Chapter 136
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Inside the chancellor’s mansion was a sea of white. He’d hung on gamely for a few months, but ultimately, the chancellor succumbed to illness and passed away.
This was not a good omen for the newly established Han dynasty. Liu Xuan was a respected elder, a member of the Xiongnu royal family, whose intervention had accelerated the solidification of the union between the Five Divisions, without whom, Liu Yuan would not have inherited the title of Wise King of the Right and thus become the Great Chanyu, then the self-anointed King of Han.
The death of a long-serving cornerstone of the country so soon after the new king’s ascension cast a dark shadow over their daydream of conquest and domination. It was a good thing that Liu Xuan was indeed old, so that the disquieted murmurings that pervaded the court could be smothered with the claim that overwork was the reason he’d passed from sickness, and by Liu Yuan’s personally directing his funeral and sending him along his last journey.
Liu Yuan, though, knew full well what had caused his granduncle’s death; he’d already rounded up all the survivors who’d fled from Shangdang. If his plan had played out, he would’ve discerned the deceitful trickery behind the mass panic in the encampment and revealed it to the world. But after countless interrogations, all Liu Yuan got out of them was this: that day, a divine miracle had indeed occurred!
It was a headache, deciding how to handle those broken, brain-addled soldiers. Even he could not execute three thousand elite cavalries without reason, yet left to their own devices, they were a serious detriment to morale. If this continued, not only would it be impossible to conceal the reason for their defeat, public discourse would broil over until there wasn’t anymore way to clean up the mess. At last, all he could do was integrate them into his personal guard, where they were under his watchful supervision and away from prying eyes.
However, that alone was not nearly enough.
“The armies of the Jin come to challenge us at the genesis of our country. Who dares to stand against them?” Liu Yuan sonorously asked, sitting on a throne in a hastily thrown together palace.
Sima Teng had sent tens of thousands of men and horses, led by high-ranking general Nie Xuan, to attack Lishi. This would be the first attack on the Han dynasty as a whole, and the first clash with their old neighbor Sima Teng. The consequence of the coming battle was of extraordinary significance
But always, no matter how powerful the enemy, would people rise to meet the challenge.
“Father, I beseech you to send me!” “I dare to lead your armies to war, Your Majesty!”
A number of voices sounded at once. Liu Yuan’s fourth son, Liu Cong; adopted son, Liu Yao; generals Huyan You, Qimu Tun, and Liu Qin, etc., all came forth.
Scanning the palace and seeing the vigor and spirit shining from all their faces, Liu Yuan gave a hearty laugh, “We will surely defeat the Sima bastards in this battle! Show them all the might of the imperial Han!”
Victory in this battle would steady the people’s hearts and demonstrate to those lofty courtiers just whom the Mandate of Heaven resided with. And after Jinyang was taken, what was a mere Shangdang Commandery?
Ole Tejc rabbv jcv kfca boo ab jcblca tlr ufcfgjir jcv gjiis tlr agbbqr.
※
“Jbwwjcvjca, atf yjcvlar jgf bea akb xlibwfafgr jcv j tjio cbk. Mgbw atf ibbxr bo la, atfs’gf ublcu ab vb yjaaif klat er!” Ktf rmbea gfqbgafv.
Vlaalcu bc tlr wbeca, ibbxlcu ja atf vlrajca vera mibev, Tl Tjc rjlv mbivis, “Cvnjcmf bcf xlibwfafg. Mbgw gjcxr jcv qgfqjgf ab fcujuf atf fcfws.”
As per his lord’s orders, Yi Yan brought the new recruits to Nie County to exterminate the nearby bandits. This would be his first time leading so many troops. Unlike any other commander would’ve done, however, Yi Yan did not organize a strict supply line nor rearguard; he had the soldiers carry their own rations, traveling light to where the bandit infestation was.
Now, with a newer and more detailed map of Shangdang, the number of reconnoitrers under Yi Yan’s command was several times that of an ordinary army’s. By the second day after reaching Nie County, they already had a clear picture of the lawless bandits’ movements. Rather than immediately going on the offense, he set up camp and dug in right within their view, making as if to attack.
To the mountain bandits, the shock of a military force suddenly appearing out of nowhere was not inconsiderable. A few scouting trips later, they finally determined that the government troops were far smaller than their own and decided to come out in force to send the enemy packing with one strike.
That was exactly what Yi Yan needed.
Why go to the trouble of smoking them out of the mountains when one could swiftly wear down their main force in pitched battle? Sima Teng’s army had already mobilized and would soon cross blades with the Xiongnu. The imminent chaos that would arise in Bing Province did not leave him much time to waste on bandits like these.
On their commander’s orders, the new recruits formed up and marched towards the predetermined battlefield. Similarly to the Liang Estate’s militia, the new recruits’ training heavily emphasized physical endurance and marching speed, so crossing a kilometer took no time at all. They arrived at the anticipated battlefield, took a moment’s rest, then fanned out into battle formations.
Thus, after a short, excited trek, they ran straight into the enemy force that should’ve been several kilometers away. They’d jumped in fright at being caught unawares, but upon closer observation, the bandit leader confirmed that, numbers-wise, he still had the absolute advantage. The leader of a group of bandits this large was naturally no coward, so he instantly ordered them to charge!
The bandits in a swarm blanketing the hills and mountains. They’d once been herders and farmers, but wreaking havoc on the countryside had taught them how to paint with blood and savor the taste of murder, robbery, and arson. And given that they had quite a few cavalries of their own, how could they possibly be afraid of a few two-legged foot soldiers?
Three hundred horse riders hollered wildly, rushing without abandon at the tip of the spear. These Xiongnu pastoralists were no worse at horseback archery than true Xiongnu soldiers. The enemy formation would break before their charge; the pike-wielding Jin would scatter. Once they descended into disorder, they would be easy pickings for the people behind them. These poor government soldiers — let them never return!
Such a plan would’ve worked fine against the majority of peasant-conscript Jin armies. A pity, though, that they didn’t know what they were facing was no ordinary Jin army.
“Archers, at the ready!” Sun Jiao shouted from the first row of the artillery unit. A hundred foot-spanned crossbows were raised into the air. These crossbows had been gathering dust in the Shangdang armory before being retrofitted to a larger, but longer-range type. They could shoot up to two hundred paces and were equipped with front sights. One could say that these one hundred crossbows could take away one hundred enemy lives.
Sun Jiao waited until the enemy riders were within a hundred and eighty paces before yelling, “Fire!”
With a low hum, crossbow quarrels were sent soaring, and like stalks of grain bending in a downpour, a hundred riders were unmounted. The enemy formation was disturbed by fear and panic, but they couldn’t turn back now. The leading bandit yelled, “Charge, keep charging! They can’t shoot another volley!”
Crossbows that could shoot this far were most likely the sort which required one to bend at the waist and brace it with their foot to draw the string. They had to expend energy reloading after every volley. It was already almost unthinkable for a troop of one thousand to have a hundred archers. There was no way they had another reserve of archers!
That judgement wasn’t wrong, per se, but thirty steps later, another wave of arrows was upon them!
The archers hadn’t tried to reload their crossbows at all, they’d just tossed them aside, retrieved their bows — which they carried on their backs — nocked, drew, and shot in one swift action. Against cavalry at one hundred and fifty paces, the archers only unleash three volleys; even so, after those three volleys, not a single person remained on their horse. Three hundred cavalries, gone in an instant!
The enemy frontline faltered after the four rounds of arrow rains. Yi Yan made a slight gesture to the communications officer beside him, then there was the sound of booming drums. His troops moved quickly in formation, their strides timed to the beat, their uniform steps quaking the ground. The neat rows of raised spears, sharp glints at their tips, were like the jaws of a ravenous wolf pack!
Even the minor bandit leaders were intimidated by this display. Should they run? Too late for that!
Two cavalry units burst out from behind the bandits, closing in on them like a vise, blocking off both fronts. Savage as they were, they were merely a pack of bandits, undisciplined, fueled only by their burning blood and bravery. Now, though, their bravery was brittle, and their blood ran cold. They shattered at first contact!
The battle soon turned into a one-sided slaughter. The forest of spears in the front shredded every possible attempt at resistance; the cavalry in the back stomped out every possible retreat. In only a few breaths’ time, the two thousand bandits were utterly routed!
Within the hour, all that remained on the battlefield were surrenderers begging on their knees and lifeless corpses. Instead of pursuing those who’d fled, Yi Yan gave the order to clear up the battlefield. The entire force would take a rest and recover.
Those bandits had a base to return to, and they would run back to it for dear life. They’d shut the doors, and the remaining few factions would begin bickering. Hold the gates and fight? Abandon the stronghold and flee? Or meekly surrender and concede their loyalty to the current master of Shangdang?
A whole half-day later, and still, nothing had come of the argument, but the refreshened troops had already arrived at their doorstep.
Fire arrows sailed into their stronghold, then those who were unafraid of death came in over the walls. Next, the gates were thrown wide, and their terrifying enemies poured in, armed with sabers and shields.
In one day, more than two thousand bandits were swept clean; over half had died in battle and around eight hundred had been captured. The base they’d worked so hard to build had become a burnt-out husk.
※
“To report, my lord, the bandit crisis in Nie County has been resolved. In addition to the main stronghold, we destroyed three more of their bases and captured a total of more than one thousand and two hundred people!”
Liang Feng smiled with satisfaction at the kneeling young Jie, who held his posture ramrod straight. Counting the time consumed by the round-trip travel, Yi Yan had been gone no more than ten days. For a newly trained army, it was an astonishing achievement.
“You have served valiantly this time, Boyuan,” Liang Feng said with approval. “The troops’ reward shall be three thousand coins and a roll of cloth to each soldier. As usual, the captives are to be consigned to hard labor. Let’s see how many of them survive the winter before entertaining any notion of reshaping and incorporating them into our forces.”
He hadn’t planned on exhausting them all to death. Once the current infrastructure projects were completed, they would be drafted into the ranks to be used as auxiliaries. After their pride was ground to dust and they were subjected to a long period of hard labor, they would do anything for anyone who could save them and give them a thread of hope for survival. That was Stockholm syndrome in its essence. Once they’d been cowed by fear and suffering, the dependence they developed would be just as indestructible.
Discerning the gladness in his lord’s voice, Yi Yan bowed, “I thank you for your reward, my lord!”
To him, there was no reward more valuable than this.
The lightning-fast concluding of the bandit crisis sent another ripple of shock throughout the commanderies of Shangdang. Those who harbored ill intentions fled, and those who stayed believed even more strongly that His Excellency was an incarnation of a buddha who could protect their lives and livelihoods. They had horses and farming tools, fallow land was being reclaimed in the government fields, and every day, more refugees were settled. But before their joy had yet to fade, there came news.
The general whom Sima Teng had dispatched, Nie Xuan, had suffered a disastrous defeat, losing over ten thousand in casualties. When the news came out, it shook Bing Province!
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Inside the chancellor’s mansion was a sea of white. He’d hung on gamely for a few months, but ultimately, the chancellor succumbed to illness and passed away.
This was not a good omen for the newly established Han dynasty. Liu Xuan was a respected elder, a member of the Xiongnu royal family, whose intervention had accelerated the solidification of the union between the Five Divisions, without whom, Liu Yuan would not have inherited the title of Wise King of the Right and thus become the Great Chanyu, then the self-anointed King of Han.
The death of a long-serving cornerstone of the country so soon after the new king’s ascension cast a dark shadow over their daydream of conquest and domination. It was a good thing that Liu Xuan was indeed old, so that the disquieted murmurings that pervaded the court could be smothered with the claim that overwork was the reason he’d passed from sickness, and by Liu Yuan’s personally directing his funeral and sending him along his last journey.
Liu Yuan, though, knew full well what had caused his granduncle’s death; he’d already rounded up all the survivors who’d fled from Shangdang. If his plan had played out, he would’ve discerned the deceitful trickery behind the mass panic in the encampment and revealed it to the world. But after countless interrogations, all Liu Yuan got out of them was this: that day, a divine miracle had indeed occurred!
It was a headache, deciding how to handle those broken, brain-addled soldiers. Even he could not execute three thousand elite cavalries without reason, yet left to their own devices, they were a serious detriment to morale. If this continued, not only would it be impossible to conceal the reason for their defeat, public discourse would broil over until there wasn’t anymore way to clean up the mess. At last, all he could do was integrate them into his personal guard, where they were under his watchful supervision and away from prying eyes.
However, that alone was not nearly enough.
“The armies of the Jin come to challenge us at the genesis of our country. Who dares to stand against them?” Liu Yuan sonorously asked, sitting on a throne in a hastily thrown together palace.
Sima Teng had sent tens of thousands of men and horses, led by high-ranking general Nie Xuan, to attack Lishi. This would be the first attack on the Han dynasty as a whole, and the first clash with their old neighbor Sima Teng. The consequence of the coming battle was of extraordinary significance
But always, no matter how powerful the enemy, would people rise to meet the challenge.
“Father, I beseech you to send me!” “I dare to lead your armies to war, Your Majesty!”
A number of voices sounded at once. Liu Yuan’s fourth son, Liu Cong; adopted son, Liu Yao; generals Huyan You, Qimu Tun, and Liu Qin, etc., all came forth.
Scanning the palace and seeing the vigor and spirit shining from all their faces, Liu Yuan gave a hearty laugh, “We will surely defeat the Sima bastards in this battle! Show them all the might of the imperial Han!”
Victory in this battle would steady the people’s hearts and demonstrate to those lofty courtiers just whom the Mandate of Heaven resided with. And after Jinyang was taken, what was a mere Shangdang Commandery?
Ole Tejc rabbv jcv kfca boo ab jcblca tlr ufcfgjir jcv gjiis tlr agbbqr.
※
“Jbwwjcvjca, atf yjcvlar jgf bea akb xlibwfafgr jcv j tjio cbk. Mgbw atf ibbxr bo la, atfs’gf ublcu ab vb yjaaif klat er!” Ktf rmbea gfqbgafv.
Vlaalcu bc tlr wbeca, ibbxlcu ja atf vlrajca vera mibev, Tl Tjc rjlv mbivis, “Cvnjcmf bcf xlibwfafg. Mbgw gjcxr jcv qgfqjgf ab fcujuf atf fcfws.”
As per his lord’s orders, Yi Yan brought the new recruits to Nie County to exterminate the nearby bandits. This would be his first time leading so many troops. Unlike any other commander would’ve done, however, Yi Yan did not organize a strict supply line nor rearguard; he had the soldiers carry their own rations, traveling light to where the bandit infestation was.
Now, with a newer and more detailed map of Shangdang, the number of reconnoitrers under Yi Yan’s command was several times that of an ordinary army’s. By the second day after reaching Nie County, they already had a clear picture of the lawless bandits’ movements. Rather than immediately going on the offense, he set up camp and dug in right within their view, making as if to attack.
To the mountain bandits, the shock of a military force suddenly appearing out of nowhere was not inconsiderable. A few scouting trips later, they finally determined that the government troops were far smaller than their own and decided to come out in force to send the enemy packing with one strike.
That was exactly what Yi Yan needed.
Why go to the trouble of smoking them out of the mountains when one could swiftly wear down their main force in pitched battle? Sima Teng’s army had already mobilized and would soon cross blades with the Xiongnu. The imminent chaos that would arise in Bing Province did not leave him much time to waste on bandits like these.
On their commander’s orders, the new recruits formed up and marched towards the predetermined battlefield. Similarly to the Liang Estate’s militia, the new recruits’ training heavily emphasized physical endurance and marching speed, so crossing a kilometer took no time at all. They arrived at the anticipated battlefield, took a moment’s rest, then fanned out into battle formations.
Thus, after a short, excited trek, they ran straight into the enemy force that should’ve been several kilometers away. They’d jumped in fright at being caught unawares, but upon closer observation, the bandit leader confirmed that, numbers-wise, he still had the absolute advantage. The leader of a group of bandits this large was naturally no coward, so he instantly ordered them to charge!
The bandits in a swarm blanketing the hills and mountains. They’d once been herders and farmers, but wreaking havoc on the countryside had taught them how to paint with blood and savor the taste of murder, robbery, and arson. And given that they had quite a few cavalries of their own, how could they possibly be afraid of a few two-legged foot soldiers?
Three hundred horse riders hollered wildly, rushing without abandon at the tip of the spear. These Xiongnu pastoralists were no worse at horseback archery than true Xiongnu soldiers. The enemy formation would break before their charge; the pike-wielding Jin would scatter. Once they descended into disorder, they would be easy pickings for the people behind them. These poor government soldiers — let them never return!
Such a plan would’ve worked fine against the majority of peasant-conscript Jin armies. A pity, though, that they didn’t know what they were facing was no ordinary Jin army.
“Archers, at the ready!” Sun Jiao shouted from the first row of the artillery unit. A hundred foot-spanned crossbows were raised into the air. These crossbows had been gathering dust in the Shangdang armory before being retrofitted to a larger, but longer-range type. They could shoot up to two hundred paces and were equipped with front sights. One could say that these one hundred crossbows could take away one hundred enemy lives.
Sun Jiao waited until the enemy riders were within a hundred and eighty paces before yelling, “Fire!”
With a low hum, crossbow quarrels were sent soaring, and like stalks of grain bending in a downpour, a hundred riders were unmounted. The enemy formation was disturbed by fear and panic, but they couldn’t turn back now. The leading bandit yelled, “Charge, keep charging! They can’t shoot another volley!”
Crossbows that could shoot this far were most likely the sort which required one to bend at the waist and brace it with their foot to draw the string. They had to expend energy reloading after every volley. It was already almost unthinkable for a troop of one thousand to have a hundred archers. There was no way they had another reserve of archers!
That judgement wasn’t wrong, per se, but thirty steps later, another wave of arrows was upon them!
The archers hadn’t tried to reload their crossbows at all, they’d just tossed them aside, retrieved their bows — which they carried on their backs — nocked, drew, and shot in one swift action. Against cavalry at one hundred and fifty paces, the archers only unleash three volleys; even so, after those three volleys, not a single person remained on their horse. Three hundred cavalries, gone in an instant!
The enemy frontline faltered after the four rounds of arrow rains. Yi Yan made a slight gesture to the communications officer beside him, then there was the sound of booming drums. His troops moved quickly in formation, their strides timed to the beat, their uniform steps quaking the ground. The neat rows of raised spears, sharp glints at their tips, were like the jaws of a ravenous wolf pack!
Even the minor bandit leaders were intimidated by this display. Should they run? Too late for that!
Two cavalry units burst out from behind the bandits, closing in on them like a vise, blocking off both fronts. Savage as they were, they were merely a pack of bandits, undisciplined, fueled only by their burning blood and bravery. Now, though, their bravery was brittle, and their blood ran cold. They shattered at first contact!
The battle soon turned into a one-sided slaughter. The forest of spears in the front shredded every possible attempt at resistance; the cavalry in the back stomped out every possible retreat. In only a few breaths’ time, the two thousand bandits were utterly routed!
Within the hour, all that remained on the battlefield were surrenderers begging on their knees and lifeless corpses. Instead of pursuing those who’d fled, Yi Yan gave the order to clear up the battlefield. The entire force would take a rest and recover.
Those bandits had a base to return to, and they would run back to it for dear life. They’d shut the doors, and the remaining few factions would begin bickering. Hold the gates and fight? Abandon the stronghold and flee? Or meekly surrender and concede their loyalty to the current master of Shangdang?
A whole half-day later, and still, nothing had come of the argument, but the refreshened troops had already arrived at their doorstep.
Fire arrows sailed into their stronghold, then those who were unafraid of death came in over the walls. Next, the gates were thrown wide, and their terrifying enemies poured in, armed with sabers and shields.
In one day, more than two thousand bandits were swept clean; over half had died in battle and around eight hundred had been captured. The base they’d worked so hard to build had become a burnt-out husk.
※
“To report, my lord, the bandit crisis in Nie County has been resolved. In addition to the main stronghold, we destroyed three more of their bases and captured a total of more than one thousand and two hundred people!”
Liang Feng smiled with satisfaction at the kneeling young Jie, who held his posture ramrod straight. Counting the time consumed by the round-trip travel, Yi Yan had been gone no more than ten days. For a newly trained army, it was an astonishing achievement.
“You have served valiantly this time, Boyuan,” Liang Feng said with approval. “The troops’ reward shall be three thousand coins and a roll of cloth to each soldier. As usual, the captives are to be consigned to hard labor. Let’s see how many of them survive the winter before entertaining any notion of reshaping and incorporating them into our forces.”
He hadn’t planned on exhausting them all to death. Once the current infrastructure projects were completed, they would be drafted into the ranks to be used as auxiliaries. After their pride was ground to dust and they were subjected to a long period of hard labor, they would do anything for anyone who could save them and give them a thread of hope for survival. That was Stockholm syndrome in its essence. Once they’d been cowed by fear and suffering, the dependence they developed would be just as indestructible.
Discerning the gladness in his lord’s voice, Yi Yan bowed, “I thank you for your reward, my lord!”
To him, there was no reward more valuable than this.
The lightning-fast concluding of the bandit crisis sent another ripple of shock throughout the commanderies of Shangdang. Those who harbored ill intentions fled, and those who stayed believed even more strongly that His Excellency was an incarnation of a buddha who could protect their lives and livelihoods. They had horses and farming tools, fallow land was being reclaimed in the government fields, and every day, more refugees were settled. But before their joy had yet to fade, there came news.
The general whom Sima Teng had dispatched, Nie Xuan, had suffered a disastrous defeat, losing over ten thousand in casualties. When the news came out, it shook Bing Province!
Inside the chancellor's mansion was a sea of white. He'd hung on gamely for a few months, but ultimately, the chancellor succumbed to illness and passed away.This was not a good omen for the newly established Han dynasty. Liu Xuan was a respected elder, a member of the Xiongnu royal family, whose intervention had accelerated the solidification of the union between the Five Divisions, without whom, Liu Yuan would not have inherited the title of Wise King of the Right and thus become the Great Chanyu, then the self-anointed King of Han.The death of a long-serving cornerstone of the country so soon after the new king's ascension cast a dark shadow over their daydream of conquest and domination. It was a good thing that Liu Xuan was indeed old, so that the disquieted murmurings that pervaded the court could be smothered with the claim that overwork was the reason he'd passed from sickness, and by Liu Yuan's personally directing his funeral and sending him along his last journey.Liu Yuan, though, knew full well what had caused his granduncle's death; he'd already rounded up all the survivors who'd fled from Shangdang. If his plan had played out, he would've discerned the deceitful trickery behind the mass panic in the encampment and revealed it to the world. But after countless interrogations, all Liu Yuan got out of them was this: that day, a divine miracle had indeed occurred!It was a headache, deciding how to handle those broken, brain-addled soldiers. Even he could not execute three thousand elite cavalries without reason, yet left to their own devices, they were a serious detriment to morale. If this continued, not only would it be impossible to conceal the reason for their defeat, public discourse would broil over until there wasn't anymore way to clean up the mess. At last, all he could do was integrate them into his personal guard, where they were under his watchful supervision and away from prying eyes.However, that alone was not nearly enough.The armies of the Jin come to challenge us at the genesis of our country. Who dares to stand against them? Liu Yuan sonorously asked, sitting on a throne in a hastily thrown together palace.Sima Teng had sent tens of thousands of men and horses, led by high-ranking general Nie Xuan, to attack Lishi. This would be the first attack on the Han dynasty as a whole, and the first clash with their old neighbor Sima Teng. The consequence of the coming battle was of extraordinary significanceBut always, no matter how powerful the enemy, would people rise to meet the challenge.Father, I beseech you to send me! I dare to lead your armies to war, Your Majesty!A number of voices sounded at once. Liu Yuan's fourth son, Liu Cong; adopted son, Liu Yao; generals Huyan You, Qimu Tun, and Liu Qin, etc., all came forth.Scanning the palace and seeing the vigor and spirit shining from all their faces, Liu Yuan gave a hearty laugh, We will surely defeat the Sima bastards in this battle! Show them all the might of the imperial Han!Victory in this battle would steady the people's hearts and demonstrate to those lofty courtiers just whom the Mandate of Heaven resided with. And after Jinyang was taken, what was a mere Shangdang Commandery?Ole Tejc rabbv jcv kfca boo ab jcblca tlr ufcfgjir jcv gjiis tlr agbbqr.Jbwwjcvjca, atf yjcvlar jgf bea akb xlibwfafgr jcv j tjio cbk. Mgbw atf ibbxr bo la, atfs'gf ublcu ab vb yjaaif klat er! Ktf rmbea gfqbgafv.Vlaalcu bc tlr wbeca, ibbxlcu ja atf vlrajca vera mibev, Tl Tjc rjlv mbivis, Cvnjcmf bcf xlibwfafg. Mbgw gjcxr jcv qgfqjgf ab fcujuf atf fcfws.As per his lord's orders, Yi Yan brought the new recruits to Nie County to exterminate the nearby bandits. This would be his first time leading so many troops. Unlike any other commander would've done, however, Yi Yan did not organize a strict supply line nor rearguard; he had the soldiers carry their own rations, traveling light to where the bandit infestation was.Now, with a newer and more detailed map of Shangdang, the number of reconnoitrers under Yi Yan's command was several times that of an ordinary army's. By the second day after reaching Nie County, they already had a clear picture of the lawless bandits' movements. Rather than immediately going on the offense, he set up camp and dug in right within their view, making as if to attack.To the mountain bandits, the shock of a military force suddenly appearing out of nowhere was not inconsiderable. A few scouting trips later, they finally determined that the government troops were far smaller than their own and decided to come out in force to send the enemy packing with one strike.That was exactly what Yi Yan needed.Why go to the trouble of smoking them out of the mountains when one could swiftly wear down their main force in pitched battle? Sima Teng's army had already mobilized and would soon cross blades with the Xiongnu. The imminent chaos that would arise in Bing Province did not leave him much time to waste on bandits like these.On their commander's orders, the new recruits formed up and marched towards the predetermined battlefield. Similarly to the Liang Estate's militia, the new recruits' training heavily emphasized physical endurance and marching speed, so crossing a kilometer took no time at all. They arrived at the anticipated battlefield, took a moment's rest, then fanned out into battle formations.Thus, after a short, excited trek, they ran straight into the enemy force that should've been several kilometers away. They'd jumped in fright at being caught unawares, but upon closer observation, the bandit leader confirmed that, numbers-wise, he still had the absolute advantage. The leader of a group of bandits this large was naturally no coward, so he instantly ordered them to charge!The bandits in a swarm blanketing the hills and mountains. They'd once been herders and farmers, but wreaking havoc on the countryside had taught them how to paint with blood and savor the taste of murder, robbery, and arson. And given that they had quite a few cavalries of their own, how could they possibly be afraid of a few two-legged foot soldiers?Three hundred horse riders hollered wildly, rushing without abandon at the tip of the spear. These Xiongnu pastoralists were no worse at horseback archery than true Xiongnu soldiers. The enemy formation would break before their charge; the pike-wielding Jin would scatter. Once they descended into disorder, they would be easy pickings for the people behind them. These poor government soldiers let them never return!Such a plan would've worked fine against the majority of peasant-conscript Jin armies. A pity, though, that they didn't know what they were facing was no ordinary Jin army.Archers, at the ready! Sun Jiao shouted from the first row of the artillery unit. A hundredfoot-spanned crossbowswere raised into the air. These crossbows had been gathering dust in the Shangdang armory before being retrofitted to a larger, but longer-range type. They could shoot up to two hundred paces and were equipped with front sights. One could say that these one hundred crossbows could take away one hundred enemy lives.Sun Jiao waited until the enemy riders were within a hundred and eighty paces before yelling, Fire!With a low hum, crossbow quarrels were sent soaring, and like stalks of grain bending in a downpour, a hundred riders were unmounted. The enemy formation was disturbed by fear and panic, but they couldn't turn back now. The leading bandit yelled, Charge, keep charging! They can't shoot another volley!Crossbows that could shoot this far were most likely the sort which required one to bend at the waist and brace it with their foot to draw the string. They had to expend energy reloading after every volley. It was already almost unthinkable for a troop of one thousand to have a hundred archers. There was no way they had another reserve of archers!That judgement wasn't wrong, per se, but thirty steps later, another wave of arrows was upon them!The archers hadn't tried to reload their crossbows at all, they'd just tossed them aside, retrieved their bows which they carried on their backs nocked, drew, and shot in one swift action. Against cavalry at one hundred and fifty paces, the archers only unleash three volleys; even so, after those three volleys, not a single person remained on their horse. Three hundred cavalries, gone in an instant!The enemy frontline faltered after the four rounds of arrow rains. Yi Yan made a slight gesture to the communications officer beside him, then there was the sound of booming drums. His troops moved quickly in formation, their strides timed to the beat, their uniform steps quaking the ground. The neat rows of raised spears, sharp glints at their tips, were like the jaws of a ravenous wolf pack!Even the minor bandit leaders were intimidated by this display. Should they run? Too late for that!Two cavalry units burst out from behind the bandits, closing in on them like a vise, blocking off both fronts. Savage as they were, they were merely a pack of bandits, undisciplined, fueled only by their burning blood and bravery. Now, though, their bravery was brittle, and their blood ran cold. They shattered at first contact!The battle soon turned into a one-sided slaughter. The forest of spears in the front shredded every possible attempt at resistance; the cavalry in the back stomped out every possible retreat. In only a few breaths' time, the two thousand bandits were utterly routed!Within the hour, all that remained on the battlefield were surrenderers begging on their knees and lifeless corpses. Instead of pursuing those who'd fled, Yi Yan gave the order to clear up the battlefield. The entire force would take a rest and recover.Those bandits had a base to return to, and they would run back to it for dear life. They'd shut the doors, and the remaining few factions would begin bickering. Hold the gates and fight? Abandon the stronghold and flee? Or meekly surrender and concede their loyalty to the current master of Shangdang?A whole half-day later, and still, nothing had come of the argument, but the refreshened troops had already arrived at their doorstep.Fire arrows sailed into their stronghold, then those who were unafraid of death came in over the walls. Next, the gates were thrown wide, and their terrifying enemies poured in, armed with sabers and shields.In one day, more than two thousand bandits were swept clean; over half had died in battle and around eight hundred had been captured. The base they'd worked so hard to build had become a burnt-out husk.To report, my lord, the bandit crisis in Nie County has been resolved. In addition to the main stronghold, we destroyed three more of their bases and captured a total of more than one thousand and two hundred people!Liang Feng smiled with satisfaction at the kneeling young Jie, who held his posture ramrod straight. Counting the time consumed by the round-trip travel, Yi Yan had been gone no more than ten days. For a newly trained army, it was an astonishing achievement.You have served valiantly this time, Boyuan, Liang Feng said with approval. The troops' reward shall be three thousand coins and a roll of cloth to each soldier. As usual, the captives are to be consigned to hard labor. Let's see how many of them survive the winter before entertaining any notion of reshaping and incorporating them into our forces.He hadn't planned on exhausting them all to death. Once the current infrastructure projects were completed, they would be drafted into the ranks to be used as auxiliaries. After their pride was ground to dust and they were subjected to a long period of hard labor, they would do anything for anyone who could save them and give them a thread of hope for survival. That was Stockholm syndrome in its essence. Once they'd been cowed by fear and suffering, the dependence they developed would be just as indestructible.Discerning the gladness in his lord's voice, Yi Yan bowed, I thank you for your reward, my lord!To him, there was no reward more valuable than this.The lightning-fast concluding of the bandit crisis sent another ripple of shock throughout the commanderies of Shangdang. Those who harbored ill intentions fled, and those who stayed believed even more strongly that His Excellency was an incarnation of a buddha who could protect their lives and livelihoods. They had horses and farming tools, fallow land was being reclaimed in the government fields, and every day, more refugees were settled. But before their joy had yet to fade, there came news.The general whom Sima Teng had dispatched, Nie Xuan, had suffered a disastrous defeat, losing over ten thousand in casualties. When the news came out, it shook Bing Province!
