him this time was not the world-famous generals of the Chu State like Ji Bu and Xiang Guan, but an unknown person who was not well-known.

“You brat, you’re just lucky. You won’t be able to withstand a real fight!” Li Shang cursed as he led the cavalry guards to break out of the encirclement and fled in the direction they came from like a stray dog.

Having experienced dozens of battles, he understood very well that if he didn’t escape now, he would never be able to escape again!

Tian Jian saw this keenly and knew that no one would be willing to let Li Shang escape, so he immediately led the escort cavalry in hot pursuit. Several rounds of arrows were shot and the “tail” of Li Shang was bitten off, but Li Shang managed to escape with his life.

On the top of Chen County City, Li Ji, who had been anxiously waiting for news, saw that Li Shang had fled back with only a hundred guards and the remaining troops, and the entire 7,000 cavalry were wiped out. He was so shocked that he turned pale and almost fell off the city wall.

Seven thousand cavalry were killed in one fell swoop, and there were only six thousand infantry left in the city. How could they possibly defend the city against the tens of thousands of troops from the Chu State that were about to attack them?
Li Ji was quick-witted. Without saying a word, he gave orders to pack up his belongings, abandon the city with 6,000 infantrymen, and rush to Chenggao to join Liu Bang.

As for Li Shang, a defeated general was worse than a dog and was completely ignored by him.

Suddenly, outside the city, there was the sound of horse hooves, torches lit up, and at the four city gates, the Chu cavalry shouted and clamored to break into the city.

——The Chu cavalry was actually chasing Li Shang to the city!
Li Ji was so terrified that he dared not mention abandoning the city again. He respectfully brought out Li Shang, the chamber pot, and appointed him as the commander-in-chief. He handed over all the 6,000 Han troops in the city to him to arrange the city defense.

Although Li Ji was also a general whose name was recorded in history, his military talent was far inferior to Li Shang’s, and he was well aware of this.

Li Shang was also not polite. He arranged a thousand garrisons at each city gate, and kept the remaining two thousand soldiers as mobile forces. He also dispatched troops to forcibly capture the nobles and powerful family heads in the city, and strictly ordered them to provide troops, money and food to protect their homes.

After a night of commotion, the sky gradually brightened. Li Ji received information from the city gate guards. Outside each of the four city gates, there were only a hundred or so Chu cavalrymen shouting and yelling. The main force of the Chu cavalrymen had not arrived at all, and they were just bluffing.

Li Ji was so upset that his intestines almost broke.

If I had made up my mind to escape in the dark last night, I would have escaped by now.

At this moment, smoke and dust rose into the sky from the south, and the sound of hooves was as heavy as hammers. Three thousand elite cavalrymen of the Great Chu appeared on the horizon, rolling in – this time they really couldn’t escape!
“How miserable! Li Shang, you have misled me!” Li Ji cursed him angrily.

After defeating Li Shang’s 7,000 cavalry, Tian Jian chased and killed them indiscriminately, and forced them to surrender. When the situation was settled, he did not care about breaking up the battlefield and cleaning up the aftermath. He left everything to the Chu army that emerged from the valley behind him, and led 3,000 elite cavalry to kill directly towards Chen County. He knew that with the destruction of the 7,000 Han cavalry, Chen County was no longer defensible and could be abandoned and fled at any time, so he sent hundreds of cavalry in advance to bluff the Han army and keep them in the city.

Seeing Tian Jian leading three thousand elite cavalry and Chen Shu, who was bluffing with a few hundred cavalry, immediately rushed over to report the military situation.

The commander of the 1,000 Chu cavalry who first left the valley to snipe Li Shang’s Han cavalry last night was Chen Shu. Now he has fooled the Han army in front of Chen County for a night. He can be said to have made two achievements in a row. It seems that his military rank will be promoted again.

Tian Jian ordered 3,000 elite cavalry to be on high alert and be prepared to guard against the desperate defenders in the city, while he also sent flying cavalry to deliver a message to Xiang Chang.

On the second day, Xiang Chang led tens of thousands of Chu troops and slowly invaded with long and powerful trumpet sounds, and surrounded the entire Chen County.

On the top of the city wall, the pitiful defenders looked at the endless military camps below the city. The mighty and majestic soldiers of the Great Chu had pale faces, trembling legs, and were terrified.

Immediately afterwards, the loudspeakers of the Great Chu camp began to shout to the people in the city, and of course, they were still shouting the same slogan: “Kill the superiors and surrender to the Great Chu, and you will be rewarded handsomely and given official titles and honors.”

Following Xiang Chang to inspect Chen County, Huang Zhong, who was beside him, looked at the more than a thousand defenders chatting on the top of the city wall and asked with a fierce face: “Master, I will lead an army myself. One charge is enough to capture it. Why waste time talking to them?”

Xiang Chang glared at him and said, “Soldiers’ lives, aren’t they lives? Even if it’s easy, it will take thousands of soldiers from the Chu State to capture this city. So why don’t we just let them surrender the city themselves and save us the trouble?”

Huang Zhong’s bulging eyes froze when he heard this, and he found it unbelievable: With the character the Han army had shown in the past, how could they surrender without a fight?

The other generals, such as Tian Jian, undoubtedly all had the same idea and were skeptical about Xiang Chang’s strategy of encircling but not attacking to force surrender.

Just as the generals were thinking about how to continue to request a fight, a soldier came to report that a powerful family lord in the city was hung down from the top of the city wall with a rope. He walked to the front of the Chu army with his hands raised and asked to see Xiang Chang.

“Huh, they really surrendered?” The generals were extremely surprised and looked at each other. At this moment, they suddenly realized that the battle between their Great Chu Army and the Great Han Army had entered a new stage that they had never experienced before.

Xiang Chang was not surprised at all. He returned to the commander’s tent and ordered the envoy to come and see him.

The messenger was a middle-aged man in his forties named Zeng Qi. He had a bulbous nose, two bulging eyes, and a stout body. He was the head of a powerful family named Zeng in Chen County.

When he saw Xiang Chang, the head of the Zengqi family knelt on the ground with both knees weak and kowtowed repeatedly:

“Greetings, Master Chang. I am here on the orders of Magistrate Li Ji, who has captured the bastard Li Shang. Magistrate Li Ji said that he was held hostage by Li Shang, and that he had no choice but to betray the Chu. As long as Master Chang agrees to forgive him, he will hand over Li Shang, thousands of Han troops, and Chen County to you.”

Xiang Chang sneered when he heard this: “Haha, Li Ji is dreaming too much! A villain who keeps betraying others and still wants to live? And he wants to let bygones be bygones? How can he not be so happy! Go back and tell him to clean his neck and wait for the chopping off! Not only him, but also his nine clans, none of them can escape, and if they don’t die, they will all be demoted to slaves!”

When Zeng Qi heard this, he was horrified, slammed his head heavily on the ground, and begged for mercy.

After begging for a long time, seeing that Xiang Chang was determined and refused to give in, his fat face was full of despair. He got up and walked out in a daze.

“Wait!” Xiang Chang suddenly stopped him, flicked his sleeves lightly, and said leisurely, “I will never forgive Li Ji, the fickle and treacherous villain, but I still value you and the heads of other families in Chen County very much! I can give you a chance.”

When Zeng Qi heard this, he blinked his eyes with a look of confusion.

Seeing that this guy didn’t react for a while, Qu Fu shouted at the side: “Idiot! Li Ji is Li Ji, and you are you, the two are different! Li Ji has repeatedly rebelled against Da Chu, his crimes are unforgivable. As for you, as long as you show enough sincerity, Master Chang is still willing to believe in your loyalty to Da Chu!”

Zeng Qi finally understood, and his spirits lifted. His knees softened and he knelt down again. He took a few quick steps and said earnestly, “General, please tell me clearly what sincerity we need to show in order to show our loyalty to the Great Chu?”

Xiang Chang picked up the bamboo slips on the desk and began to read them leisurely.

Qu Fu stepped forward, with the look of a grandfather teaching his grandson, and gave Zeng Qi some advice: “For example, kill Li Shang and Li Ji and offer their heads to show that you are irreconcilable with them and the Han camp; for example, donate your family’s land, wealth, and food to reward the troops. The more you donate, the more loyal you will be to the Chu! You are a smart person, do I need to say more?”

Generals like Huang Zhong, whose minds were filled with only fighting and who rarely thought of twists and turns, were stunned when they heard about Xiang Chang and Qu Fu’s bold move: If the powerful people in Chen County, represented by Zeng Qi, agreed to such conditions, then Chen County would be recovered without any soldiers being lost, and they would also gain a large amount of land, wealth and food for free!
The head of the Zengqi family agreed to Qu Fu’s harsh conditions without hesitation, and with an excited look on his face, he kowtowed several times and left the tent with many thanks.

This scene made generals such as Huang Zhong dumbfounded.

Generals such as Huang Zhong underestimated the power of the good things they did in Jiujiang.

In Jiujiang, after they captured the city, they killed all the powerful nobles in the city, confiscated their property and land, and reduced their entire clans to slavery. Now in Chen County, they only had to ask the powerful nobles in the city to pay most of their property and land in order to keep their families and power. How could they not be willing? Would they not be grateful?

Sure enough, on the second day, the gates of Chen County were wide open. The local tyrants of Chen County, led by Zeng Qi, came out holding two plates with the heads of Li Shang and Li Ji, and led thousands of soldiers who had laid down their weapons and raised their hands, to pay homage to Xiang Chang.

The postures of these family heads were also very appropriate. They braved the cold wind, with their backs exposed, tied with brambles, and crawled on their knees.

Thus, Chen County was pacified and returned to the Kingdom of Chu.

(End of this chapter)