Chapter 276: Chu Songs and Qin Ballads

Heifu was too far away to make out the details of the battlefield, but Zhou Wen, the Chu army's "Sun Watcher," saw everything with piercing clarity!

The so-called Sun Watcher had two duties: one was to observe the sun's shadow and reckon the auspicious or inauspicious times, which fell under the "military yin-yang school"; the other was to use their keen eyesight to observe enemy movements and report to the general.

Thus Zhou Wen had the privilege of witnessing the contest between Wang Jian and Xiang Yan, two renowned generals of the age.

Xiang Yan's army was in the east, totaling ninety thousand men. It roughly consisted of ten thousand from the "King's Right Guard," ten thousand Xiang clan soldiers, ten thousand each from the Qu and Zhao clans, plus thirty thousand county troops from Huaibei, Huainan, and Jiangdong, and twenty thousand motley troops assembled from various minor fief-holders.

The Qin army was in the west, numbering over a hundred thousand. Zhou Wen was not entirely clear on their composition; he only knew that Wang Jian had placed three ten-thousand-man regiments at the very front, flying the banners of Qin's Guanzhong forces, flanked left and right by a thousand chariots.

As the battle began, Xiang Yan first ordered Zhao Hua, who had the strongest execution ability, to lead the Zhao clan soldiers in an attack on the Qin army. Chariots led the charge, infantry followed, probing and striking at the seam between the Qin vanguard's three regiments.

The Qin army first had their crossbowmen stand and fire in kneeling volleys. After ten thousand bolts were loosed, the crossbowmen parted and withdrew to the flanks, the formation gates opened, and infantry advanced, plunging into the Chu army's ranks. Just as the infantry melee began, the massed Qin chariot troops swiftly surged out from both flanks, attacking the Chu army from the sides...

The Zhao clan soldiers feigned defeat and retreated, and the Qin vanguard's three regiments began pursuit, tangling with the Zhao clan soldiers. Their engagement was positioned somewhat to the north.

"The general's plan has worked!"

Watching this scene, Zhou Wen was not worried but delighted. According to Xiang Yan's plan, since their own forces were slightly fewer, they needed to fully maneuver the enemy. Once battle began, Zhao Hua was to feign defeat, using the prospect of gain to lure the enemy, pinning the Qin main force in the northern sector, while the Chu main force would advance toward Wang Jian's central army and deliver a decisive blow!

However, the course of battle defied the Chu army's expectations. The Qin's three regiments attacked so fiercely that they very quickly routed the Zhao clan soldiers for real, even threatening the entire northern flank.

To prevent the Qin army from wheeling around to the rear flank of the southern Chu forces, to stabilize the defensive line, and also to draw more Qin troops into this sector, Xiang Yan's banners waved. He ordered the ten thousand Huaibei county conscripts and ten thousand fief-holder troops deployed on the second line of the northern sector to swiftly enter the fray, striking the enemy's left rear from the northeast.

Due to the sudden and fierce counterattack by the Chu army's fresh forces, those three Qin regiments could not break through for a time. Consequently, the Qin army transferred another ten thousand infantry from the center to join in. The battle seemed to have stalemated on the northern front...

Attacking, defending, counterattacking, feigned routs, real routs, formation battles, stalemates, reinforcing, seesawing back and forth — Wang Jian and Xiang Yan were like two cautious chess players. This series of move and countermove alone had already lasted a full two-hour period, and several thousand men already lay dead in the field!

The result was that forty thousand Qin troops were tied down on the northern front by over thirty thousand Chu men. Meanwhile, in the south, ten thousand Chu soldiers of the Qu clan had also advanced, tying down at least twenty thousand Qin men.

Wang Jian was employing a double-envelopment tactic, placing his Guanzhong elites on the flanks, both of which were now gradually gaining the upper hand. But in doing so, committing so many troops north and south had exposed a flaw in the Qin army's center! Facing the Chu army were only tens of thousands of men in uneven formations, flying the banners of Hedong and Sanchuan troops.

This was the moment of opportunity Xiang Yan had waited a full two-hour period for!

Zhou Wen was overjoyed. After he reported this situation, from the great banner of Xiang Yan's central army, drums suddenly thundered to life!

The Chu central army of fifty thousand men — except for ten thousand somewhat shabbily dressed fief-holder troops — consisted of Xiang clan soldiers, the Right Guard, and Jiangdong and Huainan conscripts. All wore crimson skirts, red tassels, red armor, and red plumes, looking like fire from afar.

Upon receiving the order, with the chariot-heavy King's Right Guard as the vanguard, the Xiang clan soldiers as the core, and the Jiangdong and Huainan conscripts arrayed on their flanks, they began to stride forward, like an overwhelming crimson tide, advancing ahead!

Wang Jian also detected the Chu army's intent. Banners waved, and a thousand war chariots rolled out from the Qin formation, launching a counterattack against the Chu army!

"Matching the Chu army in chariot warfare?"

Zhou Wen found this laughable and immediately had someone report what he had observed to the general.

Although Chu was located in the south and had fewer good horses, its war chariots were by no means weak. In the years of contending for hegemony during the Spring and Autumn period, a thousand Chu chariots had roamed freely across the Central Plains!

"Grasping Wu halberds, clad in rhinoceros hide — chariot hubs cross, and short blades meet!"

Accompanied by a burst of resounding Chu songs as a prelude, within the great Chu formation, the King's Right Guard, bearing four hundred years of glory, set its thousand war chariots in motion. Horses draped in tiger or ox-hide armor neighed as they surged forward, passing and interweaving with the swiftly oncoming Qin war chariots.

In the age of chariot warfare, when two chariots met, they did not clash head-on but had to veer past each other, engaging on the flanks. At long range they used bows and arrows; at close range they used the "five chariot weapons" — the dagger-axe, the shu, the spear, and the halberd; in hand-to-hand combat they used swords and blades. This was what was called "hub-crossing" warfare.

When it came to chariot warfare, the Chu people were the experts. They had even specially equipped their own war chariots with long-bladed axle hubs. When the chariot moved, the long-bladed hubs spun at high speed. When two chariots crossed, not only could they completely sever the legs of passing warhorses, sending severed limbs flying across the battlefield, but through the driver's superb skill, they could also ram the enemy's wheels, utterly destroying their axles and spokes.

After one round of engagement, only a dozen or so Chu chariots were damaged, while over a hundred Qin chariots had crashed to the ground with a roar. Even if the driver, left-side warrior, and right-side warrior survived by luck, they were quickly finished off by Chu soldiers.

Seeing their chariots gaining the upper hand, the Chu army's morale soared even higher, and the infantry's pace quickened!

"Banners blot the sun, the foe like clouds — arrows fall in exchange, yet warriors vie to be first!"

Behind the Right Guard, the Xiang clan soldiers also began singing the "National Lament." Even though the Qin army facing them was roughly equal in number to their own assault force, even though the enemy's banners blotted the sun and their masses were like clouds, even though flying arrows fell like rain in exchange, the Chu men, soldiers of grief, still fought bravely, vying to advance, pressing ever forward!

The Xiang clan soldiers, taught by Xiang Yan's words and personal example, were often roused by him with the national humiliations Chu had suffered over the past century: from the disastrous defeats at Chuisha and Lantian, from King Huai of Chu being detained by Qin and never returning, to the hundreds of thousands of Chu people who perished miserably in the Battle of Yan-Ying, to King Qingxiang's humiliating eastward relocation, and finally, Qu Yuan throwing himself into the river in full grief and indignation.

The past hundred years had been, for the state of Qin, a spirited road of rising up, but for the state of Chu, a road of sinking into defeat time and again. Most of the Chu nobility deeply regarded this as a shame...

"A century of national shame, washed clean in a single battle! Seize Wang Jian's great banner for your general!"

Xiang Yan's command reached everyone's ears. Led by their noble commanders, the Chu conscripts — though somewhat hazy on the concept of "national shame," yet firmly convinced that the Qin men were invaders of their homeland, come to seize their wives, children, and fields — burst into even more resounding Chu songs!

"Heaven's favor falls, the mighty spirits rage — slaughter is complete, abandoned on the wild plain."

"Gone forth, not to return; never to come back — the plain stretches vast, the road is far and long."

The running and trampling of tens of thousands sent dust billowing across the battlefield, merging with the dust clouds raised by chariots and cavalry and the fighting on the northern and southern fronts, blotting out the sky that had only just cleared a short while ago.

This was destined to be an earth-shaking battle. Perhaps after this fight, the entire army's soldiers would sacrifice their bodies on the vast, boundless plain, but even if they went never to return, they would have no regrets!

Bearing this momentum, the Xiang clan soldiers and the troops of Huainan and Jiangdong shouted and charged forward, crashing heavily into the weak Qin army formation! And they broke through this Qin force in a single blow!

However, when the Qin army before them swiftly "collapsed and fled" to both flanks, and when the curtain of smoke and dust shrouding the rear of the battlefield fully dispersed, Zhou Wen, who had ridden closer to observe the battlefield, could not help but draw a sharp, cold breath!

Wang Jian's great banner, with its dragon flag and feathered canopy, was clearly visible, yet between him and the Chu army there was still a square formation of tens of thousands of men! Shielded by the troops in front, they had already completed their deployment!

This Qin force numbered about forty thousand men, divided into four divisions, arrayed in a front and rear line. The vanguard had three divisions: the right division deployed backed against a small hill, the left division deployed beside a stream, and between the left and right divisions, the central division spread out in a horizontal line.

At the very front of the square formation was a scattered horizontal line of crossbowmen, several hundred per row, totaling several thousand men. The soldiers wore no armor, holding long-range weapons like bows and crossbows, quietly kneeling on one knee on the ground.

Behind them were the infantry, arranged according to the principle of long weapons in front and short weapons behind, balancing offense and defense, watertight. In addition, on the left and right of the formation were several more horizontal lines of crossbowmen, each facing outward to guard against enemy attacks from the flanks. The formation was complex, large formations nested within small ones, combined together, able to shift freely.

Behind the three vanguard divisions, one rearguard division was massed at the seam between the three vanguard divisions, serving as support and reserve, and also the location of Wang Jian's field command tent. Its regalia was brilliant, its guards strict and solemn, courier riders going in and out, gongs, drums, and banners shifting in orderly fashion — like the hand behind the scenes pulling strings in a shadow play, directing the movements of every regiment and formation as if shadow followed form.

The elite quality of the Qin army shocked Zhou Wen; the Qin army's formation dazzled and confused him. He realized that the Qin army before him was no ordinary force — it had to be the elite of the elite!

What made Zhou Wen shudder even more was his discovery that this Qin army was flying the very banners of those tens of thousands of "Guanzhong troops" that should have been drawn to the northern battle line!

"Which are real, and which are fake?"

Zhou Wen vaguely realized that everything prior seemed to have been a trap, and he immediately sent someone to inform the Supreme Pillar of State!

Yet a drawn bow has no turning back. The advance of the front-line troops did not halt. Though the Chu men were slightly stunned, under the orders of their commanders and lieutenants, they continued to press forward, wanting to break this Qin army just as before, to capture and kill the enemy commander!

Facing the Chu army surging in like a tide, these Qin men showed no fear. They stood shoulder to shoulder, armor touching armor, as if a single body!

No one knew who started it, but in response to the Chu songs from the opposite side, a Qin ballad rose up from this Qin army of tens of thousands.

"Who says we have no robes? We share our skirts with you. The king raises his host — we furbish our blades and armor, and march together with you!"

The Qin ballad was high and resounding, not yielding a single note to the solemn and tragic Chu songs across the field!

This was pure, standard Qin pronunciation — the authentic speech of Guanzhong.

Zhou Wen understood. These men were the sons of Guanzhong conscripted from Neishi and Longxi — the so-called "Old Qin people"!

Since Lord Shang's reforms, they had undergone six or seven generations of military-rank inheritance and the tempering of war.

After a century of accumulated military merit passed down through the generations, among these fifty thousand men, every single one held a rank of nobility — the lowest among them was at least a Gongshi.

These fifty thousand were all able-bodied young men, instilled by their fathers since childhood that private feuds were a disgrace and public warfare an honor; their whole lives held only two matters — farming and fighting!

They took pride in their status, they took pride in their ranks of merit; they were the Qin army's innermost core of strength, their will utterly unshakeable, and before the Chu army's gale-and-tempest-like onslaught, they stood towering and unmoved!

"How can you say we have no robes? We share the same袍 with you. The king raises his host; we sharpen our dagger-axes and lances, and share the same foe with you!"

The kneeling crossbowmen loosed a volley of ten thousand bolts, inflicting heavy casualties on the Chu men before dispersing to both wings, while the dagger-axe and lance troops behind them advanced in perfect order; with a furious shout, they leveled their dagger-axes and lances horizontally, halting every footstep that tried to draw near, and the Qin bowmen arrayed within the formation also kept firing arrows without pause.

With such elite troops guarding the gentle slope, Wang Jian's command banner did not shift half a step; instead, the Chu army's wave-like assaults crashed against the towering, unmoving black reef to no effect whatsoever…

"This truly is a feint to lure the enemy!"

Zhou Wen felt a touch of despair. General Xiang Yan had spent a full double-hour slowly maneuvering and laying out his pieces, the soldiers had paid with countless sacrifices, and with tremendous courage had created this opportunity — yet the raging flames kindled in their hearts had been nearly stamped out in a single kick by this, Wang Jian's final trump card!

But what was even more shocking was that, off to Zhou Wen's flank, the rumbling of hoofbeats arose…

The three thousand Qin cavalry, which had vanished entirely from the battle up to this point, had circled around in a wide arc and appeared on the flank! Those several hundred Qin war chariots that had just feigned defeat and scattered also converged with them, and together they charged straight for the Chu central army's position!

Xiang Yan had already committed his last reserves, pinning his hopes on breaking through the Qin central army in one stroke; at this moment, beside him remained only ten thousand armed retainers of the enfeoffed lords — those were Chu's motley troops, on whom no great hopes could be placed, and if chariots and cavalry closed in on them, they would surely crumble and collapse.

Fortunately, the Right Guang, which had already fought one bloody engagement, had regrouped at Xiang Yan's central army position; without even pausing to rest or change out wounded horses, they could only charge out from the formation once more.

Five or six thousand warhorses, twenty or thirty thousand horse legs, surged across the open field like rolling thunder, making the foot soldiers feel the trembling beneath their feet! These chariots and cavalry moved at extreme speed, and soon friend and foe alike crashed together, chariots overturned and horses thrown, descending into a tangled melee. Chu's long-bladed war chariots had remarkable effect against Qin war chariots, but the nimble cavalry would have none of it, instead using their own agility to have several riders surround and attack a single chariot; for a time, the two sides fought locked in a stalemate.

Zhou Wen was somewhat stunned; his gaze left the chariots and cavalry to look at the southern and northern fronts, where the Qin army was gradually gaining the upper hand, then back to the center, where the Chu soldiers were straining with difficulty, trying to break through the Guanzhong Qin army's defensive line.

The situation had once again reached a deadlock: if the Qin chariots and cavalry, and the left and right wings, broke the Chu army first and completed Wang Jian's counter-encirclement by turning the enemy's own stratagem against them, then Qin would win; if the Chu main force broke the Qin Guanzhong elite first, then Chu would win.

"Lord Zhou, look over there!"

Yet the situation on the battlefield shifts in the blink of an eye, and the unexpected occurred once more. At the shout of the soldiers under his command, Zhou Wen turned his head and looked toward the southeast of the battlefield — and his face instantly filled with shock and horror!

Xiang Yan had placed all his hopes of blocking Qin reinforcements on the twenty thousand troops of the Jing clan, and had only deployed a small picket force of just over a hundred men in the southeast; now, that force had already been routed and scattered.

A Qin force of over a thousand men was already standing there, and had firmly planted a tiger-and-bear banner at the highest point within view! They were still forming ranks and arraying their lines, as if they might charge down at any moment!

Every Chu man who noticed this scene felt his heart lurch.

Even the Supreme Pillar of State Xiang Yan could not help but let out a long sigh: "The Jing brothers have failed me — were the Qin reinforcements not stopped?"

……

In the southeast of the battlefield, after running over ten kilometers with feet caked in mud and thoroughly exhausted, Company Commander Heifu finally caught his breath and straightened his chest on the small slope.

He stood at the edge of the fiercely contested battlefield, the clamor of Chu songs and Qin airs ringing in his ears, his gaze fixed on the Chu central army's main camp, a mere two li away, protected by only ten thousand enfeoffed lord troops!

Heifu's eyes gradually grew fervent, as though stirred by the excitement of being so close to the center of the era for the first time.

He raised his hand high, as if heedless of having raced thirty li for advantage, heedless of having only a mere thousand men under his command, and was about to give the order for the entire force to charge — to do that deed where one general's glory is built on ten thousand bleaching bones!

But after turning his head, Heifu merely smiled at the Anlu sons and brothers, who were half-dead with exhaustion, panting so hard they could not even straighten their waists, and said:

"My lads, plant all your banners atop the slope, so that both friend and foe can see them at a glance, then rest in place and wait for friendly troops!"

PS: A big 4,000-character chapter, asking for monthly tickets. The second chapter will be in the evening, rather late…

(End of chapter)