Chapter 566: Disaster! The Pale Fat Man Has Become a God of Slaughter

Outside Yizheng City, apart from a little over a hundred riders who escaped, a thousand Southern Tang cavalry were cut down and slain almost to the last man, right before the eyes of tens of thousands of Southern Tang infantry.

With one beautiful flanking strike, Zhao Kuangyin taught the Southern Tang army a harsh lesson, showing them exactly what the Yongliang iron cavalry — the kind that could shatter Khitan cavalry in a head-on mounted battle — truly looked like.

Tens of thousands of Southern Tang soldiers looked on, yet not a single unit dared to come forward to the rescue. By this point, no one still regarded Zhao Kuangyin as a pale-faced boy.

The only ones who did move were the few hundred men Bian Gao had sent out to feign defeat.

But once those few hundred men went forward, the feigned defeat immediately turned into a real one, because from the thousand riders still in Yizheng City, another five hundred charged out.

These men had originally been meant to support the cavalry, but now there was no need for support. So at the summons of Zhao Kuangyin's signal banner, they came swiftly out of Yizheng City, and with one assault they utterly routed the several hundred Jiankang troops who had been preparing to feign defeat.

Bian Gao's so-called plan to lure the enemy cavalry into attacking had not been accomplished at all.

Uh! Actually, it was not that it had not been accomplished. If one considered only the single objective of luring the enemy cavalry to attack, they had accomplished it.

Because after Zhao Kuangyin had annihilated the Southern Tang cavalry, the various Southern Tang forces did not dare to advance, and his danger was lifted. So he prepared to test the quality of the Southern Tang imperial guard troops. If they proved unable to withstand a single blow, he might as well rout them right then and there.

This infuriated Bian Gao. He had ten thousand men, yet Zhao Kuangyin was not satisfied after devouring his cavalry — he actually wanted to devour this main force of his as well, before the eyes of tens of thousands.

Zhao Kuangyin's method of battle was simple. The five hundred riders who had come out of the city had brought equipment with them, one man with two horses, so now the shock cavalry in cloth-faced iron armor could armor their warhorses and become heavy cavalry, while the horse archers on both flanks could put on another layer of simple ring-mail and become light cavalry.

The heavy cavalry would charge straight down the center, and the light cavalry would strike both flanks. First, three hundred heavy cavalry would go forward to test the waters head-on. If the Southern Tang army panicked, they would immediately rush in all at once and finish them.

To the booming of war drums, three hundred Zhou heavy cavalry slowly began to advance.

This kind of heavy cavalry charge would not cover too long a distance. Generally they would only accelerate within a hundred paces, reaching maximum speed within sixty paces, so that the warhorses would have enough stamina to guarantee the speed and force of the impact.

But this time was different. The three hundred light cavalry making the feint attack had already opened up to full speed from two hundred paces out.

The three hundred riders spread out wide, and the dust kicked up by their horses' hooves made it seem as though a host of thousands upon thousands of horses was charging in.

Bian Gao understood very clearly in his heart. He knew that if his side could not withstand this probing attack, they might very well truly be finished here.

One must never underestimate a charge of only a few hundred cavalry. Heavy cavalry of this sort, once they numbered over a hundred and began a charge, carried a momentum that shook heaven and earth.

The soldiers also did not have a god's-eye view that would let them clearly see that only a few hundred riders were coming. Nor could they calmly reckon in their hearts that the enemy was few and surely could not beat them.

Under the threat of death bearing down on them, the soldiers simply could not measure the situation with a relaxed mind. What was more, the Southern Tang side had just suffered the crushing blow of tens of thousands of men watching their cavalry be annihilated.

Bian Gao looked left and right. This famous Southern Tang general, who in history was known as "Bian the Bodhisattva" because he was too merciful in commanding his subordinates, now truly burned with anger.

He knew even more clearly that he could not let the Zhou heavy cavalry reach his front line. If that happened, among these ten thousand men, some would very likely crack under the pressure and choose to flee.

And if even one man fled, it was extremely likely to set off a rout of the entire army.

Therefore Bian Gao swiftly dispatched his personal guards, silver blades in hand, to serve as a battle-supervision unit, and then sent forward the two most elite crossbow battalions, which had long been prepared.

A hundred paces!

Eighty paces!

Only at this distance, under the intimidation of the battle-supervision unit, did the Southern Tang crossbowmen still stand firm and unmoved.

Just as the three hundred heavy cavalry crossed the eighty-pace mark, the Southern Tang army suddenly loosed ten thousand bolts at once. Two thousand crossbowmen divided into two waves, firing in alternating dispersed volleys, and each man's assigned field of fire was clearly divided.

A din of shouting men and neighing horses rang out. The foremost dozen or so riders of the charging three hundred heavy cavalry were struck by Southern Tang crossbow bolts and immediately tumbled down.

Fortunately, they had not come to break the formation in the first place, but to increase the pressure, so they immediately stopped charging and wheeled back around.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuangyin at once followed the prepared fallback plan for when a charge could not break through. One part of the cavalry was responsible for recovering the wounded comrades, while those providing cover dismounted and exchanged fire with the Southern Tang crossbowmen using their own crossbows, preventing them from advancing and causing greater damage.

The light cavalry on both flanks began probing thrusts, pressing down on the rest of the Southern Tang infantry and restricting their movement.

Seeing that the Zhou troops were each performing their own duties and coordinating with remarkable tacit understanding, Bian Gao immediately restrained the restless stirrings of his subordinate officers.

The personal guards supervising the battle, silver blades in hand, moved toward the two flanks to prevent the soldiers there from scattering in panic.

Zhao Kuangyin also said quietly to Xue Guizhong beside him: "Since the time of the Great Dynasty, the crossbowmen of the Jianghuai region have been famed throughout the realm. Truly they cannot be defeated casually. Let us wait for the Duke of Qinghai to arrive."

And so the two sides very harmoniously drew in their forces. Zhao Kuangyin withdrew back into Yizheng City and stationed Xue Guizhong's five hundred riders north of the city, where they built a fortified camp that formed a mutual horn-and-tooth position with Yizheng City, and settled in to wait for Murong Xinzhang's return.

Bian Gao, who had barely held on, did not dare pursue at all, and Li Jingda was so frightened that his face lost all color.

What was even more worrying was that when the Jinghai Army to the west had been pierced through by Zhao Kuangyin, the army's Right Deployment Commissioner and Jinghai Army Commissioner Yao Yanhong had already fled onto the river.

Although he hurried back after seeing Bian Gao stabilize the situation, the Jinghai Army's officers and men had lost their nerve and their morale was at rock bottom; they simply could not hold the western flank.

Bian Gao could only split his forces, sending two battalions of the Jiankang Army to the west as the main force, and asking Li Jingda to have Yao Yanhong dismissed from his post. The Jinghai Army was then shifted to the rear to handle grain transport, and only thus was the western situation stabilized.

But this was still not enough. After Bian Gao and Li Jingda discussed it, Li Jingda immediately wrote to Li Jing in his capacity as Commissioner of the Northern Capital Deployment.

He asked the Southern Tang court to transfer the last armed force guarding the western capital of Jiangning — the six thousand men of Li Jinquan, Military Governor of the Runzhou Zhenhai Army — across the river to take over the Jinghai Army's original defensive duties.

When Li Jing received Li Jingda's letter, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Although Li Jingda had whitewashed things in his letter, Li Jing could still see it: the Zhou had used only two thousand riders to rout the Jinghai Army, and had pinned down his so-called hundred-thousand-strong army so that it dared not move.

And Li Jinquan's six thousand Zhenhai troops were not only the last elite force guarding the western capital, but also the barrier against the northward advance of the Military Governor of the Central Wu Army in Suzhou, under Qian Yue.

If Li Jinquan were moved north, what would they do if Qian Yue came raiding?

In truth, at this moment Li Jing already felt in his heart that the tens of thousands of troops north of the river were very likely to meet with disaster. He no longer even held any hope of recovering the eastern capital.

Therefore he did not want to transfer Li Jinquan's Zhenhai Army across the river. If they were defeated again, then it would truly all be over.

But no sooner had Li Jing revealed this thought than Feng Yanji and Yang Cheng, two political enemies, for the first time ever held the same opinion: under no circumstances must they entertain the idea of abandoning the north bank.

Feng Yanji tugged at Li Jing's sleeve and said: "Our Great Tang does not possess all of Jiangnan. Behind us there is still the threat of Qian Yue. If we abandon the north bank so lightly, how shall we survive?

Better to first let the Zhenhai Army cross the river, then order the Prince of Yan to set up defenses along the river, using the boats of the great river for communication.

As long as we can hold the Guabu area, the Zhou army has been campaigning south for months now. They are strangers in an unfamiliar land, and the people's hearts do not side with them. Perhaps we can send envoys to negotiate peace."

Han Xizai also stepped forward and said to Li Jing: "The Wuchang Army and the imperial guard troops from the Min campaign are about to return. In just a few days the court will have another twenty thousand usable soldiers.

Before that, we must send reinforcements to stabilize the situation north of the river. Even if we negotiate peace, we should have the strength to counterattack before the talks can go well.

As for Qian Yue, their king has just executed Du Zhaoda and Kan Fan in succession. Officials and generals throughout Qian Yue are all terrified, and they have not even had time to make their customary tribute to the Central Plains. If the Sage sends an envoy to persuade them, he will surely be able to steady King Qian Zuo of Wu."

Seeing that his ministers had for once reached a rare unanimous consensus, Li Jing was finally able to calm the terror in his heart. Only after a long while did he speak.

"Then let it be according to the will of all you ministers. Transfer the Zhenhai Army across the river, and issue an edict to the Prince of Yan, ordering him to hold fast as his first priority.

Let Qiao Shunshun, Director of the Bureau of Equipage, go as envoy to Wuyue to steady Qian Zuo. Also order the Commissioner of Military Affairs Chen Jue to hasten his return to Jiangning."

And so, after Li Jing's orders were issued, the Southern Tang forces north of the river, though they outnumbered Zhao Kuangyin at Yizheng, instead adopted a defensive posture.

Bian Gao suggested that Li Jingda set up beacon-fire watchtowers at various points to monitor Murong Xinzhang's return, intending to wait until the Wuchang Army and the imperial guard troops from the Min campaign returned before seeking a decisive battle.

Zhao Kuangyin naturally would not take the initiative to attack either. Instead, he sent Xue Guizhong, Yang Guizhong, and others to repeatedly strike out with small cavalry detachments, destroying the beacon towers the Southern Tang had set up around Yizheng.

Because once the Southern Tang army stopped presenting a siege posture and pulled its forces back together, it actually became harder to deal with.

The two sides began a strange standoff. Now it was a question of whether the Southern Tang's Chen Jue would arrive at Jiangning first with the imperial guard troops and the Wuchang Army, or whether Murong Xinzhang would get there first.

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