Well, I don't think I need to elaborate the campaign between Xiang and Liu Bang (劉邦). The very point is, not only was Xiang's side much stronger at the beginning, many of the Liu's crucial helper came from Xiang. Notably,
- Han Xin (韓信) was originally a junior soldier of Xiang's side. (The classical record was Han used to hold the halberd for Xiang Yu; so called "執戟郎".) He turned out to be, in my opinion, the best military leader in the history of China.
- Chen Ping (陳平) began as the political advisor of Xiang; his excellent planning saved Liu's life no fewer than five times.
- Ing Bu (英布), Zhou Yin (周殷), Lu Ma Tung (呂馬童), and Shusun Tong (叔孫通) all started as subordinates of Xiang, but they left for Liu's side one after another.
Alas, Chinese has a long history of voting by their legs.
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