Chapter 595: Do Not Let Your Mind Wander and Grow Restless

Although Pengcheng had been the stronghold of Liu Bang's mortal enemy, Xiang Yu the Hegemon-King of Chu, over the past two centuries it had become one of the regions most fiercely loyal to the Han.

As early as when Liu Bang, feigning a tour of Yunmeng, seized the King of Chu, Han Xin, and brought him back to Chang'an, he enfeoffed Xuzhou to his younger brother, Liu Jiao, King Yuan of Chu. The line passed through eight generations until the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, when the King of Chu was deposed for plotting rebellion, and Pengcheng finally changed masters. The new Chu royal lineage began with Emperor Xuan's son Liu Xiao and passed through four more generations, ending under Wang Mang. The two lines together produced twelve kings, lasting almost exactly as long as the Han Empire itself. Enfeoffed kings were buried in their fiefs upon death, and so the twelve generations of Chu kings were naturally interred near Pengcheng.

Thus the hills surrounding Xuzhou, though hardly strategic strongholds in military terms, were highly prized by geomancers and became the favored burial sites of successive Chu kings. These princes enjoyed every luxury in life, and in death their extravagance reached its zenith. They built great tomb mounds, planted vast groves of pine and cypress, raised funerary halls and ancestral shrines, and buried themselves with carved gold and polished jade, along with heaps of treasures, figurines, chariots, and horses — lest they find the Yellow Springs uncomfortable.

Their madness met its just reward. When the Red Eyebrow Army passed through Pengcheng, they dug through the surrounding hills and plundered the tombs of several Chu kings. Liu Xiu had controlled this region only briefly and had no time to restore them, so when Diwu Lun's forces reached Pengcheng, many great tombs still lay exposed to the open air.

When Diwu Lun went up into the hills north of Xuzhou to survey the city walls, he took a passing glance at these great tombs. The intricacies of their design were too arcane to dwell on. The lacquerware, tripods, and gui-vessels that had once filled the burial pits had long since been pilfered by the Red Eyebrows, local bandits, and passersby. Even the yellow-elm heartwood burial chambers had been wrecked. The jade burial suits sewn with gold thread that had clothed the Chu kings of the Liu clan had been stripped clean away. Their bones lay crushed under careless footprints, mingled with the remains of the slaves, servants, and horses buried with them — impossible now to tell noble from base.

Yet one thing remained intact and utterly ignored: the terracotta soldiers and horses within the tombs.

In neither stature nor craftsmanship could Han figurines compare to those of the Qin. Unlike the life-sized terracotta soldiers of the First Emperor of Qin, Han figurines were at most half a man's height. The Qin dynasty's realism had given way to an abstract style; the figurines' features were squashed together, and to Diwu Lun's eyes, accustomed to a later age, they even seemed to radiate a kind of goofy charm.

Still, the battle formations of these Han terracotta soldiers were laid out with impressive precision.

Seeing Diwu Lun smile as he gazed at the figurines, a courtier ever ready with a flattering word at the right moment chimed in:

"The successive Chu kings were constrained by Han law. After the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu, they were even stripped of the right to command troops. The most they could do was arrange a display in their tombs to satisfy their cravings. How could they compare to Your Majesty, who has arrayed 'terracotta soldiers' across a hundred li around Pengcheng!"

Diwu Lun's brow furrowed at once. Was this man cursing him to be defeated, die, and be buried at Pengcheng, with his hundred thousand soldiers turned straight into figurines?

Though the words were ill-omened, looking down from the hills north of Pengcheng, the basin ringed by mountains and flowing streams did indeed resemble a vast burial pit. A hundred thousand armored soldiers were arrayed at every corner of the city walls, their camps and ramparts laid out in meticulous order.

The densest concentration of troops, however, was nowhere else but south of Pengcheng, at the high platform that Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu, had once carved out amid jagged rocks and brambles. The Horse-Training Platform lay barely over a li from Pengcheng's south gate, yet it was now encircled by twenty thousand Wei troops. The main assault force was the Yanzhou soldiers led by General Who Conquers the East, Zhang Zong — tall, strapping men of Shandong, clad in iron armor and great helms, braving the arrows raining down from the platform as they launched an uphill assault every half-shichen.

Meanwhile, the Yuzhou troops sent in a steady stream by Dou Rong had deployed a crossbow formation. Heavy crossbows like the tread-drawn crossbow and the great yellow crossbow were arrayed in ranks, their menace looming over the enemy on the platform. In every pause between infantry charges came a volley that filled the sky with feathers; white fletching studded the hillside, making the little platform look as though it had been blanketed in snow.

There were also "cavalry figurines." The Yuyang shock cavalry led by Gai Yan all rode great horses from Youzhou, replenished for them by Kou Xun, the Inspector of Youzhou. In siege warfare, however, cavalry played only a supporting role. Gai Yan kept his men back, watching from a distance. The Yuyang soldiers, ever arrogant and treated as little more than "mercenaries," pointed at the platform, which rose over ten zhang high, and boasted of how many days it would take them to storm it if they were sent in.

Yet Diwu Lun gave no order to his frontline troops that the Horse-Training Platform must be taken within a set number of days and nights. His soldiers were not cold clay figurines, after all, but living men of flesh and blood, with parents, wives, and children — casualties had to be weighed. The attacks on the platform were therefore mainly aimed at "exhausting and luring the enemy," and the intensity of the assaults was not great.

He had a hundred thousand men and could rotate them in shifts. It served as training, and as a warm-up before the general assault on Pengcheng. The mere thousand enemy soldiers on the platform, under such relentless pressure, had almost no chance to sleep or rest. Even if they still had enough armor, weapons, grain, and water, after several days and nights without sleep or respite, even the hardiest men would edge toward collapse.

A mountain stronghold might be formidable, but it could not withstand this kind of assault. Nearly half the Han soldiers were already wounded. After several days of wearing down the enemy, it was plainly evident that the resistance on the platform was gradually weakening, their reactions slowing. Zhang Zong therefore requested permission to strike with full force and smash the position in one blow, to overawe the enemy with a show of strength.

But Diwu Lun said, "Taking the Horse-Training Platform would certainly strike a blow to Pengcheng's morale. Yet Liu Xiu is no stranger to warfare. The only reason he would place over a thousand men in a death trap is to use the platform to draw off pressure from Pengcheng, hoping to delay me a few more days."

Since the platform itself was a sacrifice thrown out by Pengcheng, he did not expect Lai Xi in the city to send reinforcements. Pengcheng did not relax its vigilance just because the platform was under fierce assault while the main city remained untouched. Several Wei attempts at stealth attacks from the north and east of the city had all failed.

Diwu Lun's true objective remained Liu Xiu's main force, still lurking in Huainan!

He said to Zhang Zong, "What you wish to contract, you must first let expand. General Zhang, endure just another day or two. The repeated urgent calls for help from Pengcheng and the Horse-Training Platform may yet lure the enemy north of the Huai."

The next day, however, what Diwu Lun received was an unexpected report of victory:

"The General of Chariots and Cavalry has already taken Xiapi!"

"So quickly?"

Diwu Lun was stunned. Though Xiapi was far less formidable than Pengcheng, Liu Xiu had left three thousand armored soldiers there, along with a large stock of arrows and weapons from the Donghai Commandery arsenal. By all reason, it should have held out for ten days to half a month. Geng Yan had reached Xiapi at roughly the same time Diwu Lun had encircled Pengcheng. While they were still dragging their feet at the Horse-Training Platform, young Geng had swiftly seized Xiapi — leaving the Wei Emperor faintly embarrassed.

Perhaps it was because Geng Yan's troops were at the peak of their fighting spirit, smashing the enemy like splitting bamboo. But from the secret reports Fu Long sent, Diwu Lun also learned that Geng Yan's command was exceedingly arrogant and hasty. The assault on Xiapi had been ferocious, and the infantry had suffered considerable casualties.

After reading this, Diwu Lun privately compared the two: "Young Geng's command surpasses elder Geng's, but he does not match him in care for his soldiers. He is arrogant by nature, refuses to share food and clothing with his men, and is not overly pained by their deaths and injuries. No wonder the army respects him but does not feel close to him."

Moreover, according to reports, as soon as Geng Yan took Xiapi, he had sent troops south to raid Xiaxiang, where they engaged a Han force and drove it off.

"Disaster."

If a moment ago Diwu Lun had felt only "pleasant surprise," he was now filled with worry.

"Send an edict at once. Order General of Chariots and Cavalry Geng to pull back his forces. He must not advance a single step beyond Xiaxiang and risk isolating his army. He is to await the outcome at Pengcheng and Lingbi."

This edict was already quite stern. The situation did not match Diwu Lun's overall plan. He did not want young Geng to drive straight in and pin Liu Xiu down in Huainan, too afraid to come out. He wanted young Geng to act as the "snake's head," able to swiftly wheel around when the "snake's tail" at Lingbi succeeded in luring the enemy and came under Liu Xiu's attack.

Just then, Dou Rong, the Chancellor of the Right holding Lingbi, also sent an urgent report:

"Several Wu army divisions have left the Huai and are advancing north. They are now two hundred li southeast of Lingbi!"

…

Even with military couriers racing at top speed, changing horses without changing riders, covering two to three hundred li a day, war is as fluid as water, ever shifting. Just as Diwu Lun received Dou Rong's urgent report, the situation at Lingbi had already changed again.

"Chancellor of the Right, the Wu vanguard has advanced to Fuli on the banks of the Sui River, barely over a hundred li from Lingbi!"

"How can they be so swift?" Dou Rong was alarmed. According to the scouts, this Wu force "might" number twenty to thirty thousand men, yet they moved with extreme speed. They clearly lacked cavalry and were advancing against the river's current, yet they could cover a hundred li a day. Could these be the legendary "Danyang soldiers," the most elite troops under Liu Xiu's command?

The banners they marched under were indeed those of Liu Xiu, the Han Emperor. After the returning scouts confirmed this report three times, Dou Rong felt both anxiety and joy.

His anxiety was this: if it had been any other commander, even if Feng Yi had been transferred to the Huaibei front, Dou Rong would have been keen to test his mettle against him! On his side, besides the ten thousand garrison troops visible on the surface, Diwu Lun had already transferred General Who Sweeps the Wilderness, Zheng Tong, from Runan to Huaibei, also under Dou Rong's command. If the enemy dared strike the Wei army's grain depot at Lingbi, Dou Rong would ensure they came but never returned!

Yet if Liu Xiu himself was coming, Dou Rong could not help but recall, inevitably, the tempest he had faced at Kunyang when he followed the Xin Dynasty's Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi…

The scene of Liu Xiu charging an army of three hundred thousand with three thousand men — if one had to find a parallel in ancient history, only Xiang Yu's great battle against Liu Bang at Pengcheng, where thirty thousand routed five hundred sixty thousand, could compare. A general who could achieve such a feat, shattering a multitude with a handful, deserved without exaggeration the title of "a famed commander of the age."

Facing such an enemy, Dou Rong could never quite find confidence in his heart. He was, after all, a man who could capsize in the tiniest ditch at Fengling Ferry, routed by Deng Feng's counterattack…

In the end, Dou Rong could only console himself thus: "I am certainly no match for Liu Xiu. But king against king, general against general — His Majesty's command of troops, if I dare not say it far surpasses Liu Xiu's, is at least evenly matched. And in strategic calculation and anticipating the enemy, he is divinely inspired, far beyond Liu Xiu's reach!"

At the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Xiu's deeds could certainly be called heroic and bold, but Diwu Lun's prediction of that meteorite, written in his letter to Dou Rong, could only be called a "divine miracle"!

That was also the main reason Dou Rong had not hesitated for a moment when choosing between surrendering to the Han and submitting to the Wei.

If Liu Wenshu was already a dragon among men, a hero of the age, then Diwu Lun bore upon him an even more mysterious "Mandate of Heaven," a faint glow that had allowed him to leap from "a village scholar" to the imperial throne and hold an almost unshakable winning hand in this great contest of the age.

Dou Rong sent men to report the latest developments to Diwu Lun, while estimating that Liu Xiu would reach Lingbi in two to three days. But what awaited them was no lax, undefended grain depot — it was soldiers sleeping on their spears, ready for battle!

"What's more, His Majesty has already calculated everything. The moment Liu Xiu harbors any illusion and strikes at Lingbi to relieve the siege of Pengcheng, his flank and rear will be attacked by Wei forces from both Pengcheng and Xiapi!"

In strategic vision, Dou Rong was at least ten Gai Yans above Geng Yan. He understood very clearly what outcome Diwu Lun truly sought in this campaign of Xu and Huai.

The point of this war was not how quickly they could take cities and seize territory, but whether they could destroy the enemy's effective fighting strength!

Cen Peng had already wiped out nearly twenty thousand of Liu Xiu's men in Jing and Xiang. If they could eliminate another thirty or forty thousand this time, Liu Xiu would be utterly stripped of any chance to contend with Diwu Lun for the realm. The remaining battles could be fought with eyes closed. Whether Pengcheng or Huaibei or Huainan, taking them would be as simple as stooping to pick up a blade of grass!

"If our luck is a little better, we might even recreate the siege of Gaixia."

With these thoughts, over the next two days, Dou Rong kept the Wei troops at Lingbi outwardly relaxed but inwardly taut, ordering trusted officers to prepare for the enemy's attack, while nervously tracking the enemy's advance.

Yet what baffled him was that the Han army, which had been "covering a hundred li a day" just days before, had stopped at Fuli by the Sui River and refused to move further.

Time seemed to crawl. In his anxiety, Dou Rong's thoughts began to run wild. He even wondered if his scouts had been dispatched too frequently, alarming the enemy and making them realize Lingbi was a trap, which was why they had halted.

And just one day later, when Diwu Lun, watching the Wei army launch its general assault from below the Horse-Training Platform, received this news, after a brief moment of astonishment, the Wei Emperor suddenly burst into laughter as if struck by revelation.

"Liu Wenshu, what nerve!"

"The enemy troops Dou Rong sees at Fuli are, like this Horse-Training Platform, nothing but a decoy to delay me."

"What they're raiding is probably not Lingbi at all."

Diwu Lun lightly tapped his own forehead with the back of his hand, his mood impossible to tell — was it frustration that his clever plan had once again been wasted, or the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent?

"It's Xiaxiang. Strike the snake at the head — they're going straight for Little General Geng!"