Jinting Han people

Chapter 755 The Mystery of the Battle of Jianye

Ran Long's death officially signaled the failure of the Qi army's attempt to directly defeat the Han army's left flank, but it did not signify the Qi army's defeat on the entire battlefield. In fact, most of the Han army had never heard of Ran Long, only knowing that he was indeed a remarkable figure. However, the situation of the Han army's left flank being locked in fierce combat with the Qi army remained unchanged, and the Qi army's battle line behind them was already relatively intact, making it impossible for them to collapse directly due to Ran Long's death.

However, thanks to the naval maneuvers, the Han army's left flank west of Stone City regained its solidity, essentially erasing the Qi army's offensive. Even though the Qi army suffered heavy casualties in front, their morale was shattered, and breaking through the Han army from this direction was no longer an option. Fortunately, the Han army also lacked the advantage of terrain to launch a counterattack, and both sides could only maintain this battle line for the time being, unable to break the stalemate.

However, if this situation continues to develop, the Qi people still have a higher chance of winning, because the Qi army has already occupied the high ground of Ma'anshan, and there is still a continuous stream of troops being poured into this battle line from the rear, so they still have more tactical options.

It was at this moment that Su Jun arrived at Ma'anshan, along with the Qi armies of Liu Ba and Xu Fu. This meant that the Qi army had already deployed nearly ten thousand troops in the Ma'anshan direction. Standing on the hilltop, Su Jun and his group looked down and saw that the Han army's left flank had been compressed to the riverbank by the Qi army, forming a sizable but extremely stable semicircle. Behind them, boats moved back and forth like fish, transporting supplies and rotating soldiers.

Today, Su Jun wore an indigo blue military uniform, covered by iron armor, with a long sword at his waist and a ghostly helmet on his head. Standing among the generals, he naturally exuded the air of a great commander. On this bloody battlefield, he calmly discussed with his generals, "The enemy's navy is supporting us here, their arrow supply is ample, and their soldiers have been able to rest. It seems we cannot take this place."

Liu Ba suggested, "Then there's no need for our army to get bogged down here. We should attack the enemy's right flank and rear directly from here. The enemy's forces will be stretched thin on both sides. It's like striking their back on the left and their neck on the right, exploiting their weakness. Now that the enemy's defeat is certain, our army will surely win!"

Su Jun nodded and said, "What Lord Liu said is right. This is exactly what the Marshal instructed. However, whether it will succeed depends on the specific fighting situation of our army." He immediately ordered his troops, except for Xu Fu's troops who stayed behind to guard the mountain, to simultaneously outflank the Han army's right flank and form a pincer attack with Gao Liang's troops in front.

Meanwhile, Wei Yi on Qingliang Mountain remained vigilant about the Qi army's continuous gathering on Ma'anshan. Almost without Wang Dun's orders, he arranged for the troops previously withdrawn by Zhuge Yao, Qian Feng, and He Kang to form a defensive formation on the west side of Qingliang Mountain. In this way, the Jiangzhou army effectively formed a circular formation around the mountain, capable of resisting Qi forces attacking from different directions.

Even with these arrangements, Wei Yi's troops were still somewhat uncertain, because these substituted soldiers were the Han soldiers who had previously performed poorly. Now, given this critical mission, could they hold their ground and prevent the Qi people from taking advantage of the situation? However, Qingliang Mountain was still in the hands of the Han army, giving them a certain geographical advantage, so they wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage.

Su Jun also took this into consideration. He originally had many cavalrymen under his command, but this terrain was not suitable for cavalry to gallop, so he could only use infantry to fight at close range. Therefore, he was more cautious in his offensive. After all, he had failed to achieve his goal in two consecutive attacks. Su Jun had to use a more conservative tactic, just like Gao Liang's troops had chosen before, to slowly press the enemy with his formation, simply to test the strength of the enemy with the advantage of numbers, and then launch a key attack.

Overall, Su Jun was quite confident, because his troops were the elite of the Qi army, and Liu Lang and Du Zeng, whom he feared in the Han army, were not here. He had reason to believe that as long as he advanced step by step, he could achieve victory.

Unexpectedly, while they were still probing forward in the mountains, it was the weaker Han army that made the first move.

It turned out that this was the idea of ​​Qian Feng, the military advisor of Jiangzhou. While they were setting up their formation and waiting, he watched the Qi people slowly approaching in the distance. At the same time, he noticed the slightly tense and uneasy atmosphere in the surrounding units, so he asked his men with a smile, "The Qi people are about to attack. Are you afraid?"

Qian Feng was a handsome young man. At this moment, he wore a blue turban and bright armor, but also a pale yellow robe. Although he was on the battlefield, his every move exuded a graceful and refined demeanor. He possessed both martial prowess and literary refinement. On this bloody battlefield, he was like a blooming lotus flower.

No one dared to underestimate him because of his young age, for he was the third-ranking figure in the Jiangzhou army and the chief strategist acknowledged by Wang Dun. At this moment, facing the Qi army's attack from the west, he was the highest-ranking officer of the Han army in this region.

Contrary to his appearance and official position, Qian Feng was not actually from a prominent aristocratic family. His clan, the Qian family of Wuxing, was merely an ordinary middle-class family. The most famous thing the Qian family did in recent years was to attach themselves to Chen Min when he was in power. They were highly valued by Chen Min, but because Chen Min was ruined by Zhou Qi, they had to turn against him again and ultimately gained nothing.

Not every family can get another chance after a failed attempt to align themselves with Chen Min. After their failed attempt, the Qian family was quickly ostracized and forgotten by the Jiangdong literati. But no one expected that Qian Feng would connect with Shen Chong and proactively recommend himself to Wang Dun. After several discussions with Qian Feng, Wang Dun disregarded his background and past and promoted him to the position of Military Advisor in Jiangzhou.

However, this appointment was highly controversial because Qian Feng had no prior reputation or achievements. Although people dared not underestimate him, they all doubted whether he could handle the position. They only dared not show it openly because of Wang Dun's authority. Especially at this moment, with a bloody battle imminent and the enemy's banners being raised against the troops of Su Jun, who was known for his bravery, everyone became even more apprehensive.

At this moment, Qian Feng casually asked those around her how they felt, and everyone stammered, unable to answer. Qian Feng, however, remained unperturbed and continued:

"When soldiers face battle, they fight for their last breath. We have been on the battlefield for almost two hours now, but we have not been able to participate in the fighting. All we see are corpses strewn across the field, and the soldiers are probably already terrified. If we let the enemy attack like this, our army will probably not be able to hold out for long and will collapse on the spot. That would be waiting to die. Rather than waiting to die here, we should take the initiative to attack and let the soldiers see that fighting is nothing more than this. That is the right way."

These words left his subordinates bewildered. Could the soldiers' fighting strength really be improved so hastily? Su Jun was, after all, a renowned and fierce general among the Qi people. Wouldn't it be reckless to engage him in battle like this? Therefore, their first reaction to Qian Feng's order was reluctance to obey. Seeing this, Qian Feng's expression changed, and he immediately said, "What? Are you going to disobey orders like this!" Qian Feng's style was exactly like Wang Dun's; anyone who disobeyed orders would be beheaded to establish his authority. Although the men were unwilling, they had no choice but to obey. At the same time, Qian Feng sent messengers to the troops of Zhuge Yao, He Kang, and others beside him, ordering them to also obey his commands.

Thus, to the astonishment of the Qi army, Qian Feng's troops, accompanied by thunderous war drums, took the lead in descending the mountain and launching a counterattack against the Qi army.

This move not only astonished the Qi people, but also surprised Wang Dun and others who were watching from afar at Xinting. Immediately, someone shouted, "What is Qian Shiyi trying to do? Abandoning the advantage of terrain to seek war, has he gone mad?!" Another person said to Wang Dun, "Marshal, we should send troops to support him immediately, otherwise the Right Army will be utterly defeated!"

Amidst the clamor of discussion, Wang Dun remained calm and ordered, "Do not panic! Although Qian Shiyi is a young man and may not understand politics, he is quite accomplished in military strategy. Please do not have any doubts, let us just wait and see."

Seeing Wang Dun's words, the generals had no choice but to calm down and observe. However, what followed seemed to unfold as everyone had predicted. Although Qian Feng's troops launched the attack, they were out of formation and not particularly experienced soldiers. After engaging the Qi army, they achieved little. Instead, having abandoned their advantageous terrain, the Qi army, taking advantage of the northwest wind, was now in a favorable position. Maintaining their formation, the Qi army fired arrows at the Han army. The arrows flew through the air like birds, taking a long time to land in the Han ranks. When they struck ordinary soldiers, they pierced their armor three-tenths of an inch, eliciting cries of pain.

The Han army was currently at a disadvantage, almost entirely on the defensive, and unable to hold out against the Qi army head-on. In less than a quarter of an hour, Qian Feng's formation began to falter. Just three quarters of an hour later, Han soldiers began to retreat to save their lives. At this moment, the Qi people were overjoyed to see that not only were the Han troops at the front routed, but shortly after the front-line formation crumbled, the banners of Qian Feng's own troops also began to retreat. This immediately caused a massive rout of the two thousand-plus men, who desperately fled up the mountain.

Seeing this, Su Jun was overjoyed. He laughed to his men, "That scoundrel has truly lost his mind! So easily defeated, yet he dares to fight me? Our army is sure to win now! Go after him!"

In this situation, Su Jun didn't even need to give an order. The Qi soldiers saw the Han army suddenly retreating, their ranks scattered and disorganized, dust billowing everywhere. Yet, even so, they couldn't prevent a huge gap from appearing in the once perfectly formed Han army formation. Seeing this, the various Qi units all thought they had won, and who wouldn't be overjoyed? So they all started to pursue the Han army, trying to disperse the fleeing troops and draw them into the Han ranks. Whether literate or illiterate, the Qi soldiers all felt a shared sense of victory.

Within moments, the Qi army's formation became distorted, disordered, and chaotic as they pursued Qian Feng's troops. However, the Qi soldiers forgot one crucial point: the Han army's formation was originally on higher ground. The fleeing soldiers, while being driven by them, were unable to affect the Han army's formation at a higher elevation. Instead, in the process of attempting to breach the gaps, they stretched their own vanguard and exposed numerous weaknesses.

This was exactly what Qian Feng wanted. He knew that in a direct confrontation, if the Qi army adopted a fully-fledged, relentless pressing formation, his side would undoubtedly be defeated. Therefore, to achieve victory, he needed to feign weakness, creating an opening for the Qi army to abandon their formation and pursue. That was his plan: he would send a portion of his troops to retreat first, luring the enemy into a false retreat. Then, once the Qi army's formation was spread out, he would have the unaffected Han troops on both flanks advance downwards, cutting off the Qi army's retreat. That would create an opportunity.

However, this was not foolproof. Qian Feng knew that Su Jun's troops were all elite, and even if they were trapped, the Han army would still be at risk of being defeated due to the qualitative difference in the quality of the soldiers on both sides. Therefore, Qian Feng sent another officer named Qian Xin with more than twenty elite soldiers to occupy a high ground among the fleeing soldiers and observe the situation from the side.

Because the Qi army was chasing after fleeing, defenseless soldiers, and there was an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, no one wanted to confront them head-on, and therefore no one paid any attention to Qian Xin. Qian Xin, meanwhile, led his men in searching for Su Jun's banner in the crowd. After about 45 minutes, after a wave of screaming soldiers, he finally saw the Qi army's Xingwang banner, and under it, the extraordinary Su Jun.

Having fought the Han army several times and being a renowned brave general among the Qi people, Su Jun's appearance was already familiar to the Han army. Therefore, Qian Xin immediately spurred his horse forward and shouted at him, "Su Jun, you little brat, what kind of skill is it to bully ordinary people? Do you dare to fight me?"

Su Jun, caught up in the heat of battle, was taken aback by these words. Looking up, he saw the man before him and found him unremarkable, just an ordinary strongman. Su Jun was known for his arrogance, and now, blinded by victory, he was enraged that this man dared to challenge him. He sneered, "Instead of fleeing for your lives, you little brat come here to die!" With that, he immediately led a dozen or so riders in pursuit. Qian Xin, seeing Su Jun's aggressive approach, didn't waste any words, turning his horse and galloping up the mountain, firing arrows as he went. But Su Jun was an expert archer and horseman; what arrow could hit him? He easily dodged them all, even catching one arrow with his bare hands, drawing cheers from his riders and further chilling the Han army to the bone.

The two sides chased each other for a while, until they reached a mountain hollow, which was actually Qian Feng's main camp. Su Jun had just stopped and turned around, about to mock Qian Xin for having nowhere to escape, when suddenly, a few cold stars lit up above the hollow. He looked up and saw more than a dozen crossbowmen pointing their crossbows at him, and he was stunned for a moment. Before he could make a move, someone shouted, and the crossbow bolts were fired all at once. Even though it was against the wind, the arrows, far exceeding the archers' strength, shot through the air and instantly pierced Su Jun's armor. Although only half of the dozen or so arrows hit their mark, it was enough to make Su Jun fall from his horse and become helpless.

As Su Jun suddenly fell, the cavalrymen who had caught up were equally stunned and were also felled by arrows from Qian Feng's main force. No one could imagine that a renowned Qi general like Su Jun, who should have died a glorious death under the siege of hundreds or thousands of men, would die so simply from Qian Feng's crossbow bolts due to a brief moment of carelessness after believing he had won.

Qian Feng still harbored some apprehension towards Su Jun. Even though the man was riddled with arrows, he insisted on personally examining the body. Upon seeing Su Jun's heroic and extraordinary face, he felt a pang of pity. But upon closer inspection, seeing the man's expression of utter despair and unresolved death, he quickly became smug and mocked those around him, saying, "Su Jun is nothing more than a leader of refugees. He's been fighting and ruthless in the Central Plains, thinking himself invincible. He loves to risk his life. He's always scheming against others, never against himself. Does he ever escape his fate? No matter how high his martial arts skills, a single crossbow bolt is enough to kill him. I'm here to kill those reckless fools!"

Having said this, he ordered his men to cut off Su Jun's head, then use long spears to hoist it up as a threat, before ordering his main force to launch a counter-charge against the Qi army. At the same time, he ordered Zhuge Yao and He Kang's troops to descend the mountain again and attack from both sides. (End of Chapter)