Chapter 680: Ramming the Boats

Ever since Han and Wei resumed hostilities in Jingzhou, Xiakou (present-day Wuchang) had become the hub of Han military logistics. Empty boats returned from the west every day, then departed again laden with grain, bedding, armor, and helmets requisitioned from Jiangdong, Jiujiang, and Huainan. The Han Grand Minister of Works, Deng Yu, had been ordered to manage supply — he had to be not only Liu Xiu's Zhang Liang, but also do Xiao He's job on top of it.

Deng Yu was a gentle, refined gentleman, famous for his good temper. But today, when the latest batch of vessels from Jiangdong arrived, he could not help losing his composure:

"The Danyang armor is long overdue, and only half the Jiangdong grain has arrived. Did all the boats spring leaks and 'drift away and sink' en route?"

The Governor of Danyang, who had escorted the shipment here, felt deeply wronged. In ordinary times, garrison troops at every dock along the Yangtze shipping route would skim a little off the top as a supplement. But with a major campaign imminent and the Emperor and the Grand Minister of Works personally watching, who would dare skim anything? He could only kowtow repeatedly and present the tally records from when the boats left Wu: "When we departed Dantu, the boats were loaded with only these goods. The grain consumed by the crew is also fully accounted for in the ledgers. Beyond that, not a single item is missing. I beg the Grand Minister of Works to investigate clearly!"

Deng Yu examined the bamboo slips and found no major issues. He also received a letter of explanation personally written by the Grand Chancellor, Hou Ba, and could only heave a long sigh.

It turned out that Hou Ba and Wang Ba, left behind by Liu Xiu's order to hold Jiangdong and Huainan and manage the great rear area, had their own unspoken difficulties. In their letter, they pleaded guilty while complaining: "Though we have stockpiled supplies over the past five years, the mobilization of a hundred-thousand-strong army has nearly exhausted the Supreme Granary's reserves. We can only apportion the burden to the various commanderies for transport. In this season when the old grain is gone and the new not yet in, the commanderies suffer unpredictable floods and droughts, and it may be difficult to levy enough hands and boats for shipment. The fodder and provisions requested by Your Majesty and the Grand Minister of Works can only be delivered by mid-sixth month."

"Mid-sixth month? If all goes well, the great battle will be over by then. Are we sending grain to feed prisoners of war?" Deng Yu frowned. Liu Xiu and Feng Yi's forces on the front numbered nearly a hundred thousand men, consuming one hundred fifty thousand shi of grain a month! Handwritten edicts urging grain shipments arrived every day. Seeing that the stores at Xiakou were nearly impossible to sustain, how could Deng Yu not be anxious?

Thinking of this, Deng Yu envied Diwu Lun all the more. The State of Wei possessed the fertile lands of the northern provinces, the equivalent of ten Huainans and Jiangdongs. He had heard that Diwu Lun had not been idle during these five years of truce either: he had rebuilt the Qin and Han imperial highways and straight roads, craftsmen had improved the design of carts and wagons, and he had reestablished the Transport Office, a dedicated official logistics and shipping bureau. When one region had a need, aid came from all directions. Mobilizing a hundred thousand men for war was not so difficult for him.

The Eastern Han, by contrast, was a small, modest household with no money to build roads. They could only rely on waterways and pinch pennies to get by, saving up for five or ten years just to stage one grand operation. This time, deploying a hundred-thousand-strong army, with another hundred thousand civilian laborers transporting supplies in the rear, had already stretched the southeast to its absolute limit.

From the letters coming from the east, Deng Yu also detected a hidden worry.

"The Four Clans of Wukuai — the Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhuang — are not very supportive of this campaign. The manpower and grain they have provided amount to at most a hundred thousand shi from the largest, and only fifty or sixty thousand from the smallest."

These four clans were the great indigenous lineages of Wukuai. They had been the strongest advocates for establishing the capital at Jinling, hoping Liu Xiu and Diwu Lun would divide the realm along the Yangtze and rule separately. They held a blind confidence in the lower reaches of the river, which were dozens of li wide. But Liu Xiu had rebuked them as short-sighted: "Just because the Wei army cannot cross the river at Guangling or Guabu, do you think they won't first aim for the upper reaches?"

But this did not persuade the four clans to give their full support. As the great battle loomed, they all held back, clearly not optimistic about Liu Xiu's initiative to attack the Jiang-Han region.

"The more that is true, the more this battle must be a decisive victory."

Deng Yu's gaze turned north, settling on Turtle Mountain north of the Yangtze and Han rivers. Besides inventorying rear-area supplies and sending them to the front, he had been busy these past few days with another matter: transporting all the stores stockpiled at the foot of Turtle Mountain, at a place called Dunyang Crossing (present-day Hanyang), to Xiakou.

His subordinates expressed bewilderment: "Grand Minister of Works, we are short of both hands and boats. We can't even ship enough grain to the front — how can we spare the effort to move the grain stored on the north bank?"

Furthermore, Xiakou backed onto Snake Mountain. Though easy to defend and hard to attack, it was inferior to the north bank when it came to convenient anchorage for boats. Deng Yu's order had left the Xiakou docks jam-packed and in chaos.

Deng Yu did not explain openly, only murmuring, "This is mending the roof before the rain..."

It turned out that several days earlier, Deng Yu had received an urgent report from the Front General, Li Tong, saying that tens of thousands of Wei troops under Geng Yan's command were bearing down on the three passes of Ming'e, and that he had already gone north to reinforce them.

Pang Meng, the defender of Ming'e, was the Emperor's new favorite and greatly trusted by Liu Xiu. Li Tong was a veteran minister and imperial in-law. If the two joined forces and made use of the steep, treacherous passes, they should be able to hold off the Wei army — over the past decade, Wei had split its forces to attack Ming'e several times, but each time had returned empty-handed. And Geng Bozhao had always been renowned for field battles, not for assaulting fortifications.

Yet Deng Yu's heart remained deeply uneasy. He therefore ordered all troops and civilians at Dunyang to withdraw south.

His caution was not unwarranted. At the end of the fifth month, on a sweltering day with calm winds and still waters, the watchtower on Turtle Mountain on the north bank suddenly lit its beacon fire, and Dunyang Crossing, not yet fully evacuated, erupted into chaos!

Deng Yu, hearing the news, immediately ascended the vantage point on Snake Mountain beside Xiakou city to gaze into the distance. He saw several columns of cavalry sweeping down from north to south. They crossed the paddies, leaped the irrigation ditches, and charged all the way to the foot of Turtle Mountain. One force surrounded the small town of Dunyang, while several hundred riders galloped straight for the crossing.

At the crossing, nearly a thousand troops and civilians who had not yet managed to withdraw were still jammed there — many people, few boats, all scrambling to board!

A colonel rushed over to report: "The Dunyang Bailiff begs the General for help!"

But Deng Yu gave a cold, hard order: "The warships are to sortie from Xiakou immediately and block the river. Not a single plank from the north bank is to cross to the south!"

Watching the troops and civilians on the north bank either surrender or leap into the water under the Wei cavalry's onslaught, Deng Yu's hand on his sword hilt was ice-cold. For Wei riders to bypass Ming'e and Anlu and reach the edge of the great river could mean only one thing.

"The flank has fallen. The Wei cavalry roam the Jiang-Han region as if entering a land without people!"

And Deng Yu was certain that Geng Yan was not here. He must have an even greater objective...

Without the slightest hesitation, Deng Yu personally wrote an urgent letter and handed it to a trusted aide: "Take a boat upstream at once. Go to Jingling and inform the General Who Supports Might, Zang Gong, that the Wei army has entered Jiangxia. The Han River is long, but the area around Mount Zhang is the easiest to force a crossing. Be extremely vigilant!"

"Then go to the front lines at Dangyang and seek an audience with the Son of Heaven!"

"Cen Peng's defeat and entrapment may be a ruse. I implore Your Majesty to withdraw temporarily to Jiangling and devise another grand strategy!"

The General Who Supports Might, Zang Gong, was, by native place, a man of the "Yingchuan faction." During the Xin Dynasty, he had served in his hometown as Precinct Chief, Patrol Officer, and other posts responsible for catching bandits. But he never imagined that, introduced by Feng Yi, he would end up bringing his retainers and becoming a member of the "Greenwood bandits."

After the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Xiu saw that Zang Gong fought with considerable courage, spoke little, and worked diligently, so he took him as a trusted follower. Later, when Liu Xiu was pushed out and departed for the east, Zang Gong did not hesitate but followed him all the way. North of the Huai and at Pengcheng, he helped crush the various bandit groups, broke enemy lines and repelled foes time and again, and was duly enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed general.

As one of Liu Xiu's most trusted generals, Zang Gong had been assigned to hold Jingling (present-day Qianjiang, Hubei) for this great Jiang-Han campaign.

From Xiakou heading west, there were two routes into the heartland of Nan Commandery: one went via the Yangtze and the Western Cloud Dream Marsh to Jiangling — the river channel twisted and turned along the way, spanning a thousand li, and going upstream took at least four days, longer if the wind was unfavorable.

But if one entered the Han River via the Eastern Cloud Dream Marsh and disembarked at Jingling, the journey was cut in half!

Military intelligence was urgent, and there was no time to waste. Liu Xiu therefore made this his grain depot. Jingling lay south of the Han River, so even if the north was lost, the docks here would not be threatened.

When entrusting this place to Zang Gong, he had also said: "Junweng, do not resent missing the great battle. This place is our army's sole line of retreat. Guard it well for me!"

After receiving his orders, Zang Gong carried them out with utmost diligence. Yet at the start of the sixth month, his worries became reality. The naval scouts patrolling the upper Han River discovered Wei troops appearing north of the river, numbering in the thousands. After reaching the opposite bank from Jingling, they began building ramparts and constructing pontoon bridges. Dust clouds billowed in their wake — no telling how many more men and horses were on the road...

The garrison at Jingling also numbered only a few thousand, mostly marines. They instantly faced a dire threat. The number of large-winged warships on the Han River multiplied several times over. The moment the Wei army showed signs of forcing a crossing, they would immediately close in on the north bank to disrupt it.

The Wei army was not discouraged. Whenever the Han naval forces damaged a pontoon bridge, they would immediately build it again. The two sides went back and forth like this for a full day and night.

"Something's wrong."

Zang Gong watched the Wei troops on the north bank constantly provoking them and shook his head. "From Lankou Settlement to Jingling, the Han River stretches for hundreds of li. Where can't they cross? Near Jingling, the river is extremely wide. Why would the Wei army abandon the easy for the difficult?"

Unless the enemy was deliberately putting on a show for him.

Zang Gong grew wary. After receiving the urgent letter Deng Yu had sent via a trusted aide, he became even more resolute.

"This is a feint. The Wei main force is definitely at Mount Zhang!"

Mount Zhang was the "Neifang Mountain" mentioned in the Yu Gong. It happened to block the Han River's southward course, causing the river to bend sharply there. The current slowed, and the depth was at its shallowest. In ordinary times, local fishermen and even calves could wade across. But the Han army's forces were limited, and they had only stationed a few boats and a few hundred men to guard it.

"The Mount Zhang garrison did not come to report today."

Zang Gong grew even more worried and decided to personally take a boat to Mount Zhang to see the situation.

His subordinates still had misgivings, not wanting Zang Gong to leave Jingling with a great enemy bearing down. One actually said, "General, the Grand Minister of Works was once defeated by Cen Peng, causing over ten thousand of our men to drown in the Han River. Can his words be trusted?"

Zang Gong laughed loudly at this. "That man Deng Yu is full of brilliant stratagems and knows the terrain of the entire realm like the back of his hand. As long as he's not personally leading troops into battle, he's generally not wrong."

With that, he assigned a lieutenant general to guard Jingling County and watch the Wei forces on the opposite bank. He personally led a flotilla, cleaving the waves northward. It was nearly dusk by the time they neared Mount Zhang.

Seen from afar, Mount Zhang looked like a stone casually tossed down by a god, jutting out abruptly onto the Jiang-Han plain and forcing the Han River into a sharp turn.

When Zang Gong, aboard his boat, spotted numerous Wei cavalry patrols scouting both banks, he knew things were bad. After rounding the great bend and drawing close to Mount Zhang, he drew a sharp breath!

A full three pontoon bridges had been erected here! Wei troops swarmed like ants, crossing in orderly succession to the south bank.

"Charge!"

Zang Gong did not bother to count how many Wei soldiers had already crossed. He immediately gave the order: "Charge through!"

His men, still reeling from shock, stammered, "General, we're going against the current, and the wind is against us. Our speed is extremely slow — how can we charge?"

Zang Gong paid no heed to any of that. He had his men signal the fleet behind with flags: "Large Wings and Medium Wings, close in and loose arrows! All assault boats, strike sails and drop oars — full speed!"

The soldiers from the Three Wu aboard silently thrust their oar blades out from the hulls. With arms burnt dark by the sun, they heaved with all their might, driving the boats against the current, cleaving through the waves.

Zang Gong himself seized a long boat-hook and stood at the prow, his gaze locked dead on the enemy.

"The pontoon bridge must be destroyed — at any cost!"

Even if the cost was his own life!

On the pontoon bridge, Geng Yan, Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry of Wei, was mid-crossing when he heard his soldiers cry out in alarm. Turning his head, he saw a line of Han boats charging recklessly upstream, hell-bent on smashing the bridge. A flicker of panic rose in the eyes of this general who feared neither heaven nor earth.

He, Geng Bozhao, could do anything — except swim!