As a result, in December 206 Xiang Yu invaded Qi, and in January 205 he defeated Tian Rong near the city of Chengyang.
Xiang Yu responded by marching all the way to the northern coast of the Shandong peninsula, conducting a campaign of terror as he went, burning homes, burying alive prisoners-of-war, and capturing women, the weak, and the elderly.
After invading Guanzhong in August 206 and securing the region as his administrative centre by September (see the Three Qins), Liu Bang had begun to expand his power into the Central Plain.
In October, recognizing that the emperor could still be used against him, Xiang Yu then had the vassal kings of the formerly Chu southern kingdoms, Ying Bu of Jiujiang, Wu Rui of Hengshan and Gong Ao of Lingjiang, assassinate the figurehead.
[3] In April 205 Liu Bang used this action to declare a war of vengeance against Xiang Yu, dressing in white robes and holding a mourning ceremony for three days.
[6] A massive coalition led by Liu Bang, supposedly consisting of 560,000 troops, converged on the Chu capital of Pengcheng from three directions.
[7] Liu Bang confiscated the treasures and concubines in Xiang Yu's palaces and held banquets to celebrate his victory.
However, after hearing of the fall of Pengcheng, Xiang Yu ordered the bulk of his forces to continue campaigning in Qi while he personally led 30,000 crack troops to retake the capital.
Quickly and secretly, they marched south via the towns of Lu and Huling and reached Pengcheng from the west, encamping about ten miles from the city in present-day Xiao County, Anhui.
Many of the survivors fled southward towards the hills, but the Chu army pursued them closely and attacked them on the Suishui River, driving them into the waters.
[8][9] Sima Qian claimed that Xiang Yu's men surrounded Liu Bang, but that he escaped because a great wind confused the Chu formation.
His father and wife had been taken as hostages, and the states of Wei, Dai and Zhao soon defected to Xiang Yu, as did the former kings of Sai and Zhai, Sima Xin and Dong Yi.
[12] However, although Xiang Yu had won a stunning reversal, he personally returned to Pengcheng to attend to the needs of his capital, which had been plundered by the occupying Han armies.
[15][16] Liu Bang and Han Xin also put down a rebellion by Wang Wu and Cheng Chu - former Qin commanders - and Shen Tu, the magistrate of Wei, capturing their base, the city of Waihuang.