20demayo Chapter 1069 Xiang Yu commits suicide, and the Chu army suffers a complete defeat!
Chapter 1069 Xiang Yu commits suicide, and the Chu army suffers a complete defeat!
"Ninety-third round." Gao Yao parried the blow with his halberd, the shaft of which slammed into Xiang Yu's back, the sound of armor shattering clearly audible. "Your black horse, Wuzhui, is trembling."
Xiang Yu looked down and saw that his steed, Wuzhui, which had been with him for many years, was now foaming at the mouth and trembling. This was not a problem with the horse's physical strength, but rather fear—the instinctive fear of an animal towards an absolute power.
"The hundredth round."
When Gao Yao announced the number, Silver Spear did something that no one expected.
Instead of attacking Xiang Yu, he threw his spear.
The silver spear streaked across the battlefield like a meteor, piercing the chests of three Chu generals and pinning them to a battle flag. Then Gao Yao faced Xiang Yu's halberd bare-handed.
Empty-handed.
He clasped his hands together and forcefully clamped the halberd blade between them.
Time seemed to stand still.
Xiang Yu exerted all his strength, but his halberd remained unmoved. Gao Yao's hands were like iron clamps—no, even more terrifying than iron clamps—they possessed a strength beyond human limits.
"Do you understand now?" Gao Yao looked at him, his eyes eerily calm. "The difference between us is not martial arts, not strength, but the difference in dimensions."
He exerted force with both hands.
"Click——"
He actually broke the halberd blade, which was made of fine iron!
The recoil from the broken halberd caused Xiang Yu's tiger's mouth to split open completely, bleeding profusely. He gripped the broken halberd shaft, staring blankly at Gao Yao, at the man who had broken a divine weapon with his bare hands.
The fighting around them had stopped at some point.
It wasn't a ceasefire; rather, the Chu army in this area was completely wiped out. A thousand armored cavalrymen from Gaoyao formed a circular formation around the perimeter, turning the area into an arena. Inside, only Xiang Yu and a few dozen of his personal guards remained standing—if you could call being covered in blood and swaying precariously standing.
Outside the battlefield, the Chu army suffered a complete rout.
The defeat is set.
"Why..." Xiang Yu asked hoarsely, this time not with anger, but with bewilderment, "Why didn't you just kill me..."
Gao Yao picked up the silver spear from the ground—a soldier respectfully pulled it back, wiped it clean, and handed it to him. He stroked the shaft and slowly said, "Because I want you to see with your own eyes how your Chu army was destroyed. I want you to experience firsthand what it feels like to fall from the clouds into the mud."
He looked up at the scattered Chu army in the distance: "More importantly, I want the world to know—the consequence of opposing the court is that from now on, no one else in the world can stop me."
Every word was like a knife piercing Xiang Yu's heart.
More painful than the wounds on my body, more shameful than defeat.
He finally understood completely. Gao Yao had never treated him as an equal opponent from beginning to end; this battle was nothing more than a performance, a show to make an example of someone. And he, Xiang Yu, was that chosen chicken.
"Hahaha...hahaha..." Xiang Yu suddenly burst into laughter, a laugh tinged with blood, as if he had gone mad. "What a brilliant strategist! What a far-sighted plan! I, Xiang Yu, have dominated half my life, and only today do I realize that there are always people more capable than me..."
He laughed so hard he could barely breathe, coughing up blood: "But do you think this is victory? There are millions of men in the State of Chu. Though I have lost today, someone will surely avenge me one day!"
Gao Yao watched him quietly, and only spoke slowly after he finished laughing: "Are you finished?"
Xiang Yu's laughter stopped abruptly.
"Now that we've finished, it's time to get going." Gao Yao raised his silver spear. "Will you do it yourself, or should I do it? Or are you willing to surrender to me?"
This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Xiang Yu looked around—his personal guards were all dead, the Chu army was in disarray, the Qin flags were flying again atop Xianyang, and the southern armies were surging in from all directions like a tidal wave. He had been defeated, utterly defeated, defeated without any dignity, defeated like a clown on a stage.
He recalled the glory of the Battle of Julu, the majesty of the enfeoffment of the feudal lords, and the last time Yu Ji danced for him...
He looked at Gao Yao, his eyes devoid of anger and despair, only a deathly calm remained: "Gao Yao, I will remember this humiliation. But you do not deserve to make me, Xiang Yu, surrender."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly sprang to his feet.
Instead of charging towards Gaoyao, he charged towards a nearby armored cavalryman. Caught off guard, the cavalryman's sword was snatched away by Xiang Yu. Then Xiang Yu turned, not to attack the enemy, but—
The sword flashed across his neck.
Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, committed suicide outside Xianyang.
As he fell, his eyes were still open, gazing at the gray sky. In his last moments, he seemed to see Yu Ji's smiling face, the reeds by the Wujiang River, and his once arrogant self.
Gao Yao watched this scene quietly for a long time, then sighed softly.
It wasn't regret, but a complex emotion. He knew that from this moment on, history had been completely changed. Xiang Yu wouldn't have committed suicide at the Wujiang River, there wouldn't be the lament of those who still think of Xiang Yu and refuse to cross the river to the east, and there wouldn't be that tragic hero whose story has been passed down through the ages.
Yes, but he was a loser who was defeated by a time traveler and committed suicide in humiliation.
"A proper burial." Gao Yao uttered only two words before turning his horse around and heading towards Xianyang City.
Behind him, the armored cavalry began clearing the battlefield. Some closed Xiang Yu's eyes, some put away the broken halberd, and some led away the black horse, Wuzhui. Everything was orderly, like handling the aftermath of any victory.
The surrendered Chu soldiers in Xianyang had been taken into custody in batches, and the bloodstains in the streets and alleys had been washed away by three days of heavy rain, but the air was still filled with the mixed smell of rust and smoke. In the main hall of Xiao He's residence, candlelight blazed late into the night. Gao Yao, still wearing his black battle robe, sat in the main seat, flanked by Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Li Zhao, Wu She, and other core strategists and generals.
"My lord, the palace has sent messengers three times to invite you." Xiao He stroked his beard, his voice calm but carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry. "Empress Lü, Lady Yu Shu, and Lady Su all wish to see you."
Gao Yao raised his eyelids, his eyes bloodshot, and waved his hand: "Tell them that the affairs of state are not yet settled, and there is no time for private matters." His voice was hoarse, but it carried an undeniable determination: "As long as the three northern prefectures are not at peace, and as long as the Great Wall is not secure, I will not return to the palace."
Zhang Liang unfurled a huge sheepskin map, on which the winding route of the Qin Great Wall from Longxi to Liaodong was marked in cinnabar. "Although the Chu army has been defeated, the northern frontier has been empty for more than half a year. According to urgent reports from scouts, the Xiongnu Chanyu Dunta has gathered eight cavalry units north of Yinshan, and they are ready to make a move."
Wu She, the general under Gao Yao who was most skilled in cavalry warfare, pointed to the three passes of Yanmen, Yunzhong and Daijun on the map: "These three places are the core of the Great Wall. In the past, General Meng Tian stationed 300,000 troops here to ensure the peace of the northern frontier. In order to raise cavalry, Xiang Yu forcibly conscripted men from the north. Now the garrison of the three counties is less than 30,000, and most of them are old and weak."