Jinting Han people

This was Liu Xian's first time facing off against a friend on the battlefield.

Although he had long anticipated this day, Liu Xian was still deeply moved when it finally arrived. He had many questions for Liu Kun, but when the words reached his lips, he felt it was unnecessary. Whether it was for advancement, simply for family ties, or for some other reason, one can ultimately be responsible for one's own decisions. Since the other had decided to embark on this path, he must have given it considerable thought, and even if it differed from his own, there was no need to question him.

Therefore, when Liu Kun greeted him, he simply said, "Yes, Yue Shi, it's me."

After exchanging greetings, the two men didn't say much more and returned to their respective positions to prepare for the next military operation.

Liu Xian had previously gathered intelligence that the Zhao King's army had built a fortified pass in this area. Seeing it now, he could easily discern that due to its hasty construction, the pass was not large, capable of holding only about three thousand people. However, though small, it was fully functional. The fortified walls were quite high, approximately five zhang (about 10 meters). The walls also featured makeshift wooden watchtowers and observation posts, with holes for shooting arrows and stabbing. A moat had been dug around the perimeter, filled with river water, serving as a protective embankment for the pass—making it a fairly well-prepared defense.

"This city may be small, but it's not easy to conquer!" Sima Yi, who had experienced quite a few battles by this time, quickly concluded: "This city is built on the banks of a large river, and the soil is soft and damp, making it difficult to build earthen mounds. If we want to dig tunnels, we also need to be wary of underground currents. If we want to break through the city, we will probably have to climb the walls like ants. But if we do that, our casualties will probably be quite high."

Liu Hong agreed, but after a moment's thought, he offered another suggestion:
"But why should we attack this city? Your Highness, Luoyang is less than fifty li away from us. Once we cross the river, we can head directly to the capital. I dare say that Luoyang will be shaken at that time. We won't even need to use force; the city gates will open on their own, and the imperial guards will defect. So why should we worry about this city?"

"That's right." Sima Yi then asked doubtfully, "But our current ships are not enough for the army to cross the river quickly, are they? If the enemy army sets up their formation at Mangshan and blocks our army in the mudflats, it will be difficult for them to win. According to Sun Hui's intelligence, there should still be 30,000 to 40,000 men that can be mobilized in Luoyang."

But Liu Xian already understood Liu Hong's meaning. He smiled and said, "Your Highness, the Duke of Xuancheng means that we don't need to use boats to cross the river; we should use the bridge instead."

“But the rebels didn’t build a bridge at the entrance to the river bridge…” Sima Yi paused, then looked at the mudflats not far away and suddenly realized, “Oh! I understand! We can build another small pontoon bridge next to the entrance and put it directly on the river bridge. That way we can cross the river quickly.”

The difficulty in building the river bridge lies in erecting piles in deep, turbulent waters, but building a pontoon bridge in the shallows along the riverbank is not particularly challenging. Once the river bridge can be built, allowing a large number of troops to cross quickly, even if the King of Zhao's army is arrayed at Mangshan to fight the rebel army, the outcome will simply be a repetition of the Battle of Jixian.

As for Liu Kun's defense of the new pass, there is nothing to worry about except leaving a few thousand men to guard against him and prevent him from cutting off his retreat.

After finalizing the next tactics, Liu Xian looked towards the river bridge and couldn't help but sneer, "It seems Sun Xiu is very confident. He didn't burn the river bridge. Does he have some unexpected and ingenious plan?"

"Perhaps they summoned some kind of ghost soldiers?"

Amidst the banter, the Changshan army began their operation. Instead of immediately attacking the city, they constructed a camp ten zhang west of the pass. This distance was almost face-to-face with the pass, making construction quite dangerous, but once the camp was established, it would effectively trap the Zhao King's army within the city.

The city's garrison understood this as well. Seeing the rebels' aggressive advance, they immediately opened fire on the enemy's camp. However, the rebels were prepared. Their soldiers repaired the camp almost like harassment, carrying wooden shields in one hand and wooden stakes on their backs. Upon reaching the camp, they didn't linger, driving down the stakes on their backs and leaving. Although this took a little longer, the rebels, with their superior numbers, managed to create a passable wall.

With the fortifications in place, subsequent construction work became much easier.

Seeing this from the city walls, Liu Kun knew it wasn't a solution and immediately decided to send troops out to attack the enemy camp. He had three hundred armored cavalry under his command, led by his nephew Liu Yan. Under cover of darkness, they quietly opened a crack in the east gate, and without lighting fires, they made their way to the reeds along the riverbank, circling around to the west of the city. Finding the rebel army unprepared, they suddenly charged out, storming into the rebel camp, killing indiscriminately and setting fire to any palisades they saw, rampaging wantonly for a while.

However, they were outnumbered, and Liu Xian had sent many men to keep watch. After killing or wounding about a hundred people, reinforcements from the rebel army arrived with torches, and Liu Yan dared not linger, quickly retreating.

Upon learning the news, Liu Xian commented, "He still dares to go out of the city and attack the camp. It seems that Yue Shi has the support of the army! But in the end, it's not very useful."

Indeed, it wasn't very useful; the riverside soil was damp, making it difficult for arson to cause a large fire, and the damage to the camp was limited. After sending the wounded to the rear, the rebels methodically built watchtowers the next day, and were already able to exchange fire with the archers inside the city.

At the same time, it can be seen that the rebels have already built a new pontoon bridge on the riverbank, and it will probably only take two days to connect this small pontoon bridge to the main river bridge.

Liu Kun was fully aware of the rebel army's intentions, but he was also helpless: this was a scene he could have foreseen when he arrived. If the river bridge wasn't burned, the Zhao King's army, which was outnumbered, would have no chance of stopping the enemy from crossing the river. He really couldn't understand why Sun Xiu said he had a brilliant plan that could prevent the rebel army from crossing the river.

What comforted Liu Kun was that if the enemy army crossed the river, his military pressure would be greatly reduced, and the responsibility would be transferred to Luoyang.

To the surprise of both sides, the situation changed very quickly.

Just as the rebel army was still busily building camps and pontoon bridges, someone suddenly noticed that some boats had appeared upstream on the river. These boats were flying the Xuanwu flag of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and it seemed that they were carrying some cargo covered with cloth.

The rebel soldiers were quite puzzled: if it was a canal transport route, shouldn't their ships be transporting goods downstream? How could they be upstream? But if it wasn't a canal transport route, where did these ships come from, and what was their purpose?

Their questions were quickly answered. Thick smoke began to billow from nearly a hundred boats, followed by blazing flames that engulfed the vessels as they headed downstream towards the bridge.

Faced with the billowing smoke from the upstream river, the righteous soldiers standing on the north bank of the great river finally realized: the boats were loaded with firewood! Those ships flying the banners of the Northern Expeditionary Army were actually fire ships sent by Sun Xiu!
But by then it was too late. As the first fire ship crashed into the bridge, the second, the third… fire ships followed one after another, like streaks of bright red carp crashing into the embankment. Blood-red flames splashed continuously onto the bridge, quickly turning patches of it crimson. Even the billowing smoke couldn't conceal the burning, gleaming trees within, which seemed like the bones of some kind of spirit, creaking and cracking. The rebels, witnessing this scene, stamped their feet and shouted, their voices echoing across the river. Zhuge Yan, Li Sheng, Shangguan Si, Liu You, and others rushed over, but were powerless to help. The Zhao King's army in the fortress was also caught off guard. They watched helplessly as the bridge connecting north and south burned fiercely, too afraid to leave the city to save it, only able to gaze at the apocalyptic scene reflected on the river.

The fire raged on, and this first wonder, built under the supervision of a founding general, finally succumbed. With a deafening roar, the middle section of the bridge cracked open, large sections of burning ebony falling onto the water, breaking apart and releasing scorching steam. The pontoon bridge, adrift in the turbulent current, split open to the north and south, its anchoring stakes, rafts, and ropes drifting uncontrollably towards both banks, further burning, breaking, and shattering in the process…

Half an hour later, the dazzling flames had died down, leaving Liu Xian and Sima Yi with the sight of a completely destroyed river bridge. Smoldering logs, still emitting black smoke, floated everywhere along both banks of the river. Over a hundred fire ships were stranded in the reeds, emitting a pungent smell of ashes. Much of the surrounding reeds had also been burned, creating a scene of utter devastation. Looking towards the middle of the river, the wooden stakes used to anchor the pontoon bridge were all destroyed, leaving only the incessant sound of the surging water.

Only then did Liu Xian understand Sun Xiu's intention, and he gritted his teeth in anger: "That monkey! So he didn't burn the bridge because he wanted to frame our army!"

Meanwhile, Liu Kun, standing atop Mengjin Pass, was also ashen-faced: "No wonder they wanted me to cross the river! So that's what they were planning!"

It turned out that Sun Xiu claimed he didn't want to burn down the bridge for political reasons, but in reality, he had already planned to do so, only without informing Liu Kun and other outsiders. Therefore, he first tricked Liu Kun into crossing the river to repair the city, and then, once the rest of the rebel army arrived, he would send fire ships flying the flags of the Northern Expeditionary Army to burn down the bridge.

In this way, he could frame the rebel army, claiming that they deliberately burned the river bridge to breach the city, thus damaging their political reputation. Secondly, this would also force Liu Kun into a corner; with the river bridge destroyed, the importance of Mengjin Pass on the north bank would become paramount. As long as he held his position there, the rebel army would be unable to cross the river rashly. Sun Xiu, on the other hand, only needed to set up his troops on Mangshan Mountain and supply Mengjin Pass with provisions to maintain the defense of the north bank.

Even if Mengjin Pass falls, the rebel army still faces the challenge of crossing the river. The river is not clear water; it cannot be forcibly crossed on horseback. If they come by boat, the Imperial Guards, with their strong defenses, can launch a surprise attack while the enemy is still crossing. In other words, Sun Xiu's move truly secured the initiative and can be considered a brilliant strategy.

Seeing this, Liu Xian was also at a loss. The current situation was beyond their ability to handle alone. So he wrote to Ye Wang to inform Lu Zhi of the matter.

Lu Zhi replied very quickly, saying, "You should attack and capture the pass. As for crossing the river, I have my own plans. After making some preparations, I will come to meet you!"

Although he didn't explicitly state his intentions, Liu Xian trusted him quite a bit. He turned and summoned the generals of Changshan Army, saying, "It seems that nothing in this world is ever truly smooth sailing. Since Sun Xiu burned down the river bridge and ordered us to attack the pass, then let's give it a try. Gentlemen, don't be afraid of casualties. As long as we are properly prepared, capturing the city won't be difficult!"

With that, the Changshan army began a large-scale logging operation outside the city walls, constructing various siege weapons such as siege ladders, pointed wooden donkeys, crossbows, hook carts, and troop transports. At Liu Xian's urging, Sima Yi further mobilized the soldiers, promising a reward of one hundred taels of gold and a promotion of three ranks to those who were the first to scale the walls. The first fifty to breach the walls would also receive a reward of twenty taels of gold and a promotion of one rank, greatly boosting morale.

After five days of preparation, 20,000 troops officially surrounded the city. The transported equipment completely surrounded the city, waiting for Liu Xian's order to charge up the city walls and fight.

Unexpectedly, the city gates suddenly opened, and several soldiers dressed in white, leading lambs, repeatedly bowed and saluted the rebel army.

The rebel soldiers standing nearby were somewhat confused; they had never seen such attire before and didn't know what the other side meant. But Liu Xian, Li Sheng, and others who were well-versed in history immediately understood, and their faces lit up with joy: this was the attire the defending troops would wear if they wanted to surrender!

As expected, after bowing, the enemy shouted, "Please, gentlemen, do not attack the city! Our army is willing to surrender! Our army is willing to surrender!"

After a brief silence, the rebel army erupted in deafening cheers! This was the scene they had envisioned when they joined the army: wherever their army went, without firing a single arrow or wielding a sword, the enemy would surrender without a second thought, bowing their heads in submission. After the two brutal battles of Huangqiao, they had given up on this dream, but unexpectedly, it had come true here! So the soldiers celebrated wildly, shouting like children.

The leading general was Liu Kun. He walked through the jubilant crowd and came to Liu Xian and Sima Yi. After presenting them with the seal and envoy bestowed by Sun Xiu, he knelt down and said, "The soldiers are innocent. All the blame lies with me alone. Please, Your Highness, do not make things difficult for them."

Sima Yi laughed heartily, dismounted, and helped Liu Kun up, saying, "I have long heard of Liu Yueshi's radiant appearance and extraordinary talent. Seeing him today, I can confirm that his reputation is well-deserved."

He then said, “Since you have opened the city gates and surrendered to me, what crime have you committed? I would like to ask the general, you were determined to defend the city a few days ago, so why are you willing to defect today?”

Liu Kun replied bitterly, "Sun Xiu first tricked me into crossing the river to build a city, then burned down the bridge, leaving our army in a desperate situation. All he relied on was that he had my family in his hands, which he could use to threaten me."

"But by burning down the river bridge, the morale of the army has been completely destroyed. Even if I had the ability to bring the dead back to life, it would be difficult to win everyone back. Without the three armies fighting for their lives, how can we defend the city?"

Indeed, this was the case. Sun Xiu thought framing the rebel army was a brilliant move, but the others weren't fools either. At least the soldiers defending the city saw through the deception. And when the soldiers realized they had been lied to by their superior, how could they possibly be expected to fight and die for him wholeheartedly?
Liu Kun then said to Liu Xian, "Seeing that you are the commander-in-chief of the army, our soldiers have no will to fight. They know that you do not kill or mistreat prisoners, so they all came to me to ask for permission to surrender to you."

"Human nature, oh human nature." Liu Xian murmured twice, first sighing, then smiling broadly, "Sun Xiu thought he had seen through human nature and wanted to use coercion and bribery to make people die, but in the end, he only shot himself in the foot!"

"Yue Shi, don't worry, we have Sun Hui on our side. We'll spread the word and he won't dare to make a move!"

They had expected a fierce battle, but victory came so easily. With the capture of Mengjin Pass, the rebel army now only had one question to consider—how to cross the river? (End of Chapter)