Han Ji

Shen Pei followed Yuan Shang back to Ye City when Yuan Shang retreated and was not captured. Yuan Tan was captured in the third group after his escape. Several of his personal guards who had fled with him were intercepted by Qian Zhao's scouts on the lower reaches of the Zhang River and revealed that Yuan Tan had fled to Hejian.

Liu Bei kept this information to himself and told Jia Xu to let him run for a while, and to pursue him after taking Ye City.

At the end of July, Liu Bei's army set off from Cangting, marched forty li north along the official road, and arrived at the city of Ye.

This was the second time Liu Bei had stood before the walls of Ye City. He had besieged the city last year, but the rainy season had cut off his supply lines, forcing him to retreat. This time, he no longer needed to worry about his retreat; Yuan Shao was dead, Cangting had fallen, and Yuan Tan had vanished without a trace.

Yuan Shang retreated to Ye City, where the garrison, including the remnants he brought back from Cangting, numbered less than nine thousand.

The Yuan-character flag still hung on the city wall, a corner of it torn and fluttering in the wind. The guards on the wall were not densely packed; a man was crouched every ten steps or so behind the battlements. Crossbows were rested on the crenellations, their strings loose.

Camps were set up outside all four gates of Ye City. Guan Yu was stationed at the south gate, Zhang Fei at the east gate, Zhao Yun at the west gate, and Zhang He blocked the north gate. Liu Bei stood on a high slope outside the south gate, with Jia Xu beside him.

"Shen Pei is in the city. He was injured, but he is still in charge."

Jia Xu said that Qian Zhao had been shot in the left shoulder by an arrow, but his mind was clear. He reorganized the defenses of Ye City, making them much stricter than when Feng Ji was in charge.

That night, Qian Zhao's men intercepted a group of messengers leaving Ye City through the north gate. The messengers were carrying a letter from Yuan Shang requesting aid from the Wuhuan. Qian Zhao did not burn the letter. Instead, he sent a special forces soldier from Hebei, disguised, with a false message into Ye City, claiming that the Wuhuan were already gathering cavalry and would soon march south.

Yuan Shang believed it, and so did Feng Ji. Shen Pei listened to the news from his couch without saying a word. He worried that the road from Zhongshan to Ye City had long been cut off by Zhao Yun's cavalry, and that all the messengers should have been intercepted beforehand. Anyone who could sneak in at this time might not be trustworthy.

July. Xiangyang.

When the personal guard rushed into the governor's study, Liu Biao was flipping through bamboo slips. The slips contained the summer harvest accounts for the various counties of Jingzhou this year. The guard knelt down and said that Liu Bei's main force had marched north to besiege Ye, leaving the Yingchuan line in Yuzhou undefended. Liu Biao put down the bamboo slips, stood up, and walked to the map.

Kuai Yue entered from outside, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hands still stained with ink. "My lord, Liu Bei's main army is in Hebei, and Xuchang is undefended. But Wancheng has Ma Chao, and Xinye has Zhang Xiu. Both are formidable fighters. If we march north, they will block our way."

Liu Biao did not turn back. "This is a rare opportunity. Send Wen Ping with 20,000 men north to test the waters. If we can capture Wancheng, the Central Plains will be in Jingzhou's hands. If not, we can retreat."

Wen Ping set off from Xiangyang in late July. His 20,000 men traveled north along the Yu River, advancing by both land and water. Wen Ping proceeded cautiously, advancing only thirty li per day. Upon arrival, they first set up camp, dug ditches, erected fences, and dispatched scouts in all directions. Zhang Xiu was prepared; beacon towers were lit one after another, black smoke rising straight up in the clear sky.

When Ma Chao received the signal fire in Wancheng, he was training his cavalry in the drill ground. He glanced at the plume of smoke in the northern sky, hung his spear on his saddle, and turned to his adjutant, ordering him to muster the troops. Ten thousand cavalrymen were to set off immediately. The veteran soldiers from Liangzhou led their warhorses out of the stables; the saddles hadn't been replaced with new pads, and the horseshoes had just been reforged last month.

It took a day and a night to travel from Wancheng to Xinye. When they arrived in Xinye, it was just dawn, and Zhang Xiu was already waiting outside the city gate. He stood by the stone bridge, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his face expressionless.

Ma Chao dismounted and asked Zhang Xiu where the Jingzhou army was. Zhang Xiu replied that the scouts had just returned, and Wen Ping's vanguard had reached north of Ye County and was crossing the Yu River. They numbered 20,000, a mix of infantry and cavalry, with supplies following behind. Wen Ping was very cautious, stopping to repair camps every thirty li.

Ma Chao said that being steady meant being slow, and being slow meant having weaknesses. His army broke up halfway across the river. They attacked while half of his force was on the east bank and the other half on the west bank.

Zhang Xiu squatted down and drew a line on the ground with his scabbard. There was a shallow shoal upstream, where the water only reached his thighs. He led his infantry across the river upstream, circling around to the west bank to gather supplies. Ma Chao led the vanguard on the east bank.

Ma Chao agreed, saying they would make their move first thing tomorrow morning.

Early August. North of Ye County, at the Yushui ferry crossing.

Wenping's 20,000 men were crossing the river. The Yu River was not wide, but the current was swift. Engineers had built three pontoon bridges across the river, and the infantrymen were crossing in formation. The pontoon bridges were made of wooden rafts, and they swayed precariously when people stepped on them. Some people would slip and fall into the river, but their comrades would pull them out, and they would continue walking, soaked to the bone.

The oxcarts carrying supplies couldn't cross the bridge and had to wait for the ferry to transport them back. On the bank, sacks of grain, weapons, and tents were piled up, and the oxcarts were lined up in a long queue.

Wen Ping left a gap between the vanguard and the supply train, and deployed crossbowmen on both banks. However, there were only three pontoon bridges, and with people packed together, the formation was still stretched out.

At 9:00 AM, the sun was high in the sky, and the mist over the river had dissipated. Wen Ping's vanguard crossed the river first and began to line up on the bank. The scout on the east bank galloped back, his horse foaming at the mouth. The scout tumbled off his saddle and shouted, "Ma Chao!"

Ma Chao's cavalry charged out from behind the hills on the east bank. The dust kicked up by ten thousand cavalrymen obscured half the sky, and the thunderous sound of hooves rolled over. Ma Chao was at the forefront, his spear tip lowered, resting on his horse's neck.

His spear first pierced a mounted captain, the shaft of which was covered in blood when he pulled it out. He then swept away an infantryman who had not yet formed his formation. The Liangzhou veteran followed, his spear and saber slicing through the crowd.

The Jingzhou army on the east bank was stunned. Many were still queuing to cross the bridge, their weapons unsheathed and their armor unfastened. Ma Chao's cavalry sliced ​​through loose dough like a knife, tearing a gaping hole in the Jingzhou army's lines.

Wen Ping attempted to organize a defense on the east bank, but before he could even raise his sword, his deputy was cut down. In the chaos, messengers couldn't find the locations of the various camps; someone blew a horn, but the sound was drowned out by the sound of horses' hooves.

The situation was even worse on the west bank. The supply train was waiting for the ferry to return to pick them up when they suddenly heard shouts of battle from the east bank. Before the grain guards could react, Zhang Xiu's infantry waded across the river from upstream.

Zhang Xiu led four thousand men across the river at the shallows, where the water reached their thighs. They stealthily reached the flank and rear of the supply camp, while the Jingzhou army's supply guards were still looking eastward. The first volley of crossbow bolts felled a large number of the guards. Swordsmen and shieldmen charged in for close combat, and the supply camp collapsed quickly.

The supply depot was raided. Grain sacks were overturned, oxcarts were overturned, and oxen broke free and ran rampant. Tents, weapons, and fodder were scattered all over the ground.

Wen Ping fought for more than an hour, and it was clear that all the supplies on the west bank had been lost, and the pontoon bridge was crowded with defeated and wounded soldiers. The ropes of the pontoon bridge were loosened, the bridge surface tilted, and more people were pushed into the river.

The remaining troops retreated from the pontoon bridge and fled south along the route they had come from. Ma Chao pursued them for twenty li, only withdrawing his troops when the sun was setting. Abandoned weapons and armor were scattered everywhere on the east bank of the Yu River.

Post-battle inventory revealed that the Jingzhou army suffered over 3,000 casualties and over 2,000 prisoners. Wen Ping retreated to a stronghold south of Xinye to regroup the remaining troops, and did not advance further north. Liu Biao's northern expedition was repelled at the Yu River.