[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-han":3,"chapter-overthrowing-han-overthrowing-han-chapter-475":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},1223234,1620,"Chapter 475: Hunting the Horse, Daring to Sortie Together","overthrowing-han-chapter-475",475,"\u003Cp>At the end of the fifth month, Gao Shun led ten thousand troops across the Yellow River and arrived at Baima. Immediately, the Duke of Yan, Acting General-in-Chief Gongsun Xun, without even sparing a glance at his own son, convened a military council.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The army’s commanders, who had long since caught wind of the situation, were naturally stirred to fervor, for Xiahou Yuan was a horse card — and the premier spring horse at that. This merit was enough to make every commander in the army, who had witnessed the Seven Ministers all emerge yet none receive a noble title, burn with envy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Suqing, you have toiled crossing the river. Remain at Baima to guard it and keep watch over Puyang,” Gongsun Xun said, concise and to the point, laying out his intent at the very start. “The entire remaining army, forty thousand strong, will sortie and follow me into battle! Gongming!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your subordinate is here!” Xu Huang immediately stepped forward from the ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“North of the Pu River, east of Suanzao, the enemy has one large and three small cities serving as a screen — namely Yanxian, Weixiang, Wating, and Taocheng. Weixiang, Wating, and Taocheng lie directly before Baima. I entrust all of them to you!” Gongsun Xun sat upright in the command tent, hand on his sword, raising his voice to assign the task. “The deadline is noon tomorrow. You must take them by storm. Once the three small cities are taken, immediately set up defenses and ensure that Cao Cao’s main force on the south bank of the Pu River cannot break through from the front to cross the Pu and provide relief!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aye!” Xu Huang accepted without the slightest hesitation the most grueling, most difficult, yet least meritorious task of storming fortifications while blocking reinforcements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this, inevitably, stirred the other commanders for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Junyi!” Gongsun Xun suddenly called out a name that made everyone involuntarily glance sideways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant is here!” Zhang He immediately stepped forward, agitated with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yanxian is a large city, somewhat harder to assault, but there is no pressure of blocking reinforcements, so I give you five thousand infantry,” Gongsun Xun instructed unhurriedly. “I care about nothing else — only that you take this city, then hold it, and ensure that Xiahou Yuan does not escape from your sector. Matters outside the city are none of your concern!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aye!” Zhang He immediately accepted the order in a booming voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It must be said, that fellow Zhang Junyi, as a surrendered general, though always stationed at Yexia, was never counted among the so-called “Yexia commanders.” Instead, he had always held some post as Commandant of Wei Commandery, his status utterly incomparable to the other commanders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now, this man had first been allowed to lead Wei Commandery conscripts in Xu Huang’s raid on Baima, and then, after his own Wei Commandery troops were effectively absorbed and reorganized by Xu Huang’s division into a ten-thousand-man field army, he was specially given five thousand troops to operate independently — clearly a sign of Gongsun Xun’s deliberate cultivation. So why would he care about the nature of the combat assignment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, even though it was still a peripheral siege task, and against the hardest large city to take, the man paid it no mind whatsoever and was instead exceptionally stirred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By this point, with the three commanders Xu Huang, Zhang He, and Gao Shun each assigned their roles, the remaining true senior generals in the tent were none other than Central Protector of the Army Han Hao, Protector of the Volunteer Retinue Pang De, and Lieutenant General Zhang Liao — three men. The remaining troops were the ten thousand under Zhang Liao’s command and Gongsun Xun’s directly subordinate central army, including the Baima Volunteers, totaling fifteen thousand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet one only had to hear their official titles to know that Pang De and Han Hao were certain to act as deputies in the central army, escorting Gongsun Xun. Thus, Zhang Liao was naturally stirred for a time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wenyuan!” Gongsun Xun indeed called Zhang Liao’s name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant is here!” Zhang Wenyuan grew even more agitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You will accompany me,” Gongsun Xun commanded in a deep voice. “We will deploy south of Suanzao, north of the upper reaches of the Pu River. If Cao Cao truly intends to rescue Xiahou Yuan, he must advance from that sector!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Liao’s heart jolted, and he almost blurted out: “In that case, who will strike Xiahou Yuan’s main force in the Suanzao, Zuocheng, and Yanjin area?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the moment the words left his mouth, the Lieutenant General immediately realized his error, bowed, and begged forgiveness: “Your servant spoke out of turn.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No matter.” As Gongsun Xun replied, he glanced at Jia Xu, who stood to one side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter understood and, in his capacity as an army strategist accompanying the expedition, stepped forward to briefly explain: “General Tian Yu, leading his own division plus conscripts from Shangdang and Taiyuan, totaling ten thousand; General Cheng Lian, leading his own division plus conscripts from Shanzhou and Yanmen, totaling ten thousand; General Yang Kai, leading his own division plus conscripts from Shanggu and Dai Commandery, totaling ten thousand; General Tian Chou, leading six thousand Wuhuan cavalry; Captain Yuwen Heita, leading five thousand Xianbei and miscellaneous Hu cavalry; the two captains Liu and Zhang, each leading three thousand Xiongnu cavalry… All have long since crossed the three fords of Luoyang and are stationed in the Luoyang periphery behind Hulao Pass. Once His Highness’s resolve was set earlier, the various divisions, under Strategist Lou’s coordination, maneuvered to the Yingou and Honggou area. Tomorrow’s main assault will be the duty of these generals. They will cross the Yingou and strike directly at Suanzao, Zuocheng, and Yanjin. Wherever Xiahou Yuan may be among those three places, they should be able to capture him in a single battle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This introduction rendered not only Zhang Liao but all the other commanders in the tent momentarily silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every single one of them was a renowned commander of the age. And now, combining this with earlier events, how could they not piece it together? What painting Cao Cao as a monkey? What slow, deliberate standoff at Baima? What rain hindering cavalry? What forward thrust? Was Gongsun Xun the sort of man to waver and look over his shoulder?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, this Duke of Yan and Acting General-in-Chief had from the very start intended to lure Cao Cao’s main force across the Pu River, so as to trap the enemy in a pincer between two massive troop concentrations — the Luoyang region and the Baima region — seeking to set the tone for this decisive battle from the outset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One might even consider that, given the late arrival of Gao Shun and Zhang Liao, the three fords of Luoyang to the west had been crossed simultaneously. Over there were not only their Yexia colleagues who had gone to Bingzhou to muster troops, but also Cheng Pu’s local Sizhou forces. Who could say which side was the true main effort?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Cao Mengde simply did not take the bait. For these several tens of days, that Acting General of the Valiant Army had merely sat in Pingqiu, behind the Pu River, methodically dispatching the reinforcements that gradually arrived behind him. Elite troops with combat experience and capable of field battle were all kept encamped at his side. Auxiliaries who were armed but lacked experience were sent to the dense clusters of cities across the Central Plains, building line after line of defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One must understand: in field battle, those locally armed civilian laborers and auxiliaries with minimal combat experience could never be a match for field battle elites. But once they had city walls to rely on, they would create an effective exchange ratio against the elites assaulting those cities. So this kind of deployment was absolutely a matter of course.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Gongsun Xun’s great fury a few days prior over the poem Wang Can had written on the military order slip — how much of it was anger at Wang Can, and how much was because Cao Cao’s steadiness had thwarted his, the Duke of Yan’s, stratagem to lure the enemy, was probably very difficult to say clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaving aside the various thoughts of the commanders, Zhang Liao, having lost the chance at the main assault, served as the vanguard of Gongsun Xun’s own force. He had led his troops seven or eight li out of the great Baima camp before it suddenly dawned on him: to swallow Xiahou Yuan’s mere five thousand cavalry, even counting the garrison troops in the few cities north of the Pu River, it was no more than a paltry ten to twenty thousand men. Yet his Duke of Yan had committed a full eighty to ninety thousand field army troops in one breath!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it was perfectly understandable, because this battle array had originally been prepared for that monkey Cao Cao, not for the horse Xiahou Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A monkey is more valuable than a horse — that is common knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to the matter at hand, after breakfast that day, the forty-thousand-strong army surged forth mightily, vast and overwhelming, suddenly pouring out from three sides of the already immensely spectacular Baima camp. It immediately alarmed the garrison forces in Cao’s various cities north of the Pu River. But it was already too late, for the proportion of cavalry in the mixed Yan army’s main force was far too high, and their numbers far too great. Many Central Plains soldiers had probably never seen so many cavalry troops in their entire lives!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yan army’s rear infantry had only just left camp alongside the ox-carts and draft-horse wagons transporting armor and equipment, yet the vanguard cavalry had essentially already reached the banks of the Pu River. Large bodies of cavalry arrived with a thunderous roar, immediately sealing off the battlefield in practice, so that the cities could only raise signal fires and smoke to send word to the opposite bank of the Pu — and then passively await reinforcements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What else could they do?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such an extreme disparity in troop strength, what else could they do?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of reinforcements, one important and interesting fact was that the Yan army’s Baima camp and Cao Cao’s Pingqiu camp were both thirty li from the nearest point on the Pu River. It was just that Baima lay to the east, Pingqiu to the west, and the Pu River flowed roughly west to east, with a slight northward slant, so the distance between the two sides’ nearest points to the Pu River was also roughly thirty li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thirty li is a very interesting number for armies. In the early industrial era, infantry on a long-distance march while maintaining combat effectiveness could walk thirty li per day; a surprise forced march — that is, a raid operation — had a limit of sixty li per day. In the earlier medieval era, which is this very period, it was the same the world over. For ordinary foot soldiers, the limit of thirty li per day for a long-distance march remained unchanged, but a surprise forced march, constrained by the era’s development, was much lower. Infantry that could march thirty li and then fight were absolutely top-tier elites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, supposing Cao Cao, upon seeing the signal smoke, immediately mobilized his main army: if he sought to relieve those cities north of the Pu River that faced the Baima camp directly, it would take three days to arrive. If he grasped the situation and abandoned those cities, crossing the river directly from the upper Pu — that is, due north of Pingqiu — to rescue Xiahou Yuan, it would take two days. The optimal scenario was that Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan both realized the situation upon seeing the signal smoke and both set out, in which case by noon or afternoon of the second day, the two sides might still link up somewhere along the Pu River.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was… having mobilized eighty to ninety thousand field battle elites, among them an estimated thirty to forty thousand cavalry, and even personally leading a large cavalry force to oversee the battle, how could Gongsun Xun possibly give them that chance?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even for Xu Huang and Zhang He, Gongsun Xun had issued death orders: the four cities, large and small, north of the Pu River must be taken before noon the next day, and then linked up with cavalry to completely seal off the relief route. By then, the entire narrow area from the north bank of the Pu River and the east bank of the Yingou to the Baima camp and Weixiang would be densely packed, filled with eighty thousand infantry and cavalry. Would Cao Cao dare to come?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wenhe, do you think Cao Cao will come tomorrow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That evening, Gongsun Xun, with his own main force plus Zhang Liao’s division, a total of twenty-five thousand men, had successfully force-marched through the night and arrived in the wilderness south of Suanzao, where they began erecting a stockade and building a camp. Yet after settling in, Gongsun Xun’s mind was stirred by the events of the march along the way, and he could not help but harbor doubts. So he summoned one of the two army strategists accompanying the expedition, Jia Xu, Jia Wenhe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He will certainly come, but he will certainly not cross the river to give battle!” Jia Xu, as if having long anticipated this question, opened his mouth and gave a definitive answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun, seated on the couch, stared blankly for a long while upon hearing this, but ultimately let out a sigh: “Wenhe’s wisdom and cunning are truly unmatched under heaven, and what is even rarer is that he can always see through the human heart. Just as you say, Cao Mengde is bound to come to the rescue, but he will absolutely not actually fight!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, this Duke of Yan was utterly convinced by Jia Xu’s judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the logic behind Gongsun Xun’s doubt was very simple: he had deployed such a massive force, such elite troops, and employed such swift and ferocious methods to hunt down a mere Xiahou Yuan. From a purely military standpoint, Cao Cao’s rescue attempt would be of little significance. The Cao army units north of the Pu River, including Xiahou Yuan, could not count on Cao Cao breaking through Gongsun Xun’s heavy troop concentrations to complete the rescue in a short time. Yet the problem was, how could Cao Cao possibly not come to the rescue?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was Xiahou Yuan! Those were several cities and a port!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the Cao army forcibly and hastily crossed the river to fight, they would likely suffer massive, futile losses of troops and commanders on the north bank of the Pu. But if he did not rescue them, people’s hearts would scatter!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was precisely upon realizing this that Gongsun Xun had suddenly become fixated — if he were in Cao Cao’s position, what should he do?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Jia Xu had pierced the veil with a single sentence: it turned out one could dispatch troops yet not fight, simply confront the enemy across the river for a while, and then withdraw once the situation to the north was settled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what should we do?” Gongsun Xun asked further. “Can we make slight adjustments?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Under the current circumstances, adjustments are certainly possible, but it depends on whether Your Highness’s intent leans more toward Xiahou Yuan or more toward Cao Cao,” Jia Xu replied calmly. “If the intent is Xiahou Yuan, then tomorrow morning, follow the original plan and move the troops south, advancing toward the Pu River, deploying defenses along the riverbank, aiming to link up with General Xu Huang and Commandant Zhang He into a continuous line and completely lock the enemy in. If, however, the intent is more toward Cao Cao, then why not strike camp tomorrow and march north, moving a bit toward the walls of Suanzao, leaving an open stretch of land by the Pu River? In that case, when Cao Cao leads his troops to the Pu and finds not a single soldier before him yet does not advance, it will naturally expose his true unwillingness to rescue. Though he could then make the excuse of fearing an ambush on the opposite bank, how could that deceive those with true insight? But in doing so, the encirclement will inevitably develop gaps and oversights. And if Xiahou Yuan abandons the rest of his troops and flees overnight from Yanjin with only his cavalry, it’s quite possible he might truly slip out through that gap tomorrow!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun simply sighed: “Xiahou Miaocai is absolutely not the sort of man to abandon his troops and flee.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Xu immediately understood and nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In truth… how could Cao Mengde not wish to fight with all his might to rescue Xiahou Miaocai? This is a man like a blood brother to him, and a true talent fit for a great general — a man like a right arm!” Having made his decision, Gongsun Xun could not help but sigh with emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is the helplessness of those in high positions,” Jia Xu sighed softly. “Private sentiment is private sentiment; affairs of state are affairs of state. If he truly were to be defeated, when everything comes crashing down, the dead will not be Xiahou Yuan alone!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That is why I said this is a war for the state, and not the slightest carelessness can be afforded,” Gongsun Xun said, his expression solemn. “Men like Cao Mengde and Liu Xuande have truly been pushed to the point of burning their boats. Our chances of victory are not nearly as great as imagined. Yet an air of arrogance and complacency pervades the army, and even at Yexia, that arrogance and complacency is hard to conceal. For instance, my original intent was that A-Ding should have remained at Yexia to hold the rear. Yet his mother insisted on sending him here, clearly believing this battle is a certain victory and wanting A-Ding to gain some experience and prestige. And because of the storm over establishing the heir and the matters in Liaodong, I could not very well oppose his mother’s wishes at this juncture.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Xu remained silent and did not respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Does Wenhe have any clever stratagem to cure the arrogance and complacency in the army?\" Gongsun Xun raised his head further and pressed the question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Xu spread his hands and smiled bitterly: \"Once blades clash and a prolonged stalemate sets in, arrogance and complacency will naturally fade. But if you want a swift cure, there is no way short of killing another Wei Yue — yet how can you execute a great general without cause?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun could not help but laugh as well: \"So by that reasoning, if Xiahou Yuan were to die, the Cao army would instead unite in shared hatred and enmity, and become disciplined in an instant?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jia Xu shook his head and did not answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongsun Xun nodded in return and said no more — war, that thing, has always been a reality built from absurdities. Who could know what outcome awaited Xiahou Yuan? And who could know the Cao army's reaction after this battle?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night passed without a word. The next day, Gongsun Xun indeed ordered the entire army northward, pressing toward Suanzao and leaving Cao Cao an open stretch of river to cross. And just as he had guessed, Xiahou Yuan did not abandon his troops to flee alone. Quite the opposite — the moment he realized he had been suddenly surrounded, this Cao army commander made an immediate decision, rising that very night with all five thousand cavalry from Yanjin and heading south, attempting to gather the forces at Zuocheng and Suanzao along the way and escape together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, that morning, shortly after his troops had left Zuocheng together with its garrison, Yan army forces suddenly surged in from the direction of Yingou to the west, growing more and more numerous, until in barely a single morning, an army far beyond imagination had nearly blanketed the narrow region between Yanjin, Zuocheng, and Suanzao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a time, it seemed that everywhere were the banners of the Yan army! Everywhere were the cavalry of the Yan lord!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As it turned out, Tian Yu and the other commanders, determined not to miss the rendezvous and drawing on prior battle experience, and since the Yingou River was merely a man-made channel, had relied on their numbers to build bridges through the night. By daybreak, the entire army had crossed the Yingou and struck straight for Xiahou Yuan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The armies were not even on the same scale in numbers, nor in quality... The main force under Xiahou Yuan — the five thousand cavalry that the Cao army had always treasured like gems — were almost all horses bred for generations on the Central Plains, and they sorely lacked experience in large-scale cavalry engagements. Thus, the moment the two sides clashed, Xiahou Yuan's forces collapsed like an avalanche and became prey for the Yan cavalry's pursuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as the various Yan army contingents gradually converged — especially since Yanjin and Zuocheng were now vacant, and the attack units originally assigned there all drew toward the battle zone — it was only then, in the midst of his rout, that Xiahou Yuan awoke to the realization of just what kind of desperate trap he had fallen into!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not battle at all — it was a hunt!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the quarry, what was he to do now? What could he even do?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>————I am a very troubled dividing line————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Xiahou and Cao clans were joined by marriage for generations; thus Dun, Yuan, Ren, Hong, Xiu, Chun, Zhen, and others, as kin and trusted confidants, were esteemed among those close to him, and all rendered meritorious service.\" — Old Book of Yan, Volume 27, Hereditary Houses, Second\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",3684,"2026-06-04T19:42:52.587Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","16a5d12a3a76f7da8058026e9ff3bf3555e893df2cbaf02510cfc4c887beb6a2","overthrowing-han-chapter-476","overthrowing-han-chapter-474",548,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-han-cover.jpg"]