The wilderness between Tang River and Zaoyang was covered in remnant snow. The thin morning fog had yet to dissipate, rolling across the earth like white clouds.
This once prosperous land had been destroyed through decades of frequent warfare. Heaven and earth were utterly silent, save for a large flock of birds that flew in like dark clouds, landing on the snowy ground to peck at grass seeds.
The Tongbai Mountain ranges to the northwest resembled a group of giant beasts crouching in the morning mist, silently gazing upon the myriad phenomena of the world.
Over a hundred cavalrymen appeared at the distant horizon. Heedless of the freezing cold, they forded a stream, breaking through the thin layer of river ice. Splashing waves clustered around the chests of their yellow-brown or black warhorses, the thin mist stirred into fragments.
Hot mist sprayed from the horses’ mouths and nostrils—clearly they had been running continuously for quite some distance. Their blood now ran hot, and as they stepped into the icy stream, they neighed sharply, like dozens of keen blades mercilessly tearing apart the silence of the wilderness.
The riders on horseback wore black armor, their features rough. Most had disheveled hair and beards, though their resolute eyes revealed a murderous, iron-blooded aura.
On the withered yellow grassland along the southern bank of the stream, several Tanzhou scouts watched all this warily.
The Crown Prince, serving as vanguard general of the Right Forward Division, had abandoned the ruined Tang River city to the north ten days earlier, withdrawing all troops under the Right Forward Division’s command to the vicinity of Zaoyang city to the south. The appearance of large numbers of Liang army scouts in this area was not particularly surprising.
The Tanzhou scouts merely hid in the dry grass, quietly watching the stream to the north.
That stream had become quite shallow after winter set in, yet it served as the boundary river between Tang River and Zaoyang—Zaoyang city lay just over fifty li south from here.
Soon another cavalry unit of over a hundred men crossed the low ridge to the north, appearing on the northern bank of the stream.
Watching the two hundred-plus cavalry not continue advancing south but repeatedly crossing back and forth through the stream, the experienced scouts quickly realized the Liang army was actually searching for the most convenient ford to cross the water.
Would large numbers of Liang troops ford the river tonight, heading toward Zaoyang city behind them?
This question didn’t trouble the experienced veteran Tanzhou scouts for long. Soon they saw hundreds upon thousands of cavalry surge over the hills like rolling black waves, clustering toward the stream’s edge.
The Tanzhou scouts gaped in astonishment at the scene before them. The ruined Tang River city to the north held over three thousand Liang troops, but when had so many elite Liang cavalry appeared at Tang River?
Seeing two units of Liang cavalry ford the river and gallop toward them, these dozen or so Tanzhou scouts scrambled and crawled toward the forest behind them, mounted their horses, and madly rode toward Zaoyang city!
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……
“……”
Ma Xun, Crown Prince and Military Governor of Tanzhou, pressed his hands tightly against the horizontal beam before the battlements, his knuckles white from the pressure, his expression grave as he watched several thousand elite cavalry split into two columns like a black flood, bypass Zaoyang city, and gallop straight south.
At this moment, on the southeast flank, a force of approximately five hundred men had learned of the enemy’s approach an hour earlier. They wanted to evacuate a southern outpost and retreat into Zaoyang city, but hadn’t expected the Liang cavalry to advance so quickly. A quarter-hour ago, at a hill less than ten li from Zaoyang city, they were entangled by two groups of Liang cavalry scouts and could neither advance nor retreat.
Now the main body of Liang cavalry surged forward like a great wave, their earth-shaking battle cries making even the Zaoyang city garrison, shut behind their gates, feel their hearts tremble with fear.
They watched helplessly as those five hundred infantry who had retreated to the foot of the hill and formed up were directly routed by a single charge of over a hundred heavy armored cavalry. Then hundreds upon thousands of cavalry swarmed forward, sabers, axes, spears, and halberds flashing amid blood. They charged back and forth repeatedly, continuously cutting, scattering, defeating and pursuing that Chu army unit, mercilessly slaying one living being after another before their horses, blood spattering, flesh and limbs flying.
In just the time it takes to brew two pots of tea, the five hundred-plus infantry were like crops destroyed by a violent wind—few still stood in place.
Even the survivors prostrated themselves in the blood-soaked mud, begging to surrender. But the Liang army had no intention of letting prisoners slow their advance. The sabers, spears, swords, and halberds they wielded fell mercilessly upon those Chu soldiers begging humbly for their lives.
“What are they trying to do?”
This elite cavalry force hadn’t charged straight at Zaoyang city. After annihilating like a locust swarm the Chu troops on the southeast flank who hadn’t managed to escape into Zaoyang city, they showed no sign of stopping, continuing south like a flood. But oppressed by the iron-blooded aura of this cavalry force flowing like molten iron, Ma Xun stammered as he spoke, looking toward the general at his side.
“They’re heading straight for Yingzhou,” said Ma Rong, Military Commissioner of Langzhou, Army Registrar, and also the deputy general assisting Crown Prince Ma Xun with Tanzhou’s reinforcement troops, his expression stern.
Though Zaoyang city was much more dilapidated than Yingzhou city, even if the troops stationed at the outer fortifications were all devoured by the Liang army like locusts passing through, nearly ten thousand men from Tanzhou and various prefectures’ reinforcements were still concentrated within Zaoyang city.
With only several thousand elite cavalry in a surprise attack, the Liang army couldn’t breach Zaoyang city in a short time. But Yingzhou city was different.
Yingzhou had only been incorporated into Great Chu territory in the eighth year of Tianyou. Previously, warfare had been chaotic and the people suffered—the prefecture and county households had greatly diminished, and large numbers of mountain stronghold forces operated outside prefecture and county control. This time, with five or six thousand prefecture soldiers and able-bodied laborers conscripted, Yingzhou’s local defense forces had become extremely limited.
Moreover, everyone had previously believed that before breaking through the defensive line from Xiangzhou to Zaoyang, the Liang army would at most send small forces into Yingzhou and Suizhou territory to harass them, because Yingzhou and Suizhou’s local defense forces were all dispersed among prefectures and counties.
Without adequate preparation for the Liang army’s large-scale southern penetration, Yingzhou’s prefecture city garrison wouldn’t exceed two thousand men and might very well be unable to withstand the Liang army’s fierce, wolf-like surprise attack.
“The Liang army’s intention this time is all of Jing-Xiang!” Wen Ruilin said, his face somewhat pale.
Ma Rong immediately understood as well.
If the Liang army’s objective on the western flank was mainly to pin down the Chu army, they wouldn’t risk such deep southern penetration with several thousand elite cavalry.
Though cavalry seemed fast-moving, a long-distance penetration of several hundred li—if blocked at Yingzhou city, unable to promptly attack and hold cities for rest and resupply—would trap them in a difficult position.
After all, in the cold winter, warhorses couldn’t graze in the open, and their fodder consumption was ten times that of the soldiers’ rations.
If the Xiangzhou army then blocked the passages at the northern foothills of Dahong Mountain, this southern-penetrating Liang elite cavalry could suffer catastrophic losses.
Under normal circumstances, the Liang army wouldn’t risk their elite cavalry unless their strategic objectives on the western flank far exceeded their initial expectations.
If the Liang army forcibly took Yingzhou on the eastern bank of the Han River, they would sever contact between the Deng-Xiang line and the rear. Once more Liang forces entered the Nanyang Basin, they could launch a strong attack on Xiangzhou city. Once Xiangzhou city fell, the Liang army could advance south along the western bank of the Han River to take Jingnan, or south along the eastern bank to take Jiang-E. Apart from relying on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, the Chu army would have no strategic terrain left to check the Liang army’s advance.
“Crown Prince, let us go to the gate tower to discuss…” Ma Rong said in Ma Xun’s ear.
Inside Zaoyang city weren’t only Tanzhou’s reinforcements, but also over four thousand reinforcements assembled from Suizhou, Ezhou, and other places, all under the command of Ma Xun, vanguard general of the Right Forward Division. Ma Xun knew some words couldn’t be heard by outside generals, so he forced himself to remain calm as he walked toward the gate tower.
The so-called gate tower was actually a shed built with wooden palings atop the western gate, allowing commanders to direct combat from the city walls while sheltered from wind, rain, and arrows.
“Is Master Wen certain the Liang army is truly feinting east to strike west, intending to take all of Jing-Xiang?” Ma Xun asked, his face somewhat pale as he looked at Wen Ruilin.
Though the several thousand elite Liang cavalry hadn’t directly attacked Zaoyang city, they had severed their southern retreat route.
If the Liang army’s operational intent this time was to occupy all of Jing-Xiang, not only was their southern retreat cut off, they also had to worry that large Liang forces could surge toward Zaoyang city from the north at any moment.
“From the looks of it, that should be the case,” Ma Rong said, also shocked by the speed and determination of the Liang army’s advance on the right flank. Only this could explain why the Liang army was conducting such extensive flanking maneuvers on the right wing.
“Then should we send someone now to negotiate peace with the Liang army commanders?” Ma Xun asked.
Once the Liang army controlled all of Jing-Xiang region, the Chu court’s control over Tanzhou would be weakened to the extreme. Tanzhou would essentially gain the qualification to stand as a third power alongside the Chu court and the Liang army-controlled Jing-Xiang region.
Ma Xun had never intended to fight to the death for the Chu court. In his heart, he wanted to secretly negotiate with the Liang army. When the Liang army occupied Jing-Xiang territory, Tanzhou on the southern bank of the Yangtze River would naturally break free from the Chu court’s control.
“Making peace with the Liang army is too early now—the Commander-in-Chief isn’t adequately prepared in Tanzhou!” Wen Ruilin advised the Crown Prince not to act rashly at this time.
Ma Rong also nodded in agreement with Wen Ruilin’s opinion.
Tanzhou hadn’t anticipated this feint-east-strike-west strategy from the Liang army. Not only had they made no preparations for separation, they had even deployed over ten thousand troops and able-bodied laborers to reinforce Xiangzhou.
Currently Tanzhou had only fifteen or sixteen thousand troops and hadn’t conducted broader mobilization.
If they made any rash moves here, Jinling would rather allow Jing-Xiang to be occupied by the Liang army than first dispatch a great army to crush Tanzhou.
After all, in the short term, even if the Liang army occupied Jing-Xiang, they wouldn’t have the capability to force a crossing of the Yangtze River, and would simultaneously have to consider threats from Shu army forces upstream on the Yangtze and Han Rivers.
Even if Tanzhou wanted to break away from Chu, they had to wait until after the Liang army had established a firm foothold in the Jing-Xiang region.
“Then what do we do? Surely we won’t truly defend Zaoyang city to the death, or should we cross the Han River to Xiangzhou city?” Ma Xun asked anxiously.
With the Liang army intending to take all of Jing-Xiang, Zaoyang was a place they would certainly contest. Moreover, only after the Liang army captured Zaoyang could they organize forces to cross the Han River and attack Xiangzhou from both sides.
If they didn’t withdraw, what awaited them would inevitably be a bloody battle.
Ma Xun knew that seeking peace with the Liang army now was still premature, but he also didn’t want himself and Tanzhou’s five thousand warriors to perish here.
“Going to Xiangzhou city, we might encounter Liang army ambushes. We should retreat to Suizhou,” Wen Ruilin said.
“Retreating to Suizhou, there won’t be ambushes?” Ma Xun asked skeptically.
“If I were the Liang army commander, at this time if I didn’t send someone to persuade us to surrender, I would let us go to Suizhou to observe. Otherwise, what benefit would they gain from having their limited elite forces fight us first?” Wen Ruilin asked.
Wen Ruilin’s thinking was simple—the Liang army certainly wouldn’t let them cross the Han River to Xiangzhou city, as that would greatly increase the difficulty of their later assault on Xiangzhou city.
Ma Xun looked toward Ma Rong, who was more experienced in military operations.
Ma Rong also agreed with Wen Ruilin’s opinion. It was just that this feint-east-strike-west strategy by the Liang army had exceeded their expectations too much. Frowning, he said, “Even if there are ambushes, they should be on the road right now. Once this Liang army force passes, we’ll send out reconnaissance cavalry to the northeast and northwest directions. Then we’ll know more clearly which direction to retreat.”
Wen Ruilin looked at Ma Rong with considerable disdain. At this moment speed was of the essence—sending out reconnaissance cavalry to scout the route would delay them at least half a day.