The World Online
Page 426Chapter 426- Capturing Fan Zeng Alive
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Outside Jiyuan City, the cheers were as loud as thunder.
The overlord Xiang Yu had fought one against four for over thirty rounds without any signs of falling off. The current Er'Lai seemed like he would fail to hold on and was just about to lose.
Baiqi looked up at the color of the sky. The red sun hung right in the middle. Unknowingly, it was noon.
"Retreat!"
"General?"
Zhang Han was shocked, backing off at such a moment seemed like a bad move.
Baiqi remained silent.
When Zhang Han saw this response, he could only order the troops to retreat.
The moment the military orders were passed down, the outside of the city was sent into a total uproar.
Both sides were unhappy.
Such a seismic battle, without even deciding the victor or the loser, why back off?
But it could not be helped; military orders were as large as the mountains.
No matter how unwilling they were, Zhang Liao and the others could only back off.
Only Er'Lai heaved a sigh of relief. He was the first to enter the fight, and he had battled for over a hundred rounds with Xiang Yu. He had already reached his own limit. He could even feel that his organs had shifted.
Xiang Yu, on the other hand, did not give chase. In truth, he was also a little tired. If this carried on, victory or defeat was really hard to say.
Seeing the Qin Army back off, the Anti-Qin Army grew more and more arrogant. They even started hurling abuse at the Qin Army.
After over ten minutes, seeing that the Qin Army was not willing to fight, Xiang Yu ordered his troops to back off. This historical battle ended just like that, leaving many regrets.
Afternoon.
After this huge battle, Xiang Yu was also totally exhausted, so he took a beautiful nap.
Who would have known that his good dreams would not last for long.
At 3 PM, a messenger rushed outside his tent anxiously.
"Who are you!"
The guard stopped the messenger.
"Emergency intel. I need to report to the General!"
"No, the General is sleeping. You can't disturb him."
The huge battle in the morning had raised Xiang Yu's prestige. Hence, his guards naturally felt some honor.
"It's an emergency. Time cannot be wasted."
The messenger was in total disarray.
These words also put the guard on the spot.
Just as he hesitated, Xiang Yu's voice sounded from within the tent, “Who's making noise outside the tent?"
When the guard heard these words, his face turned ashen white, and he stuttered, “General, it's the messenger."
"General it's bad!"
"Absurd!"
Xiang Yu hollered, obviously unhappy.
"I'm wrong, General! I'm wrong!"
When they heard that, both the guard and the messenger kneeled on the ground.
Xiang Yu had a terrible temper. If one spoke incorrectly, they would definitely receive punishment.
The tent was totally silent.
After a while, Xiang Yu's voice sounded out again, “Enter!"
When the messenger heard this response, he entered and kneeled once again.
Xiang Yu frowned and scolded, "What matter is so urgent?"
"General, Ying Bu's army lost!"
"What?"
Xiang Yu was astonished; he smacked the table and stood up.
"The frontline reported that Ying Bu's army was ambushed, and they were nearly fully destroyed."
When Xiang Yu heard this report, he uttered no words.
The entire tent fell into dead silence.
The messenger did not even dare to breathe. He was afraid that he would disturb the thoughts of Xiang Yu.
"You can go!"
Xiang Yu said tiredly. The battle in the morning had not made him feel so exhausted. Even an overlord would have times when he felt that he did not have enough strength.
The messenger took this as his chance and dashed off.
Xiang Yu knew exactly what would happen once Ying Bu's troops lost.
He had no doubts about Ying Bu's ability to lead troops.
The only explanation was that from start to finish, Anyang City was just a bait that Baiqi set up.
Genius!
With Jiyuan City as the main camp, hiding inside and not coming out, attracting all the attention. In the dark, making use of the unassuming Anyang City to give the uprising army a huge surprise.
The defeat of Ying Bu naturally meant that the thirty thousand player force from before had lost too.
All of a sudden, Anyang City had swallowed eighty thousand troops.
A huge sense of failure rose in his heart.
If that was the case, the battle in the afternoon was just a show?
What a great plan, what great calculation.
Hei, to think that he was even pleased. He had unknowingly fallen into a trap.
Xiang Yu was feeling indescribably bitter.
No, he could not admit defeat.
His eyes glinted with a flash of light, and his fighting spirit was reignited.
The news of Ying Bu's defeat had spread across the army.
The consecutive blows caused the entire uprising army camp to totally fall silent.
Originally, they were already outnumbered, and now, they had lost eighty thousand men.
All of them felt that their future was bleak.
Some of the smart ones even smelled danger from Anyang City being taken over.
Grain!
Finally, this curse tightly hung over the heads of the uprising army.
Unstable emotions covered the entire uprising army camp. The happiness in the morning instantly became a total joke.
At night, the defeated Ying Bu army returned.
Personally witnessing their terrible state, the uprising army felt even more uneasy, and the entire camp could not sit still.
As for Di Chen's army, they did not even have the face to return after their lost, so they just hid in some deserted cave.
Han Xin?
Do not even think about it.
When Ying Bu returned, he immediately rushed to Xiang Yu's tent to ask for forgiveness.
Unfortunately, he could not even enter the tent.
The furious Xiang Yu nearly just killed him with a single sword.
Helplessly, he could only kneel outside the tent and ask for forgiveness.
At night, Xiang Yu gathered all the generals for a meeting.
When they saw Ying Bu kneeling outside, they all looked at him with varying expressions.
Some mocked, while others empathized.
Everyone was clear how bad the situation was for their army.
Fan Zeng's grain transporting group would reach Julu soon. The moment the Qin forces took over Anyang City, they broke the grain transport line of the anti-Qin forces.
Such a situation was enough to make one feel despaired.
In the tent, Xiang Yu was solemn. He looked around and gritted his teeth, "Even if we lose everything, we must take down Anyang City."
"Yes, general!"
All of them were clear that they had their backs against the war, so they could only take a gamble.
Unfortunately, Baiqi would not give them such a chance.
The next day, before they even started to act, the Qin Army forces from within Jiyuan City attacked out. They formed up their formations and stared right at the uprising army.
Their goal was simple, to delay the uprising army.
If they dared to attack Anyang City, hundreds of thousands of men would chase them down.
One must know that Anyang City had more than a hundred thousand men stationed. In order to take it down, they would need two to three times more men.
The uprising army were originally at a numerical disadvantage. If they sent two hundred thousand men over, how could they handle the assault of the main Qin Army force?
Just thinking about it made one feel hopeless.
All of a sudden, the uprising army was stuck in a difficult situation.
All the lords and princes called for an emergency meeting to discuss plans.
Sending Ying Bu to attack Anyang City was his idea. On this matter, he had committed a mistake, and his underestimations of the Qin Army had caused them to lose.
Ying Bu kneeled down outside for a night, but he still did not manage to meet Xiang Yu.
Everyone was clear that Xiang Yu was the main person to blame, just that no one spoke up. Poor Ying Bu became the scapegoat.
Time did not wait for anyone.
Just as the uprising army hesitated, the one hundred thousand men strong Wang Li main force reached Anyang City.
At the same time, the Guards Division left the city under Baiqi’s instructions. They were heading east, and their target was the grain transport group that Fan Zeng led.
In the news he received, the Qin Army was locked up in Jiyuan City, so he had not expected them to intercept his group. Facing the Guards Division, they could only surrender.
The grain that the Chu Army spent so much effort to gather was now in the hands of the Qin Army and transported to Anyang City. Even Xiang Yu's strategist and advisor Fan Zeng became a prisoner.
Compared to Saint Advisor Zhang Liang, Fan Zeng seemed a lot duller.
Not just in terms of political foresight, but in terms of convincing his lord, Fan Zeng was weaker than Zhang Liang. Some people said that it was because Xiang Yu was arrogant, which resulted in Fan Zeng's plans not being used.
In truth?
As a high-level advisor, if one could not find a suitable method based on the personality of the lord to convince them to accept your plan, you were a failure.
Fan Zeng loved to take pride in himself for being experienced, and he did not consider the personality of Xiang Yu. When the two butt heads, he naturally annoyed Xiang Yu.
Hence, Fan Zeng was a person with knowledge, but he was not a passable strategist.
A truly passable strategist would not have suggested to set up a Chu King to restrict Xiang Yu. He also let him bear the title of starting a coup.
A truly passable strategist would not allow Xiang Yu to overlook Han Xin.
A true strategist would not beat around the bush during the Hongmen Feast; they would directly kill Liu Bang.
A truly passable strategist would not be despised by Xiang Yu, even after being called his second father.
Looking down at this old man, emotions filled Ouyang Shuo.
Bai Hua spoke, "Wuyi, do you want to recruit that person?"
The Guards Division had captured Fan Zeng. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo would handle him.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head.
"Why? You don't want him? Why not give him to me?"
When Bai Hua heard his response, she bugged him.
"Wishful thinking."
Fan Zeng was not some useless cabbage. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo would not let him go.
"What do you want?"
Bai Hua was speechless.
Fan Zeng was in the hall, totally furious. He did not expect to receive such a treatment.
"This person is really useful. Don't forget, Xiang Yu still has a god general. Think about it, to use him to exchange for the god general, will Xiang Yu agree?"
When Bai Hua heard these words, she rolled her eyes at Ouyang Shuo, "Wuyi, you're too evil!"