[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-166":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing Han",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1222925,1620,"Chapter 166: The Long Drive","overthrowing-han-chapter-166",166,"\u003Cp>\"I will stay behind to hold the rear!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the winter evening mountain mist rolled in on schedule, inside the central army tent of the Goguryeo main camp, Minglin Physician, standing on the ground, finally gritted his teeth and spoke these words to Yu Bilu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Set that matter aside for now,\" Yu Bilu, seated behind a low table, lowered his head and held a bowl of hot chicken soup, yet did not drink. \"Have my orders been carried out — pouring water on the camp palisades in imitation of the Han army?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And what of the instructions to guard vigilantly against night raids outside?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The forward camp has already been cleared out. If the Han men truly come, it is not certain we cannot make them suffer a loss... However, the camp gates are too close together; they cannot quietly dispatch enough cavalry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That is good.\" Yu Bilu continued to look down at the chicken soup in his hands. \"As long as the cavalry does not come, it is good.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Does the Left Chancellor have any other instructions?\" Minglin Physician inquired earnestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If we wish to block the Han army, our only hope lies in this main camp,\" Yu Bilu finally raised his head. \"But the passageway here is somewhat too open. Therefore, the force left behind must be capable both of holding the main camp and of decisively striking out when the Han cavalry exits their camp to form ranks, bottling the Han cavalry back inside... How many troops does the Mangniji think should be left behind?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At least ten thousand men.\" Minglin Physician answered seriously. \"Otherwise, we simply cannot hold them off.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then leave ten thousand men. Withdraw all the rest, but after the troops withdraw, do not let them scatter in a rabble.\" Yu Bilu looked at the other man's head of white hair and beard as he gave his orders, as composed as when Minglin Physician had commanded him before. \"Once we reach our heartland, supplies will not be so troublesome. As long as we disperse the troops to garrison according to their places of origin, the army's morale will also stabilize... The key point is our old capital on the banks of the Hunjiang, Holbon Fortress. It must be repaired and made whole, to serve as a second line of defense when necessary. If we can hold out there until the spring thaw, the Han army will be powerless.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I will do my utmost to bottle the Han men up here at Jwawon.\" Minglin Physician declared once more. \"However, Holbon Fortress indeed should have defenses prepared. The Left Chancellor's arrangement is without flaw... I entrust that place to the Left Chancellor!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That is not how it will be.\" Yu Bilu set down the soup bowl, which he had not touched a single sip of, and finally lifted his head, revealing an expressionless face. \"I will stay behind to hold the rear. Let the Mangniji take the men back to Holbon Fortress!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minglin Physician was momentarily speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do not look at me like that,\" Yu Bilu continued. \"That man Gari, though his head is full of wild fantasies, did one single thing very rightly — he made us read and study more of the Han men's books. The things in those books are actually very reasonable. The Book of Odes says, 'Brothers may quarrel within the walls, but outside they unite against insult.' The kingdom is already in peril; we should no longer treat each other as enemies. When I joined with others to seize your power this time, it was not to deal with you, but because I believed my methods were the only way to save our Goguryeo to the greatest extent possible! As for sending you back, it is not that I, Yu Bilu, hold you, Minglin Physician, in such high esteem, but because you have served as Mangniji for many years, you are more familiar with the situation in the rear, and can mobilize all our strength to the greatest extent possible!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing these words, Minglin Physician, heedless of his age and heedless of his dignity as Mangniji, immediately knelt in the tent: \"I swear by King Geumwa, after I, Minglin Physician, am dead, it shall surely be a noble of the Hwanna-bu's Yu clan who holds the reins of state!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I do not believe your oath.\" The corner of Yu Bilu's mouth curled upward, slightly stirring his goatee. \"Those who believed your oaths have long since all died out... But Mangniji, neither do I worry that you will do anything to our Hwanna-bu, because after this affair, the people of the kingdom will no longer trust your Chonna-bu. Our Hwanna-bu and the other two bu will surely recover our strength.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minglin Physician knelt on the ground, not knowing how to respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I will write to my younger brother, telling him to guard against you on one hand, and on the other to contribute all the strength of the Hwanna-bu to help you defend Holbon Fortress.\" Yu Bilu continued. \"I believe you will not hold back your own resources either... This so-called kingdom of ours is still too small and too weak before the Han men. Though we have accumulated strength for several hundred years, we are only the size of one Han commandery. Once defeated, our kingdom will be destroyed and our people exterminated!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minglin Physician rose directly from the ground, no longer in the mood for pretense: \"Then you and I must both do our utmost.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed,\" Yu Bilu also gave a long sigh. \"Let us do our utmost!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Early the next morning, the Goguryeo people immediately began to withdraw their army... They dared not flee under cover of night, because they knew their own limitations; they knew better than anyone that, given the organizational level of their own army, if they truly retreated at night, even without Han army pursuit, it might well devolve automatically into a massive rout. On the other hand, even a daytime withdrawal required tight defense, because at this moment the Han army had no reason whatsoever not to actively pursue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And among the pursuing forces, what the Goguryeo people feared and guarded against most was the Han army's cavalry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, a great retreat on an open road, if it encountered the Han army's tall cavalry in formation, would likely be an utter catastrophe for the Goguryeo people... Whether by direct assault with long spears, or by shadowing you from a distance and harassing with mounted archery, the Goguryeo people simply had no countermeasure. They did not even need those cavalry to actively attack; merely following along the route, preventing you from resting, would probably be unbearable, and by nightfall the army would directly collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the power of cavalry... offensive strength and mobility existing together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, the Goguryeo people had some countermeasures, such as their Gwahama horses, which, though small in stature, could traverse the mountain ridges on either side of the road. So if they truly could have ten thousand mountain cavalry protecting both flanks, perhaps the Han army truly would not dare to act rashly. But one must not forget, in the previous offensive and defensive battles, the Goguryeo people's most grievous losses were precisely these precious and rare Gwahama dwarf horses!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, even before the great collective withdrawal of the Goguryeo main force had begun, Yu Bilu had already had his ten thousand troops finish forming ranks, relying on their own main camp... six thousand inside the ramparts, four thousand outside. This method of arraying troops was clearly intended to rely on the Goguryeo main camp at their backs, attempting to prevent the Han army from exiting their camp and forming ranks!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Exactly so! Just as Gongsun Xun had surmised that day, the Goguryeo people had established their camp at such a close distance precisely so that, during the withdrawal, the rear-guard force could suppress the Han cavalry's sortie!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Yu Bilu had already made his resolve: as long as the Han cavalry dared to risk exiting their camp to form ranks, at such a close distance, he would directly order an assault, and would make certain to bottle the Han cavalry up inside their own camp!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He absolutely could not allow the Han cavalry to appear outside the camp in organized, large-scale formations!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even less could he allow the Han cavalry to successfully form ranks before his very eyes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because once large-scale cavalry appeared on the unobstructed main road, not to mention the great force retreating behind him, even his own blocking force of ten thousand, which could duck into the camp stockade at any time, would likely be wiped out in a single battle!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cavalry can indeed decide the outcome with one hammer blow!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cavalry can indeed decide the outcome with one hammer blow!\" After ascending the high platform, Gongsun Xun saw the scene at the Goguryeo main camp opposite, and could not help but sneer. \"Order the entire army to prepare!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, when Yu Bilu saw that young general appear beneath the White Horse Banner just as he had in previous days, his hair stood on end and he was tense beyond control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Reporting to the Left Chancellor...\" From the hillocks left and right, mounted scouts also began to come and go ceaselessly with reports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Han troops on the camp wall have all withdrawn!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We can see the Han army massing behind the camp wall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Cavalry! At least seven or eight thousand cavalry!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They have dismantled their own tents and leveled their own cooking stoves, and are forming ranks directly behind the camp wall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There are also three or four thousand infantry, leading livestock and such, crowding at the foot of the camp wall. We do not know what they intend to do!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Bilu's face was pale. Seven or eight thousand cavalry and three or four thousand infantry clearly meant the earlier reports of reinforcements were entirely true... From this perspective, his leading the military nobles to seize power yesterday and forcing Minglin Physician to retreat was undoubtedly the correct move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But whether it was correct or not no longer mattered. Returning to the matter at hand, could he block this number of Han troops?! Seeing the other side's actions of proactively dismantling tents and leveling stoves, no matter how he thought about it, it seemed like they were going to imitate the story from Han histories of 'smashing the cauldrons and sinking the boats'!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, considering the posture of three or four thousand infantry in front and seven or eight thousand cavalry behind, the Han army's strategy was practically shouting out at him... It was nothing more than having the infantry press forward first to create space for the cavalry behind to form ranks, then the cavalry would pincer from both flanks, break through his main camp in one stroke, and then drive the routed soldiers to pursue the retreating army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet merely understanding it was useless; he, Yu Bilu, had to make a decision... When the enemy infantry came out shortly, should he proactively press forward, or should he steady his footing and then counterattack with the aid of his formed battle array?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chance for victory lay only in a single moment!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, by the time Yu Bilu had with great difficulty made his resolve, preparing to fight a defensive counterattack against these three or four thousand Han infantry, he still did not see the Han infantry across the way swarm out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The great force behind him had already begun to file out of the camp!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Han infantry are carrying a large number of axes and ropes, and are also leading livestock. It seems they are preparing to construct fortifications...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Reporting to the Left Chancellor, the Han army seems to be refurbishing their camp wall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Left Chancellor, the Han infantry are clustered beneath their own camp wall. We do not know what they are doing...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reports brought back by the mounted scouts observing from afar on the hillocks grew more and more baffling, and Yu Bilu also grew more and more vigilant and confused. However, before he could carefully ponder this matter, the Han army had already begun to send out small squads from their camp gate to block the Goguryeo mounted scouts on both flanks from reporting back!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time slowly wore on to noon. The great Goguryeo army withdrew in a winding column; the vanguard had already marched over ten li out of the camp, while the rear guard was still inside the camp. By all reasoning, the most dangerous moment had now arrived. Yet, whether it was the Goguryeo army determined to fight to the death as rear guard, or the Han army's main formation clearly prepared to stake everything on pursuit, neither side stirred. Only at the foot of the hillocks on both sides did small squads of cavalry continue to chase and block each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it was winter, Yu Bilu was drenched in sweat. On one hand, he worried that the enemy cavalry, in small squads, would continuously reinforce and build up to a critical mass; on the other hand, he desperately wanted to obtain intelligence from his scouts. And from time to time, he could not help but look up and see the Han Regional Commander sitting composedly on the high platform opposite, which threw his heart into utter turmoil...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of this, everything, only came to a pause when a Goguryeo dwarf-horse rider, bathed in blood and fighting desperately, risked his life to deliver a single sentence:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Left Chancellor, I saw clearly — the Han army is dismantling their own camp wall!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Bilu was dumbstruck. He vaguely grasped at something, and also sensed an immense sense of crisis, yet still could not sort the matter through... Why would the Han army dismantle their own camp wall?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, by this time it was already too late!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a continuous roar, the Han army's southeastern camp wall, which the Goguryeo people had regarded as fundamentally insurmountable, was now being toppled and torn open section by section by the Han army themselves!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the entire Goguryeo army were here before them, perhaps they could have swarmed right in!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, things did not turn out that way… The situation now was that the bulk of the Goguryeo forces were already on the retreat route, their rear guard had just left the main camp, and only ten thousand men remained before them, using a passive defensive stance to cover the withdrawal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How foolish I am, how foolish I am!\" Yu Biliu looked at the densely arrayed cavalry formation lined up behind the camp wall, and in an instant he understood — but it was already utterly too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, the Han cavalry had intended from the start to form ranks inside the camp, then tear down the camp wall and charge straight out from the main camp!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Yu Biliu was not a fool; he was simply not well-read… After all, the stratagem Lou Zibo had proposed — forming ranks inside the camp and then striking out — was not his own invention, but a classic tactic used by the Jin army in the historical Battle of Yanling between Jin and Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, the Jin army faced a situation very similar to what the Han army confronted now: the camp was hemmed in by terrain, and the Chu army, relying on superior numbers, had pressed right up to the camp's edge… In those days, battles were fought with chariot formations. Had they tried to file out through the camp gate and form ranks within striking range of the Chu army, they would likely have been driven back inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the ruler of Jin adopted the stratagem of Fan Xuanzi: they struck the tents, leveled the cooking stoves, formed the entire army into battle array inside the camp, and then in one move pushed over their own camp walls and charged out, catching the Chu army completely off guard. The opposing King Gong of Chu was even shot in one eye and blinded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, when Minglin Physician first tried to use the narrow distance between camps to suppress the Han cavalry, Gongsun Xun, Lou Gui, and even Gongsun Fan and Gongsun Yue — all of them almost immediately thought of this very historical episode!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the Spring and Autumn Annals was a classic that every scholar of this dynasty had to study; any literate man of the Great Han knew this tactic. After all, the situation before their eyes was simply too similar to the one in the book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for why Minglin Physician and Yu Biliu did not know it, why they could not guess it, and why the latter was even stunned into helplessness by this tactic… one can only say, who told them to be Goguryeo people?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crushing of a lower civilization by a higher one is just that ruthless: a stratagem that is common knowledge on their side is something you could rack your brains and never imagine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camp wall was mostly torn down. Gongsun Xun naturally knew he could not give the enemy time to react, so with a slight raise of his hand from the high platform, drums thundered throughout the Han camp. Then, under the unified command of Xu Rong, the concentrated force of over seven thousand Han and Hu cavalry advanced at a walk from beneath the White Horse Banner, passed through the collapsed camp wall, and headed straight for the enemy lines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Goguryeo rear guard force opposite them was utterly helpless against this. In fact, the Goguryeo formation, composed mainly of infantry, had already begun to waver at the mass emergence of the large cavalry force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>War drums roared like thunder. As the cavalry commander temporarily appointed by Gongsun Xun, Xu Rong had no sooner crossed the breach in the camp wall than he took in the situation opposite and made an immediate decision, urging all the cavalry to gradually accelerate forward and charge straight into the enemy formation!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The outcome is decided!\" Lou Zibo, who had witnessed the power of a large-scale cavalry charge, let out a complete sigh of relief. \"The Goguryeo people have no time to react. Congratulations, Young Lord — the outcome is decided!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Indeed, the outcome is decided. I never thought I would see such a magnificent sight again today.\" Gongsun Xun rose with his hands behind his back and could not help sighing repeatedly. \"A pity Cheng Demou is missing; he cannot be here to enjoy this scene with us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lou Gui threw his head back and laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A distance of just over two li was only enough to let the cavalry build up momentum, but once cavalry charged, no human strength could stop them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Biliu's face was deathly pale. Several times he tried to open his mouth to speak, to make his troops react in some way, but in the end no sound came out. On the contrary, a single thought grew larger and larger as the Han cavalry surged toward him like an overwhelming tide — nothing mattered anymore!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun sat back down on the high platform and quietly watched the scene… If the earlier sight at Liucheng — twenty thousand cavalry launching a surprise attack on ten thousand cavalry — had carried a certain flowing, effortless grace, then today's spectacle of seven or eight thousand cavalry accelerating over a short distance to smash headlong into ten thousand infantry was more like a stone striking an egg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speed, force, impact, sacrifice, shattering… The moment the lines met, the entire Goguryeo formation collapsed and was swept backward toward their own main camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's over!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Biliu finally uttered the words that had been stuck in his throat, but only as he slumped to the ground, surrounded by a few loyal household retainers, and wept bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ignore these routed soldiers! We still have several thousand infantry behind us to take over the camp and clean up the remnants. The entire army is to charge straight through their camp, shatter their organization, and then pursue those Goguryeo who fled earlier!\" Xu Rong stood in his stirrups and bellowed. As he issued the orders, he felt his whole body trembling with excitement. As a soldier, he had not been without dreams of one day leading seven or eight thousand cavalry to sweep away the enemy like dry weeds, but he had never imagined that day would come so swiftly, nor that the enemy would be so utterly feeble!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Filled with excitement, after issuing his orders Xu Rong spurred his horse straight into the Goguryeo main camp, utterly oblivious to the weeping old man with the goatee lying among the defeated soldiers beneath his feet, and even less aware that this man was the very Goguryeo vanguard commander who had faced off against him for the past several days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, even had he known, he probably would not have cared or stopped, because from this day forward, from the moment those seven or eight thousand cavalry came roaring out of the Han camp, everything about Goguryeo — absolutely everything — no longer counted for anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—————I am the dividing line of the long drive straight in—————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xu Rong, courtesy name Bojin… Early on, he served as Major of a Separate Division in Xuantu. When Goguryeo led fifty thousand troops to attack, the Grand Ancestor held them off with eight thousand soldiers at Zuoyuan, appointing Rong as Vanguard Supervisor… After three days of fierce fighting, the rebels could not prevail. Han reinforcements then arrived, and as the enemy prepared to retreat, they set up a main camp two li in front of the Han camp and left ten thousand men as a rear guard. The Grand Ancestor thereupon emulated the Battle of Yanling: he struck the tents, leveled the stoves, formed a cavalry array inside the camp, then pushed down the camp walls and appointed Rong as Cavalry Major, giving him overall command of the army's seven thousand cavalry to charge straight out at the enemy lines. Rong, with his blade held crosswise on horseback, raised his voice and attacked directly forward. The rebel Left Minister Yu Biliu led his ten thousand troops to meet them but was routed in a single clash. Realizing the cause was lost, he knelt weeping before the camp. Rong passed by Yu Biliu without so much as a glance, never dismounting, and pursued the routed soldiers straight into the rebel camp, overrunning it entirely. Still he did not dismount, but led the cavalry on a long drive straight through the camp, pressing hard upon the rebel main body from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Grand Ancestor stood upon the high platform and, seeing Rong thus, laughed and remarked to those around him: 'Since my youth I have read the histories, and of all the ancients renowned for their command I have heard of, never has there been one who drove straight into the enemy's encirclement like Major Xu!' Throughout the army, Rong was thereafter called 'the Major of the Long Drive,' and his name shook Liaodong!\" — Old Book of Yan, Volume 71, Biography 21\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Thanks to old reader Huang Ma for the red-carpet reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, new book group 684558115 — everyone can join.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",3891,"2026-06-04T19:42:03.441Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","7b09f5b7760ae93d4088d18f4767863d4514f883013c3abe46b625c3afdf1155","overthrowing-han-chapter-167","overthrowing-han-chapter-165",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]