Chapter 705: No More War in Hunan

The summer morning was exceptionally dry and crisp, the sun slowly climbing, its bright rays scattering down in silken threads upon the Chu army camp at Chengling Pass—clearly, it would be a fine day.

The Chu camp lay in scattered disarray, wounded on every side, smoke-blackened and fire-scorched, with corpses strewn about and a pungent stench still hanging in the air. To ensure a safe retreat, Zhou Xingfeng had made ample preparations—besides leaving behind a rearguard force, he had spread dry hay across the camp and roads and doused them with oil. An ambush and a great blaze had indeed delayed the Han army's pursuit.

Stepping onto Chengling Pass, Han Tong's face was full of exhaustion. Looking down at the low earthen wall beneath his feet, he could not help cursing: "This Zhou Xingfeng, he just won't stay still—won't even let me get a good night's sleep!"

"Army Supervisor, though the Chu army was prepared in advance, in the end they withdrew in haste!" A deputy general beside him reported the night's battle: "Though blocked by fire and ambush, General Du still managed to catch up with them. In the chaotic fighting last night, we killed and captured nearly three thousand of the enemy. However, apart from their two rearguard battalions, the rest were all old, weak, or wounded—abandoned by Zhou Xingfeng."

"This man is ruthless and decisive enough!" Han Tong sighed and asked: "Where is General Du?"

"Zhou Xingfeng has retreated to Baling; General Du has followed his trail and pursued him to the walls of Baling!" the deputy general replied.

"How goes the fighting at Junshan?" Han Tong asked again.

"No word yet!"

"Send men at once to find out!"

At Chengling Pass, because it was close at hand, the Han army reacted more quickly. At Junshan, however, it was over half an hour later before reports arrived, and only then was Wei Lin dispatched with the naval forces to encircle and destroy them, cutting off their retreat. When the Chu army's movements were first detected, the Han commander Zhang Xun had also chosen to probe with an attack, and once he confirmed their intention to withdraw, he concentrated his elite troops to strike.

The wait was not long before Junshan's battle report arrived. Though the Chu army there had withdrawn suddenly, in the end they had to cross the lake to retreat. Even a normal river crossing required considerable preparation time—let alone one ordered on the spot, in the dark of night.

At Junshan, Zhou Xingfeng had committed half his forces there, led by Zhang Chongfu, the Deputy Military Governor of Jingjiang Army appointed by Zhou Xingfeng, tasked with the attack.

Apart from the losses suffered in the earlier assault and defense, under Zhang Xun's attack and with Wei Lin's naval support, fewer than five thousand men successfully crossed the lake from Junshan in retreat. Wei Lin had earned further merit—the Chu naval forces, in their final covering action, were almost entirely annihilated, some killed, some surrendering.

"... In the night battle at Junshan, General Zhang led his troops in fierce pursuit, annihilating over seven thousand of the enemy, and the Chu navy was wiped out—a great victory indeed!" the deputy general reported to Han Tong. "However, from the prisoners' accounts, the enemy annihilated were mostly the weak troops; those who crossed the lake to Baling are all the elite and sturdy men of their army!"

"Ha!" Han Tong could not help remarking: "Ruthless enough, decisive enough—concentrating his elite, contracting his forces, discarding the old and weak, no different from casting off burdens, and saving rations besides! By this reckoning, Baling city still holds nearly ten thousand elite troops. Even with some reorganization, relying on Baling's walls to hold out, they won't be easy to deal with. Zhou Xingfeng, he's truly a man of substance!"

The deputy general said: "But no matter how he persists, it's nothing more than a cornered beast fighting for its life!" The deputy general continued: "He gathered thirty thousand troops by land and water here, and in less than twenty days, he's lost seven-tenths of his men, and his navy is completely gone. Now morale is low and hearts are unsettled—how can a mere Baling city block our great army!"

Analyzed purely by the numbers, Zhou Xingfeng had indeed suffered a crushing defeat—and that was also the fact. If Zhou Xingfeng wished to hold out and turn the tide with a mere ten thousand troops, the possibility was exceedingly slim.

"Well said!" Han Tong acknowledged the deputy general's words, his expression gradually turning cold and stern: "Let Zhou Xingfeng be as cunning and stubborn as he likes, it's nothing but a deathbed struggle. If he wants to hold the city and resist stubbornly, I'll raze the city and destroy his army. No matter how tough he is, I don't believe every man under his command is iron-hearted and unafraid of death, willing to perish with him!"

"Pass my order: the entire army will rest briefly, then march south to Baling, establish a camp, and besiege the city!" He took a deep breath, a cruel look appearing on his face: "Also order Wei Lin to lead the naval forces to seal off Baling city from Lake Dongting, cutting off their water escape. Then gather ships to transport the troops at Junshan over!"

"Yes!"

After giving the orders, Han Tong's stern expression quickly shifted—his eyes widened in his signature manner, glaring southward, spittle flying as he spoke: "This bastard Zhou Xingfeng is a real hard bone, even at this point still resisting, wasting my time and troops. Just wait—once I break the city, I'll grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes, to vent the hatred in my heart!"

"Army Supervisor." At this moment, the deputy general called out somewhat hesitantly.

"Why so hesitant—speak plainly if you have something to say!" Han Tong, seeing him hem and haw, grew impatient and snapped.

"It's said that General Zhang, seeing last night that he failed to annihilate the Junshan rebels and several thousand escaped, was so furious he couldn't contain himself, and in his rage killed over a thousand prisoners..." he reported.

"What do you mean 'it's said'! Said by whom? Is it true!" Hearing this, Han Tong glared at him sternly.

The deputy general quickly shifted to a definitive tone: "It is indeed true!"

"This Zhang Xun—a fine hand at war, but why such a heavy killing heart!" Hearing this, Han Tong could not help cursing: "In this campaign, among our eastern route army, if we speak of military merit, he must rank first or second—isn't he just inviting trouble upon himself? Wouldn't those thousand prisoners have been good for attacking the city? He killed them for nothing! After all, he's a local commander—he can hardly know how strict the imperial army's military law is!"

"Army Supervisor, regarding this matter..." the deputy general sought instructions.

"We'll discuss it after the war!" Han Tong said with a stern face.

This Zhang Xun was also a veteran of the battlefield—having served from the Jin into the Han, he had been promoted through military ranks, with superior command ability and rich combat experience. Looking at his record, one very obvious trait stood out: a heavy killing nature. Every city he broke, every camp he attacked, through his hands, blood always flowed a bit more. In recent years he had restrained himself somewhat, but once on the battlefield, the old habit flared up again...

"Pass my order: go directly to Zhang Xun and tell him I'm keeping a tally of this debt for now, but the remaining prisoners from Junshan—he's to deliver every single one of them to the walls of Baling. Don't blame me for not respecting his old age—for every one missing, I'll whip him once!" Han Tong added.

"Understood!"

It did not take long—by the late afternoon of that very day, Han Tong personally led the Husheng, Fengguo, Jingnan, and a portion of prefectural troops to Baling, seizing the outer roads and strategic passes, essentially completing the encirclement. Then came the laborers and prisoners doing hard labor, as sturdy camp walls rose from the ground. From the north, large quantities of grain and military equipment were also shipped south in succession.

By evening, Zhang Xun also led his troops across the lake from Junshan. Facing the Han army's intense preparations, the Chu army in Baling city was not idle either—Zhou Xingfeng was actively responding, reorganizing his troops and making targeted arrangements.

However, both sides' soldiers were exceptionally exhausted, and neither encroached upon the other—with tacit understanding, they both reorganized their armaments, preparing for the great battle to come.

That night, the central command tent was brightly lit. Han Tong convened a war council, filled with cheerful voices and laughter. He gave a brief summary of the previous night's chaotic battle, then analyzed Zhou Xingfeng's movements and intentions.

"Gentlemen, since we marched south from Xiangyang to Yuezhou to fight the rebels, nearly twenty days have passed. Our soldiers have fought bravely, and as of today, we have finally completely broken through Sanjiangkou!" Han Tong began his war mobilization, his expression impassioned: "Now, the rebel Zhou has gathered his remnant forces, still refusing to repent, intending to resist the imperial army. The rebel Zhou wants to fight a decisive battle with us at Baling—I'll grant him that wish, and let Baling city become his grave!"

After Han Tong finished, Du Hanhui added: "Gentlemen, after the battle of Liyang, Commander-in-Chief Murong has already marched south—Langzhou will surely be hard-pressed to hold. Now, it's up to us—destroy their ringleader and put an end to the fighting in Hunan!"

"Army Supervisor, give the order!" A host of officers, eager and ready, spoke in unison.

"My proposal: tomorrow the entire army rests for one day, and the day after we launch the attack on Baling!" Han Tong stated his plan: "But this one day can't be spent doing nothing. Have the army's pacification commissioners and clerks write a thousand letters of surrender persuasion through the night, and tomorrow shoot them all into the city. Then pick a few hundred soldiers with loud voices to go beneath the walls and call for surrender! First, destabilize their morale!"

"No matter how capable Zhou Xingfeng's methods, at this point, their morale and hearts won't hold out much longer. This psychological warfare should prove quite effective!" the gray-haired and white-bearded old general Zhang Xun commented.

Glancing at him, Han Tong asked: "How many prisoners do we have in the army?"

"Over ten thousand!" an army secretary answered.

"Good!" Han Tong's face was utterly cold: "A thousand per battalion, organized into ten battalions. Feed them well, issue them weapons, and the day after tomorrow, use these prisoners to lead the way in attacking the city for our army!"

"Yes!"

At this moment, there was not a trace of mercy toward prisoners to be seen in Han Tong...

On the twenty-first day of the fourth month of the eighth year of Qianyou, the Army Supervisor of the Southern Field Headquarters led an army of over forty thousand troops, laborers, and prisoners in a fierce assault on Baling. The Hunan rebel Zhou, preferring death to surrender—in that battle, both sides fought bitterly for four hours, and the city fell at dusk. The Han army lost over four thousand soldiers and civilians dead or wounded, the rebel army suffered three thousand casualties, corpses filled the city gates, the moats were filled to overflowing, and blood stained the lake waters red...

The rebel Zhou personally donned his armor, wielding his battle blade, fighting at the city gate—when the city fell, he perished amid the chaos of battle. Over ten of his officers fought to the death, and the remainder all surrendered.

With the rebel Zhou dead, there would be no more great battles within Hunan.