Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Half an hour later, the fierce battle finally subsided, and the battlefield was filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood. In the valley, the Minzhong Army, which had been so aggressive, had lost its fighting spirit like a stray dog. They put down their weapons and chose to surrender to the army led by Kong Gang. However, despite winning the battle, Kong Gang's face was still terribly gloomy.

The reason is self-evident. In this thrilling battle, the more than 2,000 elite soldiers of the Black Wind under his command, who were proud of him, experienced the baptism of blood and rain, and only a mere 500 survived! This battle seemed to end with a great victory for Kong Gang's side - his side lost less than 2,000 people, but successfully annihilated the enemy and captured nearly 10,000 people. But only Kong Gang knew the pain. This so-called "victory" was actually a painful defeat.

You know, the training of the Black Armor Army is extremely rigorous. Every mature Black Armor Army soldier needs to spend at least two years to hone and adjust to become a truly useful warrior. Moreover, the money and food required to train a Black Armor Army soldier is more than ten times that of an ordinary soldier! Therefore, on the surface, the loss this time is less than 2,000 people, but for Kong Gang, it is as heavy as the loss of 20,000 troops. After all, these Black Armor Army soldiers are the elite among the elites who have been carefully selected and cultivated!

Kong Gang had always been highly regarded and carefully cultivated by Gao Yao. However, this time, due to his improper command, the Black Armor Army suffered such a heavy blow. His inner guilt and self-blame surged like a tide. Although he had taken the initiative strategically, it could only be called a tragic victory at best, and it was definitely not a great victory.

After half a day, Han Xin finally led the mighty army to the destination. As soon as he arrived here, he quickly learned the details of the Black Armor Army. After hearing this news, Han Xin's already solemn expression became even uglier. After all, he should have been the one leading the command of this battle, and Kong Gang was just following orders.

At this time, inside the marching tent, Han Xin's eyes fell on the 1.85-meter-tall, burly man in front of him - it was Kong Gang. Kong Gang's eyes, which were usually bright and sharp, were now bloodshot and red, and tears kept rolling in his eyes, as if they would roll down at any time. Seeing this scene, even Han Xin couldn't help but feel pity and distress in his heart.

"General, this battle is all my fault! Because of my mistake, the Black Armor Army suffered such heavy losses. Please punish me severely!" Kong Gang said with a guilty look on his face and a slightly trembling voice.

However, Han Xin gently waved his hand and said slowly: "Kong Gang, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on you. In the final analysis, it was because I was too greedy for military merit and acted rashly, which eventually led to such a bad result. I should bear the responsibility for this crime. After the war, I will personally go to the lord to apologize. But at this moment, we must not fall into depression and self-blame. You know, the lord is still trapped in Wushang County and is in a critical situation. Therefore, we must rush to Wushang County as soon as possible to support the lord. This is the top priority!"

"Yes!" This was the only response he heard, loud and firm. This was a matter of great importance, and Kong Gang did not dare to be negligent at this moment. He knew the stakes involved. So, he quickly gathered his mind, put all his previous emotions behind him, and adjusted his state as quickly as possible.

"Now that Minzhong County is no longer able to stop our army's advance to the north, the only thing left is time. I believe that the remaining Chu army and Minzhong army will choose to retreat to Kuaiji. Han Xin should do his best to order the army to speed up the march and advance to Linyue County as soon as possible."

"As for Kong Gang, you must reorganize the army immediately. The troops that originally belonged to General Heifeng will be temporarily transferred back to Nanhai County for rest and recuperation. The rest of the troops will be led by you personally and set off for Wushang County immediately. At this time, the Chu army is either gathering troops in the Linyue County area, preparing to engage in a life-and-death battle with our army; or they are surrounding Wushang County where the lord is, trying to break through the city in one fell swoop. In this way, their defenses in other places must be empty and weak. So you lead the army directly to Wushang County, but do not pass through the front of the county, but bypass the county area, carry the map of the Kuaiji area, rush to Wushang County as quickly as possible, and do your best to assist the lord in repelling the enemy."

"Well, please rest assured, General! I will definitely fulfill my mission even if it means sacrificing my life!"

At this moment, in Wushang County, Gao Yao had already gritted his teeth and persevered to a very difficult situation. He successfully held the city and resisted the fierce attack of the Chu army for nearly ten days. In this long and brutal battle, the losses suffered by the Chu army far exceeded 5,000 people.

What is troubling is that despite this, the number of Chu troops besieging Wushang County has not decreased at all, but has increased rapidly to nearly 20,000 at an alarming rate. At this moment, the number of soldiers closely surrounding Gao Yao to defend the city is less than 2,000. The more critical point is that just yesterday, Gao Yao suddenly discovered that Xiang Yu appeared in the Chu army camp outside the city. This discovery undoubtedly also shows that the Chu army has made up its mind not to show mercy, and they are about to launch a more fierce and deadly attack.

At the same time, there were many southern naval forces on the coastal waters, always waiting for an opportunity to move, but these naval forces were never able to carry out landing operations as they wished.

There is no other way. Although it is no problem for warships to transport people, it is still very difficult to transport war horses. War horses can be transported on board for a short time, but they will become restless after a long time. Even if they are barely transported, the war horses will become weak and no longer have any combat ability.

This also led to the fact that the reinforcements were unable to land in the coastal area less than a day's journey away from Wushang County. Xiang Yu's cavalry had been watching closely from the side, and the navy had forced a landing before. Thousands of southern border troops were directly killed by Xiang Yu and the Chu cavalry as soon as they landed. The thousands of people who landed were dispersed by Xiang Yu before they could even build a camp. Thousands of people landed, but only one or two hundred came back in the end.

At this moment, Gao Yao, after days of continuous and courageous fighting, was completely exhausted. Erniu beside him was not much better, with wounds all over his body, new wounds overlapping old ones, which was shocking.

Erniu said to Gao Yao anxiously, "My lord, the time is ripe. Most of the soldiers are exhausted and unable to fight anymore. If we don't break out, the situation will become more critical, my lord!"

Although they had stored a large amount of supplies for defending the city in advance, those supplies had already been consumed in this long and fierce battle. Even the houses and communities close to the city walls were almost completely demolished to obtain more defensive materials.

Gao Yao listened to Erniu's advice and nodded slightly to show his agreement. He gently moved his extremely sore arm to try to relieve the tension in his muscles, and asked, "How is the tunnel digging going?"

As he spoke, the heavy armor on his body made a slight friction sound, and the blood that had dried and solidified on it actually peeled off like debris, falling to the ground and raising a small cloud of dust.

At least 400 Chu soldiers died at Gao Yao's hands these days. Fortunately, Gao Yao had a portable space, so food was not a problem. Otherwise, he would have been defeated long ago. However, Xiang Yu's appearance also showed that Xiang Yu could no longer bear it and was determined to take Wushang County. Tomorrow might be the last battle.

"It's ready. We can get out of the city in a quarter of an hour."

"Well, I think Han Xin should have succeeded. We have delayed the Chu army for ten days. We have completed the mission. It's time to retreat."

At this time, Gao Yao also stood up and looked at the sky which was gradually getting dark. He was thinking about how to give Xiang Yu a good beating before he left. Then Gao Yao suddenly thought of an idea and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Starting tonight, have the soldiers remove the flags on the city walls and gradually evacuate the city."

"Here"

"Early tomorrow morning, leave behind more than ten of your personal soldiers, and lead the rest to leave first and hide in the mountains."

"What! My Lord, this is absolutely not allowed. If you want to stay behind to cover our retreat, let Erniu come as well."

"Look at you, why are you panicking? I'm not asking you to cover your retreat, but I'm planning to teach Xiang Yu a lesson using the empty city plan!"

"Empty city plan?"

Listening to Gao Yao's words, Erniu was also confused at this time. He had no idea why Gao Yao did this. Gao Yao did not say much, but directly ordered Erniu to do as he ordered. After hearing this, although Erniu wanted to argue, it was obvious that Gao Yao was not going to accept it. Erniu had been with Gao Yao for the longest time, so he naturally knew Gao Yao's character and knew that he could not persuade Gao Yao, so he had to do as Gao Yao ordered.

The next morning, Xiang Yu had just woken up from his tent when the messenger arrived in front of the tent.

"General, the garrison of Wushang County suddenly disappeared, the city gates were wide open, and only one person was left on the city wall. He claimed to be Gao Yao and wanted to talk to you."

"Hmm, hm? What did you say? The gates are wide open, Gao Yao?"