Chapter 425: The Crouching Shield Finally Rises (153k This Month)

"My lord, the earth rampart before the great bridge has been breached. General Zhang and General Xu are now driving their cavalry at full speed, attempting to outflank the enemy's main camp behind the rampart!" On the tenth day of the first month, in the late morning, a feathered rider came galloping in, shouting military intelligence from afar.

"Those two are far too impatient... never mind... have Gao Shun follow closely and cross the river." Beneath the canopy, Gongsun Xun gazed at the situation on the river, clear at a glance, and frowned slightly. "Even I can see clearly from here — the enemy camp is over there, with a wooden palisade outside, and beyond the palisade a trench half a man's width, specially designed against cavalry. Infantry support is essential."

"Aye!" The feathered rider wheeled his horse around before even dismounting and departed.

"My lord, the Qingshui River is narrow, and with early spring waters not yet risen, building pontoon bridges is easy. We might as well have more men construct several more bridges." Xun You suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Han Dang and Shen Pei, go do it! Each of you take ten thousand troops and build bridges five li out on the left and right flanks. Do not use this bridge — it will only cause congestion." Gongsun Xun nodded and gave the order at once. By now he had grown accustomed to Xun You's habit of suddenly offering some very simple yet crucial suggestion, and his respect for the man only deepened.

Shen Pei and Han Dang immediately took their orders and departed... they too had seen the congested scene on the bridge and the slow pace of the advance.

A short while later, however, having watched his two trusted subordinates each lead their troops away, Gongsun Xun observed the battle already erupting at the camp ramparts on the river's eastern side, and his irritation mounted as he sat on horseback: "Tell me, how could I be so muddled as not to have built pontoon bridges from the very start, causing the army to cross so slowly? Had we launched from several bridges at once, we could have sent out cavalry and infantry together just now and charged straight into their stockade. Why must it be like this — cavalry crossing in scattered groups, only to be driven back by their random volleys..."

"This is quite ordinary." Tian Feng, for once, did not attack his lord, but frowned as well. "It is common human nature — when a complete, solid bridge of brick and wood lies right before one's eyes, everyone simply thinks of seizing it. Who would then think of laboriously building pontoon bridges in the early spring cold waters?"

"My lord need not reproach himself too much." Lu Fan, beside him, lowered his hand from shading his eyes and turned to say with a smile, "Though I have not set foot on a battlefield for many years, my eyesight still serves. When we seized the bridge just now, the enemy showed no real will to fight — they merely held the rampart and loosed arrows, daring no close combat. Then, the moment our cavalry broke through the earth rampart, they abandoned their riverside defenses in panic and fled into the stockade. And now, defending the stockade, it is much the same: though only a small number of our troops have crossed, they merely hold the stockade and shoot arrows, not daring to sally out in support... That being so, I imagine this stockade will likely fall in a single stroke?"

At such arrogant words, the military advisors and generals gathered around Gongsun Xun's canopy did not refute him; instead, most stroked their beards and nodded... This time, however, it was not merely out of deference to this Chief Clerk Lu, who in truth stood above all but one man, nor simply because a child named Gongsun Ding was present and his father's dignity needed preserving — but because the situation truly was as he described.

Everyone here was seasoned in the use of troops; how could they fail to see that the enemy's will to fight was utterly withered?

To put it plainly, after mustering bold courage for a desperate battle beneath the walls of Liangqi City, only to suffer a crushing defeat, Yuan Shao's army had simply lost its nerve... The soldiers were troops who had fled back in rout, the officers were officers who had escaped death and slunk back, and there were even those who had been captured, subjected to decimation, and then released. With officers and men like these, what courage for battle could they possibly have?

They were not fighting for some lofty ideal, nor was anyone giving them land for coming to war here... And beyond that, Yuan Shao's army had one enormous problem: they had universally been formed far too late, lacking any sense of camp allegiance or core cohesion. The reason they followed Yuan Shao was simply that those above them followed Yuan Shao; they themselves had never received sufficient positive reinforcement from this camp identity.

Thus, unless their fellow villagers and homes lay behind them and needed defending, it was truly hard to imagine at what moment these Yuan soldiers would ever be willing to risk their lives.

In truth, it was not just Yuan Shao's army — the entire Yuan Shao faction had this air of being forcibly cobbled together, hastily assembled.

Having risen so quickly, once that tipping point was truly reached, the collapse would be swift as well.

And Gongsun Xun's prior actions had been aimed precisely at this: all he wanted was to give a push at the apex of Yuan Shao's self-conceit. Once pushed, all that was needed was to apply force from time to time at the critical thresholds thereafter, and everything would fall into place naturally — there was no need to pursue excessive military gains.

Events, too, seemed to prove this in turn. In roughly a little over half a shichen, the fierce battle on the opposite bank reached its conclusion with a spectacular sudden assault as the turning point... On the northern side — that is, the left flank — a unit of iron-clad cavalry suddenly dismounted, raised their shields, and leaped across the trench. Heedless of life or death, they charged up to a section of the wooden palisade, performed some actions, then hastily withdrew — only to then drive their warhorses forward and successfully drag down that section of palisade. Immediately after, a large body of cavalry, clustered around a great banner bearing the character Zhang, charged straight into the stockade, hacking with all their might, and at once triggered a loss of control throughout the entire Yuan camp.

In the end, it was impossible to tell whether the collapse was caused by maneuvering troops to block them, or whether it had been a full-scale rout from the very start. In any case, after the Zhang banner entered the stockade, the fierce battle that had raged for over half a shichen came to an end in mere moments.

Of course, terms like 'fierce,' 'with all their might,' and 'heedless of life or death' were all from the perspective of Gongsun Ding, who this year was still not yet twelve. The latter, his hair tied in an incongruous yet practical ponytail, sat astride a small horse, watching with nervous excitement the first large-scale battle of ten-thousand-man magnitude he had ever witnessed with his own eyes in his life.

However, compared to Gongsun Ding's perspective, the men beneath his father's canopy were mostly rather disinterested... for they saw more clearly: the reason it had taken over half a shichen to breach this great stockade was truly not because of the enemy's fighting strength or tactics, but because the troops had crossed far too slowly over that single bridge. Moreover, Xu Rong and Zhang Fei had clogged the road in the early stages, so that a full seven or eight thousand cavalry had surged across, only to find themselves with few options against the enemy stockade. It was only later, when Gao Shun and Zhang Nan led three thousand infantry across the river — including over a thousand armored soldiers with great shields and long spears — and charged straight for the stockade, triggering a defensive lapse among the Yuan troops within, that Zhang Fei spotted the opening and struck in one decisive blow.

But regardless, the victory was beyond doubt. Visible to the naked eye across the river, countless Yuan soldiers defending the stockade were abandoning it and fleeing, scattering further east into open ground... Judging by numbers alone, they numbered no fewer than seven or eight thousand.

At this moment, however, the earlier decision to have Xu Rong and Zhang Fei lead the cavalry across first proved advantageous — in fact, after Zhang Fei beat him to the first strike, Xu Rong, before even entering the stockade, simply led his cavalry directly eastward to pursue and cut down the fleeing enemy.

"My lord, Generals Gao Shun and Zhang Nan have led three thousand infantry in a frontal charge, while Generals Xu Rong and Zhang Fei, commanding five thousand and three thousand cavalry respectively, have outflanked left and right. The enemy masses could not withstand a single blow, and the great stockade east of the river has already changed hands!" Sure enough, a feathered guard returned in an instant to report. "General Xu Rong requests that you move your command across the river to rest briefly and to bolster the army's morale..."

"Nonsense!" Gongsun Xun was speechless, more angered than pleased. "Does he think I didn't see him take troops on his own authority to chase the enemy? And now he uses me as his excuse..."

"My lord, such a trifling matter is not worth mentioning — we had to cross the river anyway." Lu Fan, beside him, hastened to placate him. "In the end, General Xu, as a frontline commander, always has the authority to act on his own discretion. The only reason it seems otherwise now is that the Qingshui is so narrow, and we can see everything at a glance, making it appear as if you, my lord, were personally commanding and he was pursuing on his own... But in truth, from the standpoint of military law, General Xu has committed no fault. As for the atmosphere of impatience and rash advance in the army, that can be addressed later. And so long as one is cautious and avoids mishaps, a rash advance can also become an unstoppable charge..."

Gongsun Xun exhaled deeply. After mulling it over, he found he had nothing to say, and promptly ordered the central army to cross the river.

And so, amid the cheers of the troops on both banks, the soldiers parted to clear the road and watched as the Guard General's canopy and two thousand White Horse cavalry crossed via this permanent bridge of brick and wood, slightly arched, arriving at the opposite bank of the Qingshui, a mere hundred paces away, and entered the newly captured enemy bridgehead stockade — leaving only Cheng Pu behind to organize the main army's continued advance.

"What are the spoils?" Gongsun Xun asked Gao Shun, the only one still remaining in the stockade, the moment he dismounted. Just moments before, Zhang Fei, too, had been unable to resist chasing after the fleeing soldiers... The latter was motivated not only by battle honors but also by the soldiers' private plunder.

Such things, without a direct military order, were simply impossible to stop.

"Reporting to my lord, acceptable." Gao Shun, as taciturn as ever, hit the nail on the head. "Standard configuration for a ten-thousand-man army stockade — everything that should be here is here, and nothing that shouldn't be."

"Provisions, armaments, and military funds all fully stocked?" Gongsun Xun pressed with a frown. "And no excessive fodder or fire-starting materials?"

"Correct." Gao Shun's expression remained as impassive as ever. "It has already been inspected. There are no materials deliberately placed for starting fires. The quantities of fodder and provisions are also ordinary. But a large wooden camp is always vulnerable to fire and requires constant caution..."

"What misgivings does my lord have?" Lu Fan finally detected something amiss. "Could it be you suspect a ruse?"

"On a military campaign, whenever there is obstruction or impediment, one must be wary and vigilant. It is not a matter of ruse or no ruse... Just now, the moment I opened my mouth, Gao Shun understood my meaning. It is not that he knows my temperament, or that I gave him prior word, but that he is a strict commander, and these are the matters that occupy his mind at all times." Gongsun Xun answered offhandedly as he walked toward the command platform in the camp. "Who was the defending commander?"

"Lu Xiang." Gao Shun again answered with caution. "The two generals, Xu and Zhang, have already gone in pursuit."

"No wonder." Gongsun Xun sighed quietly as he climbed the steps to the platform. "Lu Xiang comes from a great powerful family of Yanzhou, so the troops he led must all be Yanzhou soldiers. And the Yanzhou troops suffered the heaviest losses as the main force in the earlier battle at Liangqi. Leading such a group of defeated soldiers, it is no wonder you were able to strike successfully with a single blow..." Having reached this point, Gongsun Xun had already ascended the command platform and was looking around in all directions. To the east, he saw only rolling clouds of dust, making it impossible to discern the situation between Lu Xiang's routed troops and Xu and Zhang's forces — and his frown deepened. "Only, why would Yuan Shao assign Lu Xiang, a defeated commander of mediocre ability, to defend the Qingshui?"

"Perhaps he had no one else?" Dong Zhao, as the intelligence chief, could not remain silent at this moment. "After the defeat at Liangqi, it was not only the military that suffered... Ju Yi plotted rebellion and was executed. There were earlier scout reports that Li Jin may have gone to the Dunqiu area to block Guan Yunchang and secure the army's rear line of retreat. Wen Chou died in battle. Yu Jin has, in effect, been captured. Ju Shou was left behind in Yecheng. Who else can Yuan Benchu use?"

"Perhaps?" By now, someone had long since fetched a Grand Commandant's chair from the camp and placed it in the center of the command platform, but Gongsun Xun continued to scan his surroundings, his misgivings undiminished, and showed no intention of sitting down.

"In truth, there is another possibility." Dong Zhao could not help but sneer. "Has my lord considered that, since Yuan Benchu is unable to manage affairs, who would be the one presiding over the army's key matters? Setting aside other considerations, if those men from Yingchuan hold power — especially Xin Ping and Guo Tu — how would they let slip the chance to deal with Lu Xiang, who ruined their prospects with a single remark that day? That day in Liangqi City, the last words Lu Xiang spoke on behalf of Chen Gongtai are now known throughout the realm!"

"That is far more plausible!" Gongsun Xun finally set aside some of his misgivings. Then, turning back, he once more gazed into the distance at that bridge and asked casually, "This bridge connects Qinghe Commandery and Anping Commandery. Even the strategic importance of Guangzong owes two-tenths of its significance to this bridge. Does it have a name?"

"It certainly has a name, because any commandery-boundary bridge requires the provincial authorities to intervene and the two commanderies to cooperate in its construction." Dong Zhao answered offhandedly. "And when provincial and commandery officials gather, a stone tablet with an inscription is invariably erected as a memorial. However, this bridge is already quite old, and I fear its name has long been lost — otherwise, the military intelligence reports would not simply refer to it as the Boundary Bridge..."

Gongsun Xun withdrew his gaze from the bridge and turned it toward his bewildered son and the many advisors and generals whose faces, as a matter of course, bore expressions of delight at the easy victory. Then he looked once more toward the eastern horizon, where dust clouds billowed... For a moment, he stared into the distance in silence, only his gaze gradually sharpening.

The first to react were Lu Fan and Lou Gui, the two men present who had followed Gongsun Xun the longest. The two exchanged a wordless glance and each stood solemnly at attention. The next to grow tense, surprisingly, was the eleven-year-old Gongsun Ding — a son is, of course, most sensitive to his father's moods, especially since, although father and son had not seen each other for two or three years, they had lived together in Changping in earlier times... A child cannot hide his expressions and also draws the attention of those present, and so by this point, the tense atmosphere had finally spread across the entire command platform.

"My lord!" After an unbearable stretch of silence, in the cold wind of early spring, Lu Fan stepped forward as was his duty.

"Have any of you heard of the Western Qiang's method of the Crouching Shield?" Gongsun Xun asked in return upon hearing him.

"Reporting to my lord!" The one who spoke was unexpectedly Gao Shun. "In my youth, I spent many years in Xihe and had many entanglements with the Qiang people. I know of this — it is a type of infantry formation specifically designed to counter cavalry..."

"What exactly does it entail?" Gongsun Xun asked with a serious expression. "Explain it clearly and in detail."

"Reporting to my lord, this formation is simple in principle and simple to execute, but it places extreme emphasis on courage... It must be understood that, wherever one goes, cavalry is the foremost of all arms under heaven. With an extra horse per man, they advance and retreat like the wind. Needless to say, they can shoot from a distance with bows; in close combat with spears, they are also higher and longer. And the charging and trampling of warhorses is irresistibly sharp." Gao Shun indeed spoke a few more sentences. "When seeking to deal with cavalry, the only thing that can truly inflict rapid casualties is the bow and crossbow. But bowmen and crossbowmen simply cannot withstand the trampling of hooves, so they require the protection of a long-spear formation. Yet a forest of long spears is too cumbersome and cannot withstand the cavalry's long-range shooting with the wind at their backs, so shields are also needed... But with long spears, bows and crossbows, and great shields all present, what cavalry would directly charge such a large formation? Thus, the Crouching Shield is needed!"

"How does one crouch?" Gongsun Xun's expression was blank as he pressed on with his questions.

"At first, it was simply spearmen and great-shield bearers cutting into a slope and crouching. With a gentle slope ahead, they merely raised their shields and hid their troops along the slope behind it. When the cavalry charged to this point, the men behind the slope would brace their great shields with their long spears, and the soldiers would hold steady and not move, waiting until the riders crested the slope, stepped over the shields, and passed above them. Only then would the shield bearers immediately raise their shields forward, while the spearmen took up their spears and raised them backward — blocking the troops behind while also cutting off the retreat of the small group of cavalry that had been separated. And the bowmen and crossbowmen further behind could then shoot at close range... That is the principle. Later on, there were many methods adapted to local conditions — some even artificially built slopes. The most extreme version involved digging trenches, with shield and spear soldiers lying in ambush within the trench, laying their great shields across the top of the trench. The bowmen and crossbowmen, completely without cover, would lure the enemy from behind the trench, simply waiting for the horses' hooves to tread upon the shields. Only then would the shield and spear soldiers bravely raise their shields and charge out... That is how it is."

Hearing this, the generals all around were utterly horrified. Whether it was bowmen and crossbowmen standing without any cover to face a cavalry charge, or shield and spear soldiers hiding beneath shields and letting hooves trample over their heads — both were unimaginable.

And seeing Gongsun Xun's stern, unresponsive expression, Gao Shun had no choice but to add a few more words: "My lord, the Qiang all say that this formation emphasizes courage above all — emphasizes fearlessness of death. But in my view, fearlessness of death is far too easy a thing; the world has seen far too many men who do not fear death. This formation, in truth, emphasizes above all trusting that one's comrades will not abandon them... The reason this formation exists is that the impoverished Qiang tribes have no horses and no armor, and even bows, crossbows, and arrows are extremely precious. The cheapest thing to them is the lives of their own clansmen. Thus, this desperate thing that can achieve extraordinary success came into being. And before these men set their formation, those who first went into battle were always fathers and sons, elder and younger brothers. The bowmen and crossbowmen trusted that the shield and spear soldiers would not miss the moment of battle; the shield and spear soldiers trusted that the bowmen and crossbowmen would not scatter in a single breath. Only thus could they strike a single fatal blow! Is this not just like how, once comrades in an army trust each other to the point of entrusting their very lives, what battle cannot be won?"

"Well said." Gongsun Xun finally responded. "Could Yuan Shao's army do this?"

"The Li clan's personal troops might be able to attempt it." Gao Shun immediately answered again. "The few hundred clansmen that Ju Yi previously brought as his core force might be capable. Any more than that — even Yu Jin's unit — I believe would not be able to. Therefore, my lord, if you are worried that Generals Xu and Zhang have been lured deep into enemy territory and fallen into a Crouching Shield ambush, it is not entirely impossible. However..."

Gongsun Xun finally withdrew his gaze from the periphery and fixed his eyes on Gao Shun for a long while before speaking: "Regardless, first send out scouts to call them back. Because if there truly is a ruse, this is a vulnerability no matter what — only, the greater vulnerability does not lie over there... Tell me, Gao Shun, if Yuan Shao's entire army were here, with banners furled and drums silent, how far away would they need to be to remain hidden from our detection?"

Gao Shun was instantly horrified, yet he answered slowly: "Our army arrived here in haste and crossed the river to pursue immediately. Our scouts were all confined to the Qingshui. As for the situation east of the Qingshui, even the few scouts we dispatched today were all sent out by Generals Xu and Zhang from the Boundary Bridge only after they took the stockade. At this moment, they have only just advanced five li... If I were leading troops to set an ambush, with seventy thousand men, taking advantage of the season before the spring grass has sprouted, I could simply build a half-zhang-high earth rampart five li away as cover... In any case, they would have set out at night and only needed to lie in ambush for a short while!"

As the two conversed, a sudden clamor arose from the army. Following the sound and looking up, they saw that on the upper reaches of the Qinghe — that is, about four or five li to the south — a fire had suddenly ignited. Daylight beacon smoke, clearly visible.

"Did Shen Zhenguan burn something himself as a warning, or is that pontoon bridge being set ablaze by enemy troops?" Lou Gui's expression was grim.

"At the very least, we now know where the enemy is coming from!" Gongsun Xun, in contrast, gave a cold laugh.

"My lord, are you saying the entire enemy army is about to charge this position?" Lu Fan finally could not hold back. "And they are only five li away — they will be here in moments? If that is so, I beg my lord and the young master to withdraw at once to the west bank of the river!"

"Abandon the army here?" Gongsun Xun cast a cold glance at him. "The cavalry was lured away by ten thousand routed troops risking their lives — they are likely already scattered and hard to rally. Even if they see the beacon fire now, who knows when they can get back here... And at this moment, inside the stockade we have only three or four thousand infantry and two thousand Volunteer Followers. With five or six thousand facing seventy thousand, if my son and I simply flee, the Volunteer Followers might be one thing, but would that not be throwing away the lives of these five thousand infantry for nothing? When that happens, how could the entire army still trust and respect me? I fear that is precisely the outcome the enemy most desires."

"Even if my lord intends to hold the camp and defend, you should at least let the young master return to the west bank first!" Dong Zhao, responsible for intelligence, was also sweating on his brow.

"Bullshit!" Gongsun Xun scoffed, directly cursing, then turned around, rested his hand on his saber, and sat down on the Grand Commandant's chair that he had not even glanced at until now. "If we can hold out for a while, this battle will surely be won. What difference does it make whether he is east or west of the river? And if I am defeated here, what can a mere child truly do? In such a situation, we can only do our utmost to have Cheng Demou send troops this way! Every extra company sent now is one more sliver of victory. If I send him across now, it will surely interrupt the troop movement on the bridge. How can we delay the survival of thousands, even tens of thousands, for the sake of one boy?"

Dong Zhao was about to speak again, but Gongsun Xun simply drew that broken blade and held it reversed, pointing it toward Gao Shun: "Lingming, lead the Volunteer Followers out of the stockade to seek opportunities to fight — in any case, cavalry must not be trapped inside the stockade. Suqing, take this blade and take full command of this battle, responsible for the ramparts! Also, send men at once to find Zhang Yide and Xu Bojin. Then shout across the river for Demou — tell him to stay on the west bank and speed up the transport of troops. Send crossbowmen, spearmen, heavy shield soldiers... And have him prepare multiple pontoon bridges downstream at the same time as a contingency! In short, in this battle, there is only moving from the west bank to the east bank. Anyone who speaks again of returning to the west bank — kill without mercy!"

Gao Shun bowed to receive the blade. Everyone was awestruck, and the surrounding Volunteer Followers hurried off to carry out the military orders.

Yet at that very moment, the dark-complexioned Dong Zhao, heedless of everything, directly knelt down: "My lord! Setting aside the matter of returning to the west bank — my lord could take the young master and accompany the Volunteer Followers to fight on the periphery. We, who have received my lord's great kindness, can stay here and guard my lord's canopy and insignia!"

Gongsun Xun was slightly taken aback, then could not help but smile, his expression softening: "Back when Han Sui fought at the Wei River, that was exactly what he did. What was the result?"

After that, he paid no more attention to the complex expressions of the advisors and generals below, but patted his knee and, facing his eleven-year-old eldest son, smiled gently and gestured: "A'ding, your mother told you to follow me to observe military affairs. Today is the perfect time. Come sit on my knee and watch your elders break the enemy!"

Gao Shun led the generals in kowtowing and departed. The assembled staff officers, from Lu Fan and Lou Gui on down, all stood solemnly in awe. As for Dong Zhao, utterly dumbfounded, he finally had nothing more to say... Because he suddenly realized that the hardest thing in the world to change is a person's character. Even after a full eight years, Gongsun Wenqi was still the same Gongsun Wenqi who crossed the Hutuo River at White Horse Ferry that day.

This man was weak when facing the weak, but enraged when facing danger!

It was just like Shen Zhengnan's courage in undertaking tasks, Guan Yunchang's arrogance toward superiors and compassion toward subordinates, Zhang Yide's primacy of brotherhood; and also like Yuan Benchu's inferiority and arrogance, Gongsun Bogui's pride and narrow-mindedness, Sun Wentai's reckless and unstoppable charge... Some things truly cannot be changed in a lifetime!

The great army hurriedly deployed, while upstream to the east — that is, to the southeast — as the beacon smoke rose over the river, within moments dust and smoke billowed in all directions... No one doubted any longer: the Yuan army had indeed set an ambush here. And the only thing that did not match the speculations of Gongsun Xun and Gao Shun was that the distance was slightly farther, probably about seven or eight li. It seemed the other side had also exercised some caution.

But regardless, one could almost imagine it: the enemy first feigned a full retreat, then sacrificed ten thousand troops as discarded pawns to lure away the Gongsun army's cavalry — clearly intending to stake everything, seeking life in death, in exchange for a chance at a great victory!

And for the moment, they had indeed succeeded.

"Such a simple stratagem actually succeeded?" Feng Ji, in full armor with a brown-feathered helmet and iron cuirass, leaned on his saber atop his horse and sighed. Around him were dense formations of Yuan troops, now advancing toward the Jie Bridge.

"Ten thousand lives as bait, to trade for the lives of a mere few thousand infantry. If it were me, I would have fallen for it too!" Guo Tu, also armored, reined in his horse beside him and stroked his beard with a cold sneer. "I only pity Lu Xiang and his ten thousand men... He surely never imagined that Xu You would say one thing in public during the day and something else entirely in private at night. Even now, he probably still believes that twenty li ahead, Li Tuizhi and Yu Wenze await with twenty thousand elite troops! That we would attack from both sides! I truly wonder what he would think if, at the moment of his death, he realized he had been sent to his doom by what Chen Gong called 'a usable man'?"

"Be that as it may, the boldness and unadorned brilliance of this stratagem are still breathtaking!" Feng Yuantu shook his head even more at these words. "A single intact Jie Bridge actually ended up delaying the advance of the entire army... As for General Lu Xiang, if we win swiftly enough, perhaps he may not be completely annihilated. So we must take this stockade as quickly as possible!"

"And what if we take it?" Guo Tu pursed his lips slightly toward the river, still sneering. "Since the river ploy was inadvertently exposed, Gongsun Xun and his central army probably left long ago. Even if he hasn't, he still has two thousand Volunteer Followers at his side... It's laughable that we can't even muster a few thousand cavalry. Even if we win, we can't expand the results, and can only retreat in haste. Who knows, during the retreat we might suffer casualties again from cavalry pursuit. And even if we withdraw safely, how will you, Feng Yuantu, answer to those troops from Anping? In short, even if we take the camp in this battle, who really wins?!"

"Brother Gongze, truly, do not speak of such things at this moment!" Feng Ji sighed. "In this situation, destroying a single enemy division is already enough to boost army morale. Even if it cannot boost morale, it can at least let the world know that the General of the Guards is no god of war — that he is not invincible. In the future, even if Hebei cannot hold and we retreat to Qingzhou or Yanzhou, we can still slowly ally with the lords of the Central Plains and rise again... As for the Anping troops, I deceived them by saying their road home was blocked. Naturally, I will give them an answer!"

With that, unable to endure his colleague's words any longer, he spurred his horse forward to continue rousing morale with talk of returning home.

At this, Guo Tu looked around, smiled without speaking, and then whipped his horse to follow.

It must be said, although Guo Tu kept grumbling about this and that, he was deeply impressed by Xu You's planning this time:

First, he was impressed by the man's boldness — the boldness to use ten thousand men as bait, fully prepared to discard those ten thousand lives. On this point, Guo Tu admitted he himself fell short.

Second, the design was exquisitely subtle. Relying on the transport bottleneck of the Jie Bridge, he exploited a psychological blind spot with what barely even qualified as a stratagem, creating a local absolute superiority in troop ratio for the Yuan army.

Finally, there was the act of seeking life in death — forcibly shifting the battlefield to change the situation. Fighting between the Qingshui and Zhangshui Rivers, the battlefield environment had been extremely unfavorable to the Yuan army. But once the battle moved to this side of the Jie Bridge, east of the Qingshui, not only did it further induce carelessness in the Gongsun army and preserve the Yuan army's retreat route, it even further aroused the fighting spirit of some Yuan troops. The vanguard this time consisted of the Anping troops brought by Feng Ji, the Pingyuan troops brought by Cui Yan, and a small number of Qinghe troops remaining in the army. Under the present circumstances, with a little deception and encouragement, the Anping troops became soldiers desperate to return home but with their path blocked, while the Qinghe and Pingyuan troops became soldiers in a desperate last stand, defending their homes.

In fact, considering that defeated troops were truly unusable in the short term, the Yuan army had only deployed fifty thousand troops this time. The vanguard and main force were those twenty thousand fresh troops. As for Li Jin, he had indeed led the remaining twenty thousand Yanzhou troops south to Dongjun. Using him there, with local troops from his home region to block Guan Yunchang, was absolutely more suitable than using him in Jizhou!

But regardless, after the eighty thousand-strong army was split into three, the remaining fifty thousand prepared troops absolutely had the confidence to crush the rashly advancing Gongsun army vanguard that had crossed the river. Their calculations were very clear: advancing now, even if troops were continuously being transported from the west bank during this process, the fifty thousand troops would at most face five thousand infantry and two thousand White Horse Volunteer Followers — and the latter would very likely be protecting Gongsun Xun and the central army staff as they evaded battle downstream.

"Although we dared not leave fire-starting materials in the main camp, it is made of wood after all," several hundred paces away, on a tall, specially made open carriage, Xu You was explaining the military situation to Yuan Shao. Riding alongside as attendants were Xin Ping, Xin Zhongzhi, and the recently promoted generals Jiang Qi and Meng Dai. "And our army has brought all the real fire-starting materials with us. When the time comes, the vanguard of ten thousand Anping troops will carry three thousand torches and ten thousand bundles of dry grass — enough to ignite the great stockade! The battle will be over in an instant! Then we need only be wary of the lured cavalry turning back, hold out until afternoon, and we can withdraw at leisure toward Ganling!"

"But what about the Jie Bridge?" Yuan Shao, whose illness had turned around and who was somewhat invigorated, was about to nod when a troublesome problem suddenly struck him. "Should we first send a strong force to seize it? Otherwise, if the battle drags on and troops keep pouring across the river endlessly, we may not be able to shake them off and withdraw at leisure, right? The enemy has the advantage of cavalry after all. If we wait until evening to retreat, with cavalry biting at our heels and reinforcements streaming in from behind, it could very well turn into a rout!"

"Benchu is right." Xu You pointed at the river surface and laughed scornfully. "The key to this battle is to immediately control the Jie Bridge... But we don't necessarily have to seize it. Destroying it is also feasible!"

"Ziyuan already has arrangements?"

"Does Benchu think that Shen Zhengnan's side was truly a mere coincidence?" Xu You's expression turned ferocious for a moment. "And now that things have come to this, Benchu, further thought is useless, and further talk from me is also useless... We are simply giving it our all — as they say, doing what man can and leaving the rest to Heaven!"

Yuan Shao promptly shut his mouth.

The great army rumbled forward, crossed the earthen ramparts, raised a sea of banners, and charged straight for the Jie Bridge. Eight li away, the army strode forward in great strides, the vanguard even jogging lightly. Thus, the fastest among them needed only two or three quarter-hours before they could see the condition of the bridgehead main camp after its fall. Their reactions were a mix of shock, suspicion, joy, and anger, and they all hurriedly reported back.

"Reporting to Chief Clerk Feng!" The vanguard commander Liu Yan sent a man to report to Feng Ji. "The enemy pulled down their own wooden palisades, dismantled their own tents, and then set fires inside the main camp themselves — seemingly using this to call for help from their cavalry..."

"I can already see that!" Feng Ji was both furious and flustered. "But since they've lost their wooden palisades, leaving us no room to use fire, they themselves have no cover either — we are not at a disadvantage! Order Liu Yan to have the front troops discard their dry grass and torches, bypass the camp, and prepare for encirclement battle! We must take it in one stroke, before the enemy cavalry arrives!"

The Plumed Tiger Guard hesitated, wanting to speak.

"Speak!" Feng Yuantu's eyes were bloodshot.

"In the very center of the camp, on the command platform, the General of the Guards' ceremonial canopy and insignia are present!" the Plumed Tiger Guard said with some difficulty. "From several hundred paces away, some sharp-eyed men saw clearly: there are also many men in fine armor and tall caps there. The person sitting in the very center beneath the White Horse banner is even holding a ten-year-old child in his arms, pointing and commenting toward our army, laughing and talking without cease! In addition, the two thousand White Horse Volunteer Followers are clearly visible, patrolling north of the main camp, seemingly to prevent our army from outflanking..."

Feng Ji was dumbstruck, then immediately overjoyed, his voice even turning shrill and trembling: "Send this news to Lord Ming and Xu Ziyuan behind us. Also, order... order the Anping army at the front to accelerate forward with full force!"

The Tiger Guard remained kneeling, unmoving.

"Is there something else?" Feng Ji, still excited and about to whip his horse to rush to the front lines to see for himself, had no choice but to rein in his horse and stop. "Say it all at once!"

"Nothing else, only that the enemy's troop numbers are also somewhat unexpected, and their troop composition is strange." The Tiger Guard continued with difficulty. "Aside from the two thousand Volunteer Followers guarding the rear and the troops continuously coming across the bridge, at the central army there are only three or four thousand infantry, and most of them are crossbowmen..."

Hearing this, Feng Ji could not be bothered to listen further. He directly whipped his warhorse and charged straight ahead. Guo Tu, who had been listening nearby, was, like the Tiger Guard, full of doubt. In the end, he actually turned his horse and headed toward Yuan Shao's great banner.

However, Feng Yuantu's good luck did not stop there. Just as the man, heedless of everything, had fiercely rushed to the very front beside Liu Yan moments later and had just verified that the Tiger Guard's earlier report was accurate, before he could even open his mouth, he saw smoke and fire suddenly rise from the river. Then the smoke and fire actually moved downstream with the current, heading straight for the Jie Bridge.

Without even thinking, he knew this must be the 'bridge control' method Xu Ziyuan had prepared earlier.

Thus, increasingly overjoyed, Feng Ji exhaled repeatedly and turned back to reconfirm the military situation ahead, now completely exposed because the wooden palisades had been torn down and the tents dismantled... The distance from his current position to Gongsun Xun's canopy was only four or five hundred paces. And the three or four thousand infantry, backed against a two-zhang-high crude rammed-earth platform — or more accurately, a piled-earth command platform — had actually placed crossbowmen in front, vaguely forming a crescent-moon formation, clearly intending to concentrate fire and annihilate any troops attacking from the front.

But this was utterly meaningless, because his own side had far too many troops, while the enemy at this moment only had two thousand Volunteer Followers patrolling in the rear, ready to provide support... He could simply send a great force forward in wave assaults. Once they reached the crossbowmen, all would be well!

However...

"Summon Xu Ziyuan to the front lines at once!" Feng Ji's face was flushed bright red. He directly shouted backward with all his might. "Let him come and identify his old friend!"

"Why haven't they attacked yet?" Gongsun Xun, holding his eldest son in his arms, could not help but laugh. "Could it be they still need Xu You or Yuan Shao to come forward and identify me?"

"Best if they identify us until dark, until Zhang and Xu turn back." Even Lu Fan, who had not objected earlier because he knew Gongsun Xun too well, was now drenched in sweat, to the point that he kept staring at the noonday sun overhead.

"That is rather unlikely, but they might grow suspicious and pause for a moment." Lou Gui spoke solemnly. "The trouble now is that we never imagined the enemy would also have fire ships coming downstream... No wonder Shen Zhengnan gave such a warning earlier!"

Gongsun Xun followed the sound and looked westward. He saw several fire ships linked together, piled high with firewood and brush, lodged beneath the Jie Bridge, now burning and smoking... One could imagine that even if the fire ships burned out quickly, this Jie Bridge, a mixed structure of wood and brick, would inevitably be severely damaged. Whether it could even be crossed then was uncertain.

However, long before this, Gongsun Xun had already guessed this possibility and had Cheng Pu rapidly construct simple pontoon bridges downstream. Presumably, if unhindered, they would be passable within half a shichen... And further downstream at Han Dang's position, it might be even faster — he still had cavalry there.

At this thought, Gongsun Xun looked again toward the southeast. There, a tall four-horse carriage had already appeared at the very front line. The man on the carriage, visible from afar, was an old acquaintance!

He hoped that after Yuan Shao and Xu You recognized him, they would hesitate for a moment longer... After all, as long as it worked, even the Empty City Stratagem was fine!

"Is it him?" Feng Ji asked solemnly.

"It is..." Yuan Shao was dumbstruck. "The beacon fire upstream has clearly been lit — why hasn't he returned to the west bank? Going downstream with the Volunteer Followers would also work, wouldn't it?"

"Put that way, it actually confirms things beyond doubt," Xu You said with a sigh. "Isn't this exactly Gongsun Wenqi's character? The more you try to humiliate him, the more he makes sure you die with your eyes wide open..."

"You mean there must be a trap?!" Yuan Shao was both shocked and suspicious, sweat beading on his forehead. "Could it be that Zhang Fei and Xu Rong received military orders in advance and have already withdrawn their troops, and are now to the south... just waiting for us to attack so they can unleash ten thousand riders in another assault?!"

"Are they immortals? To be able to pull back on command after such a great victory and pursuit?" Xu You was also drenched in sweat, but his expression was ferocious. "Gongsun Xun must have some killing move — he is not the kind of person who would truly risk his own life lightly! When he gambles on danger, he always has something to rely on... It's just that it absolutely cannot be Zhang or Xu..."

"Could there be collaborators within our army, the kind that involve entire units and divisions?" Guo Tu asked with a serious expression.

"Then..." Xin Ping also wanted to join the discussion.

"All of you, shut your mouths!" At that moment, Pang Ji, who had been waiting on horseback beside the carriage, erupted in fury. He directly drew his blade and struck the bronze inlay on the carriage shaft. Amid the shower of sparks, everyone was so startled they instantly fell silent. "At this hour, you're still hesitating? What use is all this back-and-forth doubt? In my view, this man is simply resorting to a deception tactic out of desperation! I respect Gongsun Wenqi's boldness and courage, but I will not let it delay our moment of battle!"

The crowd all shut their mouths and said nothing.

"I am Chief Clerk to the General of Chariots and Cavalry, overseeing all affairs of the headquarters!" Pang Ji suddenly turned around, brandishing his blade at the generals beside him as he continued to roar. "Pass on my order: the battlefield width is limited, do not waste time sending archers to trade volleys. The main assault will be led by ten thousand troops from Anping. Liu Yan, Jiang Qi, and Meng Dai — you three will each command two thousand five hundred soldiers. The frontmost ranks will discard their weapons and raise shields; the rest will discard shields and grip weapons, forming a dense formation. Without regard for life or death, you will assault in rotation... Guo Tu will lead the Tiger Guard to supervise the army. Anyone who retreats without orders will be executed!"

The three generals were momentarily awed and hurriedly bowed to accept the command. Even Guo Tu quickly composed his expression. Only Liu Yan, the Administrator of Anping and one of the three generals, could not help but raise his head and ask, "Chief Clerk, with three generals each commanding two thousand five hundred troops, who goes first and who goes last?"

"Can you not count?!" Pang Ji replied coldly. "Ten thousand men, two thousand five hundred each — that naturally means four generals attacking in rotation... And of those two thousand five hundred, I will naturally lead one contingent. And since I am personally leading troops, I will naturally attack first! You follow behind, and do not dare fail to advance!"

The generals grew even more horrified, and Yuan Shao also hurriedly rose to his feet.

But Pang Yuantu gave Yuan Shao no chance to speak. Instead, he issued his orders sternly on his own: "Xu Ziyuan, this is your stratagem. After I set out with the troops, you will take charge of the overall situation here!"

With those words, he paid no heed whatsoever to the reactions of those under Yuan Shao's great banner. He simply took up his blade and went to rally the morale of the Anping troops. However, the bridge had been burned by their own side, so any talk of returning home felt hollow. Facing over two thousand living faces, Pang Yuantu found it somewhat difficult in his heart. After riding his horse back and forth twice before the formation, he simply raised his blade and shouted for the kill!

Kill! Kill! Kill!

The great army of tens of thousands erupted in killing cries that shook both riverbanks. Then Pang Yuantu personally took command, leading the cut-off two thousand and more sons of Anping in a desperate charge toward the command platform where Gongsun Xun stood — which was indeed in the direction of the latter's homeland.

Moreover, he personally positioned himself toward the front of the formation, which stirred fighting spirit in many of the surrounding soldiers. As they charged, the killing cries continued unabated.

The two thousand five hundred infantry, just as Pang Ji had arranged earlier — a few men in front raising shields and discarding weapons, the rest discarding shields and raising spears and gripping blades — formed a dense great formation and surged forward with all their might... This light-arms deployment allowed them to charge at extreme speed! The distance to the camp's outer edge was a hundred paces, and within the camp it was three hundred paces to the crescent formation of archers and crossbowmen. So in almost the blink of an eye, the two thousand-odd infantry surged past the ruined boundary of the camp!

Pang Ji, among them, reined his horse to a slow trot as he advanced. He only felt several crisp sensations beneath the horse's hooves, but there was no time to think further. Gongsun Xun was visible right before his eyes, so he simply raised his blade with all his might and bellowed, calling the entire army to follow him in storming the command platform.

The vanguard had already entered the range of Gongsun's army. Unexpectedly, those men had drawn their bows but did not release. This made Pang Yuantu even more elated, and he continued to charge with blade raised! He even disregarded life and death, seizing the very front line!

But just when they were about thirty paces from the crescent formation of archers and crossbowmen ahead, suddenly, a change erupted right under their noses on the battlefield!

Gongsun Xun, holding his son in one hand, suddenly raised the other. Immediately, gongs sounded in unison to the left and right, and countless soldiers before and behind the command platform let out a thunderous roar:

"Rise!"

Not kill, not shoot, but rise!

And with this heaven-shaking roar, at the outer edge of the camp palisade, less than a hundred paces from the great formation of Yuan's army, two full rows of soldiers with great shields and long spears suddenly leaped up from the ground! It happened so abruptly that scattered Anping soldiers charging behind were even flipped over entirely.

Along the two lines, the great shields were swiftly adjusted outward, facing the panic-stricken great formation of Yuan's army, while the spearmen turned inward, thrusting with all their might at the even more panicked two thousand-odd Anping soldiers.

Between the shield-bearers and the spearmen, a great banner bearing the character "Gao" was raised — one that Yuan's army would never forget for all time!

At the same time, the several thousand archers and crossbowmen arrayed before the command platform no longer hesitated. They loosed volleys in unison upon the panicked Yuan troops ahead. Poor Pang Yuantu, already conspicuous and charging at the very front out of a desire to repay Yuan Shao's recognition and favor — in an instant, both he and his horse were struck by no fewer than several dozen arrows.

In a flash of lightning and spark of flint, the man who had just moments ago commanded the entire army — yet another Chief Clerk to the General of Chariots and Cavalry — fell to the ground and perished. He was thirty-eight years old.

Yuan Shao, leaning against the carriage shaft, saw this scene from afar. He felt as if his heart were being twisted by a blade, his head splitting with agony. In an instant, the pain nearly made him faint dead away.

—————I am the dividing line of instant death—————

"Pang Ji was a loyal minister who gave his all." — Kong Rong

"Pang Ji was resolute but relied only on himself." — Xun Yu

PS: Sorry, sorry, I forgot to wish everyone a happy Children's Day!

(End of Chapter)