Chapter 676: Breaking the Enemy's Charge from a Thousand Li

After detecting signs that Cen Peng was pulling back, the aggrieved deputy generals and colonels in Jiangling all pleaded to sally forth and pursue the Wei troops!

But Feng Yi restrained them: "Cen Peng is cunning; he will certainly have arranged a rearguard. If you pursue too fiercely and too hastily, you will surely meet a counterblow."

Even the deputy generals and colonels of Yingchuan origin felt the Grand Tree General was being excessively cautious. Someone quietly admonished him: "The Grand General has held Jingzhou for years, with autocratic authority over five commanderies. A member of the Former Han Changsha royal house, kin to His Majesty, broke the law — the Grand General had him executed. Add to that his strict and impartial command, and some have slandered him, saying his authority here is too weighty, that the common people's hearts turn to him, calling him the 'King of Mount Heng' and claiming he wishes to become another Wu Rui or Ying Bu!"

"Though His Majesty does not believe it, the General, with thirty thousand men in Jingzhou, sat and watched Cen Peng take Yi County. Apart from that one time the Tiger Fang General sallied forth, there has been no further battle. Now His Majesty's great army is about to arrive, and Cen Peng has no choice but to retreat. If you let him leave without losing a single soldier, I fear the voices of attack and censure will only grow louder in the future!"

The Han army's officers and men had been holding in their frustration for so long that it was impossible for them to have no complaints about Feng Yi. After pondering for a moment, Feng Yi approved the requests of several men to fight, letting them take three thousand troops as the vanguard and leave the city first.

However, no sooner had this group reached the Yi County boundary, ten li north of the city, than they were indeed fiercely ambushed by the Wei army's rearguard lying in wait inside the town. The Han pursuers were routed in disarray, losing a colonel in the process. The deputy general leading them returned, his face full of terror, to beg punishment, but Feng Yi smiled and said he had rendered meritorious service.

The deputy general was overcome with shame, thinking Feng Yi was mocking him. He cupped his fists and said, "General, we returned in defeat, letting the Wei troops depart at their leisure. What merit is there in that?"

Feng Yi, however, stopped him as he was about to draw his sword to cut his own throat, and said: "The Wei rearguard has already beaten you back. Naturally, they will think there are no more pursuers and will turn around and withdraw, their horizontal battle formation shifting into a marching column. Wait a little longer, then send elite troops to pursue fiercely, and you will surely achieve merit! Even if you cannot stop Cen Peng, you can still deal a heavy blow to his rearguard."

The deputy generals and colonels assigned to lead the force did as instructed, half believing and half doubting. Feng Yi also left the city, heading straight for the giant catapults that the Wei army had hastily set ablaze before departing.

"So these are the 'catapults' that have battered us so badly we couldn't raise our heads for the past ten months?"

Up close, gazing up at these colossal structures standing on the plain, they seemed even more enormous. It was a pity they had all been burned to scrap. Only the very last one had its flames extinguished halfway through when a sudden light rain fell from the sky, dousing it instantly. The components and structure on top were preserved, allowing Feng Yi to see their true appearance at last.

Ordinary Han soldiers loathed these things to the bone. For the past month or so, they had worried every day about calamity falling from the sky. The catapults had even lobbed the corpses of their fallen comrades. Even if they had not been destroyed, the men would have been itching to hack them apart themselves.

But Feng Yi, looking at the counterweight box used in place of manpower to pull, and the windlass that two men could turn to operate the throwing arm, was full of unstinting praise, even reaching out to gently stroke them.

"Truly, they are instruments of military and state power. The craftsmen of Wei possess talents rivaling Mozi and Gongshu."

He immediately ordered the army's artisans to observe carefully, sketch the design, and strive to be able to replicate such giant catapults in the future.

"We will surely follow His Majesty on the northern campaign. The hundred and two passes of Qin may well have to be taken by relying on these things!"

At that moment, reports of victory came in rapid succession from the front. The deputy generals who had made the second pursuit of the Wei troops returned. Following the strategy Feng Yi had laid out, they had indeed caught the Wei soldiers completely off guard.

"The Grand General's brilliant plan! The Wei rearguard was thrown into chaos. We took at least several hundred heads and scattered over a thousand men."

This was merely a minor victory, not affecting the overall situation. Feng Yi then issued an order to the entire army: "The whole army is to break camp, pursue immediately, advancing fifty li a day!"

How strange. Is Grand General Feng not cautious now? Is he not afraid Cen Peng will wheel around and strike back?

"Cen Peng's main force is already far away. His main body is disconnected from his rearguard. He cannot risk being encircled by turning back to fight a major battle with me."

Feng Yi merely lowered his head and, from the chaotic ground, picked up a green grasshopper that had strayed into this place. With one hand, he tore off its hind leg!

"First, devour the rearguard!"

If Feng Yi was tearing at the Wei army's hind leg, then Jia Fu was fiercely yanking at its flank!

While Cen Peng and Feng Yi faced off at Jiangling and Yi County, Jia Fu had been hovering on the west bank of the Zhang River, searching for provisions, gathering deserters, and looking for an opportunity to attack.

The Zuo Zhuan once said: "The Jiang, Han, Ju, and Zhang are the hopes of Chu," meaning the four rivers — the Yangtze, the Han, the Ju, and the Zhang — are the sacred landmarks of Jingchu. To distinguish it from the Zhang River at Yecheng in Ji Province, it was also called the "Southern Zhang River."

This river originates in the Jing Mountains and runs roughly parallel to the main road going south from Xiangyang to Jiangling. When Cen Peng attacked Jiangling, he specifically dispatched five thousand men as a "detached force" to stand guard on the east bank of the Southern Zhang River, keeping a wary eye on Jia Fu's every move.

When Cen Peng began his northward withdrawal, this detached force could only shift from defense to mobility. The roads were narrow, and ahead lay hills and forests that blocked the view. Any large horizontal battle formation maintained for combat would inevitably be cut to pieces by the terrain. To ensure speed, they would have to march in a column, forming a single long snake-like line.

This was the golden opportunity Jia Fu had long been waiting for!

Jia Fu had led troops for many years and was famed for his ferocity. He first led his men rapidly northward for several dozen li, shaking off the enemy force shadowing him. Then he swiftly crossed the river at a shallow point. His three thousand core troops had all lived with Jia Fu in the mountain forests of Shangyong for six years and were quite familiar with this hilly, stream-crossed terrain. Like mountain spirits, they appeared and vanished mysteriously, suddenly emerging to strike the Wei army, cutting its column in two, then quickly slicing off ears and retreating into the woods.

Even more ruthless was their effort to break bridges and dig up roads, making it impossible for the Wei army's baggage carts to proceed, forcing them to be abandoned. When they encountered a road so thoroughly destroyed that the engineers could not repair it quickly, they even had to make long detours. The Wei detached force's marching speed became agonizingly slow.

Only when they were at their most exhausted and disordered did Jia Fu, bringing his core troops, sound the drums and advance, launching the general assault!

This Wei force numbered just over five thousand and had no heart for a protracted fight. After abandoning some miscellaneous units, they hurried east, hoping to close with Cen Peng's main force and gain reinforcements...

Jia Fu pursued without hesitation. However, after leaving the hills along the Southern Zhang River and entering the plain, he discovered he had been tricked. The detached force had merged with nearly ten thousand men of the Wei rearguard who had failed to withdraw in time. They turned around to meet Jia Fu head-on. Yet Jia Fu did not stop either. With a mere two to three thousand men, he thus crashed into an enemy force several times his size!

In the bitter fighting, both sides suffered casualties, but what was astonishing was that Jia Fu was able to punch through this hastily assembled Wei formation and burst out in one charge!

Yet only a few hundred men remained at his side. He himself was drenched in blood, and even his mount had been lost, forcing him to dismount and fight on foot.

The Wei rearguard and detached force had also seen red. They abandoned the withdrawal altogether, focusing solely on encircling Jia Fu's battle standard, wanting to finish off this pursuing enemy first before calmly catching up with Cen Peng.

Just as dark clouds pressed down on the formation and Jia Fu was in imminent peril, the Wei troops on the outer perimeter collapsed like a landslide. Two armies, like two torrents, came charging in from the south and the east. Every unit was thick with flame banners bearing the character "Han."

It turned out that Feng Yi's division from Jiangling and Liu Xiu's great army from Jingling had arrived one after another. Thanks to Jia Fu's delaying action, the two armies had encircled the Wei detached force and rearguard, over ten thousand men in all, wrapping them up like dumplings...

Cen Peng was already a hundred li away by then. With no main-force support, the outcome of this encounter battle was self-evident. Feng Yi's Jingzhou troops were quite steady, relying mainly on Jingchu infantry formations, with great halberds, dagger-axes, and spears closing in step by step. Liu Xiu's southeastern army, on the other hand, had the Danyang soldiers as its main strength. This group, inheriting the fierce and domineering spirit of the Wu and Yue kingdoms, was light, swift, and sharp. Though they were foot soldiers, they fought with a valor surpassing cavalry, routing the Wei formations several times over.

And in the midst of the slaughter, Jia Fu saw, far off several li away, a great command banner directing the battle from the center.

By dusk, the sounds of slaughter gradually ceased. With the disparity in numbers so vast, the fifteen thousand Wei troops were either routed, killed, or captured. Jia Fu, too, passed through this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, arriving before the Han Emperor's great banner and meeting Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu stood atop a drum chariot pulled by a team of four horses. Seeing a general drenched in blood approaching from afar, and hearing it was Jia Fu, he did not put on airs but personally descended from the chariot to greet him. When Jia Fu drew near, Liu Xiu saw the many wounds on his body and the broken arrows covering his armor. Yet Jia Fu still walked with a vigorous, powerful stride. He halted five paces away and cupped his fists toward Liu Xiu:

"Jia Fu, former subject of the Prince of Hanzhong, greets Your Majesty!"

This phrase, "former subject of the Prince of Hanzhong," carried much meaning. Although Jia Fu had submitted to Gongsun Shu for many years, he still acknowledged only his first lord, Liu Jia, the Prince of Hanzhong under the Gengshi regime — and this Liu Jia was also Liu Xiu's childhood friend in Chongling.

Seeing that Jia Fu was not only brave but also possessed a rough-hewn subtlety, Liu Xiu was all the more delighted. He immediately stepped forward to support Jia Fu and said: "Many years ago, Xiu heard of Sir Jia's renown in repelling Wu Han at Longxi. Later, you and Deng Fengxian rampaged across Danyang, leaving Cen Peng helpless and indirectly supporting the Great Han's Jing-Xiang campaign. I only regretted not being able to witness it in person, and regretted even more the mountains and rivers that kept us apart, preventing an introduction. Later, when war reignited between the Jiang and Han, I often heard from Feng Yi's letters that Sir Jia, advancing south from Shangyong, repeatedly thwarted the Wei army between the Jiang, Han, Ju, and Zhang rivers. Seeing you today, you indeed possess the might to break the enemy's charge from a thousand li away!"

Being praised so, Jia Fu felt gratified inwardly. He thought to himself that Liu Xiu was indeed, as rumored, one who treated the worthy with courtesy, more like a true overlord than Gongsun Shu. He then raised his head and looked closely at Liu Xiu, seeing him in full battle dress, with a thick beard and strong brows, quite heroic and martial. For a moment, he felt dazed, and then said with emotion: "Your Majesty's countenance does bear some resemblance to General Bosheng."

"Back then, General Bosheng did not scorn Jia Fu for gathering a band of outlaws, but invited me to join under the Han banner to plan great deeds together. It is only a pity that I went to Hanzhong and could not follow General Bosheng into the Pass. Now Jia Fu has broken away from the Cheng family, and my hometown of Nanyang is also occupied by the Wei army. I have nowhere to go. Might I ask if, beneath Your Majesty's great banner, there is still a shortage of men to vanquish rebels?"

Liu Xiu, however, smiled and said: "The great southeastern army is here. There is no shortage of men to vanquish rebels."

He then personally cupped his fists toward Jia Fu: "What is lacking is a 'General Who Smashes the Caitiffs,' one whose valor can lead the three armies! Would Junwen be willing to take this post?"

At this, not only were the people around Liu Xiu astonished, but Jia Fu himself was overwhelmed by the unexpected honor. In all his years with the Cheng family, he had only managed to become "Governor of Shangyong," without even a chance at a general's rank. Here, upon their very first meeting, Liu Xiu was appointing him a general... Though it was a miscellaneous title, it had already reached the lower limit of Jia Fu's expectations. He thus accepted without false modesty, as was his right.

Liu Xiu added: "We saw Sir Jia arrive on foot. Where is your mount?"

"Unfortunately lost in the fray." Jia Fu still felt some regret; that old horse had followed him for many years.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiu actually turned around and began untying the ropes of his own chariot's team. He unharnessed the left-side trace horse, whose coat was a reddish chestnut, and personally led it over, presenting it to Jia Fu: "Junwen may ride this horse for travel from now on."

Although he knew it was a means of winning hearts, the fact that Liu Xiu, facing a general who had just come to submit and still had few troops under his command, would do this in front of everyone still moved Jia Fu greatly. He prostrated himself in thanks and, for the first time, referred to himself as a subject: "When the old man on the frontier lost his horse, how could he know it was not a blessing? Though your subject has lost a Cheng-family horse, he immediately gains a Han-family steed in return. I shall surely ride it across the battlefields, to restore the northern lands for Your Majesty!"

With this display of tact, Jia Fu's heart was won. Not long after, Feng Yi also arrived at the battlefield and hurried over to pay his respects, wanting to confess his faults in losing Yi County and Yao Qi, and to beg Liu Xiu for punishment...

Liu Xiu, however, merely pointed at Feng Yi and introduced him to Jia Fu: "This is Feng Gongsun, who was my Master of Records when I first raised troops. He cleared the thorns for me, pacified Jingchu, and as Grand General Who Conquers the West, held Cen Peng's great army at bay for months, leading to today's victory. Compared to him, Junwen, you can only take second credit!"

Having said this, he called out to Feng Yi with a smile: "Gongsun, after a full day of bitter fighting, We are extremely hungry. Might there be bean gruel or wheat rice to eat today?"

These two sentences set Feng Yi's mind at ease. Witnessing this rapport between lord and minister, Jia Fu inwardly sighed that it was no wonder Liu Xiu, despite repeated defeats, could still win people's hearts, dominate the southeast, and see his state thrive day by day — unlike Gongsun's Cheng family, which had already reached a dead end.

He only sighed: "A pity, though, that Cen Peng still got away."

"No matter." This long-awaited victory swept away the hesitation Liu Xiu had felt at Xiakou. He pointed north and declared: "I have already ordered General of the Strong Crossbow, Fu Jun, to lead ten thousand naval and land troops to strike Lanju Crossing."

"Cen Peng's line of retreat — is already cut off!"