Even if one could deduce Emperor Zhu Yu of Liang’s true intentions, breaking through this situation would be extremely difficult.
Needless to say for Huaidong—even for Han Qian to slightly open up the situation in Tangyi, he would have to fill the gap with countless lives.
Cooperation with Huaidong had been established as the foundation when the newly built Chishan Association needed Huaidong’s support, and at this time it appeared even more important for both sides.
Not only did Huaidong’s western flank defense line need Tangyi’s existence, but if Huaidong’s troops stationed in Yangzhou and Dongyang could extend their military might slightly westward from the north and south banks of Fanliang Lake, it would likewise reduce the pressure Tangyi bore.
Both sides had a relationship where if one perished, the other would follow.
Thinking of this, Han Qian said to Yin Peng: “Feng Liao is here. Whatever requests Prince Xin has, Chief of Staff Yin can discuss them with him.”
At this moment, drums and gongs sounded loudly from the north bank. Yin Peng couldn’t help but fix his gaze there, not rushing to find Feng Liao to discuss specific cooperation matters.
Three days ago, under the cover of naval warships, Feng Xuan had led three thousand armored soldiers westward along the southern bank of the Chu River, establishing a camp at the northwestern foot of Daci Mountain, while Shouzhou forces had already stationed over a thousand elite troops in a village stronghold on the opposite bank at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain.
What Han Qian sought was naturally not to be satisfied with dividing the Chu River as a boundary with Shouzhou.
After Feng Xuan led his troops to establish camp on the southern bank, today with the assistance of the naval camp, he directly deployed forces to land on the northern bank’s river beach, intending to capture the camp Shouzhou forces had built at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain, in order to control Tingzi Mountain, which stood on the northern bank of the Chu River, extended ten li east to west, and rose over a hundred zhang high.
When Yin Peng arrived at the main Tingshan camp, Han Qian was standing on the southern bank’s river beach observing the battle, so he was more or less able to witness firsthand the entire intense and brutal battle between Tangyi troops and Shouzhou forces that day.
Initially, Huaidong’s people were very worried that Han Qian would not actively engage on the north bank to preserve his strength, but ten days ago, in order to establish a camp at the mouth of the Puyang River where it flowed into the Chu River, Han Qian had fought extensively with Shouzhou forces led by Wen Bo and Zhao Mingting at the river mouth over thirty li away, on a scale that was already considerable, completely putting Huaidong’s mind at ease.
Yin Peng had also long known many details from intelligence reports sent back by scouts.
In the battle at the Puyang River mouth, Tangyi troops still occupied a certain geographical advantage.
After all, when Wen Bo led elite infantry to arrive preparing for a frontal assault, Tangyi troops had first established certain camp trench defenses at the north bank river mouth, and utilizing their advantages in armor and weapons, they dealt Shouzhou forces a heavy blow, ultimately forcing the main Shouzhou forces to retreat into Chuzhou City, watching as Tangyi troops established themselves at the Puyang River mouth.
Yin Peng had thought Han Qian should be content with such a victory, and subsequently only needed to divide forces to establish camps on the southern bank of the Chu River, the western foot of Daci Mountain, and the eastern bank of the Wushou River that branched off from the Chu River into the Yangtze, which would roughly allow them to control the area extending nearly a hundred li eastward to Tangyi, including Daci Mountain.
Although the court permitted Han Qian to organize twenty thousand regular soldiers in Tangyi, Han Qian only had three thousand elite troops as a foundation in Xuzhou. Even if he could recruit able-bodied men from former Left Guangde Army troops and refugees to expand the military, in Yin Peng’s view, it would take at least half a year before Tangyi troops could truly reveal their sharp, man-eating fangs.
However, Yin Peng hadn’t expected that after Han Qian had three thousand armored infantry establish camp on the southern bank of the Chu River’s Tingzi Mountain section for barely three days, he would again deploy forces to attack the Shouzhou military camp on the north bank.
Although Shouzhou forces had no naval camp available in Chuzhou, and although the Shouzhou military camp at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain was quite crude, compared to the battle at Puyang River mouth, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides had completely reversed.
Besides having over a thousand infantry defending the camp, Shouzhou forces also had over a thousand cavalry assembled to the north and east that could directly attack, causing Tangyi troops landing on the river beach and attacking outward to face enemies on two fronts, with heavy casualties.
Yet Han Qian disregarded these casualties. After the troops gained a firm foothold on the river beach, he required Feng Xuan, who commanded the battle on the north bank, to decisively extend their military might northward and attack through the night the enemy camp located slightly further north.
At this moment, Yin Peng could see warships continuously transporting soldiers, weapons, and various supplies from the east. He was secretly alarmed—by the looks of it, Han Qian intended to launch another brutal battle involving over ten thousand men at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain.
This was only three days after the battle at Puyang River mouth ended!
Compared to the battle at Puyang River mouth, Tangyi troops at the southern foot of Tingzi Mountain could no longer gain any advantage. From what Yin Peng witnessed this afternoon, the afternoon battle was extremely fierce. Tangyi troops only held an advantage in armor and weapons; in all other aspects they were at a disadvantage. As the fighting continued to now, Tangyi troops’ casualties should be even more severe.
Yin Peng couldn’t fathom what Han Qian’s intentions were. Although the fiercer the fighting here, the more it would undoubtedly relieve the pressure Huaidong faced, he couldn’t help but worry that Han Qian’s military tactics were too aggressive—once they failed, they would suffer a fierce counterattack from Shouzhou forces and ultimately wouldn’t even be able to defend Tangyi City.
That would be too disastrous.
However, Yin Peng also knew that no matter how worried he was, there was no room for him to interject.
The battle situation was urgent; neither side had the leisure to beat around the bush.
As darkness fell, Yin Peng, accompanied by his entourage, first followed Feng Liao into the camp to discuss boundary issues between their defense zones and various cooperation matters.
This discussion lasted all night, while the sounds of slaughter from the north bank never ceased, carried to the south bank mingled with the bitter cold wind.
When daylight brightened and the sounds of slaughter from the north bank gradually subsided, Yin Peng thought both sides had temporarily suspended fierce combat to rest and reorganize.
The matters discussed last night still required Feng Liao to report to Han Qian before there would be a relatively formal letter for Yin Peng to bring back to Yangzhou and deliver to Wang Wenqian.
So Yin Peng followed Feng Liao out of the camp to the river embankment to find Han Qian.
However, Han Qian was no longer at the embankment. When they climbed onto the embankment and looked north, they saw black smoke billowing from the enemy camp at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain, and in the farther distance, over two thousand Shouzhou troops were slowly retreating northward toward Chuzhou City.
Seeing this scene, Yin Peng couldn’t help but stand there stunned. After fighting for just one night, Tangyi troops had captured the enemy camp at Tingzi Mountain?
Shouldn’t the soldiers defending the camp at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain all be elite garrison troops Wen Bo had transferred from Chaozhou?
These crack troops and capable generals, under Wen Bo’s command, had withstood Li Zhigao’s offensive and defended Chaozhou City for over half a year without showing fatigue—how could they so easily abandon the camp at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain?
Yin Peng followed Feng Liao aboard an oared boat to land on the north bank. Especially near the camp at the eastern foot of Tingzi Mountain, the battlefield had not yet been cleared. Large swaths of corpses were piled everywhere in disarray, and the crude, incomplete stockade walls were stained with blood.
Roughly estimating, to attack a crude camp of only three to four hundred paces in circumference, over a thousand officers and soldiers had died in battle. The fighting could already be said to be quite brutal.
Entering the camp, one could also see that Shouzhou forces had suffered considerable casualties, but it was still evident they had suffered far fewer than Tangyi troops.
Shouzhou forces held a considerable advantage in troop strength in Chuzhou, and their casualties while defending were also somewhat fewer—so why had they abandoned the stronghold and retreated north?
Yin Peng, after all, was battle-tested. After being puzzled for a moment, when he climbed onto the damaged stockade wall and took in the battlefield more completely, he understood what had happened.
At the positions where Tangyi troops had set up whirlwind trebuchets, the blood was especially thick and corpses were piled high. One could see that to prevent Tangyi troops from setting up whirlwind trebuchets outside the camp, Shouzhou forces had multiple times sallied forth from the stronghold for fierce counterattacks.
It was hard to imagine that in such a small-scale battle to seize a stronghold, over thirty whirlwind trebuchets had been burned and destroyed in a single night.
However, Yin Peng was also very clear about how dense Tangyi troops’ crossbow fire was, so it wasn’t difficult to imagine what terrible price the defenders had to pay to burn these thirty-plus whirlwind trebuchets.
Had the defenders felt unable to continue limiting Tangyi troops from setting up whirlwind trebuchets outside the stockade, and chosen to abandon it and retreat north because the camp was too small to withstand trebuchet bombardment?
Thinking of this, Yin Peng examined the traces on the battlefield more carefully, and could tell from the marks left on the stockade walls and inside and outside the camp that even with arrows, those used by Tangyi troops were several times denser than those of the defenders.
Apart from the burned trebuchets, the various war chariots and war machines destroyed on the battlefield were basically all Tangyi troops’.
If Han Qian used elite veteran soldiers for the beach assault and camp attack, and held an absolute advantage in crossbows and war machines, casualties couldn’t possibly be higher than the defenders’. Of course, Han Qian had very limited elite veteran soldiers, and no matter how limited the casualties, they couldn’t withstand the consumption of several hundred or even over a thousand men per battle—unless Han Qian had used all newly recruited soldiers from among the refugees?
Yin Peng began to understand.
Kindness does not command armies. Han Qian could recruit only limited elite veteran soldiers, so he could only use new recruits with excellent armor and war machines to fight a war of attrition with Shouzhou forces.
By comparison, the Shouzhou forces initially assembled in Chuzhou were all elite troops with an advantage in troop scale, but were short on supplies. Using elite veteran soldiers to fight a war of attrition with Tangyi troops’ new recruits was simply too costly.
This was why they chose to retreat out of necessity, wasn’t it?
Even understanding this point, when Yin Peng heard Feng Liao mention that casualties in this battle exceeded sixteen hundred men, he was still secretly shocked.
“There are four to five thousand remnant soldiers and nearly twenty thousand civilians in Wujian Mountain. Taking down Tingzi Mountain will allow these troops and people to withdraw under cover of night. Although casualties in this battle were severe, it was still worthwhile,” Feng Liao told Yin Peng.
Tingzi Mountain was still over thirty li from the southern range of Wujian Mountain, but with Tangyi troops establishing a firm position at Tingzi Mountain, and Shouzhou forces lacking the supplies to establish camps in open areas, no matter how strong their troops were, it would be difficult to conduct an airtight blockade of the southern foot of the Wujian Mountain range before Tangyi troops’ military might.
Therefore, it would be much easier for the military and civilians in the Wujian Mountain range to break through under cover of night.
Of course, Feng Liao emphasized this point to Yin Peng because even Huaidong did not want them to guess too early what the ultimate intention here was…