stonecrandall Chapter 915: Xiang Yu was a little panicked because he couldn’t wait for the southern border army!
Chapter 915: Xiang Yu was a little panicked because he couldn’t wait for the southern border army!
Gao Yao's gaze swept over the soldiers busily gathering their forces and rescuing the wounded. His voice was low and clear enough for the surrounding core generals to hear: "Although we have won this battle and dealt a heavy blow to Yi Xiaochuan's cavalry vanguard, the Chu army's foundation has not been shaken. Xiang Yu's main force remains, far surpassing ours. Moreover, our losses are also considerable. The soldiers are exhausted, and the loss of arrows is huge. We urgently need to rest and replenish."
He paused, his gaze piercing the northwest, as if he could see through the pitch-black night and discern the outline of Xianyang. "Secondly, and most crucially, Xiang Yu is no fool. He sent Yi Xiaochuan to intercept us head-on. He must have led his army himself, calculating the time and distance, and had already devised a detour, waiting for us on the road we had to take to retreat to Yangping Pass! His target from the very beginning was Gao Yao. He wanted to wipe out the main force of our Southern Border Army, including me, in one fell swoop outside the pass! If we return to Yangping Pass now, we'll be walking into a trap, right into Xiang Yu's carefully crafted encirclement! With Yi Xiaochuan blocking our way in front and Xiang Yu's main force chasing us from behind, our army will surely perish!"
Ying Bu gasped and broke out in a cold sweat. He was so caught up in the joy of a successful ambush that he almost overlooked the most deadly and obvious strategic threat! Indeed, Xiang Yu's military tactics were always characterized by grandeur, outflanking, and striving for complete annihilation! The road back to Yangping Pass was probably already a dragnet!
Gao Yao continued, his tone firm and resolute, "So, we must do the opposite! He predicts that after my initial victory, I will rush to retreat to the nearest fortress, Yangping Pass. But I won't! We will head directly north, towards his heartland—towards Xianyang!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Ying Bu suddenly realized, his heart convinced, and he praised sincerely, even forgetting the pain in his eye sockets. "When they are weak, make them strong; when they are strong, make them weak! Attack them and they will have to rescue them, taking them by surprise! Xiang Yu would never have thought that we would dare to lose... No, after winning, instead of finding a place to defend, we would head straight for his capital! By the time they realize it, we will have already jumped out of their encirclement and disrupted all their plans!"
"No need for flattery," Gao Yao interrupted him calmly, his face devoid of any smugness. "We're heading towards Xianyang, exploiting a time and information gap. Xiang Yu and Yi Xiaochuan will need at least half a day to a day to fully understand our true movements and make adjustments. We must capitalize on this precious window of opportunity and march at full speed. The further we are from Yangping Pass and the closer we are to Xianyang, the safer we'll be—because the main force of the Chu army has been mobilized on the periphery in an attempt to encircle and annihilate us, leaving their hinterland empty! There are no more heavily armed troops around Xianyang!"
His tone became extremely solemn, and his eyes swept over the generals: "But at the same time, we must also clearly realize that our army now has less than 20,000 soldiers, and they are exhausted. The food and arrows they carry cannot withstand any major attrition war. We have lost the ability to engage the main force of the Chu army in the field. If the main force of the Chu army catches up and entangles us, or if they predict our route and intercept us, we will be in real danger. Therefore, speed is life! Concealment is protection!"
Ying Bu no longer had any doubts. The remaining playful expression on his face completely disappeared, replaced by an extremely solemn and resolute expression. He clasped his fists together and said in a voice like a bell:
"Yes! I understand! Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will immediately issue orders to properly accommodate the seriously injured and discard all unnecessary baggage. Carry only ten days' rations and the necessary arrows. Travel light and march with the entire army at a rapid pace! We must break out of the Chu encirclement as quickly as possible and head straight for Xianyang!"
Gao Yao nodded, his gaze once again directed towards the distant darkness where Xianyang was, thinking to himself: Yi Xiaochuan, Xiang Yu... This chess game is only in the middle. You want to annihilate me? How can it be so easy? Since I dared to come out, I must have made all the preparations.
Of course, this pursuit and siege of Gao Yao could not continue indefinitely. For the Chu army, the current advantage presented a window of opportunity for a blitzkrieg that must be seized. Gao Yao's true war machine was far more than the 20,000 elite troops currently accompanying him into this dangerous situation. The reinforcements from Ying Bu's forces at Yangping Pass were merely the first pieces on Gao Yao's strategic chessboard, the first mobile force he successfully recalled.
An even more powerful force was gathering and advancing rapidly in the rear. In less than two weeks, perhaps even sooner, the mastermind Zhang Liang would personally lead a force of over 50,000 fresh troops, sweeping down from the southern hinterland. This army would not only be well-mannered but also fully stocked with provisions, fodder, and all the necessary equipment for a siege. At that moment, the balance of power on the battlefield would be fundamentally reversed.
Whether the Chu army relied on its cavalry advantage to seek a decisive battle in the open, or relied on its city defenses to hold its ground and wait for change, it would lose all advantage. In the face of sheer might, any tactical ingenuity would pale in comparison. Gao Yao's risky maneuvering at this moment was intended not only to break the current crisis, but also to buy precious time for the arrival of Zhang Liang's main force and create a more strategically advantageous starting position for the attack.
Meanwhile, Xiang Yu's trajectory was almost entirely in line with Gao Yao's predictions. The Overlord of Western Chu, while always favoring frontal crushing and thunderous offensives, was also not unfamiliar with the art of outflanking. He personally led his most elite central forces, quietly making a large detour and arriving at the designated battlefield several days in advance—a hilly area east of Yangping Pass that was ideal for large-scale deployment while also controlling key transportation routes.
This place was the only route Gaoyao's southern border troops had to take to retreat to Yangping Pass, a crucial chokepoint. Xiang Yu saw this as a legitimate conspiracy: Yi Xiaochuan's 30,000 cavalrymen pressed forward from the front, while Xiang Yu's own fierce and powerful army blocked their retreat from behind. Unless Gaoyao could find wings, they would be trapped in this narrow area. He had even chosen the location for the decisive battle: once the Gaoyao army entered, he could join forces with Yi Xiaochuan to attack from both sides and decide the outcome in one fell swoop.
Yi Xiaochuan's earlier military report confirmed this, noting that Gaoyao was already showing signs of retreat. This further convinced Xiang Yu that the fish were swimming towards the giant net he had already cast. However, day after day passed... and yet there was no sign of the expected main force of the Southern Border Army.
Waiting was a sure way to wear down one's spirit, especially for a commander as fiery as Xiang Yu. His inner anxiety grew with each passing day, and he dispatched nearly every scout under his command, casting a net, doubling and expanding his reconnaissance area. He even began to doubt his own judgment, repeatedly examining the map, wondering if Gao Yao might have taken a more remote, even lesser-known, path.