Han Xin looked into Xiang An's serious eyes, and his chin trembled as he lowered his head.
"I know what you're worried about. To be honest, I'm worried about those things too. Right now, Big Brother doesn't seem like he's being led by reason at all. In fact, something feels strange." Xiang An shook his head with a sigh. "I'll go talk to him later, but I reckon he'll just say a bunch of things I don't understand again, like back when we were still in Xutai."
"But he's my big brother, Old Han. Remember that." Xiang An placed both hands on Han Xin's shoulders, his expression solemn. "I'm his little brother, and he's my big brother. So there's no way I can leave him and strike out on my own."
"...Han understands." Han Xin pressed his lips together, straightened up, and grabbed Xiang An's sleeve, his tone urgent and earnest. "But that arrangement absolutely won't do."
"Our entire army has only forty thousand men. If our force goes west, there'll only be a little over thirty thousand Chu soldiers left on the main battlefield. Meanwhile, Zhang Han and Wang Li have more than two hundred thousand troops in Yan and Zhao to the north. Even counting only Zhang Han, he can directly mobilize as many as a hundred thousand soldiers."
"A hundred thousand! How is the Commander-in-Chief supposed to crush a hundred thousand men with thirty thousand? Without sufficient conditions, and with morale clearly lacking, clashing head-on on the battlefield would be no different from smashing eggs against a rock!"
"I wasn't planning to follow it anyway, so don't worry." Xiang An looked into the distance and smiled. "I'll explain the details later. I'm heading over first."
After patting Han Xin on the shoulder, Xiang An turned around and