Are you disobeying my order?
Please revoke your order, general!
-Guards? -Yes.
Take Ji Bu away and await further instructions.
General, you shouldn’t do that! You shouldn’t do that!
General, don’t do that. General!
Can’t you hear me? Imprison him!
-General, we mustn't divide our troops! -Yes.
General, don’t do that! General!
Kill all those that try to resist us.
I want no captives, no survivors. Kill them all!
-Yes, sir. -Yes.
My Lord, with the help of Tian Rong’s men, Chen Yu gave Zhang Er a sneak attack.
Zhang Er and his men have come to join us.
Zhang Er lost the war.
Regardless, we should take him as a brother.
Even though he lost, we should still take him in. Where’s he now?
Outside the camp.
-Invite him here. -Yes.
Stop! Stop! Stop right there, you damned dog.
Stop! Stop! Stop there!
Where are you going? I ordered you to stop! Why did you run?
Where were you heading to?
Are you guys Liu Ji's men?
Yes.
Tell Liu Ji,
Peng Yue, a thief in Guangye, is leading vanguard forces
to join him.
What are you looking at? Get going! Make way for them. Let them leave.
HAN CAMP
I came here with 30,000 warriors.
All of them have years of experience in warfare, they can fight!
So as long as you can give us weapons and horses,
we can easily wipe out the Chu warriors.
Mr. Peng, you are the kind of talent that Liu Ji needs right now.
I think he’ll fulfill your requirements.
The earlier the better. All my warriors can't bear to sit around and do nothing.
We can’t get through a few days without killing people!
Peng Yue, things are very different for you now.
You have to follow our military protocol.
Why is this so troublesome?
It's just fighting battles and killing people!
Peng Yue, there is a protocol to follow when fighting battles and killing people.
I just don’t get it.
Peng Yue, you’ve journeyed a long way. Have a good rest.
I'll convey what you said to Liu Ji. Please.
All right! Don’t you forget!
Don’t worry.
What do you think of him? Can he be of help?
My Lord, he's wild by nature
and will be hard to tame. He won’t be easy to control.
But he can rule those desperadoes. I think he’s got something.
His warriors are very brave and belligerent.
But they have never received any formal military training.
If we run into trouble, they may be out of control and turn against us.
You're right. But they’re only vagrants, they won’t give us too much trouble.
What I’m more concerned about is Wei Bao.
Now in the state of Wei, we’ve conquered over 20 cities.
If Mr. Wei returns to be the king of Wei,
he may pose a threat to us.
A huge threat!
Once he can stage a comeback,
he’ll certainly forget my help.
I’m wondering
whether we should place one of our trusted men at his side.
Yes. He should be someone we trust, yet it can't appear to be too obvious.
How about him?
-You mean Peng Yue? -Yes.
What can he do?
He can be the premier of Wei.
But he can’t rule a state.
Don’t you understand?
We don’t want Wei to be ruled well!
If you put it that way, he’s exactly the person we need!
Send him to Wei Bao.
By the way, My Lord, Xiang Yu's forces for attacking Qi,
is made up of almost 100,000 warriors. His army is much larger than ours.
Now it is our utmost priority to unite all vassals to attack Xiang Yu.
The state of Zhao. Go there. Get Chen Yu to help.
Mr. Chen, Liu Ji’s messenger is here.
My greetings, General.
You are Liu Ji’s messenger?
My Lord ordered me here.
He also has gifts for you and your king.
Gifts?
The final showdown between Liu Ji and Xiang Yu is about to take place.
At this crucial moment,
Liu Ji sends his messenger… You don't have to say much, I can guess his intentions.
But I can tell you
we’re not interested. Go back to Liu Ji.
My Lord sincerely invites Zhao to join hands with him and fight Xiang Yu.
Such an alliance will do you good.
I can’t quite feel Liu Ji’s sincerity, can you?
How would you prefer to feel it?
Tell me, is Zhang Er in the service of Liu Ji?
Yes.
Tell Liu Ji that only with Zhang Er’s head as a gift,
will I form an alliance with him.
Chen Yu is awful.
How can he ask us to kill Zhang Er?
If we agree,
you’ll become an unjust and heartless man.
But I understand him.
Death is a necessary evil in every war.
It doesn't matter how you die.
My Lord, Chen Yu wants Zhang Er dead,
and we need Chen Yu's help.
In the face of a powerful adversary, we must come to a decision now.
In any case, Zhang Er is my sworn brother.
How can I behead him to win Chen Yu’s help?
Indeed. We must make a choice between a king who is merely a figurehead,
and the army of Zhao.
At the moment, warriors are much more important for us.
I beg you to think it over.
All right.
I understand.
Fine, let me think it over.
Cheers. Drink up. Zhang Er.
My brother.
This is our last drink before I see you off.
My Lord, what do you mean?
Someone asked me to behead you.
Who?
Chen Yu.
Chen Yu, the rascal! How dare he!
My Lord, I believe you’ll not listen to a man like him.
But I have no other choice now.
Zhang Er,
please forgive my selfishness.
You know Chen Yu
has tens of thousands of warriors of Zhao and Dai at his command.
He’ll help me if I behead you.
You’re aware
that without his help,
Xiang Yu’s forces will take all my warriors’ heads.
To render help, he has only one condition:
Your head.
I don't have a choice. I agreed. Consider this:
Your life will be able to save the lives of my warriors. I have no choice!
If you were me, you would do the same too!
My Lord, he just has ten of thousands warriors, right?
I do, too! My 10,000 warriors
are marching here as we speak!
You have warriors?
I sold off my property and used the gold and silver to get them.
My Lord, are you unaware that I was the premier of Zhao for years?
Everyone owes me favors there!
-That's right. -Of course.
It’s true that I once lost to Chen Yu in battle.
But next time, I promise I’ll defeat him.
I know you will!
And I still have some property left. My wives
still have some jewelry. I can sell them to get more warriors!
My Lord, trust me. Within a few months,
I can recruit just as many warriors as Chen Yu has.
At any time, you’re welcome to use those warriors as if they were your own!
That’s great! Zhang Er, have more wine!
How can Chen Yu be so arrogant? Didn’t he know we are brothers?
-That's right! -You are my brother.
-Right! -So how could I behead you?
Zhang Er, I can promise you
that even if you had no warriors,
I’ll not kill you.
Chen Yu is a fool!
Zhang Er,
I don’t think Chen Yu is a man at all.
Think about it, you and he, once took each other as sworn brothers!
-Am I right? -Yes.
How can he want you dead?
What a cruel vermin he is!
My Lord, let me repeat this again.
My head is right here,
you may have it anytime.
Zhang Er! I’ll repeat my promise! If anyone dares to touch you,
I’ll not spare him! I’ll kill him! You hear me?
Thank you, My Lord.
Here, drink up.
My Lord, there's something else. How about Chen Yu?
How will you explain to him?
Oh, I can handle him.
You really beheaded him?
As requested,
My Lord ordered us to behead Zhang Er and bring his head to you.
Good. It’s what I’ve wanted for so long.
-Open it. -Yes.
This… This looks like him.
But the hair… the hair looks a little too thin…
In our camp, Zhang Er was not valued. He wasn’t happy
and naturally… his hair became thinner.
Good.
Zhang Er, Zhang Er. You were powerful in the past.
But so what?
Bet you never thought you’d die this way.
Great!
Are you satisfied with our Lord’s gift?
Absolutely!
I can feel his determination to ally with us.
Oh, right! Let me bring you to meet the king of Zhao now.
Darling? Hey. Have you see my wife?
No.
-Where’s she? -I don’t know.
Darling?
Hey, Darling. What’s wrong? You-- Are you angry?
Even if I’m not good enough, I’m your wife, damn it!
Yes.
Yet those women dare offend me!
Who dares to offend you? I’ll punish them!
Forget it. Forget it! I’ll not ask for more embarrassment.
Now we’re the laughing stock of Liu Ji’s entire camp.
What are you talking about?
Don’t you know? Since Liu Ji led the war against Xiang Yu,
he hardly shows you any respect.
Especially his generals, who simply ignore your presence.
Darling, you reminded me. That's indeed infuriating.
It seems that Peng Yue wants to replace you.
If we do nothing,
I’m afraid you won't be King Wei anymore.
That damn Liu Ji! He's too much!
This time, Liu Ji has 100,000 warriors at his command. They are strong.
But we have a strong defense. We’ve got adequate provisions.
Though our warriors are not capable of defeating Liu Ji’s forces,
guarding the city isn't an issue.
In a few days, when General Xiang Yu comes back, we can defeat our enemy.
By the way, who is the general-in-chief in Liu Ji’s camp?
Han Xin.
Han Xin? I’ve never heard him. Was he the one who defeated Zhang Han?
We should not take him lightly.
Our messenger reported that Han Xin was once a halberd holder in our camp.
His nickname is… Xiaobai.
Xiaobai?
Yes.
He was once a halberd holder in our camp?
Yes.
Strange.
Xiang Yu’s main forces are fighting here.
Soon after we begin to attack Pengcheng,
Xiang Yu will retreat to defend Pengcheng.
At that time,
we’ll wipe out all his forces.
Then where should we set up defense?
What do you think?
Beats me. You always know what to do, so I’ll just follow you.
I must identify the route Xiang Yu is bound to pass by as he retreats.
As long as he retreats to defend Pengcheng, he’ll have no escape.
Hey! Any updates on the enemy?
Mr. Fan, Liu Ji’s warriors are useless. They attacked on many occasions
but we fought them off more than a dozen times.
Okay.
Our messenger said that General Xiang Yu is on his way to Pengcheng.
But we must give up Pengcheng.
Mr. Fan, why do we have to leave Pengcheng?
They're just pretending to attack us while waiting for Xiang Yu to return to save us.
I bet they’ve set up an ambush for Xiang Yu already.
What should we do now?
Leave Pengcheng.
Yes. Leave Pengcheng.
Leave.
General, now Pengcheng is besieged by Liu Ji’s men.
Should we return to defend Pengcheng?
The Han army presumes that I’ll return to save Pengcheng.
But I’ll not fall into their trap!
But we have to return to save Pengcheng and Mr. Fan!
The quickest way to Pengcheng
is to head towards Huling from Lu, then go Southeast of Xiao County.
The problem is that we’re likely to be ambushed with such a terrain.
If we are ambushed, what do you think will happen?
We'll be wiped out.
Exactly. That’s precisely what Liu Ji wants.
We cannot fall into his hands.
Then who will save Mr. Fan?
I trust him. I believe he…
he’ll find a way to save himself.
How are our frontline troops doing?
Mr. Fan, Mr. Xiao is putting up a defense. The frontline is still intact.
Tell them to hold out for two more hours before they retreat.
Yes, sir.
How about our evacuation to Xiaozhen?
Everything is ready. You should leave and set off to Xiaozhen, Mr. Fan.
No rush. I’ll wait in Wangcheng and wait for Liu Ji’s men to enter Pengcheng.
But what if we have no time to retreat?
You know how to win. But learn to pretend to lose!
My orders: All guards in the city to retreat in an orderly manner.
-Don’t panic. -Yes.
-Those who push will be executed. -Yes.
-Those who rush will be executed. -Yes.
Mr. Fan, do we need to rescue those in the palace?
Leave them to God’s mercy.
But those are Xiang Yu's close ones. What should we do if he blames us?
Unfortunately it seems there’s no time to save them.
Oh, wait! Where’s Yu Ji?
She offended Xiang Yu, and was imprisoned in Li palace.
You may go.
Yu Ji!
The enemy is here. What should we do?
I don’t want to die, Yu Ji.
I’d rather die than be violated.
Don’t be alarmed. We’ll not die.
Yu Ji, Mr. Fan ordered me to save you. Follow me.
-Mr. Fan? -Don't hesitate. Follow me!
-Open the door! Open the door! -Take Yu Ji to back door and leave. Hurry.
-Yu Ji. -How about you?
-Hurry. -Hurry. Hurry.
Open the door. Hurry, open the door.
Get out of my way.
-Hurry! -Stop them!
-Hurry! Stop them! -Stop! Stop them! Stop!
Yu Ji, hurry! Leave!
Stop! Stop right there!
-Hurry. Hurry, Go! -Let’s leave together!
-Stop!
Over there! Over there!
Look at her! Wow, what a beautiful girl!
Take this. She’s mine.
Mr. Fan, what should we do?
We need not wait any longer. Let’s go.
In the name of punishing regicide,
Liu Ji’s men had suffered a hard time in Bashu for a year.
while Xiang Yu was attacking Qi and couldn’t return to defend Pengcheng.
Liu Ji’s led his Han warriors and allied forces
and conquered Pengcheng, the capital city of Chu.
Victory came all of a sudden.
The Han warriors who were homesick,
as well as the allied forces from the other greedy vassals,
ransacked and looted the city, and stole its wine
and beauties for themselves.
Hurry.
Hurry. Hurry.
Hurry.
Lu Wan.
Here, sir.
Do you know what this reminds me of?
What does this remind you of, sir?
I'm reminded of what happened when we were in Pei County.
My Lord!
My Lord! Bad news. We’re in trouble.
What happened?
-Han Xin left the city. -What?
Is he out for a stroll?
But he didn’t leave by himself.
He took our 20,000 warriors with him.
20,000 warriors?
We didn’t find any respected figures in the city.
I see. Even they ran away. I think that’s not a good sign.
I expected them to maintain peace and security within the city.
But the misdeeds of allied army scared them away.
Liu Ji should have disciplined them right from the start.
It's not that simple. Our generals want revenge.
Even if Liu Ji wanted to discipline them, they wouldn’t obey him easily.
Han Xin.
Are both of you here to see Liu Ji too?
You didn't get to see him too?
He won’t see any visitors.
I think Liu Ji is letting victory go to his head.
Did you think that we won this battle?
Did you think that when faced with the attack from 600,000 allied warriors
Xiang Yu couldn't find a way out?
We took Pengcheng without much difficulty,
so it’s hardly a victory.
It’s because Mr. Fan let us have Pengcheng that we’re standing here.
If Liu Ji doesn't recognize this,
we’ll be in real danger.
We must try to meet Liu Ji
and tell him the truth.
But when will Liu Ji agree to see us?
Mr. Chen.
Mr. Zhang, what should we do now?
The most important thing for us is to rebuild discipline and establish law.
Hurry.
Come here. Hurry.
Guys, a beauty! Stop her.
Where’s the beauty?
Stop. Don’t run. Come here. Hey beauty, come here.
What are you doing? Release her.
Don’t be rude. We’ll present her to our king.
Who is your king?
Our king is Mr. Wei. You are Peng Yue’s warriors?
Get out of our way.
What’s wrong?
Premier,
we’ve saw this beauty first. Please let us through.
Release her.
Release her. She’s mine. Let’s go.
Premier, don’t make things difficult for us.
Hands off. Get out of my way. How dare you take my prize?
Stop!
My orders:
Anyone who creates trouble shall be executed.
Anyone that dares to rape or rob shall be executed.
Yes.
Take her.
Leave. Take her. Leave.
General, you deployed our troops without any authorization.
Are you out to betray Liu Ji?
What?
Or perhaps you want to lead your own army?
Don’t say such offensive words.
You must be unhappy with Liu Ji then.
Our Lord did not enforce discipline upon arriving in Pengcheng.
No one obeys military law now.
Liu Ji won Pengcheng so suddenly,
It seems that a delicious pastry has fallen upon him from the sky.
Right now, he’s even forgotten who he is.
He never would have imagined such an effortless victory.
But this victory is Liu Ji’s, not yours.
Quit nagging.
He’s your Lord. You are his subject. Today he can give you the general’s seal,
but tomorrow he can take it away.
Then you’ll go from a general to a common soldier.
You people love to wag your tongues.
All you know is guesswork and power struggles.
Yet, isn’t that how we get by?
Of course not!
I can tell you how to get by. Listen up! Follow me!
All right.
This is Pengcheng. There's nothing around it. My men are stationed at the valley.
I know.
Mr. Fan left Pengcheng so early, Xiang Yu must have known about his plan.
Of course he wouldn't fall into the trap.
I know that.
Then do you know why I didn’t withdraw the 10,000 warriors ambushing him?
Why?
I changed their mission to be scouts.
10,000 scouts?
They were to prevent Xiang Yu from launching a sneak attack from the South.
I guarded the West of Pengcheng, which had the weakest defense.
Thus, Pengcheng was safe.
I did all this for Liu Ji. How can you say I'm out to betray him?
But why didn’t you set up defense in the East?
The terrain is too narrow for 10,000 men to pass through, not to mention 100,000.
Xiang Yu wouldn’t come this way with only thousands of warriors, right?
What you are talking about is battle strategy.
But what I’m talking about is your strategy when dealing with Liu Ji.
But I’m not interested in what you’re saying.
Stubborn little pickle.
All right, fine.
Drink up!
Reporting. Fan Kuai requests to see you, sir.
-Let him in. -Yes.
General, I went to visit Liu Ji but was refused.
Why are you here then?
General, Liu Ji won’t listen to any advice now.
I think you’re the only who can get through to him.
Who else can I approach? Please work out something.
Even with your standing, you were rejected. How can I meet him?
-General. -Reporting.
General, the Premier of Wei and his warriors left Pengcheng for the South.
They all left?
Yes. They are marching South as we speak.
Peng Yue, what a rascal he is! How can he leave in secret?
My orders: Find out what actually happened.
Yes.
Time to get Liu Ji.
What? Get Liu Ji? General!
Han Xin, why did you dispatch 20,000 warriors out of Pengcheng?
I hope you’ll not misunderstand me.
I did this to prevent Xiang Yu’s sneak attack.
I see. What about the situation outside?
It couldn’t be worse.
What happened?
I believe that within five days, Xiang Yu will come to attack Pengcheng.
Xiang Yu will come to Pengcheng?
Xiang Yu is stuck dealing with rebels in Qi and can’t withdraw…
Don’t believe such a report, My Lord.
We haven’t won. Rather, I see
signs of our impending defeat. We should leave Pengcheng
and lead our allied forces to the North. Let's deploy our warriors in the plain.
Forward, we conquer Qi and Yan. Retreat, we attack Xiang Yu's exhausted warriors.
That’s our last hope.
I think you’re being over sensitive.
Peng Yue has left with his warriors.
Peng Yue?
I allowed him to leave.
From Peng Yue’s attitude, can’t you see
that we’re put in a dangerous situation?
My Lord, Xiang Yu will not let you off, unlike during the Feast at Hong Gate.
Hey! Hey!
Han Xin,
do you still see me as your Lord?
How can you leave without my permission?
Han Xin, can you join me for a drink?
General, I'm aware of what happened during the past few days.
I’m sorry that you were shabbily treated.
That’s not important. Why don’t you try to persuade our Lord?
General, even a saint has some weaknesses.
What's more, our Lord isn't a saint.
The reason why he behaves in this way…
If you know him well enough, I think you’ll be able to forgive him.
If Xiang Yu leads his men to attack us, what good is my forgiveness?
The current situation is making me feel very uneasy.
But things change with the passage of time, as is true with man.
So it’s no use trying to persuade him now. We’ll achieve nothing.
All right then. Let’s all wait together!
No. Right now, we need your help.
But what can I do? What should I do?
Please return to our West camp.
The 200,000 warriors there are our last hope.
You must try to defeat Xiang Yu.
I shouldn’t be saying this.
But at this moment, for Liu Ji, for our warriors,
I beseech your help!
Subtitle translation by Min Wei Wong