Jinting Han people

The true dawn had arrived. As if a god were watching from the heavens, the clouds above the two armies split open, and beams of light poured down onto the earth. In a very short time, they drew a boundary between the chaos of heaven and earth, added color to the black and white creation, and brought light to both banks of the great river.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Northern Army generals who had been observing from afar were finally able to get a good look at the situation on the mudflat battlefield.

The first thing they saw was a collapsed reed bed. After a fierce battle, large quantities of reeds were trampled to the ground, leaving the scene in complete disarray, a testament to the intensity of the previous fight. Then they could see that this vast expanse of yellow and white reeds was now tinged with crimson.

This was not painted by the glow of the sunset, but soaked in the blood of warriors. One corpse after another lay scattered on the mudflats, like fallen leaves everywhere. They had been shot by arrows, slashed by knives, or stabbed by spears, their bodies bearing wounds large and small, some even torn open. Their corpses were like cold quilts without straw, their lives lost with the flow of blood.

Of course, many others were still teetering between life and death. They groaned and trembled in the mud, their spirits seemingly still making a final struggle against death, while their bodies were inevitably growing cold. The blood of the seriously wounded mixed with that of the dead, giving the muddy ground a strange purplish-red hue, like the color of death itself, indifferently drawing away the souls of the dead.

Ownerless warhorses were everywhere, some dead and mutilated, but many more stood blankly in place. Without their masters, they didn't know where to go, so they lowered their heads and searched for withered grass in the mud, replenishing their strength. Occasionally, they would look up, their muzzles a dark red patch, resembling the evil spirits described in Buddhist terminology.

The rebel soldiers who caused this scene of death seemed to be used to it, moving about the battlefield as if nothing had happened. They were covered in blood, their armor was mostly tattered, and their weapons were full of chips. So, they either wandered around the battlefield, picking up weapons from among the corpses of enemies or comrades, or dismounted and leaned against the reeds, took off their iron helmets, let their hair down, and chewed on the dry rations they had brought before setting off.

The result was self-evident. On this mudflat, in less than two hours, the rebel soldiers completely crushed the Northern knights' attack. Nearly 6,000 Northern knights were killed, and the remaining Northern knights who retreated were also scattered and unable to form a fighting force in a short period of time.

This result chilled the hearts of all the soldiers in the Northern Army.

Before the battle, illuminated by the firelight, they saw their army as an endless force, stretching across the north bank like a giant mountain range. Within their encirclement, the dark mudflats seemed insignificant; whatever lay within would be crushed to dust.

But who could have imagined that Qiao Zhiming's troops, widely regarded as the strongest among them, would suffer such a swift and decisive defeat? Moreover, even without a specific battle report, all the generals present knew perfectly well that Qiao Zhiming and his men had no chance of survival.

In this situation, what should we do next? Continue the attack? Or retreat immediately?

Lu Ji's thought was naturally to continue the attack. He was indeed shocked by the scene before him, but he also understood that retreat was absolutely not an option. No matter how formidable these men were, they had fought two battles in a row, and their physical and mental strength was exhausted. If they couldn't seize this opportunity to defeat them now, this defeat would become the source of their fear if they encountered them again in the future. They would then be even more terrified of the enemy, making it even more difficult to achieve victory again.

Therefore, he encouraged his generals, saying, "The enemy's formation is in disarray, and their morale is exhausted. As long as we fight one more time, our great cause will be in our grasp! Gentlemen, let's proceed according to the original plan!"

Lu Ji underestimated the fear in his generals' hearts. Before they came, they thought that with their superior numbers, they could easily crush the enemy by pressing forward. However, after several battles, the cruelty of war exceeded their limits.

These people from Hebei wondered, why risk their lives like this? Staying in Ye City would be quite comfortable. With Hebei's wealth and prosperity, why bother fighting for the world? Even if they won, with so many people dying, was it worth it? At least they wanted to live, so most of them remained silent.

In the end, it was Shi Chao who stepped forward. He wasn't from Hebei, but had longed to fight on the battlefield since childhood. Now, seeing his childhood friend Liu Xian on the other side, if he were to retreat so hastily, wouldn't he be disgracing the Eight Founding Dukes? He would also be betraying the ambition he had in his youth.

He propped his long spear on the ground and said to Lu Ji, "Grand Commander, give me the vanguard. I am willing to lead 30,000 infantry and cavalry to present a victory to the General!"

Lu Ji was overjoyed upon hearing this. He immediately ordered his servant to bring a bowl of wine and water, and handed it to Shi Chao, saying, "I'll be right here, waiting to hear the general's good news!"

Shi Chao didn't stand on ceremony, picking up the wine and pouring it into his mouth. As he drank, the war drums sounded again, and others sang "Declaring the Mandate" to encourage him to march on. So Shi Chao mounted his horse, brandishing his spear and shouting, "Heaven bears witness, ancestors are above, I, Shi Chao, am determined to kill the enemy. If I can achieve my wish and become famous for all time, I will die without regret!"

Having said that, he immediately ordered the vanguard to regroup and launch an attack on the enemy.

Before the vanguard could even engage in battle, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the south, indicating that the rebel army was making a move. Lu Ji was observing the movement of the troops in the west when his trusted confidants shouted, "Grand Commander, look ahead!" Lu Ji quickly turned around and saw that not far below the gentle hill, on the open ground between the two armies, thousands of warhorses were galloping towards them, but there were hardly any riders on their saddles!
What was going on? Not only was Lu Ji puzzled, but the armored soldiers in front of the Northern Expeditionary Army were even more perplexed. They watched as thousands of warhorses approached, and suddenly heard a command. The enemy's front-line knights jumped off their horses, whipped them wildly, and the frightened horses galloped northward, completely disregarding the long spears and swords of the Hebei people in front of them.

The Northern soldiers were bewildered and asked each other, "Should we fire arrows?" Some even said, "Let's go down and drive them away!"

The startled horses had already reached them. When they encountered an obstacle, many horses began to scramble sideways, some running west and some running east, creating chaos and disorder.

The armored soldiers in front had their vision obscured by the startled horses, while Lu Ji, who was watching from behind, saw the enemy soldiers who had dismounted rushing forward at great speed. Behind them, wave after wave of cavalry charged, relentlessly attacking the vanguard of the Northern Army.

It turned out that Liu Xian, seeing the Northern army's prolonged inaction, knew they were already terrified. He hastily ordered all the unused cavalry to be gathered, intending to disrupt their formation. He then ordered the remaining cavalry to engage in a final, decisive charge, using their last ounce of strength. This move caught everyone off guard. Lu Ji inwardly cried out in alarm; his own soldiers were huddled together, moving sluggishly, and now, with their formation disrupted, their movements would be even more difficult. But it was too late to issue a change of formation. Retreat? Such a massive, densely packed army, layer upon layer, would take less than a moment to move after an order. He feared that the soldiers' morale would collapse upon hearing the order, leading to utter defeat.

But as he secretly lamented his misfortune, the rebel army surged past the frightened horses like a tidal wave, instantly engulfing the Northern army's ranks.

The soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army, already terrified by the carnage suffered by Qiao Zhiming's troops, were thrown into disarray by this unexpected tactic. Unaware of the overall situation, their panic intensified. They heard only the constant wails of agony around them, as if death itself was relentlessly reaping their lives. Their already dwindling courage vanished. Someone was the first to turn and flee, but soon a second, a third…

But escape wasn't so easy. Everyone was jostling together, and turning around meant bumping into others. They couldn't get very far, and instead dragged their comrades who were still in order behind them down with them. Those who wanted to fight couldn't fight, and those who wanted to run couldn't run. As a result, there was chaos everywhere, and the Western cavalry cut down the Northerners like they were harvesting crops.

Seeing the vanguard succeed, the Westerners following behind were naturally emboldened and charged forward with shouts. Apart from a small number who encountered some resistance, most of them cut through the chaotic Northern army lines like a knife through paper, rampaging and ravaging them, causing the already disorganized Northern army formation to break apart further.

Before long, the righteous army, with its killing and hacking spree, reached the front of Shi Chao, the commander of the Central Protectorate. Due to the soldiers pushing and trampling each other as they fled for their lives, even though Shi Chao's main force still had more than a thousand knights and their fighting spirit was still strong, they were still scattered and drifted backward with the tide.

Shi Chao wanted a decisive battle, but this was the outcome he hadn't expected, and he was naturally filled with resentment. In a fit of rage, he stubbornly withstood the charge of the fleeing soldiers, cutting down more than twenty of them and barely managing to stop the rout. But that was all he could do; the fleeing soldiers simply bypassed him and fled in different directions.

Seeing resistance in some areas, the Western cavalry immediately moved in to attack. Seeing Shi Chao's magnificent armor, they knew he was someone important, so they rallied their men and began to thrust their spears at him. However, Shi Chao himself was a skilled warrior, and he was also protected by strong cavalry, making it difficult for them to subdue him for the time being.

Shi Chao was wounded multiple times, but he stubbornly persisted, charging left and right. Whether facing fleeing soldiers or enemies, he stabbed indiscriminately, killing anyone who stood in his way. But this did little to prevent the overall defeat. As the fleeing soldiers gradually dispersed, his cavalry dwindled, while the number of enemies increased. Eventually, he could no longer hold on. Finally, he was stabbed in the waist again, the pain rendering him powerless. Seeing a large number of enemies flanking him from the flank, he had no choice but to abandon resistance and retreat under the cover of his men.

Seeing that the battle was going against them in every way, the generals said to Lu Ji, "The soldiers are panicking. We should retreat ten miles, regroup, and then fight again." Lu Ji wanted to object, but before he could coordinate, the other units had already sounded the retreat on their own. In an instant, the entire Northern Expeditionary Army was rushing to retreat, breaking formation and dragging Lu Ji and his men along with them, causing their ranks to fall into disarray.

Li Yi, the governor of Ji Province, was at the forefront of the attack. With chaos erupting behind him, he had nowhere to retreat but to lead a few hundred cavalry in a rearguard action. In this situation, morale was practically nonexistent; everyone was eager to return home, fearing they would fall behind. Li Yi, in the midst of his charge, was only struck by an arrow, then lost his footing and fell from his horse, but was otherwise unharmed. He helped himself up and was about to exchange horses with his entourage when he looked up to find them scattered in all directions.

The rebel knights surrounded him and thrust their spears wildly. Li Yi cried out in grief and indignation, knowing he was doomed. He threw down his sword and shouted, "I am Li Yi, the governor of Ji Province. Give me a quick death!" Before he finished speaking, a long spear pierced his mouth and instantly killed him.

In this battle, Li Yi was not the only high-ranking official of the prefectural governor level to be killed in the Northern Expeditionary Army.

The Westerners, now charging forward with renewed vigor, pursued and slaughtered the defeated soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army. Suo Jing's son, Suo Lin, spurred his horse into the ranks of the Yanzhou army, where he encountered Wang Yan, the governor of Yanzhou, directing a retreat. Though called an army formation, it was more like a chaotic marketplace, with shoving and jostling, a cacophony of voices. He approached with a dozen or so riders, unimpeded by anyone. By the time Wang Yan noticed him, the two were only about twenty paces apart.

Wang Yan had rendered meritorious service under Sima Jiong during the campaign against Zhao, and was thus enfeoffed as the Duke of Baima County, one of the few dukes in the Northern Expeditionary Army. But now, before Suo Lin, this county duke was nothing more than an ordinary man. The two were too close to shoot an arrow, so Wang Yan had no choice but to draw his sword and strike horizontally. However, he possessed little martial skill; he had only reached this point through the prestige and connections of the Langya Wang clan, and his swordsmanship was naturally laughably weak and ineffective.

With a roar, Suo Lin knocked Wang Yan's sword away. Then, as the two horses passed each other, he grabbed Wang Yan like a chicken and pulled him over, then forced him onto his horse's back and beheaded him.

As the body was severed from its head, Suo Lin grabbed the severed head, impaled Wang Yan on the tip of his spear, raised it high in the air, spurred his blood-soaked warhorse, and shouted to the enemy soldiers: "I am Suo Lin of Dunhuang, those who want to die, come and fight me!"

The soldiers of Yanzhou were already demoralized, and when they saw that their commander was dead, a commotion arose among the crowd, and many threw down their weapons and surrendered to him.

Thus, the Battle of Mangkou finally came to an end. Although the rebel army wanted to continue expanding their gains, everyone involved was exhausted after fighting for so long.

Liu Xian, fearing Lu Ji might return, ordered his troops to continue clearing the battlefield. Those who surrendered during the Northern Expeditionary Army were placed under guard and tied to the north bank of the Dahe River, where Zhang Shi and others were responsible for their care. All those seriously wounded on the battlefield were executed, along with those captured in the previous battle. After tallying the casualties, it was determined that over 8,000 enemy soldiers were killed and over 20,000 were captured.

Who would have thought? What was originally just a plan to distract and harass would unexpectedly turn into a decisive battle between the two armies. Liu Xian, with his quick thinking and resourcefulness, led a force of over 10,000 cavalry against the more than 100,000-strong Northern Expeditionary Army and miraculously won. Anyone who heard of this would find it unbelievable.

But that was the reality; he had won, completely breaking the backbone of the Northern Expeditionary Army. While the Northern Expeditionary Army was retreating thirty miles and still reorganizing its troops, Liu Xian led his men across the Xingyang River Bridge and directly occupied the Northern Army's original riverside camp. When he heard that all the soldiers and prisoners had crossed the river, he breathed a sigh of relief, wrapped himself in a cold quilt, found a tent at random, and began to rest.

From that moment on, Liu Xian, with his undeniable military achievements, established himself as the greatest general of his time, following in the footsteps of Meng Guan. (End of Chapter)