Chapter 212: Changing Flags, Swapping Banners

Inside the golden tent of the Northern Yuan royal court, Jia Jing let out a sharp shout that stunned everyone.

Seeing the Northern Yuan troops inside the tent refuse to act rashly, Jia Jing's expression remained calm as ever, and he said in a low voice to Zhu Que beside him:

"Zhu Que, take Ba Ya'er and bring down the Northern Yuan army's great banner outside the tent, and replace it with the Han Army flag we brought!"

Jia Jing's move follows Han Xin's strategy in the Battle of Jingxing of "seizing Zhao's banner and swapping it for Han's."

During the late Qin period, Han Xin led his forces to attack the State of Zhao, where King Xie of Zhao and Lord Chen Yu of Cheng'an gathered troops at the mouth of Jingxing.

They claimed to have a 200,000‑strong army, while Han Xin's forces were less than half that size.

Facing a strong enemy, Han Xin devised a cunning scheme, its core being a psychological warfare centered on the great banner as the army's morale symbol.

He swapped the Zhao army's great banner, completely shattering their morale, and ultimately achieved a combined internal and external attack, defeating the larger force and annihilating the Zhao army.

Because of that battle, Chen Yu was killed, the Zhao king captured, and the State of Zhao fell.

The great banner is an army's "spiritual core."

On today's battlefield with poor communications, soldiers cannot see their commander directly and must judge the existence of the command system by the position of the great banner.

When the banner stands, the army stands; when the banner falls, the army scatters—this is the purpose of cutting off generals and seizing flags.

When soldiers discover their own great banner has been replaced by the enemy, their first reaction is inevitably "the commander is dead" or "the rear is lost."

Fear spreads quickly, and the organization collapses rapidly.

This is the military principle of "attacking the heart first," using various strategies to precisely strike the enemy's psychological weak points.

Now Jia Jing has captured the Northern Yuan Khan and his ministers, completely crippling the Northern Yuan army's command system and organizational ability.

If the great banner outside the golden tent can be swapped for a Han Army flag, it will further strike the Northern Yuan army's resistance morale.

Then, with Niu Jizong and others leading troops to charge in, the battle will be decided before it even begins, the Han Army essentially already victorious.

This was the operation plan Jia Jing had set before arriving at the Northern Yuan royal court, aimed at reducing friendly casualties and expanding the spoils.

In this battle, he and Zhu Que only focus on capturing the enemy leaders and swapping the flags, leaving everything else to Niu Jizong and the Han Army soldiers.

Hearing Jia Jing's command, Zhu Que instantly hardened his expression and bowed, saying:

"Yes! Lord!"

Immediately, Zhu Que pressed the despondent Ba Ya'er and walked toward the outside of the tent.

Along the way, Northern Yuan troops scattered; they were intimidated by the safety of Ba Tumonke, whom Jia Jing held hostage, and none dared to order a forward block.

Ba Tumonke's expression changed, clearly realizing Jia Jing's intention and trying to speak out to stop it.

But Jia Jing only gave him a cold glance, leaving him as if falling into an ice pit, unable to utter a single word.

Zhu Que, pressing Ba Ya'er, hurried to the tall flagpole outside the golden tent.

At the top of the pole, a massive golden great banner fluttered in the night wind.

It was the symbol of the Golden family, the emblem of the Northern Yuan Khan, and the spiritual pillar of tens of thousands of Northern Yuan troops on Wolf Mountain.

The golden flag bore a black‑stitched blue wolf and white deer, the totem of the steppe peoples and a relic passed down from Genghis Khan.

Zhu Que, holding a spear, signaled Ba Ya'er to step forward and change the flag.

Ba Ya'er, his face sorrowful, staggered into the pole, seized the flag rope, his hands trembling so much he could barely hold it.

He strained to pull, and the golden great banner slowly descended.

When the banner hit the ground, the surrounding hesitant and bewildered troops let out a chorus of cries.

"Great banner…!"

"The Khan's banner…!"

Some were confused, some terrified, some at a loss.

Ba Ya'er clutched the golden great banner, shaking all over, not knowing what to do next.

At that moment, Zhu Que's hand reached from behind, took the banner, and casually tossed it onto the ground.

Then he pulled a pre‑prepared Han Army flag from his chest and handed it to Ba Ya'er…

The flag was red, embroidered with a large "Han" character in gold thread.

Zhu Que said coldly to Ba Ya'er:

"Raise it."

Ba Ya'er hesitated, his trembling hands fastening the flag, and pulled it up with effort.

The red Han flag rose slowly up the pole, dazzling in the firelight.

When it reached the top and unfurled with a "whoosh" in the night wind.

The area around the golden tent fell silent in an instant.

At the same time,

Earlier, Jia Jing's thunderous shout echoed through the camp halfway up Wolf Mountain, startling countless Northern Yuan troops awake from their sleep.

The three hundred Han Army vanguard that followed Jia Jing up the mountain also heard the roar; they had already been fully prepared, silently watching the direction of the golden tent, awaiting the moment.

When the sound reached them, the leaders You Shiyong and Ma Guocheng's faces brightened, and they exclaimed joyfully:

"Lord must have succeeded! It's our turn now, brothers, light the fire!"

At their command, the Han soldiers hurriedly ignited the rockets they had brought.

The torches drew near, and the oil‑soaked canvas "whoosh" into flame, illuminating three hundred stern Han faces.

"Mount up! You know the positions! Fire toward the densely‑populated area of the Northern Yuan main camp, the stables, the supply depot, and near the central tents."

"Now the Northern Yuan Tatars are leaderless; completely disrupt their main camp and burn those bastards!"

Ma Guocheng's gaze turned fierce as he stared at the Northern Yuan main camp in the dark, issuing a decisive order.

At Ma Guocheng's command, the Han soldiers mounted their horses, tightening their reins, their rockets blazing in hand.

The Han troops lifted their rockets at a forty‑five‑degree angle, aiming straight at the Northern Yuan main camp's target.

"Prepare!"

Ma Guocheng continued to shout, all the soldiers fully drew their bowstrings, the taut force made its power foreseeable.

"Release!"

With that command, all the Han Army soldiers simultaneously released their bowstrings, and three hundred rockets instantly rose.

The three hundred rockets dragged long tails of flame, like three hundred meteors, cutting through the night sky.

In the darkness, this fiery red patch seemed so dazzling, illuminating a stretch of sky.

It also made the Northern Yuan soldiers who saw the scene gape, their breathing seemed to halt, and their faces changed dramatically.

A meteor shower fell from the sky, the firelight traced three hundred graceful arcs, descending toward the Northern Yuan main camp.

The moment the rockets fell, the tents caught fire.

The oil on the hemp cloth ignited on contact, and the flames spread rapidly.

Some rockets pierced the tents and landed on the felt inside, instantly igniting a patch.

Some struck the horse‑tether stakes outside the tents, splashing oil that ignited the surrounding dry straw.

Immediately followed by oil cans.

After firing several rounds of rockets, three hundred Han Army soldiers, under the leadership of Ma Guocheng and You Shiyong, split into two groups, charged on horseback, and forcefully threw the earthen jars they held.

The earthen jars smashed onto tents, into the stables, onto flammable spots, shattering and splashing oil everywhere.

In an instant, the Northern Yuan main camp was ablaze with fire everywhere.