Chapter 295

The next day, morning.

The court of the Eastern Han imperial palace was full of people.

More people came this time than yesterday.

Liu Bang got a handful of melon seeds from Gu Shanhe and cracked them loudly, with a layer of shells already on the ground.

Ying Zheng sat next to him, expressionless, but every time Liu Bang cracked a melon seed shell and it flew in his direction, his brows would twitch slightly.

Liu Che sat on Gu Shanhe's right, holding a small booklet, recording the content of the Sky Screen ranking these few days, saying it was "to leave for future descendants to see."

Liu Xiu sat on the very edge, drinking tea while waiting for the Sky Screen to light up, his expression much calmer than the previous two days.

Gu Shanhe held his teacup as usual, found the most comfortable position to lean on the chair, and closed his eyes to rest.

Liu Bang finished a handful of melon seeds, clapped his hands, turned to Gu Shanhe and asked: "Immortal Master, which one are we ranking today?"

Gu Shanhe didn't open his eyes: "Battle of Feishui."

Liu Bang was stunned: "Feishui? What Feishui? The Feishui used for watering fields?"

Liu Che couldn't help but laugh: "Gaozu, it's Feishui, that river in Anhui, not the Feishui for watering fields."

Liu Bang said "oh," didn't feel embarrassed, and grabbed another handful of melon seeds.

Ying Zheng suddenly spoke: "Battle of Feishui? I have seen it in the history books given by the Immortal Master. Former Qin Fu Jian, Eastern Jin Xie Xuan."

Liu Xiu nodded: "The First Emperor has a good memory. It is indeed that battle."

Ying Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly: "Fu Jian led an army of one million, throwing whips to cut off the flow, and was finally beaten by 80,000 Beifu troops until the wind blew and the cranes called, and every tree and shrub looked like an enemy."

Liu Bang stopped cracking melon seeds: "Wait, how many? One million against 80,000? This ratio is even more outrageous than Li Shimin's."

Liu Che flipped through the small booklet in his hand,

"Li Shimin was 3,500 against 100,000, a ratio of nearly one to thirty."

"This one is one million against 80,000? A ratio of more than one to twelve?"

Liu Xiu shook his head: "In official history, Fu Jian's actual troop strength wasn't one million, about 870,000."

"870,000 against 80,000, that's still a ratio of more than one to ten."

Liu Bang counted on his fingers for a long time, couldn't figure it out, and simply gave up, leaning back on the chair.

"Whatever the ratio, anyway, having more people and losing to fewer people is shameful."

Ying Zheng glanced at him: "Didn't you lose to Xiang Yu's 30,000 with 560,000 at Pengcheng back then?"

The melon seeds in Liu Bang's mouth almost sprayed out.

That battle was the pain of his life—

Battle of Pengcheng, he gathered 560,000 coalition troops of various lords, was beaten by Xiang Yu's 30,000 elite cavalry until he lost his armor and fled, even losing his father and wife.

Liu Che and Liu Xiu lowered their heads at the same time, pretending not to hear.

Gu Shanhe opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and closed them again.

The Sky Screen lit up.

This time the golden light came unhurriedly, as if someone had laid a layer of pale golden gauze in the sky.

The clouds were dyed amber, the whole sky looked lukewarm, surprisingly consistent with the style of this upcoming battle—because this battle was fought very absurdly.

In the center of the Sky Screen, several large characters emerged.

【Ranking Top Ten Ancient Battles: Battle of Feishui】

Former Qin Chang'an City, Fu Jian was holding court.

He was forty-four years old this year, having just unified the north, with territory reaching the sea in the east, the Congling Mountains in the west, crossing the desert in the north, and bordering the Huai River in the south.

He felt he was the master of the world, and the rest was to cross the Huai River and take the Eastern Jin in the south.

When the Sky Screen lit up, Fu Jian was discussing the southern expedition with his ministers.

He looked up and saw the four characters "Battle of Feishui," his brows furrowed.

He didn't know what the Battle of Feishui was yet.

But he would know soon.

Eastern Jin Jiankang City, Xie Xuan was training troops in the military camp.

He was in his early forties, with a fair complexion, looking like a civil official, but the armor on his body showed he wasn't.

He was the commander of the Beifu troops.

When the Sky Screen lit up, Xie Xuan looked up, saw the four characters "Battle of Feishui," and the horse whip in his hand stopped for a moment.

He didn't know what the Battle of Feishui was either.

But he had a very strange feeling—this battle had something to do with him.

【Time: 383 AD】

【Location: Feishui (now Shou County, Anhui)】

【Opposing sides: Eastern Jin Xie Xuan vs Former Qin Fu Jian】

【Overview: After Fu Jian unified the north, he led an army of 870,000 south.

Eastern Jin's 80,000 Beifu troops met the enemy.

Fu Jian wanted to take advantage of the Jin army being halfway across the river to destroy them, and ordered a slight retreat, but the retreat became uncontrollable, the army thought they were defeated, "the wind blew and the cranes called, every tree and shrub looked like an enemy," trampling on each other, collapsing without a fight.】

【Why famous: The most classic "absurd" great victory.

This battle preserved the Han civilization in the south and made the long-term division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties a foregone conclusion.】

In the Eastern Han court, Liu Bang finished reading this overview, and the melon seed shells fell out of his mouth.

"Retreat became a collapse?"

His voice was full of disbelief.

"870,000 people, trampled themselves to death?"

Ying Zheng's brows were furrowed tightly.

He had fought battles all his life, seen collapses, but never seen a full-line collapse because of a retreat order.

870,000 people, not 87 people.

With so many people crowded together, once the front row ran backward, the back row didn't know what happened and followed suit, forming an avalanche effect.

Running and running, it became a real collapse.

Liu Che recorded a few notes in the booklet, looked up and asked Gu Shanhe: "Immortal Master, why did Fu Jian order a retreat?"

Gu Shanhe drank tea: "He wanted to wait for the Jin army to be halfway across the river and attack them while they were halfway across."

"This is a common tactic in military strategy—attacking the enemy when they are halfway across the river, their formation is the most chaotic, and attacking at this time is half the effort."

Liu Che nodded: "That's not wrong."

Gu Shanhe put down the teacup: "The mistake was that he didn't explain it clearly to his soldiers."

"He ordered a slight retreat, meaning to retreat a little bit to give the Jin army a place to land."

"But the people under him didn't know that; they saw the word 'retreat' and thought they were running."

"The front ran, the back followed, and hundreds of thousands of people scattered."

Liu Xiu was silent for a while and said: "This battle wasn't defeated by the enemy, but by their own people."

Ying Zheng suddenly spoke: "That person named Fu Jian, is he not very good at leading troops?"

Gu Shanhe thought for a moment and said: "He is good at leading troops; he fought many winning battles when he unified the north."

"But his army had a fatal problem—it was too mixed."

"His 870,000-strong army wasn't his own, but pieced together from various conquered ethnic groups and forces."

"These people didn't have much loyalty to begin with; once they saw the front troops running, they wouldn't ask why, they would only follow."

Liu Bang was stunned: "Then that's equal to putting a bunch of disobedient soldiers together to fight? Isn't this looking for death?"

Ying Zheng glanced at him and rarely said: "You're right."

In the Eastern Han court, several emperors discussed it one after another.

The text on the Sky Screen continued to refine, appearing line by line.

【Detailed progress of the battle】

【In 383 AD, August, Fu Jian ignored the opposition of his brother Fu Rong and his ministers, and personally led the army south.】

【In November, the Former Qin army arrived at the west bank of the Feishui, confronting the Eastern Jin army across the water.】

【Eastern Jin general Xie Xuan sent someone to tell Fu Jian:

Your army is camped by the river, we can't cross, we can't fight.

Why don't you retreat a little, give up a piece of land, wait for us to cross the river, and fight a fair battle on both sides.】

【Fu Jian agreed.】

【He intended to launch an attack when the Jin army was halfway across the river, annihilating them in one go.】