Chapter 166 Xiang Yu: I’ve heard that the Qin army is brave, but now it seems they are just women and children!

Hangu Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Xiang Yu has limited military forces. If he attacks head-on, even if he is brave and invincible, he will probably pay a heavy price.

This is also a problem that bothers him.

As for the second possibility, the Qin army was deliberately setting up a confusing formation but was actually planning an encirclement, but Xiang Yu was not worried.

"Even their combined forces can't defeat me, so what can they do to me if they disperse their forces?"

"Besides, they have tried to surround me many times. Even though those heavy cavalry were not deployed, weren't they easily defeated by my three thousand cavalry?"

Xiang Yu asked: "Master Fan, is there any way to discern the enemy's true intentions?"

Fan Zeng smiled and nodded: "Yes."

"Tomorrow, my lord, you can send troops to feint and attack Hangu Pass to test the waters."

"If the other party holds out, I'm afraid the situation will be as the first speculation."

"On the other hand, if the other party is willing to come out and fight you, my lord, be sure to beware of their tactics."

Xiang Yu nodded: "Okay!"

"While their heavy cavalry cannot be deployed, I will lead my army to attack Hangu Pass tomorrow."

"If they really don't fight back, I'll give it a try. Maybe the fake attack will turn into a real fight!"

Inside Hangu Pass, in the Qin army, except for the Thirteenth Prince who played every day, no one knew what the new Han Xin was doing.

It seemed that he just took the new recruits to run, shout and train outside the pass every day, and spent the rest of the time concentrating on cooking and focusing on defense.

Other troops, including the Jinyiwei, the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, and the elite troops under Wang Ben and Wang Li, have been assigned different tasks.

Although things seem relaxed on the surface, there are actually tensions within and war is imminent.

On the fifth day, Xiang Yu led 3,000 cavalrymen and 20,000 troops, carrying siege equipment and arrived at the foot of Hangu Pass.

The rain continued to fall, the army marched silently, only dull sounds echoed.

At the same time, on the city wall of Hangu Pass, for some reason, the Thirteenth Prince did not go out for fun today, but stood side by side with Han Xin beside the women's wall, watching this scene intently.

Ying Heng's eyes fell on Han Xin, and he caught his slight nervousness, and chuckled, "Han Xin, today you will step onto the glorious stage of history, just give it a try."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything behind the scenes."

Han Xin took a deep breath. Although he was confident in his military talent, he had indeed not been baptized by war.

He had never expected that he would be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility when he first joined the Thirteenth Young Master, which made him feel extremely nervous.

He keenly noticed the doubts in everyone's eyes when the Thirteenth Young Master announced that the military power would be handed over to him for command.

If it were him, he would also question it.

After all, he was just an unknown soldier. How could he lead a life-and-death battle among hundreds of thousands of troops?

While shouldering a heavy responsibility, Han Xin also felt the pressure of a mountain pressing down on him.

During the day, people saw him training his soldiers; at night, he secretly met with generals to plot strategies.

It was late at night and he had hardly slept all night, repeatedly pondering the possible evolution of the battle situation, considering the weather, terrain, morale, troop strength, type of troops, and even the combat effectiveness of the enemy's main general Xiang Yu.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Thirteenth Prince's guarantee that if Xiang Yu dared to break into the battle alone, he would be beheaded at Hangu Pass, Han Xin would never dare to take such a big risk and would fight to the death as soon as the battle broke out.

During this period, the most important information he obtained was: Xiang Yu, the enemy's invincible general, was unbeatable by anyone in the Qin army. This was also the fundamental reason why the Qin army had been defeated repeatedly in recent battles.

Xiang Yu's chestnut horse was like an indelible shadow in the hearts of the Qin army.

However, as the First Emperor had foreseen, the rebels had become more aggressive and trapped the Qin Dynasty in the throat of Hangu Pass.

The Qin army could not sit idly by. Even if delaying was beneficial to the Qin army, since the Qin Dynasty had unified the country and became an empire, it had to show its responsibility as an empire. They would never allow an inch of land to be lost, and they could not let the people be exposed to the enemy's butcher knife. This was their responsibility.

Therefore, after Ying Heng arrived, he only gave Han Xin one order.

Eliminate the rebels as quickly as possible and in the shortest time possible to make an example of them!
Han Xin kept the Thirteenth Prince's instructions in mind, thinking about his first appearance in the Qin court, and re-examining every possible variable in his mind.

His eyes were fixed on the Chu army approaching in the distance.

The Chu army stopped seven or eight miles outside the city. After Xiang Yu completed his arrangements, he led 3,000 light cavalry alone and attacked Hangu Pass.

At this moment, he was standing a mile below the pass. Xiang Yu reined in his chestnut horse and mocked the Qin army on the city wall.

"I have long heard of the bravery of the Qin army, but now it seems that they are just women who are afraid to move forward."

"Are you afraid that our Chu army will enter the city and trample you underfoot? Hahaha!"

Xiang Yu always disdained to provoke the enemy with words. When two armies fought, swords spoke.

Within the Qin army's fortifications, Xiang Yu's provocation did not cause them to have a hasty response.

However, Wang Li, who came from a prominent family with three generations of officials and was a descendant of a famous military god, could not tolerate such an insult and immediately became furious.

"Xiang Yu, don't even think about being so arrogant! Today, Hangu Pass will be the burial place of the Chu army!" he roared.

"Someone, shoot!" Wang Li ordered angrily.

Then, a dozen archers quietly appeared on the city wall and shot waves of weak arrows, which floated towards Xiang Yu like fallen leaves in the wind and rain.

Most of the arrows lost their power when they were only a few feet away from Xiang Yu, and a few passed by him and were easily deflected by him with the barrel of his spear.

Some of them even hit his armor, making only a faint tinkling sound before falling silently.

After the rain of arrows, not a hair of Xiang Yu moved.

He looked up at the city wall and laughed wildly.

"Hahaha! You Qin soldiers are so cowardly that you are not even as good as my dancers. The arrows you shoot are not even as good as the urine of my Chu country men. Are you Qin soldiers really considered men?!"

boom!
Xiang Yu's ridicule was like the water of the underworld splashed on the faces of the Qin army, making Wang Li instantly furious.

"Open the city gate! I'm going to go out and kill that brat with my own hands!!!"

Wang Li jumped on his horse, left the city wall, and prepared to lead 10,000 soldiers into battle.

These people were the newest, weakest and most cowardly of the 80,000 Qin troops.

They followed Wang Li out of the city gate, and when they saw Xiang Yu riding on a maroon horse in the distance, their legs couldn't help but tremble.

They were too timid to move forward, their steps hesitant.

Xiang Yu laughed even louder when he saw this: "Hahahahaha!"

"You are giving me 10,000 dancers!"

"My men, follow me and kill these cowards!"

Da da da.
Xiang Yu's eyes were fixed on the cowardly Qin soldiers pouring out of Hangu Pass, and he spurred his horse into battle.

Even when his cavalry had only charged halfway, the leading Qin troops had already begun to stir and wanted to escape, but they dared not move because of the surveillance of their superiors.

Although they are new recruits, there is some element of performance involved.

The Qin Dynasty was founded on military power, and the training of soldiers has always been based on actual combat. Even if they are novices, they must have undergone necessary actual combat training to be able to gain a foothold on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)