Jinting Han people

Chapter 751 The Battle of Jianye: The Defenders

In fact, ever since the Qi army launched a large-scale attack and formed ranks, the course of the war had already deviated from the Han army's expectations.

This isn't to say that the Qi people shouldn't have sent troops, but the timing of their attack was very strange. Logically, while the Han army's offensive on Stone City was certainly aggressive, it would still take time to capture it. The best strategy for the Qi people would have been to wait in comfort, observe the situation from their own lines, and only launch an attack after Stone City was truly in dire straits—that is, after the Han army had been fiercely attacking for some time. This would have given them a much better chance of victory.

However, the Qi army did not make this choice. Instead, they immediately deployed their forces, seemingly intending to commit their entire army directly to the battle. The war then escalated from a simple offensive and defensive battle into a decisive battle that would determine the fate of both sides. The winner would gain everything, while the loser would lose everything.

Wang Mi's choice surprised not only the Han army but also most of the Qi army's generals. When he made the decision, several generals advised him to reconsider.

But Wang Mi's will was unwavering. He thought to himself, "If this drags on, when will we ever see a winner? Even if we win a small victory today and save Stone City, the Southerners will still be stuck on the river, and the disadvantage will remain with us. Today's opportunity is a rare chance to win. When will we get another one like this? We absolutely cannot let it slip away!"

Therefore, he said to his generals, "I have already burned talismans to inquire about the will of Heaven. Today, in battle, we will have divine assistance. As long as we do not hesitate, we will surely win. You should not say anything more!"

Wang Mi held immense prestige; once he spoke, the soldiers fell silent. In the early dawn light, Wang Mi scrutinized his troops with a cautious gaze, his eyes sweeping over their resolute faces and unwavering bearing. Unconsciously, a mixture of pride and unease arose in his eyes, for this was the army he had built from scratch, the culmination of his hard work.

When he and Liu Baigen raised their army in Qingzhou, they certainly had tens of thousands of followers, but only a few hundred were truly willing to risk their lives to live and die with them. After all, the Jin court was still powerful at the time, Liu Baigen was merely a county magistrate, and Wang Mi was just a wandering knight. Meanwhile, the governor of Qingzhou at the time, Sima Chi, the Prince of Yuzhang, commanded at least 50,000 troops. Even though the Prince of Yuzhang had personally led his army north to fight, Qingzhou's power was still considerable. Who could have imagined that in just under ten years, they would expand from a few hundred people and a county to hundreds of thousands of soldiers, occupying five provinces? What an earth-shattering achievement!

But now, the moment has come to decide who will rule the world. It's unknown how many will survive this battle.

Thinking of this, Wang Mi felt somewhat heavy-hearted, but he also knew that for every general's success, countless lives were lost; to become the victor in the struggle for the Central Plains, one had to pay a heavy price. Therefore, from the very beginning of this battle, he left himself no room for maneuver.

Frankly speaking, in a direct confrontation, Wang Mi wasn't entirely confident of victory. He had already observed the Han army's formation while the Qi army was deploying. The Han army's right flank infantry had cut across the Stone Mountain, confining the entire battlefield to a range of four or five li (approximately 2-2.5 kilometers), their formation extremely tight. In this terrain, the cavalry's advantage was minimal, and the advantage of sheer numbers couldn't be fully utilized, easily leading to a simple, drawn-out battle.

Furthermore, the Qi army had troops stationed at Stone City, while the Han army had troops stationed at Terrace City, which further complicated the battlefield. Analyzing the situation, Li Yun's forces in Stone City were surrounded on all sides, facing a difficult terrain and lacking cavalry, leaving them with little room to maneuver. In contrast, the Han army in Terrace City possessed formidable fighting power and was on a plain; their recent victories after landing were still fresh in everyone's minds. Comparing the two, the Qi army faced far greater difficulties in this all-out battle.

But Wang Mi's intention was not in this battle at all, or rather, this battle was just a pretext. Only by carrying out this battle could he have the opportunity to launch a fatal attack.

Therefore, after the formation was completed, he first focused on observing the Han army's banners to determine which Han generals were in charge of the battle. Undoubtedly, he was searching for Du Zeng's location, because the general he had previously bribed and turned against the Han army was none other than this extremely famous and valiant general of the Jianghan region.

The reasons for Du Zeng's defection from the Han army are well-known. He had hoped to make a name for himself in the Han army and rise through the ranks based on his bravery. However, he repeatedly encountered setbacks in the past two years. The previous Huainan campaign went awry, and he not only failed to get promoted but also had his rewards withheld afterward, which naturally fueled his resentment. He had originally thought that this time, with the Qi people marching south and the emperor personally leading the campaign, he could finally make a name for himself under the emperor's command and achieve great merit. However, he was humiliated at Baishi Slope, and his outlook for the future became extremely bleak.

Locally, Du Zeng was notorious for his greed and lust. People from Qi who smuggled goods in Huainan had dealt with him and knew of his insatiable greed. Therefore, Wang Mi started with Du Zeng, using the offer of the governorship of Xuzhou as leverage to successfully win him over. The problem now is that Du Zeng claimed he would defect on the battlefield, but he has yet to be seen on the front lines.

Could it be that Du Zeng's inside information was false? Wang Mi was somewhat anxious. There were many possible explanations for this phenomenon. One was that he did indeed want to defect at the last minute, but he didn't get the chance to go into battle; another was that he couldn't persuade the others to defect with him; yet another was that he wanted to defect but then changed his mind; or perhaps Liu Xian had already seen through Wang Mi's scheme and was using it against him.

However, considering all factors, Wang Mi still believed in his judgment that Du Zeng had genuinely defected. Because betrayal is no joke; once it begins, there's little chance of turning back. And for someone like Du Zeng, living a mediocre life without wealth and status was simply unimaginable.

Moreover, Wang Mi observed the Han army's formation and indeed found no banners belonging to Liu Xian. This confirmed that Liu Xian was indeed absent due to illness, making the intelligence accurate. Therefore, the subsequent plan could still be executed. After a brief moment of contemplation, Wang Mi suppressed his unease and ordered the drums to be sounded. He commanded Prince Chen, Gao Liang, to lead three thousand cavalry in a charge. The cavalry would first assault Qingliang Mountain north of the Han army's right flank as a probing attack. If they could break through the Han army's defenses, more cavalry would follow. If this failed, infantry would be sent forward to engage the Han army in hand-to-hand combat.

As the stirring drums of war sounded, the right flank of the Qi army began to loosen, and wave after wave of knights spurred their horses forward. Each wave of knights consisted of about several dozen men. Since their mission was to create a breach, they did not intend to deploy all at once. Instead, they adjusted their speed and formed a loose wedge formation in small groups to prepare for a subsequent wave-like offensive.

Because the battlefield was in mountainous terrain with uneven surfaces and potholes from the ruins of houses, they had to slow down even further. But even so, under a sky filled with thick clouds, the sound of their iron cavalry trampling the ground still drowned out the drumbeats, making the mountains tremble and dust fly.

The two armies were very close together, so that shortly after the last wave of arrows was fired, the Qi soldiers at the front had already entered the range of the Han army's arrows. They were attacking Huangfu Dan's troops.

Huangfu Dan, a seasoned general with extensive experience, calmly urged his troops to remain composed upon seeing the Qi army's attack. He instructed them not to rush into firing arrows, but to instead focus on reinforcing the chevaux-de-frise and wagons in front of their lines. He then erected long halberds to halt the charging Qi army. These halberds, intertwined with the chevaux-de-frise, their tips gleaming coldly, sent chills down the spines of those in the ranks. The Qi soldiers at the front dared not continue their charge, and could only rein in their horses, preparing to draw their bows and arrows in retaliation. However, the Qi soldiers behind continued to surge forward, causing the front and rear to become crowded together, and the formation slowly advanced until it reached within reach of the halberds.

Only then did the Han officers issue the order to counterattack. The soldiers at the front, wielding halberds, roared and frantically thrust their halberds at the enemy. Taking advantage of this moment, the Han soldiers in the rear nocked arrows and drew their bows, aiming at the tall knights on horseback. This included not only ordinary arrows but also about eight hundred pre-prepared crossbows. Although the Qi soldiers in the front ranks also tried their best to fight the Han soldiers with their spears, they were outnumbered and far less agile. Moreover, the Han army was positioned on a slightly angled slope, giving the archers a commanding view and a tailwind advantage. This allowed arrows to fly like a storm through the ranks during the battle.

In this situation, only those who were nearly fearless dared to continue wielding their spears at the enemy; otherwise, they might not even be able to open their eyes, let alone engage in direct combat. Therefore, the first wave of attack planned by the Qi people quickly showed signs of weakness. It was only because the Han army wanted to maintain its formation and not destroy the initial fortifications that it did not continue to pursue the enemy.

Of course, there were also some brave warriors among the Qi people. Having fought for many years, even in the face of such a disparity in strength, they could still forcefully leap into the air, arrows flying, and then crash into the Han army's ranks like boulders. Some crashed onto Han infantrymen, tumbling together with their horses; others made mistakes, landing directly on the tips of oncoming spears and dying instantly. Only a very few managed to leap through the gaps, causing a stir among those around them. But this chaos was not enough to shake the Han army's formation; instead, it plunged them into a predicament of being surrounded on all sides. Their bravery had backfired, making them merely a ripple in the prelude to the battle, quickly extinguished.

Gao Liang was right behind them, watching helplessly as the troops he had personally trained were felled one by one by the Han army. The pain in his heart was indescribable. Later, he heard from scouts that his second son, Gao Bu, who was in the vanguard, had also charged into the Han army's ranks and was hacked to death by the Han soldiers. This made Gao Liang dizzy and he could only sigh and mutter to himself, "Alas, the marshal has really lost his mind. How could he fight such a dull battle?"

However, he dared not retreat, because Gao Liang was a trusted lieutenant whom Wang Mi had personally trained. When the Qingzhou uprising began, Gao Liang was the first to charge into Linzi, followed by Cao Yi. No matter how unreasonable a decision might be, Gao Liang would carry it out to the end. Therefore, Wang Mi either had Gao Liang as a defender or a forward. His being ordered to charge this time was a testament to Wang Mi's trust.

Fortunately, Wang Mi realized that a direct frontal assault wouldn't be very effective, so he used flag signals to order Gao Liang to change from a charge to a probing attack. Gao Liang breathed a sigh of relief and ordered his trusted men to run south with flags in front, while his cavalry, crowded together, turned left to face the Han army's formation with their right flank. They then ran in a single file in front of the lines. The objective had shifted from a charge to observation, to identify the weakest points in the Han army's defenses and determine where the next wave of attack should begin. The Han army understood this as well, and thus unleashed a flurry of arrows from their ranks to prevent the Qi troops from advancing further.

Soon, the Qi troops reached the Jiangzhou army. Although many Jiangzhou soldiers had participated in the Battle of Yi'an, they were on the losing side then, and the memory of being swept away by the cavalry charge still lingered. Now, seeing the Qi warhorses roaring and the deafening sound of their iron hooves, and seeing a dazzling array of iron armor seemingly flying endlessly from left to right, tension and fear caused the Jiangzhou soldiers to instinctively huddle together, extending their halberds forward to prevent the Qi troops from breaking through. However, this overcrowding created gaps in some places, exposing archers with bows and arrows behind them.

Seeing this, many of the more skilled horsemen from Qi, taking advantage of the approach, suddenly spurred their horses into the gap, reined in their horses, and immediately thrust their long spears at the nearby enemy. Without even checking if they had succeeded, they released the spear shaft, pulled on the reins, and galloped away. Some Jiangzhou soldiers were thus struck by this sudden attack.

At this moment, Zhuge Huang, the cousin of Zhuge Yao, the Protector of the Army and Commandant of Jian'an, was stabbed in the throat by a Qi soldier. The Qi soldier dropped his spear and fled, but the spear tip remained deeply embedded in his neck. None of the soldiers nearby dared to move rashly, watching helplessly as he fell backward, blood gushing out. The onlookers were horrified, instinctively parting to make way for him, further expanding the Qi soldier's attack range. Seeing this, Zhuge Yao immediately shouted orders for the soldiers to return to their ranks, but the soldiers were in a chaotic disarray and unable to respond effectively.

This panicked behavior immediately caused the probing Qi people to burst into laughter, and some even whistled. However, they did not follow suit and instead let the opening slip by, because they had already achieved their purpose of investigation and knew where to launch their attack next.

After sweeping past the Jiangzhou army, these eagle-like Qi cavalrymen turned left once more, forming a column between the two armies and galloping back to their main force. Soon after, the Han army could clearly see that the Qi cavalrymen had dismounted and were preparing for battle, their horses moved to the rear, and more infantrymen were moving towards them to form ranks.

Clearly, after this probing attack, the Qi people readjusted their offensive, preparing to send their infantry close in on the Han army and incite even more bloody and brutal hand-to-hand combat. (End of Chapter)