Jinting Han people

While Ying Zhan was engaged in a fierce battle, Zhao You's forces were not the only ones attempting a counterattack. As Ying Zhan himself said, he placed his greatest hopes on Wang Kuang and the others behind him.

When the routed soldiers rushed out from inside the palisade, Wang Kuang and his men were also swept away and swept along. Unaware of the situation and believing they had suffered a crushing defeat, Wang Kuang and his men retreated south with the fleeing soldiers. Their horses were fast, and after retreating for about ten li (approximately 5 kilometers), seeing that the surroundings were quiet and there were no pursuers, they stopped to rest. Not long after, his trusted followers gradually arrived from another route, suddenly numbering about a hundred riders, along with some accompanying horses, which reassured everyone considerably.

After securing their safety, a sense of bewilderment completely enveloped the Wang brothers. They couldn't assess the scale of their defeat, nor did they know why they had failed. But a wise man would understand that they had to make an immediate choice: regroup and fight again, or return to camp. However, Wang Kuang, as the commander, was completely dazed. He was still agonizing over the mistake of his rotation, muttering, "This shouldn't be! If Liu Xian still had men, how could he have held out?"

Wang Dun glanced at Wang Kuang a few times, not saying anything out loud, but cursing inwardly: What a bookish fellow! So arrogant all the time, but now that the die is cast, what's the use of being upset? And he dares to lecture me like a marshal? The clan chief has really lost his mind!
But he also knew the situation was urgent, so he turned to Director Wang and asked, "What should we do? Chilong, do you have any ideas?"

Chilong was Wang Dao's childhood name, which Wang Dun blurted out in his haste. Wang Dao was, after all, a scholarly man. He was good at uniting people and bridging differences, but not at military affairs. He panicked for a moment and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Chuzhong, spare me! How would I know anything about this?"

However, Director Wang understood that the most important thing right now was to make up his mind, so he said, "No need to keep me in suspense any longer. If you have any ideas, I will definitely support you wholeheartedly!"

Wang Dun was waiting for these words. He said slowly and deliberately, "Of course we must regroup and fight again. No matter how many reserves Liu Xian has left, they will certainly be far fewer than our army. If we reorganize our troops, we will still have a chance to win."

Upon hearing this, the others were greatly shocked. Wang Cheng objected, saying, "It's too risky. It would be more appropriate to gather the troops and return to camp first."

Wang Dun turned and glared at Wang Cheng, his bee-like eyes finally revealing a hint of anger. He questioned Wang Cheng, "If we just retreat like this, the morale of the three armies will be completely lost. Who will dare to fight against Liu Xian in the future?"

Wang Cheng dared not answer.

Wang Dun himself replied, "By then, the entire army will regard Liu Xian as a ghost or god, and the soldiers will all flee!"

He continued, "Today's battle concerns the fate of the nation. It will be either our army that is defeated and killed, or the enemy army that is defeated and killed. Whoever withdraws first will surely perish!"

Having said all that, the others dared not object, and thus decided to heed Wang Dun's advice, reorganize the remaining troops, and march back to Yi'an. Wang Kuang remained silent throughout, but in reality, Wang Dun had temporarily assumed command of the Jin army.

Wang Dun led his entourage northward, encountering numerous personal guards along the way, numbering approximately two hundred cavalry. Wang Dun found a prominent hillside and ordered his men to raise the commander's flag and yellow dragon banner again. Although some banners were missing, as the commander's unit, they still possessed the most banners of any other unit. Soon, the banners on the hillside fluttered like yellow clouds. Seeing their commander's flags, the fleeing Jin soldiers nearby gathered towards the hill, their numbers quickly increasing, like a thick cloud gathering.

After about half an hour of reorganization, Wang Dun and his men had gathered approximately ten thousand men, mainly from the rearguard, including Gan Zhuo, Gu Rong, and other Yangzhou troops. At this time, they encountered an envoy sent by Ying Zhan. The envoy explained the situation at the front: "Although our army has retreated, it's mainly due to the scattered formation; the actual losses are not significant. Moreover, while our formation is disorganized, the enemy's pursuit has further disrupted it. Supervisor Ying has instructed me to inform the Marshal that he can buy him at least an hour and a half. If you can lead the army to reorganize and launch a counterattack, the enemy will not be able to withstand it!"

Upon hearing this news, everyone was overjoyed. Wang Dun then said to them, "It is not unusual for a team to win first and then lose, or lose first and then win. Back then, when Yuan Shao faced Gongsun Zan at Jieqiao, how formidable were Gongsun Zan's White Horse Cavalry? They once made Yuan Shao unable to raise his head, but Yuan Shao held on, was able to regroup his army, and ultimately won. How similar is this to today? You must not let your guard down."

Having made up his mind, Wang Dun dispatched a large number of cavalry to recruit defeated soldiers from the surrounding areas and ordered the generals and officers to reorganize their units. Considering that it was already afternoon and the soldiers were somewhat exhausted, he allowed the assembled troops to rest for a while, eat something to recover their strength, and then launch a counterattack after half an hour, no matter how many soldiers he had gathered.

The Jin soldiers naturally ate the dry rations they carried with them, which were dough pieces made by mixing salt with rice and vegetables and frying them together. In the cold winter, the dry rations froze and became as hard as bricks, making them not only difficult to chew but also difficult to swallow.

Even more critically, most of them lost their water bottles while fleeing for their lives. How could they eat their dry rations without water? Fortunately, the Youjiang River was to the east, so the soldiers went to the riverbank to drink water. Even though the Youjiang River was icy cold in winter, and even though it might contain the blood of their comrades, they were too thirsty to care. They knelt and lay on the riverbank to drink as if they were cattle or horses.

Wang Dun had no time to worry about them; instead, he was pondering the battle situation, discussing tactics with Gan Zhuo and others, and assigning tasks for the next phase, including who should be the vanguard and who should be the rearguard.

Unexpectedly, while they were discussing this, he heard a great commotion from the east. At first, he thought it was a mutiny in the army, but when the group turned to look, they were astonished to find that several large warships had appeared downstream on the Youjiang River. These warships were flying Han army flags, and their hundreds of oars were rocking back and forth as they slowly sailed against the current towards the Jin army.

Needless to say, the attackers were none other than He Pan's troops. Just as Zhao Yin had predicted beforehand, with the battle having progressed to this point, Liu Xian could no longer afford to hold back much. Although He Pan's troops had to be wary of attacks from around the dike, since the defeated army had already achieved its objective, it was time to press on and completely crush them. As long as the main force remained firmly in place, the remaining units would eventually have no choice but to withdraw.

Unexpectedly, the final situation was even better than Liu Xian had anticipated. Just as He Pan was preparing to quietly shift his position, he was surprised to find that Hou Tuo's troops were retreating directly eastward, along with some naval forces that Wang Kuang had previously deployed to blockade the river. This completely relieved the Han army of any worries about their rear, and He Pan's troops became a new and vital force on the battlefield.

However, upon learning the news, Liu Xian did not immediately deploy He Pan's troops to the battlefield. The reason was simple: since they hadn't immediately routed Ying Zhan's forces, allowing them to leave the city and form ranks, and displaying considerable strength, even if more troops were deployed now, it wouldn't necessarily lead to an immediate defeat of Ying Zhan. Furthermore, Ying Zhan's forces had a very clear objective: to buy time for the routed Jin troops south of Lady City to regroup.

Liu Xian thus realized that instead of sending reinforcements head-on, it would be better to utilize the Han army's control of Youjiang and directly deploy this Han army to the rear of the battlefield. By pursuing the Jin army, which might be regrouping, and then defeating them, they could achieve a decisive victory. Ying Zhan's troops, who were holding out in front of the palisade, would then become like water without a source, no longer a threat.

At this moment, the Jin soldiers on the riverbank, seeing the Han army arrive, were initially terrified and instinctively moved away from the riverbank, preparing to flee further. However, glancing around, they discovered that a considerable number of men had already gathered around them—at least twenty or thirty thousand, if not forty or fifty thousand. In contrast, the Han army's warships, though behemoths on the river, were useless on land. They could only carry three or four thousand Han soldiers, and even including the sailors, the maximum number would be six or seven thousand. These Han soldiers were isolated and without reinforcements, while their own numbers were growing with each battle. How could the enemy possibly fight them?
Wang Dun thought the same thing. He sneered, "Liu Xian really thinks we're just cattle and sheep! Ha! Everyone has a temper, and even a cornered dog will jump over a wall!" He then ordered, "Each camp retreat one mile to the east and form ranks to meet the enemy. I want to see if they can all take on five men at once!"

Upon receiving the order, each battalion left the riverbank to avoid being hit by the ballistae on the warships. Then, armed with long swords, they quickly formed ranks, intending to swarm the Han soldiers on the warships after they disembarked and lined up, using their numerical advantage to hack them to death.

But what happened next was beyond their expectations. After the Han army ships docked at the shore, the first to disembark were not Han soldiers, but three tall, enormous creatures. They flapped their ears, which were as big as windows, stretched out their long noses, raised their heads, and howled. Their cries were like thunder that shattered the heavens and the earth.

These were the elephants Liu Xian had brought back from the south. Under the trainer's command, they charged forward without pause, emitting strange cries never before heard by the Jin people. They were incredibly fast, like boulders sinking into waves, and no one dared to stand in their way. Or rather, the Jin people present were stunned. They thought these things were monsters, and as they pounced, their forms growing ever larger in their eyes, it was as if their very souls were being driven away.

In this situation, the Jin army was incapable of forming any coherent formation. They wanted to fire arrows, but most had discarded them in their flight, let alone fire arrows or whistling arrows. Trying to wound the elephants at close range with swords, even if successful, would likely result in their own deaths – a losing proposition. Most importantly, the elephants awakened the pent-up fear within the soldiers. When an elephant reached the Jin army's lines, the troops scattered in disarray, with no one willing to fight it.

As a result, the three elephants charged into the enemy ranks, tearing through the enemy lines like a piece of paper. The terrified Jin soldiers scattered in panic. Meanwhile, the Han army followed behind the elephants, completely disorganized and charging forward with all their might. Even so, the Jin army could not put up any resistance. To avoid being trampled into mincemeat by the monsters, they were once again routed and utterly defeated.

Ever since Liu Xian acquired the elephants, he had long desired to deploy them on the battlefield. However, after witnessing firsthand their performance, he also became acutely aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Elephants are colossal beasts, possessing immense strength and unparalleled power, but they have two major flaws: first, they are timid and difficult to control; if startled on the battlefield, they could easily trample their own troops; second, their stamina is poor, and they can only run for a short time before needing to stop and catch their breath, which exposes their weaknesses and makes them easy targets for the enemy. Liu Xian exploited these two weaknesses in the southern regions, thus achieving a successful victory.

However, this does not mean that elephants cannot be used on the battlefield. As the saying goes, every coin has two sides, and Han Xin believed that there are no unusable troops, only troops that are misplaced. Liu Xian shared this view. He analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of elephants and believed that although they could not be used as a breakthrough weapon for siege warfare, they were perfectly suited as a surprise attack when both armies were exhausted and out of options, allowing for a decisive victory in one fell swoop.

At this point, he handed the elephants to He Pan, ordering them to attack the reorganized Jin army. Upon first sight, it proved remarkably effective. In less than a quarter of an hour, tens of thousands of Jin soldiers were routed. Even though the elephants, spewing white steam, had stopped running, a second wave of defeat had already begun. Even if Han Xin and Bai Qi were resurrected, they would have no choice but to surrender to such a situation.

Seeing this situation, Wang Dun was undoubtedly extremely unwilling. He even wanted to send his trusted confidants to execute deserters and supervise the battle. However, he was not a true marshal, and his control over the army was negligible, unable to stop the rout. Turning around, he saw that Wang Kuang, Wang Cheng, and other generals truly entrusted with important responsibilities by the court had completely disregarded their reputations and ridden eastward.

With the marshal gone, the personal guards naturally had no desire to stay. They originally had some flags and weapons left to command the army, but now they had all been lost, leaving only dust and smoke.

Seeing this, Wang Dun could only look up to the sky and sigh, saying bitterly, "This brat is not worth discussing things with!" He then threw down his weapon, led his personal guards eastward, and hurried back to camp.

Along with them, the troops of Gu Rong and Gan Zhuo also headed east. They had no intention of fighting the Han army in the first place. Now that their entire army had been defeated, why would they bother to regroup and fight the Han army again? Doing so would only result in the needless loss of their troops and reduce their bargaining power in the court. Therefore, even though they still had considerable control over their soldiers, they all tacitly agreed to retreat.

It must be said that due to the open and flat terrain, the Jin army retreated very quickly. He Pan's troops, having achieved their tactical objective, dared not pursue too deeply, as they numbered only about four thousand men, and a possible ambush could result in total annihilation. It was already late, almost dusk, and the sky was shrouded in a bluish-purple shadow. He Pan then ordered each soldier to hold two torches aloft, feigning a large force, and to intercept Ying Zhan's troops from the south.

At this point, it can be essentially declared that the Han army has achieved a complete victory on the battlefield of Yi'an. Regardless of how high the morale of the Jin army was before the battle, after this victory, none of the participating generals are qualified to face Liu Xian head-on. (End of Chapter)