Jinting Han people

Chapter 749 A High-Stakes Gamble on Martial Luck

As these changes unfolded, the Han army, though not yet having achieved a decisive victory at Jianye, was increasingly shifting its advantage in the stalemate between the Han and Qi armies. This led to a discussion within the Han army, suggesting that they might temporarily halt their offensive and instead wear down the Qi army at Jianye without bloodshed.

Given the current situation, the Qi army's acclimatization problems are far more severe than the Han army's. If this drags on, the number of soldiers and horses dying from illness will only increase. Furthermore, their reluctance to engage the Han army in direct combat on the river will only embolden the local scholars of Jiangzuo to defect, with more and more like Gu Zhong actively seeking refuge with the Han army. This ebb and flow, if this momentum continues, will undoubtedly secure victory for the Han army.

This view was quite popular within the Han army. Firstly, it aligned with the traditional military principle of subduing the enemy without fighting. Secondly, with the emperor ill, the soldiers genuinely lacked confidence in continuing the battle. Therefore, figures like Lu Yun and Du Tao inquired about the emperor's health and suggested continuing to observe the situation from Caizhou.

But Liu Xian disagreed with this view. Even though he was plagued by illness and exhausted, he insisted on summoning his generals and, panting, analyzed the pros and cons with them:

"Don't harbor such wishful thinking. The people of Qi are not fools. Veteran generals like Wang Mi and Cao Yi are as cunning as foxes and as shrewd as snakes. How could they possibly put themselves in a position of certain defeat?"

"The Qi people are indeed somewhat impatient right now, but that's because they still harbor ambitions to occupy the Three Wu regions. If they knew they were doomed to defeat, why would they stay in Jianye to wait for their deaths?"

This statement left everyone puzzled; most couldn't imagine the Qi people abandoning Jianye and leaving. Fortunately, Du Tao understood Liu Xian's intention and explained to the crowd:

"The people of Qi were originally from a bandit army, and they did not change their bandit habits. Once they encountered such a predicament, they would most likely make one of two choices."

"What choice?" Wang Dun asked, stroking his beard.

Du Tao himself was a leader of refugees and understood this mentality very well. He explained: "One approach is to use a small number of soldiers to hold Jianye and contain our army, while the majority of soldiers return to Huainan from Jingkou. In this way, our army's efforts will be in vain, and the three Wu regions will be plundered by them."

“Another, even more dangerous scenario, is if they are driven to desperation, they might resort to their old tricks, abandoning Jianye and other cities, and fleeing directly from Yangzhou to Jiangzhou, or even Jingzhou. This is exactly what Your Majesty is worried about. Even if we ultimately achieve victory, what then? In the end, the land will be devastated, and the people will suffer!”

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, realizing it was indeed an extremely troublesome situation. Liu Xian nodded slightly, forcing himself to speak to the crowd:

“Jingwen is absolutely right. That’s exactly what I’m worried about. Therefore, we must not let the Qi people do as they please and wander around. Our best strategy is to first establish a foothold in Jianye, take Baishibei, and prevent the Qi people from making any rash moves. Then, we should send our navy to block Jingkou and prevent the enemy from returning north. At the same time, we should send troops to Danyang to cut off their escape route to the south. Only in this way can we annihilate them in the Wu region.”

With this, the Han army had settled the dispute and continued preparing for the next offensive, but it was still difficult to decide on the specific timing of the deployment.

The original plan was to launch another attack on the third day after Liu Lang entered Taicheng. However, due to the unexpected outbreak of the epidemic, the original attack date had to be canceled and postponed for another three days. Now that they had received news that Gu Zhong was leading his troops to join them, Lu Yun suggested that since the attack had already been postponed, why not wait for Gu Zhong to arrive before engaging in battle?

However, Tao Kan disagreed, because he had a surprise force lying in ambush at Mufu Mountain, intending to use it to great effect in the second offensive. If the campaign dragged on for too long, their supplies would run out, and they would probably have to retreat, greatly increasing the difficulty of successfully building a fortification. Therefore, he advocated that the sooner the battle began, the better.

As the person primarily responsible for building the fortifications at Baishibei, Liu Xian naturally trusted Tao Kan's judgment. Given the current situation, even if Gu Zhong arrived with his seven thousand troops, the lack of coordination between the units would make it difficult to achieve good results on the battlefield. It would be better to let him play a greater role outside the battlefield.

After a brief discussion, Liu Xian decided to send an envoy to intercept Gu Zhong, instructing him not to lead his troops to Jianye, but instead to detour to the lower reaches of the Li River, about two hundred li south of Jianye, to monitor the Qi people's southward route. If the Qi people showed any signs of moving south, they should pursue and attack them. For this, Liu Xian appointed him General Changdang and granted him the authority to act independently, recruiting soldiers and collecting provisions, with the court to subsequently approve his actions.

Liu Xian set the date for the next offensive two days later, on the day of Ji-You in the eleventh month, the eighth day after the first offensive. The specific tactics remained unchanged: the Han army would concentrate most of its forces, utilizing the main forces of Zhou Qi, Wang Dun, and Du Tao, to besiege Stone City, buying time for Tao Kan's troops to construct the White Stone Fortress. Tao Kan assured Liu Xian that one day might not be enough to succeed, but a day and a night would surely be enough.

Due to his poor health, Liu Xian was unlikely to be able to personally command this battle and would have to wait on the sandbar for good news from the various tribes. Although the three tribes attacking one was not intended as a true decisive battle, such a coordinated effort still required a temporary commander-in-chief; otherwise, individual actions would easily lead to mistakes. After much deliberation, Liu Xian decided to entrust Wang Dun with this task.

This was another rather perplexing choice, so Huan Yi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, subtly suggested to Liu Xian: "Your Majesty, if we're talking about commanders, I'm afraid Wang Jiangzhou isn't more suitable than Du Zhengdong (Du Tao), is he?"

Huan Yi's question was quite understandable. To outsiders, Wang Dun was stubborn, lacked magnanimity, and had a notorious reputation. In contrast, Du Tao not only had outstanding achievements, but more importantly, he didn't become arrogant after his success; instead, he prioritized the overall situation and voluntarily relinquished his military power. Judging solely by character, if one had to choose between Wang and Du as commander, Du Tao would undoubtedly be the more suitable choice.

However, Liu Xian showed no intention of changing his mind. He was aware of others' concerns, but he also had his own considerations. Wang Dun was indeed stubborn and unpredictable, difficult to get along with, and unpopular, making him hard to command. Choosing a commander wasn't about character, but rather suitability and the ability to ensure smooth coordination between units. In this campaign, the Jiangzhou army was the absolute main force of the Han army, and it was Wang Dun who had personally built it up, making him the first choice for commander-in-chief. However, Liu Xian also had to consider that Wang Dun had been sidelined for a long time. Although he appeared calm on the surface, Liu Xian knew him well; Wang Dun was undoubtedly eager to achieve merit and redeem himself. If he were to serve under Du Tao, Wang Dun's disappointment could breed resentment and affect the overall coordination of the campaign.

Conversely, if Wang Dun were appointed as the commander-in-chief of this battle, he would undoubtedly prioritize the overall situation and fight with all his might to win. Du Tao also prioritizes the overall situation, and the various units of the Huainan army are former subordinates of He Pan, who have always been obedient to the orders of the imperial court. Therefore, despite his various shortcomings, Wang Dun remains the most suitable candidate for commander-in-chief of this battle.

However, before the next battle, Liu Xian privately summoned Wang Dun and earnestly instructed him: "Chuzhong, before we set off, you and I made a promise that you would never be a fool who would give up on things because of a minor setback or return empty-handed. Now I entrust this important task to you, and I hope you will not make me a stubborn and headstrong tyrant."

Wang Dun knew how rare this appointment was. For so many years, he had only wanted to command a battle on his own, but he had never been able to do so. Now that he finally had such an opportunity, he was naturally overwhelmed with excitement. After calming himself down for a long time, he promised Liu Xian, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Wang Chuzhong may not be a loyal minister of the Jin court, but he can at least be a capable minister of the Han dynasty."

With all plans settled, under Wang Dun's leadership, the Han army began intensive preparations for battle.

Caizhou and Xinting are about ten miles apart, and the situation on the river is completely clear. After suffering two defeats at the hands of the Han army's sneak attacks, the Qi people increased their spies in the Xinting area. They observed that the Han army's daytime activities had decreased significantly, while the amount of smoke from cooking fires on Caizhou and Bailuzhou had increased noticeably, and the frequency of supply transport had also increased. Therefore, the Qi people quickly concluded that the Han army would probably launch a new offensive in the next two days.

In fact, by this point in the battle, the confrontation between the Han and Qi armies was almost an open secret. Wang Mi could vaguely guess the Han army's intentions. Since the Han army had forcibly sent troops into Taicheng, they must be planning to use the Taicheng forces to launch a pincer attack on Shitoucheng. Whether it was a feint or not, this offensive would be extremely fierce, and he could not afford to take it lightly.

At the same time, Wang Mi had also begun to realize that even if he managed to defend Stone City or White Stone Slope, what difference would it make? Frankly, so far, the Qi forces and the Han army were tactically evenly matched, with neither side suffering a significant disadvantage. However, politically, the Qi army had already failed the moment Liu Xian chose to personally lead the campaign. Liu Xian's efforts in Yangzhou had indeed been effective, while the Qi forces had no foothold there. Wang Mi's plan to quickly undermine the Han army's rule in the Three Wu regions and then replace them was a brilliant idea, but in reality, it was both a brilliant and a disastrous move.

The lack of loyalty to the Han army in the Sanwu region allowed the Qi army to quickly achieve numerous victories after crossing the river, but it also trapped them there. In order to control the Sanwu region, the Qi army lost its previous flexibility and resourcefulness, forced to engage in stalemates and hard-fought battles with the Han army in the Jianye area. This was not the Qi people's forte, and it greatly damaged their morale. Even the seemingly perfect terrain of Jianye could not compensate for this.

Even if the Han army fails to capture Stone City several times, what can they do? After Liu Xian issues the "Edict of Self-Reproach," as long as they cannot defeat the Han navy on Caizhou and drive out the Han army, the Wu people will continue to defect to the Han army. A war of attrition is extremely disadvantageous to the Qi people.

But once a move is made, there's no going back. Since Wang Mi has already taken this step, the fate of the Qi people has been handed over to the gambler's table. If they were to give up Jianye like this, what they would lose would probably be far more than just the temporary occupation of the Three Wu regions. The Qi people's attempt to reverse the balance of power between the two countries would be a complete failure, and they would simply be waiting to die. This is something Wang Mi absolutely does not want to see.

Therefore, Wang Mi had been racking his brains for a good way to turn the tide. But he was a man of many ingenious ideas, and during the time the Han army was preparing, he actually came up with a strategy: a counter-espionage plot.

This wasn't actually a new strategy. Early on, when they were researching the Han army's tactics, Emperor Liu Baigen of Qi-Han had discussed it with Wang Mi. They both agreed that Liu Xian's military skills were indeed superb, making direct confrontation difficult to win. However, with such a demanding style of military discipline, it was impossible for the army not to have internal discontent. This was similar to Xiang Yu's skill in warfare but stinginess in rewarding his troops, which ultimately led to talented individuals like Han Xin and Chen Ping defecting to Liu Bang, allowing Gaozu to achieve final victory. Wang Mi's strategy of crossing the river to launch a surprise attack on the Three Wu regions was essentially an implementation of this strategy, believing that the Three Wu regions were easily bribed.

While the current efforts to win over the scholars of the Three Wu regions have not been entirely successful, the same approach can be used to instigate defections within the Han army. Similarly, if even a small number of people can be recruited and bribed to act as internal agents, victory through coordinated efforts from both inside and outside would not be difficult. Moreover, in the past two years, the Qi people have conducted a thorough investigation of the generals and officers of the Han army in Huainan and discovered that there is indeed a very suitable person within the Han army who can be bribed.

The biggest problem is that the Han army is now stationed on Caizhou, making it difficult for the Qi people to make contact with them, let alone know where that person is, so there is no way to bribe or contact them.

To solve this problem, Wang Mi went to great lengths. He sent several trusted men away from Zhongshan and instigated nearly a thousand Qi soldiers who were suffering from acclimatization issues and wanted to desert the battlefield. They secretly sailed away to the sandbar to surrender to the Han army. Wang Mi's spies were hidden among them, taking the opportunity to find out the target's location and try to make contact with him.

Time was of the essence. After several days of silence, Wang Mi received no further news, which greatly disappointed him. He had almost given up hope, believing his plan had failed. However, on the eve of the Han army's planned attack, Wang Mi received a reply from his target! The target agreed to switch sides, defecting at the last minute. They also informed him of the Han army's attack plan for the next day, and that Liu Xian was seriously ill and unable to command personally, forced to rest and recuperate in the Cai Zhou camp.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Mi was overjoyed. He immediately devised a new battle plan and summoned King Cao Yi of Song, instructing him with a smile, "Heaven and earth are watching, and fortune is on my side! Liu Xian wants Stone City and White Stone Slope—what a brilliant strategy! If I were to confront him head-on, I might not be able to. But now, what harm is there in giving it to him? As long as you, King Cao Yi, can launch a surprise attack and annihilate him in one fell swoop, the fate of the world will be sealed! This immense merit and wealth will be ours!" (End of Chapter)