Chapter 691: A Panicked Flight Northward

It was nearly nightfall when the Wei troops, guided by prisoners, finally found Jia Fu's body. After laying it out properly, they carried it before General Zheng Tong, the General Who Sweeps the Field, who was overseeing the battlefield cleanup.

"Cause of death?" Zheng Tong had also taken an arrow to the arm; it was bandaged and hung in a sling across his chest. Hearing the news, he felt a twinge of regret.

All his life, Zheng Tong had most revered fierce commanders. He still remembered that during the great battle earlier that day, Jia Fu, serving as the Han army's vanguard, had been incomparably valiant, charging the Wei lines repeatedly and even cutting down one of Zheng Tong's own colonels. But at the height of the fighting, the cannons had roared. Though Jia Fu was not struck directly, his startled horse threw him off. Still, he fought on relentlessly, only retreating in bitter fury when the Han army sounded the withdrawal.

No one expected him to die on that fighting retreat.

"Exsanguination. He fought until his strength gave out." The army medic reported this after examining Jia Fu's wounds. They found he had been struck by many arrows, but none were fatal. The killing blow was a blade wound beneath his ribs and belly. The blade had pierced his armor, slashed open his abdomen, and left a length of intestine protruding.

An ordinary man with such a grave wound would certainly have collapsed, but Jia Fu had merely bound it up roughly with a strip of cloth and thrown himself back into the fray. Only after the battle ended did the Wei army learn that Liu Xiu had personally risked himself with the Danyang troops, and that Jia Fu had fought that desperate, life-for-life battle precisely to cover Liu Xiu's retreat.

Zheng Tong lifted the straw mat to look. Even in death, Jia Fu's eyes still blazed with fierce light. Had he died a worthy death?

"Fighting with his entrails dragging — truly worthy of the name 'Jia Junwen, Who Routs Foes a Thousand Miles.'"

Zheng Tong was sighing with deep emotion, but Colonel of the Guard Di Qibiao, who was helping clear the battlefield, thought nothing of it. "Jia Fu was brave and sharp, yes," he said. "But when he held Danyang and Wudang, His Majesty sent men to recruit him. Jia Fu actually beheaded the Wei envoys! He'd rather serve Gongsun Shu and Liu Xiu than submit to Great Wei. He chose the wrong side, followed the wrong man — this is the result!"

There was even a note of gloating in Brother Biao's words. He had hated Jia Fu bitterly. Earlier that day, Jia Fu had turned Di Qibiao's feigned retreat with five thousand troops into a real rout. Compared to his colleagues, he had lost all face. He was no kindly soul; he wanted to cut off Jia Fu's head and defile the corpse to vent his hatred. But Zheng Tong deemed that unacceptable. The two argued until the matter was brought before Diwu Lun.

Diwu Lun was coldly ruthless. "Take the head and parade it through Shangyong and Fangling. Deng Feng is still putting up stubborn resistance in those two places, and General of the Agile Cavalry Ma's flanking force cannot overcome him. Let those people see the fate of those who defy me!"

But then he added, "As for the body, bury it on the spot for now. The head can be rejoined to it another day."

Diwu Lun truly had no time to bother with Jia Fu, a man he barely knew. He had already shifted his command to the newly captured county town of Dangyang, where he was receiving an "old acquaintance."

This man was the Han general Wang Chang. It turned out that during the day, when the Danyang troops were ambushed by Wei cannon fire north of the Dangyang River, they had fallen into a rout despite their universal courage. Because Liu Xiu was among them, the Han command structure had collapsed. Every unit was leaderless; some fought on their own, while others withdrew from the battlefield prematurely.

Wang Chang, however, was an exception. At the battle's start, his Greenwood veterans had performed quite poorly, pinned down and beaten by Wan Xiu, and deserters kept appearing. But Wang Chang himself had coordinated with Liu Xiu's retreat south across the Dangyang River. Liu Xiu was safe, but Wang Chang could not break through the encirclement and was ultimately captured.

When Wang Chang was brought in bound, Diwu Lun did something rare: he rose to his feet and nodded to him.

"General Wang. We meet again."

Gazing at the no-longer-young Diwu Emperor before him, Wang Chang felt momentarily dazed. He recalled how, back when the realm rose against Wang Mang, every regional power had backed a Liu. For a time, the Western Han, Northern Han, and Greenwood Han had all coexisted. Yet Diwu Lun, that foremost champion of the anti-Xin cause, had cunningly styled himself only "King of Wei." Holding Chang'an, Hedong, Henei, and Wei Commandery, he possessed considerable power and became a man every Han faction sought to win over.

At that time, Wang Chang was still the "Prince of Wuyang" under the Gengshi regime, but his heart leaned toward Liu Bosheng. Fearing that Liu Bosheng would clash with Diwu Lun upon entering Guanzhong and both would suffer, he had taken it upon himself to go to Henei and persuade Diwu Lun, urging him to accept Liu Xuan's seal and cord — wouldn't being "King of Wei of the Great Han" be splendid?

Diwu Lun had been just over twenty then. His cunning and capacity for shifting schemes had left a deep impression on Wang Chang. Not only did he refuse the terms, he even skillfully sowed discord. In the end, that meeting broke up in anger. After that came Wang Chang assisting Liu Bosheng's attack on Guanzhong, only to be utterly routed by the Wei army at Tong Slope...

Diwu Lun did not treat Wang Chang as a prisoner. He ordered him untied and offered him a seat. Too lazy for pleasantries, he stated his intent directly: "Back then, General, you urged me to submit to Han. To repay that gesture, today I hope you, General, will surrender to Wei. What do you say?"

Wang Chang slowly raised his head. In his eyes was a hope for life, but the words from his mouth faced death squarely.

"In my early years, I, Wang Chang, never met a worthy lord. Only at the Battle of Kunyang did I know who the true Son of Heaven was. After years of wandering the Central Plains, first defeated by the King of Wei, then caught in the chaos of the Red Eyebrows, I fled south in utter disarray. The Han Emperor did not cast me aside, but still took in me and the Greenwood officers and veterans, giving us a place to settle. I, Wang Chang, have always felt ashamed that in Nanyang, I failed to firmly support the Liu Bosheng brothers. This debt of imperial grace I have yet to repay — how could I dare harbor traitorous thoughts?"

He stretched out his hands, asking Diwu Lun to have him bound again. "What's more, for over ten years, whether for Gengshi or for the Han in the southeast, I, Wang Chang, have always fought beneath the blazing Han banner. I've grown used to this color. I would rather cover myself with it as I descend to the Yellow Springs than change colors now!"

Diwu Lun understood. He sighed. "When we first met in Henei all those years ago, I knew your heart, Wang Yanqing, was as solid as metal and stone."

"Seeing you today, your resolve is as firm as ever. Truly worthy of a Greenwood veteran, a pillar of the waning Han."

With a wave of his hand, he ordered Wang Chang taken out. "Send General Wang Chang on his way! Grant his wish — let him be buried with the Han banner!"

Wang Chang bowed deeply from the waist in thanks, then strode out with head held high.

Pointing at Wang Chang's retreating figure, Diwu Lun addressed those in the tent. "First Jia Fu fights to the death, now Wang Chang goes to his doom. Liu Xiu's ability to win men's hearts is no less than my own."

The reason he had wanted to recruit Wang Chang was that, through this battle, the greater part of the Han main force — a full thirty to forty thousand men — had been annihilated or captured. The half that escaped would also suffer heavy losses under pursuit by the Western Liang cavalry and the Three He cavalry.

Not to mention that Little Geng had already probed north of Jiangling and was lying in wait to intercept the routed troops!

The war was practically over. What needed consideration now was swiftly sweeping through Jianghan and then seizing Huainan. That required a "horse bone" — a prominent defector to make it easier for Diwu Lun to pacify regions by proclamation and reduce losses.

But Diwu Lun had few Han defector generals of sufficient stature on his side. Now that Wang Chang refused to submit, Diwu Lun mentally assessed his options. He could probably only use that "General Who Pacifies Yue," Pang Meng, who had surrendered the three passes of Ming'e, and an old acquaintance who had defected days earlier: the former Gengshi regime noble, Li Yi...

But neither of those two was qualified enough to serve as the horse bone. Diwu Lun thought of the most suitable candidate.

"Li Tong. Li Ciyuan."

He issued an edict. "Pi Tong and the other generals bringing the Jizhou troops were delayed by heavy rain en route. Send word back: they need not come to Dangyang. Turn directly, take Li Yi, and go to Sui County. Li Tong and the Wu general Jian Tan are putting up stubborn resistance there. Li Yi may be able to persuade his elder brother to surrender. Before autumn begins, I want to see Li Tong..."

"Or Li Tong's head!"

After the great victory, the Wei army was now pressing south along the entire front, closing in on Jiangling, poised to sweep through northern Jing. What weighed most on Diwu Lun's mind, naturally, was still Liu Xiu. After the Danyang troops were routed, Jia Fu had fought desperately to shield Liu Xiu's breakout, and he had indeed managed to flee south across the Dangyang River. But with cavalry in pursuit along the way and Little Geng intercepting — could Xiuer have reached the riverbank safely?

"Does Your Majesty wish for Liu Xiu to die?" Zhu Di had once asked him privately. Diwu Lun had only laughed it off. In truth, he himself did not know.

Diwu Lun both hoped Liu Xiu would perish here, bringing an early end to the realm's strife.

Yet he also felt that, although the "Child of the Plane" had ultimately been defeated by the "transmigrator," his story perhaps should not end so hastily...

This inner conflict persisted until several days later, when Diwu Lun's main army advanced to Jiangling and Ying County. The Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry, Geng Yan, returned to report victory. Working in concert with the Western Liang cavalry, the Bingzhou cavalry, and the Three He cavalry, Little Geng's own Youzhou shock cavalry had slain over ten thousand Han troops fleeing south and taken nearly as many prisoners. In the end, fewer than twenty thousand Han soldiers had escaped to the various ports at Jiangling, boarding the ships of Deng Yu's fleet, which was waiting to receive them...

Along with this report, Little Geng sent a heavy wooden box, stained with dark red traces of blood.

The wooden box was passed from hand to hand until it was set before Diwu Lun's desk. When the box was opened, a few flies buzzed out, and a foul odor assaulted the nostrils. Diwu Lun covered his nose with his sleeve, leaned close to examine the severed head, and secretly let out a breath of relief...

It was not Liu Xiu. He did not recognize this man.

Only after the messenger explained and prisoners were brought to identify it did they clarify just who this head — still with a betel nut in its mouth — belonged to.

"This is the man who drove the elephants at the Dangyang River: General Who Displays Might, Ma Cheng."

In late June, as Diwu Lun pressed south on the heels of victory, a man stood alone at the stern of a ship on the vast Great River, staring fixedly at the northern shore growing ever more distant. In his eyes, there was none of the high-spirited vigor he had shown on the battlefield.

Ever since the heaven-shaking roar of the cannons, Liu Xiu had been in a daze. He could barely remember how he had fled the battlefield. He only remembered Jia Fu, clutching his bleeding entrails, shouting hoarsely for him to go, quickly.

He only remembered Wang Chang, whose troops had been driven steadily back by the Wei army, suddenly erupting with courage, tying down an enemy twice his number so that Liu Xiu, under his personal guard's escort, could cross the Dangyang River. Feng Yi's Right Army, routed, had happened to be in position to receive the retreating Emperor.

And as they fled south in panic, as many as twenty thousand Han soldiers were slaughtered by the pursuing enemy cavalry, never to see the Yangtze again.

As Jiangling drew near, Deng Yu and others were there in time to receive them. But the Wei general Geng Bozhao attacked. To cover Liu Xiu, General Who Displays Might Ma Cheng — who had already lost his elephant troops — resolutely turned back to hold off the Wei riders at the cost of his life, his fate unknown...

After they hurriedly retreated into Jiangling, turmoil erupted within the city. Seeing Han defeated and Wei victorious, the Jiangling gentry worked through the night to embroider five-colored banners and switch sides. This left several thousand Han soldiers trapped in the city, and only some ten thousand men made it onto the boats, escaping the danger of capture.

Liu Xiu had staked the entire strength of his state, leading a hundred thousand men north for this bitter campaign. Now, counting both land and naval forces, those who returned numbered no more than twenty thousand.

This plunged Liu Xiu into utter grief. Thinking of the sacrificed officers and men, watching the endless current of the great river beneath his feet, regret and bitter fury surged in his heart. He almost wished he could throw himself headlong into the river's waters!

But in the end, Liu Xiu did not take that step. Turning his head, he met a pair of concerned eyes. It was Feng Yi, who had not left Liu Xiu's side for an inch since boarding the ship — the man who understood him best.

"I beseech Your Majesty, take care of yourself!"

Tears streamed down Feng Yi's cheeks. Liu Xiu's heart felt as though twisted by a knife. "Gongsun, if I had died like Jia Fu, fallen in battle at the Dangyang River, seizing a glorious end — my name left in the histories would be no less than Xiang Yu's, would it?"

"I beseech Your Majesty, rouse yourself!"

Feng Yi's northern Jingzhou forces were nearly annihilated. For a man who cherished his soldiers, the blow was like losing brothers and sons — but grief could not reverse the defeat. In Feng Yi's eyes, as long as Liu Xiu was safe, they still had hope.

Liu Xiu, however, shook his head. "Back when Xiang Yu was defeated at Gaixia, he reached the Wu River crossing. The Precinct Chief there told him, 'Though Jiangdong is small, its territory spans a thousand li and its people number in the hundreds of thousands — it is enough to make you a king.'"

"And yet Xiang Yu, in the end, did not cross the river. The reason for that, I fear, was more than simply 'Eight thousand sons of Jiangdong crossed the river and marched west, and now not one returns — I have no face to see the elders of Jiangdong again.'"

Liu Xiu's situation now closely resembled Xiang Yu's, and he suddenly understood why the Hegemon-King of Chu had turned back and chosen a resolute death.

"Though Jiangdong has the great river as a natural barrier, the Han Emperor had already won the north — eight of the nine provinces were his. How long could a single corner like Jiangdong hold out? In the end, it would still be defeat and ruin. Rather than suffer defeat after defeat, disgrace upon disgrace, better to die with a blaze of glory!"

"Your Majesty, that is not so!"

The Grand Minister of Works, Deng Yu, had arrived. To race to Liu Xiu's aid, he had led the fleet on a great loop through the Yangtze and Yunmeng, arriving just in the nick of time. Now Deng Yu prostrated himself and kowtowed. "The reason Xiang Yu could not hold Jiangdong against the Central Plain was that on his left flank lay Ying Bu, King of Jiujiang. This man, together with Liu Jia, King of Jing, struck at Jiangdong from the flank and raided the Hegemon-King's home base. And south of Kuaiji, the lords of Ouyue and Minyue, along with Wu Rui, King of Changsha, harassed and raided Wu and Kuaiji. With these two lines of coordination, it was not difficult for the Han army to cross the river. Xiang Yu went north to contend for supremacy before his rear was secure — how was that any different from King Fuchai of Wu? Thus Heaven destroyed him!"

"But the situation today is entirely different!" Deng Yu analyzed. "Your Majesty has reorganized internal governance, swept away the Shanyue, and opened up Jiaozhou. The south is unified. Moreover, the registered households of Southern Yang and Southern Jing have doubled since the Chu-Han era. Add Jiaozhou to that, and given time, we can restore our troop numbers and revive the state's prestige."

The words seemed reasonable, but Liu Xiu remained silent. In this decisive battle at Jianghan, he had staked the future of the southeast — and he had lost the wager. Deng Yu's words were nothing but feeble comfort. To restore troop numbers would take a generation. And would Diwu Lun give him time to lick his wounds?

Deng Yu knew he had to make Liu Xiu regain his will to fight. He pressed on. "Diwu Lun's forces are many, but they have been conscripted from the northern provinces and are exhausted from the long march. Their light cavalry, chasing our Han army, covered two hundred li in a single day and night. Add to that the scorching autumn heat, and with the northern masses gathered together, pestilence is sure to break out. This is what is meant by 'a spent crossbow bolt cannot pierce even thin Lu silk.'"

"Furthermore, men of the north are not practiced in naval warfare."

Deng Yu pointed to their one advantage, indicating the towered warships and assault vessels beneath their feet. "The Great Han possesses a naval force of several hundred warships, large and small, spanning the great river. If Diwu Lun, after seizing the north bank, grows greedy and attempts to force a crossing of the Yangtze to strike at Xiakou and Southern Jing, he will be using his weakness to attack our strength."

"Though the Wei army's infantry and cavalry on land are numerous, they are nothing to fear. When the time comes for a decisive battle on the river, the Great Han will surely turn defeat into victory. Even if we cannot immediately march north to reclaim lost territory, we can still divide the river and rule alongside Diwu Lun!"

In the early seventh month of the tenth year of Wude (AD 34), just as Liu Xiu set foot on the land south of the river, Diwu Lun also entered Jiangling and touched the warm waters of the Yangtze.

Jiangling opened its gates without bloodshed, and Yiling was smoothly taken by Cen Peng. The whole of Nan Commandery and Jiangxia fell into their hands. The situation at Sui County, however, was less smooth. Diwu Lun had ordered Pi Tong to take Li Yi and go compel Li Tong's surrender. Who would have thought that Li Tong, upon hearing of Liu Xiu's defeat at Dangyang, would, in despair, simply cut his own throat and die...

The defender of Sui County, Jian Tan, killed the messenger and continued to resist stubbornly. Sui County would not fall easily; Diwu Lun was already considering sending artillery to support the assault.

But these were minor problems. Inside Jiangling, the Wei generals were growing wildly arrogant. The Seventh Biao Commander petitioned Diwu Lun, saying, "I wish to take thirty thousand troops and rampage across Southern Jing."

Even a veteran general like Zheng Tong felt they could press south on the momentum of victory, gather ships, and establish strongholds along the river, aiming for Jiangdong...

"Though we lack boats and ships, we have firearms to aid us." After the battle of Dangyang, they had developed a blind faith in these new weapons, even believing that with small sampans fitted with fire-carts, they could easily defeat the already terror-stricken Han naval forces.

With a flying dragon riding your face, how could you possibly lose?

But Diwu Lun was unmoved. He knew very well his own side's strengths and weaknesses. The riverside weather was hot and humid; the northerners were not acclimatized, and dysentery, beriberi, and other diseases broke out frequently. Wei troops who had only trained on the Han River would certainly be thrashed by the enemy once they got onto the Yangtze.

The most important thing now was to seize strategic points. Diwu Lun therefore ordered his three armies to take the various counties of Northern Jing separately. He also ordered Little Geng to prepare to return to Huaibei and advance on Huainan. As for the "Crossing-the-River Campaign"...

"The time is not yet ripe."

Though the Han army's main force had been destroyed, as long as Liu Xiu still lived, even if he had only ten thousand men left, Diwu Lun would never underestimate this opponent.

He had no desire to fight a "Battle of Red Cliffs."

Diwu Lun forced himself to withdraw his gaze from the south and turn it toward the west.

The final steps for unifying the realm had been settled years ago between Diwu Lun and his chief commanders, Ma Yuan and Cen Peng:

"When the towered ships of Ba and Shu descend upon Yizhou, the kingly aura over Jinling shall darken and fade!"