Jinting Han people

Chapter 764 The First Battle of Daxing

The next morning, the air was bitterly cold, and the sky was still covered with thick clouds, but the visibility was clear. Li Ju then took Xu Kan and led more than a hundred cavalrymen out of the camp, stepping on the endless white snow, to personally investigate the defense details of Daxing City.

The snow had not yet melted, but the continuous expanse of white still outlined the faint contours of Daxing City and its surroundings. Although this was the capital of the Qi and Han dynasties, judging from the scattered houses, its prosperity was far less than that of Luoyang, Chengdu, and Chang'an during the Tai Shi era, nor could it compare to Yi'an, the newly built capital of the Southern Han. Along the way, one could see a few sizable manors and fortified villages, but the countryside was rather dilapidated. Especially under the heavy snow, it appeared exceptionally quiet and desolate. Broken branches were scattered all over the ground, and occasionally, one could see four or five packs of coyotes hunting for food, hurriedly hiding in the woods, further instilling a sense of desolation and decay in those who saw them.

Li Ju thought to himself: It seems that the years of war in the Central Plains have caused the once prosperous Qiaoliang region to become depopulated.

There weren't many houses outside the city to begin with, and they were now completely deserted, probably because people had gone to assist in the defense of the city in response to the call of the Daxing court. However, one could still see large suburban sacrificial buildings such as the Fire God Altar and the Xuandu Altar, but they were also unguarded and lifeless. Beyond these buildings, the capital of the Qi people came into view.

Li Ju had already heard of Daxing Lake City from Xu Kan, but as the saying goes, seeing is believing. When a city surrounded by a giant lake appeared before him, Li Ju couldn't help but be astonished. Just as planned, Suiyang Lake was frozen solid, covered with snow that obscured the gray-white ice below. Daxing City, standing tall in the flat frozen lake, with its walls mottled with snow, resembled a huge white stone rooted in amber, blending seamlessly with the heavens and earth, sacred and solemn.

However, Li Ju did not linger there for long. After observing for only a moment, his years of military experience naturally led him to conclude that, given the Qi people's preparedness, there was probably no shortcut to conquering Daxing City except for a direct assault.

But how easy is that? In such freezing weather, the soldiers' hands and feet are crippled, their movements are slow, and they will become easy targets for arrows. Regardless of the outcome of a direct assault, the casualties will inevitably be enormous.

If he disregarded the limitations he had set when he set out, three strategies—superior, medium, and inferior—immediately came to mind:

Ignoring casualties and launching a full-scale attack on Daxing is undoubtedly a poor strategy. As the saying goes, even the strongest arrow cannot penetrate the thinnest silk. After paying a heavy price, even if the Han army were to break through, it would lose its fighting capacity. Furthermore, given that the Han army has not won the hearts of the local people, it may not be able to hold Daxing if a third party intervenes.

A prolonged siege, blocking reinforcements, and offering surrenders to those who defect, thus cutting off their hope of survival, is the middle course of action. However, Li Ju currently lacks sufficient time for a full siege. Daxing is, after all, the capital of Qi and Han. While its population may be small, its provisions are certainly plentiful. According to Xu Kan, the city should be able to hold out for at least six months.

The best strategy then would be to win hearts and minds. First, they would approach Daxing City, then inform the Qi people of Wang Mi's defeat and capture, and have Xu Kan persuade him to surrender. Next, they would feign the arrival of reinforcements from the south, creating the impression that the Han army was determined to win, and then offer the Qi ruler a barely acceptable condition. With this whole set of tactics, they might be able to take Daxing City directly.

After this discussion, Li Ju made up his mind and immediately returned to the camp to make arrangements for the upcoming battle. That very night, the Han army officially began its operation.

According to the original plan, if Daxing City was on guard, the Han army should launch a rapid attack. Therefore, after setting up camp, the Han army was busy either building siege weapons such as pointed wooden donkeys or filling sandbags with soil in preparation for building earthen mounds. However, Li Ju ordered them to stop all their work and instead dig trenches, erect fences, and build fortifications in the north and west of Daxing City, creating the appearance of a long-term siege.

The next morning, the sight of the Han army building fortifications outside Daxing City caused quite a stir. Crowds thronged the city walls, seemingly observing the Han army's strength. Li Ju then dispatched a group of prisoners captured earlier in Wancheng, bound them, and brought them to the city gate, where they shouted into the city:

"King Cai (Liu Ling) and King Lu (Wang Zhang) have both been killed, and King Deng (Xu Kan) couldn't hold out either, being captured alive just before the city fell! Now, the Han army of 100,000 has arrived at the city walls, and another 100,000 troops, personally led by the Emperor of Han, are going to Jiangzuo to attack King Yan (Wang Mi). Your King Yan is bound to be defeated. Do you still expect to rely on that little force in the north? That's just wishful thinking! Go out of the city to negotiate as soon as possible, and you can still save the women, children, and the elderly in the city!"

These words immediately caused an uproar on the walls of Daxing City, but no one knew what the Qi officers said. Before long, the commotion subsided naturally, like the receding tide, and no one came out to answer.

Li Ju was not in a hurry. He then ordered all the banners and flags of the army to be collected and divided into two parts. One part was given to the already constructed camps, which were to be densely planted near the city to demonstrate the strength of their forces. The other part was given to Guo Mo and Zhang Qi, who were to each lead 10,000 troops to quietly outflank Daxing City from the east and south. On the night of the third day, Guo Mo and Zhang Qi's armies were to stretch out their ranks, sound horns, and carry more torches and flags, marching in a grand procession into the city of Daxing, thus encircling it from all sides and connecting the camps into one continuous line.

By the morning of the fourth day, the Qi army could see that Daxing City was completely surrounded by the Han army's camps, with red banners everywhere. It resembled a surging red tide or a crimson cloud covering the sky, making it appear even more majestic and magnificent amidst the icy and snowy landscape.

At this time, Li Ju sent another group of prisoners to the city walls, but this time he did not let the prisoners shout. Instead, he had several Han soldiers escorting the prisoners shout to the city walls:

"Listen, my soldiers! You saw what happened last night! Our Yangzhou army has also arrived in your Daxing! Your Prince of Yan was utterly defeated by our Emperor in Jianye and has fled, abandoning his army. Over 100,000 soldiers have been captured by our army, and your court is finished! Now we have 200,000 troops surrounding Daxing. What are you still doing fighting for Liu Baigen? Are you waiting to be buried with them?"

"We were all originally subjects of the Han Dynasty, and the whole country is one family. As long as you lay down your weapons and surrender on the spot, our marshal can guarantee that you will all be spared your lives. Afterwards, you will be employed according to your talents, and civilians will be granted land!"

"Even if it is the usurper of the Qi ruler, who has rendered meritorious service in overthrowing the Jin dynasty, as long as he is pragmatic, understands the bigger picture, surrenders with courtesy, and comes to submit, our Han emperor may treat him with the respect due to a vassal or member of the imperial family. If he remains obstinate, then he should not blame our army for being merciless with its swords!"

After the announcement, the city walls fell silent. At this moment, Xu Kan stepped out from the crowd and addressed the people in the city: "I am Xu Kan, the governor of Yuzhou. You all know me. Everything they said just now is true. Surrender quickly and don't cause any more casualties!"

At this point, the Qi army finally broke their silence. A figure suddenly appeared on the city wall, sneering at the people below: "You're wasting your time! With your cunning tricks, can you fool others, let alone our Emperor? Our Emperor has already seen through you. You have at most 100,000 men, yet you're pretending to move your troops around outside the city. You want to be like Dong Zhuo? His Majesty is not Yuan Shao! If you're so capable, why not just attack the city directly instead of spouting nonsense here?! My lord has instructed me to tell you that we have enough grain in the city to last a year. If you really have 200,000 troops, then stay here and see who can outlast whom!"

At this point, he paused, then pointed specifically at Xu Kan and said, "Prince Deng, you dare to betray the court, a heinous crime. According to the law, your entire family should be exterminated. However, His Majesty, mindful of your past merits, has spared your wife and children and given you a chance to turn back. If you remain obstinate and continue to aid and abet evil, you will be reborn as a pig or a dog in your next life!"

Finally, the man directed his soldiers to hang about thirty bloody heads on the west city wall, and then said to the Han army: "These are your Southern Lord's old friends. My lord treated them well, but they turned around and tried to rebel. This is their fate! You will suffer the same fate. If you want to break through the city, either you die or I perish!"

Having said that, the Han soldiers below the city were left looking at each other in bewilderment. Xu Kan and his men retreated, a bitter smile on his face. He cupped his hands to Li Ju and said, "Marshal, Xu Kan is incompetent. Please punish me."

Li Ju, of course, couldn't blame him. Instead, he pointed to the heads hanging on the city wall and asked, "Who are those old friends of His Majesty that the Qi Lord mentioned? Do you know them?"

"It seems to be Ji Shaogong, Liu Tungong, and Yang Jian, among others."

Upon hearing this, Li Ju fell silent for a moment. He was not only heartbroken by the deaths of Ji Shao and the others, but also astonished by the Qi people's keen insight.

To ensure secrecy and truly deceive the Qi people, he had previously deployed scouts throughout Daxing City, closely monitoring the city's movements to prevent leaks. However, everything was normal during this period; no one was detected venturing out of the city to scout. So how did the Qi people know his true strength? Could there be undiscovered tunnels? Or were there spies hidden among the army's prisoners? Surely the Qi ruler couldn't possibly possess divine insight?

The truth is actually quite simple: Liu Bogen, who lives in the city, does indeed possess a method that can be described as having divine insight, allowing him to contact the Taoist temples outside the city without leaving the city—that is, sending messages by carrier pigeon.

It should be noted that pigeon training was originally a unique skill of the Persians in the Western Regions, gradually spreading to the Central Plains only during the Han Dynasty. It was primarily mastered by monks and merchants, and remains a little-known secret even today. Liu Baigen's mastery of this skill was purely by chance; he learned it from an Indian merchant traveling to the East China Sea. Li Ju probably never imagined that even with layers of blockade on the ground, neglecting the birds in the sky would give the Qi people the opportunity to contact the outside world.

However, Li Ju's meticulously crafted superior strategy failed once again, forcing him to resort to a middle-ground approach: besieging the city and attacking reinforcements. Due to logistical constraints, the Han army could not hold out in Daxing City for long, but eliminating the incoming reinforcements as soon as possible would significantly diminish the Qi ruler's prestige, potentially forcing him to open the city gates. Therefore, Li Ju turned his attention to the Dingtao and Jiyin areas to the north, closely monitoring the movements of the Qi and Han armies.

Seven days later, a spy reported that a Qi army of several thousand men had entered Dingtao City and was plundering grain and fodder from the surrounding counties. This was suspected to be a sign that Qi reinforcements were heading south. This aroused Li Ju's great concern. He ordered Zhang Guang to continue the siege of Daxing and led 20,000 Hedong troops north to the south bank of the Huoshui River north of Meng County to form an array.

They had just arrived when another swift cavalryman came to report: "The Qi people have assembled an army of 40,000, with King Han Liu Zhongdao as their commander. They are marching day and night toward Daxing. The vanguard has already left Dingtao, and it is said that there are still 20,000 Qingzhou troops following behind. They are being urgently conscripted and will set off soon."

The sun was shining brightly, and the snow was melting. Li Ju was resting in a grove of trees covered with cloth when he received the news. All the generals were under his tent, looking at him and waiting for his decision. Li Ju said, "The two places are two hundred li apart. Even if they march at full speed, they won't arrive until the day after tomorrow. Yuan Xiong (Guo Mo), you take seven thousand cavalry and hide downstream of Mengzhu Marsh. Once I give the signal from the front, you cross the river and attack their rear!"

So they rested for a day, and on the third day at dawn, the scouts reported again: "The vanguard of the Qi army's cavalry, numbering ten thousand, has arrived at Jishi County. They only stopped once to change horses and did not light a fire to cook. They are less than twenty li away."

Li Ju immediately stood up and ordered his troops to don their armor. He deployed his more than ten thousand men in a single line on the very conspicuous south bank of the Huo River, with no trees nearby to hide them. At the turn of the hour of Chensi (7-9 AM), the thunderous sound of hooves echoed from the opposite bank, followed by a dense mass of Qi cavalry appearing. Seeing their road blocked, the Qi army reined in their horses and waited for reinforcements, while simultaneously observing the Han army's formation on the opposite side.

The Qi army was initially somewhat apprehensive, fearing some kind of plot by the Han army. However, seeing that the Han army was positioned in the middle of the main road with no suitable ambush locations and seemingly only a few thousand men, they relaxed. Once the main force arrived, the vanguard cavalry launched the initial charge. Faced with the Qi cavalry charge, the Han army retreated step by step, but their formation remained intact. The Qi army then changed their strategy from a charge to an encirclement, attempting to use their numerical superiority to completely annihilate the Han army.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, Guo Mo, ten miles away, crossed the frozen river downstream and swiftly circled around to the rear of the Qi army. The Qi army, entangled in battle with Li Ju, had no idea that the Han army was so familiar with the terrain and had laid an ambush so far away. They had no time to change formation. Guo Mo's single strike was overwhelming for the Qi army; wherever he blocked, they suffered heavy casualties. Seeing this, the soldiers at the rear scattered and fled. Guo Mo seized the opportunity to pursue them for over twenty miles, killing and capturing more than six thousand.

After this battle, Li Ju achieved a great victory over Liu Zhongdao. The Qi army, utterly defeated, retreated back to Dingtao City, and dared not make any further moves, at least for the time being. Li Ju did not pursue them, but instead wrote a proclamation about the battle and widely posted it throughout Yan and Yu provinces, further damaging the prestige of the Daxing court. This move had an immediate effect; indeed, many fortified village lords sent envoys to probe the situation.

Judging from the current situation, the circumstances still favor the Han army. It was already late December, more than halfway through the one-month deadline agreed upon by Li Ju. Li Ju was already considering whether the supply problem could be solved by requisitioning grain locally. If the fortified villages could provide sufficient provisions, then a prolonged siege of Daxing, resolving the Qi-Han conflict once and for all, would be an acceptable strategy.

But at this critical moment, Zu Ti sent a messenger to Li Ju with bad news: scouts in Luoyang reported a large-scale military mobilization in the direction of Ye City, with a large number of cavalrymen leaving Jinyang through Huguan Pass and heading into Hebei Province. Their intentions were unclear, but based on their past actions, vigilance was necessary. (End of Chapter)