Jinting Han people

With Zhu Si's naval forces joining Ying Zhan's at Longyuan Lake, the Jin army's naval strength in the Jingjiang section had caught up with the Han army, reaching approximately a thousand ships, giving them the initial capability to engage the Han army in a decisive battle. According to the resolution, the military council decided to first probe the Han army, and Ying Zhan and others led their navy upstream, openly crossing Yi'an, and then anchored at Shatou City, southeast of Jiangling City. Because the local market was wealthy and prosperous, arguably the most prosperous in the Jianghan region, even with an army of 60,000 spread along the Yangtze River for more than ten miles, there was no need to worry about supplies.

It was already the third day of the tenth month. The main force of the Han army's navy was anchored in Lexiang City, opposite Shatou City. The two naval forces faced each other across the river, and the distance between them was less than ten miles, allowing both sides to observe the enemy's sails.

Liu Xian witnessed the Jin navy passing through Yi'an and knew that battle was imminent. He then led the majority of his army from Yi'an to Lexiang City to confront them. Upon arrival, the Han soldiers saw the Jin army encamped at Shatou City, their masts and sails like a forest. Their warships, anchored on the river, were not only of equal quality to their own, but also adorned with silks and brocades, their banners fluttering in the wind, making them appear quite magnificent. Hearing that this was only the vanguard of the Jin army, and that the main force of the Jin navy was still at the mouth of Dongting Lake, they couldn't help but feel some fear.

After all, no matter how thorough and rigorous He Pan's training had been, training and actual combat are two different things. Unexpected events are bound to occur on the battlefield, and the enemy will not play by the rules. Now, the Han navy has finally reached the point where it will truly face its test.

Liu Xian wasn't entirely confident either. He had been discussing naval warfare with He Pan lately. The longer they discussed it, the more he realized that naval warfare was vastly different from land warfare, and that he was now a novice who needed to learn from scratch.

This difference primarily lies in the starkly different impacts of human strength on the course of battle. In land warfare, the bravery of an individual can often influence or even alter the morale of the entire army, but in naval warfare, the same effect is rarely achieved because one cannot extend the outcome of a single ship to the overall situation. Therefore, the flexible application of discipline and tactics is the most crucial factor in naval warfare.

The factors considered in the application of tactics are quite different from those in land warfare. Liu Xian was adept at changing formations based on the terrain in land warfare, but in naval warfare, there are few terrains to rely on. Generals need to assess the situation, pay attention to changes in wind direction and current, accurately predict the speed of ships, and then engage in actual combat.

To be honest, these are not Liu Xian's areas of expertise, although he has been studying hard and has gained some experience. As for the results, only reality will tell.

The Han generals understood this as well. Since the enemy had closed in so close, it meant they intended to fight. They all came to the Han king's banner to inquire whether he should prepare for a direct confrontation or choose another strategy.

Most generals, such as Guo Mo and Huo Biao, were rather conservative in their thinking. Like Liu Xian, they lacked confidence in naval warfare and therefore wanted to let the enemy advance first, fighting on land with the navy as a support force.
Hearing everyone's statements, Liu Xian simply nodded slightly without interrupting. He waited until the end before saying, "What you all say makes sense, but there is no doubt that the Jin navy outnumbers ours. At least now the enemy and our fleets are roughly equal in number. If we don't dare to fight now, what will happen when the enemy fleet grows even larger? If we keep avoiding battle, aren't we just letting the enemy navy come and go as it pleases? We've been training our navy for a year for this moment, and we have to see the real test."

The King of Han's military orders always had a deterrent effect. Since Liu Xian had said to engage in battle, after the order was passed down, no unit dared to object. So they all returned to their respective ships, taking stock of the supplies and familiarizing themselves with the water as much as possible.

That evening, Liu Xian and He Pan discussed countermeasures and assessed the combat strength of both sides. He Pan stroked his beard and said, "Please believe me, Your Highness. Our navy has been training hard for a year and is already capable of fighting against the puppet Jin. What our soldiers lack is just a little courage."

Liu Xian certainly believed in He Pan, but whether it was a naval battle or a land battle, one thing remained unchanged: it was essential to seize the initiative on the battlefield and be in control of the enemy rather than being controlled by them. What made him uneasy was that the Han army currently had no initiative on the river and had to passively fight back, which made Liu Xian dissatisfied.

Liu Xian told He Pan about his concerns, and He Pan glanced at the weather for a moment, then wiped the railing on the platform with his hand, and bowed to Liu Xian, saying, "Your Highness, I think it would be better for us to challenge them first, rather than waiting for them to come and challenge us."

"A challenge?" Liu Xian's interest was piqued by the mention of taking the initiative to attack. He sat cross-legged on the couch and asked, "How should we do it?"

“The reason why the soldiers lack courage is mainly because they have never won a naval battle. We can start with a small skirmish,” He Pan judged. “Your Highness, there should be a dense fog tomorrow morning. We can send a small number of fast ships to attack first.”

"Dense fog? How did you know that, Master He?" Liu Xian asked curiously.

"These are just old people's experiences. Your Highness, you should know that September and October are generally the seasons with the most fog. At this time, if you see clear and calm weather during the day, and then suddenly a thin layer of white clouds appears at dusk, followed by a sudden drop in temperature at midnight, this is probably when thick fog is about to form."

Speaking of his area of ​​expertise, He Pan was quite proud. He said leisurely, "This kind of dense fog usually lasts for two hours. Because it covers the sky like a curtain, it is also called the curtain fog. Your Highness, we can take advantage of this curtain fog. Tomorrow morning, we can send large ships to support the main force and small ships to launch a surprise attack. Perhaps we can win a small victory."

"Good!" Liu Xian slapped the table, nodded, and smiled, "Then I'll see what Master He's methods are like." Time passed quickly, the moonlight changed from hazy to bright, then from bright to dim. Gradually, a light mist drifted up from the water, rising gently into the fleet and completely obscuring the moonlight. Unbeknownst to them, dew condensed on the gunwales of all the boats, crystal clear, and the surrounding yellowish-green reeds also became shimmering, as if covered with a thin layer of ice.

The Jin soldiers on the north bank were resting fully clothed in their cabins. Exhausted from two days of travel, and aided by the soothing sound of flowing water, they slept soundly. Occasionally, a few night patrolmen patrolled the deck, but their vision was obstructed by the thick fog. Even with lanterns, they couldn't see anything more than ten feet away, and even when the ships were lined up end to end, they couldn't discern the other side.

However, the soldiers on night watch were quite relaxed under these circumstances. Normally, in such dense fog, even with both naval forces arrayed, naval warfare would be difficult to conduct, as no one could see the flagship's commands and execute tactics. Ultimately, only two scenarios would emerge: either the soldiers would fight according to their own intuition, or they would simply withdraw from the battlefield, since there was no one to supervise them.

So the soldiers on night watch were actually a bit bored. After walking around on the deck for a while, they simply gathered together and talked in hushed tones, discussing how they could go ashore to dig up some earthworms when they had time. They also planned to fish on the boat if the weather was like this again. Although big fish tend to hide in autumn and winter and are not easy to catch, it was still better than wasting time on the boat.

As they were discussing, some people heard some faint sounds, which seemed to be the swaying of reeds or the sound of water birds swimming. The sounds were not loud, but they were clearly present. However, when looking from the source of the sounds, there was nothing but a vast expanse of white.

The sound puzzled them, and they couldn't help but walk to the bow of the ship, straining to see into the distance. A strange light peeked through the thick fog, as if it had thinned or brightened. Just as they were lost in thought, several lanterns pierced the fog, revealing a long, narrow, and heavily armored warship. A dozen or so armored soldiers stood on the deck, the leaders carrying lanterns in one hand and swords in the other. The lanterns illuminated their black armor, making it gleam, and the cold blades at their waists emitted a faint halo of light amidst the swirling fog.

Upon first meeting, both sides were taken aback, but the Han soldiers, being the attackers, reacted faster. They grabbed pre-prepared long hooks, hooked them onto the Jin ship's gunwale, and then moved closer. Since the gunwales of both ships were roughly the same height, the Han soldiers easily vaulted over and landed on the bow of the Jin warship, then strode towards the bewildered Jin soldiers, slashing at them.

Most of the Jin soldiers were still fast asleep when they were suddenly jolted awake by shouts of battle. Some, before they could even stand up from the swaying ship, saw the Han army ferociously charging into the warship. Behind them lay the corpses of the night watchmen who had put up a brief resistance, almost all of them hacked to pieces with a single stroke. In their panic, they had only two choices: either jump overboard and swim to safety, or surrender and become victims of the sword.

Of course, this was only a minority. Most people, upon looking up, only heard screams. They hurriedly rose, donned their armor, and went to the bow of the ship to investigate. But the fog was so thick they could see nothing, and all around them, to their left and right, seemed to be battles raging. They couldn't discern the situation, only knowing they must be under attack, but they had no idea how large the attack was or how many people were involved. In this bewildered state, the Jin army dared not make any further moves. Seeing that they themselves hadn't been attacked, they disregarded the lives of others and quickly rowed their boats back to avoid further unforeseen disaster.

The unit attacked by the Han army was the Jin army under Zhu Si, who was resting on his flagship at the time. He was not young, about fifty years old, and was originally a servant of Tao Dan (father of Tao Kan), a general of the Wu state. He was illiterate, but he was famous for his bravery in his youth. He had also worked as a shipwright and was skilled in shipbuilding. Therefore, after Tao Kan regained his position, Tao Kan recommended him to Wang Kuang. Now he served as the Commandant of Suiyi in the Jin army and was responsible for supervising the construction of ships.

As an elderly man, Zhu Si was a light sleeper. When he suddenly heard faint shouts of battle coming from afar, he immediately woke up. He leaped out of bed, quickly dressed, grabbed a long sword from the bedside table, and ran to the deck to look out. The fog also obscured his vision, leading him to conclude that there had probably been a mutiny among the soldiers. He immediately cursed and summoned his personal guards, disembarked from the flagship, and boarded a small boat, saying he was going to the front to restore discipline.

He had only gone a dozen or so feet forward when he heard shouts of battle coming from all directions. Only then did he realize something was wrong. Zhu Si thought to himself, "The Shu bandits actually launched a night attack at this time? Did they anticipate the fog? How do they plan to coordinate? Are they just relying on sheer courage?"

But now that things had come to this, he realized that this was precisely the time for his side to regroup and boost morale, otherwise a small disturbance would escalate into a major one. If that happened, with ships crammed together and the Han army sending in a few more fire ships, it would be truly over. Seeing the Jin army ships retreating ahead, Zhu Si didn't hesitate. He immediately revealed his identity, ordered them to stop, and then hastily assembled a small fleet of seven warships, advancing deep into the front lines. They continuously forced the retreating fleets to halt, making them rejoin their main force. Anyone who deserted their post was punished according to military law.

Zhu Si's reorganization of his troops was quite effective; he successfully quelled the chaos. But just as he was preparing to launch a counterattack against the attacking Han army, a heavy and loud horn sounded suddenly from the thick fog behind him. The horn sound was very rhythmic, one sound after another, just like the waves under a ship.

Upon hearing the commotion, the attacking Han army began to retreat in unison. Those who had already captured ships rowed away with their spoils, while those who hadn't managed to seize ships rowed back along the same route. Zhu Si, seeing the Han army retreating, made a move to lead his fleet in pursuit, but before he had rowed more than a hundred paces, Han warships appeared leisurely behind the Han army's hull ships. Seeing that Jin ships were about to pursue, they immediately unleashed a barrage of arrows, like a sudden rainstorm drifting in from the fog.

Zhu Si did not command the warships at this time, knowing that he could not fight them. In order to avoid greater losses, he had no choice but to order the fleet to retreat to the north bank. However, in order to prevent the Han army from launching another surprise attack, the soldiers of the fleet did not rest. Instead, they ordered small boats to patrol back and forth on the front line, while the soldiers of the warships wore armor and carried bows, ready to fight again at any time.

But as dawn broke and the fog dissipated, the Han army did not fight again. All that could be seen was the devastation where the Han army had launched their attack; the fleet's formation was completely disrupted, corpses and pieces of broken boats floated on the waves, the blood in the river had been washed away, and the reeds lay scattered and leaning haphazardly.

On that day, the Han army launched a surprise attack with sixty assault ships, killing nearly a thousand enemy soldiers within half an hour, capturing over fifty warships, and destroying over forty vessels of various sizes, while suffering only a dozen or so casualties themselves. For the Jin army, this loss was actually within acceptable limits, but the Han army's preemptive strike and victory in the first naval battle greatly boosted their morale. In contrast, the Jin army was bewildered and completely unaware of how they had ended up in such a predicament. (End of Chapter)