Chapter 175

Zhang Pei had exceptional intuition.

It went beyond simply knowing how to fight in battle; it applied to the stance he should take, his current position, and more.

Even Cao Cao was cautious when dealing with Zhang Pei, largely due to Zhang Pei’s intuitive political acumen.

Moreover, Zhang Pei wasn’t just about intuition. He had the decisiveness to march 100 li in a day if necessary.

Before the damage from the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs could grow, Zhang Pei’s decisiveness in running 100 li to stop Sun Quan stemmed from his intuition and judgment.

Though momentary, Zhang Pei’s mobility rivaled that of Sima Yi and Chang-ran, which is why Sima Yi assigned him the role of cutting off Guan Yu’s retreat path by taking a long detour.

And Zhang Pei perfectly followed the plan Sima Yi had drawn. At least, until now.

‘Something feels off. Did I make a mistake?’

Zhang Pei clearly sensed something subtly irritating his nerves.

Guan Yu abandoned Wancheng and fled north, while the scouts from Yangfan were too busy increasing their patrols to grasp the situation. There should have been no gaps.

Upon realizing Guan Yu had begun crossing the Jin Ling Mountain Range, Sima Yi ordered Xu Huang and Zhang Pei to respond.

Xu Huang stationed troops at Wuguan as usual but released the Shangyong front and returned to Wancheng. Zhang Pei followed Sima Yi north to Luoyang.

To follow Sima Yi’s orders, Zhang Pei had to hurry. The distance between Zhang Pei and Sima Yi was about 250 li (approximately 105 km), and considering the average infantry march distance of about 30 li, this meant they were separated by about 8 days’ worth of travel.

To shorten the time to join Sima Yi, it was right to move quickly.

‘Still, leaving things like this feels uneasy.’

In the end, just before leaving Xinya Fortress, Zhang Pei called his deputy, Yun Luo.

“Xiao Lu, you stay in Xinya.”

Though Yun Luo had his own courtesy name, Zhang Pei called him Xiao Lu to distinguish him from his close friend and subordinate, Yun Li. It was also due to his fondness for nicknames.

Zhang Pei, who even gave himself the nickname “Nukou” (bandit), treated his subordinates casually. Making them follow him through emotion. That was Zhang Pei’s unique leadership.

As a leader of a faction, respected and treated well by both Cao Cao and Liu Bei, Zhang Pei seemed to embody a midpoint between the two.

Cao Cao, who highly valued Zhang Pei’s traits, entrusted him with the fierce Qingzhou soldiers, and Zhang Pei released them as agreed with Cao Cao.

Because Zhang Pei had the ability to make people follow him, even though it was a sudden order, Yun Li shrugged and answered without hesitation.

“Alright. How many soldiers will you give me?”

“Not many. If I leave too many troops here, Lang Gu will get angry.”

“Please refrain from calling the Governor of Henan ‘Lang Gu.’ It’s not the era of the late emperor anymore, and you might really get in trouble.”

“I know when and where to say it. Anyway, I’ll give you about 3,000 soldiers. That should be enough to operate the scouts, right?”

“Leave it to me. If anything happens, I’ll let you know immediately.”

“Good. The Shu forces won’t leave Yangfan empty-handed, so nothing major should happen.”

After entrusting the rear to his reliable deputy, who performed his role well no matter the task, Zhang Pei left Xinya Fortress.

Though he told Yun Luo nothing would happen, Zhang Pei’s prediction was wrong.

Almost simultaneously with Zhang Pei’s main force leaving Xinya Fortress, another group was leaving the fortress.

They weren’t openly leaving through the gates. Rather, the opposite. It was so cautious and secretive, sneaking out through the waterways under the cover of night, that the term “midnight escape” seemed fitting.

Surely, they slipped out of Bansheng unnoticed by the Wei scouts, using the moment when the enemy was unaware to dash out like the wind.

They even went so far as to separate infantry and cavalry, a seemingly reckless move. They were determined to strike the enemy’s rear while they were defenseless, even at great risk.

If Zhang Pei hadn’t left Yun Luo behind, and if Yun Luo hadn’t been diligently patrolling even at night.

The plan would have succeeded smoothly, leaving Zhang Pei’s forces in chaos.

The distance from Bansheng to Xinya is less than 150 li. If the cavalry were determined, they could catch up in a day.

Moreover, Chang-ran’s cavalry not only hid in the shadows of the night but also covered themselves with mist along the waterways.

Thus, Yun Luo’s scouts only discovered them near Zhaoyang County.

Zhaoyang County is practically within reach of Xinya. Even if they realized the situation and sent a messenger, it was hard to say which side would be faster.

Fortunately for the Wei forces, Yun Luo’s scouts confirmed the enemy’s presence before they reached Xinya Fortress, but the timing was extremely close.

Yun Luo even saved time by not writing a letter and sent a messenger with verbal orders.

And realizing they had been discovered, the Lanling Army also abandoned their stealth and began to speed up.

In the end, after racing to reach Zhang Pei first, it was Yun Luo’s messenger who arrived before him.

Under extreme tension and pressure, the messenger, who had driven his horse without rest, looked like he might vomit at any moment but burned with a final sense of duty to fulfill his role.

Fragmented words and sentences poured from the messenger’s mouth.

The enemy is coming. They are cavalry. Their numbers exceed ten thousand. And they were wearing golden cloaks engraved with Lanling.

The Lanling Army is coming!

After shouting as if squeezing out his soul, the messenger fainted and collapsed.

Zhang Pei couldn’t even properly catch the falling messenger and muttered, frozen in place.

“Lanling Army…!”

That name.

Now engraved in Wei as a symbol of terror.

The blue Luan, pecking at tigers and leopards. Its unstoppable legs gallop across the nine provinces.

A song even emerged about the Lanling Army, which defeated Wei’s elite cavalry, the Tiger and Leopard Riders, and roamed Hanzhong, Xingbu, Guanzhong, Hatu, and Xingnan as if they were their own backyard.

This was it.

The source of the chilling sense of crisis that had been creeping up Zhang Pei’s neck.

Zhang Pei had no choice.

Ask Xu Huang or Sima Yi for help? Before that, he would already face the Lanling Army, and the outcome would be decided, win or lose.

Avoid the battle? That was out of the question, as it would be dereliction of duty, especially since the Lanling Army had already passed Xinya Fortress and was closing in on Zhang Pei’s forces. Infantry, unable to form a proper defense, would be mere prey for elite cavalry.

He had no choice but to fight.

‘Don’t be intimidated by the name of the Lanling Army. It’s a fight we can handle.’

Though Zhang Pei couldn’t understand how the Lanling Army, supposedly at Hegu, had come this far, coldly speaking, it meant they had run the long distance without rest.

Attacking a tired enemy is the most basic tactic, as taught by Sun Tzu and Wu Qi.

Moreover, Zhang Pei had more troops. The enemy, in their haste, seemed to have brought only cavalry, leaving their infantry behind. He would teach them how arrogant that was.

“All troops, form a defensive formation! Place the shield bearers in front, with the archers behind. This is a cavalry battle!”

Zhuge Liang’s Eight Array Formation.

Chang-ran’s Yuhua Formation.

Having personally experienced their dangers, Wei couldn’t just sit still. They actively adopted advanced military tactics.

While Wu, primarily an infantry-based state, seemed to be developing their own defensive tactics based on the Eight Array Formation rather than the Yuhua Formation, Wei, with sufficient cavalry, fully embraced the Yuhua Formation.

Zhang Pei’s ambition to humiliate them with the very formation they developed was soon crushed as a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon.

The messenger had clearly arrived before the Lanling Army. But whether it was meaningfully faster was another matter.

With less than a day’s distance between them, it was practically no different from seeing them with the naked eye.

Before Zhang Pei’s troops, stretched out in a column for marching, could complete the Yuhua Formation’s defensive array, the Lanling Army cavalry and the elite cavalry trained by Wei Yan descended upon them.

The scene was truly like a pack of wolves attacking a flock of sheep.

§

In the 3rd year of Jianwu (224 AD), when Guan Yu was in danger due to Sima Yi’s scheme, Chang-ran reached Yangfan from Hegu in just one month and crossed Xinya Fortress in a single night after running 100 li. At this time, she ensured Zhang Pei didn’t know of her arrival and used the gap when they lifted the siege and moved to launch a surprise attack, which Zhang Pei couldn’t withstand.

Chang-ran’s momentum in attacking Zhang Pei was likened to Xiang Ji’s counterattack against Gaozu at Pengcheng and Guangwu’s sweeping away of Wang Mang’s forces at Kunyang. Truly, her might was fierce.

As Sun Tzu’s Art of War states, those skilled in warfare avoid sharp momentum and attack the enemy when they are lax and on difficult terrain. Thus, those who dismiss Chang-ran’s victory over Zhang Pei as mere luck do not understand the art of war.

From “The Chronicles of Chang-ran in the Book of Later Han.”