Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 474 A good start
On the third day of the ninth lunar month, the sky was cloudless and the autumn wind was chilly.

On the plains, the Tang and Chen armies clashed fiercely, with the elite troops from Hebei and the formidable forces from Danyang each displaying their unique strengths.

The Hebei army under Qu Yi's command was particularly adept at fighting in formation due to their constant warfare and need to deal with the cavalry of Bing and You. The Danyang soldiers under Zhang Xun lived in the mountains and rivers and fought in the waterways, so they were especially brave and fierce in individual battles.

Comparing the two armies, in terms of combat strength, the Danyang soldiers, due to their superior equipment and expertise in close combat, could defeat two Hebei soldiers, or even three Hebei soldiers. However, in a battle of array, the Hebei army, skilled in formation fighting, would make the valiant Danyang soldiers more likely to be defeated because they could not break through the Hebei army's defenses.

Historical evidence shows that in the Battle of Banqiao during the Jin Dynasty's conquest of Eastern Wu, Shen Ying led 5,000 elite Danyang troops in a charge, but failed to break through the enemy lines after three attempts, and the Danyang army subsequently collapsed.

Of course, the defeat of the Danyang army does not mean that the Danyang soldiers were incapable of fighting, but rather fully illustrates the limitations of the Danyang soldiers despite their bravery.

Now that the two armies are locked in fierce combat, Qu Yi has been secretly observing the Danyang army. He has noticed that the Danyang army is sharp but lacks sustained momentum, and he knows that even without a strategy, his soldiers can defeat the Danyang army through attrition. However, having already decided on a plan to feign defeat, Qu Yi cannot easily change his mind.

After a fierce battle, Qu Yi took the initiative to lead his troops in retreat, fleeing towards Honggou. Seeing the infantry retreating, the Tang cavalry then led their troops to retreat as well.

Seeing the Tang soldiers routed, the vanguard Zu Lang was greatly excited. Without waiting for Zhang Xun's orders, he immediately led his troops in pursuit, shouting and running, and the soldiers appeared extremely excited.

Since the vanguard was tasked with pursuing the enemy, Zhang Xun, not wanting to keep the main force under control, cautiously left two thousand soldiers to guard the camp while eight thousand infantry and cavalry pursued the Tang troops.

In order to defeat the enemy, Qu Yi barely informed his subordinates of any plans. As a result, the Tang soldiers were routed in the pursuit, with many abandoning their flags and armor and fleeing. The Chen army pursued them for ten miles, killing them all the way to Honggou. Many corpses lay along the way, and Qu Yi's heart bled.

Now, Chen generals such as Zhang Xun and Zu Lang were overjoyed. With the Honggou Canal as a barrier, even if they could not annihilate the Tang troops, they could still inflict heavy losses on them.

Soon, Chen and Yuan's armies, one fleeing and the other pursuing, reached the reed marshes by the canal.

"Squad leader, is there any unusual activity in the reeds?" Chen, who was leading the pursuit, suddenly pointed to the reeds and said.

The squad leader looked in the direction the finger was pointing, and his face turned deathly pale. His excitement for the pursuit vanished, and his limbs almost went weak.

Suddenly, banners were erected in the reed marshes, drums thundered, horses neighed, and soldiers shouted battle cries, clearly indicating that the Chen army had set up an ambush there.

The squad leader had no idea how many people there were; he only noticed that there were too many flags and a large number of people moving around.

"There's an ambush!"

After shouting, the platoon leader didn't dare to think twice. Realizing what was happening, he turned and ran. Seeing the platoon leader leading the way, the pursuing soldiers dared not stop and fled in the same direction.

As the leading infantrymen fled, arrows shot out from the reeds, covering the pursuing Chen soldiers within their attack range.

The pursuing Chen soldiers were caught up in the excitement of their pursuit, and apart from a very few who noticed, most of them were oblivious or unable to react. Now, suddenly struck by a hail of arrows, the Chen soldiers were caught completely off guard, and many were hit by arrows, letting out a chorus of cries of agony.

Then, armored knights charged out of the reeds, forming groups of twenty, about fifty in total, spurring their horses forward in a fierce attack, arriving in the blink of an eye.

In addition to more than a thousand cavalrymen, a large number of infantrymen emerged from the reeds, estimated to be two thousand, clad in armor and armed with weapons, roaring and shouting, which was particularly frightening.

Zulang was greatly alarmed and said, "I suspected a trap when so few soldiers came here, and now it turns out there was indeed an ambush."

The pursuing Chen soldiers had lost their orderly formation and were scattered. Some were panting, some had broken away from the main force, and none of them were prepared for the surprise attack.

Now, three thousand Tang infantry and cavalrymen charged out from the reeds, almost heading straight to cut off the main force.

"An ambush!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Xun, who was lagging behind, realized that he had been ambushed. His vision went black, and he felt dizzy, almost falling off his horse.

The guards hurriedly helped Zhang Xun up, saying in a panic, "General, the enemy has laid an ambush! What should we do?"

"We've lost, the tide has turned!"

Zhang Xun slapped his thigh in anger and said, "If Zu Lang hadn't been so greedy for merit and reckless, how could he have fallen into the Tang ambush!"

"The Tang cavalry are here!"

Before Zhang Xun could finish speaking, several fierce Tang cavalrymen charged into the formation with spears. The Chen army's formation was in disarray, and almost no one dared to stop them, allowing the Tang cavalrymen to easily break through the formation. After a chaotic battle within the formation, they charged out again, displaying exceptional bravery.

"General, flee at once!"

Seeing that the Tang cavalry were searching for officers, the guards knew they could not linger. So they protected Zhang Xun and bravely broke through the encirclement. As Zhang Xun fled, he looked back at the army and almost couldn't help but shed tears. It seemed that his eight thousand infantry and cavalry had been lost in vain.

In fact, whether Zhang Xun fled or not, it would not change the chaotic situation. Today, it was not only three thousand Tang soldiers who launched a surprise attack under the command of Ke Bi, but also Qu Yi who integrated the defeated soldiers and turned back to fight.

Another key point is that the pursuing Chen army was attracted by the fleeing soldiers, and as they ran, their formation became increasingly scattered, and they could hardly exert the organization that a military formation should have. If the generals could not recognize their soldiers, how could they have the fighting power to defend against the enemy?
To prevent the Chen soldiers from rallying and rebelling, the Tang heavy infantry and cavalry split into columns and charged into the enemy ranks, cutting the eight thousand Chen soldiers into several sections. The infantry fought in formation, while the cavalry used the momentum to their advantage, giving the Chen army no time to react.

Meanwhile, Qu Yi regrouped his army and launched a counterattack. Unlike their previous retreat, the various units advanced in an organized manner, encircling Zu Lang's forces, who were pursuing the most fiercely.

Zulang was surrounded, Zhang Xun abandoned his army and fled, and the two key generals lost contact, turning the situation on the battlefield into a one-sided affair.

"kill"

With the command flags waving, Kirby charged forward on horseback. As the horns sounded, he first charged at close range, shooting down the enemy soldiers who cried out in pain and fled in all directions.

Then, through the gaps created by the armored soldiers, the heavy cavalry broke through the formation again, fought fiercely, and used their speed to subdue the fleeing Chen soldiers.

First, they fought fiercely, then pursued for more than ten miles. Now, after being ambushed and fought again, Chen's soldiers were exhausted and their courage was broken. Some were determined to surrender, while others surrendered due to exhaustion.

After fighting for a while, Kirby saw that Chen's army was doomed and was finally relieved.

Kirby was very familiar with the strategy of feigning defeat to launch an ambush. He had been defeated by Zhang Yu in his early years because he fell into Zhang Yu's trap and was eventually captured.

After following Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu made the strategy of feigning defeat and ambushing an essential skill for cavalry. Many tactics could be derived from this strategy. For example, if the enemy formation was well-organized, the cavalry could feign defeat to lure the enemy into a relaxed state, and then launch a surprise attack to break through the enemy formation.

The taboos against cavalry need no further explanation. Zhang Yu forbade armored cavalry from charging directly into the enemy formation to avoid making the same mistake as Gongsun Zan. Anyone who violated this taboo would be punished according to military law.

Looking at the large number of surrendered Chen soldiers, Ke Bi clicked his tongue and sighed, "Qu Yi is indeed a strategist. No wonder His Majesty listens to Qu Yi's plans."

"General Ke!"

Qu Yi led over a hundred of his men to find Ke Bi, and said with a smile, "Chen's army has suffered a great defeat, and our army can take advantage of the victory to pursue them."

Kirby greeted him with a smile and asked, "Have you captured any bandits?"

"Have!"

Qu Yi pointed to the area surrounded by soldiers and said, "The bandit general Zu Lang is brave and fierce. He led his troops in pursuit, but we surrounded and captured him."

After a pause, Qu Yi added, "Zhang Xun, however, was nowhere to be seen!"

Kirby shook his head and said, "According to Zhang Xun's men, Zhang Xun broke through the encirclement on horseback under the cover of his personal guards, and should have escaped back to Fuman by now!"

"Zhang Xun led 10,000 infantry and cavalry northward, with baggage accompanying his army. Our army decisively defeated the enemy, captured the bandit general Zu Lang, and Zhang Xun fled in terror. If you, General, lead your cavalry in pursuit, you will be able to capture all the baggage, which would be a small victory. If you are slow in your advance and encounter Yuan Shu's main force, you will miss this opportunity!" Qu Yi said.

Qu Yi is an old soldier who fought against the Qiang people in Longyou, then followed Han Fu in suppressing the Yellow Turbans, and fought against Gongsun Zan for Yuan Shao. He has been through countless battles. Now that the enemy has been defeated, we will know how to expand the victory.

"good!"

Kirby pointed to the battlefield before him and hesitated, "Shall we leave it to the general to handle?"

Qu Yi, with a friendly demeanor, cupped his hands and smiled, saying, "After clearing the battlefield, I will lead the infantry to accompany the general."

"Thank you for your trouble, General Qu!"

After bowing, Kirby summoned his cavalry, spurred his horse, and galloped away.

Seeing Kirby chasing Zhang Xun, Qu Yi let out a sigh of relief.

If it were the old him, he would never have missed the opportunity to seize merit, but the situation has changed now. He was a general who surrendered to Zhang Yu, and now he is getting older. He doesn't know how many more years he can fight. Moreover, Zhang Yu has many generals under his command, and he is afraid that he will not be able to be of great use. Therefore, it is better to get along well with the Tang generals and form some so-called good relations.

Kobi rode to Fuman, but Zhang Xun, who had fled back to the main camp, had already led his troops away. Although Kobi wanted to pursue them, it was too late to do so. Kobi had no choice but to accept the small victory of capturing all the supplies, as Qu Yi had suggested.

In this battle, Kebi and Qu Yi decisively defeated Zhang Xun, captured Chen general Zulang, beheaded over a thousand armored soldiers, and took more than four thousand enemy prisoners, achieving a resounding victory in the southern campaign.

(End of this chapter)