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“Can strategists not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 200: Great Victory in the River Valley
Li Ying couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.
It would have been one thing if only a small group had shown up here.
He and Fan Chou led their troops, maintaining the marching speed expected of a large expedition, and even while coming from Chencang via the mountain path to Shanggui, they weren’t in a weakened state.
At most, they were just a bit mentally strained.
As long as the number of barriers ahead isn’t overwhelming, breaking through wouldn’t be too hard.
On the other hand, after Li Jue seized power from Dong Zhuo, he also took over Dong Zhuo’s troops that didn’t belong to Duan Wei, Zhang Xiu, and other generals.
These were the elite riders from the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry, selected to ensure Dong Zhuo’s safety.
They were also dispatched to this Liangzhou campaign.
The West Liang’s fierce fighters were undoubtedly strong in a charge, especially formed in an environment that felt like home to them.
But their current opponents…
Li Ying’s appointment as the main general for this mission wasn’t just because he and Li Jue were cousins.
He still had a basic level of judgment even in battle.
Although still at a distance, he could see clearly that the heavy armored soldiers blocking the cavalry’s advance were not just some flimsy bunch.
That was gear made from a mountain of gold!
And certainly not just a meager line of troops!
While he was mulling over his anxious thoughts, Qiao Yan’s heavy armored shield soldiers took a step forward.
To be specific, they shouldn’t be referred to as shield soldiers, but rather as blade shield bearers.
With blades in front and long spears stretching out from behind the shields, this was the typical formation for both front and rear protection against cavalry in Liangzhou.
This left Li Ying without a doubt that the other units were similarly equipped.
Especially since the flanking mountains were packed with archers, the sturdy shields in front were likely brimming with them as well.
This was truly a wall of bronze and iron!
Anyone in Li Ying’s position would likely feel a shortness of breath.
The mountain roads had worn out his patience, and what awaited him wasn’t a chance to vent his frustrations, but rather a well-prepared barrier.
Hu Feng couldn’t help but whisper, “What should we do? Retreat…”
Retreat?
Before he could finish his thought, Li Ying shot him a glare.
Retreat? What do you mean, retreat!
The narrow valley formed by the Weishui River between Chencang and Shanggui had slightly improved as they approached Shanggui, but it was still a long stretch.
Passing orders from start to end for the troops to change direction isn’t something that can be done with just a word, let alone retreat in an orderly fashion.
They were likely to be slowly eaten away by pursuing enemies if they couldn’t retreat properly.
“What are you standing around for? Line up and charge through!” Fan Chou interrupted, bellowing angrily.
Li Ying was caught off guard by the situation at the gorge, while Fan Chou in the back wasn’t much better off.
But at a time like this, wasting time hesitating would truly mean getting caught in a net by the enemy!
It wasn’t yet a hopeless situation.
Perhaps to prevent them from charging straight out of the gorge, this defensive line was set up in a narrower space.
Here, they couldn’t unfurl their formation, and the enemy’s formation wasn’t particularly wide either.
They were nearly at a do-or-die moment, but the other side? They had a way out, making them inevitably complacent.
With the battle prowess of the West Liang army, they could still fight!
As Fan Chou yelled this, he organized the troops.
With this second-in-command’s leadership, their attacking force quickly got their act together.
Fan Chou was relieved that they still had a bit of distance between them and the enemy, who seemed unwilling to risk losses by charging directly.
More importantly, he hadn’t rushed into Liangzhou fixated solely on marching, but had kept the troops ready to deal with ambushes in the valley.
This provided a possibility for their advance.
Did he not realize that this charge would inevitably result in heavy losses for the frontline cavalry?
Of course, he knew!
But the difference in military gear between the two formations clearly showed him that he couldn’t steadily push for a melee.
If they couldn’t risk breaking through this section of the river valley, they would all die here!
Perhaps the soldiers recruited from Chang’an would have a slim chance of escaping, but those who followed Dong Zhuo to Chang’an had long lost the opportunity to surrender early.
The greater chance was death.
This wasn’t just Fan Chou’s realization; the soldiers under his command all shared this sentiment after receiving his orders.
People want to stay alive, and they were no exception.
Because of that, when one of them first shouted “Kill,” that sound quickly became a deafening rallying cry among the entire force.
The rear troops were utterly clueless about what was happening in front.
Fan Chou’s orders came just in time before panic spread.
So these soldiers, used to marching, only thought they were following the squad in the last push before arriving at Shanggui City, quickly picked up the pace.
This was exactly what he aimed for.
With his quick response, Li Ying and Hu Feng also regained some courage to fight.
That’s right, they really didn’t need to concede defeat yet.
No matter how prepared Qiao Yan was, she had only brought a portion of soldiers from Jixian!
Since her return to Liangzhou in July this year, the majority of her forces remained stationed at Jincheng and Wuwei.
The ongoing warfare in Liangzhou had that effect, forcing even the top generals to devote a significant part of their attention to preventing Qiang revolts.
Qiao Yan was probably no different.
But little did they know, right before intercepting their location, she had conducted a bloody suppression against the four clans in Hanyang.
Their negligence towards Sanguan allowed her to comfortably mobilize her subordinates here after receiving Xu Shu’s warning.
Looking at her opponents who maintained a somewhat fierce posture in their advance, her gaze held a touch of admiration for their rapid adjustment, yet not a shred of fear.
If they thought they could breach her line with mere bravado, they were dreaming!
And that would do her determination to win this battle no justice.
With her first order given, the heavy armored soldiers in the front took another step forward and planted their shields on the ground.
To anyone watching, this wasn’t a typical action.
This kind of solid defense usually came with long spears extending from the gaps in the shields, prepared for any approaching cavalry.
However, with the two sides still far from engaging archers, the dropping of shields actually gave the enemy archers an opening.
But the West Liang cavalry, rushing in with bows, barely had time to feel smug before their expressions froze in place.
Behind the lowered shields weren’t archers, but heavy crossbows!
Straight at the height of their chests!
In a split second after Fan Chou initiated the attack signal, the cavalry had closed the distance to five or six hundred steps.
At that very moment, dozens of heavy crossbows that had just revealed their formation opened fire!
The crossbow bolts whistled through the air, producing a sound that made one’s teeth grind.
As the howls of the bolts hadn’t even faded, several were already lodged in flesh, throwing men and horses into chaos, shattering the initially overwhelming attack.
Out of the volley, at least twenty to thirty bolts hit their marks, while about half struck the ground, alarming the nearest horses into a halt.
Regardless of hits or misses, the shooting performance seemed not to impact Qiao Yan’s state one bit.
From his distant vantage point, Li Ying saw the second round of bolts being methodically loaded into the crossbows and fired within moments.
His expression changed.
Heavy crossbows with a five-hundred-step range!
He never imagined he’d see something like this here.
If he had to say, this wasn’t the longest-range type.
But even this type’s high cost was something that border soldiers would struggle to afford; it would be primarily used during sieges.
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When they followed Dong Zhuo to fight in Liangzhou, they had never seen anyone use such things against both sides in a charge.
Of course, with Liangzhou’s mountainous terrain and its production conditions, it wasn’t suited for such weaponry.
So, they certainly wouldn’t expect Qiao Yan to come right at them with a greeting like that!
Naturally, if you asked Qiao Yan, she wouldn’t invest in making every heavy crossbow like the one that took down Pang De that day.
All she could do was rely on Bingzhou’s increasingly developed frontier defense equipment to create a batch of five hundred small, portable heavy crossbows at a relatively low cost.
These heavy crossbows are best set up on the city walls, as she prepared for the protection of various cities in Liangzhou, and there were no scopes to assist with aiming.
But that didn’t stop them from giving Li Ying and Fan Chou’s troops a big smack on the head.
In the second round of shooting, a hit rate of more than fifty percent sent down another twenty or thirty cavalrymen trying to charge.
And when they stepped within three hundred paces, the archers perched high on the mountains received the order to attack, immediately following with a barrage.
That was a rain of arrows far more ferocious than any crossbow!
By then, they realized there was yet another batch of crossbows hidden behind those archers.
As the archers withdrew, the crossbowmen seated below fired a round.
Even if they weren’t attacking in a tightly packed formation, being elevated still turned the arrows into a swarm, raining down on them.
Compared to the distant threat of the heavy crossbows, this rain of crossbow bolts was truly overwhelming firepower!
Underneath the arrow storm—
Horses hit would throw their riders off.
The cavalry themselves were struck down by the piercing power.
Some even fell to the ground, accidentally getting trampled by their own comrades.
Let alone, this double volley was a huge blow to the morale of the cavalry, who thought they could close the distance for a proper fight.
If that were the case, there would still be a chance for recovery.
But those soldiers at the back of Li Ying’s ranks, who had no clue about what they were facing, suddenly caught arrows raining down from above, which clearly informed them of the situation.
In an instant, their war cries were choked off, and the sounds of chaos ahead rang even clearer in their ears.
The wails of those hit by arrows echoed distinctly through the valley.
That unmistakably wasn’t an advantageous assault but a complete interception at the valley’s mouth by the enemy!
They couldn’t exactly be called disciplined soldiers, so they couldn’t be expected to be willing to die for their general.
Li Ying didn’t have that kind of leadership ability either.
In the face of such heavy fire suppression, any talk of “charging forward for survival” was absolutely useless.
They couldn’t help but entertain the thought.
After all, there were so many of them…
So, did that mean if they run faster than those behind them, they might have a chance to escape?
If worse comes to worst, they could find a way to hide in the forests.
Fan Chou looked back and saw that this retreating sentiment had quickly become a source of unrest in the rear army.
He felt a serious sense of danger.
Once confidence in this charge wavered, it was tough to regroup quickly.
Their opponents weren’t giving them a moment to breathe!
Seeing the opposing force’s chaotic movement, Qiao Yan quickly made the call to advance.
Before the remaining cavalry could close the distance to effective bow range, her shield soldiers had already lifted their shields and charged forward.
These shield soldiers, carefully selected and clad in heavy armor, moved swiftly, forming a solid wall as they advanced straight toward the enemy.
Qu Yi, having finally gotten a chance to fight after the Kuiyuan Gorge battle, wouldn’t miss a chance to make a name for himself here!
And it wasn’t just him.
As the impenetrable wall of shield soldiers clashed with the enemy, the cavalry from behind also surged out from both sides to engage.
Guo Jia said half the heroes were on their side, and that was indeed true.
And when the opposing side lacked their own half of the heroes, what did they have to stop Lü Bu, Zhao Yun, Xu Rong, and Ma Chao leading their four troops?
Even to prevent a chaotic chase, Qiao Yan only sent Lü Bu and Zhao Yun to split into two groups along the banks of the Wei River for pursuit, which still didn’t hinder the overwhelming tide of cavalry advancing upon them.
If the heavy and portable crossbows posed merely a weapon threat, then in this legitimate clash, Li Ying and Fan Chou were facing a real strike from Qiao Yan’s army.
The killing of cold weapons in those fleeting moments was enough to discern the differences.
Let alone, one side was climbing to a peak of momentum while the other was already spiraling into despair.
In no moment had Li Ying ever hated himself more for not stepping back a bit and not rushing headlong into the siege.
But now that he had this realization, it was far too late.
When Lü Bu’s troops charged at Fan Chou, Zhao Yun’s spear was already aimed at his face.
Having assisted Qiao Yan in agricultural governance in Wuwei, he hadn’t lost his touch, but with an increase in Generals under Qiao Yan’s command, he was now even more determined to hone his abilities.
Thus, Li Ying couldn’t stop the spearing momentum that dashed at him, nor could he stem the tides of retreat surrounding him.
As his breath faltered, he heard his subordinates shouting to escape.
But where could they run?
Into the mountains?
One other force had come along for the campaign too.
Yao Chang’s Qiang troops were already waiting there.
Fighting the Qiang in such mountainous terrain was another deadly challenge for the forces recruited in Chang’an.
So aside from the sounds of cavalry pursuit and melee clashes, another set of voices rose from the valley and the mountains—
“Surrender!”
“We surrender!”
Since they couldn’t escape, all they could do was surrender, no other choice!
In August, Wuwei felt the heat of summer at its peak.
Duan Kui had someone fanning him and bringing cooling air from the ice he took from Lingyin, yet he still felt restless.
It wasn’t truly because of the weather.
It was more about Qiao Yan surrounding Gu Zhuang City and holding the Yan family accountable, forcing him to pay off some of the Yan family’s debt afterward.
As if that wasn’t enough, news had come just a few days ago.
She dispatched troops from Yuzhong to rendezvous with the defending forces in Wuwei in Dingxi, marching south.
Don’t let the fact that the Bingzhou army stationed in Wuwei retreated with some of the Lu Shui Qiang soldiers trick Duan Kui into thinking there was less pressure overhead.
As the head of the Duan family in Wuwei, Duan Kui prided himself on having some insight.
In Qiao Yan’s actions, her evident wariness of these Western Liang noble families didn’t mean she would relinquish what was rightfully hers.
At the military depot along the banks of the Lu Shui River, nearing the autumn harvest, she wouldn’t hand over those harvests to anyone else.
It was indeed strange she left those guarding troops behind.
Unless… sending troops was something that was even more critical to her.
As he questioned a subordinate who had returned with intel, Duan Kui leaped up and asked, “Did you find out why she suddenly transferred troops?”
That subordinate caught his breath, looking pale and flustered, and under Duan Kui’s sharp gaze urging him to respond, he replied, “She… she captured Jixian and killed most of the Han Yang Four Families. They are down to about two or three!”
Duan Kui nearly thought he was hearing things.
What does it mean to have the Han Yang Four Families down to such numbers?
He couldn’t help but exclaim, resembling the bewildered reaction of Jiang Huai when he heard Qiao Yan was attacking cities: “Is she crazy?!”
The Western Liang nobility was connected in every way.
Did she really think that after successfully robbing the Yuan family in Wuwei and returning from raiding horses in the Western Regions with a rare batch of superior steeds, she could form a fierce cavalry and be invincible?
Those prized horses weren’t even ready to breed yet; how could she dare to touch the Han Yang Four Families now!
But what shocked him even more was still to come.
That subordinate reported back, “The other families in Han Yang have raised no objections, no… not just that.”
His face fell, “They clearly said she is battling Dong Zhuo with a twenty thousand-strong army in the Wei River Valley, killing four thousand enemies and capturing over ten thousand, now restructuring and preparing for the fortification of Chang’an.”
