Jinting Han people

"Hahaha, a hundred rounds?"

Zhang Fang glanced at the six characters in front of him, as if he had heard a joke, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. He casually threw the arrow-shaped letter on the ground, then rubbed the back of his head and mocked his subordinates, "This Liu Xian is getting arrogant. What makes him think he can fight me for a hundred rounds?"

At this point, he spoke as if he were personally standing in front of Liu Xian, berating him: "Back in Guanzhong, I knew he loved to show off and often fought completely unnecessary battles. I never imagined that after all these years, he still hadn't improved. Now he's even lost his mind and dared to try and outdo me! Hahaha!"

“Very well!” Zhang Fang picked up a bowl of meat soup from the table, blew on the steaming hot soup, took a sip, and laughed, “This gives me a good opportunity. If I take Liu Xian’s head this time, I won’t be accused of taking advantage of his dismissal.”

Zhang Fang's words were extremely magnanimous, but his subordinates present remained silent, heads bowed, not daring to utter a single word. The reason was simple: the bowl of meat soup Zhang Fang was holding contained bits of Ma Tai's meat floating in it.

The Western Army's military law was extremely strict. After Liu Xian captured Jinyong City, Ma Tai misled the Western Army, and naturally, he could not escape punishment. He was immediately executed by Zhang Fang. But no one expected that Zhang Fang could repeatedly exceed expectations. He first had Ma Tai whipped three hundred times, until he was covered in blood and flesh. Then he wrapped him in a fishing net, tied him to a pillar, and slashed him repeatedly, more than two hundred times, until Ma Tai could no longer even scream. Only then did he give him a quick death.

The slices of meat that were cut off were then cooked into the meat soup in front of everyone. Zhang Fang even seriously tasted it and said, "Alas, what an idiot! Even the meat is as fishy and muttony as pork. It's far inferior to a young girl of sixteen or seventeen!"

Faced with such a horrifying scene, the generals were utterly terrified of him. In their eyes, their commander was an unfathomable devil; no matter what expression he wore, it was all an illusion, and only cruelty was the sole reality.

Zhang Fang was happy to see them think this way. Only those with power could instill cruelty in others; so-called benevolence and friendliness were merely excuses for the incompetent to protect themselves. Zhang Fang used genuine cruelty to control his subordinates and to crush his enemies, and so far, he had been invincible.

Zhang Fang hadn't expected Liu Xian to return after the battle of Xilei. This was something neither he nor Li Han had anticipated during their prior discussions. Was this man unafraid of death? Or was he simply foolish? How the situation would develop afterward became an unknown.

Zhang Fang wouldn't let himself fall into such doubts. He thought, "It seems we haven't killed enough! How can we defeat the enemy then?" With his wisdom, he quickly came up with a plan and asked Zhi Fu beside him, "Liu Xian loves to show off his heroism. Are the others willing to do the same? I don't think so."

Zhi Fu quickly echoed, "Thanks to the Marshal's divine might, the soldiers in the palace have lost their will to fight when I entered the palace this time, and the court officials all fear me like a tiger."

"In that case, we should try to win hearts and minds first. Let's do it this way. Everyone should rest. There's no need to rush to attack the city. Let's find a few well-known prisoners and persuade these people!"

The advice others gave was, of course, about surrendering, but Zhang Fang's advice was in a completely different style.

After Zhang Fang gave the order, Lou Bao, the military advisor for the western expedition, selected several of the more famous officers from among the captured generals and officers, tied them together with ropes, and escorted them to the foot of Jinyong City. Lou Bao shouted loudly into the city, which immediately attracted the attention of the imperial guards on the city wall.

It turned out that Lou Bao had brought back none other than Miao Yuan, Liu You, and others who had originally belonged to the Changshan Prince's Mansion. Holding knives to the necks of these prisoners, they shouted at the guards on the city walls: "We had already agreed to make peace, but you have gone back on your word! How despicable! Don't you know that this is creating unnecessary bloodshed? We, the marshal, will pretend you are ignorant, but if you don't surrender, your comrades under our blades will suffer!"

Having said that, the Westerners grabbed the men by the jaws and swung their daggers, smashing them into their mouths until blood flowed freely. As soon as they released them, the prisoners fell to their knees, spitting out mouthfuls of broken teeth. After they stopped, someone else attacked Liu Xian, saying:

"Grand Commandant Liu, aren't you supposed to be benevolent? These are your comrades who have fought alongside you for many days. Why don't you try to save them? A wise man knows when to yield. Are you going to sacrifice the entire city of Luoyang to achieve your own hollow reputation? If you don't surrender, the people in the city will all suffer the same fate!"

This vicious attack was truly unprecedented. They were the ones torturing and killing others, yet they made it seem as if the fault lay with those who fought back. Having said this, they immediately cut off the ears and noses of the prisoners, then severed their limbs one by one, leaving them to bleed to death.

It must be said that this cruel scene did indeed cause panic on the city walls. The soldiers hated the Westerners' ruthlessness, but they also feared needless death. What they feared even more was the Westerners' confidence; they seemed certain of victory and would then inflict suffering on others.

Liu Xian must respond to this.

After hearing Lou Bao's words, he did not show himself, but sent Fu Chang to question him: "The envoy from the city dares to leave his name?"

Lou Bao was puzzled, but still gave his name. Unexpectedly, Fu Chang immediately said, "The Grand Commandant tells you that although he cannot bring the dead back to life, he can avenge them! Your sins, and Zhang Fang's sins, will be avenged to the very end as long as we have a breath left! Even if we die nine times over and our souls fly to the heavens, we will still rid the country of traitors and restore peace to the world!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mao Bao, who had been aiming for a moment, released the bowstring, and a sharp arrow flew out, heading straight for the city walls. In an instant, it struck Lou Bao squarely in the neck. Lou Bao thought he was out of range, but he didn't expect to be hit. He clutched his neck and stammered a few times, but he was too weak to stand and fell backward.

A commotion arose both on and below the city walls upon seeing this, but the morale of the Imperial Guards on the walls soared, while the Westerners below were utterly disheartened. At the same time, the gates of Jinyong City suddenly opened, and hundreds of knights charged out, poised to attack. The Westerners, unprepared for battle, immediately yanked their reins, turned their horses around, and fled, leaving the bodies of Lou Bao, Miao Yuan, and the others behind.

After this incident, no one dared to go to the city walls to persuade prisoners to surrender or demonstrate, and there were no more acts of torture and killing of prisoners.

Upon learning the result, Zhang Fang knew he had lost this round of confrontation. He scratched his head and sighed, "Isn't Li Shihui in Hedong? Liu Xian actually has a sharpshooter by his side. This is truly unexpected!" However, he was not upset about this temporary defeat. Since the psychological warfare tactic had failed, he quickly made a decision and said, "In that case, let's attack the city!"

Five days later, the war drums sounded again over Luoyang, but the tide of battle had turned. The Western Army, which had been holding its ground in the western fortress, now held the upper hand. They were not attacking from three sides with one side missing, nor were they launching a main attack or a feint. Instead, they launched a simultaneous attack from all four sides with a force advantage of nearly five times.

As Liu Xian had predicted, the Western Army was running low on arrows. However, after the victory, Zhang Fang gained a large number of civilians, including nearly 300,000 Luoyang refugees who were taken prisoner and could be used at will.

When the siege began, nearly 20,000 refugees were forced forward by swords and spears. They had no basic protection except for thin clothes, and they carried sacks to the foot of Jinyong City to pile up earth. The surrounding area was dark and the earthen mounds rose up in about half a day.

In this situation, even though the soldiers had a sufficient supply of arrows, they dared not use them indiscriminately. After all, arrows were meant to kill the enemy; using them on these refugees was both immoral and wasteful. But could they simply stand by and watch the enemy pile up earthen mounds against the city walls?
Liu Xian then ordered Zhang Shi to lead his troops out of the city, using the remaining two thousand cavalry to disperse the civilians. The moment the cavalry appeared, the refugees piled up in the earth panicked, scattering and trampling each other. The Western army struggled to control the situation, resulting in considerable casualties. However, after Zhang Shi led his troops back into the city, the Western forces only rested for half a day before removing the injured and disorderly refugees, quickly replacing them with new ones.

Once the earthen mounds were built, they could not be demolished. After several rotations, the Western Army successfully built several earthen mounds. Fortunately, the walls of Jinyong City were too high. Even though the earthen mounds were built, it gave the defenders inside the city enough time. They built wooden sheds with holes directly on the city walls. When the Westerners climbed the earthen mounds to fight, the soldiers used long spears to stab and stab them through the holes.

To ensure lethality and prevent the Western Army from seizing the long spears, they also set up many braziers around them. Each brazier held a long spear, its tip buried in the charcoal. Once the spear tip was scorching hot in the brazier, the Imperial Guards would switch from their spears to the one from the brazier and take turns thrusting wildly outwards.

This tactic proved remarkably effective. In the cold winter wind, the Westerners, already hampered by their physical limitations, struggled to climb the earthen hill only to be met with a long spear thrusting towards them. Unable to dodge, they instinctively gripped it with both hands, instantly burning off a layer of skin. Screaming in agony, even if they didn't die, the burns to their hands would render them incapable of fighting for quite some time.

Seeing this, Zhang Fang couldn't help but praise, "Liu Xian is indeed very resilient! Back then, Qi Wannian led 100,000 men to besiege Niyang, and he held out for almost half a year, thus becoming famous in one battle. Thinking about it now, it feels like it was just yesterday."

But his expression immediately changed, and he sneered, "However, I am not Qi Wannian, and this is not Niyang!"

Having said that, he immediately dispatched Chen Yan's troops to fight a bloody battle on the city walls.

In the Battle of Xilei, Chen Yan's troops held off the Imperial Guards, fighting fiercely on the city walls for a whole day without retreating, which delayed the battle until the burning of Luoyang, turning the tide of the war. Zhang Fang's decision to send them up the city walls at this time clearly indicated his intention to break through the Imperial Guards' defenses in one fell swoop.

To ensure this, Zhang Fang selected the three hundred finest suits of Mingguang iron armor from the captured armor and distributed them to Chen Yan's troops, also bestowing upon them one hundred large axes. With such a combination of offense and defense, the Imperial Guards' long spears would be unable to penetrate the defenses, and the wooden sheds would be difficult to defend; they would surely be able to take a foothold soon.

Unexpectedly, upon seeing the Westerners heavily armored and scaling the city walls, the Imperial Guards within Jinyong City voluntarily removed their wooden scaffolding, creating an opening. This greatly excited Chen Yan, and his three hundred men rushed onto the city walls, quickly forming ranks to establish a foothold. They believed that with their superior weaponry, they would be invincible in a direct confrontation on the city walls. However, upon looking up, their hearts sank, and they were completely at a loss for how to proceed.

It turned out that the troops that came to fight Chen Yan's troops were not ordinary soldiers, but the fully armed Songzi Iron Cavalry.

After the Battle of Xilei, Liu Xian managed to gather nearly two thousand cavalry, but almost all of his horse armor and heavy armor were lost, leaving only about eighty sets. Unable to replenish them, it was unlikely in the short term that he could regain the glory of having pierced through hundreds of thousands of enemy troops on the battlefield. However, even a few dozen armored cavalry could still be incredibly effective in the current siege warfare.

Westerners were not unfamiliar with city walls wide enough for horses to gallop across; in fact, Chang'an City possessed similar defenses. However, human thinking is like a cocoon; without firsthand experience, one subconsciously assumes it's impossible. And when these steel beasts actually appeared before Chen Yan and his companions, they were helpless. While the wall was wide enough for seven or eight riders to gallop side-by-side, it wasn't wide enough for them to hide and dodge.

What happened next was predictable. Guo Mo led his troops in a charge on the city wall, the immense force of which was unstoppable, easily decimating the Westerners. Chen Yan attempted several counterattacks, but to no avail, and was ultimately forced to retreat.

Just then, Lü Lang, who was in charge of attacking Hulao Pass, sent back news that the attempt to capture Hulao Pass had failed.

For some reason, Lü Lang was held back by a cavalry force on the way. The enemy neither attacked nor disappeared, but openly maintained a distance from him. With a mission to complete, he dared not launch a rash attack, but this forced him to slow down and be wary of an attack. As a result, by the time he reached Hulao Pass, someone had already occupied it and made contact with the governor of Xingyang to the east. With equal forces, Lü Lang could not capture Hulao Pass and naturally had no choice but to retreat.

Meanwhile, Meng Tao's rumors among the refugees began to have an effect, with everyone saying that Liu Hong of Jingzhou was mustering his army and marching north. The Western Army was abuzz with discussion about this, and subsequently expressed some concern about their future.

Faced with the new developments, Zhang Fang quickly realized that Liu Xian was dispatching reinforcements, and it was likely a multi-pronged attack. If so, taking Jinyong City in a short time was no longer a suitable option. Otherwise, if the losses were too great, they might not be able to cope with the subsequent challenges.

Zhang Fang was not a stubborn man; quite the opposite, he was very flexible. So he immediately changed his strategy, abandoning a direct assault and instead focusing on a protracted siege. He told his generals, "Before we came, I burned their grain supplies. The city's grain reserves must be low now. If we besiege Liu Xian for two months, he'll starve to death. And how many reinforcements can he summon? Can they compare to the Imperial Guards?"

Zhang Fang then resorted to his superstitious tricks, secretly spreading rumors in the military camp: "The Jin dynasty's fate is sealed. If we wait until next year, it will be the Jiazi year. The great calamity of Jiazi is the will of Heaven. What can Liu Xian accomplish? Heaven intends to abolish the old and establish the new. How can human power stop the will of Heaven? As long as we wait for the Jiazi year to arrive, the enemy will be destroyed without a fight!"

Having thus calmed the discussions within the army, the war drums fell silent once more, and both sides began a peaceful stalemate, with no more large-scale bloodshed or fighting. Time flew by day by day, and once again, crystalline snowflakes swirled in the sky, each one a stepping stone in the cycle of sixty years. (End of Chapter)