Chapter 406: Forced to Settle on a Single Branch for Shelter (Part 1)

The military situation blazed like fire; since Gongsun Xun knew battle was unavoidable, he immediately dispatched his forces.

Among them, Pang De first led fifteen hundred volunteers, swiftly setting out from Jinyang City, relying on the open roads of the Jinzhong plain and cavalry speed to seize the western mouth of Jingxing (the area of later Niangzi Pass). Subsequently, Gongsun Xun personally led the remaining volunteers and the commandery troops from Jinyang City, advancing slowly toward Jingxing, gathering the other commandery troops garrisoned in the various cities of the commandery along the way... It was not that no one advised Gongsun Xun against personally risking danger, but considering that five thousand troops, even if unable to defeat Zhang Yan, would still be enough for self-preservation, and moreover, since the General of the Guard was here, there was no reason to send someone else to handle the fighting — so the advice was merely a word of caution.

Four days later, apart from Chang Lin who remained to hold the rear, Gongsun Xun finally arrived at the western mouth of Jingxing with Gongsun Yue, Lou Gui, Tian Feng, Xi Zhong, Xun You, and others, plus three thousand commandery troops and the remaining five hundred volunteers, having made the journey without incident, and joined forces with the vanguard.

It was autumn; the party reined in their horses and entered the Jingxing passage. Before their eyes, the valley slopes on both sides were a patchwork of yellow and green in the autumn season, and the terrain was precipitous and imposing, carrying a certain grandeur — yet none had the heart to admire the scenery, only fixing their gazes on the terrain and pondering silently.

Correspondingly, Lou Gui came forward and, as a matter of course, inquired of Pang De about the military situation: "Lingming, you arrived more than a day before us — have you scouted out Zhang Yan's encampment and troop distribution?"

"In reply to the military advisor," Pang De said, looking somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this, "after this subordinate arrived here and secured the pass, before even setting up camp I immediately dispatched several dozen scout riders, but to this moment they have yet to bring back any critical information."

"This is no fault of yours," Lou Gui said, slowly nodding from horseback. "Back before Dong Zhuo's rebellion, when Zhicai and I accompanied the Lord Marquis on the return journey from Sanfu, we passed through Jingxing. I know that Jingxing appears to be a single precipitous passage, but in truth it holds hidden depths... Still, by my reckoning, the scout riders should begin returning one after another tonight."

"I would ask the military advisor to enlighten us on the conditions of Jingxing," the ever-silent Xun You also took the initiative to inquire.

Lou Zibo naturally had nothing he could not say.

"First, Jingxing spans the Taihang range; from this western pass to the great stockade below the eastern pass, it is about sixty or seventy li in length..."

"Second, the terrain here is shaped like a spindle — pointed and perilous at both ends, while the middle divides into two passages, north and south. The southern passage is steep and direct; the northern passage is open but circuitous. However, regardless of which passage, there are numerous mountain hollows and valleys in between, and in times of peace there were even villages and marketplaces here."

"Of course, the paths leading into the Taihang Mountains naturally open onto both the north and south passages... If my memory serves me correctly, the path from Purple Mountain, where Zhang Yan resides, into Jingxing opens on the southern passage, forty li from here, in a valley near the eastern pass."

"Beyond this, there is a swift-flowing river called the Mianman Water, winding and twisting through it, which happens to cut across both passages right at the center... This is the very river where the Marquis of Huaiyin fought his battle with his back to the water!"

Lou Gui spoke with eloquence, and Xun You and the others nodded repeatedly.

Many of the aides and generals who had followed from Chang'an only now began to understand — most of them had always thought of Jingxing as merely a very long mountain road. Upon first entering the pass, they had at most added the notion of a strategic barrier in their minds, but only now, hearing this, did they grasp the true situation.

Yet, thinking about it, in Han Xin's back-to-the-water battle, his opponents Chen Yu and Li Zuoche had brought a full two hundred thousand troops; the two sides had even faced off across the river for several days, then set up camp with their backs to the river before commencing battle. That being the case, how could this possibly be just a narrow passage? In truth, even if the two hundred thousand troops were an exaggeration — halve it, add support troops and civilian laborers, a hundred thousand men — the terrain here was destined to be extremely complex.

Two branching internal passages, one river cutting across the passage, countless valleys capable of stationing and hiding troops, countless branching paths leading into the Taihang Mountains, and finally the perilous passes on both sides where the two passages merged into one — this was the complete yet still very crude military map of Jingxing.

And after saying all this, Lou Gui, who had been very silent back in Jinyang, still did not stop, but instead looked further toward Gongsun Xun, who sat upon a white horse surrounded by the crowd: "Lord Marquis!"

"I understand Zibo's meaning," Gongsun Xun said with a light laugh, gripping the reins. "Zibo means to say that with Zhang Yan in such a posture, this battle is unavoidable, and with our five thousand troops, including two thousand elite soldiers — or rather, fifteen hundred elite soldiers — facing twenty thousand bandits, it is not that we cannot fight and win. But to insist on imitating the Marquis of Huaiyin's back-to-the-water battle would be forcing things beyond reason... Is that correct?"

"Indeed," Lou Gui answered frankly from horseback. "This is precisely what your subject means. Since ancient times, no renowned general has matched the Marquis of Huaiyin, and in the Marquis of Huaiyin's entire military career, no battle has matched the back-to-the-water battle... Yet this very battle is the clearest recorded example since antiquity. The plans of both sides, the process before, during, and after the battle, and even the Marquis of Huaiyin's own post-battle analysis — all are recorded in the histories. Even those unversed in military tactics, so long as they have read those few books widely printed by the Anli Company in recent years, will likely understand it clearly. May I ask, Lord Marquis, would Zhang Yan not know this? Since he knows, would he still commit the same errors as Chen Yu?"

"What errors, for instance?"

As they spoke, the party had already reached the first broad valley within the pass, where Pang De's troops were stationed, and they all dismounted along with the General of the Guard. Though Gongsun Xun dismounted and walked, he continued his conversation with Lou Gui without pause, and those around could only continue to follow, pricking up their ears to listen.

"For instance," Lou Gui said, dismounting and pointing from afar at a small river (a tributary of the Mianman Water) on the other side of the camp, "when Zhang Yan enters Jingxing, where will he set up his stockade? In the back-to-the-water battle, as the name implies, the two sides faced off across the river in the middle of Jingxing, which then allowed the Marquis of Huaiyin to use the waterway to divide his forces — the main force setting up camp with its back to the river, while sending a subordinate general to Gaoyi with two thousand light cavalry to circle around and hide behind the enemy's main camp... What if Zhang Yan does not wait on one of the two passages east of the Mianman Water, but instead seizes the initiative to cross the Mianman Water first and set up camp with his back to the river? What if he simply retreats to the extremely narrow and perilous eastern mouth of Jingxing, far from the Mianman Water, and defends it to the death? At that point, how does the Lord Marquis plan to fight with his back to the water?"

"Zibo's words contain an error," Gongsun Xun said. He did not enter the large tent prepared for him in the camp, but walked directly, hand on his sword, cutting eastward through the camp, only pausing briefly when he reached the river in front of the camp — forcing many, including Wang Lang, who had come bearing the imperial tally, to follow. "Zhang Yan will absolutely not set up camp at the eastern pass. At most, he will send a small force to hold it, to prevent troops from the Changshan direction from surging into the pass and striking him from both sides..."

Lou Gui was slightly taken aback, but unexpectedly did not refute this.

"You must understand, he is now a mountain bandit. Purple Mountain is merely one of the larger among the forty or fifty peaks of the northern Taihang range. His direct followers number at most ten thousand; a force of twenty thousand must be the result of his urgently summoning the various bands around Jingxing. In other words, over half of Zhang Yan's forces belong to the bandit chieftains of the surrounding areas. Those chieftains will not permit the main force's camp to be too far from the branching path that retreats into the Taihang Mountains, much less would they cede that retreat path to me." Gongsun Xun paid no mind to the other's reaction, but stared at the river's surface, speaking to himself with his hand on his sword. "By the same logic, he will not easily cross the Mianman Water to set up camp in reverse with his back to the river... because his followers likewise will not permit him to take such a risk."

Lou Gui slowly nodded in agreement.

And Gongsun Xun, having spoken to this point, looked around and gradually grew stern: "We have always spoken of elite troops and rabble, but what is an elite army, what is a rabble, and what exactly is the difference? In truth, compared to a rabble, an elite army is not merely about soldiers being taller and stronger, weapons being more complete and durable, nor merely about soldiers eating their fill and receiving more rewards. More than anything, it is about orders being followed and prohibitions observed, allowing a general to command as easily as an arm moves a finger, to the point of being able to seize the initiative on the battlefield at any moment... In fact, the key to the Marquis of Huaiyin's back-to-the-water battle did not lie in some notion of 'fighting to the death when cornered,' but precisely in maintaining the initiative throughout! And what I mean by the Marquis of Huaiyin's old stratagem lies in this as well!"

Lou Gui's heart stirred slightly; he opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the presence of such a large crowd, he closed it again, merely sweeping his gaze over the few people beside him. Interestingly, Xun You also happened to look over at that moment, and then both men simultaneously lowered their eyelids.

"Have you all heard?" After saying all this, Gongsun Xun finally revealed his true intent, fixing his gaze on a group of volunteers nearby whose attire was particularly neat and tidy.

It was precisely the group headed by Zhang Ji, Liu Zhang, Jia Kui, Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng, and Meng Da.

These young men, who had been following Gongsun Xun and had mostly joined only after he entered Sanfu, showed considerable change in expression upon hearing this... With their intelligence, they had long understood Gongsun Xun's meaning.

"Setting aside the fact that the realm is in an age of chaos and no one has the right to avoid military affairs," Gongsun Xun said coldly, staring at this group who had always been regarded as 'civilian volunteers,' "just know this: since you have joined my volunteer corps, do not think you can keep yourselves out of battle. In this fight, regardless of how many generations your family has held high office, regardless of what positions your fathers and elder brothers occupy, you will all take up blades and advance. Life and death will be determined by fate; victory and defeat will rest with yourselves!"

Whether Liu Zhang or Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng or Meng Da, and even Zhang Ji and Jia Kui — every face turned pale. Amid the dead silence, it was Pang De who was the first to burst out laughing.

That night, the scout riders indeed returned one after another, and it was exactly as Gongsun Xun had predicted: after Zhang Yan brought twenty thousand troops from the Taihang Mountains into Jingxing, he set up camp directly in the southern passage valley east of the Mianman Water — that is, near the entrance through which they would retreat into the Taihang Mountains — and then dispatched a mere two thousand men further east to the eastern pass of Jingxing to serve as a basic guard and rear cover.

Thereupon, Gongsun Xun no longer hesitated. The next day he immediately struck camp, advanced along the tributary of the Mianman Water, marched all the way to the historic site where Han Xin had once shaken the realm, and with great fanfare built a pontoon bridge. On the third day, he boldly crossed the river and set up camp among the mountain ridges with his back to the water.

"General of the Guard... uh... General Gongsun... no, that's not right either... White Horse Bandit..." Just as Gongsun Xun was setting up camp, ten li away, inside Zhang Yan's main camp, at the so-called central army tent, a chieftain named Yang Feng who commanded a thousand men was about to voice his opinion but did not know how to address Gongsun Xun, changing his words three times.

"Better to call him General of the Guard — after all, it is an imperial appointment known to all under heaven," said Zhang Yan, who sat in the center wearing a helmet adorned with brown pheasant feathers and iron armor, momentarily helpless.

"Yes, General," Yang Feng, who knew Zhang Yan's temperament well, used the form of address the other most preferred. "This subordinate's meaning is, since the General of the Guard looks down on our Purple Mountain Army, we ought to show him something formidable... Tonight, while they've just arrived and their camp is not yet complete, and we are familiar with the terrain, we could slip over directly, set a fire, and then surge forward with the main force — the matter could be settled in a single day!"

Zhang Yan gave a dry laugh but had not yet answered when another person seated in the tent frowned and spoke: "The General of the Guard is a renowned commander under heaven — how could you possibly launch a sneak attack on him? Moreover, his deploying with his back to the river is not contempt for us, but an imitation of the Marquis of Huaiyin's old stratagem, a way of showing his resolve to fight to the death. In my humble opinion, the General of the Guard's troops are sharp; we should instead defend our main camp to the death. In any case, when the General of the Household summoned us earlier, he already said we only need to hold for a few more days until the main force of our friends from the southern Taihang arrives, and then we can withdraw into the mountains. Since that is so, why risk going out to give battle?"

Zhang Yan carefully scrutinized this chieftain called White Sparrow, who was very likely a former county commandant from somewhere in Hejian, and could not help but frown as well... Yet he likewise neither approved nor disapproved of this man's opinion.

After a discussion thus destined to yield no result, Zhang Yan simply issued an order of dismissal:

"I have taken note of all your opinions. You may all return for today!"

Since Zhang Yan, General of the Household for Pacifying Difficulties, lord of the northern Taihang alliance, and leader of the Purple Mountain Bandits who claimed a following of hundreds of thousands, had given the order, these men, though embarrassed, all respectfully took their leave.

"White Rider, stay!" Just as the person seated at the first position on the left also rose, Zhang Yan called out on his own initiative.

Zhang Baiji, that is, Zhang Cheng, upon hearing this, said nothing and directly sat back down under the unsurprised gazes of the other chieftains.

"All of them are slippery rogues!" Once the others had left, Zhang Yan shed entirely the bearing and presence of the General of the Household for Pacifying Difficulties and slumped down dejectedly.

"Those fellows are probably at this very moment discussing how you put on airs," said Zhang Cheng, thinner than ever in his unlined robe, his face still expressionless. "A mere mountain bandit, yet wearing the brown-pheasant cap of a General of the Household..."

"I am in truth the General of the Household for Pacifying Difficulties, appointed and enfeoffed by the imperial court!" Zhang Yan flared up at these words. "If I did not govern them by regulations and institutions, the northern Taihang would long since have fallen into the same chaos as the southern Taihang! Moreover, I command tens of thousands of troops and a population of hundreds of thousands, and the Taihang range stretches a thousand li long and a hundred li wide — by any measure, it is no less than a great commandery or kingdom under heaven. Am I not worthy of a two-thousand-dan rank?"

"But the reason they are willing to submit to your governance is not because of your title as General of the Household for Pacifying Difficulties, but because you, Zhang Yan, are fierce, brave, and skilled in leading troops in battle; it is also because Zhang Niujiao designated you as leader before he died; and even more so because no one can replace you!" Zhang Cheng was merciless. "A bandit is a bandit — no matter how great your power, how could you truly become an official?"

"A few days ago on Purple Mountain, I had someone carefully read a history book to me, and only then did I learn that Ying Bu was once a bandit too!" Zhang Yan seemed to suddenly calm down, his tone becoming exceptionally even.

Zhang Cheng was stunned on the spot; it was a long while before he reacted: "Yuan Shao's envoy used this to persuade you?"

"Correct," Zhang Yan answered proudly. "The current situation under heaven is so very similar to the transition between Qin and Han! And I am so very similar to Ying Bu! You and I both know that the General of the Guard is strong, while Yuan Shao is somewhat weaker, just as it was at the start with King Xiang and Liu Bang. And I am a bandit, and once followed the General of the Guard, just as Ying Bu once followed King Xiang... Now, with the two powers locked in contention, I need only do as Ying Bu did — harass the General of the Guard's rear — and it will be enough to achieve great merit!"

"That does make considerable sense," Zhang Cheng said thoughtfully. "You never actually hoped to truly defeat the General of the Guard in a battle or two. You only need to use the Taihang Mountains as your base, harass him on all sides while he campaigns at the front, and wear out his rear — that alone would be enough to achieve great merit... This strategy indeed leaves one with nothing to say, but..."

"But Ying Bu was later killed by Emperor Gaozu and his corpse dismembered into six pieces... Is that what White Rider means to say?" Zhang Yan asked in return, causing Zhang Cheng to promptly shut his mouth. "I will not be as blind to when to advance and when to retreat as Ying Bu was — a mere bandit, yet hoping to become a long-lasting king of a different surname and keep his fief? Would that not be courting death? If the day of success truly comes, or as soon as Yuan Benchu unifies Hebei, I will gladly lay down my army and contentedly become an empty-titled general and marquis, then restore the Chu surname and make our Chu clan the foremost great family of Changshan — that would be enough to die content!"

Zhang Cheng slowly nodded, the beardless skin beneath his chin quivering slightly: "I should have realized this long ago... This sort of thing could only come from Yuan Shao and you; the General of the Guard could not possibly offer it to you! Because if you directly surrendered to the General of the Guard, where would you get the merit to be enfeoffed as a marquis and pass it on to your descendants? Let alone becoming the foremost great family of Changshan — you would most likely immediately be given an empty two-thousand-dan sinecure and then simply forgotten."

"In truth, there might have been a chance, because the General of the Guard is quite magnanimous in employing people, and might not necessarily have truly sidelined me. But I dare not gamble on it... because, as you know, given our origins... It has been over a year since he entered Chang'an, yet I have had no word from him at all. Perhaps he has long harbored dissatisfaction with me and wishes to eliminate me as soon as possible." Zhang Yan sighed with emotion, then rose and came before Zhang Cheng, bending down to speak with earnest sincerity. "And you, White Rider, are in an absolutely identical situation to mine. Those below us are one thing, but for the two of us, surrendering to the General of the Guard may not be as promising as following General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan. If you can take this gamble with me, when I achieve merit and step down in the future, I will certainly recommend you to Yuan Shao, so that you may lead my former troops and campaign across the land — perhaps you too could be enfeoffed and pass it on to your descendants, becoming a founding marquis!" At this point, his voice dropped even lower. "White Rider, it is not only that the General of the Guard has grievances with us; the key is that General of Chariots and Cavalry Yuan truly treats people generously!"

Zhang Cheng raised his head and stared at the other; only after a long while did he slowly nod: "In that case, let the General of the Household give clear instructions! In this battle, what do you intend to do?"

"Simple!" Zhang Yan let out a long breath, then turned and sat back down, facing him with a serious expression. "Though the General of the Guard has few troops, they are all elite. With his wisdom, he must know that our army is a mix of good and bad; perhaps he truly does underestimate us, which is why he has deployed with his back to the river. Therefore, I intend to reverse the roles of host and guest, and in turn imitate the Marquis of Huaiyin's strategy of fighting to the death when cornered — on one hand feigning defeat to lure him into attacking our main camp, and on the other dispatching a portion of our elite troops to circle behind him and strike his camp with its back to the river, leaving him unable to advance or retreat... What does White Rider think?"

"It can be done!" Zhang Cheng, after a moment's thought, also rose with a confident voice. "This way, if it succeeds, we will make our names known across the realm; if it fails, we can at worst retreat into the mountains... After all, the original plan was merely to 'harass King Xiang's rear,' was it not? What is there to lose?"

"That is exactly what I mean!" Zhang Yan was overjoyed beyond all expectations.

————I am the dividing line of overjoyed beyond all expectations————

"Xin then sent ten thousand men ahead, out, and arrayed them with their backs to the river. The Zhao army saw this and laughed uproariously." — Records of the Grand Historian, Biographies of the Marquis of Huaiyin

PS: This time it really isn't my fault. I had to spend twenty minutes uploading... the server kept crashing, and in the end I uploaded it by copying from my phone.

(End of Chapter)