The Heaven’s Mandate Army must have received Yang Xuanji’s absolute order: take advantage of Ning Army’s main force being absent, and break through the northern riverbank defensive line.
And so the Heaven’s Mandate Army moved with extraordinary speed. Without much preparation at all, they began constructing a pontoon bridge across the river.
From the pace and coordination of their work, it was clear they had reflected at length on the lessons of their last failed crossing and made many improvements.
A name general of the era like Pei Fanglun — having experienced one defeat — would never allow the same thing to happen again.
Upstream, Pei Fanglun deployed at least five thousand men to patrol and watch, guarding against Ning Army releasing boats downriver to ram the pontoon.
If the Ning Army attempted such a move, his river craft would intercept the ramming vessels.
Downstream — where Pei Fanglun had suffered his losses last time — he similarly dispatched mounted patrols.
The bitter lesson of that defeat had taught Pei Fanglun the strength of Ning Army’s battle troops, and had shown him clearly the caliber of the enemy commanders.
Last time, his opponent had been Tang Pidi, Ning Army’s Grand General — undisputedly their foremost warrior.
This time, he faced Xiahou Zuo — likewise a Ning Army Grand General, and undisputedly Ning Army’s second.
Combined with his knowledge of Xiahou Zuo’s record fighting the Black Wu on the Northern Frontier, Pei Fanglun had no intention of taking his opponent lightly.
Had it been someone of Xiahou Zuo’s youth but without his reputation, Pei Fanglun might have held him in contempt — but he had heard Xiahou Zuo’s name long before this, and he also knew that the man left behind to hold the line was Tang Pidi’s trusted subordinate.
One by one, the small boats were set in place; once a boat was anchored, auxiliary troops drove four wooden stakes into the riverbank to stabilize it. The second boat went faster — with the first as an anchor point, one fewer stake was needed.
The Heaven’s Mandate Army built the pontoon bridge with great speed. The boats were arranged one by one in a line, and the men behind them laid planks across the decks.
From this alone it was plain — after the last defeat, Yang Xuanji had certainly ordered his generals to study Ning Army’s defensive methods and devise new tactics in response.
Southern bank.
Pei Fanglun raised his spyglass and studied the Ning Army defensive line on the northern bank. After a long time, he turned and gave brief orders to the generals around him.
“Among the Ning Army, there is a weapon that launches great stones — it will certainly be aimed at our pontoon bridge. Therefore, the small boats must be prepared: the instant the bridge is shattered, reconnect it immediately with those boats.”
“Yes, sir!”
His subordinates clasped their hands in acknowledgment.
“Now that the river is calm and the surface is still, let the Ning Army witness our new method of crossing.”
In that moment, a faint, quiet smile of confidence played across Pei Fanglun’s face.
Northern bank.
Xiahou Zuo had his own spyglass raised, studying the southern bank, his brow lightly furrowed.
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
He lowered the spyglass and turned to Li Chi. “Look — the Heaven’s Mandate Army has already begun building a pontoon bridge. They know we have catapults here; crossing by pontoon might not work. Yet here they are, going ahead with it anyway. They may have something else planned.”
Li Chi gave a nod.
The young general Zhuo Qinglin said, “Grand General — could it be that they simply have no other option? Their attack is rushed; they couldn’t gather as many boats as last time, so the pontoon bridge is their only choice.”
“Do not underestimate Pei Fanglun.”
“Sometimes,” Xiahou Zuo said, “when many name generals are gathered together in battle, a single commander can outperform the lot of them.”
Last time, Yang Xuanji’s name generals had been plentiful — every one of them a Dachu garrison commander, every one of them seasoned by battle and forged into a name of renown.
Yet Yang Xuanji’s personal presence on campaign — while it appeared to boost morale and ensure unified command — had actually restrained those name generals from using their abilities.
“Last time,” Xiahou Zuo said, “the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s generals were all acting on orders. They had no need to make their own decisions — they simply waited for Yang Xuanji to command. Anyone who acted on his own initiative would have risked displeasing Yang Xuanji.”
Li Chi nodded again.
“And that,” Xiahou Zuo continued, “is precisely why emperors throughout the ages have rarely led campaigns in person. First, because the risk to the emperor himself is too great — should the emperor fall, the foundation of the nation is shaken. Second, because the generals around them are unable to perform at their best, since every matter requires the emperor’s personal approval.”
Li Chi said, “I understand. I’ll keep my mouth shut. I won’t issue any chaotic commands.”
Xiahou Zuo: “…”
He shot Li Chi a look, then smiled. “Next time, just let me understand without announcing it. There’s no need to say it aloud.”
Li Chi: “Hmph… you made it so obvious, if I didn’t say something, you’d accuse me of playing dumb.”
Xiahou Zuo laughed out loud.
Zhuo Qinglin was somewhat startled. He knew General Xiahou and Prince Ning were on very good terms, but he had not expected *this* good.
“This time,” Xiahou Zuo continued, “Pei Fanglun is commanding on his own authority, so this battle will be even harder to win than the last one.”
Zhuo Qinglin clasped his hands. “Grand General, give the order — your subordinate awaits your deployment.”
Li Chi smiled. “This young fellow learns fast.”
Zhuo Qinglin smiled back.
Li Chi turned to his personal guards and said, “Go set up a large drum. In a moment I’ll beat it for the Grand General to boost his fighting spirit.”
On the far bank, the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s pontoon bridge was extending rapidly. In less than an hour it had already reached close to the middle of the river. At this rate, it would not be long before it came within range of Ning Army’s catapults.
Xiahou Zuo said to Zhuo Qinglin, “At the sound of the horn, use the catapults to break their pontoon bridge.”
Zhuo Qinglin immediately received the order, turned, and went back to his rear formation to await the signal.
Xiahou Zuo walked to the front of his own troops and pointed at the enemy across the water. “I led you all the way from Youzhou down south, through Jizhou, and then to Yuzhou — all that marching and rushing, only to arrive here and immediately throw you into a fight. What do you think of that?”
Those men shouted back with enthusiasm: “Couldn’t be better!”
Then came a burst of laughter.
Xiahou Zuo said, “I’m damn proud of every single one of you, because I can brag about you to anyone I meet — tell them that while other generals take pride in following a remarkable commander, I’m a commander who takes pride in following a remarkable bunch of soldiers.”
He called out loudly: “Fight to your hearts’ content — just don’t beat them so badly they soil themselves!”
Another roar of laughter from the men.
“Raise our battle banners high.”
Xiahou Zuo bellowed: “Let the men across the river see clearly — the ones giving them this beating today are *not* Grand General Tang Pidi’s troops. Otherwise they’ll think they got thrashed by Grand General Tang.”
“Hooo!”
The men let out a unified shout.
Watching the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s pontoon bridge pass the midpoint of the river, Xiahou Zuo turned and called out: “Signal runner, to my side!”
The soldier with the horn ran over at once, standing beside Xiahou Zuo with an edge of nervousness.
When the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s pontoon bridge was only a third of the distance from the northern bank, Xiahou Zuo called out: “Sound the horn!”
The young soldier raised the horn at once and blew it skyward, his cheeks puffed out wide.
The moment the horn rang out, the catapults behind them began to stir.
First volley — six stones flew out in nearly parallel arcs.
The catapults certainly numbered more than six; this opening round was a ranging shot to gauge where they landed.
Moments later, several columns of water erupted from the river surface. Of the six stones, only one struck the pontoon bridge.
The bridge cracked apart, and the small boat beneath it was crushed in two.
The spotters began calling out adjustments at once, and the catapults started correcting their angle and direction.
The Heaven’s Mandate Army quickly paddled small boats into position to patch the gap in the bridge.
Out on the river, some larger fishing boats began rowing hard toward the northern bank at speed.
Xiahou Zuo watched through his spyglass, and the more he looked, the more wrong it felt.
Those fishing boats were roughly seven or eight zhang long, some exceeding ten zhang — clearly handpicked for size, rather than used for the pontoon bridge.
Each boat carried at least dozens of soldiers, all rowing hard. These vessels had clearly been modified — the number of oars was far beyond normal.
Every man on every boat was rowing, yet it was obviously not merely for speed; and Xiahou Zuo could see from their movements that rowing seemed to be a real struggle for them.
Dozens of men rowing hard, and still straining?
He shifted the spyglass to the stern of the boats. The hulls were blocking his view, but after a moment he could just make out shapes moving on the water behind them.
“Men behind the boats!”
The realization struck him all at once.
The pontoon bridge was indeed a lure — or rather, not merely a lure; it was simply one of the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s methods of crossing, serving also to draw Ning Army’s catapult fire.
The Heaven’s Mandate Army had surely observed that the catapults were devastating in power, but slow — both in rate of fire and when pivoting to change direction.
So they had deliberately built the pontoon bridge to bait Ning Army into locking the catapults onto a fixed position, then beyond the catapults’ range, the large fishing boats began surging forward.
Behind each large fishing boat, ropes were attached to long, narrow planks of wood — dozens or even over a hundred planks trailing from each vessel, with soldiers lying flat on every plank. Those men were also paddling hard with their hands and feet, yet the boats still labored under the weight.
Other fishing boats trailed no planks but dragged clusters of ropes behind them, with Heaven’s Mandate Army soldiers clinging to the ropes to be towed across.
The danger was obvious — some men were choked by the wake churned up by the boats, others lost their grip and were swept away — but the great majority held on and made it through.
The Heaven’s Mandate Army had identified the two weaknesses of Ning Army’s catapults: first, their pivot was slow — once aimed at the pontoon bridge position, they would not be easily redirected. Second, the catapults wore themselves out rapidly; after too many shots, they would break down.
Southern bank.
Pei Fanglun raised his spyglass and watched. His troops had already advanced to within less than thirty zhang of the northern bank. Now the heaviest phase of resistance was about to begin.
On the northern bank, Ning Army’s archery formations opened up — waves of arrows blanketed the river surface, dense as a violent downpour.
Soldiers on the boats fell in showers, many never to rise again; the boats drifted and stalled, while the Heaven’s Mandate soldiers in the water behind them began clambering up onto the decks to take the oars and push on.
However well the Heaven’s Mandate Army prepared, the attacking side crossing under arrow cover from a defensive line could never sustain low casualties. But this kind of assault guaranteed that the first wave to reach the northern bank would do so in significant numbers.
Meanwhile, on the pontoon bridge side, the Heaven’s Mandate Army continued building forward — whenever a section was destroyed behind them, men moved up to patch it, while those at the front just kept extending.
On the southern bank, Pei Fanglun’s eyes had narrowed. He was waiting to see Xiahou Zuo’s countermove.
Xiahou Zuo’s countermove was… attack!
At a single command from Xiahou Zuo, several hundred bare-bodied men, short blades clenched between their teeth, leapt into the river.
These men were the best swimmers in the Ning Army, handpicked by Xiahou Zuo after he arrived.
Besides the short blades between their teeth, each man carried an oil flask strapped to his back.
They moved through the water like fish, closing swiftly on the pontoon bridge and the Heaven’s Mandate Army’s boats.
Not long after, the Heaven’s Mandate soldiers drifting on their planks and clinging to ropes were suddenly yanked under one by one, and blood came welling up from below in dark plumes.
Planks were upended. Ropes were slashed.
Oil flasks were smashed against the pontoon bridge and against the enemy’s boats — filled with combustible fire oil.
Several hundred men could not stop an army that enormous, but several hundred men could set the pontoon bridge ablaze, and the enemy’s boats ablaze.
Moments later, fire arrows streaked out from the Ning Army line like a meteor shower.
—