Chapter 126

When the Han Dynasty’s ethnic group led by Du Bin first charged, Zhao Chang suspected it was Chang-ran’s trap.

The Battle of Weishu, where Guo Huai was defeated by Chang-ran, and the Southern Xiongnu’s Left Wise King Yu Piao died. Zhao Chang heard the detailed account of the battle from Zhao Jin, a survivor.

Chang-ran used heavy cavalry as bait to lure the Xiongnu, then attempted a reversal of encirclement. Similarly, Guo Huai used the Xiongnu as a decoy and attacked the Han army’s rear with the Wei army, creating a repeated maneuver of encirclement reversal.

The victory was determined by two factors: Chang-ran’s martial prowess and the Han army’s new weapon.

The Xiongnu couldn’t stop Chang-ran and lost their commander, while the Han army successfully held out until Chang-ran’s return using the new weapon, Yuan Rong.

Therefore, Zhao Chang kept these two factors in mind for this battle.

The long-range crossbow had no effective countermeasure. The only way was to close the distance as quickly as possible, exploiting the long reload time and limited numbers.

Fortunately, Yuan Rong was somewhat manageable. Although it used iron arrows like the Qiang Nu, its destructive power was weaker. Firing ten arrows at once reduced the force per arrow.

Using shields didn’t guarantee perfect defense, as they weren’t the iron shields used by infantry.

Light shields that didn’t sacrifice cavalry speed had their limits but could reduce fatal injuries to minor ones. That was enough.

They only needed to endure one volley. Once they did, the cavalry would charge into the enemy lines, starting close combat.

If that happened, new weapons like Yuan Rong and Qiang Nu would have no room to intervene.

As for Chang-ran’s martial prowess, Zhao Chang himself would handle it.

Zhao Chang was confident that his martial skills were on par with Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang, the renowned generals of Wei.

Moreover, Zhao Chang was the only one who had gained an advantage against Chang-ran. Although not a complete victory, even Chang-ran acknowledged his superiority.

The story is long, but the point is this: Zhao Chang had to make a decision.

Should he prioritize the planned charge based on the premise above?

Or should he only contain Chang-ran’s main force while pursuing the ethnic groups?

Choosing the former would be a gamble.

Choosing the latter would allow for a safer attrition of the enemy’s strength.

“I won’t sell my eyes.”

Zhao Chang chose the former.

The fleeing Han ethnic groups would be left to other ethnic groups to handle.

“Tell the Xianbei. Boduogen and Sori, the two, are to pursue the scattered enemy.”

Boduogen of the Western Division and Sori of the Eastern Division. Each was entrusted with 5,000 troops to block the enemy from returning to the battlefield.

“The remaining troops will attack Chang-ran’s main force.”

Sun Tzu’s Art of War emphasizes deception.

Reveal the enemy’s formation and conceal your own.

Thus, gather your forces and scatter the enemy.

Concentrate your forces into one and divide the enemy into ten.

Attack one with ten.

Chang-ran’s ethnic groups were scattered, and her main force was exposed.

With nearly double the troops, Zhao Chang chose a direct assault.

“Form the Spear Formation! I will lead the vanguard!!”

The Spear Formation, shaped like a triangle, specializes in cavalry breakthroughs. Zhao Chang himself stood at the vanguard, the strongest position.

He was determined to break through and attack Chang-ran directly, just as she had beheaded Zhao Hong.

However, as the distance closed and they faced Chang-ran’s formation, Zhao Chang’s frontal assault met a crisis.

‘What is this formation?’

A shield wall with seven divided units.

Formations using carts had existed before. At Yiling, with only 5,000 infantry against 80,000 Xiongnu cavalry, they used carts to hold out for a long time with archers and crossbowmen.

But Chang-ran’s formation was different. Dividing the army into seven units, each forming a shield wall. Even Zhao Chang, who had studied military strategy under his father, had never seen such a tactic.

No matter how great a general Zhao Chang was, it was impossible to immediately devise a countermeasure against a formation he had never seen before. Even Cao Cao would find it difficult.

“General!”

“Spread out! Jian Chao takes the right, Yan Yu the left! Be cautious of enemy arrows while figuring out the formation!”

At the start, it was a simple horizontal line. But by the time they approached, it had completely transformed.

Of course, to maximize cavalry impact, they had approached at a trot to preserve the horses’ strength, so it wasn’t instant.

But even so, the speed of the formation change was remarkable.

‘You’ve prepared thoroughly, Chang-ran.’

Nothing in the world is perfect. Even the most flawless formation has weaknesses.

Even if a theoretically perfect formation is created, the people executing it cannot be perfect.

It may be more solid and less vulnerable, but there will always be a weak point.

And Zhao Chang saw it. His battlefield-honed instincts felt it. His rational mind, analyzing the situation coldly, answered.

‘They are weaker compared to other units.’

The two units at the rear were unstable compared to others. Whether it was due to weaker soldiers or inferior commanders was unclear. Perhaps both were capable, but discord between them disrupted harmony.

That didn’t matter. What mattered was finding the point of attack.

Zhao Chang’s eyes sank deeply and flashed fiercely.

It was the gaze of a predator spotting its prey’s weakness.

“Inform the left, right, and rear armies! I will attack the rear, so hold the enemy to prevent reinforcements!!”

Zhao Chang faced Chang-ran directly between the two rear formations of the Han army.

As if to confirm who was targeting her, Chang-ran turned and looked at him.

‘Wait, Chang-ran. I’m coming.’

First, he wanted to see her face. Next, he wanted to take her heart.

This time, he would take her head.

§

Takbal Yeokmi turned his horse immediately when he saw Du Bin faltering, fleeing first.

As they say, the first time is hard, but the second is easier. When Takbal Yeokmi started fleeing, the Xianbei, barely holding on, crumbled like a sandcastle, scattering to save themselves.

As collapse and desertion intensified, Takbal Yeokmi pulled the reins again. This time, he moved to save other Xianbei tribes.

Takbal Yeokmi informed his trusted aides of his plan and embedded them among other Xianbei tribes.

Through them, he quickly rallied the scattered Xianbei and glared at Boduogen of the Western Division, who was pursuing them.

“That annoying guy.”

The grudge wasn’t over yet. The one who had forced Takbal Yeokmi under Molokhuibu. Takbal Yeokmi’s eyes were filled with hatred for Boduogen, who was still causing trouble.

‘We need to shake them off and counterattack…’

Otherwise, when can we return to the main force?

Takbal Yeokmi anxiously kept looking back at the pursuers.

About 5,000 of his own men, similar in number. The pursuers’ intent was clearly to contain, not defeat.

‘In this case, we have no choice but to break through.’

The original plan was to shake them off and return. But with no sign of breaking free, it was time to play the final card: fight.

As he steeled himself to shout for a counterattack, a sudden scream came from behind. Hastily looking back, he saw Boduogen’s Xianbei being attacked from the rear.

“We attack too! Everyone, counterattack! Counterattack!!”

With not even that many troops, being attacked from both sides, Boduogen was quickly crushed.

Boduogen, overwhelmed by the double attack, fled. After the battle, as Takbal Yeokmi was reorganizing his troops, someone approached him.

“What are you still doing here?”

Takbal Yeokmi was shocked to see who had attacked Boduogen’s rear.

“You are… General Bang Deok? What about Sori…?”

Bang Deok, who had gone the opposite way and was pursued by Sori, was now here.

Even though they had taken a detour to avoid straying too far from the battlefield, the distance to Bang Deok was considerable. To arrive so quickly, he must have defeated the pursuers and come to support immediately.

As Takbal Yeokmi was astonished, Bang Deok spoke nonchalantly.

“Sori? Ah, this guy.”

He then lifted a severed head hanging from his saddle.

The head, with eyes wide open as if it hadn’t had time to close them, was a face Takbal Yeokmi recognized.

“Sori…!”

Bang Deok’s reputation was famous even beyond Xiliang, and Takbal Yeokmi had heard of him. But seeing him in action was beyond imagination.

Not only his martial prowess in quickly defeating the pursuers, but also his cavalry’s ability to cover such distances was unbelievable.

Now he understood why Chang-ran had hidden Bang Deok’s banner and secretly sent him with the Xianbei among the ethnic groups.

Even if Takbal Yeokmi failed, Bang Deok would handle it.

“Are all the Qiang like this?”

“Hahaha, if all the Qiang were like this, we would have conquered the world. Only my father is like this. He just charged in and took Sori’s head!”

The voice brimming with pride for his father.

It was Bang Hui, Bang Deok’s son and his deputy in this campaign.

“Have you finished tidying up?”

Though his words were curt, Bang Deok didn’t seem to mind his son’s praise. In fact, he was proud of his son.

After joining Liu Bei and seeing Zhang Fei’s daughter Chang-ran up close, his expectations had risen, but Bang Hui had lived up to them.

But now wasn’t the time for fatherly pride.

“Time is urgent. Hurry up.”

Cutting short the conversation between Bang Hui and Takbal Yeokmi, Bang Deok immediately began returning to the main force.

On the way back, as they passed a slightly elevated hill, the battlefield that came into Takbal Yeokmi’s view was, despite the carnage within, incredibly beautiful.

“Flowers…”

He understood Chang-ran’s words about flowers.

It wasn’t a code. It was a literal description.

A flower with six petals, surrounded by bees and butterflies.

And the Wei army densely attacking from the rear looked like a flower’s calyx.

In the face of this wondrous sight, only one thought filled Takbal Yeokmi’s mind.

‘She is a heavenly maiden…!’