The Battle of Qiao County (2)
I turned to Xu Huang and said,
“It looks like our part in today’s fight is over.”
“What? The battle has only just begun, hasn’t it?”
In response to his question, I pointed toward the main army with my hand.
At some point, Cao Cao himself had mounted his horse, raised his sword high, and was now personally leading the vanguard straight toward Yuan Shu’s main camp.
“The Minister of Works is leading the charge himself?!”
It was only natural that Xu Huang looked shocked.
Cao Cao, sword gleaming atop his horse, was cutting down the soldiers we had already thrown into chaos. Beside him rode a giant warrior.
Shwaaaaack—
He was truly a Peerless Warlord.
Dian Wei stuck close to Cao Cao like a shadow, swinging his twin iron halberds with terrifying force. Any enemy cavalry that dared approach was sent flying like broken dolls. Blood sprayed in every direction, turning Dian Wei’s armor into a gruesome red shell. The Yuan Shu army’s morale collapsed in an instant.
“The Yuan Shu forces will retreat immediately. After that, they’ll hole up like turtles, and today’s battle will be over.”
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—
Sure enough, the retreat drums began to beat from Yuan Shu’s main camp. The Cao army’s vanguard immediately halted its pursuit.
And then Cao Cao, as if to rub salt in the wound, bellowed toward the enemy lines.
Even after the enemy had already begun retreating, Cao Cao openly mocked their commander and finished it off with one last act of utter contempt. Thanks to that, our army’s morale soared even higher.
After the first battle’s victory, we gathered once again inside the command tent. Every single one of us had blood splattered across our armor, yet we all spoke with proud, triumphant voices.
“Ziye, and Gongming as well. The two Commandants of Cavalry did an excellent job disrupting the enemy vanguard. You’ve both worked hard.”
“It was nothing, Uncle.”
“The moment the enemy cavalry charged, you immediately changed direction and used Cao Chun’s unit for cover… That was quite well done.”
Cao Cao laughed heartily as he praised my achievements.
“However, if you had simply engaged the Yuan Shu cavalry head-on and pinned them down right there, the rest of the battle would have been much easier.”
“Uncle, that was…”
“Hahaha, I’m not scolding you. With your bravery, you could have easily fought them cavalry against cavalry. I only said it because you chose not to. Using the walls of Qiao County to lure them in was also an excellent tactic.”
Cao Cao was essentially asking, ‘You could have won a straight fight, so why did you pull back and stick to the walls?’
I answered him directly.
“I wanted to preserve as many of our troops as possible. Also… I was simply too angry about what happened earlier.”
“Angry?”
“Didn’t that bastard dare to aim an arrow at Uncle’s back? So I decided to give his men a taste of their own medicine. I lured the archer unit toward Cao Ren’s forces stationed on the walls.”
At those words, Cao Cao burst into roaring laughter.
At this point, Cao Cao trusted me completely on the battlefield. Unless I openly took an entire army and suffered a catastrophic defeat, he would probably overlook even a serious mistake once or twice. The fact that he could laugh and discuss troop movements while reviewing the battle proved that.
“My lord, after today’s victory, we must maintain this momentum tomorrow as well.”
At Cheng Yu’s words, Cao Cao looked over the current deployment and replied.
“Yuan Shu has always known his own military talent is lacking. That’s why he relies on overwhelming numbers and capable generals to fight for him. Even though he retreated today, that very trait will make the next fights more troublesome.”
“My lord, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but after clashing with the Yuan Shu army today, they didn’t seem particularly strong. We should be able to keep winning and force them to retreat again and again.”
Cao Cao nodded at Xu Huang’s assessment.
“I think so too. But that is precisely Yuan Shu’s nature.”
Cao Cao pointed at the maps of Qiao County and Shuchun.
“In my opinion, Yuan Shu will keep harassing our ankles—striking and retreating repeatedly. Even if he suffers defeat after defeat, he won’t withdraw. He’ll stay holed up like a turtle’s offspring.”
The only ones who nodded in agreement with Cao Cao were myself and Cheng Yu. Dian Wei simply listened in silence, while Xu Huang stared at the map with a deeply focused expression, as if trying to find something else hidden in the terrain.
“Ziye, tell me what you think.”
When Cao Cao asked me again, I answered immediately.
“It seems Yuan Shu is waiting for something. He’s using a very strange tactic—acting as both the main force and the bait at the same time.”
This war had been started by Yuan Shu, and his army was clearly the primary force. Yet the man refused to fight properly with his main troops. Instead, he was playing the role of a tank, drawing our attention.
“Ziye, continue.”
“Uncle, you once said that because Yuan Shu lacks military talent, he enjoys borrowing the strength of others. I believe he is doing the same thing now—trying to tie you down and buy time.”
“Haha… Hahahahaha!”
Cao Cao laughed loudly and snapped his fingers. Officers immediately entered the tent and handed out bamboo slips to everyone. The same message was written on each one.
The number of White Wave Bandits descending from the Yellow River region continues to grow. Behind them, Governor of Henei Zhang Yang and the leader of the Black Mountain Bandits from Bing Province, Zhang Yan, are providing military support.
“!?”
After Yuan Shao of Ji Province assumed the position of Grand General, he led his army to suppress Gongsun Zan of You Province. During that time, troops from Bing Province have moved south. Zilian and Zixiao, these two valiant generals, will risk their lives to hold them back for our lord.
“Good heavens…”
“My lord, if this is true, we are in serious trouble! Not only the White Wave Bandits, but the Black Mountain Bandits and even Henei have joined the attack?”
“So that’s what it was. No wonder Yuan Shu kept trying to buy time. I finally understand the situation.”
Everyone except Dian Wei had grasped the full picture.
In the end, this too was one of the messes left behind by the previous emperors in this chaotic Han Dynasty. Ever since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the region of Bing Province had been flooded with refugees fleeing the chaos and soldiers who had gone unpaid due to the crumbling central government. Their discontent reached a boiling point, and they rose up against the court, forming massive bandit armies.
The Black Mountain Bandits led by Zhang Yan, and the White Wave Bandits led by Yang Feng and Han Xian. Their combined forces numbered close to a million. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han court found it nearly impossible to suppress them. So they had granted them official titles such as “Central Palace Leader,” “Commandant of Cavalry,” and “General” in an attempt to co-opt them. In reality, they had bestowed legitimate government posts upon bandit warlords and allowed them to grow strong, hoping they would at least remain loyal to the court.
That policy had continued from Emperor Ling to the deposed Emperor Shao and now to the current Emperor Xian, Liu Xie. These groups had become colossal warlord factions lurking across the land.
And now that the Emperor had been taken by Cao Cao’s forces, these groups—numbering nearly a million—had joined hands with Yuan Shu to strike back.
“Yuan Shu, who loves using others as blades to kill his enemies, has now turned to the White Wave and Black Mountain Bandits as his next set of knives. Even that bastard Zhang Yang, Governor of Henei, has finally joined hands with the bandits.”
If Yuan Shu continued to hold out and the defensive line at Luoyang was breached, it would only be a matter of time before the enemy marched straight down to Xuchang.
“My lord, then we must break through Yuan Shu’s defensive shell no matter what and force him to retreat.”
I added my voice to Cheng Yu’s suggestion.
“That’s correct. It looks like Yuan Shu is trying to encircle us clumsily from front and back. We should smash straight through the center.”
At that moment, Cao Cao clapped his hands at my words and asked,
“Smash Yuan Shu from the front, you say? Like we did in Xu Province back then?”
“!?”
“At that time, Yuan Shu tried to surround us. You knocked his son Yuan Yao off his horse, and the fool pulled back a massive portion of his army just to protect the boy.”
The memory of that day was still vivid, as if it had happened yesterday. It had been my first real battle, and the achievement of routing tens of thousands of enemies with only a few thousand cavalry had been deeply etched into Cao Cao’s mind.
“This time as well, Yuan Shu is moving with his cavalry. Coincidentally, he is not with the main force. He has split off to the rear, using the mountains as cover to harass our main army.”
Out of Yuan Shu’s fifty-thousand-strong army, only Yuan Yao had taken the cavalry to conduct harassment operations. That meant we could chase him down separately, prevent him from linking up with the main force of fifty thousand, and crush him.
“I will give you elite cavalry. Can you completely eliminate that annoying son of Yuan Shu and his mounted troops?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Hahahahaha!”
Cao Cao laughed with deep satisfaction.
“Keep chasing the enemy! Show them what a real cavalry battle looks like!”
The next morning on the battlefield, I accurately intercepted Yuan Yao’s light cavalry unit that had been attempting hit-and-run tactics against our infantry.
From a distance, I had watched their movements, predicted which direction they would take, and charged ahead. The result was a perfect collision.
Clang—
I lightly deflected the spear flying toward my face. The enemy cavalry officer who had swung with too much force lost his balance. If you miss an attack, you should expect to pay the price. Without hesitation, I thrust my spear into his chest, pulled it free, and watched him fall from his horse.
After that, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry I led began trampling Yuan Shu’s cavalry with overwhelming force.
In terms of training, cohesion, and individual martial prowess, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry held a clear advantage over any other warlord’s mounted units.
“Commandant, the enemy commander is fleeing.”
“He’s not heading for the main camp. He’s going toward that mountain.”
It was more of a large hill than a mountain, but the dense forest within likely made him think he could hide there. If I had my way, I would have set the entire hill ablaze the moment he entered it… but that wasn’t an option.
“I’ll take fifty of the fastest riders and pursue him. The rest of you, reorganize under the deputy commander. It looks like reinforcements will be coming from Yuan Shu’s main camp.”
“Yes, Commandant!”
I took fifty elite horsemen and chased after Yuan Yao.