Jinting Han people

On the 23rd day of the first month of the seventh year of the Yuankang reign, a separate unit of the Jin army, led by Suo Jing and assisted by Li Han and Liu Xian, set out from Liumo at 1:01 pm.

The sky was still dim at that time, and the deep purple night was covering the soldiers' heads. A strong wind from the north was whistling in the biting air, making the soldiers unable to help but look up and see the twinkling stars in the sky.

There is no fog yet, but everyone can already smell the moisture. After a month of melting ice and snow, the moisture here has begun to become thinner, and the fog dissipates earlier and earlier. Perhaps in a few days, this strange spring fog weather will completely dissipate.

This might have been good news in the past. Without the fog, the rebels' movements would be impossible to conceal. But for the Jin army, who were now relying on the fog to attack, it was somewhat unsatisfactory. Without the fog's cover, their movements would be quickly exposed.

Liu Xian sent someone to ask Suo Jing if they should speed up their journey. Suo Jing replied, "There's no rush. Let's have breakfast first."

Suo Jing clearly didn't want to take on this arduous task. He believed that rather than rushing to block the rebels' retreat, it would be safer to advance slowly. If he was exposed, he was exposed. He didn't want to be like Zhou Chu, who went too deep and ended up trapped by the rebels. Whether this would cause the plan to fail was not something Suo Jing considered.

Honestly, Sima Rong's arrangements for the other divisions were quite thoughtful. He gathered all the army's horses and prioritized their distribution to the other divisions, ensuring maximum mobility. Even in the event of danger, they could escape the battle as quickly as possible. He also arranged to prepare extra food the previous night, such as pancakes and pickles, wrapped and placed by the campfire, ensuring the soldiers would have warm food upon waking. From these perspectives, Sima Rong's work wasn't completely perfunctory.

But even so, it was difficult for Sima Rong to regain the trust he had lost. While the soldiers were eating and drinking, Suo Jing sent another message to Liu Xian:
"Place more scouts along the way, and report to me immediately if there is any sign of trouble."

The implication was that safety was paramount, not speed. Liu Xian had no objection, as this formation indeed put immense pressure on the other troops. After all, judging by Qi Wannian's previous plans, he wasn't one to sit back and wait for death; he should have a corresponding strategy. When fighting this kind of enemy, it was better to maintain a steady and cautious approach rather than aiming for a decisive victory in a single battle.

After breakfast, the slave soldiers also cut straw to feed the horses, tied the horses' hooves with cowhide, and packed the armor and weapons and placed them on the horses.

When the group finally left Liumo, the sky was turning slightly pale, and the first traces of fog began to appear. A hazy veil drifted between heaven and earth, making people wonder if they were still in the world. To avoid being discovered, the other Jin troops did not light fires, but instead walked on foot, leading their horses through the fields.

The army climbed the mountain column like a snake through the forest, men and horses weaving through the newly grown grass. Fearing discovery by the enemy, the soldiers refrained from lighting large fires. Aside from a few leading the way, the rest of the troops held their horses' reins with one hand and their tails with the other, cautiously stretching their feet to feel their way forward.

During this time, the fog in Fufeng did indeed grow thicker, but as the sky became clearer, it gradually returned to the familiar fog of the past few days. People could only see the person in front of them, and looking around, they had no idea what kind of environment they were in. Some people even fell because of a small stone at their feet.

In fact, they were constantly crossing the mountain plateau on the steep mountain path. The soldiers could no longer see the cliff on the side of the path, and they were afraid of stepping on empty air and falling down, which made everyone terrified.

After finally reaching a peak, unobstructed, a powerful wind suddenly arrived, its forceful whistling force like the roar of a mighty army, threatening to take one's life. It was spring, the once frozen earth had thawed, and the young grass hadn't taken root long enough, leaving the sand soft as silk. The wind blew through the crowd, sending clouds of yellow dust flying everywhere, raising a grayish-yellow barrier amidst the white mist, sweeping over the Jin cavalry, which were advancing in five columns.

The Jin army, already clad in armor, was swept aside by the fierce wind, causing their flags to flutter and their armor to askew, and their ranks to fall apart. When the wind and sand were at their strongest, the men descending the mountain couldn't even open their eyes, let alone urge their horses forward.

Sun Xi complained to Liu Xian, "The wind is so strong! Shouldn't we retreat?"

Liu Xian was also a little anxious: "We've come this far, how can we possibly turn back now? We can only keep going."

He then reassured his subordinates, "Look at the bright side. With such strong winds, the enemy shouldn't be able to launch any attacks. As long as our army can hold on, our chances of victory will increase by at least 30%."

Even so, the dust from below hit the armor, making a crackling sound like raindrops hitting tiles. The sand got into my eyes, nose, and mouth, and I couldn't stop it even if I covered my mouth with my hands.

The Jin army had set out in the middle of the night to eat and drink, but when they arrived here, they were met with a slashing sandstorm that immediately left their lips and tongues parched. The soldiers could only use the water bags they had brought with them to relieve the pain, and then slowly moved forward against the wind, relying on the strength of the crowd.

I don’t know how long it took, but the sand became smaller and the sound of the wind raging in my ears gradually faded away.

Amidst the grayish-white surroundings, a few green pines began to appear. A moment later, a river emerged beneath my feet. The water was so clear that I could see the bottom, and I could see a few fish darting through the water, like dots of ink. The river flowed southward, and soon a pale lake appeared.

When they got here, everyone's hearts finally settled down, because looking at the shape of the lake, they knew that this was their destination - Wuye Lake.

About three miles southeast of Wuye Lake should be the rebel base camp, Rufeng.

The thought of a potential major battle with the rebels made the Jin army present extremely nervous. After all the troops had gathered here, Suo Jing ordered Liu Xian and Li Han to discuss matters together.

Suo Jingxian said, "It took us nearly an hour and a half to successfully reach Wuye Lake as planned. This is a cause for celebration. However, we shouldn't let our guard down. I plan to set up a defensive formation here first, and wait for the main force from the south to begin the siege. We will then respond from the rear. What do you think?"

Li Han thought the same. He nodded and said, "It's better to be safe than sorry. This is a very good move. We didn't encounter any scouts along the way, which shows that our infiltration was very successful. Now is the time to hide, so that we can be effective when the enemy least expects it."

Liu Xian said, "In that case, let the two of you take care of this matter first. I will go and personally observe the rebels' deployment on Rufeng. If there is anything unusual, I will report back immediately."

Suo and Li both understood the principle of knowing both oneself and the enemy, and they both agreed. Liu Xian immediately led over twenty cavalrymen and cautiously explored the south.

It was already noon and the sky was bright. Liu Xian walked downstream along the stream. As long as he passed a place called Shenpoyuan, he would be close to the north peak of Rufeng.

To avoid being discovered by the rebels, Liu Xian advanced with extreme caution. Upon entering Shenpoyuan, he tied Fanyu to a patch of reeds and then peeped forward. However, the closer he got to Rufeng, the more peculiar Liu Xian's expression became. When they were about a hundred paces from the peak, he suddenly exclaimed, "Something's wrong."

Zhang Gu, who was accompanying him, was a little nervous. He asked, "Could it be that we have been discovered?"

"No." Liu Xian looked around and pointed his finger at his ear and said, "A Tian, it's too quiet here, so quiet that it's a little weird."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gu immediately listened attentively. There was nothing around him except the whistling of the wind through the treetops and the sound of dust hitting the rocks.

"Is there anything strange about this?" Zhang Gu asked.

"Where are the human voices? Isn't this the rebel base camp? Why can't I hear any human movement?"

Zhang Gu finally realized, "Right? Aren't there supposedly 70,000 people here? Why is there no sound? Could something have happened?"
Liu Xian no longer hesitated. He immediately emerged from the forest, walked onto a wide road, and headed straight for the inside of the Rufeng Peak, with his followers following closely behind. The sound of their footsteps echoed crisply through the mountains. They walked a mile deeper into the Rufeng Peak and finally saw the garrison fortifications scattered across the ground: fences, watchtowers, man-made earthen mounds, warehouses for storing grain, trailers, billhook sickles, and other items. But the problem was, there was no one here.

Where have the rebels gone?
With this question in mind, Liu Xian continued to walk south. Based on the marks on the sand, it was not difficult for him to draw a conclusion: the rebels in Rufeng had already come out in full force and rushed to the south!
"Oh no! How could it turn out like this!" Liu Xian groaned in his heart, and immediately ran back and forth, turning over and mounting Fan Yu.

A quarter of an hour later, he returned to Suo Jing and Li Han, who were directing the deployment of other troops, and said:
"General Suo! The rebels have abandoned Rufeng! The entire army is heading towards Haozhi!"

As soon as these words came out, Suo Jing and Li Han both showed disbelief and blurted out: "How is this possible?!"

In their view, this was truly impossible. The rebels were at a complete disadvantage in terms of both manpower and equipment. Without the advantage of terrain, how could they possibly engage the Jin army in a joint battle? It was the Jin army itself that had been hoping for a joint battle with the rebels from the very beginning. Therefore, at the outset of the military meeting, everyone rejected the possibility of resolving the issue through a direct confrontation with Qi Wannian, and instead considered how to capture Rufeng. This led to the plan of dividing the forces and converging to form a joint attack.

Along the way, Suo Jing and others were worried that Qi Wannian would discover other parts of the Jin army and attack them, and they believed that this was Qi Wannian's only chance to turn the tables.

Unexpectedly, Qi Wannian's plan was even more radical than their most radical assumptions. He actually abandoned the base he had been building for nearly half a year and took the initiative to engage the Jin army in close combat. What was he thinking?

The answer is that Qi Wannian's plan from the beginning was to swallow up the entire Jin army.

In his view, defeating the many with the few, defeating the strong with the few, was never a problem. What mattered was whether he could completely lower the enemy's guard. Qi Wannian had previously abandoned territory and retreated step by step for precisely this purpose. It was only during the Battle of Liumo that he saw a perfect opportunity to annihilate Zhou Chu, and that's when he attempted to mobilize his troops.

Although this attempt was unsuccessful and caused the Hu people to return to their original strategy, overall, it actually better implemented the original strategy of making the enemy proud.

Therefore, after Qi Wannian detected signs that the Jin army was about to attack, he immediately decided to mobilize the entire army for a decisive battle. He knew that the moment a person attacks is the moment when his defense is at its weakest. The same is true for the army.

Just as Liu Xian and others were trudging back and forth in the night and wind and sand, almost at the same time, Qi Wannian also led all the troops to leave Rufeng and march towards Haozhi.

Compared to the Jin army that had circled behind them, the Hu people were more familiar with the terrain, so they could move faster. When the other troops were still five miles away from Wuye Lake, the rebel army was only two miles away from Haozhi.

The fog on the plains was thinner than that in the mountains and forests. Qi Wannian took a stand outside Haozu. Everyone looked up at the sky, and could vaguely see a clear blue background. It was dawn, and while the western sky was dark, the clouds ahead in the eastern horizon had a faint hint of blood-red.

The Jin army in Haozhi City could not have been unaware of the movement of the 70,000-strong army, but by the time they found out, it was too late.

Most of the Jin army was still at lunch, and when they hurriedly finished and regrouped, they found the enemy already in formation on a gentle hill. The Hu army's formation stretched north and south, immovable as a rock, while the Jin army had yet to form a line.

At this time, the fog was blowing, and neither side knew what the other side had arranged. But in the vast sky, a red sun broke through the clouds, and a bright beam of light pierced through the dark clouds on the mountain top, instantly dyeing the clouds a brilliant red glow. The glow of the glow, like a red candle in the darkness, pierced through the fog and cast a shadow on the earth.

Thus, people could clearly see that the left wing of the Jin army was still moving slowly, although it was only for a short time before the wind blew a cloud of mist again, covering up these movements. The air was fresh, and there was a smell of sunlight about to illuminate everything, which made people lose all sleepiness.

At this moment, without any prior warning, the Jin army suddenly noticed a large number of dark shadows swaying in the east, as if a group of horses were running down the slope. The ground also began to shake slightly, and experienced knights knew it was the sound of a large group of horses' hooves hitting the ground.

But the people of Jin felt a little confused: there was neither the sound of drums nor the sound of flags and shouts from the other side?
Looking out into the distance, at the moment of dusk and dawn, the west was shrouded in mist and darkness. But a moment later, the shaking of the ground intensified, as if a god had risen from the west and was shaking the earth with his fists. It felt like an earthquake. The sound of the enemy's armor and weapons clashing together was a cacophony, as if they were already right before our eyes.

The Jin army had no time to prepare their battle formations. They only felt that they were surrounded by enemies in the thick fog, and it was difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. Finally, they exclaimed:

"How many bandits are there? Could it be that the bandit-suppression army has been defeated?"

In a moment, the Hu people's cavalry entered the battle! (End of this chapter)