Jinting Han people

Yiling City, also known as Xiling City, has been one of the two important passes along with Yong'an since ancient times.

Its earliest military records can be traced back to the Warring States period, when the famous Qin general Bai Qi marched south to attack Chu, burning Yiling, capturing Yingdu, and then advancing east to Jingling, forcing Chu to relocate its capital to Shouchun. From then on, Yiling became a crucial military stronghold in the south. Later, the famous Han general Cen Peng attacked Shu; during the Three Kingdoms period, Lü Meng launched a surprise attack on Jingzhou; the decisive battle of Yiling between Han and Wu; the Battle of Xiling between Wu and Jin; and Wang Jun's conquest of Wu—all these battles that determined the life and death of southern regimes revolved around this city.

The reason is simple: Baidi City controlled the western entrance to the Three Gorges, while Yiling City controlled the eastern entrance. As the most important passage between Jing and Yi provinces, the ownership of these two cities undoubtedly determined who held the initiative between Bashu and Jianghan. Therefore, Lu Xun said, "Yiling is a vital strategic point, a crucial link for the nation. If it is lost, not only will a single prefecture be lost, but Jingzhou itself will be in danger." It was also commonly said that if Jingzhou controlled the western city, it could destroy Shu; conversely, if Yizhou controlled the eastern city, it could destroy Chu. If each province controlled one, they would live in peace.

Despite its strategic importance, the city's defenders showed no intention of resisting the Han navy when they arrived. The governor of Yidu, Du Jian, abandoned the city and fled north, while the remaining soldiers, devoid of fighting spirit, removed their armor and returned to civilian life. This allowed the Han army to capture this crucial strategic point at the eastern entrance of the Three Gorges without losing a single soldier or firing a single arrow.

After entering the city, Liu Xian breathed a long sigh of relief.

Even with prior planning and a high probability of a successful surprise attack, leading 60,000 naval troops across the Three Gorges in a single day, a journey of 500 li (approximately 250 kilometers), was still an unprecedented military operation. This was Liu Xian's gamble; he was betting that during this period, Wang Dun had not yet made any defensive adjustments east of Baidi City, and that Yiling remained an undefended empty city.

If he wins the gamble, things will be as they are now: he has secured a foothold in Yiling and gained the upper hand for the next step. If he loses the gamble, his 60,000-strong army will be caught in a dilemma, unable to block the entrance to the Xiling Gorge, nor able to turn back to Wuxian and Zigui. Instead, they may be attacked from both sides by the remaining Jin troops in the two counties, and the situation will become uncontrollable.

But now Liu Xian has won his gamble, and from now on, the entire Jin army in Jingzhou will have to be at his mercy.

In order to quickly understand the overall situation, he handed over miscellaneous tasks such as setting up camp to Li Ju. Without even resting, he met with the prefectural officials in Yiling City, first asking for a local map, and then consulting the map to inquire about the current location of the main force of the Jin army.

The local official reported to the Prince of Han with trepidation that the court in Shouchun had ordered Wang Dun, the governor of Jingzhou, Wang Kuang, the governor of Jiangzhou, Wang Yi, the newly appointed governor of Xiangzhou, and Wang Ji, the acting governor of Jiaozhou, to jointly suppress the rebel army of Du Tao in Xiangzhou.

At this time, Du Tao had already occupied the four commanderies of Lingling, Guiyang, Shixing, and Xiangdong, and was heading north to attack the commanderies of Hengyang and Changsha. Meanwhile, the Jin army was divided into three routes, launching a three-pronged attack on southern Hunan from the east, west, and south.
The Jingzhou army was the western route army, and its commander-in-chief, Wang Dun, was stationed in Jiang'an, Nanping County, and was leading the advance from Annam to Yiyang to supervise the battle.

The Jiangzhou Army was the Eastern Route Army, and its commander-in-chief, Wang Kuang, was stationed in Shayang, Wuchang County, and was leading the advance from Baling to Linxiang to supervise the battle.
The Guangzhou army, together with the remaining Xiangzhou army, formed the Southern Route Army, with Wang Yi as the commander-in-chief and Wang Ji as the deputy commander-in-chief. Starting from Linhe County, they marched north along the Xiang River to eliminate various strongholds along the riverbank.

The Jingzhou army, which is closest to them, currently has 70,000 troops, excluding those stationed in various towns. Of these, 20,000 are stationed in Jiangling, 30,000 in Jiang'an, and 20,000 vanguard troops are attacking Yiyang.

Liu Xian studied the map for a moment. He thought that Jiangling was only about two hundred li away from Yiling, and the middle was a plain. Whether by horseback or by boat, Wang Dun would receive the news in half a day. Therefore, the news of the Han navy's eastward advance should not be kept secret. However, it would take some time to mobilize troops to come to the rescue, especially since the Jin army was short of horses and was downstream. It would take at least four or five days.

Furthermore, it must be considered that Wang Dun is unaware of the details of the troops he has mobilized. Under such circumstances, he may not dare to rashly lead his troops to provide assistance. He should first scout out the situation before making a decision, which would take a considerable amount of time, enough for him to establish a foothold in Jingzhou.

With this in mind, Liu Xian had a plan in mind. Without resting, he waited until everyone had finished their dinner before summoning high-ranking generals such as Li Ju, Li Feng, He Pan, Yang Nandi, Liu Shen, and Zhang Guang to discuss countermeasures.

Because it was getting late, he didn't keep us in suspense and pointed to the map to analyze: "According to our original plan, after taking Yiling, we should proceed steadily and first turn around to sweep away the eight counties of Wuxian, Beijing, Qinchang, Xinling, Xingshan, Jianshi, Zigui and Shachu to ensure the stability of the rear, and then advance eastward step by step to take Jingnan."

"But judging from the current situation, the Jin army's defenses are extremely weak, and our original plan was too conservative. The Jin army is currently heavily surrounding the Dongting area, and they will surely be surprised and uncertain when they suddenly learn of the fall of Yiling. Before they have made up their minds, if our army launches a large-scale eastward advance and takes advantage of the enemy's inability to assemble, we can first attack and destroy the Jingzhou navy in Jiang'an. Do you think we can force them to withdraw from southern Jingzhou in one battle?"

When Liu Xian was not in motion, he remained still; but when he did move, it was like a raging storm—this had always been his style. Seeing that the Jin army had split into multiple routes, he immediately saw a golden opportunity to defeat them. If he could annihilate a portion of the Jin army's main force before they could regroup and burn their ships, it would undoubtedly severely damage the enemy's morale and increase his own chances of victory.

Everyone thought his words made a lot of sense, but Li Feng stroked his beard and shook his head, saying, "Your Highness, I don't think the chances of winning are high."

"Oh?" Liu Xian glanced at him and asked, "You think I'll lose the battle?"

"It's not a matter of whether we lose or not, Your Highness. I think if you continue eastward in this way, it will be in vain and you'll have made a wasted trip."

This was a novel idea. Although Liu Xian disliked Li Feng's character and conduct, he couldn't deny Li Feng's keen sense and talent in military strategy. He patiently asked, "Why do you think that?"

Li Feng pointed to Jiang'an on the map and said, "Your Highness, although Wang Dun is currently stationed here, our army is new to the area and has only heard news from a few minor officials. We do not yet have any clear intelligence to prove that the Jingzhou navy is also here. If Your Highness leads the navy eastward and finds nothing, wouldn't that expose our army's true strength?"

After hearing these words, Liu Xian fell into deep thought. He realized that Li Feng was right and that he had indeed overlooked this issue.

Lacking experience in naval warfare, Liu Xian instinctively assumed that the commander-in-chief's location was where the navy was. However, upon closer examination, he realized that the Jin army's campaign was currently concentrated around Xiangzhou. Neither the Jingzhou nor the Jiangzhou navy had any reason to remain on the outskirts; they should be on the Xiang River front. If he led his troops there, he might indeed gain nothing, or perhaps burn some cargo ships, but that wouldn't amount to much. Li Feng's assessment of it being futile wasn't an exaggeration.

Liu Xian was not a stubborn person. He immediately put aside his own ideas and asked Li Feng, "Then, in your opinion, how should our army act?" Li Feng still held the original conservative idea. He only slightly modified it and said, "Since the puppet Jin army is weak, Your Highness can first seize Yidao. Yidao is the confluence of the Yi River and the Yangtze River. If you establish a foothold in Jingnan here, you can first control the Yi River. There is a mountain road here that leads to Zigui. Although the mountain road is not wide, it is still a potential threat. If Your Highness takes this place, Yidao and Yiling will make the rear impregnable."

This was a good suggestion, but Liu Xian was still slightly disappointed upon hearing it. He found that Li Feng was quite similar to Deng Yu among the Twenty-Eight Generals of Yuntai. He had an excellent eye for judging the overall strategic situation and could often see the key points at a glance, but when making decisions, he liked to hesitate and always cared about some insignificant petty gains.

He was unwilling to adopt this strategy and was about to lower his head to continue pondering when Li Ju, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up: "Brother, I think there is another way that may directly force Wang Dun out of Jingnan."

"Oh? What brilliant plan does Shi Hui have?"

Li Ju pointed to Jingbei, tapped the map twice, and slowly said, "We can besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, and launch a cavalry raid on Xiangyang!"

Everyone was startled by his words, and then he continued to explain:

“Brother, apart from Jiangling City, the defenses of Jingbei are currently quite weak. This area is mostly plains. Our cavalry can march north from Dangyang, making a show of force along the way, pretending to be heading straight for Xiangyang. Xiangyang is a fortified city, and with only cavalry, it's unlikely to be taken. However, the Jin people, unaware of our true strength, will panic and lead their army north. Then, our cavalry can cross the Jing Mountains back to Yiling. Lacking horses, they won't be able to catch up. After this encirclement, Jingnan will be deserted.”

Liu Xian silently rubbed his chin, and after some calculation, nodded and said, "It's Mid-Autumn Festival now, and the autumn floods are about to end. Heading north during the dry season, the tributaries of Jingbei shouldn't be a problem. We can penetrate 600 li into enemy territory with ten days' worth of rations. If we encounter any weakly defended cities along the way, we can break through and distribute the rations, thus spreading the benevolent and righteous reputation of our army!"

He greatly admired Li Ju's idea, grabbed his sworn brother's arm, and exclaimed with delight, "What a bold idea! Good, let's do it as Shi Hui suggested!"

Not only Liu Xian, but everyone else agreed with this strategy. Who could have imagined it? Li Ju had a gentle and approachable demeanor, lacking the sharp edge of a typical military general. To outsiders, he should have seemed like a mature and prudent man. In reality, however, his command style was remarkably similar to Cao Cao's, often employing bold and unconventional strategies that were both original and incisive, and he enjoyed manipulating the enemy with ease.

Liu Lang, who was listening in, was even more impressed. Seeing that Liu Xian had appointed Li Ju to be in charge of this matter, he immediately volunteered, "Father, I also want to go north with my uncle!"

Everyone was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Although Liu Lang had always accompanied the army, he had always been by Liu Xian's side, where he was quite safe and had not participated in military affairs. However, Liu Lang's request to accompany Li Ju north was undoubtedly a signal that the eldest son of the King of Han had officially begun his military career.

Liu Xian did not agree immediately. Instead, he looked up at Li Ju and waited for Li Ju to nod slightly before nodding to Liu Lang and saying, "Okay, but you must obey military orders. If I hear that you have disobeyed military orders this time, you can just be a rich and idle person from now on!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Lang nodded repeatedly, indicating that he would never disappoint his father's expectations. Liu Xian, in turn, felt a surge of emotion: his child had finally grown up and was no longer a fledgling needing his protection. Compared to the early years when he had single-handedly devoted himself to restoring the kingdom, now, with the support of a group of advisors, decision-making was no longer such a difficult task.

Next, Liu Xian made more detailed arrangements.

He handed over all the cavalry he had brought with him to Li Ju, instructing him to carry out the strategy of feigning an attack on Xiangyang. At the same time, he appointed Yang Nandi as the main force, ordering him to lead 8,000 Changsheng soldiers back to pacify the eight counties of Jianping and to gather the soldiers who had been stranded while crossing the river. After the mission was accomplished, Lu Yun was appointed concurrently as the Prefect of Jianping, temporarily in charge of all logistical transportation from Yong'an to Yiling.

The remaining 40,000 naval troops were temporarily stationed in Yiling. Liu Xian ordered them to strengthen the city's defenses, repair the ships, and wait quietly for news from the two armies before launching a decisive attack on Jingnan at the opportune moment.

Of course, Liu Xian wasn't doing nothing. He used this time to have Fu Chang draft a proclamation denouncing the traitors. This served two purposes: first, to bolster Li Ju's momentum in advancing north to Xiangyang; and second, to raise his own banner to the world and demonstrate his unwavering determination to win.
Liu Xian and Fu Chang revised this proclamation three times before finalizing it. It is historically known as "A Proclamation to the Jin Regiments on Behalf of the King of Hanzhong," and its text reads:
"Fu Chang, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat of the Han Dynasty, addressed the generals, officers, and troops of Jing and Xiang, as well as the Sima clan members both inside and outside the capital: The Jin Dynasty is now in decline, the people are dying, the princes are fighting each other, the land is scorched and decaying, and the whole country is on the verge of collapse. The root cause of this is the disaster caused by Sima Yue, the Prince of Donghai, and his remnants and treacherous followers. This is something that has never been recorded in history."

"Wang Yan, the leader of the faction, possesses only the name of a pillar of the court and the mere merit of a common weed. He speaks of empty rhetoric while secretly plotting against his own kind. He outwardly serves his clan's interests while inwardly scheming for power. As a result, he has ruined the government and destroyed the cause, surpassing even Jie and Zhou in his tyranny and delighting in chaos, much like You and Li. Consequently, benevolence and righteousness have been corrupted, Confucianism has been tarnished, rites and music have collapsed, and the Central Plains have been overthrown. Is this not the kind of person who, according to the ancients, speaks falsely yet eloquently, and acts eccentrically yet firmly?"

"Thus, looking up at the heavens and down at human affairs, we find that what we have done is intolerable to Heaven and Earth, and what we have done is unforgivable to God and man. The calamity of Jiazi is due to this! Fortunately, we have our king, who inherited the Han dynasty, received the favor of the Jin dynasty, continued the legacy of the Western Sichuan, and ascended to the Han dynasty's Minyue region. He follows the mandate of the true lord, cherishes the heart of saving the world, points his sword at Jingxiang, and is determined to bring peace."

"Therefore, He Tian led the vanguard, commanding 120,000 elite cavalry from Guanzhong, fierce warriors of Shu Han. Their swords gleamed like the evening fire, their spears as bright as the autumn moon. With such forces, what city could they not conquer? With such numbers, what enemy could they not defeat?"

"In the past, Dou Rong returned Hexi to the Han Dynasty, and his benevolence extended to his descendants; Peng Chong rebelled in Yuyang and died at the hands of his servants. More recently, Sun Xiu was arrogant and was captured in the capital; Li Xiong was reckless and was destroyed by the imperial army. Are these not the good and bad fortune of ancient and modern times, and the successes and failures of the past?"

"If you are first confused and then realize the truth, and turn your back on your enemies, then the past will be forgiven, and talents will be selected according to their abilities. But if you are foolish and wicked, and stubbornly cling to your old ways, then fire will burn Mengzhu, destroying both the sesame and the artemisia, the river will burst its banks, and the deep pool will become one with the earth. Even if you wish to repent, it will be too late. The virtuous men of Jiang and Mian, and the scholars of Jing and Xiang, must think carefully about this, be cautious, and understand it clearly."

With the proclamation finalized, Liu Xian ordered nearly a hundred copies to be made in his army, and then dispatched several dozen cavalrymen to distribute it throughout the north and south of the Yangtze River. Within a month, the Jin army knew of Liu Xian's eastward advance into Jingzhou, causing widespread shock and alarm throughout the Jianghan region. (End of Chapter)