Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 394 Inscription on Bamboo and Silk
Of all military forces, none is more important than the general; and in the art of war, the first priority is to select the right general.

Therefore, Zhang Yu had his own set of standards for selecting generals, which could be summarized by five points: courage, wisdom, benevolence, trustworthiness, and loyalty.

Courage means having the spirit to overwhelm the three armies, having the will to look down on the powerful enemy, and being brave in the face of a formidable foe; wisdom means being unpredictable and able to turn misfortune into fortune and win in the face of danger; benevolence means knowing the hunger and cold of the people, understanding their hardships, and being virtuous yet humble; trustworthiness means being generously rewarded when advancing and severely punished when retreating, and not discriminating against the noble; loyalty means not being swayed by profit, having the honor of dying for the cause and not the disgrace of living.

Zhang Yu will select generals who meet all five conditions; otherwise, they will be generals who are ordered around by others.

Now that Youzhou is in dire straits, only a great general can lift the siege. That is why Zhang Yu chose Man Chong and Zhang Liao, who are both brave and resourceful, to be the commanders.

Their performance when suddenly confronted by the Wuhuan army truly lived up to Zhang Yu's expectations. The two generals not only stepped forward but also devised strategies to defend against the enemy.

At Dafang Pass, under Man Chong's command, four thousand infantrymen slowly advanced, with each soldier in the front row carrying a wooden branch and crossbows hidden within the ranks. Behind the infantry were the cavalry led by Zhang Liao and Ma Chao, totaling approximately seven thousand men.

As the Bing army advanced and formed ranks, Tadun rode his horse to a low hill. Under the banner symbolizing the Chanyu, he surveyed the battlefield. He saw the Bing army approaching in a mighty, dark mass, making it difficult for him to discern their numbers. However, the tree branches held by the foot soldiers caught Tadun's attention.

Tadun narrowed his eyes and said, "The Bing army's infantry are elite and well-disciplined. To break through their formation, we must use cavalry to trample them."

“Your Majesty, I observe that the Bing army’s infantry and cavalry are still in formation. If we do not attack them now while they are still establishing their positions, our cavalry will find it difficult to break through their lines once the Bing army’s infantry have completed their formation,” Wu Yan said eagerly.

Upon seeing someone volunteer for battle, Tadun was overjoyed and said, "I have often heard that the soldiers of Bingzhou are fierce and brave. Zhang Liao is a fierce general under Zhang Yu. Wuyan Chanyu wants to fight now, so we must be careful."

"Why should Your Majesty boast of your combined forces and weaken the morale of our army?"

Wu Yan laughed and said, "We Wuhuan have been fighting against the Han people for many years, so we know a lot about their military practices. They simply form infantry formations and then use bows and crossbows to defend against our army. If we can drive our cavalry properly, we can defeat them in one strike, and by noon our army will be able to have a meal in victory."

As he spoke, Wu Yan pointed his whip forward and said, "In the past, Zhang Yu killed the envoy to humiliate Your Majesty. Today, I will defeat the enemy and build a mound of enemy heads, so that Zhang Yu will be afraid when he hears the name of my Wuhuan."

"Then I shall observe your military tactics today!"

Seeing that Wu Yan was confident, Tadun smiled and said, "If you can defeat the Bing army's infantry, your troops will get to choose the spoils first."

“Nengchen, you shall lead your troops to assist Wuyan Chanyu.”

"As ordered!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Wu Yan and Neng Chen rode away to their headquarters to gather troops, intending to defeat Zhang Liao's army in one fell swoop.

When the two generals led their cavalry into battle, Tadun's confidant, seeing the unfavorable terrain of the low hill, advised, "Your Majesty, Mount Dafang is high above and can see our army's deployment clearly. The low hill is not in the main army formation, and is only guarded by Your Majesty's personal guards. Should we withdraw from this place to avoid endangering Your Majesty?"

How could Tadun be afraid because of the geographical danger? He laughed and said, "I have come here to set up a fortification. How can I retreat because of the enemy? If the enemy attacks here, my several thousand personal cavalry will be enough to protect me. Besides, the enemy has more infantry than cavalry. How dare they come here to seek death?"

Seeing Tadun's confidence, his confidants didn't dare to say much. After all, what Tadun said made a lot of sense. If he led his troops to set up the flag elsewhere, it would be a minor matter if it undermined his prestige. The biggest fear was that the troops, unaware of his strength, might mistake his retreat for a withdrawal when they saw him carrying the flag.

"Stop!"

After advancing about a hundred paces, Man Chong looked at the Wuhuan cavalrymen moving in the distance and immediately gave the order to stop and withdraw.

As the command flag to halt the advance was raised, the infantry immediately stopped. Then, the outer soldiers placed branches outside the formation, instantly creating a flank. The dense branches, facing outwards, resembled a thicket of bushes, serving not only as antlers and chevaux-de-frise but also to obstruct vision and boost the morale of their own infantry.

When the deer antler formation was formed, Wu Yan, who was directing the cavalry, knew that he could not give these Han troops any more time, otherwise it would be extremely difficult to break through them later.

"Let Pusu and Nengchen each lead two thousand cavalry to charge at the flanks of the infantry, while I lead the cavalry to dismount and fight on foot to contain the enemy infantry."

"it is good!"

The noisy mountains and plains echoed with the sound of drums, clearly indicating that the Wuhuan had learned the art of drum and gong control from the Han Dynasty and were able to use drums and gongs to command their various tribes.

As the drums sounded, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly grew louder, kicking up billowing dust. The Wuhuan cavalry spread out across the plains, like outstretched arms, launching a pincer attack.

Nengchen advanced from the left flank, with two thousand cavalry surrounding the main force, attacking from both sides alongside Pusu's troops. Perhaps fearing that the infantry might have powerful bows and crossbows, Nengchen sent out over a hundred scouts ahead to probe the strength of the main force.

Inside the formation, Liu Yi, watching the approaching Wuhuan cavalry, emphasized, "No shooting is allowed without a military order."

In order to confuse the Wuhuan cavalry, Man Chong gave orders before the battle that no arrows were to be fired without a military command, and that even if arrows were fired, they would be fired by soldiers who were assigned to specific positions, in order to lure the Wuhuan cavalry into a circle and shoot from their horses.

As the Wuhuan cavalry circled the enemy lines, only a few arrows were fired from within the ranks, none of them hitting any of the scouts. Meanwhile, the Wuhuan cavalry fired several volleys of arrows into the enemy formation, wounding a few unfortunate men.

Seeing that the Bing army had few crossbows, Pusu and Nengchen were overjoyed and ordered their Wuhuan cavalry to move out. Wuyan, who had originally intended to lead his cavalry in infantry combat, changed his mind and decided to lead his cavalry in a circle around the enemy lines to shoot arrows, and then charge into the enemy lines to break through their defenses.

"Kill!" The Wuhuan cavalry charged around the deer antlers, and the infantry in the formation suddenly felt surrounded by enemies. The thunderous hoofbeats were deafening, and dust filled the sky.

As they galloped, the Wuhuan riders drew their longbows, occasionally letting out excited shouts, and continued to approach the Bing army formation.

In order to prevent the infantry from becoming cowardly and causing a disturbance, Liu Yi and his officers constantly patrolled the formation.

"Don't panic!"

"Once the order is given, we can fire in unison!"

When the Wuhuan cavalry, galloping in a circle, approached within sixty paces, arrows shot from horseback flew over the deer antlers and hurtled towards the army formation. Fortunately, the soldiers in the front ranks were mostly armored and shield-bearing elite warriors; the long-range arrows might hit, but they could not seriously injure the soldiers.

As the Wuhuan cavalry launched their attack, command flags fluttered in the ranks, and the clanging of metal resounded.

The next instant, the archers, who were on high alert, pulled the triggers and drew their bows. Then, the sickening sound of the bowstrings suddenly burst forth, and a thousand arrows, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, fell into the ranks of the Wuhuan cavalry.

The Wuhuan cavalry, who rely heavily on archery and crossbows, are now setting up a battle formation to provoke the enemy and unleash a powerful attack at such close range. How can the Wuhuan cavalry, who are mostly lightly armed, possibly withstand this?

In an instant, under the barrage of armor-piercing arrows, both the Wuhuan cavalry and their warhorses were struck and wounded. Some fell heavily to the ground, some died from their wounds, and some groaned in pain. A large number of Hu cavalry were killed or wounded by arrows, with the front-line Hu cavalry suffering the most severe losses, almost none surviving.

"withdraw!"

Pu Su, who was leading the charge, was terrified and shouted, "The enemy has powerful bows! Retreat immediately!"

A single shout is barely audible in the noisy battlefield, quickly drowned out by the sound of horses' hooves. After a volley, unaware of the situation, subsequent cavalrymen rushed forward, attempting to fire arrows into the enemy ranks.

Shortly after the first volley, the infantry took over the reloaded heavy crossbows from the rear ranks and continued firing at the Hu cavalry in their ring formation. Under the second volley, large numbers of Hu cavalry fell again. Before the Hu cavalry could react, a third wave of arrows pierced the air, severely damaging those who could not retreat in time.

The reason for changing the crossbows instead of the riders was to combine the troops to defend against the Hu cavalry. After all, changing the ranks and firing simultaneously would not only waste time, but also cause chaos in battle. Therefore, under three waves of arrows, the infantry fired in rotation from three sides, and more than four thousand arrows were fired. The number of Wuhuan cavalry killed or wounded in the three-sided attack was no less than five hundred.

Five hundred cavalrymen were killed or wounded in a short time. Tadun, who was watching the battle from the low hill, was furious and said in a stern voice: "Let Wuyan and Nengchen dismount and fight on foot, and cooperate with the cavalry to break through the formation."

"As ordered!"

After the scout rode off at full speed to report, Tadun whipped the air and sneered, "I told Wuyan to be careful with his troops before, but now he's fallen for the enemy's trick. He's truly useless!"

With Tadun's order, the Wuhuan cavalry, who had been charging and shooting in a circle, retreated slightly. After Wuyan's adjustment, there were dismounted cavalrymen fighting on three sides, with cavalrymen providing cover.

After a slight adjustment, the Wuhuan infantry advanced in formation, with soldiers in the front row holding shields and spearmen following behind, forming a forest of spears, and once again approaching the Bingjun infantry formation.

Now, standing on Dafang Mountain, Zhang Liao saw the Wuhuan abandon their cavalry and advance on foot, attempting to break through their square formation. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "The Wuhuan have long been versed in Han military tactics and know that to break through an infantry formation, both infantry and cavalry must advance together. However, now that they are fighting in formation, their infantry is few and weak. How can they possibly be a match for our army?"

As he spoke, Zhang Liao looked at Ma Chao and said, "Meng Qi, after reorganizing your cavalry, we may defeat the enemy today!"

Ma Chao, with a solemn expression, cupped his hands and asked, "When we use cavalry later, where should we begin?"

Zhang Liao asked, "Mengqi, since you have asked this question, is it because you have something on your mind?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Chao pointed to the terrain below the mountain and said, "General, the Wuhuan army numbers about 20,000, but due to the terrain, only 5,000 or 6,000 are currently engaged in combat with our army. If our army wants to defeat the Wuhuan, we need to disturb the majority of the enemy army to have any hope of victory. Observing the enemy's formation, we should take advantage of the enemy's vanguard retreating and lead our cavalry to launch a fierce attack, which can overwhelm their momentum and rout their main force."

Zhang Liao narrowed his eyes, staring at the white banner, and asked, "The enemy has a large army, so we can defeat them but not wipe them out completely. If we cannot deter the Wuhuan, Tadun can also make a comeback. Tadun led several thousand personal guards to the mountain to watch the battle, which is truly courting death. If our army wants to eliminate the Wuhuan scourge in one fell swoop, there is no better way than to strike Tadun, behead him, and completely relieve the siege of Youzhou."

Compared to defeating Tadun, Zhang Liao's ambitions far surpassed Ma Chao's; he sought to eliminate the Wuhuan in one fell swoop. Upon seeing Zhang Liao's intention to kill Tadun, Ma Chao couldn't help but gasp in surprise, never expecting Zhang Liao to harbor such lofty ambitions.

Seeing that Ma Chao remained silent, Zhang Liao asked, "Is Mengqi perhaps afraid?"

“General, if you wish to attack Tadun, how could I, Chao, be afraid? I will lead my troops to follow you!” Ma Chao said resolutely.

"good!"

Zhang Liao, with his hand on his sword, gazed into the distance, his eyes piercing.

Whether he can make a name for himself in the world, achieve unparalleled feats, and have his deeds recorded in history depends on this battle!

P.S.: Last night's chapter is late, there will be two more chapters updated today.

(End of this chapter)