Jinting Han people

The autumn air was crisp and clear, and the sun shone warmly.

After several autumn rains, the summer heat has dissipated, and the annoying mosquitoes have subsided considerably. A gentle breeze blows, and the slightly yellowing leaves sway softly, filling the air with a pleasant atmosphere. If it weren't for the war, this would probably be perfect weather for an autumn outing.

Now, however, the vast main force of the Western army marched out of the city, facing Liu Xian's army camp on the Wei River, forming a large, tightly connected array. The army, backed by Chang'an City, stretched for about a mile in thickness, its length seemingly endless. The wind was light in front of the camp, and countless white tiger banners fluttered like leaves in the Western army's ranks. Large shields and barricades protected the Western army's formation, with cavalry in the lead and infantry in the center. Most of the soldiers were clad in armor; although it didn't gleam like the armored formations of Luoyang, its continuous lineage made it an extremely magnificent sight.

The people of Chang'an also rushed out to watch the battle. Before this, they had anticipated that Liu Xian would plunder and pillage Chang'an after crossing the river, leading to a wave of exodus as people packed their belongings and food to flee the city. After all, seven years earlier, Qi Wannian had treated Chang'an in the same way, resulting in a severe famine outside the city. Fearing a repeat of Qi Wannian's chaos, the people prepared in advance.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xian's army was very disciplined, although some minor squabbles were unavoidable. Generally speaking, as long as they didn't interfere with Liu Xian's crossing of the river to set up camp or attempt to storm the Wei Bridge, Liu Xian's army had almost no impact on the people living on the outskirts of the city. Seeing this, the people gradually remembered Liu Xian's reputation and withdrew from the city, returning home. Furthermore, with the harvest season over and nothing else to do, many bored people came out to watch the Western Army's provocation.

They mostly stood on the spurs of Longshouyuan, pointing and gesturing at the two armies:

"Our army is truly magnificent! It deserves to be called the strongest army in the world."

"Liu Gong's army is no less impressive; they are extremely disciplined and obey orders without question. There aren't many who can achieve that level of discipline."

As for who will win, opinions are actually quite similar:
"Two fists can't beat four hands. After all, it's no longer the era of one Han general fighting against five barbarians. Although Lord Liu held a public ceremony to worship his ancestors, he didn't raise the banner of the Han Dynasty, did he? That shows he wasn't confident either. I think that unless the Grand Commandant makes a foolish move, Lord Liu won't win."

Amid the discussion, a roar like an avalanche suddenly erupted from the Western Army. The armored soldiers swayed slightly, like waves crashing in the ocean. The sounds of armor and weapons rubbing together rolled in, and those who heard it felt a chill run down their spines.

It turned out that a platform had been erected within the Western Army, and on the platform stood a yellow canopy. Seeing this canopy and the feathered carriage beside it, everyone knew that Sima Yong, the Prince of Hejian, had come to the platform to observe the battle.

"The feathered canopy among the Nine Bestowments? How impressive!" Liu Xian stood on the watchtower of the camp, scanning the opposing army formation, and couldn't help but sigh: Compared to the King of Chengdu and the King of Qi, this King of Hejian is indeed a formidable opponent.

He vividly remembered the desolation of Guanzhong when he left Chang'an. He never imagined that five years later, Chang'an would seem to have returned to its pre-Qi Wannian rebellion level. Moreover, judging from the overall military bearing, after so much experience, not only Zhang Fang's troops, but most of the Western Army had become stronger. Holding them back would probably not be as simple as he thought.

He looked back at the soldiers below. They were all standing in front of the camp's fence, peering across. Because many of them were new recruits who had never seen a real battlefield, many of them looked nervous.

"It's a completely different story from starting all over again, unlike in Luoyang!"

Liu Xian could only think this to himself and did not say it aloud. He quickly composed himself and asked Li Sheng, "It's time for breakfast now. Let everyone eat properly first, and then go out to form ranks after they've eaten their fill."

"Shouldn't we leave the camp and confront them first?" Li Sheng asked.

"Wild boars like to boost morale by shouting and putting on a show. They're not going to launch a full-scale attack, so what's there to be afraid of? Let them shout for a while."

The tightly packed formation opposite them, aside from bolstering their morale, was of little use in an attack. Although Liu Xian was alarmed by their military strength and numbers, he could also see that Sima Yong was indeed as conservative as he had anticipated. He planned to fight a few small battles first before deciding whether to launch a major campaign.

Therefore, when the Western Army had already formed ranks and Ma Zhan was shouting outside the camp, Liu Xian ignored him, letting them yell and shout as they pleased, and instead told his soldiers to eat first.

The camp had originally prepared bean porridge and sunflower soup, but since there was going to be a battle today, they also boiled some eggs and gave each soldier one. The soldiers didn't care that the eggs were hot; after receiving their eggs, they peeled them and swallowed them. Before they could finish eating, the eggs were gone, and they would have to wait until lunch to eat more.

At this moment, Liu Xian promised them, "Regardless of victory or defeat today, there will be beef for lunch."

Seeing that their commander was not putting pressure on them, the soldiers relaxed. Having gotten used to the shouts and curses outside the camp, their tension dissipated, and they even gained some courage.

About half an hour after the Western Army had formed its ranks, Liu Xian's army finally emerged from the camp. Although the Western Army had a large formation, only Ma Zhan's force of a little over a thousand cavalry had come out to provoke them. Therefore, Liu Xian sent out Guo Mo, Mao Bao, and five hundred armored cavalrymen from Gongsun Gong's unit, and then ordered his generals to go up to the watchtower with him to observe the battle formation.

Ma Zhan had been shouting and cursing outside the camp for a long time and was quite hoarse. When he saw someone finally come out of the camp, he perked up. He took a sip of water from a rider to moisten his throat, and then sneered, "What? The tortoise has finally decided to come out of its shell?"

Guo Mo, a former bandit, heard someone cursing him and, disregarding that the formation was not yet fully established, immediately retorted, "On such a fine day, if it weren't for the fact that my son is out there calling me so hard, I wouldn't have been willing to get up!"

Ma Zhan, being a scholar by birth and accustomed to propriety, had never uttered such vulgarities before. He was momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond, when he heard Guo Mo laugh and curse again:
"I've heard that the Western Expeditionary Army doesn't just use people for free. If you want to gain merit and promotion, you have to offer up a beautiful wife first. With your looks, your daughter is definitely not suitable. Perhaps your wife is so beautiful that you offered her to the King of Hejian?" Guo Mo's words were, of course, nonsense. The Western Expeditionary Army did indeed have a tradition of offering wives for promotion, but that was during Sun Xiu's reign; it no longer existed. However, this matter was indeed extremely famous, mainly because when Sun Xiu was tried after the campaign against Zhao, his crimes were publicized to promote righteousness, and almost everyone knew about it. Guo Mo was deliberately using this to humiliate Ma Zhan and the Western Army.

These words indeed had an immediate effect. Amidst the laughter of the knights around him, the Westerners opposite him blushed upon hearing this. Many of the knights accompanying the army were about to ride off, but they were quickly stopped by Ma Zhan.

But Ma Zhan was clearly not unmoved. Instead, he laughed in fury, and after a while, his expression turned gloomy. He raised his long spear and pointed the tip at Guo Mo, saying, "State your name! I am Ma Zhan, the Commander of the Western Expeditionary Army. Today I will kill you. First, I will cut your tongue into pieces, and then I will stick your head on this spear tip for all to see." His tone was calm but unpredictable, but everyone could hear the murderous intent in it.

But why would Guo Mo be afraid of him? He had fought the entire battle in the Battle of Luoyang. Now, he raised his long spear and slowly said, "So you are Ma Tai's elder brother. Remember me, I am Guo Mo, Guo Yuanxiong, the captain of the Wuwei Battalion under the Duke of Anle."

After several years of life-and-death struggles, Liu Xian had developed a certain level of trust in Guo Mo. Now, he reorganized his most elite troops—the 5,000 men he had brought back from Luoyang after eliminating Zhang Shi's forces—and divided them into eight battalions: Wuwei Battalion, Xuanwu Battalion, Feiyao Battalion, Changsheng Battalion, Haojin Battalion, Yangfeng Battalion, Diliu Battalion, and Tiema Battalion. Each battalion consisted of approximately 800 men, led by Guo Mo, Guo Song, Mao Bao, Zhang Gu, Zhuge Yan, Meng Tao, He Pan, and Gongsun Gong, respectively.

However, for the Western Army, this was clearly the first time they had heard this name. Ma Zhan chuckled and mocked, "Never heard of him. So he's just an unknown nobody who only dares to boast to make a name for himself!"

Having said that, Ma Zhan no longer hesitated and immediately spurred his horse out from the crowd, wanting to challenge Guo Mo to a duel on the battlefield.

During the Battle of Luoyang, Ma Zhan, as Zhang Fang's favorite general, was certainly no incompetent man. Although not as tall as Guo Mo, he was still eight feet four inches tall, and his strength surpassed that of ordinary people. The long spear he wielded was two feet longer than that of ordinary soldiers, reaching a length of fourteen feet. In addition, his horse was a carefully selected yellow steed, which, when galloping, sounded like a heavy drumbeat, truly awe-inspiring. Zhang Fang therefore favored him, and thus, during the Battle of Xilei, he ordered Ma Zhan to lead the Tiger Army to flank and attack from the south, ultimately inflicting the greatest casualties.

Seeing Ma Zhan approaching on horseback, Guo Mo also spurred his horse to meet him. The two charged at each other and closed the distance of several dozen paces in an instant.

The hooves of both horses kicked up dust, and amidst the billowing dust, Ma Zhan struck first. He had already made up his mind that with the length of his spear, as long as he maintained the distance and struck first, he should be able to gain the upper hand. Therefore, he narrowed his eyes, aimed at Guo Mo's chest, held the spear forward with his left hand, clamped the end of the shaft between his arms, slightly adjusted his position, waited a moment, and then seized the opportunity to strike forward with great force.

The timing of this thrust was perfect. If Guo Mo had used the same method to directly stab Ma Zhan, he probably would have been knocked off his horse before even succeeding. Fortunately, he was a veteran of countless battles and made the right choice immediately, swinging his long spear horizontally to try and deflect the thrusting spear shaft to the side.

The two spears clashed with a "thud," and the two horses passed each other, each running a dozen paces before stopping. When the two men looked back, they were astonished to see that only half of their spears remained. The other two halves had broken off and been flung into the slightly yellowed grass, where they were stuck in the soft autumn soil.

"What strength!" Liu Xian exclaimed upon seeing this scene, and said to Liu Shen, who was traveling with him, "They were able to break the spear shaft; they are all rare warriors."

It should be noted that the craftsmanship of the long spear shaft is extremely complicated. Ordinary spear shafts require mulberry wood, which possesses both toughness and strength, and is then soaked in tung oil for an extended period, followed by air drying. The wood is then glued together with high-quality adhesive, wrapped with hemp rope, coated with raw lacquer, and bound with kudzu cloth—a process repeated multiple times. The resulting fine spear shaft is exceptionally hard yet flexible. The fact that it could be broken in a single blow by combatants demonstrates their astonishing strength.

The other soldiers watching the battle were also dumbfounded and speechless.

With their spears broken, neither side said much. They simply threw the remaining broken spears to the ground, drew their ring-pommel swords from their waists, and brandished them in public. The two riders circled each other briefly, knowing each other's formidable strength and considering each other worthy opponents. Thus, they took this opportunity to consider their next strategy for close combat.

The atmosphere on the scene was extremely tense. At this moment, no one knew whether the other side would win, and any victory would likely deal a huge blow to the morale and fighting spirit of the opposing team.

It was unclear who moved first, but to the onlookers, the two charged at each other once more. This time, however, it wasn't a direct confrontation. Instead, they approached, slightly slowing their stance, and finally almost stopping in their tracks, as they continuously swung their swords. The blades sometimes sparked, sometimes missed their mark in the wind; their movements were wide and sweeping, a back-and-forth exchange that seemed to indicate their skill levels were evenly matched. Even from a distance, the audience, hearing the powerful clanging of the blades in the wind, felt as if they were right there in the midst of the battle, their hearts pounding with tension.

As the two exchanged blows, after only a dozen or so rounds, their pace slowed considerably, almost to a standstill. Suddenly, Guo Mo launched a flying kick, striking Ma Zhan's horse in the side. The kick was incredibly powerful; even through the horse's armor, the yellow steed felt the pain and instinctively reared up. Ma Zhan, caught off guard, lost his balance.

Guo Mo had been waiting for this moment. Seizing the opportunity, he grabbed Ma Zhan's right arm with his left hand, immobilizing him like steel. Even if Ma Zhan wanted to do something, it was too late. He could only stare wide-eyed as Guo Mo brought his knife down, slashing at Ma Zhan's neck. Blood splattered instantly, staining Guo Mo's right arm crimson.

Before his consciousness faded, the last thing he heard was: "You call yourself Zhang Fang's subordinate? Don't you know how to use your wits instead of your strength?"

After Guo Mo finished his mockery, he cut off Ma Zhan's head, then used the tip of his knife to flick it off, displaying his victory to the crowd. He then laughed and cursed, "Is there anyone else who's blind enough to come and die?"

Once the result was announced, the Western Army knights who had come to hurl insults fell silent, their faces ashen, while Liu Xian's soldiers in the camp roared with cheers that echoed through the sky. The situation was completely reversed from what it had been half an hour earlier.

Liu Xian, watching from the observation platform, was somewhat amused and exasperated. He could see that Guo Mo, seemingly evenly matched with Ma Zhan, had actually controlled the pace of the battle and held the initiative. He could have won through a direct confrontation, but instead chose to devise a plan, lulling the opponent into a false sense of security before launching a surprise attack. While this approach was indeed safer, in a battle of wits, the most important thing is momentum; resorting to such trickery seemed rather dishonorable.

Overall, Liu Xian was quite pleased with Guo Mo's victory. So, after shaking his head slightly, he smiled and praised Liu Shen, saying, "You wouldn't have guessed, would you? We have such a tall, strong, and clever fellow in our army!" (End of Chapter)