Jinting Han people

Before the battle, the 34,000 soldiers of King Zhao present had already been divided into three parts. Sun Hui led 8,000 men as the main force, while Shi Yi and Xu Chao each led 13,000 men as the left and right wings.

The first to charge into battle were the left wing under Xu Chao's command. Primarily composed of cavalry, supplemented by infantry, tens of thousands of cavalry formed a wedge-shaped vanguard, charging directly towards the rebel army with overwhelming force.

Leading the charge was a thousand fully armored cavalrymen. They carried lances, wore thick, yellow-painted armor, their helmets slung tightly around their necks, and a protective plate extended from their brows to their noses. Their horses were tall and strong, clad in silver-white iron armor, with indescribable patterns painted on their hoods. Each hooves kicked up a cloud of dust.

While these men were not as skilled as the Shanggu Camp, their weaponry was in no way inferior. Xu Chao, as the leader of these knights, was extremely proud of them and named them the "Qubing Camp," meaning that their army was as unstoppable as the army of Huo Qubing, the champion general of yesteryear.

However, they were unimpressed by Zhao Xiang's troops who met them head-on. After all, the heavy cavalry wasn't particularly fast, and from a distance, they didn't seem anything special. Furthermore, they hadn't been on the battlefield for too long and had been subjected to too much propaganda from the rebel army; subconsciously, they believed the enemy was nothing more than a paper tiger, easily defeated. They thought that with a little courage and a bit of fighting, they could easily draw blood and achieve victory.

Even Zhao Xiang, the general facing them directly, thought so. Instead of ordering his troops to scatter, he commanded them to gather and gave the order:
"Don't be afraid! These thieves are just making a last-ditch effort to intimidate us. The spirit of a brave warrior is that soldiers must dare to engage in hand-to-hand combat on horseback. Do you think our righteous army is more cowardly than these thieves? Follow me and charge ahead! Let's fight them a hundred rounds and see who is the hero!"

Having said that, he immediately sent his cousin Zhao Sheng out and pointed to the enemy cavalry riding towards them, saying, "Go and capture the enemy general, so that those Henan people will know that our Hebei cavalry is superior!"

In fact, given the wealth of the Northern Expeditionary Army, it certainly didn't lack armored cavalry. Under Zhao Xiang's command, there were over four hundred fully armed armored cavalrymen. While the number was less than the enemy's, it wasn't small either. However, unlike the Luoyang Imperial Guards, these armored cavalrymen weren't concentrated in one unit; instead, they were distributed among the squad leaders within the cavalry units to identify themselves and facilitate command.

Zhao Sheng wore standard armored cavalry gear, identical in style to that of his opponent. However, to distinguish himself, his armor was adorned with exceptionally ornate decorations. He first donned a cloak painted with the image of Xing Tian, ​​and his iron helmet was embroidered with a gold plate bearing the character for "bravery." His mount's visor and saddle were padded with frightening tiger skins, and dozens of bells hung from them. When he moved, he was truly extraordinary, immediately attracting the attention of those around him.

Zhao Sheng was equally smug. He had honed his spear skills on the training ground and believed that today was the day he would finally achieve fame and glory. He immediately bowed to Zhao Xiang and said, "I ask my elder brother to witness my bravery!"

Having said this, he shouted with fervor, ordering his cavalry to wave their banners and gallop forward, charging towards the oncoming cavalry. At the same time, Zhao Xiang sounded his horns, and thousands of cavalry followed closely behind, quickly forming a surging torrent. Dust rose from the ground, forming a visible smokescreen in the air. These two massive smokescreens, like the cloaks of the two armies of cavalry, moved slowly, and with the first charge of the army below, they collided simultaneously, then intertwined and crisscrossed.

Sun Hui, watching from his main camp, was somewhat terrified. Since the two armies began their formal engagement, he had been watching the densely packed rebel soldiers crossing the river from all directions, almost completely covering it. This scene overwhelmed him with panic, and he couldn't help but stand on his saddle, frequently glancing at Xu Chao's army's battle situation ahead.

Although Xu Chao and Shi Yi had devised a plan for him to support the vanguard when the opportunity arose, Sun Hui completely ignored it. The obvious disadvantage in troop strength made him prepare for another scenario: if the battle at the front turned unfavorable, he would abandon Xu Chao and Shi Yi's remaining two armies and retreat directly back into the city.

Therefore, when the vanguards of the two armies clashed, he was extremely anxious. However, the smoke obscured the view ahead, making it difficult for him to see clearly; he could only hear the deafening shouts of battle. He had to repeatedly ask Sun Mao beside him, "Brother Wende, who is gaining the upper hand?"

Sun Mao was the son of Sun Qi and an advisor specially sent by Sun Xiu to Sun Hui. He had served as a county magistrate in Yangzhou and had suppressed some bandits, so he had some military experience. Although it was his first time on a battlefield of this scale and he couldn't see the specific situation through the smoke screen, he still pretended to be calm, listened attentively for a while, and said without changing his expression:

"Marshal, the enemy has come from afar and is exhausted. They have engaged our army in battle without rest. Our army, on the other hand, has been well-rested and is better equipped than the enemy. In comparison, our army is definitely in a superior position."

"I see..." Sun Hui was skeptical, but at least he didn't leave the battlefield immediately.

In the center of the battle, the first charge of the two vanguards was a draw. The two armies crisscrossed each other, some men were struck in the breastplate by the impact, losing their balance and falling from their horses to the ground, where they were trampled by the hooves of both their own and the enemy's horses—a trampling that even the strongest armor could not withstand. In this horrific scene, men instinctively reined in their horses to slow their pace, and then began to fight each other at close range.

Zhao Sheng, who had diligently practiced horsemanship and often hunted in the mountains to hone his courage, felt an immense sense of exhilaration upon entering the battlefield for the first time. Like a fish swimming freely, he moved through the battle formation with ease, relying on his armored cavalry's superior defense. Sometimes he would thrust his spear into the belly of an enemy rider on one side, and sometimes he would strike at an enemy rider on the other. When the enemy shot arrows at him, he was completely unafraid, instead actively pursuing and killing the archers with his spear. After several rounds, he and his eight attendants had killed more than twenty riders in the battle, a truly remarkable feat.

Each time Zhao Sheng killed a rider, he would feel smug and order his riders to shout, "The killer is Zhao Sheng of Wei Commandery!"

But as time went on, he gradually realized something was wrong. He thought that after killing so many enemies that he was covered in blood, the enemy should have been frightened and retreated. But his actual feeling was quite the opposite; on the contrary, more and more enemy cavalry gathered around him, gradually threatening to surround him.

He turned his head again and saw that his own cavalry was in disarray, their flags were askew, and most of the corpses on the ground were wearing the black armor of the Northern Expeditionary Army. This scene was completely different from what he had imagined, leaving him feeling bewildered.

As the battle raged back and forth, the armored cavalry of King Zhao's army gradually revealed their terrifying power. They continued to advance inward, and although the casualties were not great, they could not be stopped. More and more rebels were broken apart and scattered, and then lost their organization and command.

In war, organization is life; soldiers who lose their organization are chaotic and ineffective. They remain on the battlefield only because of courage, but courage can be exhausted, and once exhausted, all that remains is confusion.

Zhao Sheng is currently in this situation. Although he is a skilled general, without organization and command, despite having a numerical advantage, he receives no effective support and is instead surrounded by a larger enemy force, resulting in a localized situation of numerical superiority. Repeated occurrences of this will further erode the morale of the rebel army, shifting the tide of the war in Zhao's favor.

The commander of the Zhao army surrounding Zhao Sheng was He Gui, Xu Chao's brother-in-law. Seeing Zhao Sheng's flamboyant attire, He Gui assumed he held a high position in the rebel army and immediately led his cavalry to attack. To minimize casualties, they first unleashed a hail of arrows; after two volleys, more than half of Zhao Sheng's cavalry had been killed or wounded. He then ordered his men to charge forward with their spears, simultaneously thrusting at Zhao Sheng from four directions. Even with Zhao Sheng's superior martial skills, he couldn't withstand such a fierce attack. He swung his spear wildly, but only for a moment before his strength waned and his breathing became labored. He Gui seized the opportunity, striking Zhao Sheng hard in the back with the shaft of his spear. Zhao Sheng immediately felt a surge of weakness, then felt dizzy, lost his stirrups, and fell to the muddy ground. His spear and quiver were knocked to the ground, and his ring-pommel sword was nowhere to be seen.

He Gui's cavalryman circled around behind him, suddenly leaped off his horse, and struck him on the back of the head with the back of his blade, knocking him unconscious. Then, he pounced on top of him and severed his head. The cavalryman lifted Zhao Sheng's head, tied it in a knot with his hair, and held it on his head, shouting excitedly and mockingly:
"With the captain's help, we killed one bandit general and one nameless thief!"

This scenario frequently occurred on the battlefields of the two armies. The so-called stalemate actually lasted only five or six rounds, after which the Zhao King's army's advantage became readily apparent. Then, Shi Yi's right wing followed up with an encirclement, further tearing apart and scattering Zhao Xiang's forces.

Zhao Xiang sent his men forward to fight, only to find that none of them could match him. He was filled with fear and asked his attendant, "How could this be? What should we do?"

The attendant hurriedly said, "General, we must quickly seek reinforcements!"

Before this, Zhao Xiang had intended to claim all the credit for suppressing the rebels for himself, but upon hearing this suggestion, he was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Yes! Yes!" He then sent more than ten messengers to both sides to request aid from Shi Chao's and Gao Yuan's tribes, who were still crossing the river.

However, Shi Chao and Gao Yuan could clearly see that Zhao Xiang's troops were in a state of collapse.

All of this happened too quickly, in just an hour, and their men had barely crossed half the river. Those further away hadn't even reached a third of the way. Moreover, crossing the river had expended far more energy than expected. Under these circumstances, while not exactly exhausted, they were close. They all suspected that by joining the battle, they would become part of the rout.

After careful consideration, both men chose to remain still and hold their ground until reinforcements arrived before launching a counterattack.

But things have come to this point, and the situation will not develop as the losing side imagined.

Seeing that reinforcements were not arriving and the enemy was already close to the center of the army, Zhao Xiang could hardly hold on any longer. He ordered his soldiers to fire three more arrows at the enemy, which would be his last act, and then spurred his horse to retreat towards Huangqiao.

With the commander's flag lowered, the remaining soldiers who were still holding on lost all courage, turned around, and began to scramble to retreat to the north bank. With such chaos, and only one pontoon bridge available for retreat, most of the remaining soldiers had no choice but to attempt to swim across the river.

Once in the water, how could they retaliate? Seeing this, the Zhao King's cavalry burst into laughter. They drove the rebel soldiers into the river like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, then stood on the bank and fired arrows indiscriminately, turning the rebel soldiers into sitting ducks.

At this point, Zhao Xiang's forces completely collapsed. Worse still, they had also ceded the flanks of Shi Chao and Gao Yuan's forces. Even more critically, Shi Chao and Gao Yuan's forces were still not fully reorganized at this point.

Even someone as ignorant of military strategy as Sun Hui could see it now: "Haha, is the opposing commander an idiot? There's clearly a bridge, yet he's sending six teams to cross the river! And to make matters worse, he's not even using boats! Can someone like that go to the battlefield?"

Completely forgetting his initial intention to flee, and in his ecstatic joy at the prospect of victory, he loudly ordered his attendants to wave flags and beat drums, issuing the order for a general offensive:

"Gentlemen, fight for the country! Those who achieve merit will be rewarded!"

He openly scattered the gold and silver he had brought on the ground, which shimmered with a mesmerizing light in the sunlight. Upon hearing this, the soldiers of King Zhao's army were greatly encouraged and charged towards the riverbank without hesitation.

They attacked Shi Chao's troops first. Seeing Zhao Xiang's forces crumble, the soldiers at the front were filled with fear; their hands gripping their swords trembled uncontrollably. When the enemy's ferocious faces were close at hand, they finally lost control. Just one person's collapse and scream, followed by a flight of terror, caused the entire formation to crumble like an avalanche, the whole column breaking apart and spreading out of control.

When the second rebel army also reached its end, needless to say, all the rebels began to swim in terror, trying to quickly return to the north bank and escape the south bank, which had become a slaughterhouse. Only after their courage had completely dissipated did they realize with a start that they were also ordinary people, and that they too felt pain when blades sliced ​​through their flesh. War is not a game where having lofty ideals guarantees victory.

Once this is recognized, one discovers how vulnerable one truly is. The rebel soldiers tumbled in the water, trampling over the corpses of their comrades; many, exhausted, collapsed completely in the blood-red river. Even those who managed to escape were hunted down by the Zhao King's army soldiers who seized the opportunity to cross the river.

Under the protection of his attendants, Shi Chao retreated twenty li in one breath, just in time to run into the main force of the Hebei rebel army that was charging forward. Although the main force did not know the specific situation, seeing the routed soldiers and corpses everywhere, they knew that the vanguard had suffered a crushing defeat.

Shi Chao reported his observations to Sima Ying, the Prince of Chengdu, describing the devastating defeat at the front: "I heard that when Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, people often said that the Si River stopped flowing. I thought this was an exaggeration and not to be believed. Today, after the Battle of Huangqiao, the river is full of floating corpses, and the clear water flows freely. This proves it to be true." (End of Chapter)