Tiger Owl

Chapter 120 Two-pronged Attack
Gan Ning also personally led an army of 30,000 and more than 2,000 warships to Jiayu County. Jiayu County is a newly built county town located at the southernmost part of Wuchang County, about 200 miles away from Dongting Lake.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, there were no county towns on the shores of Dongting Lake, only some villages and small towns. The largest town was Baqiu Town, which was called Baling Town by Gansu and Ningxia, but it was actually called Baqiu Town.

The northernmost county in the entire Changsha Commandery is Xiajun County, but this county is located in the eastern mountainous area and is relatively close to Ai County in Yuzhang Commandery. Liu Xin originally set off from Xiajun County to Ai County, using the pretext of supporting Zhang Ying to invade Yuzhang Commandery.

However, Xiajun County is far from the Yangtze River and has no waterway access, so it was not a target that Gan Ning considered.

The two northernmost counties near the Yangtze River were Luo County (today's Miluo County) and Yiyang County. Luo County had a garrison of 2,000 troops, while Yiyang County had no troops stationed there.

Further down is Linxiang County in the middle of the Xiang River, the seat of Changsha Prefecture, which is today's Changsha.

The first target of the Yuzhang Army is now the 5,000-strong navy in Dongting Lake.

After resting for two days in Jiayu County, Gan Ning personally led his army on a grand march towards Dongting Lake.

..........
Taishi Ci sent out over a hundred scouts to investigate enemy movements, but he never received any news of the enemy's southward advance. Instead, he learned that the 5,000 troops stationed in Xiangnan County had moved north.

Taishi Ci immediately realized that his strategy had failed and the other party had not fallen for the trap. Of course, there were likely two reasons why they hadn't fallen for the trap. One was that Liu Xin had seen through his intentions, and the other was that the lord's army had likely already marched south, and Liu Xin had no time to worry about Liling County.

If the enemy did not fall for the trap, Taishi Ci was prepared to continue his mission, which Gan Ning had given him: to sweep through the southern part of Changsha Commandery.

Now that the garrison of Xiangnan County had moved north, Taishi Ci's first target was Xiangnan County, which was located 150 li away from Liling County.

Just as Taishi Ci was about to send out his troops, he suddenly received news that an army of more than 10,000 men was rapidly heading towards Xiangnan County from the south.

This intelligence was indeed quite unexpected for Taishi Ci. After a moment's thought, he immediately guessed that it must be Zhang Yi's army. He had spies in Xiangnan County, and with the Jingzhou army in Xiangnan County withdrawing, Zhang Yi was about to seize this opportunity.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; Taishi Ci immediately realized that this was also his opportunity.

Taishi Ci made a decisive move. He ordered Wang Xiaoman to lead 5,000 troops to defend Liling County, while he personally led 10,000 troops to intercept Zhang Yi's army.

Although Zhang Yi sent Xu Jing to Nanchang County to discuss cooperation with Gan Ning, Gan Ning could not possibly accept his conditions. Since he could not accept them, he had to eliminate Zhang Yi's forces.

This is also one of Taishi Ci's tasks, but now it needs to be carried out ahead of schedule.

..........
Zhang Yi led 10,000 troops northward from Ling County, which is today's Hengyang. Xiangnan County is the area around today's Xiangtan. Zhang Yi had long coveted Xiangnan County. If he could capture Xiangnan County, Linxiang County would be within easy reach. He could quickly take Linxiang County once the opportunity arose.

Zhang Yi certainly had his own plans. Once the Yuzhang army marched south from the north, Liu Xin would inevitably lead his army north to meet them. At that time, Linxiang County would be undefended, which would be his opportunity.

In order to seize Xiangnan County, Zhang Yi had already sent in intelligence agents last year to send messages by carrier pigeon. So when Liu Xin transferred 5,000 troops from Xiangnan County to Linxiang County, Zhang Yi immediately received the news. How could he not seize such an opportunity?

Ten thousand troops marched north along the Xiang River. There was also a fleet of ships on the Xiang River transporting food and supplies. At noon that day, when they were still sixty miles away from Xiangnan County, Zhang Yi suddenly received news that a force of ten thousand men had appeared ten miles ahead.

Zhang Yi was shocked and quickly looked to the north, where he could vaguely see a dark line rushing toward them.

"Where does this army belong?" Zhang Yi asked anxiously.

"Reporting to my lord, it is the army of Yuzhang!"

Zhang Yi felt a chill run down his spine. How could the Yuzhang Army be here? He hadn't deployed any scouts in Liling County and was unaware that the county had fallen. The appearance of the Yuzhang Army made him extremely nervous, especially since he had never dealt with them before and had no idea of ​​their fighting capabilities.
Zhang Yi knew, of course, that retreating at this point would be the most dangerous thing to do. If the enemy pursued them, their morale would collapse. At this point, they had no choice but to fight on, as they were too close to the enemy.

Zhang Yi made a decisive decision and ordered the entire army to deploy. The two armies slowly approached each other. Taishi Ci specifically chose a plain as the interception site, where the battlefield could be set up.

Both sides had 10,000 troops, but the Yuzhang army had 2,000 cavalry, which was the key to the outcome.

Zhang Yi deployed a wild goose formation, with three thousand archers in front and seven thousand behind, including two thousand on each of the left and right flanks and three thousand in the center.

Taishi Ci discerned the enemy's deployment and immediately ordered 5,000 infantry and cavalry to form the vanguard, while he personally led 5,000 troops as the rearguard.

Cavalry charging first was a tactic of the nomadic tribes of the steppes, but the Han Chinese did not fight that way. The Han Chinese army used cavalry to outflank and encircle, not to charge ahead.

Therefore, leading the way were three thousand sword and shield soldiers, followed by five thousand spearmen. Among the crossbowmen were three hundred special soldiers, oil soldiers, who were hidden among the crossbowmen and would launch special attacks on the enemy at crucial moments.

On the vast plains, two armies were advancing in formation, one in front and one behind. Two thousand cavalrymen were deployed on each side of the formation, one thousand on each side, positioned relatively far back so that the archers could not reach them.

The army was getting closer and closer, only 150 paces away. Zhang Yi, unable to contain his tension, shouted, "Order the arrows to be fired!"

"Fire arrows!"

The general shouted, the clapper sounded, and three thousand archers fired their arrows at once. Instantly, a vast cloud of arrows formed in the sky, raining down on the vanguard of the Yuzhang Army.

The Yuzhang Army was well-trained, and they had conducted countless live-fire drills against the archers, though not with real arrows, but with blunt-tipped training arrows.

Without any command from their general, the three thousand swordsmen and shieldmen, seeing the cloud of arrows overhead, all crouched down in unison, curled up into a ball, and covered their bodies with their large shields. The arrows fell in a cacophony, embedding themselves in the ground and shields. The soldiers used their swords to cut off the arrows stuck in their shields and began to run wildly.

It takes the enemy a little time to nock their crossbow bolts, which is the opportunity for the sword and shield soldiers, and they must seize it.

It wasn't until the mid-Tang Dynasty, after Li Guangbi introduced the four-stage arrow technique, that the crossbowmen began firing arrows continuously, which greatly increased casualties.

After running several dozen steps, the second volley of arrows was launched. The arrow cloud rose into the air and quickly reached the heads of the Yuzhang army. The arrows rained down like raindrops. The sword and shield soldiers crouched down again, using their shields to resist the dense arrows from the enemy. However, some soldiers were still hit by arrows and screamed in pain. Some soldiers could not protect their whole bodies and could only protect their heads and chests. Their legs were exposed. More than a hundred people were hit by arrows, and almost all of them were injured in the legs.

"Kill!" The swordsmen and shieldmen leaped up and charged at the archers and crossbowmen a hundred paces away, shields raised.

When the archers prepared for their third volley, the enemy had already closed to within sixty paces. At this point, volleying was no longer possible, and they could only stand in a line and fire horizontally.

A dense barrage of arrows rained down on the running Yuzhang soldiers, and nearly three hundred more fell, all wounded in the legs.

But Zhang Yi's archers had no fourth chance; 2,500 swordsmen and shieldmen instantly charged into the archers' ranks.

At the same time, two thousand cavalrymen also launched an attack. They moved with great speed, flanking the enemy formation from both sides. Their intention was also very clear: they wanted to attack the enemy from the rear, putting the enemy in a pincer attack.

This was an open conspiracy. Even if Zhang Yi's army saw through their intentions, they were helpless unless they had reinforcements to support them. Otherwise, they would inevitably be attacked from both sides.

(End of this chapter)