stonecrandall Chapter 857: Xiao He is planning to make me perform the Empty City Strategy!
Chapter 857: Xiao He is planning to make me perform the Empty City Strategy!
But what about today? Clearly, reinforcements were arriving, so morale should have been boosted, and the defenses should have been tightened. Why, instead, was the army showing signs of collapse at the slightest provocation?
This anomaly made Xiang Yu's heart sink. Something must be wrong when things are abnormal!
Despite his doubts, the Chu army's offensive continued unabated. However, something even more incredible occurred—in less than half an hour, the vanguard troops advanced almost unhindered to the base of the city wall again, even beginning to set up ladders! The losses incurred this time were surprisingly less than two-thirds of the previous attacks!
This victory came too easily, so easily that even the lowest ranks of the Chu army felt uneasy. The charging soldiers exchanged glances, their pace involuntarily slowing, their grip on their swords and spears loosening. Accustomed to the Southern Border's desperate resistance, their enemy's sudden "weakness" left them feeling unprepared, as if every step might lead to a trap. The Chu army's entire offensive became timid, afraid to unleash their full might, fearing an unexpected and violent counterattack from the city walls at any moment.
Atop the city wall, Gao Yao took in all of this. Watching the Chu army's paranoid, uncertain demeanor, his tense nerves finally relaxed slightly, and the cold sweat on his back gradually subsided. He couldn't help but glance at Xiao He, who remained calm and composed beside him, and sighed inwardly, "My bet paid off! Xiang Yu is indeed suspicious!"
Since the other party has already had doubts, why not add fuel to the fire and make the doubts burn even more fiercely!
Gao Yao took a deep breath and suddenly stepped forward from behind the battlement, completely ignoring the arrows whizzing past him. He gathered his strength and his voice rolled across the battlefield like thunder, clearly reaching those below:
"Where is Xiang Yu?!" he roared at the top of his lungs. "Why? You're so timid in attacking today, like a woman! Are you afraid of Gaoyao, or the soldiers in the southern border? If you are, then get out of here as soon as possible and return to your Pengcheng to drink milk! Xiang Yu, you little coward!"
This insulting provocation was like pouring hot oil into ice water, instantly causing a commotion in the Chu army.
How could Xiang Yu, a man of such stature, endure such humiliation? A tremor erupted in the Chu army formation, and the black horseman stood up, his figure looming like a god of war. His hair stood on end in anger, his painted halberd pointed at the top of the city wall, and his voice thundered:
"Gao Yao, you bastard! Stop being so arrogant! Do you dare to come out of the city and fight me?! A fight to the death!"
Gao Yao sneered inwardly upon seeing this, but put on an even more arrogant expression. He spat and shouted back:
"Bah! Xiang Yu! The last time your army approached, I left the city to fight your men! Today it's your turn! If you're brave enough, climb up the Yangping Pass wall! You and I will stand on this very top of the city, one on one, to decide the outcome, and who will be victorious? Don't you, Xiang Yu, claim to be invincible? Do you dare to accept the challenge? If not, get out of here with your tortoise shell!"
His words were filled with sarcasm, not only provoking Xiang Yu but also trampling on the morale of the entire Chu army. He wanted to convince Xiang Yu that this seemingly weak defense must be hiding a huge conspiracy, just waiting for him to run into it!
For a moment, a brief silence descended upon the city walls and beyond, spurred by the verbal battle. The Chu army's offensive had almost completely stalled, with all eyes focused on the enraged Xiang Yu and the seemingly arrogant general standing atop the city walls. An eerie, tense atmosphere hung in the air, the balance of victory and defeat trembling slightly in this psychological game.
Gao Yao's outrageous provocation burned Xiang Yu's dignity like a red-hot iron. A raging fire instantly surged to his head, threatening to consume his sanity. Veins bulged in his arm as he gripped the Tianlong City-Breaking Halberd. His black horse, sensing his master's murderous intent, pawed its hooves nervously.
"All troops, listen!" Xiang Yu's voice was filled with thunderous fury, and he was about to issue the order to attack the city immediately and with all his might, at all costs. He wanted to crush the arrogant figure on the top of the city wall and completely flatten this pass!
However, just as the order was about to come out of his mouth, a cold doubt suddenly bit his heart like a poisonous snake.
No...something is so wrong!
Gao Yao's arrogance was beyond common sense, and even revealed a sense of...deliberateness.
Xiang Yu's rage was still burning, but his fighting instincts and the intuition of a top commander forced him to suppress his impulse, leaving him in a brief, suffocating silence. He stared at the seemingly ferocious figure on the top of the city wall, his mind working rapidly.
Gao Yao was indeed arrogant, but Xiang Yu would never deny his strength and strategy against his will. On the contrary, Gao Yao's tenacity, his cunning tactics, and even his personal prowess made him a formidable foe Xiang Yu had never encountered before. It was precisely because of this that Gao Yao's behavior at this moment seemed so unusual, so... unsettling.
Such a tough opponent, when the defense of the pass is obviously "struggling" and the situation is "critical", instead of thinking about how to consolidate the defense and boost morale, jumps out like a street rogue, provokes himself in the most clumsy way, and desperately urges himself to attack the city?
This is illogical!
Last night's cavalry that had successfully broken through and vanished without a trace... Today's limp, seemingly deliberately lax defense... And now Gao Yao's almost performative, eagerness to fight...
These images were quickly pieced together and combined in Xiang Yu's mind.
A cold flash of lightning suddenly split the fog in his heart!
Yes! It must be so!
This is not a matter of being unable to cope, but a vicious trap that is designed to lure you into a trap!
There must be an ambush inside Yangping Pass! Gao Yao's show of weakness was fake, his provocation real, his purpose was to provoke him, so that he would, in a rage, recklessly attack the city! And once the army penetrated the pass or poured into the pass, the cavalry that disappeared last night—whose number was definitely more than 5,000, and likely more—wasn't attacking the main camp at all, but had already circumvented and prepared to cut off his retreat!
By then, with a wall blocking the way in front, ambushes rising from within, and elite cavalry blocking their throats from behind...wouldn't Xiang Yu's army of tens of thousands be trapped in a jar, at the mercy of others?!
The thought of that horrific consequence sent a chill down even the spine of Xiang Yu, a man as domineering as he was. All the confusion and bewilderment he had felt before now had a reasonable, even terrifying, explanation.
He once again looked up at Gao Yao on the city wall, his gaze completely changed. Anger still burned in it, but more so, it was filled with deep fear and scrutiny. He seemed to be trying to see through Gao Yao's true intentions beneath his arrogant facade.
What a sinister plot! What a brilliant strategy to lure the enemy!
If Xiang Yu had not noticed that slight discord, he would have almost fallen into the opponent's trap!
Xiang Yu slowly lowered his raised halberd, swallowing back the siege order he was about to issue. The air on the battlefield seemed to freeze, as the entire Chu army waited with bated breath for their commander's final decision. They could sense a subtle yet fundamental shift in Xiang Yu's aura.