Blocking the flank and then what
Was this a test of stamina, a horse race to exhaustion
Zhang Liao did not believe the enemy commander was acting foolishly. On the contrary, a sense of danger rose in his heart. This formation felt faintly familiar.
Then he saw it.
While charging at full speed, the enemy cavalry raised their bows in perfect unison.
Zhang Liao's heart lurched.
The warhorses thundered forward, the ground uneven and jarring, yet the riders remained steady. Bows were drawn cleanly, arms unmoving despite the violent motion beneath them. In the next instant, arrows poured down like a torrential rain upon Zhang Liao's troops.
Horse archery of the Hu tribes.
Zhang Liao was shocked. Where had Liu Bei found such riders
Drawing a bow from horseback was not difficult. What was difficult was maintaining aim while compensating for the horse's gallop.
The Hu people learned to ride almost as soon as they could walk. Years of training allowed their lower bodies to move with the horse while their upper bodies remained rock steady, drawing and releasing arrows as if standing on solid ground. For Han soldiers, this was far from easy.
That was why, in the wars between Han and Xiongnu, the Han cavalry had long since abandoned competing in horse archery. Instead, they upgraded their equipment and charged straight into the enemy's face, crushing them at close range and denying horse archery any room to operate.
But Zhang Liao had no time to dwell on such thoughts.
As a veteran general, he knew all too well that even the smallest advantage on the battlefield could decide victory or defeat.
Retreat
Absolutely not.
How to fight
Split the force.
After enduring another volley of arrows, Zhang Liao made his decision without hesitation. He ordered a deputy to lead fifteen hundred cavalry to split off, advancing in coordination with the main force to pressure the enemy.
If the enemy attempted to swallow this detachment, the main force could provide immediate support.
If the enemy continued to skirmish with horse archery, these fifteen hundred riders could close in and strike their flank.
A fine response.
Zhao Yun praised him inwardly and immediately ordered his troops to withdraw while shooting.
The enemy is weakening.
Zhang Liao's spirits lifted, and he personally led the pursuit without the slightest hesitation.
In the earlier exchanges, four to five hundred men had already been lost. To Zhang Liao, this was an unacceptable price. And yet the situation was still one of strength versus weakness. Now was precisely the moment to press the advantage.
One army advanced, the other retreated. Gradually, they moved farther and farther away from Changban Slope.
Northward, the terrain was no longer wide open. Between the mountains and the Han River stretched a long, narrow plain. Two low hills rose in its center, splitting the plain into even narrower eastern and western sections.
Zhang Liao followed the enemy into the western side. Here, the narrowest point was barely twenty li wide, the widest no more than forty. It was enough to accommodate cavalry maneuvers, yet not so confined as a gorge where ambushes were inevitable. By all logic, this was ideal terrain for him.
And yet, an unease he could not name crept deeper into his chest.
Would the enemy truly be so foolish
The only explanation was a retreat to Bian County to hold defensively, but what advantage would that bring
The opportunity was too precious to abandon. The enemy's backs were still visible in the distance.
After a single breath of hesitation, Zhang Liao gave the order again.
Split the forces once more.
The two contingents advanced in coordination, watching each other's flanks. Even if there was a trap, losses could be kept to a minimum.
Another twenty li passed.
What appeared before Zhang Liao was a square formation of over a thousand infantry, long shields already braced, with elite cavalry drawn up beside them and turning back into formation.
Zhang Liao's deputy was overjoyed.
Infantry square versus cavalry
Was this not a gift delivered straight to their hands
Zhang Liao himself, however, was now completely certain that there was a trap. He was just about to order the deputy to pull back and observe when the deputy charged forward without waiting.
A chill ran through Zhang Liao from head to toe.
It's over.
The battlefield answered immediately.
As the cavalry closed in, the front of the infantry formation parted. A line of powerfully built soldiers stepped forward, their upper bodies bare of armor.
Zhang Liao's deputy hesitated only briefly. No armor
Seeking death.
But what were those long-handled blades in their hands
One of cavalry's great advantages in the age of cold weapons was the terrifying height difference. Warhorses stood around one and a half meters at the shoulder. With riders mounted, they towered over two meters tall. Even a strong man on foot had to look up.
Standing at the front, Xi Zhen felt his breath tighten. Yet in his mind flashed Zhao Yun's trust, Lord Xuande's favor, the weight of responsibility placed upon him, and the countless days of relentless training.
This southern man dragged his long blade forward, stepped out with his left foot, and roared.
The soldiers in the first rank responded as one.
These were the most rigorously selected troops under Liu Bei. They had rehearsed this very engagement no fewer than a hundred times, all for this moment.
The strangely shaped long blades erupted with terrifying power, fueled by the soldiers' formidable strength and the sheer weight and sharpness of the weapon.
Charging cavalry were cut down, rider and horse cleaved apart, their momentum shattered.
The second rank stepped forward.
They raised their blades, gathered their strength, and brought them down.
Another crushing strike.
Men and horses were split asunder.
The horrifying sight struck the charging cavalry like a hammer. These Cao troops were not veterans of White Wolf Mountain.
To them, last year's miraculous victory at Hefei had come far too easily. It had filled them with beautiful illusions about the battlefield.
Now those illusions shattered on the ground, smashed to pieces.
Zhao Yun's timing was flawless.
Just as the Cao troops reeled from the destruction of their vanguard, Zhao Yun had already led his cavalry into their flank.
A scene Zhang Liao knew all too well unfolded once more.
Like a hot knife cutting through lard, the deputy force was sliced apart, scattered in fragments.
At the same time, Zhang Liao finally saw clearly the answer to his earlier doubts.
"Both sides have mounted stirrups…"
Under normal circumstances, he would have merely thought this cavalry unusually well supplied, considerate enough to equip their mounts on both sides.
But now, he resolved that once he withdrew, he would test it himself. That horse archery just now might well have been connected to this device.
Zhao Yun's encirclement had only just begun.
Zhang Liao, however, had already decisively ordered a retreat.
If both sides were infantry, he would have committed everything to rescue them. But they were cavalry.
Cavalry fought like wolves, utterly unlike infantry. This force might still appear alive, but it was no more than a deer whose throat had been seized by starving wolves. Total annihilation was only a matter of time.
Zhao Yun watched Zhang Liao withdraw with decisive speed and felt a trace of regret. Had the enemy hesitated a little longer, or attempted a rescue, Zhao Yun was confident he could have inflicted far greater losses with angled cuts.
But seeing such decisiveness, no wonder he was Zhang Eight Hundred.
Zhao Yun shook his head, cast aside the thought, and immediately focused on directing his main force and the Mo Dao troops to work together, splitting, encircling, and attempting to capture survivors alive.
At last, he exhaled in relief.
With this force destroyed, the balance between him and Zhang Liao had completely reversed. The threat to Jiangling was resolved. He had not failed his lord, the military strategist, nor General Guan.
At the same time, outside Le Township, Shamoke pressed a hand over the wound on his shoulder and closed Han Dang's eyes.
He and Zhang Ni had combined their forces and held a numerical advantage, yet they had fought this old general here for more than a full day.
Han Dang had led his troops to fight them to a standstill, fighting with utter disregard for his life.
In the end, he had battled to the last man, refusing to retreat. Shamoke had been left with no choice but to kill the veteran general with his own hands.
When the battle ended, the remaining Jiangdong soldiers were all wounded. Shamoke and Zhang Ni had only a little over three thousand men still capable of fighting. All others bore injuries.
Looking at these final unbroken wounded soldiers, Shamoke shook his head.
"You are all true men. I do not wish to kill you. Go."
The wounded soldiers looked at Han Dang's body, then at Shamoke and Zhang Ni. After a moment of hesitation, one after another, they dropped their weapons.
Shamoke was surprised.
"You don't want to return to Jiangdong"
Zhang Ni patted his shoulder and said loudly, "Rest here in Le Township for now. Once the battle for Jiangling is decided, we'll speak again of your future."
The wounded soldiers exchanged glances, then silently nodded.