The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

When the situation on the southern front collapsed, Xiang Yan had a chance to withdraw his troops and escape. In that case, he could at least leave the battlefield with the 10,000 feudal lords around him.

But Xiang Yan made a life-or-death decision. He gathered more than 10,000 people in the rear formation and rushed forward as a fresh force to attack the 40,000 elite soldiers of Qin Guanzhong who had been holding on for a whole hour!

The soldiers of Xiang, Jiangdong, and Huainan, who had been fighting hard, got the addition of fresh forces, and saw the commander's flag pointing straight forward. For a time, they were greatly boosted, and they shouted and launched a counterattack.

After a long battle, the soldiers of Qin Guanzhong were exhausted. They were counterattacked by this fresh force and were unable to hold on and retreated step by step.

However, Xiang Yan was not happy for long. He soon found that this was another strategy of Wang Jian. Wang Jian made the Qin army retreat to its original position, but held on again.

Wang Jian did this to lure the Chu army forward, and the three armies in the north, south and rear came to participate in the encirclement...

The southern line was the first to collapse. The newly arrived Hei Fu and others spread flags on the hills, which played a key role. They made the Chu army on the southern line lose morale. At present, the Qu family's troops have been completely defeated, and more than 10,000 Qin troops began to encircle them.

On the northern line, Zhao Hua, who was already at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, struggled with the Qin general Qiang Wei, but was defeated. The soldiers scattered. Zhao Hua tried to gather his troops and tried to launch a counterattack, but it was useless. Qiang Wei's flag also pointed to the center.

Their only retreat was cut off by the Qin cavalry that destroyed the Chu chariots, along with the more than a thousand Qin troops that came to support them. Under the cover of the cavalry, the more than a thousand soldiers with high morale attacked Xiang Yan's rear formation fiercely...

So far, all the Chu soldiers on the periphery were defeated, except for the 30,000 to 40,000 in the center, who formed a circle around Xiang Yan's flag and endured the siege and attack of the Qin army.

Even though the overall situation was decided, Xiang Yan still watched the battlefield without blinking, and from time to time issued military orders to adjust the formation, or mobilize more troops to the place where the situation was declining, in order to save the defeat. Dozens of messengers rode horses and galloped in every corner of the battlefield, faithfully conveying the orders of the upper pillar state.

But the decline was hard to reverse. Although the Chu army fought in formation, under the impact of the Qin soldiers, the small formations collapsed one after another, and the position facing the north was deeply sunken, which triggered an avalanche-like chain reaction. The Chu army positions were conquered one after another, and the balance of victory had completely tilted to Wang Jian.

Xiang Yan saw that the Xiang clan soldiers fighting in front were stabbed to death by the Qin army spearmen rushing down the gentle slope, but they were unwilling to let go of their weapons until they died.

He looked to the right, and the three thousand Ju Zhang soldiers occupied a favorable position, looking down from a high position, using their hands and feet to support crossbows, and shooting arrows at the dense Chu army positions. The arrows fell like rain, and then like a gust of wind. Every time they shot, a large number of Chu soldiers fell down, and suffered heavy casualties.

He looked to the left. The Qin army's chariots and cavalry also rushed out in full force, rushing towards the Chu army along the lowlands. Heavy chariots rushed past, surrounded by hundreds of cavalrymen on the left and right. The sun shone on the spear tips. The thousands of soldiers in the left formation were completely disintegrated under the impact, like pottery shards hit by a hammer...

The rear was also on fire. The 1,500 Nanjun soldiers who had just joined the battlefield were not many in number, but their offensive posture was very fierce.

They seemed to regard the Chu people, who were in great morale, as opponents on the court and Xiang Yan's flag as a ball to be fought for. Dongmen Bao led 500 people to penetrate the soft flesh like a knife, and broke through thousands of Chu soldiers. Hei Fu was surrounded by the troops of Gong Ao, Xiao Tao, and Li Xian on the left and right. They fought together and killed the 3,000 Chu people in the rear formation and made them retreat step by step...

Time passed moment by moment. The battlefield was full of corpses, wounded, and soldiers fighting with spears and swords. The blood soaked the earth. Tens of thousands of Chu soldiers who were surrounded were now dead or defeated, with less than 10,000 left. The place where the battle took place was a mile away from Xiang Yan, but now the Qin army had advanced to within a few hundred steps, and even several arrows fell in front of his carriage...

Xiang Yan's flags continued to send out command signals, but the Chu soldiers who were attacked by enemies several times more than them could no longer execute them. They could only fight or flee by instinct.

"I lost."

The day was coming to an end. When the sun set, Xiang Yan found that his troops were getting smaller and smaller, and he could no longer execute any of his orders. The old general who had been standing on the carriage for a whole day and had exhausted all his energy dropped his hands helplessly.

He was extremely depressed, because this was not only the failure of the war that lasted for half a year, but also the end of the national destiny of the Chu State.

In a moment, the Qin army would completely sweep away the stubborn Chu soldiers and kill them in front of him. At that time, everything would be over.

With this thought, Xiang Yan drew his sword!

"Shangzhuguo!"

The charioteer guarding beside him was Xiang Sheng, a clansman with agile figure and strong martial arts. He was holding a shield and struggling to block the arrows that were getting closer and closer. Seeing this, he was shocked and bowed down and said, "Shangzhuguo, Xiang Sheng is willing to escort Shangzhuguo to break through!"

At this time, night was approaching and it was getting dark. The Qin army's encirclement was not tight. Many Chu soldiers had been escaping through the gaps. Although there were still more than a thousand Qin cavalrymen chasing them outside, if Xiang Yan used the thousand guards around him, threw down his big flag, and rushed towards the gap, there might be a glimmer of hope...

"Even if we break through, what's the use? After half a year of stalemate, Chu's national strength has been exhausted. Now it is defeated again. One hundred thousand Chu soldiers are dead, injured, or scattered. The general situation is gone."

Xiang Yan stroked the sword that had accompanied him for decades, and laughed bitterly: "When I was young, I thought that the reason why Chu was repeatedly defeated by Qin was just because it lost a hand on the battlefield. If there had not been the defeats of Lantian, Chuisha, Yanying, etc., perhaps now it would still be 5,000 miles in territory, with millions of halberds, and become the emperor of Qin and the king of Chu."

"So I studied the art of war hard, hoping to become a famous general, to reverse the decline on the battlefield, to revive the great Chu, and to avenge the grievances of a hundred generations..."

"In the more than ten years after the Battle of Changping, I served Chunshen Jun, conquered the east and the west for him, swallowed up the State of Lu, and took all the eastern land, and made many military achievements. After that, I also tried my best to develop Jiangdong. In those years, Chu did have a revival."

"Who would have thought that the Chu State would suffer misfortunes again. First, Li Yuan killed Chunshen Jun and usurped power. Then, the princes fought against each other. The county lords of each clan only cared about their own interests and continued to fight. A few years ago, I joined forces with the Zhao, Jing, and Qu families to kill Li Yuan and support the current king. The government finally stabilized, but the Qin army had arrived..."

Last time, Xiang Yan tried his best to defeat Li Xin, but the second time, he failed to create a miracle and was dragged down by Wang Jian with the number of people and national strength.

"At this time, I realized that this was not the fault of the war, but the country's accumulated strength was difficult to reverse!"

With a gram against a pound, he lost not unfairly.

But he was unwilling to lose even if it was not the fault of the war.

At this point, it was useless to say anything. According to the tradition of the Chu State, the defeated general must ask for it himself even if the King of Chu did not punish him!

"On the day of the battle, there is honor in death and disgrace in life. Xiang Yan is incompetent and has caused the three armies to suffer. How can I live in disgrace or be captured by Wang Jian and be humiliated by the Qin people?"

Xiang Yan was determined to die. Xiang Sheng and his guards knew that they could not stop him. They could only kneel on one knee on the muddy ground and sob.

After placing the sword across his neck, Xiang Yan sighed:

"Three hundred years ago, when the Wu army attacked Chu, Zichang did not follow the advice of the left Sima Shen Yinrong and was defeated by the Wu army in Baiju. Afterwards, Shen Yinrong returned to the army and tried his best to prevent the Wu army from entering Ying and defeated them several times. However, his troops were insufficient and he was eventually injured and defeated."

"Before he died, he said to his soldiers, I once served Wu in Helu when I was young, so I was ashamed to be captured, and I didn't want the Wu people to get my head... So the soldiers cut him and wrapped him up, hiding his body and hiding his head."

"Xiang Sheng." He looked at his clansmen.

"Yes!" Xiang Sheng, a man of eight feet tall, was crying with tears on his face.

"You are known for your bravery and are a good horse of the Xiang family. You can be entrusted with important matters. After I die, you must cut off my head and don't let Wang Jian get it. Xiang Yan doesn't want to see this ancient man! Find a way to leave the battlefield under the cover of night, return to Xiaxiang, and give my head to my son and grandson!"

"Tell them again!"

Xiang Yan looked at Xiang Sheng, his beard and hair were erected, his eyes widened, and he said his last words:

"Although Xiang Yan is dead, as long as there are still descendants of the Xiang family, they will live and die with the State of Chu!"

"Xiang Sheng knows it, we will definitely be with the State of Chu from beginning to end!"

Xiang Sheng cried out, and he and the guards around him bowed to Xiang Yan together, bidding farewell to their head and the Supreme Pillar of Chu!

The Chu army was completely defeated, and the Qin people had swarmed within a hundred steps, lighting torches and fighting with Xiang Yan's guards. They arrived in front of him in an instant.

Xiang Yan no longer hesitated, he held the sword with both hands and crossed his neck. A stream of hot blood splashed, dyeing his gray beard red, and the tall Shangzhuguo also fell down on the carriage!

"Carrying a long sword and holding a Qin bow, the head and body are separated and the heart is not punished..."

The past scenes flashed by, and finally stopped at the time when I was young, listening to "National Mourning" and regretting the state affairs.

"It's a pity that I can only follow Shen Yinrong and Qu Zi in the end, but I can't be Shen Baoxu who turned the tide!"

Xiang Yan was so angry that only his eyes were wide open!

The driver silently arranged Xiang Yan's body, and then took out a dagger from his arms and stabbed it into his heart!

There were no less than ten guards around who committed suicide to see Xiang Yan off!

Only Xiang Sheng and others, who were entrusted by Xiang Yan, could only grit their teeth and hold back tears, with trembling hands, raise their swords high, and cut off the old head!

"Since he is brave and brave, he will be strong and cannot be bullied."

"After his death, his spirit will be a ghost hero!"

After singing a song of "National Mourning" in a low voice, under the cover of several Xiang family guards, Xiang Sheng threw away all his armor, smeared his face, wrapped Xiang Yan's head in his clothes, bent over, and ran out with a group of Chu soldiers who were defeated by the Qin people in the dark night!

Just as Xiang Sheng was running out, the four armies of the Qin army in the east, south, west, and north almost simultaneously launched the final attack on Xiang Yan's carriage!

The troops led by Hei Fu were the first in the south!

…

"Xiang Yan is dead!"

"Xiang Yan is dead!"

The battlefield was littered with corpses and blood flowed like a river. As the Qin army completely killed the last group of stubborn Chu people and found Xiang Yan's body that they had no time to deal with, the fierce battle that lasted for a whole day finally came to an end.

But then, the soldiers who rushed to the front began to push each other because of the fight for the body that was suspected to be Xiang Yan. This group of soldiers who were red-eyed and bloodthirsty actually broke out into a fight. Under the temptation of merit, they even raised their swords against their comrades!

"Li Xian, quickly let Gong Ao and Dongmen Bao come back!"

Hei Fu also had some blood on his body, which was splashed during the advance, but he was not injured.

Because he chose the right time to lead the crowd to join the battlefield, there were no more than 100 casualties among the 1,500 people, and the wounded were dragged to the back to be treated by medical and emergency soldiers.

Heifu had no time to celebrate his victory, and immediately asked people to call back the two guys who were in the front, because Heifu had seen that Wang Jian's flag was moving towards this side, and wherever it went, Qin soldiers avoided it.

Along with them came many military judges with sullen faces!

Qin's military law was strict, and private fighting was a capital crime! Back then in Waihuang, Gong Ao was almost killed for this crime, why didn't he learn his lesson? This kind of thing must not be involved.

Fortunately, with Heifu's obstruction, they did not get involved in the chaotic looting of hundreds of people, and quickly pulled out.

After coming back panting, Gong Ao cursed: "Those Hedong soldiers are really like a pack of wild dogs. It was obviously us who approached Xiang Yan's carriage first, but we were pushed away by them. If Li Xian hadn't stopped us, I would have taught them a lesson!"

"The military judges will use axes and halberds to teach those people a lesson."

Hei Fu didn't care much and smiled: "We quickly attacked Xiang Yan's rear army and defeated 3,000 of them. When we attacked inward, we broke several small formations in succession. Ji Ying also led people to cut off the head in the back. Even if we didn't get Xiang Yan's body, you guys have contributed!"

At this time, Dongmen Bao also came back with a few soldiers, carrying something in his hand.

Unlike Gong Ao's anger, he shouted excitedly from a distance: "Captain, although we didn't get Xiang Yan's head and broken limbs, we got his flag! What a great achievement is this?"