Taiheiki

Chapter 184 Breakthrough
"War elephants are very powerful?"

"Yes! They run almost as fast as horses, are tall and strong, can wear thick armor, and have a terrifying roar. Their noses and teeth can easily kill the bravest warriors and break through the strongest ranks. Most importantly, war elephants have a scent that warhorses will find frightening, making them a real problem for cavalry! My easy victory this time was all thanks to my cavalry. If there were a dozen or so war elephants, my cavalry wouldn't have been able to break through the enemy ranks so easily!"

"That powerful?" Yuan Shao asked in surprise, "Then how do you plan to deal with it?"

"As powerful as it is, it still has weaknesses!" Wei Cong laughed. "For example, fire, and barbed wire. No matter how powerful this war elephant is, it is still just a wild beast. As long as we find its weaknesses, we can eventually deal with it!"

"Iron caltrops? It seems you were prepared all along!" Yuan Shao, hearing the ceaseless clanging of iron in the blacksmith's shop during his time in Longbian, felt reassured: "So what should we do now?"

"Just like the Occupy people, dig earth and build walls!"

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When King Qu Heng of Linyi learned of the defeat of his vanguard, he was having dinner with his generals. The terrible news enraged him so much that he spat out his food, drew his sword, and roared, "Where is Qu Kan? I entrusted the vanguard to him, and this is how he repays me? I swear I will slit his throat and use his blood to quell my anger!"

"He's dead!" the messenger replied tremblingly. "Your brother is dead. He was shot by a Han arrow, fell from his horse, and was trampled to death!"

“Your Majesty, please calm down! The defeat has already occurred, and further anger will not help. Let the messenger recount the events so we can learn from them!” An elderly man with gray hair stood up. He was Qu Heng’s youngest uncle and a priest of Indra, renowned for his erudition and wisdom. After receiving Qu Heng’s permission, he said to the messenger, “Don’t panic. The king’s anger is directed at the enemy, not at you! Now, slowly recount the entire incident, making sure to include all the details, and speak at your own pace!”

The messenger thanked the priest and carefully recounted the entire battle. After the messenger finished speaking, the old priest asked a few more questions before asking him to wait aside. He then said to the king, "Your Majesty, we should stop immediately, build fortifications, and guard against a surprise attack by the Han people!"

"Stop building fortifications?" Qu Heng snorted coldly. "Is it necessary? Qu Kan was defeated by the Han people entirely because he was too careless. He was attacked from behind by the Han people while besieging the enemy city, which led to his utter defeat."

"No, I just asked. Qu Kan set up sentries and deployed troops along the routes the Han people might take. It's just that the Han cavalry came too fast and too fiercely. That's why they were defeated so quickly! I've heard that the Han people from Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou are very good at riding horses. They walk on horseback just like southerners. This Governor Wei must be from one of these places, so his cavalry is very powerful. We can't treat him like the Han people from Jiaozhou!"

"Even if the Han cavalry is powerful, we have war elephants. Can horses be more powerful than elephants?" Qu Heng said angrily. "If the Han dare to send cavalry again, I will show them the power of war elephants. We have 30,000 men, and the vanguard is only 2,000. Even if we lose them all, we will still have 28,000 men. How can we stop because of a small setback? Pass down the order to continue the advance tomorrow and head straight for Xupu City!"

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Due to the unexpected actions of the King of Linyi, the Han army, which was building fortifications, discovered the approaching enemy forces the evening after their victory. Wei Cong had no choice but to order his soldiers to stop building fortifications and enter the half-finished walls to prepare to resist the enemy's attack.

"It seems the King of Lin-yi didn't do as we expected!" Yuan Shao laughed.

"These barbarians who know nothing of military strategy!" Wei Cong looked at the enemy army ahead with some dissatisfaction. The Cham army's appearance was indeed intimidating; nearly 30,000 men stretched out, seemingly endless in the distance. The sounds of drums and horns, footsteps, and the bellowing of elephants, along with the flickering lights in the distance—the Cham reinforcements—were all present. Wei Cong subconsciously took a deep breath. He suddenly realized that this was probably the first time he had faced such a large army.

"Godfather!" Nie Sheng cried out, "Please allow your son to challenge the thieves, kill them, and crush their morale!"

"Wait!" Wei Cong turned around and looked behind him, shouting, "Zhebie, Meng Gaogong, today is the day for you two to make a name for yourselves. You two will accompany my son to provide support. If my son returns safely, each of you will be rewarded with fifty gold pieces!"

"Yes, sir!" Jebe and Meng Gaogong responded in unison, donning their armor and following Nie Sheng. Wei Cong and the others climbed to a high vantage point and saw Nie Sheng leading over a hundred cavalrymen out from the west of the Han army formation, heading towards the east side of the Zhanren formation. When they were within an arrow's distance, Nie Sheng suddenly shouted and charged ahead towards the east side of the enemy formation. The Zhanren all drew their bows and shot at him, but Nie Sheng's men were all armored, and the arrows could not penetrate. With Meng Gaogong leading the way, wielding a seven-foot spear in his left hand and a sword in his right, he cut down those who stood in his way, penetrating the enemy formation. Those who were close were stabbed with horse spears, and those who were far away were shot with arrows. In a short while, he broke through the formation and charged back. The Zhanren were terrified and scattered. Just as the cavalry had charged back into their formation, they suddenly heard a series of loud noises from the Zhanren army. Several horses at the rear suddenly went weak, throwing their riders to the ground. Among them was Nie Sheng.

"Young master has fallen from his horse! Turn back and help him!" Zhebie shouted as he turned his horse around and came to Nie Sheng's side. He dismounted and helped Nie Sheng up, saying, "Young master, quickly get on my horse!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Nie Sheng asked anxiously.

"Jebe is nothing but a barbarian slave. The governor can do without Jebe, but not without the young master!" Jebe helped Nie Sheng onto his horse while taking the quiver from Nie Sheng's mount and hanging it at his waist. At this moment, Meng Gaogong also turned back and protected Nie Sheng as they charged out of the formation. Just then, a giant beast charged towards them. It was about two people tall, wearing bronze armor, with a long nose and white teeth. Its roar was like the collapse of the heavens and the earth. The surrounding Zhan people all made way. Nie Sheng's mount went limp and let out a mournful cry, clearly frightened by the giant beast.

"Damn it, this must be the war elephant my godfather spoke of!" Nie Sheng sighed. "Is this the end of my life?"

Seeing the colossal beast's imposing size and bronze armor, Jebe feared that even if arrows struck its vital points, they wouldn't be able to harm it. He drew his bow fully, aimed at the beast's right eye, and silently prayed, "May the gods protect me! If this is not my day of death, I will strike its eye with this arrow!" He released the bowstring, and in the blink of an eye, the arrow, like a shooting star, streaked across the sky, striking the war elephant squarely in the right eye. The beast, suddenly wounded, howled in agony. The charioteer, shouting and whipping the elephant from its back, could no longer control it. The beast's trunk lashed out wildly, and it turned and charged into the nearby Zhan army ranks. The Zhan ranks were thrown into chaos, with dead and wounded everywhere. Nie Sheng and the others, witnessing this, were horrified and quickly seized the opportunity to spur their horses out of the Zhan ranks and head towards the Han army's lines. Nie Sheng and the others returned to the Han army's ranks and recounted the terrifying nature of the war elephant to Wei Cong. Nie Sheng concluded, "Father, this colossal beast, clad in heavy armor, charged into the Cham army's ranks, instantly causing them to crumble and be trampled into countless corpses. It was truly beyond human capability to withstand. If Jebe hadn't shot it in the eye today, I certainly wouldn't be back today!"

“Jebie saved you, so I will reward him!” Wei Cong laughed. “As for that war elephant, although it is magnificent, as an animal, it is too afraid of pain and too intelligent. This makes it too unpredictable on the battlefield. Have you ever thought about what would have happened if that wounded war elephant had charged back to the Zhanren commander’s banner?”

“Then, I’m afraid even the King of Linyi will have to avoid his sharp edge!” Nie Sheng said.

“Indeed, when two armies are locked in battle, countless eyes are fixed on their own commander’s banner. The slightest wavering can lead to irreparable consequences. Therefore, if war elephants are used improperly, they can be even more dangerous to our side!” Wei Cong’s smile vanished as he said this: “However, warhorses are easily startled by the scent of war elephants, so we must be careful. Unless absolutely necessary, the cavalry should not move rashly!”

"Here!"

This fierce yet brief skirmish served as a punctuation mark, bringing the fighting to an abrupt halt. Both Wei Cong's Han army and the Lin-yi army simultaneously laid down their spears, picked up hoes, and began constructing fortifications. Wei Cong's army was extremely experienced in this area, and they had made more thorough preparations, had shorter supply lines, and had gained the upper hand, having already begun construction some time prior. Therefore, in just seven or eight days, they had largely completed the fortifications—a complete set of trenches, earthen ramparts, and palisades; the trenches were also lined with bamboo spikes and barbed wire. Of course, Wei Cong had also prepared hundreds of two-wheeled carts to deal with war elephants—these carts would be filled with flammable materials on the battlefield, lit, and pushed towards the charging elephants, using the flames to repel these intelligent beasts.

Having completed his own fortifications, Wei Cong began to cause trouble for the enemy—he dispatched his fleet to attack Cham ships. Although the battlefield was only six or seven days' journey from the Cham capital, water transport was still much cheaper than land transport. After several minor skirmishes, Wei Cong's fleet forced the Cham to abandon water transport and switch to land routes. Wei Cong's fleet then continuously landed and attacked Cham transport convoys on shore, forcing the Cham to build fortifications and station troops along the way to ensure the safety of their supply lines.

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At the dining table of the King of Linyi.

"Has the grain transport team been attacked again?" Qu Heng asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The messenger's voice trembled with fear. His chest, covered in dried bloodstains, was stained with what appeared to be the blood of an enemy or his own.

This is the third time in the last ten days! Qu Anxin thought to himself. He picked up his water glass, took a sip, and remained silent. He thought about the amount of wild vegetables he saw in the soup pot surrounded by soldiers when he arrived. If you want people to fight desperately, you should at least fill their stomachs first. This is not a good omen.

The generals who were dining with the King of Lin-yi fell silent, listening to the messenger recount the events. Inside the spacious, well-ventilated tent, only the crackling of the firewood in the stove could be heard.

In recent days, the King of Lin-yi had strictly ordered his fleet to repel the incursions of the Han Chinese fleets, and at least to protect the safety of the grain transport convoys on shore. Qu An scoffed at this order. After seeing the enemy's warships with his own eyes, he understood it was a hopeless battle—the Han ships were larger, faster, and sturdier, and they carried many weapons the Zhan people had never seen before.
For example, rams, battering rams, crossbows, and various incendiary devices. Therefore, he fully supported Bafa's order to hide the ships in remote harbors to avoid battle and preserve them. For this, he was whipped by the King of Linyi. Even so, Qu An still reported everything he had seen and heard to his father exactly as it was: "If you insist on fighting the Han people at sea, Bafa will definitely leave with his ships, and the remaining ships will soon be sunk by the Han people."

Fortunately, Qu Heng hadn't lost his temper. Despite his extreme anger, he withdrew his order and instead instructed Qu An to build a fortress at regular intervals along the coast to monitor the sea. Upon spotting Han ships, they were to light beacon fires, allowing nearby supply convoys to retreat to the fortresses for defense and mutual support. This was a good idea, to say the least. However, the problem was that Qu An lacked the manpower and resources to build these fortresses. He was forced to forcibly conscript Han people along the route, which further fueled resistance. Combined with Wei Cong's frequently active fleet at sea, this worsened the Lin-yi army's supply lines.

"If that's the case, then it's terrible!" a general sighed. "My army only has enough food for five days. If this continues, the soldiers will only be able to eat one meal a day!"

"One meal a day? Soldiers won't just stay in the barracks and starve! They'll find their own food, like you!" Qu An sneered inwardly.

"This can't go on!" Qu Heng said. "We have to think of a way, otherwise starving soldiers will do anything, not to mention there are Han Chinese troops on the other side!"

"Why not send more people to protect the grain convoy?" someone asked. "We have plenty of troops!"

"Because the people protecting the grain convoy also need to eat. If we send too many soldiers to protect the convoy, even less grain will be delivered to the camp! Besides, most of our manpower has been used to build fortifications recently, so we can't spare that many people!" King Linyi explained.

"Now we can allocate troops to protect the grain transport team!" someone said. "Also, when will we engage the Han forces on the front lines? Your Majesty, didn't you say before you set out that you were going to attack Longbian City? We can't just stand there in a stalemate with the Han forces through our fortifications, can we?"

King Lin Yi turned to examine the person who had raised the question. Qu An saw a cold glint flash in his father's pupils, which was not a good sign. Although it was indeed a good question, Qu An knew that when his father couldn't solve a problem, he would usually choose to eliminate the person who raised it.

(End of this chapter)