Jinting Han people

Time flies, and the day of Wuyin in the twelfth lunar month will soon arrive.

Three days before this day, both the Hanzhong and Chengdu armies took their positions around Yinping County as agreed. The Hanzhong army was stationed east of Yinping County, while the Chengdu army was stationed at the confluence of the Baishui and Qiangshui rivers, about eighty li apart. They then advanced at an extremely cautious pace, ten li per day, to conserve their strength and avoid ambushes. On this day, however, the two sides were only forty li apart, and the battle was inevitable.

In truth, Zhang Guang and his companions harbored doubts about the challenge. The saying goes, "All warfare is based on deception." Ever since Duke Xiang of Song was ambushed while crossing the river, the art of battlefield command has evolved over nearly a thousand years, increasingly resembling a combination of arithmetic and deception. Why would Li Xiong try to defy this principle, refusing to launch an attack and instead provoking a battle?

But once they left Yangping Pass and were traveling through the vast mountains, Zhang Guang quickly understood the reason.

The mountain roads between Jiange and Hanzhong are extremely treacherous and difficult to traverse. The width between the valleys is usually no more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) at its narrowest and no more than a hundred zhang (approximately 330 meters) at its widest. Once an army advances through them, it is extremely difficult to conceal its tracks and it is very easy to be discovered by scouts. If a city is built in these areas, it is often only necessary to defend one side of the valley. With proper stockpiling of supplies, a few hundred men can hold off more than ten thousand people for a long time. The so-called surprise attacks commonly used in tactics are often ineffective.

Under such circumstances, changing the balance of power between the two sides is extremely difficult. A surprise attack is a pointless option, and a proactive siege is unlikely to yield results. To achieve victory, one must either launch an attack despite significant terrain disadvantages, or, if both sides are willing to change the situation, engage in a formal duel.

Such was their current environment. Yinping City was built in the widest part of the Baishui River Valley, reaching a width of two li at its widest point and a length of over ten li, enough to cultivate hundreds of hectares of farmland. However, once they left Yinping City and headed east, the winding valley suddenly narrowed, with the riverbank only wide enough for a dozen or so people to walk side by side. After passing through a large mountain called Qianshan in front of the city, the river widened slightly, but it was still only about a hundred zhang wide. It could only accommodate two or three hundred people for a head-on battle at most.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Guang felt that the battle line here was cramped, but not so cramped that it couldn't be deployed. It could accommodate the soldiers he had brought, which was perfect for the pre-battle plan of forming a battle line with their backs to the mountain. So he made a decisive decision to go up the mountain and raise a flag there, while the rest of the infantry formed a long snake formation at the foot of the mountain, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

Just a few days ago, it was snowing in Yinping, but today the snow stopped, the sun rose, and as far as the eye could see, the valley was a bright white expanse. Beneath the white snow, countless verdant pines and cypresses stood tall and straight towards the sky, their green and white hues inspiring a sense of the tenacity and resilience of life. Seeing this scene, the soldiers who had gone into battle did not feel so cold anymore.

It was at this moment that the Chengdu army first appeared before the Hanzhong army.

First, a dozen or so cavalrymen appeared in the dawn light on the opposite hilltop, barely visible. They surveyed the hilltop for a moment, then quickly retreated. A couple of quarters later, a cacophony of footsteps echoed through the narrow valley, like a frozen river beginning to flow again, followed by the muffled groans of bull horns.

Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Guang and the other generals stood up and looked towards the foot of the opposite mountain. A black tide appeared in the middle of the winding valley, rushing densely towards the foot of the mountain opposite the Hanzhong army, finally stopping a mile away from the Hanzhong army.

These men, clad in dark blue armor and wearing specially made hoods, wielded ring-pommel swords in one hand and rattan shields in the other, aloft large blue banners with white borders bearing the characters "Cheng" and "Li." Squads of soldiers moved with incredible speed and perfect coordination, forming ranks in a very short time. Each unit stood like a blockade, facing the Hanzhong army's position opposite.

Finally, the soldiers on the opposite side suddenly shouted, and like waves being cleaved, a path opened up, from which over a hundred fast horses galloped out. These horses were not as tall as the large horses of Longshang, and their legs were shorter, but they were fat and strong, and quite agile on the mountain roads. This allowed them to quickly reach the opposite hilltop. The leader, holding a flag, rode to the highest cliff in front of the others, and then suddenly stopped. The horse was pulled tightly by the reins, and its forelegs immediately reared up. The rider raised the flag high, used the horse's hooves to land, and forcefully planted the flagpole into the snow. The rest of the men followed immediately.

The banner was extremely tall, standing three zhang high. Amidst the mountain mists, the banner fluttered in the wind, revealing four large characters: "True Lord of Peace".

Upon seeing the flag, the literate officers of the Hanzhong army couldn't help but let out a brief uproar. Meanwhile, the Chengdu army opposite them cheered, appearing highly motivated.

Seeing this, Zhang Guang squinted at Wei Jun and the others and said, "These traitors have quite the nerve! Even the Marshal never refers to himself like that, yet these traitors are already using it! What gives them the right?"

Unexpectedly, Yang Jian took a deep breath and corrected him, "Don't underestimate it, this is the Taoist banner of Qingcheng Mountain!"

The prophecy of the Jiazi year and the Taiping Zhenjun has been popular since the time of Zhang Jiao. The success of Cao Cao and his son in changing dynasties and unifying the north was inseparable from the support of the Taiping Dao and Tianshi Dao, two major Taoist sects. However, after the Wei-Jin transition, perhaps due to lingering discontent among the people, these prophecies not only did not disappear but actually flourished again.

Although Sun Xiu has revived this story in recent years, popularizing it in Luoyang, the truth is that the Celestial Masters sect originated in Sichuan and Chongqing, and the prophecy of the True Lord of Great Peace has been circulating there ever since, reaching a far greater depth of understanding and acceptance than in other regions. It's important to remember that the first Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling, founded the sect in Sichuan and Chongqing. He first attained enlightenment and established the sect at Heming Mountain, then preached throughout the twenty-four mountains, and finally ascended to heaven at Qingcheng Mountain.

In other words, Mount Qingcheng is the sacred site of the entire Celestial Masters sect. Although its authority weakened after the third Celestial Master, Zhang Lu, moved north, resulting in a situation where four major priests—Donghai, Bashu, Luoyang, and Jianghan—ruled four separate dioceses, Bashu was undoubtedly the first diocese and held the highest authority, aside from the Celestial Master himself, to interpret prophecies.

Although Sun Xiu, the Grand Master of the East Sea, claimed that Liu Xian was the legendary prophet, and this claim was widely circulated, there were several issues. First, Liu Xian himself utterly despised the Celestial Masters sect and never spoke of ghosts or gods, let alone acknowledged himself as the True Lord of Great Peace. Second, Sun Xiu himself had a rather poor reputation; among the four Grand Masters of the Celestial Masters sect, Sun Xiu had the worst reputation, raising suspicions about his motives. Third, Sun Xiu himself stated in the prophecy that a True Lord of Great Peace who had not undergone the baptism of the Celestial Masters sect was not a true True Lord of Great Peace, and Liu Xian indeed had not undergone this process.

As a result, Liu Xian's identity as the True Lord of Peace was met with considerable skepticism among some followers of the Celestial Masters sect. In contrast, the claim that Li Xiong, a descendant of Laozi, was the true True Lord of Peace, was supported and promoted by Fan Changsheng, the Grand Master of Qingcheng Mountain, a man of high moral standing and prestige. This assertion carried far greater weight.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Since Liu Xian himself despised the Celestial Masters sect, most of the generals he recruited also shared this view. Especially those like Zhang Guang, who had suffered greatly under Sun Xiu's command, how could they possibly still believe in the Celestial Masters sect? Although they thought the name Taiping Zhenjun sounded impressive, they didn't really take it seriously.

After hearing Yang Jian's explanation, most of the generals were somewhat surprised, but some were unconvinced. Zhang Guang looked up at the banner again and said disdainfully, "So what? Sun Xiu is the Grand Master of the Celestial Masters Sect, and I haven't seen him win many battles." On the other side, Li Li, the Grand Commandant of Chengdu, was also observing the Hanzhong army opposite him. Standing under the banner of the True Lord of Peace, he calculated the number of enemy troops, examined their equipment, and evaluated their overall military appearance. He couldn't help but be somewhat shocked, and then said to Li Guo beside him, "Liu Xian's army is quite elite! Looking at them, most of them are young and strong, and they have acquired so many sets of fine armor. Moreover, their formation is very well-organized. This is likely to be a tough battle."

Grand Chancellor Li Guo, seeing this, also agreed quite a bit. He patted the hilt of his sword and said, "No matter what, Liu Xian is a well-known general in the world, and his troops are certainly not weak. It will not be easy to achieve victory."

He quickly asked, "What do you mean? Should we send someone to challenge them?"

Li Li frowned and said, "There's no need. Right now, we have more soldiers than the enemy, and our morale is high. Winning the challenge would bring no benefit, and losing would only damage morale. Besides, I've heard that there are quite a few capable fighters among the enemy. Taking this risk is not worthwhile."

“That makes sense.” Li Guo nodded in agreement, and then said, “Since they’ve set up their formation with their backs to the mountain and are being so conservative, it’s clear they’re not confident either. In my opinion, this is probably their first time fighting in this kind of situation. So why don’t we adopt a three-pronged attack strategy? I guarantee they won’t believe it.”

Li Li pondered for a moment, surveyed the Hanzhong army's formation and the surrounding terrain, and then looked at the terrain where his own side was located. He smiled and said, "Alright, it's a good choice. Sanlang said that we must win this battle, so it's only right that we work a little harder."

The "Sanlang" he mentioned is Li Xiong, the current ruler of Chengdu. Although Li Xiong has now ascended the throne, the atmosphere of equality within the Li clan remains strong, and they are accustomed to calling him "Sanlang" rather than "Your Highness".

Li Guo continued, "I can supervise the first campaign. As for the second and third campaigns, who does the Grand Commandant plan to use?"

Li Li said, "The second offensive should be more intense, aiming at the enemy's command camp. It requires a brave general, so let Zhang Long lead it. The third offensive should be more arduous, taking a long detour. It requires a patient general, so let Fei Hei lead it. What do you think?"

After pondering for a moment, Li Guo agreed with the assessment and clapped his hands, saying, "Good, now it's time to let these northerners know the power and strength of our Chengdu Kingdom!"

As soon as the military order was given, the soldiers from the command post began to descend the mountain to relay the message. While the orders were being relayed to various units, an old man dressed in Taoist robes walked to the banner of the True Lord of Peace. He held a staff in his hand and was chanting prayers on the mountaintop. The staff in his hand was strung with many copper coins, which made a pleasant tinkling sound as he shook it during his prayer. At the same time, he extended his left hand and solemnly took out a yellow talisman from his chest. On it were written incantations in cinnabar that ordinary people could not understand.

The man chanted incantations for a long time, then exhaled onto the talisman. For some unknown reason, the talisman spontaneously combusted! Illuminated by the flames, the Taoist priest tossed the burning talisman into the air, where a single talisman suddenly multiplied into dozens, all burning fiercely in the air until the flames died down. The old man knelt on one knee and proclaimed to the sky: "May the grand assembly of the Jiazi year bring longevity to the people; may the souls return to the celestial hall, and the dead find peace."

Upon seeing this, the Chengdu soldiers all followed the example of the old man on the mountain, kneeling on one knee in the snow and repeating to the sky: "May the grand assembly be held for sixty years, may the people live long; may their souls return to the celestial hall, and may the dead find peace."

The sight and sound greatly shocked the Hanzhong army present. Many soldiers were seeing this for the first time and couldn't understand the principle behind it. They couldn't help but whisper among themselves, saying, "What's going on? Is there really such a thing as magic in the world?"

Generals like Zhang Guang saw it clearly. Their faces were solemn. Although they didn't know how the other side had done it, they understood that the other side was deliberately intimidating them to show that Heaven favored them and that they were the abandoned ones.

Faced with the whispers among the soldiers, the generals realized that they had to take immediate action to deal with the situation, otherwise the soldiers would become hesitant, which would affect the battle and cause unrest.

Huan Yi reacted the fastest. He cracked his whip and shouted to those around him, "There's nothing to be afraid of! Sun Xiu used the same trick when he offered sacrifices to Heaven in Chang'an, and he still lost to Qi Wannian. Later, when he offered sacrifices to Emperor Xuan of Jin at Mount Tai, Sima Yi's divine oracle appeared out of nowhere. What was his end result? Wasn't he torn apart by the Marshal? If we're talking about the True Lord of Peace, the Marshal is the True Lord of Peace! Why fear the fake when the real one is real?"

These words, though their veracity was unknown, managed to quell the recent commotion. However, the soldiers' pale faces still betrayed their doubts. Conversely, the Chengdu army opposite them was brimming with energy and high morale. These men seemed genuinely convinced they had received divine protection.

But there was no time to say more now, as the Chengdu army's offensive had officially begun.

After Li Guo descended the mountain and joined the army, the Chengdu army launched its first offensive as the low horn sound gradually rose. The black tide that had stopped at the foot of the opposite mountain began to surge again. They did not come directly to the Hanzhong army. Facing the long snake formation of Hanzhong surrounding the mountains, they chose to risk entering within arrow range and cut diagonally westward.

An ordinary general, seeing that the enemy wasn't attacking him directly, might have assumed it was cowardice, a refusal to engage in direct combat. But Zhang Guang was no ordinary general. He was startled, then rose to his feet, leaning on his sword, his face serious. He immediately ordered the soldiers around him, "Inform the entire army to prepare for battle! Have everyone form ranks!"

Zhang Guang had realized that the Chengdu army wasn't avoiding engagement, but rather stretching their battle lines and changing their formation. Once the enemy completed their formation, this battle wouldn't be a probing attack, but a full-scale decisive battle. (End of Chapter)