Chapter 423: Beating Drums to Urge the Hunting Encirclement

"At the foot of the Yin Mountains, there is a kind of bluish wild donkey. This beast is good at running; leopards, tigers, and wolves cannot catch it. But the Xiongnu have a method for hunting wild donkeys."

"First, find a way to capture a young foal, tie its legs, and throw it onto the grassland, letting it cry out. When the mother donkey hears it, she will come to the rescue, and the donkey herd will follow close behind. In the end, they all fall right into the hunter's trap…"

Standing atop a high hill, watching as two thousand riders surged out from the Qin army's main camp and chased after that band of Xiongnu cavalry heading south, the Xiongnu Right Great Danghu, Xubu Sheng, revealed a satisfied smile.

"The Qin grain convoy is just like the young foal, and these two thousand riders charging out are the mother beast!"

Although this baiting of the enemy started with the Qin army's one weak point, the grain convoy, Xubu Sheng's ultimate target was those two thousand cavalry of the Qin army and the Xuyan Rong!

So, early in the morning, he had the Gudu Marquis Huyan Lan take two thousand men and march south with great fanfare, precisely to lure out the Qin army's only mobile force.

Seeing that the stratagem had succeeded, Xubu Sheng immediately sent a scout to notify the thousand Xiongnu at the foot of the hill: mount up at once! Rush to the front of the Qin camp, ride and clamor, and make a show of intending to assault the encampment!

He had no interest whatsoever in that Qin camp with its deep trenches and sturdy walls; doing this was solely to prevent the Qin from sending troops to support those two thousand riders…

And he himself would also take the remaining two thousand Xiongnu and immediately hurry south to join Huyan Lan in a pincer attack on the Qin and Rong cavalry!

Although the Qin cavalry's equipment was very good, their riding skill was not necessarily better than that of ordinary Xiongnu. With two against one, they could surely annihilate them!

"If we can trick those two thousand riders into coming out, defeat and kill them, the Qin will be left with only infantry. They will be like a wild donkey with broken legs—though its hooves are hard as iron, it can only lie in place, waiting to be devoured by the wolf pack. Then, for hundreds of li around, the Xiongnu's fine horses can gallop at will. Blocking the roads, destroying their grain convoys—all will be the simplest of matters!"

…

"Commandant, the Xiongnu have moved to the south and blocked the road, but they are merely clamoring a li away. Several times they made as if to attack, but after our army fired a few volleys of crossbow bolts, they all retreated and no one was willing to come any closer!"

Fu Zhi, following orders, ascended the watchtower of Huamachi Fortress to observe the enemy situation from afar, then reported back to Hei Fu. He felt the Xiongnu's behavior today was very unusual.

"Just as I expected."

Hei Fu understood: "It seems they also lack the courage to assault my main camp by force. These thousand-odd Xiongnu deployed here are meant to bluff and prevent our army from sending further reinforcements…"

But the Xiongnu's acting was a bit poor; they should have at least come up close and attempted a skirmish.

Hei Fu had previously guessed that of the two actions—raiding the camp and intercepting the grain—one must be a real attack and the other a feint. Since the Xiongnu outside the camp were merely bluffing, then that group of Xiongnu heading south must be heading straight for the grain convoy!

However, there was another possibility, one that Hei Fu had thought the Xiongnu commander would not be clever enough to attempt…

"They want to lure our cavalry out in full, then encircle and annihilate them!"

Once the Qin army's mobile force was destroyed, the Xiongnu cavalry could do as they pleased.

The Xiongnu's appetite was truly huge! But this greedy grey wolf did not fear biting down on an iron plate!

No matter which path the Xiongnu chose, on Hei Fu's side, the response was to meet all changes with constancy. Everything would proceed according to the whispered instructions Hei Fu had given Yiqu White Wolf before his departure…

"Pass on my military order!"

The Commandant of Beidi grew stern and gave orders to Fu Zhi, Zhai Chong, Wang Wei, Wushi Yan, and the others who had remained with him: "The entire army still has four thousand infantry. Form ranks and prepare to march out of camp. Wushi Yan, you also go quickly into the fortress and inform the Lord of Xuyan. The two thousand men assembled in the settlement are to bring their weapons and immediately march out of the city, forming ranks behind us to bolster our army's presence! Also, have the Lord of Xuyan ascend the wall and watch how this Commandant crushes the Hu captives!"

Hei Fu had been waiting for the Xiongnu to actively seek battle for several days now.

"Now we've truly found a chance to fight!"

"Let's test it out—whether the Xiongnu's teeth are sharper, or the Qin men's armor is tougher!"

…

According to Qin military law, for cavalry officers: five riders make one squad leader, ten riders one junior officer, one hundred riders one centurion, and two hundred riders one commander.

So under Yiqu White Wolf, there were five Rong cavalry commanders in total, coincidentally the five divisions of the Dayuan Rong, plus the one hundred Liang Family sons led by Qiang Hua.

When the cavalry advanced, they basically proceeded in order according to their organization. Qiang Hua was placed in the middle, between the Beidi Rong cavalry and the Xuyan cavalry. The Rong cavalry ahead had at least fought in the unification wars; though not as orderly as the Liang Family sons, they still had some semblance of formation. The thousand Xuyan riders behind, however, were herders hastily thrown together, their order rather chaotic, advancing in a noisy, disorderly mob.

Though his face was covered with dust kicked up by the hooves ahead, thinking that his first light-cavalry skirmish was imminent, Qiang Hua could not help but feel extremely excited and quickened his horse's pace.

Unexpectedly, the five cavalry units ahead all stopped at another dry salt pond south of Huamachi, and a messenger scout came galloping back, shouting loudly: "Halt!"

Qiang Hua reined in his horse. The hooves of the Liang Family son cavalry trampled uneasily on the cracked, barren earth. He was baffled; they had only left the main camp a little over a quarter-hour ago and traveled a bit more than ten li. They were still far from where the grain convoy might be attacked. Why had they suddenly stopped?

Could it be that the Xiongnu band sent to raid the grain convoy was right ahead!?

He immediately rode over to Yiqu White Wolf, wanting to ask what was going on. As he drew near, he realized Yiqu White Wolf was listening to a scout deployed to the rear report newly discovered military intelligence. Ignoring Qiang Hua, he shouted rapidly: "Turn around at once! The front unit becomes the rear. The Beidi cavalry in front, the Xuyan cavalry behind. March swiftly to the northwest!"

The Dayuan Rong cavalry roared their assent. Qiang Hua was first surprised, but then a possibility occurred to him.

"Centurion, could it be that the main camp has been attacked by the Xiongnu?"

Yiqu White Wolf glanced at this young man and revealed a fierce grin: "No. It is the Xiongnu who are about to be attacked!"

…

"The entire Qin army has marched out of camp and is slowly pressing south?"

Xubu Sheng had originally planned to tail the Qin cavalry. Once they reached flat ground twenty or thirty li away, he would join the Gudu Marquis in a pincer attack on them, using four thousand to strike two thousand, catching the Qin off guard and at least killing or wounding the greater half of them.

But what he had not expected was that, after the Xiongnu attacked and harassed the main camp, the Qin army, which normally would have barred its gates and defended as usual, instead very decisively poured out in full force!

It was as if their commander had seen right through his stratagem!

The Qin army, together with the Xuyan men from Huamachi Fortress, numbered six thousand strong and were well-equipped. The thousand men Xubu Sheng had left behind simply could not hold them back. The Xiongnu had always advanced when they saw advantage and fled when they saw disadvantage. That motley thousand cavalry, seeing the Qin army's dark, dense ranks marching out one after another—large shields in front, powerful crossbows behind, long spears and long halberds reflecting the sunlight—did not dare to test their edge and could only scatter and retreat.

At the same time, they sent someone to catch up with Xubu Sheng, who had only traveled a few li, and ask him what to do now.

But even more alarming news for Xubu Sheng was still to come.

The messenger from the north had just finished speaking when several scouts arrived from the south. They told Xubu Sheng that the two thousand Qin and Rong cavalry, whom they had been tailing from a distance, had stopped ten li to the south, then abruptly turned around and were sweeping in this direction to outflank them!

At this, Xubu Sheng was even more stunned. He paused briefly, then burst into loud laughter.

"What a formidable Qin general! I set a trap for the wild donkeys, but never thought I'd be surrounded by the donkey herd instead!"

The identities of hunter and prey had instantly swapped!

Xubu Sheng felt like a man who hunts wild geese all day, only to have a goose peck his eye today. The frustration in his heart was beyond words.

The situation was now very clear. The Qin army had turned his own trick against him. After detecting the Xiongnu's movements, they deliberately sent their cavalry out in full force, making the Xiongnu think their plan had succeeded.

But halfway through, after discovering that Xiongnu were indeed tailing them from behind, Yiqu White Wolf, following Hei Fu's instructions, suddenly wheeled around for a counter-strike. The goal was to join forces with the main infantry force from the camp and encircle these two to three thousand Xiongnu under Xubu Sheng, forcing them into a battle they could not avoid!

"Had I known this, it would have been better to secretly disperse the units out of camp and focus solely on raiding the grain convoy…"

It was still Xubu Sheng's own greed to blame. Now regret was too late. In steppe cavalry warfare, not only was the battlefield area expanded several times over, but the speed was also astonishingly fast. Within a quarter-hour, the two sides would make contact!

It was already too late to summon the Gudu Marquis back for aid. Three thousand cavalry against six thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, and being attacked from two sides—this was clearly a losing battle. Xubu Sheng was no fool. He did not draw his blade and roar for the Xiongnu to follow him in a fight to the death against the Qin. Instead, he immediately observed his side's current position and began pondering an escape route.

To the north, six thousand Qin and Rong infantry were striding forward, pressing south; to the south, two thousand enemy cavalry were galloping to outflank them from the northwest; to the east, lay the shimmering waters of Huamachi.

The only path to survival right now was to charge out from the dry salt flats to the west before the encirclement was completely sealed!

Xubu Sheng made his decision. As long as they were fast enough, they should be able to escape before being surrounded.

"What about the Gudu Marquis's side?" a vulture-shooter following Xubu Sheng asked.

"The Qin general is decisive indeed — he'd rather ignore the grain convoy just to encircle and annihilate me..."

Xubu Sheng knew this stratagem would end in failure. Even if he himself escaped, many Xiongnu would surely be trapped within the encirclement. In that case, he had to at least make the enemy pay a price.

"I arranged earlier with Huyan Lan to wait on the southern hills. If the Qin cavalry did not come and I failed to rendezvous with him, he was to continue south at once and strike the Qin grain convoy!"

"As long as we can burn all the Qin grain, this battle will still be a Xiongnu victory!"

Having thought it through, he hesitated no longer. When he could already see the dust churned up by the southern Qin cavalry sweeping in from the flanks, and hear the ceaseless Qin war-drums and gongs from the north, he personally blew the ox-horn!

"All tribes — follow me west!"

"Awooooo!"

The deep ox-horn resounded across the wilderness beyond the frontier. What followed was the dense mass of Xiongnu cavalry, like a flock of birds swiftly gathering and scattering, suddenly galloping away to the west.

On the war chariot, Heifu watched this scene from afar. As early as when they left camp, his troops had already split into two divisions. Four thousand men pressed southwest with him, while Scribe-Sergeant Zhai Chong and his personal guard Gong Ao each led a thousand men toward the dried salt flats to the west. Though men's legs were certainly no match for horses, Gong Ao's force was taking a straight line, while the Xiongnu went south first, then west — a detour. Factoring in the time the Xiongnu needed to learn of the Qin army's departure and react, both sides should arrive at roughly the same time...

And ten li to the south, the battle-hardened Yiqu White Wolves, needing no further orders from Heifu, were already galloping keenly toward the salt flats as well.

A battle of infantry encircling cavalry was thus brought about by a combination of inevitable and chance factors...

"My first time commanding an operation on the scale of ten thousand men. Fortunately, the disparity in forces was great, and my preparations were thorough enough — I didn't botch it."

Heifu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately put on an expression of complete confidence. Pointing at the Xiongnu fleeing west in disarray, he said in a tone of utter nonchalance to Fu Zhi and the young men of good family cavalry who were casting looks of admiration at him:

"Gentlemen, remember this scene. This is what the art of war calls: 'Pursuing a routed foe across perilous terrain, driving deep without pause — with the enemy lying in ambush on both flanks and cutting off your rear: this is encircled ground for cavalry!'"

(End of chapter)