Chapter 499: Strength Exhausted, the Pass and Mountains Remain Unbroken (Part 2)

Once Zhou Tai surged forward, the great formation of Cao’s army was in truth already nearly impossible to maintain. And the moment he fell in battle, it allowed the Yan army to seize complete dominance of the overall situation.

On the battlefield, the various Yan cavalry units, having received the supreme command, began to reorganize methodically under their respective officers and swiftly threw themselves into the new phase of combat — with clear division of labor and astonishing efficiency!

Among them, the armored cavalry concentrated on the western part of the battlefield and, operating by qu, tun, and dui, rapidly swept through and slaughtered the already routed forces of Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Xu Sheng. Liu Bei had only two universally acknowledged elite units — one naval force and one infantry force, each roughly ten thousand strong — and now their formations could essentially be declared destroyed. Even if a few thousand scattered survivors could eventually be gathered, they were destined, like the cavalry force beside Cao Mengde today, to be of no further use.

Liu Bei’s finest troops were utterly lost, and Cao Cao’s nine-thousand-strong central army was likewise hardly spared.

In fact, just as the armored cavalry rapidly expanded their gains, strangling and annihilating the elite troops of Liu Bei’s three battalions, the Yan light cavalry — because the genuine arrow reserves from the Guandu main camp had finally arrived — swiftly redeployed their suppression. Their target was precisely Du Xi’s division, whose formation had already been somewhat disordered and which, due to Zhou Tai’s sudden westward advance, had fallen into a state of being assailed from three sides.

However, Du Xi’s division, though also directly subordinate to the central army and even somewhat better equipped due to Cao Cao’s favor, performed rather disappointingly… Or, to put it bluntly, compared to the earlier three battalions of Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Xu Sheng, Du Xi’s division was markedly inferior in resilience, combat strength, and battlefield reaction speed.

The Yan light cavalry repeated their old tactic, blanketing the area with volleys of arrows, and before the armored cavalry could reorganize for a charge, and before casualties had even reached a certain threshold, Du Xi’s division already showed faint signs of wavering.

This naturally drew discussion among the Yan central army staff officers who had once again approached the front lines.

It must be understood that, according to the Yan army’s pre-battle analysis of the elite forces of the Cao and Liu factions, based on the two factions’ troop numbers, territory, and population, the general consensus was that each should have, and could roughly only sustain, around twenty thousand core elite troops. On Liu Bei’s side, it was straightforward — just over ten thousand naval troops and fewer than ten thousand central army armored soldiers, all of which had now been accounted for. But Cao Cao had no naval forces, so the Jing’an Terrace had previously analyzed that his elite should consist of the five thousand frontline troops under Yue Jin, the three thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, possibly a small number of elite troops under Xiahou Dun, and the remainder naturally being Cao Cao’s central army.

But clearly, the performance of Cao Cao’s central army at this moment was decidedly unworthy of its reputation.

“What do Wenhe and Gongda make of this?” Gongsun Xun, listening to the staff officers around him discussing, suddenly joined in this seemingly idle question. “Why is Cao Cao’s central army so inadequate?”

“Forgive my bluntness,” Xun You watched the battle in silence, while Jia Xu gave a bitter laugh and could only step in to answer. “One can always find an explanation if one looks for it…”

“For instance?”

“For instance, at this moment the enemy’s great formation is already hard to maintain, a third of their forces have collapsed, the outcome of the battle is clear, and so the enemy has already lost heart.”

“That makes sense.”

“Another example,” Jia Wenhe continued from horseback, cupping his hands and sighing, “is that the general is the courage of his soldiers. Looking at the unyielding spirit of Zhou Tai, Zhou Youping, just now — enough to be called a hero — one can see that his troops must originally have been, like their commander, adept at bitter combat, capable of unyielding resolve, and daring to face death. But Cao Mengde was caught off guard by our surprise attack from the start. In order to establish a great formation, he forcibly split his originally unified central army into three, ordering two subordinates to set up separate formations. Not only were the soldiers and commanders mismatched, but I do not believe that both of these men in Cao’s army could possibly be as valiant, strong, and forceful as Zhou Youping…”

“That is only natural,” Gongsun Xun also sighed. “How many men under Heaven can compare to the bearing Zhou Tai displayed just now? Not to mention that Mao Jie is a moral civil official, and Du Xi is a young master from a Yingchuan aristocratic family. Even if they possess talent, wisdom, and courage, they ultimately lack a certain martial ardor essential to a commander… inherently insufficient!”

“Your Highness speaks truly,” Xun You finally interjected, his expression unchanged. “Du Zixu is a man of refinement both inside and out, fully capable of great service. But refinement, after all, is only refinement. It can make official robes, it can make bedding, it can even wrap a sword hilt, and in dire need it might reluctantly be used to wipe a blade — but how can it directly clash head-on with the blade itself?”

“Well said,” Gongsun Xun nodded at once, responding without even glancing at Xun Gongda. “But being born into this time and this world, what is there to complain about? Wasted by these chaotic times, even to the point of dying an innocent death — is he the only one?”

Xun You was immediately left with nothing to say.

Gongsun Xun turned again to Jia Xu: “What Wenhe said earlier seemed, from the very start, to contain a unique insight… Well, do you think there is another reason why Du Xi’s formation is so far inferior to the previous three battalions?”

“Indeed,” Jia Wenhe also grew slightly more serious. “I have been watching all along, and I keep feeling that the disparity between Du Xi’s division and the earlier three divisions of Zhou Tai is far too great… What does Gongda think?”

Xun You, thus addressed, nodded slightly: “It is indeed so.”

“Therefore,” Jia Wenhe turned back and spoke with a serious expression, “I believe that Du Xi’s division was perhaps never the equal of the divisions of Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Xu Sheng to begin with.”

Gongsun Xun narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.

But Jia Wenhe continued: “However, I also believe that the Jing’an Terrace’s earlier assessment — based on territory, population, and total troop strength — that Cao Cao could maintain roughly twenty thousand core elite troops is absolutely correct. Because such a top-down judgment could not possibly be wrong; it is simply a problem from the ‘Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.’ Therefore…”

“Therefore, if Cao Cao is missing several thousand elite infantry here, they must be concentrated elsewhere?” Gongsun Xun suddenly reined in his horse and turned back with a scoff. “So where exactly are they concentrated?”

Jia Xu smiled in agreement but said no more.

And Gongsun Xun directly answered his own question: “Perhaps with Cao Ren, perhaps Li Jin’s main force still enjoys Cao Mengde’s greatest trust and support, perhaps both… But no matter what, the Cao Cao before us now is actually far weaker than we imagined. He has been so meticulously cautious this time, yet he placed Zhou Tai’s three battalions on the western flank — could that be a coincidence? Just as I, from the very start, have fixated solely on Liu Bei’s core troops without letting go — could that also be a coincidence?”

Jia Xu and Xun You each remained silent, while Tian Yu, Pang De, and below them, the civil staff officers — save for Wang Xiang — broke into a flurry of discussion.

“Guorang,” perhaps because he had earlier seen Tian Yu’s determination to redeem his failure at the battle’s start, Gongsun Xun’s tone softened slightly now. “Go organize your troops and assist in the battle. Once the surrounding enemy units have collapsed, you must seize the momentum and press forward to the very front of Cao Cao’s main formation… Then relay a message to Cao Mengde for me. Tell him that the harvest in Neihuang this year has been good, so he need not be so deeply troubled. No matter what, we can still afford to feed prisoners of war.”

Tian Yu was baffled, but he accepted the order and departed.

The sun set in the west. Light cavalry raced to suppress, armored cavalry charged back and forth. By this stage of the battle, there was truly nothing left to say. Du Xi’s division and Mao Jie’s division had both collapsed. Mao Jie was witnessed by Yuwen Heita personally committing suicide beneath his banner. Du Xi and Chen Wu, however, had temporarily vanished without a trace — their whereabouts unknown. Whether they had fled in the chaos, lost their banners yet still fought on in the battlefield, or had simply already fallen in battle, no one knew.

And once those two divisions collapsed, Cao Cao’s main force instead displayed tremendous resilience. While gathering scattered troops on one hand, they organized their defense on the other, not dispersing in the slightest. It was Li Tong’s division, rather, that finally became unsteady after the Yan army concentrated on driving routed soldiers to crash into them.

By this point, the collapse of Cao’s main army was as irreversible as a mountain crumbling, beyond all doubt. The various Yan cavalry commanders all adjusted and reorganized, settling on a strategy: first break Li Tong to isolate Cao Cao’s main formation, then encircle them together to achieve an extraordinary feat!

But it was precisely at this moment that a sudden change occurred. Huang Gai’s division, which had earlier feigned surrender, finally turned back from the northern bank of the Ji River. Along the way, they gathered scattered troops and attacked isolated Yan units, clearly showing signs of attempting to link up with Cao’s main force. Such a unit — fully armed, banners distinct, perhaps not quite a fresh force but absolutely a significant threat — how could the Yan army dare to be negligent, vigilant as they were? Thus, without waiting for Gongsun Xun to issue orders, the various units all turned north, attempting to first halt Huang Gongfu’s resurgence.

And it was precisely at this moment that Tian Yu finally found a gap to carry out Gongsun Xun’s instructions… Only, in such chaotic fighting, relaying Gongsun Xun’s exact words was hardly realistic. So Tian Guorang simply waited until the area near Cao Cao’s main force was slightly less chaotic, then ordered the several hundred riders beside him to shout the two words “Neihuang” in unison toward Cao Cao’s banner, before galloping north to attack Huang Gai.

The sky grew ever darker. This inexplicable shout seemed to produce no immediate effect, for those words were originally meant to be used when besieging Cao Cao’s main formation, not shouted and then immediately abandoned as they were now. Thus, Tian Yu, half his face and half a leg bandaged, had no way of knowing that with this single shout, Cao Mengde — who had persisted in commanding throughout the entire afternoon, who had not wavered even as nearly half his entire army collapsed — suddenly fell into a bizarre state of discomposure at the very moment Huang Gai appeared in time, granting him a sliver of respite and perhaps even a chance to flee under cover of night.

What kind of place Neihuang was, Cao Mengde knew better than anyone. That single shout chilled his heart to the core. It was a full half ke before he regained his clarity and continued to force himself to hold on.

At Guandu, the setting sun was like blood, as soldiers risked their lives in fierce combat, chasing north and south. But in the Neihuang region of Hebei, roughly two hundred and fifty li directly north of Guandu, a completely different scene of peace prevailed.

At noon, the sunlight here had still been bright and beautiful, so much so that Yue Wenqian could faintly see, over a dozen li away, the shimmering waters of the core area of Neihuang Marsh under the sun. But by afternoon, it had gradually grown cloudy and cool. Experienced old farmers knew in their hearts that this was the sign of late autumn turning to winter — each cold rain bringing a deeper chill. But the rain itself would likely still take another day or two, arriving only after they entered the early winter of the tenth month.

And, that being said, from a military perspective, such weather seemed slightly advantageous for Sun Ce’s main force of seven armies, which had already arrived by the Qing River outside Neihuang City.

First, once it rained, marching speed would inevitably be affected… but by then, Sun Ce and the others might well have already reached the walls of Ye City, perhaps even occupying that so-called Bronze Sparrow Terrace as their barracks. On the contrary, any reinforcing troops that might rush over from the surrounding area — namely the divisions of Yu Jin and Gao Shun — would have their advance greatly delayed, suffering an even greater impact.

Beyond that, Sun Ce and the others had force-marched here in a single day. Because the vanguard, Yue Jin, had committed no offenses against the populace along the way, had disguised his banners as those of Hebei, and had not paused to rest, no significant armed conflict had occurred thus far. But that was all, for they now had to cross the Qing River and seize Neihuang City to catch their breath. This was an essential transit and rest stop; otherwise, they would simply have no strength to attack Ye City. In other words, from this evening onward, the danger of exposure would greatly increase — and the rain would, without question, provide them with perfect concealment, while also delaying the potential escape of the dignitaries below Ye.

In summary, this cold autumn-winter rain, likely to arrive tomorrow or the day after, was, in any case, slightly advantageous for Sun Ce’s surprise attack force.

Returning to the matter at hand: Neihuang County was the only unavoidable major city between Puyang and Ye City. Detouring east meant too many cities, too densely packed, while detouring west meant the Neihuang Marsh blocked the way. As for the city itself, as its name implied, it lay north of the old course of the Yellow River, and now happened to be on the inner side of the present Huang Marsh… truly the inner side.

The Huang Marsh, spanning several dozen li in circumference, was a remnant of the old Yellow River course. After the river changed course, due to the inflow of the Dang River and the passage of the Qing River, it had shown no sign of drying up. Instead, it lay on its side in the southern part of Hebei like a teardrop. The marsh’s eastern shore, an almost perfectly straight line from northwest to southeast, formed an angle of roughly sixty degrees with the Qing River, which brushed past and flowed northeast. Combined with another tributary of the Qing River further north, these two rivers and one marsh formed a distinct, though not fully enclosed, triangular region.

Surrounded by water on three sides — in an agricultural era, this was naturally a gift from Heaven. Thus, this place had developed waterworks and abundant, fertile land, so much so that it naturally became a county. Neihuang City lay precisely in the center of this triangle.

There were some clouds in the sky, but they did not entirely obscure the setting sun. Having seized the ferry crossing as early as noon and erected a pontoon bridge in the afternoon, four of Sun Ce’s seven armies had already crossed the Qing River without incident, entering the triangular area enclosed by the marsh and the river. The bulk of Sun Ce’s own army had also crossed. Only Sun Ce himself had once again deliberately stayed behind, having specifically instructed Li Jin to be sure to destroy the pontoon bridge after crossing, to guard against a possible return of Yu Jin’s division.

And just as the last glimmer of light hidden behind the clouds was about to vanish, Cao Hong’s division, the second to last, finally completed its crossing. Even Li Jin’s rearguard division had begun its march. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. But it was precisely at this moment that Yue Jin, who had reached the walls of Neihuang City under cover of darkness, encountered a bit of expected trouble.

Their ruse to take the city had failed.

Yue Jin’s division, flying Hebei banners and pretending to be Cheng Yu’s Yingzhou troops, was refused entry by the city defenders. The reason given was that, according to regulations, Neihuang had received no notice of Yingzhou troops moving to garrison Ye City. Moreover, even if it were a confidential military matter and an urgent situation, there was no justification for allowing so many soldiers into the city to rest.

Beyond that, the defenders on the wall even questioned why so many troops coming from Yingzhou had not crossed the Boundary Bridge from the north and followed the Zhang River to Ye City for assembly, but instead approached from the southeast.

The officer from Yue Jin’s division, left speechless, turned back to report. But Yue Wenqian was not concerned in the slightest… for an assault on Neihuang City had always been part of the plan. Did they truly expect to bluff their way all the way to Ye City and then frighten the Yan dignitaries below Ye into surrendering outright?

“Inform General Huang Hansheng behind us to prepare to provide support. Have Adjutant Wang circle around to Neihuang’s north gate, Adjutant Han circle to Neihuang’s east gate, and send a qu of armored soldiers to ambush the west gate as well, to prevent anyone from escaping.”

As Yue Wenqian spoke, he was already donning his armor and preparing, directly strapping a full six or seven ring-pommeled dao to his waist and back. Then he strode forward with his personal guards and calmly gave the order: “Armored soldiers of our main force — follow me to be the first up the wall!”

The surrounding officers each accepted their orders and departed, and no one attempted to dissuade Yue Jin, a commanding general, from personally leading the assault… Was that not absurd? In which battle had Yue Wenqian ever lagged behind his soldiers? Who in Henan or Hebei did not know this?

The twilight was dim. Yue Jin led several hundred armored soldiers directly to the base of the wall, but he was in no hurry to scale it. Instead, he signaled again for his subordinate officers to continue attempting the ruse — or rather, to stall for time until the sky was completely dark, which would make it easier to climb using suspended ropes.

“Is there anyone on the wall who can make a decision? Even if you won’t let our Yingzhou troops enter the city, could you permit a few of our officers to come in?” A younger officer from Yue Jin’s division, acting on his intent, stepped forward. “We have been marching hard for days on end and truly wish to enter the city for a brief rest.”

Someone on the wall immediately responded sternly: “According to the law, an officer leading troops, even within his own jurisdiction, must strictly remain in the military encampment.”

The officer from Yue Jin’s unit raised an eyebrow and immediately swaggered, “I hear you’re also from Henan — well, did you catch my Henan accent? You ought to know, my surname is Cheng, and Governor Cheng of Yingzhou is my clan uncle! Open the gate at once!”

The man answering from the wall, who clearly also had a Henan south-bank accent, couldn’t help faltering, which drew a low snicker from Yue Jin. But then Yue Jin suddenly cut in, thickening his voice to threaten them: “What, scared now? Let me tell you, that’s not all! Do you know who else I am up there?! I am Guo Yuan, Commandant of Pingyuan Commandery in Yingzhou… Have you heard the great name of Governor Zhong of Yongzhou? He’s my own maternal uncle!”

The wall remained silent, but a moment later, as several braziers were suddenly lit atop the rampart, a voice with a standard Central Plains accent rang out indignantly from above: “Yue Wenqian, have you no shame at all? I, Guo Yuan, have seen men rob wealth and goods in my life, but never have I seen someone rob another man’s uncle right in front of him!”

The setting sun had all but vanished. Under the firelight atop the wall, Yue Jin abruptly looked up, his expression changing in an instant.

————I am the dividing line of an instant change of expression————

“At the end of Han, Du Zixu was defeated at Wuchao and fled in panic, leading his shattered troops into the Wuchao marshes to hide. Gazing from afar at our light cavalry loosing arrows like rain and our armored cavalry trampling the lines like a forest, the Cao army suffering bitterly and unable to hold, wishing for death yet unable to die, he raised his face to heaven and sighed: ‘Shall I ever again in this life hear the cry of cranes above the Ying River?!’ Thereupon he cut off his cap and came out, letting down his hair, and surrendered.” — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Deepest Regrets

PS: As expected, weekend laziness strikes again… hard to wake from a single sleep, but having been shameless so often, I’ve actually gotten used to it.

Also recommending a book, Summoning the Great Era of Vertical and Horizontal Alliances.

(End of chapter)