Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 500 A Daring Rescue
On the Jiangling Road, nine thousand infantry and cavalry marched in formation, carrying flags.

Pang De rode up and said urgently, "General, according to the scouts who have been searching south day and night, there are only two thousand county soldiers in the city, while Liu Bei has led more than ten thousand troops to besiege Jiangling again. Not only that, the enemy has spread rumors that our army has massacred many people, causing the people to panic and abandon their homes and livelihoods, and flee to Jiangnan."

Ma Chao pulled on the reins and asked, "How many days have the enemy been besieging Jiangling?"

"Liu Bei has been besieging Jiangling for ten days. His troops are building weapons for the siege, while others have left their camps to plunder the people and head south," Pang De said.

Ma Chao stopped his horse by the roadside, pondered for a moment, and said, "Liu Bei sent his generals out of the camp to raid other troops, so his main camp must be empty. Now the enemy is in the open, while we are in the dark. If we can take advantage of Liu Bei's unpreparedness and launch a surprise attack on the enemy's main camp, we will surely be able to defeat Liu Bei and relieve the siege of Jiangling."

Looking at the slow-moving surrendered soldiers of Chen, Pang De frowned and said, "The infantry and cavalry are moving slowly, and it is really difficult for them to march day and night."

Ma Chao made his decision, looked at his attendant, and said, "Immediately request Wen Ping to come here for a discussion."

"promise!"

A short while later, Wen Ping and several attendants arrived and met with Ma Chao and Pang De.

Ma Chao cupped his hands in greeting and said directly, "According to the urgent report from the scouts heading south, Liu Bei has besieged Jiangling for ten days. Although he has more than 10,000 troops, he is both repairing weapons and plundering civilians. As I predict, Liu Bei's camp must be empty. If our army can launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp, we will surely defeat Liu Bei and the siege of Jiangling will be lifted."

Wen Ping pondered for a moment and said, "Not long after Liu Bei took Changsha, he raised an army and marched north to Nan Commandery, intending to seize Jiangling and use it to occupy Your Majesty's territory. Therefore, Liu Bei's arrival was hasty, and it would not be difficult for you, General, to lead your cavalry in a surprise attack on Liu Bei and achieve merit. However, Jiangling is still two hundred li away. Unless you lead your cavalry to travel at full speed and arrive in a day, the speed of your infantry and cavalry might be detected by Liu Bei."

"In my opinion, it would be safer for Liu Bei's troops to flee when our army arrives!"

"We don't need ten thousand men to defeat Liu Bei; four thousand elite cavalry under Chao's command will suffice."

Ma Chao pointed his whip at the marching Tang cavalry and declared, "Not to mention traveling two hundred li a day, we can cover three hundred li in a single day."

Seeing that Ma Chao was determined to launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei, Wen Ping had no choice but to say, "In that case, General, you shall lead the cavalry and proceed at full speed, while I shall lead the infantry to bring up the rear."

"good!"

After discussing some details, Wenping returned to his headquarters.

Ma Chao watched Wen Ping's retreating figure and said to Pang De, "Wen Ping's plan is supposed to be prudent, but I'm afraid he'll not share the credit with me. However, we have no naval operations now, so how can we share the credit with a surrendered person!"

Pang De disagreed, saying, "Wen Ping is not one to seek credit. He is offering a safe strategy now only because he fears he might fail Your Majesty's trust. However, since Your Majesty has a plan to defeat the enemy, how could Wen Ping refuse?"

When Pang De refuted him, Ma Chao was about to get angry and reprimand him. However, considering that Pang De was no longer his father's subordinate, he could only glare at Pang De and leave dejectedly.

Since Ma Teng submitted to Zhang Yu, the Ma family army has been split into four parts. Pang De and Ma Dai each led one branch, serving under Meng Ning; Ma Chao led another branch, which was under Zhang Yu's command.

With Zhang Yu's deliberate support, Ma Dai's prestige in the army gradually rose after defeating Gongsun Du, and he now followed Zhang Liao to garrison Huaibei. Previously, taking advantage of the establishment of the Shenfu Army, Zhang Yu disbanded Ma Dai and Pang De, transferring Pang De to the Shenfu Army as a cavalry general.

Therefore, after a series of promotions and reorganizations, the Ma family army was completely dismantled by Zhang Yu. Now, although the two are working together, with Ma Chao as the main general and Pang De as the deputy general, the distinction between general and deputy is not one of ruler and subject. Moreover, Ma Chao is not Ma Teng, so how could he possibly win Pang De's heart?

The verbal dispute was a personal conflict, and both generals Ma Chao and Pang De knew that the greater good needed to be prioritized, so they would not allow emotions to affect their battle. After discussing it, the two led four thousand elite cavalry south day and night, heading straight for Jiangling.

While the Tang cavalry were rushing day and night, Liu Bei was listening to his subordinates discuss military matters.

"How many people have been gathered together?"

Inside the main tent, Liu Bei sat on a stool and asked Li Yan a question.

"My lord, the population of Nanjun is abundant. We sent troops to the countryside to persuade the people to move south, and we have gathered a total of 80,000 to 90,000 people. More than 20,000 people have already crossed the river recently, and Jian Yong has temporarily settled them at Youjiangkou. The remaining 60,000 to 70,000 people are still on the way or in the camp. In a few more days, they will all be transported across the river," Li Yan said.

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Once the situation has stabilized, we will settle the people in fertile land and let them cultivate the land themselves. We will not collect taxes for three years."

"Your lord is benevolent!" Li Yan complimented.

"Yide, is there any news from Jiangling City?" Liu Bei continued to ask.

"The city is well-defended, and there is no sign of unrest!"

Zhang Fei volunteered, saying, "Jiangling has not surrendered. I am willing to lead troops to attack it."

"Don't rush!"

Liu Bei was slightly worried and said, "Although Jiangling is more than a thousand miles away from Wancheng, the Tang army is already heading south. If we rush to attack the city, we will suffer heavy losses and may not be able to resist the Tang army."

As he spoke, Liu Bei remembered something and asked, "How is the situation in Changsha? I haven't received a report from Yun Chang for a long time."

"Changsha is gradually pacifying. General Guan is training surrendered soldiers, intending to wait until the people's hearts are at ease before crossing the river by boat to assist our lord." Li Yan recalled for a moment and said, "According to the Changsha News, Cao Cao's army besieged Xiakou and sent an envoy to Changsha to request an alliance with our lord to jointly resist Zhang Yu."

Liu Bei laughed and said, "Just as the strategist said, Cao Cao is worried about Zhang Yu and is eager to form an alliance with our army."

After a pause, Liu Bei said, "Have the envoy wait in Changsha for a while. We will discuss things with him after the matter in Jiangling is settled."

“There is another matter that I must inform our lord!” Li Yan said.

"What's the matter?"

"Sun Jing, the prefect of Badong, led his troops out of the Three Gorges and captured Yiling and Huyashan," Li Yan said.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment and said, "The State of Chen is in decline, and everyone wants to take advantage of the situation to seize the counties. The Sun family is no exception. If our army does not take Ba and Shu, Yiling will be of no use to us. We should meet with Cao Cao's envoy and then form an alliance with Sun Ce in the west to create a three-way alliance."

As he spoke, Liu Bei looked at everyone and said, "After transporting the civilians to Youjiangkou, we will gather our troops in Jiangling and see if we can take the city in one fell swoop before the Tang army arrives."

"Yes, sir!" the crowd responded in unison. That day, as night fell, bonfires were lit. Liu Bei's army camp stood on the riverbank, with a water camp to the south and a land camp to the north.

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), on a field twenty li away from Liu Bei's camp, Tang Qi sat down on the ground, trying to recover his energy as much as possible.

"Report!"

He rode back alone, and because it was late and dark, he almost fell when he dismounted.

The scout staggered to his feet and said, "General, the Southern Chu army camp is lax, and many soldiers are out plundering civilians and have not yet returned."

Upon hearing this, Ma Chao stood up abruptly and said in a deep voice, "Order the entire army to launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei's camp!"

Pound stepped forward and said, "Half of the cavalrymen are still missing. Shall we wait a bit?"

"The enemy's lack of preparedness is truly a stroke of luck!"

Ma Chao said in a heavy voice, "Liu Bei is unaware of this now. If we do not use our troops, all our previous efforts will be in vain once he realizes the danger. Our thousand-odd cavalry will go first to destroy the camp, and the rest of our troops will arrive later to storm the camp. Even if we cannot capture Liu Bei, we can still inflict a great defeat on the enemy. My mind is made up. Let us advance and defeat the enemy!"

"promise!"

Upon receiving the order, the Tang cavalry immediately prepared for battle and marched forward.

Pang De led 500 elite cavalry as the vanguard, Ma Chao led 1,500 cavalry as the center, and 2,000 cavalry followed by Bu Luhu Tuli, for a total of 4,000 elite Tang cavalry, who launched a surprise attack on the Southern Chu army camp.

As dawn approached, the sky grew increasingly dark. Under the cover of darkness, Pang De led five hundred men to the outskirts of the Southern Chu camp.

Because of the urgency to relocate people across the river, the camp was not fortified with trenches, but instead constructed with deer antlers and reinforced with wooden palisades. Only a small number of soldiers were stationed inside and outside the camp.

To avoid being discovered, Pound led five hundred men to dismount and sneak to the edge of the camp.

"Blow the trumpet!"

As soon as the bugle sounded, dozens of men, wielding axes and knives, began hacking at the deer antlers. More than four hundred men followed, armed with horsebows, and opened fire on the patrolling soldiers. Screams shattered the silence of the camp, followed by the sounding of gongs.

Soon, as the deer antlers were opened, the Tang army began to move.

On the dark earth, Ma Chao led over a thousand cavalrymen, galloping like a long dragon into the Southern Chu army camp. The thunderous sound of their hooves was thrilling and greatly intimidated the soldiers of the Southern Chu army.

Along the way, Tang cavalry set fire to camps or brandished swords and spears to kill the enemy.

The soldiers of Southern Chu had been fighting for months, first at Changsha and then besieging Jiangling, leaving them exhausted both physically and mentally. Moreover, Jiangling was sparsely populated and poorly defended. Now, suddenly attacked, they were panicked and confused. The sound of horses' hooves seemed to indicate an enemy cavalry attack from all sides, and they had no idea how many were coming.

Of course, more importantly, the Southern Chu troops lacked experience in large-scale battles and in facing large-scale cavalry night raids. The soldiers scattered and ran around in a panic, like headless flies.

The generals couldn't find their soldiers, and the soldiers couldn't find their generals; chaos reigned, and they were utterly unable to resist the Tang cavalry's attacks. Needless to say, the officers, with their men scattered, were unable to regroup. Under the onslaught of the Tang cavalry, they were forced to surge along with the flow of people, and some even nearly turned on each other.

"kill!"

Two thousand Tang soldiers rioted in the Southern Chu camp, their riders killing anyone they saw and setting the camp ablaze. The flames fueled the chaos within the camp, eventually affecting the local populace and triggering an even larger uprising.

"My lord, let's go!"

Inside the central command tent, Liu Bei was awakened. He then saw his personal guards enter the tent.

"what happened?"

"The Tang army launched a night attack on our camp!"

The guards helped Liu Bei put on his armor and hurriedly said, "Our troops have been scattered and we do not know the number of enemy troops. My lord should board a ship and flee for safety!"

"Where is the strategist?"

Liu Bei hastily wrapped his armor around himself and asked in a disheveled manner.

"The strategist has already been escorted to the ship. My lord, please quickly go to the large ship for refuge," said the guards as they escorted Liu Bei out of the tent.

Seeing his troops running around the camp, Liu Bei felt a pang of pain in his heart, but due to the circumstances, he had no choice but to look after himself.

"Don't let Liu Bei escape!"

In the darkness, the voices of the Tang cavalry rose and fell, continuously offering a reward for Liu Bei.

Seeing this, Liu Bei dared not linger and, under the protection of his personal guards, attempted to board a boat for refuge. However, if Liu Bei and his guards knew that boats could provide refuge, how could the other soldiers not know?

When Liu Bei arrived at the riverbank, many people had already blocked the road, trying to crowd onto the boat.

"Pfft!"

"Step aside!"

The guards decisively swung their swords and severed the arms of the soldiers blocking Liu Bei from boarding the ship. The agonizing screams shocked most of the soldiers. With this bloody deterrent, Liu Bei was able to board the ship safely.

Having boarded the ship, Liu Bei watched the camp engulfed in flames, and couldn't help but sigh as he pounded the side of the boat. The Tang army had arrived far too quickly; he was completely unprepared!

(End of this chapter)