[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-317":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},1223076,1620,"Chapter 317: Ten Thousand Li to Gaze at the River's Source","overthrowing-han-chapter-317",317,"\u003Cp>\"I will hold the rear!\" Gao Shun, who had always been taciturn, suddenly spoke. \"Let the Volunteers escort the Lord and leave quickly. I will lead my own troops east toward the Lesser Ling River to block the enemy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your force is a thousand men — what do you have to stop tens of thousands of enemy cavalry?\" Gongsun Xun's face was ashen. \"And at this point, do we still want to divide our forces further?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dividing forces to create layered obstacles is precisely what we must do.\" Xi Zhong's face was frantic as he retorted. \"My Lord, think about it — regardless of the true situation within the Duan tribe, if there truly is an ambush, it must be Qiu Liju's painstaking design, thrown at us with everything he has... If so, what is he after? Does he want to annihilate our entire army? In my view, he too has been pushed to a dead end, so he is taking a desperate gamble for you, my Lord, and you alone! Because only by doing so can he negotiate terms with Lord Zhao in Liaodong and Liu Yu in the south! And any blocking forces we set up, he will only break through and then ignore, or simply bypass entirely!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What Master Zhicai says is correct, and it is not only Commander Gao's unit — even we Volunteers can take your banners and act as decoys.\" Tian Yu also interjected. \"Think about it, my Lord — as long as you are safe, the overall situation in Liaoxi remains in our hands, and those mixed Hu tribes will never easily turn to the Wuhuan. When the time comes, we rearguard blocking forces can simply vanish into the mountain ridges, relying on these tribes either to shelter us or to return south... This time, if you alone are safe, then everything is safe. But if anything happens to your person, worth a thousand in gold, what would there be to say even if we won a battle?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Besides!\" Xi Zhicai could not help but stamp his foot and say in a low voice. \"My Lord, apart from the Volunteers and Commander Gao's unit, the rest are all mixed Hu and wandering swordsmen who just came to join the army from the various commanderies... What is there to begrudge?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The several mixed Hu tribal chieftains nearby immediately lowered their heads in silence, and in the darkness, everyone finally turned their gaze to Gongsun Xun, whose face flickered between light and shadow beside the campfire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"All affairs under Heaven are founded on people; one cannot lightly speak of abandoning them.\" Gongsun Xun thought for a long while, and in the end shook his head with a sigh. \"Besides, if my judgment is correct, the intelligence Duan Riyuming sent earlier had a coherent thread to it... The Wuhuan ambush must be Qiu Liju on this side of the Great Ling River, while Tadun has already bypassed the Great Ling River from Liucheng, preparing to cut off our retreat... Even if you set up layered obstacles behind me, if Tadun has already arrived once I cross the Great Ling River, and I have no troops at my side, it will still be of no use.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My Lord means...?\" Xi Zhong's face by the campfire turned pale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The entire army moves together. Depart immediately.\" As Gongsun Xun spoke, he turned and walked away directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one dared delay. They hurriedly extinguished and covered the campfires, then followed orders one after another. As a member of the White Horse Volunteers, Tian Yu naturally hastened to follow as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Commander Gao, wait a moment.\" Just as Gao Shun was also about to turn and return to his unit, a forcibly suppressed shout suddenly came through the chaos. \"If the pursuit grows too urgent, Commander Gao should not hesitate to act on his own... In all things, let the Lord's safety be paramount.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Shun paused briefly, then without looking back continued to grip his saber and mount his horse, hastily returning to his own unit as if he had not heard a thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A night retreat is an immense challenge for any army, let alone for Gongsun Xun's seven thousand men, whose quality was wildly uneven — the strong were certainly very strong, but numbered less than two thousand; the weak were not necessarily truly weak, but had been hastily assembled into an army, and among them, quite a few of the mixed Hu tribes were not necessarily reliable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, from the very beginning, individual tribes had already taken advantage of their familiarity with the terrain to slip away and scatter on their own, clearly planning to go home first and wait for news... At worst, they could just say they got separated in the dark! What could anyone do about it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And by the latter half of the night, as the glow of fires flickered behind them, this scattering grew increasingly obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By early morning, scattered skirmishes had even broken out between the two sides... The facts proved that the intelligence Duan Riyuming had delivered this time was without flaw — Qiu Liju had indeed personally led his troops in pursuit, for behind them everywhere were the highly distinctive White-Clad Wuhuan of Liaoxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called White-Clad Wuhuan refers to how these people, constrained by the Han court's economic measures and unable to conduct independent nomadic activities, differed from the filthy robes of the steppe. The Wuhuan's rank-and-file cavalry universally wore garments made from the cheapest white cloth from the interior, carried a single long spear, and bore a bow and arrows on their backs — using the simplest yet most cost-effective method to form a shock cavalry with a deep historical tradition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once upon a time, the Wuhuan cavalry of Liaoxi and the Wuhuan cavalry of Shanggu were the Han court's most reliable and handiest weapons. They had long been kept behind the border walls and fortresses, and whenever war broke out in You Province, their figures would always appear. The two main Wuhuan forces had fought side by side with the Han for over a hundred years, yet always found it difficult to sinicize. And now, with the great edifice about to collapse, these mercenaries on the fringes had naturally become a new source of rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten thousand li away, the Liang Province rebellion had begun with the once most loyal Huangzhong Volunteers; thousands of li away, the chaos in Bing Province had begun with the Southern Xiongnu; and now, at last, it was the turn of the Wuhuan in You Province.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Han cannot be revived!\" Gongsun Xun reined in his horse and halted, gazing at the dozen or so corpses on the grassland behind him with inexplicable emotion. Just moments ago, a small band of Wuhuan cavalry had suddenly crashed into his central army. Although they had been swiftly annihilated, such a situation was enough to show that the Wuhuan's pursuit of him was utterly reckless of the cost, and that they had now reached the most dangerous moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My Lord, do not lament any further.\" Xi Zhong, beside him, forced a reminder with a hoarse voice. But in the thick darkness, neither his hands, which gripped the reins tightly yet trembled, nor the whites of his eyes, shot through with blood, were visible to anyone. \"We are nearly at the place. This is no time for sighs... Let us hurry downstream and seek a place to cross the river!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun looked back at Xi Zhicai, nodded slowly, and then without a word, followed the lead of several mixed Hu guides as they continued southwest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometime around the fifth watch, by all reason the sky should have already begun to brighten, yet the sky over the Liaoxi region remained dim and dark. Soon everyone realized the cause — threads of rain, too fine to even be called a drizzle, drifted onto the faces of the cavalry of every tribe across the vast battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a good thing. This kind of spring rain, so faint it was nearly imperceptible, was not enough to soak the ground and truly hinder cavalry movement, but the obscuring of light it brought effectively covered the Han army's flight. In fact, the Han army's spirits were momentarily lifted because of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally, as the sun rose behind the clouds and some visibility returned in the early morning drizzle, a mixed Hu cavalryman suddenly rode up beside Gongsun Xun in excitement and loudly reported:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Grand General! I recognize this little river... Follow it downstream, and in another five or six li is the Great Ling River. Then follow the river mouth downstream another seven or eight li, and there is a shallow ford where one can cross! It is very close to one of our Qifen tribe's settlements!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speaker was Qifen Heita. This member of a minor mixed Hu tribe, who had received rewards from Gongsun Xun, had been staying near the central army since the previous day. His words brought relief to everyone, and Gongsun Xun himself, uncharacteristically, broke into a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Check and tally the troops, rest briefly, and then immediately go find the ford...\" After smiling, the General of the Guards naturally issued his orders and loudly encouraged the soldiers around him. \"Once we cross the river, I will certainly return with a great army and sweep Liaoxi clean.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officers and soldiers answered with effort, then dismounted one after another to rest. It was only then that Gongsun Xun realized that only two or three hundred men remained at his side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Gongsun Xun only had to glance at Xi Zhong, who was struggling even to dismount, to understand in his heart — this was certainly not caused by casualties, nor was it simply a matter of losing the way or being overrun by the Wuhuan pursuers. To say nothing else, just earlier when the rain was first noticed, Tian Yu had still been at his side, the six hundred main force of the White Horse Volunteers had also been nearby, and the fact that no pursuers had been seen approaching made it clear that the most reliable Gao Shun must also be fighting bitterly right behind him. How could a bout of rain, no heavier than mist, have caused so many elite troops to vanish without a sound?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So without even thinking, he knew — these men must have seen a rare opportunity, acted on their own authority, and voluntarily turned back to serve as decoys in order to buy time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at this point, although Gongsun Xun was somewhat exasperated and speechless, further thought was useless, and saying more would only make Xi Zhong break down. So he could only hope that in the chaos of battle, these men's casualties would not be heavy, and that he, Gongsun Xun, could cross the river as quickly as possible and stabilize the situation once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The shallow ford is just below that little slope ahead?\" Half a shichen later, Xi Zhong loudly asked Qifen Heita, with the obvious suspicion of deliberately trying to boost morale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just below the little slope!\" Heita also loudly replied. \"Rest assured, Great Sir, not many people know of this ford. It is only because our Qifen tribe happens to have two branches living on the east and west banks of the river that we know it somewhat clearly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That is good.\" Enduring the awkward form of address 'Great Sir,' Xi Zhong forced a smile and praised him. \"If we can successfully cross the river this time and return to Guanzicheng, Heita — not to mention your own branch — the entire Qifen Twelve Branches will rise to glory! And you yourself, after crossing the river, do not return to your tribe. Come directly with us to Guanzicheng, trade for a white horse, and become one of the Lord's Volunteers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heita grew increasingly excited, and in the faint light of the drizzle, his face even showed a flush of dark red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, compared to the excitement of those around him, Gongsun Xun showed little joy, nor did he pay any mind to Xi Zhong's little ploy. Years of battlefield experience told him clearly that a night of flight had drained the soldiers' strength; everyone was at the end of their rope. It was precisely at times like this that one had to remain focused, pitting willpower and endurance against the enemy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And besides, even after crossing the river, he would still have to gather the scattered remnants, buy over these mixed Hu tribes, deal with the political fallout of what was clearly a defeat, and patiently reorganize the offensive... There would be plenty to do in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid these scattered thoughts, Gongsun Xun had already crested this final little slope, and then, like Xi Zhong, Heita, and the others beside him, he immediately fell into an eerie silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It turned out that in the drizzly morning, on the riverbank opposite the Great Ling River, a cavalry force of about fourteen to fifteen hundred men had been waiting for a long time. Most of them were, of course, a motley assortment of mixed Hu, but a force of five or six hundred at the center was conspicuously clad all in white. Without even needing to identify the chaotic banners, one could tell... these were Wuhuan. Five or six hundred Wuhuan, overseeing seven or eight hundred mixed Hu cavalry — more than enough to maintain dominance. A very standard configuration for an army beyond the frontier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In contrast, the Han army was exhausted, men and horses alike, numbering just over two hundred, and of those, only half rode white horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two forces, suddenly facing each other across the river, were both terrifyingly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the silence was only momentary. After just a brief instant, under the fine drizzle, the opposite bank erupted in noise and commotion. Countless mixed Hu tribal chieftains and Wuhuan white-clad cavalry scrambled to the shallow ford to gaze at Gongsun Xun from a distance. Clearly, this was a pure coincidence — the other side had not expected to actually trap Gongsun Xun at this crossing point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Correspondingly, Xi Zhong, filled with guilt and anxiety, was also hurriedly deploying troops and issuing orders:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were sent out to seek reinforcements from the rear, or to put it bluntly, to search for the units of Tian Yu and Gao Shun, who had turned back before dawn to block the enemy;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were hastily organized into an assault squad, attempting to cross the river;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And some were simply placed under guard... Qifen Heita and several riders of the Qifen tribe did not resist, for among the mixed Hu tribes on the opposite bank there were bound to be members of their Qifen clan, perhaps even quite a few. Otherwise, the Wuhuan chieftain across the river could never have thought of this ford and come here in advance to block them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, anyone with even a little military experience understood — and Xi Zhicai himself knew — that his measures were destined to have little effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, those sent for reinforcements vanished without a trace, and the attempt by several dozen loyal Volunteers to force a crossing was abandoned halfway. Although it was called a shallow ford, advancing through the river current was far too difficult. And when, urged on by the Wuhuan commander on the opposite bank, several hundred mixed Hu tribesmen reluctantly stepped forward and loosed a volley of arrows that left plenty of room to spare, Xi Zhong took the initiative to order the assault squad back to the eastern bank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, several Volunteers were struck by arrows and killed, their bodies swept northward downstream by the swift current of the Great Ling River... The warriors in the river were as slow as living targets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And immediately after, having noticed Heita's situation, Gongsun Xun listlessly ordered his release. Heita himself likely bore no ill intent. Judging by the scene across the river, it was clearly a Wuhuan chieftain acting on a whim, and with members of the Qifen Twelve Branches among his own men, he had, by blind luck, stumbled upon Gongsun Xun, the dead rat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One could curse Heaven, but there was no need to blame others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that Grand General Gongsun?\" From within the ranks of the White-Clad Wuhuan on the western bank, a Wuhuan chieftain still could not hide his delight. \"It's raining, and I can vaguely make out that it looks like him, but I'm still a bit unsure... What do you all think?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who is the chieftain asking?\" A Wuhuan warrior beside him retorted, speechless. \"You personally followed Chieftain Tadun to fight in Goguryeo back then. Of everyone here, you should recognize him the most clearly...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn't this just to be safe?\" The Wuhuan chieftain sighed as he smiled. \"It's like a dream... Just a few days ago, everyone thought our Liaoxi Wuhuan were about to be exterminated. Who could have imagined this day would come? If we can capture Grand General Gongsun here and take him to Liucheng, everything can be settled amicably.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It is inviting the Grand General to be a guest!\" A minor chieftain beside him hastily corrected. \"The Chanyu specifically instructed before we came — no hint of disrespect is permitted...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes!\" The chieftain immediately corrected himself. \"That was my mistake. You — cross the river and personally tell the Grand General that we Wuhuan harbor not the slightest disrespect, and only invite him to be a guest in Liucheng.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the fine rain, the minor chieftain swallowed hard, but in the end, he had no choice. He led several white-clad cavalrymen forward, and right by the bank of the Great Ling River, they cast aside their long spears and bows and arrows, and rode their horses into the water to ford the river.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the other side slowly advance halfway across, Xi Zhong, almost by instinct, gave the order to loose arrows... Under the volley, the Wuhuan minor chieftain and his several subordinates, like living targets, immediately met the same fate as the Volunteers before them. After all, neither arrows nor river currents discriminate between Wuhuan and Han.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the Wuhuan chieftain on the western bank was neither impatient nor angry, and instead remained all smiles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Xi Zhong in Hedong had already fallen into despair… One had to understand that, according to the steady plan Lou Gui had devised, there was absolutely no possibility of any reversal. Yet now, because of the risky move he had pushed through out of political considerations, this situation had arisen… If Gongsun Xun were not still at his side, he would almost want to commit suicide immediately to atone for his crime!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What could be done?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forcing a crossing was clearly impossible now, but if they turned back, not to mention the Wuhuan pursuers behind them, just the question of how many men to leave to hold this ford was a dilemma.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they left too few, the enemy’s thousand-plus cavalry could launch a full-scale forced crossing and simply smash through; if they left too many, who would guarantee Gongsun Xun’s safety? To put it bluntly, if Gongsun Xun fell into Wuhuan hands, his life would be in no danger, but what if he fled alone and encountered some barbarians?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And even if they managed to escape temporarily, what then?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their position was exposed; the enemy knew their general location and would simply follow the river upstream and downstream to block off any crossing points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for waiting, that was even more suicidal. On this chaotic battlefield, the Wuhuan forces ultimately held an absolute numerical advantage. If they dragged this out, they would only be waiting for the enemy’s main force to arrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xi Zhicai’s despair grew thicker and thicker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, at the same time, Gongsun Xun, sitting astride his horse to one side, felt no extreme emotions like despair or rage, only an inexplicable weariness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was it — weariness. Because this General of the Guards could almost picture his own fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, he would be captured… or rather, the Wuhuan would not even dare to use the word “captive.” They would certainly, with the utmost respect, “invite” him, the General of the Guards, to Liucheng as a “guest.” Even Tadun would still kowtow upon seeing him, and Qiuliju would undoubtedly serve him with great deference. After all, he, Gongsun Xun, was the only son of Lady Gongsun, the sole son-in-law of the General of the Right Zhao Bao, the acknowledged de facto leader of the Liaoxi Gongsun clan, a General of the Guards of the imperial court — and also, in a sense, the lifeline of the Liaoxi Wuhuan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So what followed was also entirely imaginable: no one in all of Youzhou would abandon him. The only person who theoretically posed a risk of complete rupture, Liu Yu, was precisely the one least likely to do such a thing. Thus, a deal would certainly be reached swiftly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at what cost?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Losing the aura of invincibility was no great matter — who had never lost a battle? Losing some wealth was even less worth mentioning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after this incident, how many months and years would it take to resolve the Wuhuan rebellion? Liu Yu’s prestige in Youzhou would inevitably soar, and his power would greatly increase, wouldn’t it? Would he, Gongsun Xun, ever again hold a political advantage over that man?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Correspondingly, his mother in Liaodong would probably have to yield significantly to his father-in-law. Whether Liaodong bore the surname Gongsun or Zhao would likely become a muddled, unspoken account.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, with his foundations here, Gongsun Xun’s influence would certainly remain, and his military advantage would definitely persist… but being constrained by Liu Yu and Zhao Bao was also inevitable. He would lose a great deal of influence over the chaos already unfolding in Luoyang and the grand campaign against Dong Zhuo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if that were the case, what difference would there ultimately be between him, this General of the Guards, and Gongsun Zan in that other timeline?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did this count as ten years of bitter toil, only to be corrected back to the starting point by history in a single morning?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, would he, like Gongsun Zan in that other timeline, end up utterly isolated and abandoned, setting himself ablaze? Even if not, would he still have to flee to Liaodong and live under the thumb of his father-in-law?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, perhaps reality would not be so bleak, but this sense of powerlessness after such immense toil was truly exhausting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If… if there truly were some force in the unseen world controlling the course of history, so that no matter how hard he struggled, he was merely replacing one person with another — then what meaning did his toil, his very existence, hold?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun could not help his wandering thoughts. Once upon a time, that joking notion of “world-line convergence” his mother had written about in her letters seemed to have long been shattered by his achievements, long since cast aside amid laughter and conversation with men like Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian… Yet counting from Xu You’s arrival the year before, having barely endured until the dawn of this chaotic era, everything seemed to have reverted to a bizarre yet familiar track.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this a trial, or a jest?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were Cao, Sun, and Liu truly the sons of destiny? Were his own ambitions and selfish desires all in vain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun tilted his head back and gazed at the sky where a fine rain drifted down, momentarily lost in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just as the fine rain overhead continued to drift like ox hair, unhurriedly moistening the green fields stretching across Liaoxi, suddenly, a disturbance broke out on the opposite riverbank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it reinforcements?” the despairing Xi Zhong exclaimed, startled and overjoyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment — these were indeed reinforcements, clearly a squad of Han cavalry who had lost their way in the night and successfully crossed the river elsewhere to the north. But there were only a dozen or so of them. Seeing Gongsun Xun trapped on the east bank, they ignored the overwhelming disparity in numbers, their own exhaustion, and their spent horses, and launched a desperate, death-defying charge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it was obvious that the commotion among the Wuhuan troops on the opposite bank was not due to these men’s appearance, but rather astonishment at their courage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Was there any need for this?” The Wuhuan commander on the west bank sighed, then summoned another minor chieftain. “Take twenty Wuhuan warriors and give them a fair fight! Let the Grand General on the opposite bank see whether our Wuhuan valor has waned… Pass down the order: the entire army is forbidden to loose arrows without permission. We must let Grand General Gongsun see our sincerity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—————— I Am a Sincere Dividing Line ——————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Victory and defeat are commonplace matters for a military strategist. In ancient times, even the divine might of Emperor Wu once faced a desperate struggle at Mount Danhan and was trapped at the Daling River… Thus it is said: the terrain of mountains and rivers is fixed, but the fortunes of armor and weaponry are ever-changing; neither can be held absolute.” — Zibo’s Art of War\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",4236,"2026-06-04T19:42:26.060Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","a9254dd1afaf4b3a9a3d1856b4d30e3f5369a55c5384ffd94754ef752d7ab819","overthrowing-han-chapter-318","overthrowing-han-chapter-316",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]