Jinting Han people

Although they couldn't see where the enemy was or why the entire army had fallen to this state, the spread of panic was irrational. Order was the foundation of an army; no matter how noble a person's status, without order, he was nothing more than an ordinary person.

Therefore, after witnessing the entire army in disarray, Sima Ying made a decisive move. He ordered his guards to bring two horses, one for himself and one for Meng Jiu. He didn't care about the others and led dozens of guards to run north.

The journey was utterly chaotic. Due to the hasty nature of the incident, Sima Ying hadn't worn armor, and even his saddle was hastily arranged. He had always traveled by carriage before, rarely riding a horse, and even when he did, it was a specially trained purple-backed winged horse. This horse had an extremely steady gait, and its saddle was custom-made, padded with an incredibly soft white fox fur. But now, mounted on an ordinary horse, Sima Ying was jostled around for a while, and his delicate skin on his buttocks quickly became red and raw, causing him to grimace in pain.

As they fled, they were in a panic, running aimlessly through the darkness and amidst the commotion. For safety, they instinctively ran into the deserted woods. But in their haste, the treetops lashed at Sima Ying, quickly tearing his robes and leaving red welts on his arms.

However, it must be said that people can unleash boundless potential when under extreme fear. Sima Ying, who was used to a life of luxury and had never ridden a horse for such a long time, endured his physical discomfort and humiliation, riding relentlessly for two hours. By the time his mount was completely exhausted and he rested on a small hill, he had already traveled two hundred and thirty li in one go.

However, due to their inability to distinguish directions, the group took many detours. The guards ran to the nearest house to ask, and found out that they had only reached Liangxiang, ten miles north of Dangyin City. In other words, they had taken a long and winding road, a full 150 miles.

After the Imperial Guards returned with a bowl of wheat porridge and a few jugs of water from the farmer, Sima Ying's lingering fear finally overwhelmed him. He chewed the coarse, dry porridge and drank the tasteless water, finally bursting into tears. He asked Meng Jiu, "Are we safe?"

Meng Jiu also burst into tears, shaking her head and saying, "Your Highness, we are still far from Ye City!"

Sima Ying cried even harder, saying intermittently, "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have come... It would have been better to control Hebei, to hold banquets and sing songs at Santai, to compose poems and enjoy dances, and to stroll in Xuanpo Garden when I had nothing to do. I wouldn't have to obey the court's orders, and I would be carefree and happy... I clearly don't know how to fight, so why did I have to march into the capital region and fight for the emperor!"

The two sat on the ground, facing each other and weeping. It took them a long time to recover.

As she was weeping, some guards sensed something was wrong. The ground began to tremble, and pebbles seemed to bounce around. As the commotion grew louder, they were alarmed and quickly said to Sima Ying, "Your Highness, get up! It looks like a large army is coming!"

Upon hearing this, Sima Ying immediately tried to get up and look out, but his legs trembled so badly he didn't even have the strength to stand. Even without getting up, he could hear the distant sounds of a large army marching, and he was filled with great fear, saying, "Could it be that Zhao Ni is catching up?"

He then resignedly lowered his head and said, "I can't run anymore. Let them chase us if they want. I just want a quick death!"

But the guards didn't think so. They quickly realized that the army was not coming from the south, but from the north. What kind of pursuers could appear in the north? And they hadn't heard that Dangyin had been captured by the enemy.
Gradually, the vanguard of the army came into view. The enemy's formation was well-ordered, with banners fluttering like a forest and chariots and horses in great numbers. Even during a normal march, the soldiers' ranks remained intact, moving at a steady and unhurried pace, displaying a composed demeanor.

After the enemy got closer, they carefully examined the army's flags. There were five types of flags: one was the Black Banner of Xuanwu, symbolizing the Northern Expeditionary Army; another was the two-character banner of Changshan, symbolizing the status of the King of Changshan; another was the four-character banner of Qinwang and Taoze, indicating the intention of the righteous army; another was the Azure Dragon banner, indicating the prosperity of the Sima clan's wood element; and the last type of flag was unfamiliar, a large banner with the four characters Fu'an Weile on it.

All these signs indicate that the approaching army was not a pursuing force sent by the King of Zhao, but rather a reinforcement from Ye City.

Upon discovering this, Sima Ying was overjoyed. He somehow mustered the strength in his legs and stood up. He and his attendants went to the roadside, raised their arms, and shouted to the army that he was the King of Chengdu.

The soldiers who heard this were skeptical, after all, Sima Ying looked utterly disheveled: his hair was disheveled, his face was covered in dust, and his clothes were torn in many places, completely unlike the elegant young nobleman he once was. Fortunately, he had about seventy guards with him, as well as eunuchs like Meng Jiu, whose very words revealed his extraordinary status, so the soldiers still managed to report the matter to their superiors.

Soon, the generals who led this force came out to meet him. Sima Ying was overjoyed to see them: "Lord Liu? Zidao? Heaven has eyes! You are here!"

The visitors were Liu Xian, the Prefect of Changshan, and Lu Zhi, the Left Chief Secretary of Chengdu.

It turned out that Lu Zhi, being in charge of the supply train, had already sent messengers among the vanguard troops. Therefore, after the defeat at Huangqiao, the messengers traveled three hundred li to report to Yecheng, receiving the news that very night. Upon learning of the dismal performance at the front, he quickly anticipated that the army's morale would waver, leading to a series of disastrous consequences. Therefore, he decisively continued to send messengers to the front to gather information while simultaneously requesting Sima Yi and Liu Xian to lead troops to Chaoge to provide support.

After all, the best way to stabilize morale is through tangible reinforcements.

Lu Zhi never imagined that he would see Sima Ying in such a disheveled state on the way.

After sending men to fetch Sima Ying back to Sima Yi's carriage, he dressed her in new clothes and provided her with familiar food. As for Meng Jiu, who was accompanying him, he didn't even glance at him, and immediately summoned the two of them, his expression suggesting he was about to severely punish him.

Meng Jiu panicked and cried out, "No, I want to stay with Your Highness!"

Sima Ying quickly pleaded for Meng Jiu, saying, "Zidao, what are you doing? What crime has Ajiu committed?"

Lu Zhi was even angrier upon hearing this. He rebuked Sima Ying, saying, "Your Highness, when has it been allowed to bring eunuchs into the army? After such a crushing defeat, instead of trying to calm the troops, Your Highness was busy having fun with eunuchs. Even when you escaped from the army, you had eunuchs with you. If this gets out, what will the world think of Your Highness?!"

After saying that, he turned to Meng Jiu and said, "The great cause of serving the emperor has been ruined by a villain like you! You dared to slander the emperor with the army, I will surely cut off your head!"

Sima Ying was even more frightened and knelt down in public, blaming herself, "Zidao, all the mistakes are mine. Blame me if you must, why involve others?"

He then pleaded tearfully, "I promise Zidao, I will never do it again. If I do it again, I...I...may be struck by lightning!"

At this point, Sima Ying couldn't think of any oath he should make. He originally wanted to say that he would no longer concern himself with politics, but before he could say it, he knew that Lu Zhi would definitely be dissatisfied. After thinking for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out the phrase "may be struck by lightning."

Lu Zhi was extremely disappointed. But he also knew that in front of everyone, he still had to save face for Sima Ying. After much hesitation, he finally yielded and said, "Your Highness, you are now the hope of the world, the heart of the army, and the foundation of the nation. No matter what difficulties you encounter, you must not shed tears in public!"

Having said that, he immediately ordered Meng Jiu to be escorted back to Ye City. During the war, he was forbidden from seeing Sima Ying again. Only then did he inquire with Sima Ying about the details of the battle, what had happened, and why he had ended up in this situation. Sima Ying immediately told Lu Zhi about the enemy attack, the chaos in the army, and his hasty escape.

Liu Xian, Sima Yi, Liu Hong, Liu Tun, and others were all present during their argument. They had all witnessed the earlier altercation. However, the situation was too awkward for them to speak, so they remained motionless like wooden statues, hoping to maintain appearances.

When they heard Sima Ying's words, they could no longer maintain their dignity. They couldn't help but look at each other in dismay: even if they lost 20,000 soldiers, they still had an army of 150,000. But this Prince of Chengdu hadn't even seen the enemy. He had only heard rumors of an enemy attack and then abandoned his army and fled.

Of course, this wasn't the most foolish mistake.

Sima Yi asked cautiously, "Sixteenth brother, are you saying that after your defeat, you ordered the entire army to retreat north the next day?"

Sima Ying asked blankly, "What's wrong with that? Since we've suffered setbacks at the front, shouldn't we retreat?"

After these words, Liu Xian and the others stared at each other in disbelief, even more afraid to speak. Lu Zhi sighed and said, "Your Highness, after a defeat, the morale of the army is already low. You should have first boosted morale and stabilized the army. But you ordered a retreat the next day. Isn't that openly showing the entire army that you are afraid of the enemy and war?"

"The army has been marching for a day and a night and is already extremely exhausted. They deserve a proper rest, but you have ordered the entire army to march north under the pretext of avoiding battle. Your Highness, this will only increase the fear of the army. They will be like birds startled by the twang of a bow, easily frightened by the slightest disturbance, which could lead to a major upheaval!"

“Your Highness, I have scouts stationed in Ji County. They should report to me immediately if the enemy makes any move. But I haven't received any news yet, which most likely means that the enemy did not launch a night attack…”

"Huh?" Sima Ying was somewhat incredulous upon hearing this, and asked in return, "Zidao, what I saw this morning was..."

Lu Zhi smiled wryly and said, "It's probably a mutiny in the army, and the rumors are spreading! That happens all the time."

Knowing that further discussion was pointless, he simply waved his hand, first sending Sima Ying to rest, and then invited Liu Xian out, saying, "Huai Chong, if we want to clean up this mess, we'll probably need your help."

Liu Xian had already made preparations, and asked Lu Zhidao with a smile, "I know you are a man of great talent and strategy, and I'd like to hear your ideas!"

Seeing that he looked relaxed, and that the weariness and unease in his eyes had lessened, Lu Zhi replied, "There's no other way; it's just old wisdom from the past!"

Thinking of the crushing defeat at Huangqiao, he was filled with resentment and couldn't help but grit his teeth and stomp his feet, saying, "This is a perfect opportunity to thoroughly rectify military discipline and get rid of those bad apples!"

Lu Zhi has many problems to solve, but they can be summarized into three main categories:
The army first suffered a defeat, then a mutiny, and the commander fled, causing the routed soldiers to scatter uncontrollably. Lu Zhi had to find a way to regroup these routed soldiers; otherwise, after a while, they would all return to their hometowns, making it even more difficult to reunite them.

Secondly, this incident severely damaged the morale of the army, and it is imperative to find ways to revitalize it and reaffirm military discipline. Otherwise, such acts of vying for credit and mutiny will inevitably occur again and again, preventing people from learning from the lessons.

But most importantly, we must prevent the Zhao King's army in Ji County from taking the opportunity to launch a counterattack. The Hebei rebels cannot fight again in the short term. Even if they regroup, they will probably scatter like birds and beasts if the Zhao King's army launches an attack.

Taking these factors into consideration, Lu Zhi proposed three targeted strategies:

The routed soldiers couldn't possibly flee without food or water; they would inevitably need to find food and drink in populated areas. Therefore, he planned to post notices and set up checkpoints in all the villages and towns along the route from Chaoge to Dangyin. He would reason with them, provide food, and simultaneously enforce the law and punishment. This combination of leniency and severity would surely suppress the rout within this sixty-mile radius and bring the routed soldiers back to the Chaoge camp.

Time was of the essence, and a systematic reorganization of the army was unlikely, but it was imperative to demonstrate the attitude of the Northern Expeditionary Army Command. Therefore, Lu Zhi made up his mind that, setting aside past misdeeds for the time being, all those who disobeyed orders, refused to return to their posts, caused disturbances in the countryside, looted the people, incited the enemy, or spread rumors after the mutiny in the army would be punished severely as a warning to others.

Both of these strategies require military force to execute, therefore Lu Zhi plans to borrow Liu Tun's Bingzhou army to oversee the matter. As for how to prevent a counterattack by the Zhao King's army, that can only be left to Liu Xian.

Lu Zhi advised Liu Xian, "Huai Chong, you should lead your troops to take over the Chaoge camp first, but do not station them there, lest the defeated soldiers in the camp affect the morale of the army. I think you can set up another camp in Fangshan, north of Chaoge City, which will be called the Northern Camp, to coordinate with the Southern Camp. Set up more sentries, and if Zhao the rebels make any moves, you should try to deal with them on your own. It would be good if you could take care of the Southern Camp, but the most important thing is to keep yourself stable."

"Now that Zhao has won with fewer troops, I expect him to underestimate the enemy. With Huai Chong's experience in many battles, I will not let him succeed. I will not say more."

Liu Xian readily agreed. He informed Sima Yi and immediately led his cavalry to Chaoge.

After taking control of the camp, they investigated and discovered that Lu Zhi's prediction was correct. This major disturbance in the rebel army was not due to an enemy attack, but rather a mutiny.

It turned out that some soldiers in Gao Yuan's army, upon hearing that the troops were to retreat, mistakenly spread the rumor that the King of Zhao's army was attacking. Upon hearing this, the soldiers in the camp immediately scattered and fled. When this commotion reached the other units, the people, not understanding the reason, also believed it to be true and immediately made their way away, which led to the scene that Sima Ying witnessed.

When daybreak came, Shi Chao, Zhao Xiang, and others realized something was wrong; there were no enemy soldiers to be seen. They then rallied their troops and returned to the main camp. However, without Sima Ying in command, only 70,000 men remained in the camp; nearly 100,000 were missing.

Liu Xian sent scouts to Ji County to gather information and discovered that Sun Huibu was holding a grand victory celebration banquet.

As promised beforehand, Sun Hui slaughtered seven hundred cattle and brought five thousand jars of fine wine after the battle to reward the soldiers. The entire army feasted and drank to their hearts' content, a feast that lasted a full day and night, only ending when Liu Xian arrived in Chaoge. After their meal, the men rubbed their bellies, satisfied, and returned to their camps for a good night's sleep, seemingly with no immediate plans to attack the rebel army. (End of Chapter)