Chapter 347: Just Charge and It

"Your Majesty, the enemy infantry struck our right array first. In the thick of that bitter fight, the elite household cavalry charged the right array's flank. The second, third, and fourth battalions of the Third Company met them — the enemy could not break through!"

That tiny patch on the flank of the right array, the collision and slaughter that cost several hundred lives, was, on the scale of the whole battlefield, only the most minuscule link. The courage, the fear, the desperate struggle of both sides — all of it condensed into this single brief report, delivered before Diwu Lun.

"I am watching."

Diwu Lun was doing far more than watching — he was watching with surging emotion!

Although he and Jing Dan had made many preparations specifically against the enemy's strongest asset, the elite household cavalry, drills could never match real combat. He had had no certainty how it would actually go. Now, seeing his soldiers stubbornly beat back the first wave of the enemy cavalry charge, Diwu Lun felt an immense, overwhelming surge of feeling.

He thought back to eight months ago, when he had just arrived at Hongmen and taken over this army. They had been mud that could not even be plastered onto a wall — the worst troops Diwu Lun had ever led. If they had been thrown straight onto a battlefield, they would have been utterly indistinguishable from the three hundred thousand Xin troops whom Wang Yi led at Kunyang, routed in a pitiful rout by Liu Xiu with only three thousand men.

After they raised the banner and executed the tyrant on the twenty-fifth day of the fifth month, when they learned they would not be sent south to throw their lives away but would instead turn around to strike at the court, morale had mysteriously risen quite a bit. Yet they could still only compete with the Northern Army in rottenness. Once they entered Chang'an, they swiftly degenerated again and nearly could not be pulled back out.

At the time, some commanders had even proposed in despair that they simply abandon all forty thousand of these men and return to Wei Commandery — the old troops there were at least better than this lot.

But Diwu Lun had not agreed.

"Who is born a warrior?"

"The backbone of this army, those eight hundred officers and men of the Boar-Rush Braves — five or six years ago, were they not farmers, bondservants, tenant farmers, wandering bravos, slaves?"

Had they not once been exactly this wretched? Scooped up with a shovel, thrown into the furnace to be smelted with raging fire, the great gale of the age howling like the bellows of a water-driven blast — only thus could stone be turned to iron.

Diwu Lun had racked his mind and exhausted every scheme. He had handed out gold. He had fought bitterly against Tian Rong in Hexi, crossed the river to seize Hedong Commandery — all for the sake of forging this army. Though they still compared poorly, battle after battle had given them at least some semblance of a proper force. At Tongyuan and the Wei River, facing the Greenwood's most formidable fighters, the troops of Liu Bosheng and Wang Chang, they had been able to use the terrain and trade blow for blow.

Until today.

On the flat, utterly defenseless plain of Zhouyuan, they had actually faced one of the finest elite cavalry charges in the world, grimly absorbed the casualties, and shoved the enemy back!

The moment the elite household cavalry, unable to break through on their first charge, swiftly withdrew, tears burst from Diwu Lun's eyes.

How to describe this feeling? It was like an old mother who, through every hardship, had raised a good-for-nothing child. No matter how others said this child was born useless, just have another, she never abandoned him. She not only gave everything materially, but also poured her heart into caring for him — and at last saw him prove his worth.

"The love was not wasted."

Seeing the King of Wei wipe away tears, those around him thought he was grieving for his soldiers' casualties, mourning that they had marched out at dawn and would not return at dusk.

But Diwu Lun quickly regained his usual composure and burst out laughing.

"That White Tiger General, Wei Cui — he has cavalry of the finest quality, but he has not used them correctly!"

One could not entirely blame Wei Cui. People are creatures of experience. Think carefully: from the very birth of the shock cavalry, their primary opponent had been the Xiongnu and their barbarian riders. For over a hundred years, they had had few chances to contest against well-trained infantry — unless the Han army had fought all the way to Egypt and clashed head-on with Rome.

Counting carefully, what sort of things had been the infantry that shock cavalry encountered in the past? Take the garrison troops of the Western Regions' city-states. The small city-states of the Southern Route often formed coalitions, serving as Xiongnu auxiliaries — the kind Chen Tang scornfully regarded as foes where "one Han can match five barbarians." The moment the elite household cavalry rode out, one charge and they crumbled.

After the wars with the Xiongnu ceased, the elite household cavalry were either conscripted into the Garrison Cavalry, the Changshui, and the Barbarian Cavalry camps, contributing to the suppression of anti-Wang Mang forces. That so-called great army of Zhai Yi, over a hundred thousand strong, was likewise pure rabble — under the command of the god of war Wang Yi, one charge and they scattered.

Those who remained in Longyou often fought the Western Qiang. The Qiang and Di foot soldiers could not even form a battle line — one charge and victory was assured.

Experience can let an army march smoothly forward without detours, but experience can also become a stumbling block.

Today, fighting the Wei army, the generals and great magnates of Longyou looked down on an army of bondservants, townsfolk, and tenant farmers. They therefore followed their old habit: "Just charge and it's done!"

The result was that they slammed into a shield of solid iron and came away covered in bruises. In that single sharp clash, the Wei army lost two to three hundred dead, but the other side lost at least over a hundred elite household cavalrymen and two to three hundred warhorses, many of them armored. Unlike Wei soldiers who trained half a year and then went into battle, each of those men required over a decade to cultivate, and the horses were even more precious. Old Wei Cui would likely be so pained he'd vomit bile.

But whether a general is excellent does not lie in never making mistakes, but in whether he can actively correct and remedy them the moment he realizes his error.

The Longyou adjustment was indeed swift. After the first charge failed, Wei Cui probably realized that relying on the elite household cavalry to smash the formation in one stroke would not be easy, so he changed tactics. On the front, over ten thousand retainers and dependents of the sixteen great houses of Longyou continued to engage the Wei army, grinding down each other's strength. The cavalry no longer hurled themselves at the right array's flank, but chose to ride a wider arc, attacking the Wei army's more vulnerable rear.

Diwu Lun had just been laughing at Wei Cui's lack of cunning and poor use of fine cavalry, and now the man was directly striking the rear array, aiming to capture the chief before the bandits!

The soldiers stationed in the rear array were mostly militia with even less time in service. The elite household cavalry's assault achieved considerable success — truly like splitting bamboo, they broke through three battalions in a row. That unstoppable momentum made even Diwu Lun's heart quail to watch.

But the Wei army had numbers on its side, and a higher tolerance for error. Diwu Lun had also kept many elite troops around him. He immediately dispatched the Seventh Rapid-Response Unit to reinforce, and ordered Zhang Yu and others to rally the scattered soldiers.

The elite household cavalry was like an iron hammer pounding against a city wall. Though it could knock off some plaster and crack the surface a little, it still could not shake the entire wall.

After the Seventh Rapid-Response Unit plugged the gap, the elite household cavalry's second assault ended fruitlessly, and they could only retreat once more in bitter frustration.

After continuous galloping and formation-charging, the warhorses were utterly exhausted. Because of the losses from crossing mountains and ridges on this long expedition, they had few spare horses to switch to — they needed to rest. It was exactly as Jing Dan had said: shock cavalry is a single-use arm; it cannot endure. Even when deployed in waves, three charges is the absolute limit.

Compared to the efforts of the elite household cavalry, the Longyou infantry seemed rather supine. By the time the battle had raged for half a shichen, the left and right wings were fully engaged. Not only had they failed to advance a single step, but under the resistance of the Wei army's superior numbers, their left wing had actually begun to fall back step by step.

"Do not pursue too deeply!"

Seeing that Zhang Zong's division on the left wing was beginning to press forward eagerly, Diwu Lun observed from afar that the retreating Longyou troops kept their ranks unbroken and moved with considerable composure. Sensing danger, he immediately ordered the gongs to be struck to halt them!

But orders take a little time to reach the front. Zhang Zong's Hedong troops, over three thousand strong, had already detached from the main force and were striding forward, like a sharp wedge of metal, seeking to become the breach of victory.

This retreat was indeed a stratagem of the Longyou army. These were the retainers of the Wei clan, the most elite and formidable. Seeing their feint had succeeded, they halted over a hundred paces away and turned to meet Zhang Zong's pursuit!

The elite household cavalry were already resting. Wei Cui only dispatched a force of auxiliary cavalry, a little over two thousand, split into two columns. They cut diagonally through the gaps between the two armies' positions and swept around to envelop Zhang Zong's division!

They lacked much armor, and their equipment was inferior, but they could shoot while galloping and could also charge. Everyone held their breath. If they could rout the rashly advancing Zhang Zong division, a huge gap would inevitably open on the left wing — perhaps the last chance to reverse this losing situation!

Zhang Zong's three thousand men had been formed after the Battle of Tongyuan, with Hedong troops as the core, centered on the deathsworn who had crossed the river with him to strike the Greenwood's vital point.

Yet they seemed utterly oblivious to the enemy approaching from their flank and rear. They held their position motionless. They watched as masses of cavalry enveloped the Hedong troops from both wings and loosed a sky-darkening rain of arrows upon their tight formation.

The latter did not hurry to return fire, but halted in place and silently endured the baptism. This behavior made Wei Cui believe they were completely suppressed and could be easily slaughtered by a cavalry charge. So, before other Wei divisions could arrive, the massed shock cavalry put away their bows and hurled themselves at the square formation with long spears and ring-pommel sabers — a classic hammer-and-anvil tactic.

No one expected that Zhang Zong had held his troops still by design. The Hedong deathsworn crouched calmly beneath their shields. Only when the shock cavalry closed to ten paces did he suddenly give the order. The Hedong troops rose as one, throwing up dust and roaring, and charged straight into the clash. Hundreds of powerful crossbows in the formation loosed with a thunderclap, while halberd-and-shield infantry surged forward into close combat, plunging the shock cavalry into a chaotic melee!

The heart Diwu Lun had held suspended dropped back down, and from the front line erupted a great shout: "Lord Zhang! Hedong Tigers!"

No money for novels? We'll give you cash or site credit — limited-time 1-day offer! Follow the public account 【Book Friends Base Camp】 to claim for free!

It was Wan Xiu's left-wing troops, bolstering Zhang Zong's effort, roaring their battle cries. They gradually broke through the Longyou troops' obstruction and arrived to support their comrades, in turn surrounding the shock cavalry that had rashly charged the formation, trapping over a thousand riders with no way out.

The heart Diwu Lun had held so high settled back down once more. He praised: "Lord Zhang's tally-stick may be short, but he always manages to swell our army's courage."

Diwu Lun now had several men of commanding talent under his banner. Ma Yuan, Jing Dan, and Wan Xiu could each hold a front on their own; Cen Peng's prestige still needed to grow. Young Geng was too green, always treating himself as a mere warrior and taking reckless risks — he needed tempering. And among those with the talent for field command, there was Zheng Tong and Zhang Zong. Put them in charge of ten thousand and they would be flustered, but when commanding a thousand, they could often work miracles.

By now, the Longyou shock cavalry had charged three times and failed to break through. Their three drums were spent, and the battle's outcome was sealed. As gong after gong sounded the withdrawal, the elite household cavalry, their casualties reaching twenty percent, remounted. Together with the auxiliary cavalry that had fled back, over four thousand in total, they began to protect Wei Cui's great banner as it slowly retreated.

As for the retainers and dependents holding the front, and the magnates of Right Fufeng, they became the abandoned ones, encircled and enveloped by the Wei army. Their surrender or annihilation was only a matter of time.

The Seventh Rapid-Response Unit came to ask: "Your Majesty, shall we send troops in pursuit?"

Had they not learned enough from rash pursuits north of Mount Qi? There was no need to add legs to a drawing of a snake. Diwu Lun shook his head. "Our army's foot speed cannot match the enemy's. We must not grasp for too much. Swallowing these ten-thousand-plus before us will suffice. The enemy has lost their infantry and foot soldiers; with only cavalry left, they will be hard-pressed to hold cities. Right Fufeng is already in my hand!"

The Seventh Rapid-Response Unit acknowledged the order, and the Wei army began to methodically reap the battlefield.

Thinking back carefully over this battle, though Wei Cui's first deployment of the elite household cavalry to charge the formation was somewhat rash, his subsequent responses had no major flaws. The Longyou army's most fatal weakness was this: their victory relied too heavily on the elite household cavalry!

It was like a certain game's "four protect one" strategy — knowing full well the risk was enormous, that it was succeed or die, yet once the linchpin they had pinned all their hopes on fell silent, it was utterly over. But they could not resist the sweet taste they had enjoyed in the past, so they used it again and again.

The Longyou army was the same. Since raising their banners half a year ago, in campaigns attacking Anding and advancing on Beidi, the elite household cavalry had repeatedly performed extraordinary feats. A brief charge, and the Xin army facing them would be on the verge of collapse. They had continuously reinforced their own strength, and when that sharpest — and only — spear could not create victory in a single stroke, they no longer knew how to fight a war.

"My King, you have been standing for an hour and a half already." Wang Long, the Minister of Ceremonies, reminded him from the side, and only then did Diwu Lun realize that he had not sat down again since the battle began, and the rail of the war chariot was slick with sweat from his grip.

"The officers and soldiers have yet to rest — how could I sit down?"

Diwu Lun still held himself ramrod straight, waiting for the moment the last Longyou soldier laid down his arms and surrendered, and the commanders came to report their merits, and so the assembled ministers could only stand together with him.

The King of Wei did ask the pensive Wang Long a question: "Wenshan, having watched this battle, does any poem or fu come to mind?"

"There is."

Wang Long glanced north toward the ancient Mount Qi, which stood firm and silent, bearing witness to this great battle alongside them — once its grasses and trees had grown lush; today they were withered and sere.

"I am reminded of the Zhou hymn 'Tian Zuo.'"

"Heaven made the lofty mountain; Great King opened it up."

"What he began, King Wen brought to peace."

"They journeyed to that Qi; a level road was made!"

Wang Long said: "The Discourses of the States records that when Zhou rose, the yuezhuo phoenix sang out upon Mount Qi. Though the conquest of Shang was completed by King Wu of Zhou, it was the two generations of Great King and King Wen who truly laid the foundation — this is what is meant by 'a level road was made,' blazing the great path by which Zhou, from a mere hundred li, seized all under Heaven."

He bowed with clasped hands toward Diwu Lun. "And the King of Wei, without the shelter of former generations, has walked alone the road of Great King, King Wen, and King Wu. This single battle at the foot of Mount Qi, crushing Longyou with overwhelming force, is like the cry of the phoenix. From here onward, the level road, the broad and open highway leading to hegemony and imperial rule — it lies before you!"

…

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.

(Chapter 3 at 23:00.)