Meizhu Stream originated from the western foot of Jieling Mountain. Though the stream was shallow with slow currents, it was the border river between Runzhou and Xuanzhou, flowing west into Jingzhao Prefecture territory.
The first ten days of the eighth month were already mid-autumn, though the weather south of the Yangtze River had not yet completely cooled. The fierce midday sun still brought scorching heat. In the shallow valley sheltered by low mountains on Meizhu Stream’s south bank, broken weapons and banners lay everywhere, corpses sprawled in every direction.
Blood seeped into the black soil and congealed. Even the breeze blowing between heaven and earth carried a faint stench of blood.
Seeing the Chishan Army soldiers on the south bank crossing back toward Nantang Stockade in withdrawal, Yin Peng felt no wild joy at having repelled the Chishan Army in this moment. That their own soldiers hadn’t collapsed was already fortunate—they had no capability left to pursue and engage. The Chishan Army, still having strength remaining, choosing to actively withdraw into Nantang Stockade at this time represented a fact they were extremely unwilling to see had already occurred!
In the more distant direction, a column of black smoke rose straight up, apparently transmitting some signal.
Yin Peng looked toward Wang Wenqian with a sense of loss. Had Langxi City fallen so quickly?
Even though Gu Zhilong’s elite household troops had been lured away from the mountain, Langxi City still had over four thousand Xuanzhou troops defending it.
Moreover, Gu Zhilong had previously personally stationed himself in Langxi for several months—he couldn’t possibly have accomplished nothing. How could Langxi’s defenses be so weak that it fell after holding for just over a day?
At this moment, a dozen scouts came galloping on horseback from the rear:
“His Highness personally leads the Silver Halberd Guard troops and is coming. Less than ten li from here, he orders you to fully entangle the Chishan Army on the south bank!”
The scout reined in his mount. Though the weather had turned cool, his horse was drenched in hot sweat from such a wild gallop, beads of sweat shaking off like rain.
Hearing this news, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen looked at the Chishan Army on the south bank, already half withdrawn into Nantang Stockade. A bitter, unwilling feeling that made them want to wring their hands gnawed at their hearts.
Missing by a hair’s breadth leads to an error of a thousand li!
If the Langxi City garrison had held out a moment longer without falling, if the Chishan Army on the south bank had delayed withdrawing to Nantang Stockade a moment longer, or if His Highness could have arrived a moment earlier, the eight hundred Silver Halberd Guard troops would certainly have been like an incomparably sharp blade, dismembering the six to seven thousand Chishan Army troops on the south bank into fragments and annihilating them before first capturing Nantang Stockade.
Even if Han Qian captured Langxi City first, he would have depleted troops and exhausted officers. They could then use Nantang Stockade as a springboard, and after joining with the main Xuanzhou forces, turn around and besiege the Chishan Army remnants trapped in Langxi City.
How should they fight now?
In the warfare that erupted over just two short days, the Chishan Army’s casualties were extremely heavy. Just on the south bank of Meizhu Stream, the Chishan Army left behind two thousand corpses, with wounded probably exceeding that number as well. The casualties from the Chishan Army’s assault on Langxi City and interception of Xuancheng reinforcements at Honglin Pier should be no less than this number.
But no matter what, the Chishan Army still had seventeen to eighteen thousand combat-capable troops on the eastern front in the short term.
Neither they nor the Xuanzhou troops had managed to hold Langxi City or rout any of the intercepting Chishan Army forces. What should they do next?
True, the Chishan Army had suffered heavy casualties—at least over four thousand casualties—to intercept them on the north bank of Meizhu Stream. But after joining with reinforcements from the eastern front, the forces now withdrawing into Nantang Stockade in good order still numbered nearly seven thousand.
And their own casualty situation here wasn’t necessarily any better than the Chishan Army’s.
Including reinforcements rushed from Jintan, Yangxian, and Danyang, they had also committed over eleven thousand troops total to this valley area over three to four li wide west of Nantang Stockade and south of Meizhu Stream, but casualties also reached four thousand.
In other words, they had merely fought to a draw on the battlefield with a considerable number of elite troops against the Chishan Army?
Now the Chishan Army could withdraw to Nantang Stockade to rest and reorganize. Their exhausted remnant troops withdrawing to the north bank of Meizhu Stream to rest were utterly fatigued, with morale and fighting spirit extremely low. That they hadn’t completely collapsed was mainly because the Chuzhou Army’s veteran soldiers had strong tenacity, but their overall condition was even worse than the Chishan Army on the south bank—on the verge of collapse, urgently needing to withdraw to Liyang City to rest and reorganize.
They couldn’t possibly expect His Highness leading a mere eight hundred Silver Halberd Guard troops to assault and capture Nantang Stockade, could they?
The Xuancheng reinforcements that Gu Zhilong had sent to attack Honglin Pier from the south should also be exhausted. With Langxi City now fallen, this was also a devastating blow to the morale of the Xuancheng reinforcements in the short term. At this time they could only be forced to first retreat to Xuancheng, with no capability to continue fighting in the short term.
The Chishan Army’s tenacity was too strong. It was truly unimaginable that these base lives and lowly breeds dared to fight so desperately, completely disregarding their own lives.
With Langxi City fallen and the Chuzhou Army and Xuanzhou troops forced to withdraw, this would not only greatly boost the Chishan Army’s morale but also give them an extremely rare breathing space, allowing them to use the supplies captured in Langxi City to rapidly restore their vitality, perhaps even making the Chishan Army’s combat effectiveness exceed its previous level.
After all, the Chishan Army’s previous supply conditions had been so difficult and crude.
But if not this way, what else could be done?
Wang Wenqian deeply regretted that even if his suggestion to blockade the Chishan Army’s eastern flank had not been adopted initially, after the Chishan Army advanced south to Fuyu Mountain, he should have insisted on increasing the southern front garrison to over twenty thousand men.
If they had an additional ten thousand elite troops here at this time, the outcome would definitely be completely different!
But what use was regret?
Since the Chishan Army had not completely withdrawn into Nantang Stockade, Wang Wenqian and Zhao Zhen had to stay and watch here. They couldn’t personally go to welcome Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan.
One incense stick later, thousands of horse hooves trampled the earth on the north bank of Meizhu Stream like a violent storm.
Yang Yuanyan hadn’t expected that even personally leading his personal guard to rush here, he was still ultimately one step too slow. Looking at the Chishan Army with only a small number of soldiers still remaining outside Nantang Stockade on the south bank, he angrily thrust his lance hard into the soft mud of the stream bank.
“Your Highness, please give this humble minister eight hundred cavalry!” Wang Wenqian said.
“…” Yang Yuanyan looked at Wang Wenqian in confusion.
“Before Langxi City was attacked, Gu Zhilong sent someone to request aid and pledge allegiance under Your Highness’s command. But Langxi City has now likely fallen, and Gu Zhilong may change his mind at any time,” Wang Wenqian said. “At this moment, the Chishan Army should not yet have the capability to blockade the passage between the west bank of Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain. This humble minister must rush to Xuancheng to see Gu Zhilong and finalize this matter to prevent him from changing his mind!”
At this moment, Gu Zhilong might wish he could skin Han Qian alive and devour him raw, but faced with harsh reality—especially since the Chuzhou Army temporarily had no capability to launch a large-scale attack on the Chishan Army from the north to help Gu Zhilong retake Langxi City, and the Xuanzhou troops’ remnants would be nearly pinched by the Chishan Army on the interior lines south of Nanyi Lake—Wang Wenqian truly had no confidence he could guarantee Gu Zhilong wouldn’t submit to Yueyang and the Chishan Army’s military force.
If that really happened, the situation on the southern front would be too terrible for the Chuzhou Army—possibly the most devastating blow the Chuzhou Army had suffered since crossing the river, which would trigger a series of uncontrollable chain reactions.
Now, requesting to lead eight hundred cavalry to rush to Xuancheng, besides strengthening the Xuanzhou troops’ confidence and strength in resisting the Chishan Army, there was another point: even if he couldn’t require Gu Zhilong to first send some family members to Dantu as hostages, he must urge Gu Zhilong to immediately execute Han Wenhuan, Han Daochang, Han Jun, and others who had fallen into his hands, ensuring Gu Zhilong absolutely could not turn toward Yueyang.
If they could accomplish this step, even if the Chishan Army temporarily seized Langxi City, it wouldn’t necessarily mean the Chuzhou Army had definitely failed on the southern front.
Hearing Wang Wenqian explain these points, Yang Yuanyan could also realize the severity of the situation.
Zhao Zhen’s cavalry had fought until now with fewer than four hundred still able to continue combat. Yang Yuanyan was about to transfer four hundred from the Silver Halberd Guard troops for Wang Wenqian to take to Xuancheng to see Gu Zhilong when several mounted scouts came riding around from the southwest mountain ridges.
“Langxi City has been captured by the Chishan Army, but apart from the wounded, the Chishan Army’s besieging forces show no intention of entering Langxi City to rest and reorganize. Over four thousand remnant troops are escorting a batch of siege engines directly toward Honglin Pier to the south—additionally, large forces from the Guangde direction are currently moving toward Langxi City and will enter Langxi City in one hour!” The scout, without time to drink even a mouthful of water, with a smoking throat, reported the intelligence from the southern front to Yang Yuanyan and Wang Wenqian.
“Han Qian intends to continue attacking Xuancheng? Where does he still have troops to mobilize from the eastern front?” Yang Yuanyan’s face, dark as water, now also gasped in shock.
The Chishan Army had previously assembled thirty thousand troops. On the eve of launching the surprise attack on Langxi, they left three thousand troops on the eastern front at Jiudu Mountain and Xianshan Lake to cooperate with the four thousand Qiuhu Army troops led by that coward Li Pu to guard against movements from the Huzhou direction. But except for leaving over a thousand garrison troops at Guangde Stockade, in just two short days, Han Qian had committed nearly twenty-six thousand of the Chishan Army’s main force to three battlefields on the western front.
It could be said that in the surprise attack battle on Langxi City, Han Qian had squeezed dry all the Chishan Army’s troop strength.
In two days of fierce combat, the Chishan Army’s casualties were at least over eight thousand. Of the remaining seventeen to eighteen thousand exhausted troops, seven thousand were at Nantang Stockade, with just over ten thousand remnant and exhausted troops along the Langxi-Honglin Pier line. On what basis could Han Qian continue attacking Xuancheng, and how could there possibly be more troops on the eastern front for him to continue mobilizing to the western front?
“Han Qian may not necessarily be eager to forcibly capture Xuancheng immediately. His first step only needs to block our passage into Xuancheng to contact and join with Gu Zhilong.”
Wang Wenqian’s heart filled with a sense of powerlessness at this moment.
Yes, how could Han Qian possibly be satisfied just capturing Langxi City?
Yes, after the Chishan Army demonstrated exceptional combat capability, how could Han Qian sit and watch Gu Zhilong pledge allegiance to the Chuzhou Army and continue threatening the Chishan Army’s western flank?
How could someone of Han Qian’s caliber fail to see the strategic significance of opening the Xuan-She passage and then connecting Rao, Hong, and Yuan Prefectures to reach Hengzhou?
Wang Wenqian said bitterly.
“The Chishan Army is no different from a refugee army. Old, weak, women, and children, regardless of whether they’re robust or not, can all be mobilized. And at this time, Han Qian only needs to rally another group of women and children to help him defend cities for two or three more days—and the most serious mistake we’ve made in the past was severely underestimating Han Qian’s ability to mobilize and organize the old, weak, women, and children…”
Currently Zhao Zhen’s troops were exhausted soldiers with excessively heavy casualties and morale at rock bottom. That they hadn’t collapsed was already extremely fortunate.
Yang Yuanyan’s eight hundred Silver Halberd Guard troops could fight, but they had already rushed nearly two hundred li on muddy roads. If they continued rushing another hundred li and collided with the Chishan Army north of Xuancheng, what would their odds of victory be?
Moreover, if Zhao Zhen led his remnants to withdraw to Liyang to rest and reorganize, Han Qian could mobilize two to three thousand combat-capable troops from Nantang Stockade to move south. At that point, even if Gu Zhilong dared lead Xuancheng’s five to six thousand remnant troops out of the city to fight, what would the odds of victory be?
If this had been before yesterday, Wang Wenqian would have advised Prince Xin to take a gamble. After all, the Silver Halberd Guard troops’ combat tenacity was unimaginable for ordinary elite forces. But now Wang Wenqian retreated—he truly didn’t know how much more potential the ragged Chishan Army still had that Han Qian could squeeze out.
Once these base lives and lowly breeds’ fearless ferocity erupted, that was unimaginable combat power—just like the Dragon Sparrow Army back then. Who could have imagined when defending Xichuan they could withstand such prolonged bloody siege by the Liang Army’s elite forces?
In this battle on the south bank of Meizhu Stream, the Chishan Army’s casualties were even heavier than theirs, but even so, morale remained extremely high. It was only that their soldiers’ physical strength was too depleted and their bodies too weak—otherwise this battle would definitely have seen them fleeing in defeat back to Liyang.
Who could have imagined this before the battle?
Only, if they didn’t send troops to Xuanzhou now to join with Gu Zhilong, after two or three days, the entire line from Nantang Stockade to Langxi City to Honglin Pier—even the strategic passes between Nanyi Lake and Jilong Mountain—would all be firmly grasped in the Chishan Army’s hands. Wouldn’t Gu Zhilong’s contact with the northern front be completely severed then?
Could it be that the Chuzhou Army’s main force at this time could completely disregard the threat from the Shouzhou Army and Southern Court Forbidden Army and boldly shift their main forces south?