Jinting Han people

That very night, upon returning to Chang'an, Sima Yong summoned his advisors once again for a military meeting.

It was late at night, and all the generals who participated in the military council were frowning. Although it had only been a simple probing during the day, they were deeply impressed by the battle. After all, Ma Zhan's cavalry was considered the elite of the Western Army, yet they couldn't withstand a single blow from the enemy and were swiftly defeated by the so-called Iron Cavalry Battalion. While there was certainly a difference between light and heavy cavalry, it was still unacceptable.

As the defeated general, Lü Lang naturally had to first apologize to the King of Hejian and explain:

“Your Highness, there is no need to worry too much. Although the armored cavalry that Liu Ni sent out today were inherited from Meng Guan’s own Shanggu Camp and then reorganized into the Songzi Camp, which was once famous in the capital region, there can’t be many such armored cavalry. When Meng Guan pacified Qi Wannian, he only brought three thousand men. During the Battle of Luoyang, Marshal Zhang attacked Liu Ni fiercely, causing the Songzi Camp to flee in disarray, almost losing all its elite troops. The armored cavalry that Liu Ni can bring now is definitely not many, and it is very likely that what appeared today is all of them.”

Upon hearing this, Sima Yong merely uttered an "Oh," shifted his body slightly, and asked in a calm tone, "Then, in your opinion, how should our army eliminate these armored cavalry?"

Lü Lang was speechless. These armored cavalrymen were an insurmountable obstacle to defeating Liu Xian's forces. Meng Guan's feat of leading three thousand armored cavalrymen to break through a hundred thousand rebel troops was still talked about today. Now, if they were to fight Liu Xian's army, it would be unlikely that these five hundred armored cavalrymen could break through the Western Army, but defeating any force blocking their way was a certainty.

Although Liu Xian's other troops could not possibly be so elite, it was still an unacceptable price to accept that one of them would be defeated first in a major battle.

Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, he said to the Prince of Hejian, "If Marshal Zhang's elite troops were still here, how could these people be allowed to run rampant? Your Highness might as well summon Marshal Zhang..."

Before he could finish speaking, seeing the displeasure on the King of Hejian's face, he swallowed his words. Zhang Fang was indeed capable of winning battles, but after the private peace negotiations, it was no longer a topic to be discussed in Chang'an. However, the battlefield was the battlefield, and Zhang Fang's reputation among the Western Army was very high, causing many to still harbor a glimmer of hope.

Sima Yong dismissed this hope once again and sneered, "Gentlemen, you wouldn't say that without the Tiger Army, you're helpless, would you?"

Sima Yong secretly longed to utilize the Tiger Army. Although Zhang Fang had single-handedly built this army, it wouldn't have succeeded without Sima Yong's full support in terms of supplies and personnel. Now, Sima Yong only regretted delegating too much power and not introducing dissidents into the army beforehand, causing the Tiger Army to be loyal only to Zhang Fang, not to him. It was absolutely impossible to raise such a force again in the short term.

In this situation, Peng Sui suddenly remembered something and suggested, "Your Highness, judging by the time, the ships should be almost finished by now, right? We've been waiting for so long without attacking, isn't it all because we're waiting for the ships? If they're finished, we can cross the river downstream, send cavalry across the Wei River, agree on a date, and then attack from both the north and south. How can Liu Xian possibly resist?"

Others who heard this also thought it made sense and echoed it. For example, Lü Lang said, "Even if we don't attack his main camp, we can still send people to cut off his supply lines, which will be enough to give Liu Bei a hard time."

Sima Yong then turned to Yan Ding and asked him. Yan Ding, who was in charge of military affairs and knew the details, replied, "Your Highness, I asked about it the day before yesterday. Nearly two hundred ships have been built at Tongguan, which can accommodate more than five thousand people to cross the river at the same time."

Hearing that the boats were finished, everyone's expressions relaxed. In any case, having boats and not having boats are two different things, and even if these boats are used as grain transport vessels, transporting grain will be much simpler.

However, Yan Ding's expression was not pleasant. He hesitated for a moment and reported to the King of Hejian: "The way of military strategy is to have both orthodox and unorthodox tactics. But now there is a problem. Liu Xian has set up camp at Sanhekou in advance. Sanhekou is only twenty miles north of Tongguan. If we want to transport troops here, I'm afraid we can't hide it from him."

"Can't we go around it?"

“Sanhekou is upstream, and Tongguan is downstream. In this way, they are blocking us downstream, while we are transporting troops upstream. The speed difference is huge, and I'm afraid we can't get around them.” Yan Ding pointed out the location on the map and analyzed for the King of Hejian: “If we want to cross the river to transport troops, we can only take down the main camp at Sanhekou first. Otherwise, even if we cross the river, without supplies, we will be an isolated army without any help.”

Sima Yong looked at the location and also felt that this place was dangerous and quite troublesome. He then asked, "How many people are here?"

“I’ve already checked, it’s around four or five thousand,” Yan Ding said.

Upon hearing this number, Sima Yong felt greatly relieved. He immediately said to Peng Sui, "I'll give you 15,000 men. Do you dare to take Sanhekou?"

Peng Sui pondered to himself that if he were given all the completed ships, nearly five thousand people could cross the river at once, and the crossing would be safe, without the worry of being attacked halfway across. The only possible concern was whether the enemy would attack with fire ships like last time. But last time, he was caught off guard, and this time, as long as he took precautions beforehand and made some long spears to block the fire ships, he should be able to avoid making a mistake again.

Thinking this, Peng Sui immediately promised, "Your Highness, if you were to assign me another capable general, I would certainly be able to guarantee victory."

"Oh?" Sima Yong sized up Peng Sui, noticing his scholarly attire, and thought that he should indeed be paired with a fighting general. He then asked, "Who would you like to invite to join the battle?"

“Ya Yamen is the best. He and I are from the same hometown, and we have a good understanding.” Peng Sui said this with a hidden agenda. Two years ago, Ya Bo was ordered to attack Li Te in Yizhou, but he was ambushed by Li Dang and suffered a crushing defeat. More than half of his 20,000 troops were lost, which caused Sima Yong to temporarily abandon his plan to conquer Yizhou and instead focus on managing Luoyang. Since then, Ya Bo has been marginalized. Now that Peng Sui has a chance to make a name for himself, he wants to help his fellow townsman. Sima Yong readily agreed and praised Peng Sui, saying, “You are a sentimental person, and so am I. You have both followed me for many years. Don’t let the newcomers lose out.”

So Peng Sui and Ya Bo led 15,000 men westward, deliberately avoiding the riverbanks and taking mountain trails to return silently to Tongguan. Along the way, Peng Sui and Ya Bo had already discussed their plan. Ya Bo would lead the vanguard while Peng Sui brought up the rear. They would cross the river under cover of night, ideally achieving a surprise attack, and then begin their assault on the camp. However, if they were discovered halfway through, the plan couldn't be changed; they would then engage in a direct, bloody battle. While this would result in greater casualties, overall, the chances of success were still around 80-90%.

They marched swiftly, covering 300 li (approximately 150 kilometers) in four days, and returned to Tongguan. The garrison at Tongguan received them and handed over all the newly built boats. Due to the urgency, the boatmen built only the simplest type of small boat. The hull was about four or five zhang (approximately 10-15 meters) long and about one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) wide. In the center of the cabin, a semi-circular frame, eight chi (approximately 1.3 meters) high, was built using thin wooden planks and covered with straw mats; this served as the boat's canopy. Because it was pointed at both ends and long and thin in the middle, resembling a grasshopper, it was called a small boat.

Don't underestimate these simple tumbler boats; for the Guanzhong region, where the rivers aren't very fertile, they were already considered medium-sized vessels. Ordinary people in Guanzhong usually crossed the river in leather rafts, made of sheepskin or cowhide. After drying, oiling, and inflating them, they were tied to the bottom of the raft. A leather raft could carry about four or five people. Therefore, when Peng Sui and his men saw these tumbler boats, still smelling of tung oil, lined up like fallen leaves on the riverbank, they were quite satisfied.

As planned, they rested for a day at Tongguan to regroup. That night, the soldiers marched along the river in the dark towards Sanhekou. The moon was high in the sky, and due to the autumn floods, the Wei River beside them surged and roared, its powerful waves washing over the riverbanks, inspiring endless reverie.

As the march progressed, they noticed torches suddenly appearing on the opposite bank. At first, there were only one or two, which seemed insignificant in the darkness. But after a while, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the other side, and then the torches on the other side lit up one by one. In the end, there were about a hundred riders.

Peng Sui realized that those must be scouts from Liu Xian's troops. They had been monitoring Tongguan day and night, reporting any disturbance to the army at Sanhekou. It seemed the surprise attack plan had failed. Since that was the case, Peng Sui decided to stop concealing his intentions and ordered all his soldiers to carry torches and march to Taolin Ferry, where both armies stopped. The river was narrow here, with gentle banks, making it an easy crossing point. He Pan's army had already assembled there, holding torches high, forming a standoff across the river with Peng Sui's forces.

Ya Bo asked Peng Sui, "Now that we've been discovered, should we wait until daylight to cross the river?"

Peng Sui said, "If we cross the river during the day, their visibility is good, and if we block the bank and shoot arrows, the casualties will be considerable. We might as well cross at night and fight in close combat, which would be more satisfying."

Ya Bo thought it made sense, so he said, "Very well, our army's morale is high, and we should not delay. Let's finish this quickly."

Having said this, he immediately mustered his soldiers and ordered them to board the boats to prepare for crossing the river. To maintain the stability of the boats and to keep the soldiers in order, he had the small boats linked together. These small boats were actually made of specially made wooden planks that could be wedged together to secure the bows and sterns of the boats. Now, Ya Bo had five small boats linked together, enough to carry over a hundred people across the river at once.

Once everything was ready, Peng fired three whistling arrows into the sky as a signal, and the first batch of small boats drifted over like falling leaves. Even though it was autumn flood season and the Wei River was over two hundred zhang wide, the terrain was relatively flat and the current was not rapid. The boatmen at the bow and stern rowed frantically, and the small boats approached northward at a steady speed.

About fifteen minutes later, Ya Bo led the first group of soldiers onto the north bank. Before they could even get a foothold, they were met with a fierce attack from He Pan's troops. The soldiers of the Hedong army lined up on the half-dry riverbank. Seeing that the enemy was stuck in the mud and their formation was not tight, they immediately aimed at the Westerners and drew their bows. In the darkness, the arrows were completely invisible. The Hedong soldiers did not know whether they had hit their targets or not, and the Westerners who had come ashore did not know how to dodge. It was all a matter of luck.

Overall, just as Peng Sui and his men had anticipated, arrows were even less likely to hit at night. The Westerners, simply by raising their shields, could easily form ranks, creating several small but sturdy semi-circular formations on the north bank. Then, like snails, they advanced steadily and powerfully. Upon reaching a certain distance, Ya Bo, as the vanguard commander, shouted "Kill!" The Westerners threw down their shields, drew their swords, and engaged the Hedong army in hand-to-hand combat. The Hedong soldiers threw their torches to the ground, and a fierce battle ensued.

These Westerners crossing the river were indeed fearless. Most of them were veterans who had been defeated in the battle of Yizhou years ago. Now they were determined to avenge their defeat and make a name for themselves. Even though the first group of people who came up was small, under the leadership of Ya Bo, they fought like madmen against an enemy force that outnumbered them several times over. Even if they were hit by arrows, as long as their legs were not injured, they kept charging forward.

After all, in their view, this battle was a sure victory. As long as enough space was created so that the subsequent small boats could continue to transport people, the Hedong army would inevitably fall into an absolute disadvantage in terms of troop strength and would be unable to resist. In fact, even the attack of these thousand or so people was far more intense than He Pan had expected, and the formation of his front line was once in chaos and disarray.

Ya Bo's bravery in leading from the front also played a part. In unarmed infantry combat, the danger faced by generals was equal to that of ordinary soldiers, yet he wielded a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, ferociously attacking from both sides. This was because, after the battle in Shu, he had converted to Taoism and spent a fortune on an amulet of immunity from death, which he concealed in his chest. It was said that this would attract ghostly soldiers to protect him, dispel the deathly aura on his body, and grant him immunity from death on the battlefield. With this belief, he naturally attacked anyone he encountered, breaking two ring-pommel swords and killing over a dozen people; almost no one could get close to him.

As the fighting continued, Ya Bo gradually sensed something was wrong: why were there so few sounds of reinforcements behind him? After defeating the enemy soldiers in front of him, he panted heavily, leaned on his sword, and looked back. He was astonished to find that they had already charged more than two hundred paces, and the number of reinforcements was far less than he had expected. Moreover, the soldiers behind him did not seem to have changed much. What was going on? So Ya Bo stepped back slightly and continued to look inside.

What he saw there was terrifying; it terrified him. More than ten large ships were sailing across the Wei River, crashing and jostling among the small boats like monsters. The small boats, strung together, were trapped, unable to move forward or backward, like a flock of bewildered sheep encountering a pack of wolves, stuck in the middle of the river, pacing back and forth in bewilderment.

This was the warship that He Pan had supervised the construction of in March, and He Pan was standing on a slightly larger flagship, using flag signals to direct his subordinates to advance.

Unlike the slender and delicate zebra boats, these warships, known as *menchong*, were only six or seven *zhang* long, but two *zhang* wide. Their cabins were divided into two levels, each two *zhang* high. Although not much longer than a zebra boat, their size resembled a tiger colliding with a deer. The upper level of the *menchong*'s cabin had openings, with about ten long spears extending from each side, used to stab and thrust wildly at the zebra boats. The lower level housed about twenty boatmen, responsible for rowing. Thus, although a single *menchong* warship carried only about fifty people, it could attack and defend from both sides, and even its speed was two to three times greater than that of a zebra boat.

The most deadly part was the sharp prow of the warship, which He Pan had covered with iron plates, specifically designed to ram other ships. These fragile small boats couldn't withstand the impact of the warships at all, and they cracked and leaked like ceramic. The Westerners who could swim fled in panic, while those who couldn't swim could only struggle as the icy Wei River engulfed them.

Thus, the newly built ships of the Western Army were destroyed again by He Pan before even half a month had passed, with only a very few ships managing to escape. All two thousand-plus Westerners who had crossed the river were captured, their commander Ya Bo committed suicide, and over a thousand more drowned. Peng Sui was forced to abandon his river-crossing plan and returned dejectedly to Chang'an to inform Sima Yong of the dismal outcome of the operation. (End of Chapter)