Say no more.
We can’t afford delay.
We believe you.
Take this.
It’s... It’s written in blood?
We’re entrusting you with our lives.
Don’t worry, madam.
Thank you very much. Please rise.
Yiji, try to protect him.
Yes. Let’s go.
Before this, we only knew that Xiang Yu had captured my family.
Now it’s confirmed that they’re imprisoned in Pengcheng.
My Lord, let’s launch an attack on Pengcheng.
We must attack Xiang Yu.
Sirs, it’s not the right time to attack Pengcheng.
We may suffer a fatal loss.
Mr. Zhang,
our morale has been greatly inspired since we defeated Xiang Yu last time.
Why don’t you encourage us to attack Pengcheng?
My Lord, Lyu Zhi told us the details of the cell in his letter,
plus we know exactly where the guards are.
If I lead a group of warriors to sneak into Pengcheng,
I promise I can get them out. Please give the order.
We can’t go in there yet.
The message, in the very least, proves they’re alive.
If we start a rushed attack on Pengcheng now,
Xiang Yu might kill them.
His Highness is right. Attacking Pengcheng now is like bearding the lion in his den.
But, My Lord...
-My Lord, Lyu Zhi and your father-- -Enough, enough.
But we shouldn’t be rash.
I’ve decided.
Don’t tell this... to General Xiang Yu.
He hates to conquer his enemy by imprisoning their families.
Mr. Fan insisted on imprisoning them.
The general and Mr. Fan quarrel over it constantly.
Then, you're saying...
There's no good in us imprisoning Liu Ji’s family here.
They'll only worsen His Highness's situation.
But in Mr. Fan’s eyes, they can be of use.
If things don’t change,
Mr. Fan and our general will go on quarreling over them.
Given the situation, we should just kill them.
Kill them?
-What if Xiang Yu blames us for it? -It’s my duty to guard the city.
So I will answer for that.
So long as our general and Mr. Fan can stop their quarreling,
I won't regret any punishment I have to suffer.
Zhongli Mei,
when you put it that way, I admire your courage.
I’d rather take responsibility with you.
-It’s safe outside. Don’t worry. -All right.
Father, we can leave now.
-Where are we going, Lyu Zhi? -Going home.
-Going home? -Yes.
Xiang Yu agreed to set us free?
That's great! Grandson, let’s go home.
Father, don’t shout. Don’t shout.
Mr. Liu, don’t shout. We’re escaping. We should be quiet.
Father, be quiet, or we’ll be discovered.
All right. Be quiet.
We’ve arranged the route to take.
If anything goes wrong,
try to send Mr. Liu and Liu Fei out.
-But-- -Say no more. I’ve decided.
Who is he?
Everything's ready. Let’s go.
-Come on. -Hurry. Come on.
-Let’s go, son. -Come on, Mr. Liu. Hurry.
Let's go.
Come.
Hurry.
Look.
When we go through the wall, walk about 2,500 meters to the west.
Xiahou Ying's waiting for us there.
-Xiahou Ying? -Hurry!
-Yes. Hurry. Let's go. -Get in. Hurry, hurry.
-Hurry. -Come on.
Be careful.
Ms. Cao. Hurry.
Sir, let’s leave together.
My wife and children are in the city.
-I can’t leave. -Stay alive.
I’ll never forget your gratitude. Thank you very much.
Just take care.
-Take care. -Take care.
General, look. They're coming.
-Hurry. Hurry. -Come on. Hurry.
-General, let’s go and rescue them. -No rush. Let’s wait a while.
Come on.
Hurry.
Hurry, hurry!
Freeze!
Just wait. If we rush over, Mr. Liu may be killed.
Stop!
Listen to me!
If you dare to walk further, I’ll kill all of you.
Don’t move.
Just await my order.
Take Father and go. Hurry!
Xiaoxian!
-Xiaoxian! -General, let’s fight this out.
Xiaoxian!
Xiaoxian! We won't run. We won't run.
We won't run.
Xiaoxian!
Kill them all.
Stop!
General, Mr. Fan’s orders.
Take Liu Ji’s family back to our camp. Don’t kill them.
Capture them.
Move. Move.
You... You...
Hurry.
Wait. Wait.
Madam, can I go with you?
-Who are you? -I’m engaged to Xiahou Ying.
-You’re Xiahou Ying’s wife? -Yes.
Madam,
you should have some food.
Madam,
you haven’t eaten anything for days.
Madam, she’s dead. But she died for us.
Madam, we must live on.
Don’t worry, madam.
I’ll protect all of you.
Madam, don’t worry.
Madam.
Madam...
I'm here.
Madam.
Madam...
Mr. Fan, how should we deal with them?
I... I...
They disobeyed your order and planned to kill Liu Ji’s family.
Beats me. You make a decision.
Do you know your crime?
-I... -Long Ju.
I know you did this...
not for your own interests...
but for our State.
Liu Ji is our enemy.
Liu Ji is always insulting me. It’s frustrating.
I know you want to teach him a lesson in my honor.
Fortunately, you only killed a maid. Otherwise, I'd punish--
You’re wrong, general.
What’s on your mind?
No warring states are allowed to harm an emissary.
They are not soldiers, they’re Liu Ji’s family.
The act may bring disgrace to you and to our State.
- You should... - What should I do?
Kill them?
No. They’ve contributed a lot to our State.
-You can’t kill them. You may as well-- -Mr. Fan is a kind man.
Have you heard his words?
Quick, you must thank him.
Thank you, Mr. Fan.
Thanks, Mr. Fan.
They shouldn’t be killed. But lashes...
Yes. To whip them is inappropriate.
Mr. Fan, only you know my mind.
But we must punish them.
I command you to ponder upon your faults.
-Go back and repent. -Yes.
So then you’re not punishing them?
They’re punished! They have to repent.
Mr. Fan, only with harmony between us can we be strong.
They knew their crime.
I think the punishment is sufficient.
Okay.
Old goat.
General, we really are sorry...
You two know...
that I don’t agree to imprisoning Liu Ji’s family.
But what the hell? This makes us look bad.
As your intention...
was to help me,
I’ll forgive you. Never do that again.
-I-- -Just go back
and ponder upon your faults. Understand?
Rise. Rise.
-Thank you, general. -Thank you, general.
-Xiahou Ying. -Yes.
Bring Lu Wan here.
My Lord, I committed a crime.
What’s wrong?
My Lord,
in order to save Lyu Zhi and your father,
Lu Wan sneaked into Pengcheng last night.
What?
I told you not to do that.
Who allowed him?
How did you know?
He said goodbye to me before he left.
Why didn’t you report it to me?
I... I...
My Lord! My Lord!
My Lord, Lu Wan has returned.
He’s still alive?
Arrest him.
Yes.
Wait.
And him.
-Thank you, My Lord. -Yes.
After conquering Wei and Dai,
Han Xin went on to attack Zhao.
Zhang Er decided to launch a decisive war against Chen Yu.
Once good friends,
they now turned against each other and were fighting for their lives.
By this point, the contention between Chu and Han
had already lasted three years.
My Lord,
as Xingyang is endangered by Chu warriors,
Liu Ji has to arrange some warriors there
to prevent attack from Chu.
Han Xin will definitely arrange some warriors to guard Wei and Dai.
He can only bring a limited number to attack us in Jingxingkou.
Then how many warriors can Han Xin lead to attack us?
I think...
all considered, less than 30,000.
And our warriors at Jingxingkou number over 100,000.
Good.
We can let Han Xin know our strength.
Capture Zheng Er alive.
We must win a handsome victory.
Though we are at an advantage, we must be cautious.
Han Xin was outstanding in the battle to conquer Wei.
It proved that he’s a first-rate strategist.
Han Xin conquered Wei not because of his strategy...
but because Mr. Wei was weak.
Compared with Mr. Wei, Zhang Han was a brave strategist, wasn’t he?
He was valiant as well. But Han Xin conquered him, didn't he?
That’s because Zhang Han lost his nerve.
He's no match for Han Xin at all.
As a general,
how could you be so scared of Han Xin?
How can we win the battle like this?
You doubt my courage?
-What of it? -Stop.
Don’t argue.
With a formidable enemy before us, how can we afford to bicker?
-General. -Yes.
Do you have an idea about how to defeat Han Xin?
I plan to lay an ambush in Jingxingkou
so we can stop Han Xin outside the pass.
Within seven days, when Han Xin’s warriors run out of food,
they may flee away themselves.
Finally, I’ll chase them down to the last man
and destroy them forever.
Bullshit.
Our forces are five times larger than his. If we simply defend our pass,
and don’t attack him, we’ll be laughed at and mocked by other vassals.
If I were you, I would fight him on the battlefield.
My Lord, I’ll take my leave.
All right.
My Lord,
be clear that Chen Yu didn’t send warriors in Julu,
so that we missed the opportunity to win the war and were ridiculed.
It happened not long ago.
That’s the very reason
why Chen Yu wants to avenge the insult.
But we should not belittle Han Xin.
We should not bet our warriors’ lives to flaunt Chen Yu’s courage.
Why are you always against Chen Yu?
I’ve decided
to give our warriors over to his command.
And you can be his assistant general.
Try your best to help him.
I’m at your command. I won't fail you.
But I’m afraid Chen Yu’s arrogance may bring us trouble.
I think
it’s a good opportunity to show your talent to the world.
With 100,000 trained warriors, we have an absolute advantage over Han Xin.
We need not fear him for now.
It’s so cold.
Sorry to make you suffer this cold.
It’s my great honor to battle our enemy with you.
Reporting!
General-in-chief,
Chen Yu gathered 200,000 warriors in Jingxingkou.
They are ready to attack us.
-Who is their general? -Li Zuoche, general of Guangwu.
Li Zuoche?
I know him.
I’ve heard of him.
-You can leave. -Yes.
Jingxingkou... We have to pass through Taihang mountains to reach Zhao.
Jingxingkou’s easy to hold but difficult to attack.
I think the Zhao warriors will lay an ambush for us.
General-in-chief,
I wonder whether we’re being too cautious.
Winning in war is all about timing, not strategy.
So long as we have enough warriors, we can turn our disadvantage into an advantage.
But things are different now.
If we sent our 30,000 new warriors
to attack their 200,000 experienced warriors, we would be destroyed, right?
This is the reason why we merely defend and don’t attack them?
Chen Yu is no fool.
He knows what’s going on, so he can’t wait to attack me.
He’s the kind of man who wouldn't give up a chance to show off his strength.
In your opinion, how should we fight them?
You're the general-in-chief. You need not ask me.
Ah, hot! It’s ready.
Our scouts report that Han warriors have already conquered Dai.
Now they’re marching toward Jingxingkou, heading for Zhao troops.
With steep roads, it’s easy to hold but hard to attack.
I ordered Chen Yu to attack Han Xin here.
I think my strategy can help him win the battle.
Lately, I’ve been analyzing Han Xin’s war strategy.
I found that he’s always changing his way of attack.
Compared to him, Chen Yu is a brainless scarecrow.
You mean Zhao will lose the war?
No, no, no. I didn’t say that.
Generals lose battles from time to time.
If I could predict the result,
I wouldn’t stand here and worry about how to beat them.
At the time when I granted fiefs,
I was at an advantage,
commanding the most important areas of Liang and Chu.
But now, Xingyang is occupied by Liu Ji,
Han Xin has taken Wei and Dai... if Zhao is conquered,
what else do we have?
We can only anticipate
that Chen Yu can hold Zhao.
Thus we’ll be a little further from danger.
Liu Ji, Liu Ji,
it seems that our day of reckoning is fast approaching.
We have 30,000 warriors and they have 200,000.
It’s clear we’re at a great disadvantage.
Jingxingkou is not the same as Julu,
and we’re not as strong as the Chu warriors.
But I have a way to win the war.
Listen to me, I won't repeat myself.
Tomorrow, we’ll have a decisive battle with Chen Yu’s warriors,
but they outnumber us, so we must first retreat to Mianman River.
Chen Yu will give chase. Then, Fan Kuai, we’ll rely on you.
Before Chen Yu returns, you'll lead 2,000 cavalrymen,
each person holding a Han banner,
to pass Jingxingkou and climb over the mountain from the path.
Hide somewhere conspicuous to Zhao warriors. Then just wait.
When the Zhao warriors reach the river,
you must hurry to attack the Zhao guards at the Jingxingkou Pass
and change their banners for ours.
Yes, sir!
General, forgive my frankness.
Will we win the war only by changing our enemy’s banners?
I’ve never heard of such a strategy.
Don’t worry. Do as you’re ordered.
So long as we listen to our general-in-chief,
we’ll win the war.
Tomorrow, we’ll set off at daybreak.
All of our warriors are allowed to bring food for one meal only.
Tell our generals
we’ll have a great celebration of our victory tomorrow evening!
Yes.
He seems very confident, right?
But I’m not sure whether his method can defeat Chen Yu.
Oh, our general’s strategy is always unusual.
I think he has good reasons for it.
The battle hasn't begun yet. Who knows?
But we’re the men that will fight in the battle.
Why, Fan Kuai? Are you scared?
Nothing can scare me. I can’t wait to kill our enemy.
Zhang Er,
in your opinion, is our strategy workable this time?
Our warriors are greatly outnumbered by the Zhao.
I think his plan is a great risk.
If you know it’s a risk, you should warn our general-in-chief.
He’s our general-in-chief. He just sent me to watch over our warriors.
It’s not my place to advise on strategy.
But the battle is of vital importance to us.
I know. I wish to kill Chen Yu more than anyone.
Then you should dissuade our general-in-chief!
Listen to me.
You are all valiant warriors.
As warriors, we must obey the order of our general-in-chief.
Since our general has made arrangements,
we must follow them.
Don’t doubt his strategy, just carry it out.
-Yes. -Yes.
My respects, general.
Anything to say?
There's one thing I don't understand.
I want to hear your analysis.
Get straight to the point.
I feel very worried about our battle tomorrow.
I don’t know your strategy well.
I hope you can inform me.
I also feel worried.
General.
We are facing an enemy several times larger.
Why do you want to fight them this way?
Tomorrow, you’ll get an answer. I can’t tell you now.
General, I’m quite bewildered.
The same goes for other generals.
What snake oil are you actually selling?
Poison.
Poison?
Please help me understand.
As it's poison, it could be changed if I told you what it is.
General, I know little about the art of war, but...
to fight with our back to the river is courting for death.
Don’t you think so?
Precisely!
But the poison
can only be effective once we approach death.
General.
Just get ready.
Goodnight, sir.
Our spies report
that Han Xin is organizing his warriors in a fish-scale formation along the river.
I expected Han Xin would find a clever way to fight me.
Looks like he's not all that great.
All right.
He can organize his men along the river.
Once he’s in position, I’ll drive them all into the river,
and drown them.
Li Zuoche, why are you so quiet?
Why the long face?
I don’t understand
why Han Xin arranges his warriors in this way.
Why does he want to lure us in this direction?
Then I’ll tell you.
He underestimates me.
He thinks I’m as weak as Mr. Wei.
Tell me, how can I spare such an arrogant man?
My orders...
Open the city gate
and prepare to attack.
-Yes, sir. -No, no, no. We can’t do that.
Han Xin is a great general.
He’s not some fool who can only organize a fish-scale formation along a river.
Look. He’s planning to fight with his back to the river.
That’s asking for death.
I think there must be a trap.
I think Han Xin wants to trap us.
Trap us?
Great.
Then tell me what kind of trap it is.
I don’t know.
But I can sense it.
General, we should sit tight.
If we take no action, we’ll soon see through his trap.
Don't talk too much, Li Zuoche.
When we win the war,
I’ll grant you the first military honor.
-Am I right? -Yes.
My warriors,
do you have families?
Yes.
You all have families.
You miss them.
But I have no family.
If I were killed, nobody would visit my tomb.
So you might say
that’s the very reason I dare not die.
You’re wrong.
If I had no worries, how could I hold a sword
to fight in war?
I have my own worries.
My worries are each and every one of you.
My men,
we’ll meet the most powerful enemy
we’ve ever fought.
Do we have a way to retreat?
No.
You’re wrong. We always have a way to retreat.
When we face the test of death, we are all in fear.
We all fear. If you want to stay alive,
you can find a thousand excuses.
You can tell yourself
that you are new, inexperienced,
or don’t know how to fight.
Yes, you could say that.
But today, it’s too late.
We have no way to retreat now.
Now turn around and hold your sword.
You must tell our enemy, from the depths of your soul,
that they can take away our lives, but they can never take away our courage.
Take your sword and kill our enemy.
You family will be proud of your courage.
-Fight! -Fight! Fight! Fight!
Retreat! Hurry up and retreat!
Hurry!
Han Xin is nothing to be afraid of.
Capture Han Xin alive.
Fight!
In order to capture Han Xin alive, Chen Yu’s entire army gave chase.
Han Xin feigned escaping to his camp along the river.
Chen Yu ordered his warriors to attack the Han warriors.
In such a situation, with no way to retreat,
Han warriors forgot life and death and bravely fought the Zhao warriors.
They fought for half a day and the Zhao warriors gained no edge over them.
When the Zhao warriors planned to retreat,
they found that their camp had been occupied by Han Xin’s 2,000 cavalry.
Han banners were flying in their camp. Almost immediately,
the Zhao soldiers fell into great panic and were completely routed.
Then Han Xin rallied and chased Chen Yu’s warriors.
Kill them!
Hurry! Kill them!
Go to hell!
Chen Yu, you old dog. Stand out there.
General. What’s going on up ahead?
The road is too narrow. We’re blocked by routed warriors.
Even if we’re stopped...
-we must push through them. -General, we can’t do that.
If anyone dares to stop me, I’ll kill him.
Subtitle translation by Hwee Lin Wong