Han Xin had no idea that his brother was playing tricks. He couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
With your abilities, it would be easy for you to catch a mere rat like Liu that is right in front of you.
Just to show their selfless trust in him, they were even willing to let him decide on the strategy to avenge this long-held blood feud.
Han Xin felt warm in his heart.
The more touched he was, the more careful he was in making his decision.
Especially since he had once experienced a near-miss experience when an inexplicable evil wind blew up right under his nose and Liu Haozi escaped from his hands, Han Xin was particularly cautious this time.
There can't be any mistakes this time. If Liu Haozi escapes again, I don't know what rat hole he will hide in with his belongings...
Thinking of this, Han Xin suddenly had an idea.
So one morning, Liu Bang, who was worried about the embarrassing situation of being trapped in the royal capital, was stunned to see that the Chu army, which had come from afar and had consumed a huge amount of food and grass in just one day, was taking a leisurely attitude and surrounded but did not attack.
The food and grass in Chengdu city are enough for the people in the city to eat for more than a year. Unless the Chu general is crazy, there is no way he would have the stupid idea of fighting with them!
Liu Bang actually hoped that these Chu generals would be so stupid, but no matter how optimistic he was, he did not dare to have such an illusion.
Sure enough, just after noon, Han Xin, wearing a general's battle robe, personally urged his close ministers to ride, and behind him were three rows of a hundred Chu soldiers.
When they reached the point where they could shoot, they stopped. Han Xin raised his hand slightly, and the hundreds of people behind him shouted loudly, "Those who surrender to Chu will not be killed! Only the chief culprit Liu will be killed! We will wait until noon tomorrow at the latest. If you are stubborn and still don't surrender quickly, when the city is captured, we will slaughter all the Han troops in this city to serve as a warning to others!!!"
These more than a hundred soldiers carefully selected by Han Xin may not be the tallest and strongest, but they must have the loudest voices.
When he first learned of his cheap brother's plan, Lu Bu slapped his knees and shouted in favor, and even rolled up his sleeves, ready to go into battle himself and surrender.
But before he could defeat the other heroes and show his power, he was stopped by Han Xin.
Han Xin didn't just distrust your loud voice, but he clearly distrusted your determination!
If Liu Haozi could come up with a quick idea and send someone to retort, it would probably make my brother very angry and he would go straight into the city alone without thinking twice.
How could Lu Bu know his cheap brother's concerns.
Because he was forcibly stopped and had no room to display his powerful abilities, he had a lazy, yet stern expression at the moment, which frightened the Chu army soldiers around him who were unaware of the situation.
While the Han army on the city wall was confused by this shout, Han Xin quickly led a group of people around the city gates in a arrogant circle.
They rode their horses forward, shouting all the way, and when everyone in the city heard them clearly, they calmly withdrew when the Han army sent a small group of troops out of the city to pursue them.
Seeing that the Chu army was large in number and that their formation surrounding the city was extremely frightening, Liu Bang was hesitating as to whether he should escape from the city before the secret passage was discovered, when he was shocked to hear about this.
Once Chu Ying said this, wouldn't it force the Han army under his command to completely oppose the Shu people in the city!
He hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures. When they finally figured out the whole thing and were about to send someone to challenge the enemy, he received the news that Han Xin had already led his men to evacuate.
Liu Bang was furious and cursed: "I am just a slave from Qi. You took advantage of the situation to gain prestige and became so cruel and forgetful!"
He was born a ruffian, and now he was anxious and angry, with a deep fear mixed in, and he kept uttering obscenities.
His performance was seen by his old subordinates. Some were numb and indifferent like Xiao He, some were uneasy like Guan Ying, and some had flickering eyes and struggle in their hearts like Lu Wan.
There were no outsiders in the hall at this moment, only a dozen old brothers who had followed Liu Bang in his uprising for a long time and had never left him even after fleeing to Shu.
Cao Shen sighed heavily, bowed and said, "Instead of defending, it is better to march far away. Forgive me for being frank. Although the Chu army came from afar, they are full of morale, with far more people than ours, and all of them are brave and experienced fighters! In comparison, our army is just a group of young and strong men, hastily integrated. Whether in terms of military discipline or equipment, they are no match for the Chu army. If we want to force our way out, it will be like hitting a rock with an egg! I am not afraid of losing my life, so I intend to exaggerate the enemy's strength and harm the morale of our army, but the difference is too great, and I dare not gamble with the king's life!"
From beginning to end, Cao Shen was the most powerful general under Liu Bang. He was good at fighting and could never be compared with Liu Bang's brother-in-law Fan Kuai, who relied solely on brute force and the martial arts he had learned.
It was for this reason that his frank conclusions touched the hearts of those present.
Liu Bang no longer had any luck.
He closed his eyes, sighed softly, and said in a hoarse voice: "What can I do?"
"If the king can keep his life, he still has a bright future to look forward to." Cao Shen said in a deep voice: "I am willing to lead 30,000 troops and horses, pretend to break out of the siege from the north gate tomorrow, and clear the way for the king..."
Cao Shen's words were so powerful that not only did everyone admire him in secret, but they also made Liu Bang feel a little relieved.
Everyone knows that Cao Shen must buy time as long as possible to help the king escape from trouble.
With 30,000 soldiers against 300,000 Chu soldiers, no matter how long the battle could last, Cao Shen was prepared to fight to the death and leave no way for himself to survive.
Liu Bang burst into tears and said sadly: "I am sorry for you old brothers!"
Cao Shen had a blank expression on his face. He did not look at Liu Bang, but instead swept his sharp eyes over the people present. He suddenly said, "I am alone. Even if I have many soldiers to build momentum, I am afraid it will not be enough to deceive the enemy."
Unless there is someone willing to sacrifice his life for justice and pretend to be Liu Bang, and join Cao Shen's army that is pretending to break out from the north gate, the effect of "deceiving the enemy" as mentioned by Cao Shen can be achieved.
However, even ants try to survive. Except for Cao Shen just now and the four generals who were covered in blood outside the palace banquet, the whole place was silent and no one was willing to volunteer.
Liu Bang's heart sank.
What Cao Shen said was not wrong, but he should not have taken the initiative to propose the idea of sacrificing his confidant's life in exchange for his own life...
When Liu Bang remained silent, everyone felt deeply tormented.
It would be better if someone was very different in age or body shape from Liu Bang. He knew that he would not be the one to be chosen again, so he didn't know who would be the substitute who was doomed to die.
As everyone pondered secretly, their eyes all fell on Lu Wan at the same time.
Lu Wan was born on the same day as Liu Bang, and studied together at Ma Gong Academy since childhood. After he started the rebellion, he always followed Liu Bang and never left his side.
Everyone in the Han camp knew that even though Lu Wan's abilities were not the most outstanding, he was undoubtedly the old subordinate with whom Liu Bang had the deepest friendship.
How could Lu Wan not know that he was probably the most suitable candidate among those present
He realized this earlier than anyone else. He was previously hesitating about other things, but in the blink of an eye, he was pushed to the edge of a knife.
Facing the mountain of knives on one side and the wok of oil on the other, he was sweating profusely and was terrified.
If he pretended not to know, he would immediately anger Liu Bang.
And in this trapped city, how could he expect that after losing the friendship of his old friend Liu Bang, the other party would be willing to take him with him to escape
But if he took the initiative to accept it, he would surely be doomed to die if he followed Cao Shen in pretending to break out tomorrow.
Once he fell into the hands of the brutal Chu army, his impersonation of Liu Bang would be exposed, and there was no telling how painful his death would be at the hands of the angry Chu army!
Lu Wan understood all the key points in an instant, knowing that if he went forward he would die, and if he retreated he would also die, and he was filled with despair.
However, facing the crowd who were still silently waiting for him to express his opinion, he lost all courage to delay any longer, and slowly bowed and said, "I am willing to go."
Lu Wan stepped forward. No matter how stiff his expression was, he had just pretended to be deaf and dumb for a long time, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as this matter is settled, it will definitely not fall on them.
Liu Bang wept and said, "If I rely on this to survive, wouldn't that mean I'm endangering my brother Wan's life? How can I ever have peace of mind?"
Lu Wan also burst into tears, but whether those tears were because he was moved by these words or because of fear and resentment about the difficulties tomorrow, only he himself knew.
He took a deep breath and pretended to be sincere: "If the king fails to escape, we, as his confidants, will also die. If I can use the lives of General Cao and my subjects to save the king and the Han army... my life in this world will be worth it!"
Liu Bang only refused a few times for the sake of his reputation so as not to appear too cold and heartless. How could he really make Lu Wan and Cao Shen regret it
Seeing Lu Wan's sincerity, he went with the flow, holding Lu Wan's hands tightly, tears streaming down his face: "I was born on the same day as you... I wish I could die on the same day as you! May God have mercy on us and let us meet again..."
The two men who were once as close as brothers were now saying goodbye to each other in life and death. Liu Bang's close confidants who had followed him for a long time, but did not know whether they could survive after tomorrow, were also moved by this scene and shed tears silently.
Amid the weeping, everyone decided on the time to march out and escape the city tomorrow, and then went back to their rooms to rest.
However, Lu Wan was deeply saddened and tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Just then, he heard a slight knock on the door. He was startled and sat up suddenly.
He suppressed the trembling in his body, pulled out the dagger from under his pillow, and shouted in a low voice: "Who is coming?"
The man was not in a hurry and gave his name seriously: "Left Sima Cao Wushang."
Cao Wushang
Lu Wan was already in a state of panic at this moment, and after hearing this, he still did not believe it immediately.
Instead, he thought about it for a long time and finally figured out the name in his mind, then he relaxed his guard a little.
"If you are Sima Cao, why are you sneaking here in the middle of the night?"
Lu Wan was full of doubts, but thinking that he would be dead tomorrow anyway, he simply made up his mind and opened the door.
The person standing outside the door was indeed Cao Wushang, the left Sima of the camp.
When his door opened, Cao Wushang quickly slipped in and closed the door tightly.
Facing the doubtful Lu Wan, Cao Wushang said coldly: "If the general really wants to die for him, why would he be unable to sleep? I risked my life to come here to find a way out for the general and myself!"
Lu Wan was shocked when he heard this!
He was shrouded in darkness, his pupils constricted, and his whole body trembled.
Hearing his rapid breathing, but still not making a clear statement, Cao Wushang knew that time was running out, so he said sarcastically, "Fan Kuai was once your brother-in-law, and he was ruthlessly abandoned at the death banquet, and his body has not been found to this day. I would like to ask the general, who is more important, this brother of the opposite sex who was born on the same day as you, or your brother-in-law?"
Without waiting for Lu Wan to reply, Cao Wushang sneered and added: "Different paths lead to the same destination, so there is no need to compare."
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