Chapter 481: Chen Jue's Timid Watch: Observing Success and Failure

In fact, the day before Liu Chengyou moved his troops, the Tang army encamped by the banks of the Fei River had already grown tense, because Han Tong, Chief Commander of the Tieqi Army, had led troops to hunt down and eliminate the Tang army's roaming cavalry. The Southern Tang had always lacked warhorses, and formed cavalry units were even rarer. Previously, when Liu Yanzhen came to reinforce, two thousand Tang elite cavalry had accompanied the army into battle and been wiped out completely; during the rout, they were pursued and annihilated by the Han general Shi Yanchao, nearly to the last man.

For this campaign, Chen Jue's army still had over a thousand cavalry. Apart from five hundred kept in reserve with the main force, all the rest had been sent out to scout enemy movements and patrol the surrounding area.

Han Tong, acting on Liu Chengyou's orders, personally led two thousand armored cavalry of the Palace Command in a sudden push south, catching and slaughtering those Tang horsemen roaming outside. The Tang horses were no match for Han horses, their men no match for Han soldiers, and facing Han Tong's fierce wolf-like riders with their superb horsemanship and sharp tactics, they were suddenly struck by a targeted blow—how could they possibly be a match?

Learning of the Han army's sudden move, Chen Jue was stunned for a moment, only sensing that something was wrong. Without a second thought, he hastily issued orders for the remaining Tang cavalry to return to camp—leaving them outside would only mean being slaughtered by the Han riders. In this way, Liu Chengyou's goal of blinding and deafening the enemy was achieved. Without the convenience of scout cavalry, gathering information across the Fei River plain would not be so easy, especially with Han cavalry roaming about, watching hungrily.

A distance of forty li was truly not far. Even marching at a relaxed pace to conserve strength, two hours would suffice to reach it. Han Tong led the vanguard, having already completed his assigned combat mission and proactively reconnoitered the surrounding terrain and the Tang camp's situation.

When the Son of Heaven personally led the great army of infantry and cavalry to arrive, Han Tong specially brought men to welcome him and personally reported the battle results: "Your Majesty, your servant led the Tieqi Army through a full day of pursuit and fierce combat, cutting down a total of four hundred and sixteen Tang cavalry. Now their scout riders have been completely swept away—within twenty li in every direction, there are no more Tang eyes and ears!"

"Well done!" Liu Chengyou praised.

Facing the Son of Heaven's compliment, Han Tong could not help but beam with smiles and let out a great sigh of relief. In this southern campaign, all the army's officers and men had earned some merit—only he, Han Tong, Chief General of the Tieqi Army, had not achieved a single feat, which truly harmed his reputation. This battle's accomplishments were like a man long parched finally getting his first taste of water.

"How has the Tang army reacted?" Liu Chengyou asked Han Tong.

"Chen Jue's army has shrunk back into its camp, on the defensive!" Han Tong reported. "Additionally, there is another Tang force to the south, presumably Xu Wenzhen's, currently advancing northward. I personally went to investigate—there are many pack horses and carts, and numerous laborers. It must be the Tang army's rear supply train, so heavily laden that its advance is especially slow!"

"This Chen Jue—just how much military supply has he prepared this time!"

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou immediately said to Murong Yanzhao: "Order the three armies to stand by on alert and rest, recover their strength, and await orders. Minister Wang and Han Tong, come with me to scout the Tang camp!"

Hearing this, Han Tong immediately urged: "Your Majesty bears the responsibility for the three armies and the weight of the state—how could you lightly place yourself in danger? Leave the camp reconnaissance to your servant!"

Liu Chengyou waved his hand, stubbornly: "Say no more. I will go see for myself!"

Soon, under the protection of the Fengchen Battalion, the group rode swiftly toward the Tang camp. They made no attempt to conceal their movements—on the open fields before the Tang camp, they displayed their banners openly, riding back and forth to survey, galloping freely with almost no regard for the Tang camp, displaying great arrogance.

Northeast of the Tang camp lay a stretch of low, flat hills, leaning against the Shungeng mountain range. After surveying the Tang camp's layout, Liu Chengyou pointed at those hills: "Those hills, though lacking in natural danger, can still serve as a defensive reliance. Why did the Tang army set up camp by the river instead?"

"Perhaps for the convenience of drawing water!" Han Tong said.

"Not necessarily!" Liu Chengyou said, then looked at Wang Jun, who was accompanying them: "What does Minister Wang think?"

Wang Jun had also been carefully observing the enemy camp. Hearing the question, he thought for a moment, then pointed at where the Tang camp stood: "That stretch of mudflat has soft soil—not ground for our iron cavalry to gallop across. The Tang army set up camp there, I suspect, precisely to guard against our infantry and cavalry charging!"

Liu Chengyou nodded slightly, acknowledging Wang Jun's view: "So it seems this Chen Jue is not entirely useless—at least he knows to adapt to local conditions!"

"However, with the Tang camp pitched by the water's edge, its foundation must be unstable!" Wang Jun added abruptly.

Liu Chengyou nodded, staring at that vast military camp Chen Jue had built, his gaze gradually growing firm. He turned his horse around and said one phrase: "That's enough. Let's go back!"

Returning to the main army, Liu Chengyou immediately ordered the entire force to advance and pitch camp five li from the Tang camp. He then took out a piece of white silk, picked up his brush, and wrote a letter. Handing it to Zhang Yongde, he instructed: "Send someone to the Tang camp to meet Chen Jue in person. Tell him that I have personally led an army of twenty thousand south, and invite him to the banks of the Fei River, where both sides will array their forces and fight a fair battle!"

Zhang Yongde tucked away the letter, then could not help asking Liu Chengyou hesitantly: "Your Majesty, will the Tang army accept the challenge?"

"Perhaps?" Liu Chengyou said casually. "Go!"

"Yes!"

Over at the Tang camp, when Liu Chengyou personally came to scout, Chen Jue had gone up to the watchtower to observe. He had no desire to fight to begin with, and upon seeing the Fengchen Battalion soldiers armed to the teeth, his interest dropped even further.

In the central command tent, after sending off the Han general who had delivered the letter, Chen Jue held Liu Chengyou's challenge in his hands and read it, his brows knitted high. On it was only a single flamboyantly written character: "Fight!"—plus an incomprehensible symbol: "?"

"Lord Chen, the Han emperor personally leads a great army south to challenge us—should we accept?" a junior officer below asked.

Observing his demeanor, Chen Jue asked: "Judging by the General's manner, you wish to fight the Han army?"

That junior officer said: "The Han army at Shouchun totals no more than thirty or forty thousand, yet they dare to divide their forces to oppose us even while besieging the city—utterly arrogant, and they slight our army far too much! If we accept, array our troops and horses, and use heavy crossbows, caltrops, and wagon formations to fight them, with our army's numbers and strength, who wins and who loses is still uncertain! Even if we don't defeat them, if we can just blunt their momentum, we can then advance on Shouchun and, joining with Lord He for a pincer attack from inside and out, defeat the Han army!"

"No!" Before Chen Jue could react to the officer's words, Xian Vice Minister immediately raised clear opposition: "Lord Chen, there is likely treachery in the Han emperor's letter. We must not lightly engage him in battle!"

"Has Lord Xian seen through the deception in it?" Chen Jue asked.

Xian Vice Minister shook his head very frankly: "Forgive my dull eyes—it's just that having fought many battles, my intuition tells me something is wrong here. In my view, for safety's sake, we should hold fast to the main camp, sit back and watch the Han army's movements, then plan our response. If we rashly join battle and something goes wrong, the consequences are more than you or I can bear!"

"Could it be that Governor Xian has lost so many battles in Hunan that he's grown timid? Didn't we send troops north precisely to fight?" There was always someone whose head wasn't clear.

"How dare you!" Chen Jue angrily rebuked, coming to Xian Vice Minister's defense: "You dare show disrespect to a senior general? Apologize to Lord Xian at once!"

Regardless, the one who made the final decision was still Chen Jue. He pondered for quite a while, picked up the challenge letter and looked at it again, sensing that between those sharp strokes of the brush lurked something vicious. In the end, he made up his mind and said: "Pay it no heed for now. Pass the order to all camps: strictly guard the camp walls, no one leaves camp!"

A bit later, the Tang camp's watchtower reported that a band of Han cavalry had skirted around the camp and headed south. This news immediately drew Chen Jue's attention. He summoned Xian Vice Minister to discuss it: "What does the Han army mean by this? I have a feeling of dread, my heart leaping with alarm!"

"Xu Wenzhen's army!" The two did not think long before Xian Vice Minister suddenly said.

Chen Jue immediately slapped his forehead, startled: "It must be so! Xu Wenzhen is lagging behind, a full two days' march away. The Han cavalry heading south—I fear he doesn't know the situation up north. If he's unprepared and suddenly attacked, how could he possibly hold out!"

Xian Vice Minister said: "Lord Chen, Xu Wenzhen's army is escorting nearly half of our army's supplies. It cannot be lost—we must warn him!"

"There's no time to worry about that now. We'll take the risk—release all the carrier pigeons in the army!" Chen Jue said with some agitation, instructing his subordinates: "The Han cavalry have already gone south. With their speed, it likely won't take half a day before they can strike at Xu Wenzhen's army!"

"Even so, I still can't rest easy! Xu Wenzhen's army has many auxiliary troops and civilian laborers—those people have almost no combat capability and may well become a burden!" Xian Vice Minister said.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Jue said: "Originally I planned to advance in two batches, supporting each other, and thought there would be no problem. I never expected it would instead give the Han cavalry an opening. This was a failure of my planning!"

"Lord Chen!" Suddenly, Xian Vice Minister looked at Chen Jue and made a request: "The Han camp is only five or six li north of ours. Now that the Han cavalry have gone south, the forces around the Han emperor should be even weaker. I wonder if Lord Chen dares to gamble—send out troops in concentrated force, strike directly at the Han camp and break it. Then no matter what happens to Xu Wenzhen's army, if we can devour that Han force, we're sure to break the deadlock!"

Hearing Xian Vice Minister's suggestion, a flicker of temptation crossed Chen Jue's face. He unconsciously stroked his beard, twisting it as he thought. Soon that flicker of temptation vanished. Chen Jue shook his head: "No, I cannot take such a risk. The court has placed this great army in my hands—I cannot afford a single misstep. What if this is a Han army trick!"

Watching the strange expression that slipped across Chen Jue's face, Xian Vice Minister could see it was clearly fear of battle. Though he felt a slight contempt, Xian Vice Minister also couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief inwardly. His proposal to attack had only been a fleeting thought that crossed his mind. Being able to avoid battle and hold the camp walls firmly wasn't bad either...

"Then what about Xu Wenzhen's army?" Xian Vice Minister asked.

A helpless look appeared on Chen Jue's face. He spread his hands and sat down: "We can only hope those beasts can get the military intelligence through. Besides, isn't Xu Wenzhen said to be skilled at commanding troops and handling matters steadily? I already ordered him to advance cautiously—I can only hope he's careful!"