Jinting Han people

Chapter 754 The Chaotic Battle of Jianye

After suffering a defeat in the first round of fighting, Du Hong's troops were in complete disarray at the foot of the mountain. Although there were not many casualties, many soldiers were scattered in the process of descending the mountain; the soldiers could not find their squad leaders, and the squad leaders could not find their battalion commanders, which greatly affected subsequent operations. Du Hong quickly reprimanded his troops, ordering them to quiet down, and had the officers raise their flags and announce their names to restore order.

Du Tao knew that Du Hong wouldn't be able to recover his fighting strength anytime soon, so he urged He Zhang and Guo Yi's troops to prepare for battle. The Qi forces were still continuously reinforcing themselves in the direction of Ma'anshan, and if they were to reach the rear of the Jiangzhou army, the consequences would be unimaginable. He had to repel this Qi force. However, at the same time, he also harbored a concern: the Qi garrison in Stone City behind him. If they were to launch an attack, he might not be able to defend both sides simultaneously.

Fortunately, Wang Dun's central army was still behind him. With this in mind, Du Tao immediately sent a messenger to Xinting to explain his predicament and request Wang Dun to prepare to send troops to support him.

Du Tao didn't need to elaborate; on the makeshift watchtower at Xinting, Wang Dun was also squinting as he observed the development of the battle. By this time, the fog had mostly dissipated, leaving only a lingering chill in the air, making the stalemate between the Han and Qi armies crystal clear.

The Qi forces had by this time amassed a considerable force, with approximately 30,000 men attacking Qingliang Mountain and nearly 7,000 already crossing boats to advance towards Ma'an Mountain. Both sides were engaged in repeated assaults. At Qingliang Mountain, the Jiangzhou army maintained a relatively stable position, experiencing some slight retreats but generally holding the upper hand. At Ma'an Mountain, the Huainan army, failing to capture the hilltop, was showing signs of weakness, as new Qi troops were surging towards the hill in waves, attempting to form a pincer movement against the Han army.

This situation made Wang Dun somewhat anxious, and he cursed inwardly, "How did things get to this point!" Therefore, without Du Tao sending any further words, he immediately considered whether to send troops to aid Du Tao's forces. However, he also had to consider that a considerable portion of the Qi army's main force had not yet been committed to the battlefield and was still watching the battlefield from the rear.

The Han army has even fewer reserves. If they were to commit their central force to the battlefield now, they would have no time to attend to the river. If the Qi forces were to bring out their naval forces from the Zhuque River for a joint battle, things would be dire. After all, a defeat at Stone Mountain could be overcome by evacuating the soldiers by naval force, but if the naval force were to be annihilated, it would be a complete and utter defeat.

Therefore, deploying troops to the central army must be done with caution, and the right forces must be deployed at the right time to achieve the right results. Even though his men frequently took the initiative to support the left army, Wang Dun remained unmoved, one hand behind his back, and said slowly and deliberately, "At present, the battle is mainly fought on foot, and the outcome will not be clear so quickly. Please be patient and observe how the situation develops."

Just then, he suddenly noticed some noises inside Stone City. The Qi banners on the city walls were moving. At first, it was not very clear, like leaves in the distance swaying slightly in the wind. But as time went on, Wang Dun could gradually see clearly that a considerable number of heads were moving towards the north of the city, like ants gathering.

Wang Dun instantly realized: the Qi army inside the city intended to launch a pincer attack! Although he didn't know how the two Qi armies communicated, judging from the situation, they likely planned to leave the city from the north and join forces with the Qi army on Ma'anshan Mountain to launch a pincer attack on the left flank. Du Hong's troops hadn't yet fully regrouped, and if they charged now, they certainly had a considerable chance of victory. And if the left flank collapsed, the right flank, which was supposed to hold off the main Qi force, would likely also be vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Upon realizing this, Wang Dun became extremely anxious. He couldn't come up with a good idea for the moment, but at the same time, he clearly judged that blindly sending troops to aid the left army would probably not be a good decision. Because if the formation of being attacked from both sides remained unchanged, and the vanguard was routed, even a large force would be swept away and defeated. After thinking for a while, he felt he couldn't delay any longer. He decided to follow the same approach and summoned Xie Yong, saying, "Quickly lead your troops to Siwang Mountain, cut off the riverbank where the Qi army will land, and join forces with the left army to recapture Ma'anshan!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he spoke, Huan Xuan, who was standing beside him, advised, "My lord, the attack around Siwang Mountain is so far away. It will probably take at least an hour or two to be effective. How can it be of any use in this emergency? In my opinion, it would be better to lead the navy to support the Left Army. Isn't the Marquis of Longchuan's (Du Hong's) troops currently in disarray? Let them board the ships first, organize their troops on board, and then fight after they have regrouped. Before that, you could send a force to relieve the Marquis of Longchuan and aid the Duke of Xiangnan. That would probably be more appropriate."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dun's eyes lit up. He grabbed Huan Xuan's hand, patted his shoulder, and said repeatedly, "Well said! I was confused! Confused! The navy is just for rotation. I thought it was just ordinary land battles and deadly fighting, and that we were going to fight a stalemate on the ground!"

Having said that, he immediately changed the military order and said to Xie Yong, "You lead your troops to relieve Marquis Longchuan first, let Marquis Longchuan's troops board the ships, and let them take over." Then he said to Pei Shuo and the others beside him, "You take the warships to the foot of Stone City and launch a fierce attack on Stone City. If Stone City is too vulnerable, take it while you can. My army on the river can advance or retreat at will. What can the Qi people do to me?"

Following Wang Dun's instructions, the various units acted swiftly. Xie Yong led 4,000 men to relieve Du Hong, while Pei Shuo, Wen Shao, and 10,000 others launched a frontal assault on Stone City. Hundreds of ships sprang into action on the river, their small vessels moving back and forth like floating wine cups, evacuating the disorganized soldiers from Ma'anshan and transporting them to Xinting to allow them to regroup. The Golden-Winged Warships, like small mountains, clustered before Stone City, continuously launching volleys and stones into the city. This time, the Han army had learned from their previous experience and had prepared grappling hooks for scaling the walls. Amidst the thunderous roar of the volleys, the Han soldiers relentlessly climbed the city walls, putting immense pressure on the Qi defenders within.

This change was indeed unexpected by the Qi people. Ran Long led more than twenty cavalrymen down the mountain to the front of Stone City, intending to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Han army's descent to have Prince Wei, Li Yun, inside the city launch a quick attack, completely disrupt the Han army's formation, and then defeat them in one fell swoop. Li Yun, on the city wall, naturally saw the chaos of the Han army and, without much hesitation, immediately dispatched four thousand men, half of the city's garrison, to be under Ran Long's command.

Ran Long was overjoyed. In his view, victory was a piece of cake, a sure thing. He immediately led his army to charge the Han army formation west of the city. Meanwhile, Song Zhou and Wang Zhen on Ma'anshan Mountain had been locked in a stalemate for a few quarters of an hour. As reinforcements behind them gradually increased and their formation became more formidable, Song Zhou put aside his concerns about Wang Zhen and sent several hundred men to drive him away, while he led his main force down the mountain to fight. The two forces attacked the left flank from two directions, instantly merging into a powerful torrent. Although they were outnumbered, the fierce impact forced the Han army defending the front to retreat repeatedly, greatly increasing the pressure on them.

In this chaotic scene, Ran Long himself charged ahead, unstoppable. It should be noted that the bravest general in the Huainan army was Gao Bao, but seeing Ran Long charging through the Han army, relentlessly thrusting and sending enemies flying with his lance, and when the lance broke, he switched to his longsword, severing limbs again. Gao Bao immediately realized he was outmatched and chose not to meet him head-on, instead attacking from another line of defense. This made Ran Long's offensive even sharper, carving a bloody path through the Han army. His armor was stained crimson with blood, his entire body covered in it, though it was unclear whether some of it was his own. However, the battle did not unfold as Ran Long had anticipated. Instead, as the fighting prolonged, the chaos in the Han army's rear lessened, and their formation became increasingly tighter. Ran Long lost count of how many he had killed, only knowing that with each step the Han army retreated, more fresh blood filled their place. After several attempts, Ran Long's horse was stabbed to death, forcing him to dismount and fight on foot. At this point, Ran Long was like a demon, inspiring fear in others. However, the losses suffered by the Qi people gradually reached an unbearable level.

Ran Long originally had more than twenty riders as his guards, but now only a handful remained. This was not because Ran Long had no more soldiers, but because the rest were soldiers from Li Yun's troops whom he did not recognize. They were showing signs of fatigue from the intense fighting, but the rear was crowded, so it was not convenient for them to retreat.

A Qi man named Du Xiu was struck in the face by a stray arrow. Before he could even retreat, several Han soldiers pounced on him, thrusting wildly. The tip of a halberd pierced his chest, and Du Xiu grasped the shaft of a spear in each hand, holding onto his last breath. He said to the Han soldiers, "Don't pull it out yet. Let me keep this breath and take it to the celestial hall!" As he spoke, he began to chant softly, "The perfect man has no merit, the perfect god has no ignorance, obscure and mysterious, dark and silent..." The Han soldiers had never seen such a devout person, so they respected his wishes and did not immediately kill him or behead him. Instead, they discarded their halberds, took up their cleavers, and charged into the Qi army's formation.

Only then did Ran Long realize that he had charged too deep into the enemy lines, leaving his rear formation relatively weak. Furthermore, Li Yun's soldiers were not as fearless as Zhong Min's army, and were easily scattered by the Han army in a single charge. As a result, Ran Long was now surrounded, only a few men away from the densely packed Han troops. However, the Han soldiers were afraid of Ran Long's strength, which was why they did not charge forward recklessly.

One of Ran Long's trusted lieutenants, Xue Da, seeing that Du Xiu had already died in battle and the enemy was reinforcing their encirclement like a human wall, couldn't help but support a comrade who had been wounded by an arrow and anxiously said to Ran Long, "General, we've been cut off from our reinforcements. We can't charge any further, and if we continue fighting, we'll all die. We might as well fight our way back..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ran Long, his eyes blazing with rage, roared at him, "I've fought countless battles, what's a death to me? For ten years I've been invincible, I've never had a true opponent, how can you ruin my reputation here! Are you afraid of dying?!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Da replied with tears in his eyes, "I am but a peasant from a poor family. I only joined the court because I had no other choice. I have risked my life for nearly ten years. I don't understand any grand principles, but I do know that there are different ways to die. What good would dying like this do for the greater good?" With that, he drew his sword and shouted, charging towards the approaching Han army. He was already exhausted, and with the Han army's swords raining down on him, he could not withstand the onslaught and soon fell into a pool of blood.

After Xue Da's death, the Han army continued to advance on Ran Long. Ran Long's close followers were either dead or maimed, leaving only his cousin Ran Xi and the servant Liu Jin. Ran Long thought, "If I retreat now, we'll likely lose the battle. Where will I find a foothold then? I'd rather continue fighting, even if I die here, at least my name will be known!" So he disregarded his own life and death, instead raising his sword and shouting, "I am Ran Long, a general of the Han Dynasty, a hero of the Central Plains! You men of Jiangnan, who dares to fight me to the death!"

This statement truly caused the surrounding Han soldiers to gasp in shock. Seeing no one answer, Ran Long laughed loudly, brandishing his long sword and hacking down the Han soldiers who charged forward one after another. When the third armored Han soldier approached from his left, Ran Long shouted and turned around, slicing through the armor and leg in one fell swoop. His power was so great, his roar like that of an enraged beast, that those in front of him dared not meet his gaze.

But Gao Bao had been watching from the sidelines for a long time. Taking advantage of Ran Long's frenzy, he quickly took the bow from his back, nocked an arrow, and fired two arrows at Ran Long. The first arrow hit the hardest iron plate on the chest of the Mingguang armor, deflecting it without causing any actual damage; but the second arrow hit Ran Long's right eye, causing the back of the helmet to bulge outwards, and the arrowhead may have pierced directly through his brain.

The excruciating pain rendered Ran Long incapacitated, causing him to collapse to the ground. The surrounding Han soldiers were overjoyed at the sight and swarmed forward to cut off his head. But the servant Liu Jin, enraged by this, and with a sudden burst of strength, fought back fiercely against the Han soldiers, driving them away once again.

Ran Xi rushed forward to check on Ran Long's injuries, only to find that despite his face being covered in blood, Ran Long had grabbed the arrow shaft in his eye, howled in pain, and pulled it out. Then, with his last breath, he said to Ran Xi, "Quick, don't let my head fall into the enemy's hands!"

Upon hearing this, Ran Xi shuddered, then understood his brother's meaning. He said nothing more, removed Ran Long's armor, wiped the blood from his own sword, and with a shout, swung the blade at Ran Long's neck. Whether Ran Long's bones were too hard or Ran Xi's sword too dull, the first strike failed to cut through.

Ran Xi had no choice but to steel himself. Before the Han army could surge forward, he pulled his long sword from his brother's neck and slashed fiercely, finally severing Ran Long's head. He then tried to run back, clutching the head, but his path was already blocked by even more Han soldiers. To respect Ran Long's last wish, before his body was pierced by a halberd, Ran Xi threw the head back the way he came. The head flew through the air, its remaining blood splattering in the northwest wind and dripping onto the ground beneath the feet of the soldiers fighting on both sides.

This was the first major general of the Qi army to die in this battle, and the war was far from over. (End of Chapter)