Jinting Han people

The defeat at Huangqiao was a devastating blow to the Hebei rebels.

Before the battle began, everyone recalled Sun Xiu and Sima Lun's poor performance in Chang'an, and learned that the enemy's commander was Sun Xiu's son, a former horse trader, with a mere 30,000 troops who did not occupy any famous or strategic locations. Considering all these factors, Zhao Ni should have been easily defeated, and the rebel army could defeat him as easily as knocking down an upright chopstick.

The reality, however, was extremely cruel. It wasn't the Zhao King's army that was utterly defeated, but rather the Hebei rebel army, which possessed a numerical advantage. In the process, the rebel army didn't even put up any decent resistance and was predictably routed. By the time Sima Ying, the Prince of Chengdu, learned of the news, the mountains and plains were already littered with his own routed troops.

Upon receiving reports from Shi Chao, Zhao Xiang, and others, Sima Ying was greatly alarmed. He immediately ordered the entire army to halt and turn back to the Chaoge camp.

The Chaoge camp was about eighty li from Ji County. When Sima Ying ordered the army to turn back, they had already marched about fifty li. Now, leading his troops back along the same route, they had to travel another fifty li. In total, they had marched a hundred li in one day.

By the time they returned to the Chaoge camp, it was already late at night, and all the soldiers were exhausted.

Some men, after removing their armor, collapsed to the ground, panting, too weak even to sit up and eat; others managed to hold on, but their legs trembled uncontrollably as they braced themselves with their weapons; still others had blisters on their feet, which they carefully pricked with red-hot iron needles upon returning to camp, causing pus to flow out and filling the camp with a nauseating stench.

But no one had time to think about those things. Those who hadn't experienced the battlefield firsthand were busy asking: What exactly happened on the front lines? Why did we lose so decisively?
Those who were truly fighting on the front lines were mostly already dead. The fleeing soldiers who managed to escape immediately were largely unaware of the actual situation; even those who managed to get a general idea from a distance were considered extremely lucky. Most didn't know the specific details; they only knew that the vanguard had been defeated, and then they were swept up by the fleeing soldiers and became part of the new fleeing army.

These people then embellished the story, saying: "As soon as our army crossed the river, the enemy charged at us. Our army fought bravely, but for some reason, the enemy's tall horses came at us, frightening our horses into retreating repeatedly. Their weapons were also sharp; their long spears could even cut through our swords and spears, and their armor was impervious to blades and spears. That's how we were defeated by the enemy, who won with fewer troops and crushed our forces."

Humans are inherently ashamed to admit their own weakness, and to avoid this, they often exaggerate the strength of others. Furthermore, humans are instinctively afraid—afraid of not being able to control their own destiny—and thus believe that the world possesses an uncontrollable, magical force that leaves them with no way out. Combining these two factors, the truth is gradually buried, and rumors and legends are born.

At this time, a new legend was born. The soldiers of the Hebei rebel army spread the word that Sun Xiu, the strategist of the current King of Zhao, was the chief priest of the Five Pecks of Rice sect and knew the magic of the Celestial Master. He set up an altar on Mount Song to worship the heavens, and was assisted by ghost soldiers sent by Emperor Xuan of Jin. The ghost soldiers were invisible and intangible, but could exert divine power on the enemy army. Our army could not defeat these ghost soldiers and therefore suffered a crushing defeat.

Overnight, the rumor spread throughout the entire rebel camp, and as more and more defeated soldiers returned from the south, the morale of the rebels was completely crushed. Many people had lost their will to fight, and even the blind could feel the depressed atmosphere in the camp.

With things having come to this point, the generals in the army knew that things were in grave danger. So after returning to their camp and resting for only a short while, Sima Ying, the Prince of Chengdu, ordered all officers of the sixth rank and above to gather in the main tent for a military meeting.

But once everyone had arrived, no one dared to speak first. After all, the defeat had been far too devastating, and no one could be held responsible. Anyone who spoke first, whether offering comfort or encouragement, would likely fail to appease the crowd and instead become the target of their venting anger. Thus, a hundred or so men stood disheveled in the command tent, yet only a stifling silence prevailed.

Sima Ying had been thoroughly exhausted along the way and was quite annoyed. However, he was gentle by nature, and upon seeing the dejected and disheveled appearance of his generals in the tent, his anger subsided, and he even felt sympathy for the defeated soldiers.

He said to everyone, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Why are you all so discouraged? Let bygones be bygones! I called you all here to resolve the issue, not to make you accept punishment."

Then he said to the vanguard generals, "General Zhao (Zhao Xiang), General Shi (Shi Chao), and General Gao (Gao Yuan), you have all fought on the front lines and suffered the heaviest losses. Tell us first, what is the current situation? How many men have our army lost?"

Zhao Xiang was the main force in the defeat. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I originally had 6,000 cavalry and 9,000 infantry. But in today's battle, the cavalry was almost completely wiped out, and only about half of the infantry escaped. However, we lost almost all of our armor and weapons."

These words caused an uproar. In other words, after the battle, Zhao Xiang's troops had lost nearly 10,000 men, and even if some of the defeated soldiers were later gathered together, it would be difficult for them to regain their fighting strength.

Then came the reports from Shi Chao and Gao Yuan. Their troops had suffered fewer casualties than Zhao Xiang's, but the situation was still far from optimistic. The combined casualties of the three divisions amounted to at least 20,000. If the losses of weapons and armor were also taken into account, the rebel army would likely have 40,000 troops rendered unable to fight.

In contrast, considering the casualties of the Zhao army, Zhao Xiang estimated that the enemy had likely lost fewer than two thousand men. If this were the case, the casualty ratio between the two armies would be an absurd one to twenty.

No one could accept this outcome calmly, and the military tent was immediately filled with clamor as the generals who had not participated in the battle began to criticize the vanguard generals.

Right Chief Secretary He Yan was the first to challenge, "What power does the rebel army have? The rebel leader is nothing but a horse trader, yet you can't even defeat him. Is the rice and flour in Hebei all fed to gluttons?"

Li Yi, the governor of Ji Province, also said: "Before the war started, you were all vying for credit and boasting about your inevitable victory. How come you were so easily defeated on the battlefield? Your Highness really misjudged you. You are all talk and no action!"

Prefect Qian Xiu of Wei Commandery put it even more bluntly: "Your Highness, such a crushing defeat has disrupted the morale of the army. It is all due to their incompetence that the battle went poorly! They should be executed now to show Your Highness's impartiality in rewards and punishments!"

This attitude angered Zhao Xiang and others. Shi Chao, who had a bad temper, immediately retorted: "Losing a battle means beheading? Fine! Cut off my head now, hang it on the gate tower, and then go fight another battle. Let me see if you return victorious, or if your head will be cut off and join me in death!"

After this was said, a bunch of people tried to smooth things over. After all, most of those present were just going through the motions; no one dared to guarantee victory. Why ruin relationships over one or two battles?
But Qianxiu's grandfather was the famous general Qian Zhao, and he himself had a good reputation. He would never tolerate Shi Chao, and immediately retorted sarcastically, "Fine, just you wait and see! Don't think that everyone is like you, capable of disgracing your grandfather (Shi Bao)!"

Enraged by this, Shi Chao drew his sword on the spot, determined to fight him to the death. Qian Xiu, equally unwilling to back down, retorted defiantly, "Come on if you dare!" The scholars present immediately split into two factions, some trying to break up the fight, while others watched the spectacle. The scene was chaotic and disorderly, with no semblance of order whatsoever.

Seeing this, Sima Ying was at his wit's end, but having no other choice, he got up and went to the front of the crowd to mediate, saying, "We are all righteous men who are trying to relieve the country's worries, why do this?"

Unfortunately, his tone was too low, and no one listened to him; the commotion continued as usual. This angered Sima Ying, who raised her voice, unusually stern, and said:

"Stop fooling around! Haven't you made a fool of yourself big enough this time?!"

After these words, the tent finally fell silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Sima Ying with extremely awkward and comical expressions. Seeing the blazing fire in Sima Ying's eyes, they were somewhat bewildered. Sima Ying became even more furious and shouted again, "Aren't you going back to your ranks?! If you want to kill someone, you don't need to kill anyone else. Just draw your swords and kill me with one blow! Whoever has the ability can become the commander!"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly returned to their formation, knelt on one knee, and whispered their apologies to Sima Ying.

Sima Ying calmed down somewhat and slowly walked back to the headquarters. While composing himself, he said, "I was the commander-in-chief in this battle. All the military orders came from me. If we lost the battle, I should bear the responsibility. If anyone should be beheaded, it should be me. What are you all shouting about here?"

"What good will arguing here do? We're here to discuss future plans, not to blame each other. The question now is, what's the next step?"

He said to Zheng Yan, the Right Chief Secretary beside him, "Lord Zheng, you are my Right Chief Secretary. Lord Lu is not here. Do you have any good suggestions for me?"

After pondering for a moment, Zheng Yan replied, “Your Highness, the most urgent task is of course to restore morale. However, we are currently in Chaoge, a place we have no confidence in, and the people’s hearts are not with us. We are only eighty li away from the enemy, and the enemy can arrive in a day or two. We may start a battle at any time. Moreover, our army has suffered such heavy casualties and our morale is so low that we are afraid we will be no match for them.”

"Your Highness, in my opinion, we should first withdraw our troops and return to Ye City to reorganize them."

"Reorganize the army?" Sima Ying asked, somewhat unwilling. "Our army has suffered fewer than 20,000 casualties, and there are still 150,000 soldiers available to fight at the front. Are we just going to retreat like this?"

"Your Highness, this is something we have no choice but to do!"

Zheng Yan earnestly explained, "Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei, wrote in a poem: 'When the army is united, its strength is not aligned, and it hesitates and flies in formation.' This describes the coalition against Dong Zhuo back then. Although they had a large number of people and great power, they failed to achieve anything because their hearts were not united and they could not reach a consensus."

"The same applies to our army. The reason for this disastrous defeat is not because our army lacks strategists and capable generals, but because of the flawed military system, conflicting orders, and poor discipline. Solving this problem requires a lot of time to reorganize, and we also need a commander who can train and train the troops. These are not things that can be solved in a short time."

"But the King of Qi in the south..."

“Your Highness, we are only facing Sun Hui, but the Prince of Qi is facing Meng Guan! Even we cannot win quickly, and I do not expect the Prince of Qi to be able to either. If he can really break through Meng Guan and enter Luoyang, we will have no choice but to admit defeat.”

Upon hearing this, Sima Ying had no choice but to consult the opinions of the other generals. The vanguard generals, still shaken by the defeat at Huangqiao, all agreed to withdraw their troops back to Ye. The generals who had not participated in the battle, seeing the state of the army, were also somewhat hesitant to fight, and apart from a very few, such as Qian Xiu, they could not offer any objections.

Thus, an agreement was reached that after having breakfast the next day, they would abandon Chaoge and return to Yecheng, and the military meeting would end there.

After the generals dispersed, Sima Ying extinguished the lamps in his tent, intending to rest. However, thinking of the events of the meeting, he felt a tightness in his chest and lay on the bed in the commander's tent, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. At that moment, Meng Jiu quietly entered the tent with a candle, illuminating her own smile in the candlelight, and softly asked, "Your Highness, are you not used to lying here?"

Before Sima Ying could say anything, he had already put down the candle, naturally slipped into the quilt, and nestled against Sima Ying's chest. His beautiful face was flushed, and he hummed softly:
“Those people will never understand His Highness’s good intentions.”

Meng Jiu wrapped his arms around Sima Ying and pressed them against him, which made him feel great. Sima Ying sighed, "Yes, these people are all only thinking about vying for credit and recognition, but there are very few who have real talent and ability."

Meng Jiu muttered to himself, "Alas, you have suffered so much, working tirelessly for the country every day, yet these people can't even do this simple thing right. They truly deserve to die!"

He displayed an attitude in front of Sima Ying that seemed to indicate he deeply loved the Prince of Chengdu, considering only the Prince's feelings and nothing else. This seemingly unconditional care made Sima Ying feel completely comfortable, and even knowing he was talking nonsense, he didn't want to investigate. Instead, it stirred his masculine feelings, and he passionately kissed his lips, saying joyfully:

"Forget about those annoying mundane matters. Leisure time is precious, so let's enjoy ourselves!"

And so, while the soldiers were exhausted, Sima Ying was enjoying himself with Meng Jiu. The two made love for most of the hour before finally falling into a deep sleep, completely satisfied.

Time flew by in his sleep, but for some reason, some undeniable noises appeared in his dream, startling Sima Ying awake from his drowsy state. He sat up and stared blankly at the still dark military tent.

A moment later, a guard rushed into the tent to report to Sima Ying. Upon opening the tent, he was shocked to find Sima Ying sitting there disheveled, his bare arms exposed. He immediately knelt down and reported, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened!"

This immediately woke Sima Ying. Even with his good temper, he felt embarrassed in this situation and immediately rebuked him angrily:
"What could be so important! Get out of here! If you don't leave, I'll skin you alive!"

But the guard's next words immediately changed his expression. He said, "Your Highness, the Zhao rebels have attacked! The army is in chaos. Run!"

Sima Ying hurriedly went to the tent entrance to look. Under the gloomy sky, there was a chaotic crowd everywhere: around the camp, there were wildfires burning out of control from time to time, and there were runaway horses galloping wildly on the camp road. The flags along the way were scattered and lying in all directions.

The dome was filled with an aura of fear.

Upon seeing this, Sima Ying felt dizzy. Without suspecting anything, he didn't even have time to put on his armor; he simply threw on two robes, hastily mounted his horse, and galloped towards Ye City, surrounded by his guards. (End of Chapter)