Battle of Pengcheng The Battle of Pengcheng was fought in Pengcheng ( present - day Xuzhou , Jiangsu , China ) in 205 BC between the kingdoms of Western Chu and Han , led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang respectively . The Han forces were unprepared and suffered heavy losses . Several of Liu Bang ' s family members were captured and some of his allies defected to Chu as a result of his defeat . Background . In the spring of 205 BC , Xiang Yu was putting down rebellions in the Qi kingdom , following all the way to the northern coast of the Shandong peninsula a campaign of terror : burning homes ; burying alive prisoners - of - war ; capturing women , the weak , and the elderly . Tian Heng , brother of Tian Rong , the slain former ruler of Qi , gathered tens of thousands of soldiers and rebelled in Chengyang ( in present - day Qingdao , Shandong ) . At the beginning of summer , Tian Heng installed Tian Rong ' s son Tian Guang as King of Qi . Xiang Yu was unable to dislodge him , but planned on dealing with Qi first before returning his military attention to Han . With Xiang Yu thus occupied , Liu Bang collected a force of 560 , 000 troops from his subordinate lands , and marched east to attack Chu . En route , he encountered Peng Yue , who joined his cause upon promise of a fiefdom in Wei . As opposed to combining forces , Liu Bang sent Peng Yue ' s 30 , 000 troops to pacify the surrounding area . Liu Bang ' s army entered Xiang Yu ' s capital of Pengcheng ( present - day Xuzhou , Jiangsu ) apparently unopposed , looting its valuables and taking its women , but discipline was lax and each day found the Han troops deeper in their cups . The battle . Hearing of the fall of Pengcheng , Xiang Yu ordered the bulk of his forces to maintain the attack on Qi , while he personally led 30 , 000 crack troops to retake the capital . He encamped about ten miles from the city , in present - day Xiao County , Anhui . At dawn , Xiang Yu launched an attack on Pengcheng , and by noon had broken the unprepared Han army . Routed , the Han infantry fled into the nearby Gu ( 穀 ) and Si ( 泗 ) rivers , where over 100 , 000 of them were killed by Chu soldiers . The remaining troops fled south to high ground , but were cornered by Chu forces by the Sui ( 睢 ) river , where another 100 , 000 Han troops drowned , their corpses damming up the river . Liu Bang escaped the city with a handful of mounted bodyguards , heading to nearby Pei to collect his family . Xiang Yu also dispatched troops to Pei in an attempt to capture Liu Bang ' s family . His family had all fled , but Liu Bang encountered on the road his eldest daughter and eldest son Liu Ying . The Chu army coerced a local into leading them to two of Liu Bang ' s family : his father Liu Taigong and wife Lü Zhi . These two Xiang Yu captured and placed in his army as hostages . One account states Liu Bang ' s mother was also captured . A famous and possibly fictional account of Liu Bang ' s flight portrays him as so fearful that he thrice dumps his children out of his chariot in order to move faster , and it is only the repeated intervention of Xiahou Ying that secures the children ' s escape . Aftermath . Although he had won a stunning reversal , Xiang Yu returned to a capital that had been plundered by the occupying Han armies . Faced with a starving civilian population , Xiang Yu decided against pursuing Liu and instead shared with his military provisions with the populace . Although his decisive victory had turned general opinion against Liu , the failure to exploit this strategic advantage meant that Xiang Yu ultimately missed his opportunity to end this mortal threat . Liu Bang gradually collected his lost forces , but did not retain his gains in Chu lands . Most of his family remained hostages of Xiang Yu . His allies lost faith in him ; Sima Xin and Dong Yi abandoned him for Chu . Xiang Yu gained in reputation and power , but continued to deal with problems in Qi .