If anyone dares to stop me, I’ll kill him.
Get out of my way!
Get out of my way! Get out of my way!
He is not a qualified general.
How can he be so cruel to his own men! What a tyrant!
Were it not for him, we would not be defeated.
Guys, Chen Yu is too cruel to us. We should kill him.
Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!
What are you doing?
Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!
How dare you rebel!
How dare you!
In October, 204 B.C.,
Han Xin’s men defeated Zhao, fighting with their backs to Ye River.
They beheaded Chen Yu in Zhishui and captured king Xie of Zhao.
Zhao was conquered.
General, this is Li Zuoche.
You may leave.
I need to talk with General Li.
Yes.
I’m Han Xin.
I admire you very much. You are a very brave and intelligent general.
Chen Yu is a fool.
He didn’t listen to you.
Otherwise it’d be impossible for me to win so easily.
General, with your wit and open-mindedness,
Chen Yu would never have won.
It’s destined.
But I wonder why...
you're speaking to me this way. I’m just a captive.
Why bother?
I beg you to join me and stay in my camp.
I need you to help me deal with warfare. Will you join me?
Liu Ji can safely stay in Xingyang because he has provisions from Aocang.
If we want to conquer Xingyang, we need Aocang first.
Once they can’t get food from Aocang...
they will all starve.
If they’re hungry, then let alone Xingyang,
they would even lose Hangu Pass.
He’s really useless, isn’t he?
He keeps his forces in Xingyang.
He dare not attack us. Yet he doesn’t surrender.
He only knows how to get provisions from Aocang.
Liu Ji,
if he really wants to attack us face-to-face on the battlefield,
he’ll lose.
But can he hold the city?
So long as we cut off provisions, he’ll starve to death.
Yes.
From now on,
I’ll send our crack warriors to attack his gallery roads for provisions.
Every time we cut off one part,
we’ll destroy the loam wall with wooden spikes,
leaving him with no time to repair them. I’ll not stop till I destroy all roads.
I’d like to see whether he can repair them...
faster than I destroy them.
Destroy gallery roads first.
Then defeat Aocang.
And thus, Xingyang will collapse without attack.
We must do our best
so that Liu Ji will have no escape.
Who is defending Liu Ji's gallery roads?
Guan Ying.
General, I heard that…
Guan Ying is a very valiant warrior.
Long Ju once fought with him.
Long Ju,
how can we destroy their gallery roads?
Your strategy is great.
But the tactic is wrong.
I think we should spring a sneak attack at night.
At the same time, we should attack them in all directions
so that they won’t be able to determine the direction we’re coming from.
We should hide our main forces behind the feign attack forces.
When they are in panic and a lapse in their defense occurs,
we can then send our main forces to cut off their gallery roads!
All right. I know what you mean.
When we cut off one part of their roads,
they’ll defend the damaged portion.
We’ll not go on fighting.
We’ll damage the loam wall and retreat.
We can repeat this over and over again.
They can put up defense once or twice but not at all the damaged portions.
We’ll damage all of their gallery roads
bit by bit, until they starve.
General, that’s a wonderful idea.
Zhongli Mei.
Yes.
Lead 40,000 warriors
and proceed to the area between Aocang and the Yellow River.
You must destroy the galley road there.
Yes.
Then, I’ll lead our warriors to besiege Xingyang.
Yes.
Xiang Yu has cut off our provision road between Aocang and the Yellow River.
We may run out of our provisions.
Don’t worry. Mr. Xiao will solve the problem.
But we must find a way to deal with it.
Chu warriors are too powerful.
With our present numbers, we can’t have a head-on attack with him.
I understand.
If we fight them now, we die.
My Lord, I think we should retreat to Xianyang.
Besides, Hangu Pass in Xianyang is much more impenetrable than Xingyang.
Lu Wan,
we’ll not die. Why are you so timid now?
Listen up.
We’ll not move.
I’ve promised Han Xin to be the lure for Xiang Yu.
He’s now attacking other vassals for me.
Don’t worry.
When things get rough,
Han Xin will return to help us.
Put your mind at rest.
Xiang Yu attacked Xingyang.
Under Liu Ji’s leadership, Han warriors put up a strong resistance.
the Chu army was unable to make much headway for months.
At last both parties found themselves at an endless stalemate in Xianyang again.
Hurry. Hurry.
My Lord, I think,
we can put up resistance for at least one month and at most three months.
Then Xingyang will be conquered.
Since you are aware of this,
why were you silent
when we discussed it in the palace hall?
Mr. Zhang and Lu Wan insisted on fighting recklessly.
Their sentiments differ greatly from your strategy.
So I didn’t express what I thought.
Actually,
I think a war goes way beyond face-to-face fighting.
What do you mean?
My Lord, allow me to elaborate.
Though the Chu army seem very strong,
it has three fatal weaknesses.
First,
Zhongli Mei, Long Ju and Ji Bu,
have distinguished themselves time and time again
but their military titles and knighthood ranks
are far lower than that of Yu Ziqi, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Bo.
They haven't been appropriately rewarded.
I suspect they feel resentful.
Xiang Yu must be aware of this.
Second,
Chu warriors are different from other states.
Most are from old Qin.
In the eyes of Xiang Yu,
he never really trusted those from Qin.
In Xin’an, Xiang Yu, buried 200,000 Qin warriors alive.
In the eyes of Qin warriors, Xiang Yu is an unforgivable enemy.
Go on.
The third weakness is most fatal.
Xiang Yu is a man who is suspicious of everyone.
He is full of himself.
Even his most trusted Mr. Fan, is no exception.
I think you see where I'm coming from.
I get it. But we can’t cast a bone among them.
My Lord, you’re wrong.
So long as we bear these three weaknesses in mind,
we can exploit them to split them apart.
My Lord, no man is free from suspicion.
And suspicion can grow into poison.
Once taken, as time goes by,
the poison will take effect.
My Lord, so long as my tactic can align with your strategy,
we’ll be able to eliminate Mr. Fan, our biggest enemy.
Be specific.
Specifically…
I…
Go on.
My Lord, I need money to make this happen.
Chen Ping,
it seems that only money can make you serve me. No?
Sit down.
Yes.
How much do you need?
10, 000 taels of gold.
Wow, that’s greedy.
10,000 taels? And what are the odds of success?
20 or 30 percent.
If I gave you 20,000 taels of gold?
20,000 taels of gold? 50 percent.
How about 40,000 taels of gold?
40,000 taels of gold?
Then I can definitely do it.
-Are you sure? -I’m sure.
Chen Ping.
-Yes. -Do you love gambling?
I never gamble.
Why?
I'm afraid of losing my money.
I love gambling.
I'm not afraid of losing money.
This time round, the stakes are
40,000 taels of gold and your life. How’s that?
My Lord, what do you mean?
If I lose,
I’ll lose 40,000 taels of gold from our treasury.
If you lose, you’ll lose your life.
My Lord, but… but…
You dare not do it?
Didn’t you say you’ll surely succeed?
But…
Will you do it?
My Lord, I’ll do it.
General,
I know you've been holding your tongue.
Just tell me what’s on your mind.
I think our Lord is confused.
We’ve been besieged here in Xingyang for months.
It seems that we didn’t lose any war.
But, Mr. Zhang, have you compared our warriors?
I’ve checked.
The ratio of casualties of the Chu army to ours is one to three.
Right now,
we have suffered massive casualties in Xingyang.
Right. It couldn’t be more obvious.
But our Lord doesn’t see this. You should remind him.
I know he’s a king. His reputation is important.
He doesn’t want to admit defeat.
But you should let him know.
We can't possibly watch him lose his life because of Xingyang.
Lu Wan,
Xingyang means a lot to Xiang Yu.
But for us, to holding out at Xingyang is a risky move.
Actually, our Lord is more anxious than anyone else.
Think about it, so long as we can hold out and stall Xiang Yu’s warriors here,
Han Xin will gain much more land in the North for us.
And we will have an edge over Chu warriors.
That’s the very reason we are holding out here.
I hope Han Xin will achieve victory soon
and rescue us from this siege.
This will be a tough mission.
Though Xingyang is of vital importance for us,
the provisions are of greater importance.
I hope you can gather the provisions we require soon.
I’ll pacify our civilians
and organize them to cultivate lands and gather provisions.
Don’t worry. Just concentrate on fighting the battles.
Thank you.
My Lord, I need to clarify with you about something.
When I checked our treasury accounts, I found you took 40,000 taels of gold
in one day.
-Is it… -I… did this.
I gave them to Chen Ping. I sent him to do something important.
I haven’t had time to tell you. I’m sorry.
My Lord, it wasn't not easy for us to save such large sums of gold.
I dare not use any of it.
Technically, it belongs to you.
No. No. No. It belongs to our treasury.
My Lord, the gold from the government treasury
should not be arbitrarily used.
Since you have other uses for the gold,
there's nothing more I can say.
I’ll be going.
I’m sorry.
Sir.
Little Dog!
Sir.
Are you full?
Yes, sir, I’m full.
Tell me.
Are you a spy from Chu? Tell me!
Sir, I’m not a spy.
You were doing fine as a Chu warrior,
why did you surrender to us?
Sir, I came here to surrender because I was starving.
Then go on eating your food.
I dare not.
Just eat as I said. Eat.
Little dog.
Do you know other men who came from the Chu camp?
So long as I've seen them before, I can recognize them.
Great.
From now on,
try picking out some clever ones amongst them
and form a small secret group.
As for what to do and how to go about doing it,
just listen to my order. Understand?
Yes, sir.
Right.
I’ll do it right now.
Come back.
-Sir. -Take some with you.
Thank you, sir.
General Xiang Bo.
Didn’t Xiang Yu tell you what he meant?
He didn’t tell me.
Ziqi, here.
From now on, you guys are in charge of all our warriors.
Speak. Don’t stand with your mouths open.
At your command.
Ziqi.
General, I’ve got something to say.
Go on.
You gave commander seals of each and every camp to us.
What about Zhongli Mei and the others?
Military affairs are always very urgent.
If they need to deploy our warriors urgently,
do they have to seek our permission first?
Right.
From now on, there can be no urgent deployment.
All decisions should be approved by you three.
General, I worry that this decision
may bring you complaints and suspicion.
-They may think that our family clan-- -I think our general is right.
Zhongli Mei and Long Ju have too much authority already.
Sometimes, they have no respect for our general.
In Pengcheng, they even went behind your back to kill Liu Ji’s family.
Xiang Zhuang!
Am I wrong?
These days, it’s rumored that…
Long Ju and Zhongli Mei are leading our general by the nose.
And that on our banner, we should not write "Xiang" but "Zhongli".
Shut up!
Remember. Never take gossip seriously.
About Liu Ji's family getting killed,
what they did, they did for me.
But they should understand that I’m their king!
Nothing in our camp should be hidden from me.
If I indulge them,
they may become more unmanageable.
Don't you understand?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Guys,
can anyone tell me what’s in the basket?
Rice rolls?
Don’t laugh. Make another guess.
Roasted deer legs.
Any other guesses?
I think it’s… Qin copper coins.
You are crazy? If those are Qin coppers, they are enough to purchase Xingyang!
Guys,
all of you are right to some extent.
With the contents of this basket,
you can have a lifetime of rice rolls,
and a lifetime of roasted deer legs.
They can also be exchanged for
copper coins you can never finish spending in this lifetime.
Hey Little Dog,
open it. Let them take a look.
Yes.
Wow. So much gold.
How did we get so much gold?
Yes. This is a lot of gold.
Guys, I know you used to be in the Chu camp.
Many of your friends and brothers are still there.
Your mission is very simple.
Just give this gold
to your friends in the Chu camp.
Understand?
Guys,
as you sneak into Chu camp,
I’ll be watching closely.
Those who make contributions to our state
will be rewarded.
If you are caught or killed,
I’ll send double the gold to your family.
The important thing is, don’t get attached to the gold.
When you see your friends in the other camp,
just give them the gold.
But, guys, try not to give yourself away.
Xiang Yu is a man of suspicion.
If our friends ask us who sent the gold,
how should we answer them?
Oh.
Tell them the elders in Xingyang sent them the gold.
But, will the elders expose the lie?
Not at all.
The elders hate Xiang Yu more than anybody else.
They’ll not expose the lie.
When you reach the Chu camp,
try to make generals like Zhongli Mei, Long Ju and Ji Bu believe
that they are not trusted by Xiang Yu.
Only Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Bo and Yu Ziqi
are Xiang Yu's trusted aides.
Don’t hanker after the gold.
Be generous and hand them out to the warriors there.
Stir up trouble as much as you can!
Spread the rumor to every corner of their camp!
Guys, do you understand me?
Yes, sir!
General,
many of our guys said that Mr. Fan is arrogant
and that you are impartial.
General Ji Bu and Zhongli Mei have distinguished themselves,
but you didn’t grant them kingship.
Instead, you appointed that bastard Ying Bu king.
Naturally, they are unhappy about this.
Mr. Fan addressed this,
promising them that so as long as they help you conquer Xingyang,
he’ll persuade you to grant them kingship.
Why was it that after Mr. Fan had a talk with them,
they agreed to attack Xingyang?
Because once they conquer Xingyang, they can be kings!
They added that…
What did I tell you to do?
I…
I told you to find out the source of the rumors.
Why are you telling me this crap?
I can’t find out who has spreading these rumors.
I could only find people secretly gossiping.
They didn’t spread the rumor.
There's nothing I can do, so I brought you the news.
Did I tell you to return?
No, sir.
All right, I’ll continue investigating.
This is terrible.
It feels like we're being roasted in a fire every day.
Xiang Yu sent each of us
an assistant general. They are Xiang Yu’s trusted aides.
Not only will they follow us around
they also take part in military discussions.
What is General Xiang Yu’s purpose?
He doesn't trust us anymore?
Don’t you know his purpose?
It’s not that he doesn’t trust us,
it’s that he doesn’t want to put us in any important positions.
Enough.
Generals, watch what you say. I believe Xiang Yu
will not be fooled by rumors.
Then why does he meet to discuss strategy,
and not invite us?
Tell us why?
Tell us. Tell us.
He doesn't want to tire you guys out.
He has more important things to discuss with you.
If I meet him, I’ll let him know your thoughts.
Maybe that’s for the best.
No!
Why?
Xiang Yu may suspect that we’re conspiring against him.
That will bring us much more trouble!
This won't do, and that won't do either.
What should we do?
I’m trying to find a solution!
Easy. Don’t worry.
Let bygones be bygones.
Your good intentions nearly brought bad results.
Never be so impulsive again.
Go.
Give this letter to Sima Xin personally.
As for how to do that, you’ll find a way.
Just be careful.
After you meet him, bring this message back. Good luck.
Yes, sir.
Sir,
Sima Xin is very loyal to Xiang Yu.
Will he join Liu Ji?
Never ask questions you're not supposed to!
Sima Xin and Cao Jiu are defending
Chengyao, the city to the East of Aocang?
Yes.
Listen up.
Find a good scapegoat
and disguise him as a Chu spy.
Tell him to meet Cao Jiu tonight,
saying that he has important information on Sima Xin and Liu Ji's correspondence.
And tonight, Liu Ji’s messenger will meet Sima Xin.
Understand?
Yes.
Guards.
-Yes. -Yes.
Tie him up.
Sir, what are you doing?
Bring to General Cao Jiu.
Sir! Sir!
Sima Xin!
General, you're here.
That’s perfect timing.
This is Liu Ji’s messenger.
He’s saying that I colluded with Liu Ji.
He's framing me
and sowing distrust between me and Xiang Yu.
He’s spouting nonsense.
That’s a slanderous charge.
-Liu Ji has always treated you well. -Shut up!
You may leave.
Yes.
You are a messenger
sent by Liu Ji?
General, why did you kill him?
Now that he’s dead, who can prove my innocence?
Then, if I hadn’t killed him,
when he sees Xiang Yu,
will your innocence be proven?
Today I received a message.
It says that you’re a spy in the service of Liu Ji.
But…
I trust you.
I trust that you're loyal to Xiang Yu. I know you’ll never betray him.
So this messenger should be killed.
Even we interrogated him, he would have asserted, you serve Liu Ji.
So I killed him for good.
Thank you for your trust.
All right. Sima Xin,
let’s consider this done and over.
And I can testify for you if Xiang Yu suspects you.
Thank you, general.
Cao Jiu, what do you think?
General, from the contents of the letter,
we can see it’s not their first correspondence.
Sima Xin killed the messenger?
No. I killed him.
I told him that you trust him.
What’s his response?
It seems that he’s very loyal to you.
But he was once a general of Qin. He was once our enemy.
You’re not the only one who is suspicious of him.
All right.
Go back and tell him
that I still trust him.
Let’s forget this ever happened.
Never bring this up again.
Yes. I'll take my leave.
Wait.
Remember.
I don’t worry about our defense in Chenggao
because I have you at my side. Understand?
Yes.
Mr. Fan, what do you think of this?
A ploy to cause internal conflict. Ridiculous.
Indeed.
I think Liu Ji has nothing else up his sleeve. It’s a last-ditch attempt.
The kind of man Sima Xin is…
I'm sure you are aware.
He once risked his life to save Xiang Liang.
Were it not for him, Xiang Liang might be killed much earlier.
Will the savior of Xiang Liang ever try to conspire against you?
I remember
Sima Xin was really a righteous general back then.
Right.
Thank you for your warm greetings.
It's my pleasure!
With you around,
I am just too happy.
Thank you for your kind words. I'm flattered.
Our Lord sent me to be your assistant.
From now on, I’ll be at your service.
I'll take your instructions.
Don’t worry. Our Lord trusts you.
He didn’t ask me to spy on you.
Everyone knows I’m not a good guy,
but I can be of good use at times.
As far as I know, Xiang Yu imposed restrictions
on Zhongli Mei and Long Ju’s power.
But he didn’t punish them.
As for you,
you tried to stir up conflict between Xiang Yu and Sima Xin
to make Xiang Yu suspicious of Qin warriors.
But your efforts are in vain.
Sima Xin is still alive.
Lu Wan,
it’s true my strategy is a little clumsy.
But don’t forget,
Xiang Yu is a man with a suspicion nature.
I need time to poison his mind.
So long as he is poisoned,
he’ll not be able to remove it.
Lu Wan, don't be impatient.
It’s not me.
Our Lord can’t wait.
Xingyang is not strong, you know.
This way.
Xiang Bo,
I need you and Xiang Zhuang to be my emissaries to Xingyang.
What is our task, General?
Negotiate for peace.
Negotiate for peace?
General, now Liu Ji like a grasshopper at the end of autumn,
his days are numbered. Within ten to fifteen days,
we’ll conquer Xingyang.
We have a decided advantage.
Why do we need to negotiate for peace?
I agree with Xiang Zhuang. General,
I can’t understand. Why-- We--
A peace negotiation is merely a show of courtesy.
Liu Ji will not agree to my terms.
Then what shall Xiang Zhuang and I do in Xingyang?
Find out what their forces are like.
Don’t only focus on their defense.
Find out whether their morale is high or low.
and whether their warriors are in a stage of panic.
I see now.
General, I have something to tell you.
I heard a rumour recently.
I'm not sure if you've heard about it.
What is the rumor about?
It is rumored that Sima Xin and Liu Ji colluded…
Say no more.
At present, we are at an advantage while Liu Ji is disadvantaged.
Only a fool would collude with him at such a moment.
They meant to sow mistrust.
But I… I still trust Sima Xin.
So I'm entrusting you to find out the situation over there.
Yes.
General, we’ll leave right away.
Mr. Fan.
I intended for you to defend Chenggao.
But I wasn't well a few days ago, so I came late.
Don’t worry, Mr. Fan. I'm happy to be serving Xiang Yu,
and will accept his orders.
I admire your magnanimity.
But Cao Jiu is a man of rash nature.
I worry you may be in trouble.
I have a secret order for you.
Keep it with you. If things get bad,
this may be of help to you.
Does our general know?
I didn’t let him know yet.
But I’ll talk to him.
I believe he’ll listen to me.
General, sorry to trouble you.
Your words bring me relief.
Who's there?
Do report to your lord that Xiang Yu’s emissaries
Xiang Bo and Xiang Zhuang are here.
My Lord ordered me to greet you. Open the gate.
Let’s go.
Negotiate for peace? We’ve fought for years! What is there to talk about?
Our Lord said,
we should not only talk, but should also have a good talk.
Just the two of us?
Right. Xiang Bo and Xiang Zhuang are our equals in terms of rank.
I’m can’t. I’m a general. I can only fight battles and kill enemies.
Surely you know how to put up a front.
I’m afraid I can’t!
Just like that. Just stand at my side with that scowl.
And no matter what I say and no matter what terms they state,
you just have to keep that scowl on and disagree.
All right then.
Chu emissaries are coming.
Nice to see you.
Our general is undefeated, invincible, and will stay that way.
He’s almost a god.
He didn't want to see the world, plunged into an abyss of misery,
and that's why, he didn't conquer this city.
and take your lives.
Your Lord wants to defend Xingyang to the last.
But it’s obvious you can’t defend it.
In my opinion, you should surrender to us.
As your Lord was once the sworn brother of our general, we will spare his life.
Xiang Bo, what are you talking about?
I thought you came here for peace.
Why do you speak this way?
How can we go on?
We didn’t come for peace.
Our Lord sent us to reprimand Liu Ji.
He is a perfidious man who broke the alliance.
The perfidious one is nobody but your Lord!
Subtitle translation by Min Wei Wong