Chapter 143: Fierce Battle at Baliqiao

Charge!

The loud and high-pitched shout resounded across the entire wilderness.

The swordsmen and shield-bearers held their shields in their left hands and sabers in their right, beginning to advance slowly.

Behind them stood rows of archers and crossbowmen, covering the swordsmen as they approached the edge of the trench.

Wary of Shen Chen's archery, Ren Jun shouted, "Fall back beyond the range of their bows!"

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The spearmen in the front ranks immediately retreated.

Shen Chen's swordsmen then smoothly descended into the trench and began to climb up the other side.

Although the trench was not deep, climbing out of it still required considerable effort, and the soldiers expended a great deal of energy to get across.

Seeing the enemy陆续 reaching the opposite bank of the trench, Ren Jun intended to order a retreat back into the fortified camp to hold their ground.

Unexpectedly, Xun Yu’s gaze narrowed slightly, and he whispered to him, "General, prepare to order an attack."

"An attack?"

Ren Jun asked in astonishment, "If we attack now, won't we be shot to death by the enemy's archers?"

Xun Yu replied, "Their archers are only on the far bank. Once their archers want to cross, they will also have to descend into the trench. That is the moment for us to attack."

"I understand."

Ren Jun instantly grasped Xun Yu's meaning.

Shen Chen's army was hindered by the trench used for farmland irrigation. Although the trench was not deep, it was nearly a丈 across, and climbing up took a little time.

His front-line swordsmen had crossed, but the archers in the rear also needed to jump down into the trench and climb back up. While this time interval seemed brief—jumping down, climbing up, and regrouping scattered formations—it created a vacuum of one to two minutes.

Ordinary generals might overlook this detail. The battlefield changes in the blink of an eye; even with generals watching in all directions and listening to every sound, they might genuinely fail to observe this situation within a mere minute or two.

Yet Xun Yu had keenly observed this detail and immediately made deployments.

If Shen Chen were also a general who neglected such details, it was very likely that after his front-line swordsmen and halberdiers crossed the trench, they would fall into a brief period of vulnerability. Before the archers could cross, if Ren Jun used a small number of archers combined with a large force of infantry to charge, he could heavily defeat Shen Chen's army.

However, the detail Xun Yu focused on was something Shen Chen had actually noticed long ago. Well-read in military strategy, and with three years of experience since the Battle of Nanyang, Shen Chen possessed considerable expertise. Naturally, he understood that the moment his archers crossed the trench was his weakest point.

Therefore, as soon as the front-line swordsmen crossed the river, he immediately shouted, "Swordsmen, form up! Spearmen, cross the trench! Archers, remain on alert! Once the vanguard has entirely crossed, the archers will cross in sequential batches."

In reality, he currently had just over three thousand men, and he commanded them as smoothly as moving his own arm. Very soon, the soldiers followed his instructions.

Seeing the orderly and methodical movements of Shen Chen's army, Xun Yu sighed, "General, let us slowly fall back."

"Understood."

Ren Jun nodded. Naturally, he too saw that the enemy's vanguard had already formed up in front of the trench and was pressing forward to make room for the archers in the rear.

Meanwhile, the archers were descending the trench in batches, only one or two hundred men per wave, while the rest remained steadfast and ready.

One must remember that the trench was no more than two zhang wide, meaning the two banks were extremely close to each other. If he launched an attack now, the remaining archers could still arc their shots over the front-line swordsmen and spearmen. For him, this would be thoroughly disadvantageous.

Thus, rather than waiting for the opposing archers to cross the trench before their formation was set, it was better to immediately retreat to the rear camp and use the stockade walls for defense.

Ren Jun's army promptly began to withdraw.

In the distance, Shen Chen frowned slightly. He had already exposed a flaw, but unfortunately, Ren Jun refused to take the bait—truly deserving of his reputation as the pillar who protected Cao Cao's provisions.

Soon, after more than ten minutes from the start of the crossing, the main force of Shen Chen's army had completely crossed, leaving only a dozen scouts in the rear to tend to the horses. Men could cross, but horses found it difficult to leap to the opposite bank; after all, not every warhorse was Bailu capable of clearing three zhang in a single bound.

After crossing the trench, Shen Chen, Gan Ning, Shen Mi, Deng Zhao, and other generals all became foot soldiers. Shen Chen and Gan Ning moved ahead of the crowd to the very front of the formation, while the enemy retreated inside the camp, using the stockade walls for defense.

The stockade walls were not high, built by piling up stones and field mud, supported by wooden pillars in the rear, but they featured crenellations through which spears could thrust. Moreover, obstacles such as chevaux-de-frise, caltrops, and other barriers were laid out all across the ground outside the wall.

Once a frontal assault began, those obstacles might not inflict lethal wounds, but they would disrupt the momentum of the charging soldiers. Then the enemy could continuously stab outward through the crenellations, rendering archers ineffective.

This was a standard tactic of ancient warfare.

Even when encountering cavalry on the grasslands or enemies in the field, people would use temporary barricades like front-box carts, flank-box carts, or saber gates to serve as temporary city walls for defense.

Although they could not match the high defensive capabilities of permanent city walls, they provided the defending infantry with a massive advantage.

Shen Chen knew that at this stage, there was no alternative; he had to launch a frontal assault.

With the enemy camp blocking the way, if he bypassed it to attack Xuchang, they could strike him from behind.

More importantly, speed was of the essence. Two hours had passed since the fall of Yingyin, and Xiqiang was likely already aware of the news.

Xiqiang County was only thirty kilometers away from Xuchang. From the moment Xun Yu dispatched mounted scouts in the afternoon until Xiqiang sent reinforcements, there was a high probability they would arrive by tomorrow morning.

If he failed to defeat Ren Jun before tomorrow morning, Shen Chen would find himself surrounded and annihilated by a large enemy force.

Therefore, he had no choice but to opt for a quick and decisive battle.

Three quarters past sunset, as dusk approached, the sky remained quite bright.

Long summer days and short nights in northern China were a fundamental geographical fact; daylight usually did not fade until six or seven in the evening, and under extreme conditions, it might last until eight.

With the sky still bright, the war suddenly commenced.

The soldiers of Huangmenting began to reform their ranks and march forward. The camp gates ahead were tightly shut, and Ren Jun's army had already made preparations along the ramparts and crenellations.

"Release arrows!"

At a loud shout, when Shen Chen's army was less than ten zhang away from Ren Jun's camp, they struck first, unleashing a volley of arrows and crossbow bolts.

Instantly, the defenders atop the stockade walls and crenellations crouched down, not daring to look up.

This constituted a form of suppressive fire.

Taking advantage of this interval, the infantry in the front immediately pressed forward.

The archers ceased firing, and Ren Jun's garrison agricultural troops popped up once again. The two sides began a fierce melee around the stockade walls, stabbing back and forth with halberds and spears through the crenellations and ramparts.

"Throw!"

Ren Jun commanded from the rear.

The soldiers at the front wall picked up stones from their feet and carried them up to the fighting platforms, where others received them and hurled them downward.

None of them were massive boulders—only about four to five kilograms each—but hurling them down with all one's might could still inflict damage.

Stones rained down continuously, and Shen Chen's army was immediately beaten back.

Yet they had not accomplished nothing. The stockade wall was built of compacted earth and stones supported by timber, making it difficult to knock down in a short time.

However, the camp gate was made of wood and could be hacked through with axes. Around the gate, the two sides fell into a fierce contest.

Shen Chen and Gan Ning personally joined the fight. Both held shields in their left hands and battleaxes in their right, while stones crashed down around them with deafening clatter.

The distance was not far, and the stockade wall was only a zhang and three cubits high—roughly two point six meters. Unimpeded, the soldiers could even have used human ladders to scale it.

The two men charged all the way to the camp gate. Countless surrounding soldiers were struck in the head by falling stones, dragged away while wailing in agony.

"Quick, archers, suppress them!"

Shen Chen shouted back over his shoulder. At this close range, they only needed to elevate the trajectory of their crossbows slightly to avoid harming their own men.

At once, crossbow bolts flew in a volley, pinning down the Cao Cao troops near the gate so they could not raise their heads.

Seizing this opportunity, the two men led a dozen bodyguards and rushed to the camp gate, hacking at it with axes. Wood chips flew in all directions, and once a gap was chopped open, spears would occasionally thrust out from the inside.

As the archers stopped firing, spears and halberds thrust down from the ramparts above once more. The surrounding personal guards defended with shields and halberds while launching counterattacks.

One of Gan Ning's bodyguards was run through and killed by an enemy halberd. Gan Ning had been hacking at the gate; when the guard fell, it created a defensive gap that almost resulted in a slash across his own body. Enraged, Gan Ning grabbed the fallen guard's halberd, thrust it upward, and pulled.

The top of a *Fangtian Huaji* featured a crescent blade, while standard halberds resembled a *ge* with a cross-blade. Gan Ning thrust upward with the halberd, and its prongs hooked the opponent's weapon. Like interlocking fates, with a sudden yank, he dragged the soldier atop the wall—weapon and all—crashing down.

"Two of you, push me up!"

Suddenly, a small breach appeared on the stockade wall, and inspiration struck Gan Ning, giving him an idea.

Two bodyguards immediately formed a human ladder. Clenching the hilt of his ring-pommel saber between his teeth, Gan Ning stepped onto their shoulders and scrambled straight up to the top of the stockade wall.

On the inner side of the two-point-six-meter wall ran a platform about one meter high, known as a fighting platform.

This platform was designed for soldiers to stand on, and at that moment, it was densely packed with troops engaged in combat with Shen Chen's men below the wall. Meanwhile, soldiers crouched near the crenellations beneath the platform, stabbing outward.

Because Gan Ning had pulled the Cao Cao soldier near the gate down, that position was briefly vacant. In the tension of the battlefield, surrounding soldiers were locked in combat with the enemy and failed to fill the gap in time, allowing Gan Ning to vault directly onto the stockade wall.

"Quick! Someone's up on the wall over there! Move!"

An officer in the rear noticed someone climbing up by the gate, his expression turning pale with shock as he immediately ordered troops to encircle and suppress him.

Yet Gan Ning leaped forward as soon as he landed on the platform, slashing left and right. He even snatched a halberd from a Cao Cao soldier, holding the halberd in his left hand and the saber in his right, cutting down four or five men instantly like a god of war.

The gap left by these four or five men was exposed immediately. Ceasing his assault on the gate, Shen Chen shouted, "Build a human ladder! Climb up and reinforce General Gan!"

"Over here!"

Shen Tao called out to a personal guard, and the two of them formed a human wall beneath the rampart.

Shen Chen rushed over without hesitation, and surrounding soldiers swarmed forward as well, stepping on one another's shoulders to effortlessly clear the two-point-six-meter wall and land on the fighting platform.

Thud!

The sound of landings echoed.

Before Shen Chen could survey his surroundings clearly, several spears thrust toward him simultaneously.

At that moment, Shen Chen had not yet steadied his footing and completely lacked the reaction time; after all, his martial prowess at best ranked in the third or fourth tier, vastly inferior to top-tier warriors like Gan Ning.

In the nick of time, a furious roar rang out. Gan Ning had been fighting fiercely nearby, intending to carve a bloody path to open the camp gate, and had not expected Shen Chen to jump down right beside him.

With a sweep of his left-hand halberd and a diagonal slash with his right-hand ring-pommel saber, Gan Ning parried three incoming spears on the left and chopped down a Cao Cao soldier on the right. Another spear that lunged forward was deflected by the fish-scale armor on Shen Chen's body.

With a sharp screech of grinding metal, Shen Chen broke out in a cold sweat. Seizing the moment when the Cao Cao soldier was retracting his spear without following up, Shen Chen lunged forward two steps and hacked him down.

As Shen Chen's soldiers successively poured down from the wall, the Cao Cao troops panicked and scattered in all directions. Only then did Shen Chen finally get a clear view of the layout inside the stockade.

Within the outer wall lay yet another concentric ring, resembling the Chinese character for "return" (*gui*). The entire camp blocked the road to Xuchang layer upon layer like nesting dolls, requiring them to fight their way inward step by step.

Could this Ren Jun have visited the northwest?

Suspicion filled Shen Chen's mind. This setup mirrored the fortified *qionglong* encampments used by the Qiang tribes in the northwest.

However, this was no time for puzzlement. Everyone rushed to open the camp gate, and over three thousand soldiers poured through in a flood. The distance between the first stockade wall and the second was a full hundred paces.

A massive concentration of Cao Cao troops gathered in this zone. Ren Jun organized a force in an attempt to retake the camp gate, and the two sides engaged in a desperate struggle around the entrance.

Yet every wave of Ren Jun's assaults was beaten back by Shen Chen and Gan Ning. In truth, though Ren Jun commanded over ten thousand garrison agricultural troops, gathering them all within two brief hours was impossible; his forces had been widely dispersed.

For instance, Zao Zhi led a portion in Yingyin, while Han Hao, the garrison commander of Yanling, led another. As the agricultural commandant and their superior, Ren Jun held a larger share of the troops, but even then, he only had slightly over five thousand men.

Thus, Ren Jun’s chosen strategy was to stall. Yanling was closer to Xuchang—merely twenty-some kilometers away. The scouts had departed at noon, and at the absolute latest, Han Hao might arrive by the *rending* hour (around 9 PM).

Soon, the soldiers of Shen Chen's army smashed through the first camp wall and drove deep into the interior. This was the final hurdle they had to clear; while bypassing them to strike Xuchang was feasible, the imperial palace walls in Xuchang were far taller than these stockades, guarded by thousands of palace gate guards.

Once blocked outside Xuchang city walls while Ren Jun struck from the rear, Shen Chen's army would face a desperate predicament of being caught between a hammer and an anvil. Consequently, he had no choice but to launch a fierce assault on Ren Jun. Only by swiftly crushing Ren Jun and breaking into Xuchang could he accomplish his objectives before enemy reinforcements arrived.

Yet Ren Jun proved stubbornly formidable. Initially, his troops launched massed counter-charges to intercept them, but after several junior officers were cut down and dozens of corpses left behind, they realized the severity of the threat. They fell back twenty or thirty paces, retreating gradually toward the second stockade wall with the intent of pulling back behind the defenses.

At this juncture, Shen Chen's troops continued to pour into the camp in waves. To prevent the enemy from utilizing the ramparts for another counterattack, Shen Chen and Gan Ning took the lead in charging forward. At that exact moment, dozens of arrows suddenly rained down upon them. Caught off guard, the two men watched as numerous soldiers around them fell.

As it turned out, Ren Jun did indeed possess bows and crossbows, though in limited numbers; the majority had been transported to the Guandu front lines. Only his personal guard unit retained a hundred or so bows and two to three thousand arrows, making sustained attrition impossible.

One should not assume a small-scale battle consumed few arrows; typically, a force of three thousand men would be equipped with three to six hundred archers and crossbowmen, each carrying ten to twenty feathered shafts per quiver, bringing the total ammunition pool to somewhere between three thousand and twelve thousand bolts.

Even forces with heavy supply trains, like Li Ling's troops, could expend immense quantities. As recorded in the *Book of Han: Biography of Li Ling*: "The Han army retreated southward; before reaching the Dihan Mountains, five hundred thousand arrows were exhausted in a single day."

Thus, the arrow consumption in any given battle was staggering. Even in a small-scale skirmish involving several thousand men, expending tens of thousands of arrows was commonplace.

Yet Ren Jun's arrow supply was pitifully meager—merely two or three thousand shafts total. Incapable of inflicting massive casualties, they could only serve as a deterrent at critical moments.

And so it proved.

Realizing the enemy possessed missile weapons, Shen Chen's army dared not blindly charge ahead. Instead, they paused to temporarily reform their ranks, regrouped, and resumed their advance.

As the sky grew increasingly dim with the approaching dusk—around six in the evening, with the sun dipping low behind the western mountains and visibility gradually fading—Shen Chen felt utterly exhausted, gasping for breath and drenched in sweat.

Having marched all day and then launched a frontal assault against a heavily fortified enemy camp, they were indeed at the end of their tether.

The silver lining, however, was that the enemy's combat capability was truly lackluster. Frequently, a single Huangmenting soldier could match two Cao Cao troops. Despite holding favorable terrain and superior numbers, the Cao Cao soldiers consistently crumbled in close-quarters combat.

After all, the garrison agricultural troops were not Cao Cao's frontline elite; they spent their weekdays tending to farm work and trained only two or three times a month—far less frequently than regular troops.

Crucially, they lacked rich sustenance, resulting in significantly lesser physical strength. Unlike the Huangmenting soldiers, who were guaranteed ample grease, oil, and protein, when it came to sheer muscle and endurance, a single Huangmenting soldier could potentially rival two or three agricultural garrison troops.

"Charge!"

Lifting his weapon high, Shen Chen put his back into another desperate push forward.

"Charge!"

Dragging their weary bodies, the Huangmenting soldiers likewise pressed forward toward the enemy camp without a backward glance.

Ren Jun wore an exceptionally grim expression.

His concentric stockade camp consisted of only three rings in total, with the outermost wall boasting the highest defensive strength.

Yet within less than two quarters of an hour, the enemy had breached the outer perimeter, killing and wounding hundreds of his men. At this rate, the complete destruction of all three layers of the camp was merely a matter of time.

If holding the camp proved insufficient to defeat the adversary, then even if he managed to withdraw and unite with Han Hao, meeting them in the open field would surely spell certain defeat.

Driven to desperate resolve, he grit his teeth and roared, "Hold your ground!"

"Huzzah!"

Though lacking in combat prowess, the Cao Cao troops still retained a measure of morale.

For right ahead lay the Eight-Mile Bridge across the Qingni River—the very spot where, according to legend, Guan Shuai (Guan Yu) bid farewell to Cao Cao to head south and join Liu Pang's descendant Liu Bei.

Beyond the camp and across the Eight-Mile Bridge, a mere four or five *li* further lay the outer walls of Xuchang.

Indeed, passing through the woods behind the camp or standing out in the vast southern fields afforded a clear view of Xuchang's rooftops.

Thus, for the Cao Cao soldiers, Xuchang lay right behind them—they, too, had nowhere left to retreat.