Jinting Han people

Chapter 235: Siege and Division
Zhou Chu's death was not something surprising.

He was already sixty years old, a figure few could reach. Furthermore, he was accustomed to leading by example and taking the lead. In the two consecutive battles in Guanzhong, he had sustained three arrow wounds and hadn't gotten much rest. The Battle of Liumo had completely drained his vitality, and when Liu Xian saw him, while not dead, he was close to the end of his life. It was just that his last moments of life hadn't shown.

However, this incident still had a great impact on the Jin army. After all, the harsh treatment of Sima Rong, the King of Liang, was obvious to all, and no one could say for sure whether Zhou Chu died from his injuries or was exhausted to death due to the King of Liang's frame-up.

Upon hearing the news of Zhou Chu's death, the soldiers who had fought alongside him burst into tears. Even though they had only served Zhou Chu for three short months, even though Zhou Chu was incredibly unpopular among his colleagues, even though their entire army had been nearly wiped out because of him, everyone knew it would be hard to find another general like him. So, as long as they were still able to move, even those with broken legs or blindness, the soldiers spontaneously came to mourn.

This noise quickly alarmed Sima Rong, the Prince of Liang. Upon hearing that Zhou Chu was dead, he was overjoyed and said to Lu Bo with a smile, "The old villain is dead!"

But then he put on a compassionate look and ordered, "Jianwei has made great contributions to the country and should be rewarded handsomely."

After saying this, he immediately went to Zhou Chu's residence to express his condolences. He pretended to mourn for a long time in front of the body, as if he was heartbroken, and cried out in public: "Unfortunate for the country! Unfortunate for the country!"

But his performance was so unimpressive that even Lu Bo, his closest friend, could not help but advise him:

"Your Highness, the country is in dire straits and will shed tears."

Sima Rong whispered, "I'm so happy I want to jump up and down, how can I cry?"

Sima Rong, however, at least in terms of appearances, did his utmost to save face. He presided over the public funeral, personally carried Zhou Chu's coffin, and sent his own followers to escort Zhou Chu back to his hometown. He also took away Zhou Chu's belongings—three pieces of old clothes, a set of armor, two longbows, and two boxes of books. His integrity was so great that it truly put the officials involved to shame.

However, the war continued. While Sima Rong was arranging Zhou Chu's funeral in Haozu, Qi Wannian was also sorting out the causes and consequences of the Battle of Liumo.

After being scared off by Liu Xian's troops, Qi Wannian mistakenly believed the Jin army was using Zhou Chu's army as bait to capture Rufeng, their main base camp. Consequently, he led his troops to retreat further north to Yongshou Plain. This was Qi Wannian's last line of defense; if it were lost, he would be forced to leave Fufeng County and retreat into Anding County.

But Qi Wannian soon realized something was amiss. After all, the Jin army's pursuit wasn't relentless, and no news had come from Rufeng. Qi Wannian sent troops from Rufeng to investigate, only to discover that no Jin army was attacking Rufeng at all. The scouts who had been monitoring the area had only just arrived, leading him to realize that Liu Xian had tricked him.

After he figured out what had happened, he couldn't help but laugh at his generals and said self-deprecatingly:
"When I heard about the Battle of Wuzhangyuan, I laughed at Sima Yi in my heart. He could actually let the dead scare away the army. I never thought that one day, I would repeat the same mistake!"

After making fun of himself, he immediately encouraged his soldiers:

"But it's not bad. I thought even Liangshan was lost. If the food and supplies were lost, how could we confront the Jin people? But the Jin people didn't even know how to pursue the victory. It shows how mediocre Sima Rong is! If Liu Huai Chong was the commander now, I'm afraid we would be desperate! So it seems that our army still has the advantage!"

Soon after receiving the news of Zhou Chu's death, Qi Wannian excitedly said:
"Haha, my efforts were well-deserved! With Zhou Chu dead, the morale of the Jin army must be affected. Although my previous defeat in the Liumo battle was unintentional, it can now make the Jin people arrogant. I can now use the strategy of releasing the enemy before capturing them!"

Qi Wannian was indeed a man of talent. Even after suffering a defeat, he managed to remain cheerful and cheerful, overlooking his own disadvantages, pointing out the shortcomings of the Jin army and then painting a grand blueprint for victory. This encouragement immediately boosted the morale of the rebels, and it seemed as if they had already turned defeat into victory.

After saying this, he immediately ordered the army to return to Rufeng, and ordered the remaining Hu people garrison in Meiyang to come and join them, and continuously sent small teams of cavalry to harass Liumo, making a gesture of trying to take Liumo back.

Liu Xian immediately reported the rebels' movements back to Haozhi and suggested that Sima Rong make a decision early on whether to retreat or advance.

At this time, Sima Rong had also completed the sacrifice for Zhou Chu and was in a very happy mood. After getting rid of this thorn in his side, he finally put his energy back into military affairs. He immediately ordered the generals of various departments to gather at the Haozhi County Government Office to discuss the next military action.

Before convening the military meeting, Sima Rong first expressed his determination:
"As you all know, the imperial court is running low on food. In other words, if we want to relieve the country's worries, we must eliminate the rebels as soon as possible. Therefore, we must fight a major war, a war that will completely wipe out the Di bandits."

"I know a major war is risky, and no one wants to die, but the current situation doesn't allow us to hesitate. The enemy and us are no more than twenty miles apart. On a battlefield, this is very close, and a major war could break out at any time. Our original plan was to rotate our forces and gradually take down the strategic positions held by the bandits. However, based on the precedent of the Battle of Liumo, attacking at such a close distance is very likely to put us in danger, so it is no longer feasible."

"So we have no choice but to engage in a joint battle. We must find a way to organize a joint battle and defeat the 70,000 rebels gathered at Rufeng in one fell swoop, restoring peace to the world!"

Sima Rong had never made such an impassioned speech at a military meeting. His remarks were all of great importance to the Jin army, matters that could not possibly be misunderstood by the soldiers. Sima Rong was a modest man, but his use of the drastic phrase "crush the enemy in one fell swoop" made the generals present feel nervous.

After Sima Rong sat down, Lu Bo immediately opened the map and pointed to the positions occupied by the enemy and our side.

"In terms of manpower, our army currently has nearly 80,000 troops, and including logistics support, it's close to 100,000. The rebels have recruited the garrison at Meiyang, which only has a little over 70,000 men. It can be said that the royal army has an overwhelming advantage. However, as we know, if our army attacks Rufeng head-on, the enemy may not accept the challenge. In that case, if we forcefully attack their fortifications, we will likely suffer heavy losses and may not necessarily win."

"We must find a way to force the enemy down from the peak. This way we can have a better chance of winning the battle."

This requirement is actually very harsh. Why would Qi Wannian take the initiative to give up his position and fight with the Jin army?

Huangfu Zhong immediately raised his concerns, saying, "That's probably difficult. Judging from the enemy's previous movements, they're probably already frightened and unwilling to fight us. Even if we attack Rufeng head-on, the rebels might retreat into the mountains. I don't think we can make such an ideal plan."

Upon hearing this, many nodded in agreement. After all, judging by the enemy's fear of a direct counterattack and their actions of only resorting to small-scale harassment, the rebels likely wouldn't make a move easily. "So, what's Uncle Lun's plan?" Sima Rong asked.

Huangfu Zhong already had an answer. He replied, "Since the two armies are so close and the surrounding terrain is so complex and difficult to cross, I think we can adopt a siege and blockade strategy."

"A siege and blockade?"

"Yes, the Rufeng Peak is made up of three mountains, and the rebel camp is located in the middle of them, no more than twenty miles in radius. Our 80,000-man army is more than enough to surround them twice! We'll then build fences around the mountains, and if anyone comes down, we'll shoot them from a distance. They're trapped in this corner, unable to deploy their forces, and without external help, how can they fight us?"

"It's just...will this take too long?"

"Of course not! Seventy thousand troops, the daily expenses are enormous, Your Highness, you should be well aware. This isn't a city for storing food, and no one is bringing in grain from the south. It's hard for them to hold out for a month in such a small area. Furthermore, the rebels have no rear, and their arrows are largely captured, so every arrow they use is a missing one. I estimate that after ten days of mutual firing, these rebels will be at their wit's end."

When Sima Rong heard this, he thought it was indeed a good plan, so he turned around and asked the generals:

"Do you have any other comments?"

Liu Xian was about to speak, but before he could open his mouth, Li Han beat him to the punch. Li Han frowned and stood up, then slowly said to Sima Rong:

"Your Highness, the problem is not the siege itself, but how to achieve it."

"What does Shirong mean?"

"If we want to encircle the enemy, we can't first concentrate our forces and then deploy our flanks. The Di bandits are no fools; how could they sit back and watch us encircle them without taking any action? As soon as they see something's wrong, they'll flee. Therefore, if we want to successfully encircle them, we must first divide our forces. Let a surprise force take the lead to cut off one of the enemy's routes of retreat, while the main force closes the front. That way, even if the bandits flee, we can quickly intercept them."

"Oh?" Sima Rong was a little surprised. He asked doubtfully, "Shi Rong's words make sense, but what's wrong with that?"

Li Han replied, "Your Highness, if we split our forces, we'll create a loophole. Once the enemy sees our divisions, they'll exploit our tactics and mobilize all their forces to fight one of our divisions. If the other division fails to cooperate, we'll suffer a repeat of the Panlong Bay defeat!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian was immediately impressed, sighing inwardly: While he despised Li Han's past behavior of vying for power and profit, disregarding the greater good for his own survival, his ingenuity was indeed exceptional, having spotted the weaknesses in Huangfu Zhong's scheme at a glance. His thoughts and ideas were almost identical to his own, truly worthy of being Zhang Gui's highly recommended talent.

But Huangfu Zhong was not convinced. He was proud of his superior family background and looked down on Li Han. He said:
"Since ancient times, there has never been a perfect strategy. Even when eating, people can choke to death. Should we stop eating just because of choking? Dividing our forces does have the potential for failure, but firstly, the two armies are so close to each other that it only takes an hour to send support back and forth. Secondly, our army also has the weather to take advantage of to ensure the secrecy of the divided forces. Why worry?"

"Weather?" As soon as Li Han said this, he immediately understood what Huangfu Zhong meant. Obviously, he was referring to the thick fog that was now surrounding Haozhi.

As expected, Huangfu Zhong said, "Your Highness, once you divide your forces, you can have your special forces grope their way forward in the fog, quietly appear behind the rebels, and repair some simple fortifications. How can the rebels be prepared? Even if we wait for them to react and then attack their flanks, there will be enough time to hold out until our army can encircle Rufeng head-on."

These words can be said to be eloquent. When everyone heard his statement, it seemed that all their plans could be fulfilled.

But Liu Xian still found it hard to agree. He objected, "But this is too idealistic. It seems like the rebels are just waiting to be captured! I don't think Qi Wannian is that kind of person. We should be lenient with the enemy."

But Sima Rong was too lazy to listen to him any further, and simply waved his hand and said:
"Some things don't need to be said too much. Uncle Lun is right. There's no such thing as a perfect strategy. Emperor Xuan once told me that in war, a 70% to 80% chance of success is considered incredible. I think this plan has at least a 70% chance of success, so what's there to hesitate about?"

After saying that, he looked around and asked the generals to express their opinions. In fact, apart from Liu Xian and Li Han, only Suo Jing was a little hesitant, and the rest agreed with Huangfu Zhong.

In this way, Sima Rong determined the grand strategy of besieging Rufeng and began to assign tasks to the generals.

The most difficult and important part of this strategy was the surprise force that would circumvent the enemy. Sima Rong easily selected the candidates. He selected three armies from among the various tribes and then said:
"Shirong (Li Han), Huai Chong, You'an (Suo Jing), since you three are so cautious, I'll leave this matter to you. I believe that the rebels were unable to defeat Zhou Ziya a few days ago. Your forces are three times his, so you can easily resist an army of 100,000, let alone 70,000."

Liu Xian thought: This is not a very auspicious thing to say. Why does it sound like I am abandoning a pawn?
But to be realistic, Liu Mo is now in the hands of the Jin army. If they start from here and take advantage of the fog to encircle the rebels from the rear, it cannot be said that it is a life-or-death situation if they are careful enough.

But will things develop so smoothly? Only facts can verify it.

Because war is not just about talking. No matter how good you are at debating and planning, you still have to rely on horses, swords, guns, and bows and arrows to fight.

After Liu Xian returned to Liumo, he drew out the Ever-Victorious Sword in the tent. He stroked the words on the back of the sword and couldn't help thinking: I will win every battle and take every city. When will I be able to reach this level and be called a famous general by the world?

(End of this chapter)