The Child Emperor-Chapter 347: Fog of War

To the north were the Xiongnu, to the south were the rebel forces—Chai Yue faced a difficult choice.

The commander of this Chu army was Grand General Cui Hong. Under normal circumstances, Cui Hong would never listen to advice from a junior, but this time was different. Apart from the Grand General’s seal, he had handed over almost the entire army to Chai Yue, allowing him to make all arrangements while he sat to the side nodding in agreement.

The few who understood Cui Hong knew that the Grand General was preparing to flee back to the Capital again. That was where the source of power lay—as long as the Cui clan still wanted to maintain their influence, they had to achieve victory in the Capital.

Chai Yue didn’t think about such matters. The Capital was a place of downfall for him; only in the army could he obtain the status and dignity he had long dreamed of.

“This battle can only be won, not lost. We must make the Xiongnu understand that the Chu army’s strength still remains, so we can negotiate with them and exchange for the Emperor’s return.” Chai Yue didn’t understand the situation beyond the frontier or in Jincheng City. His plan was that if the Xiongnu surrounded the Emperor, the Chu army would in turn pressure the Great Chanyu.

However, even after multiple reinforcements, the Chu army only numbered seventy to eighty thousand men, far fewer than the Xiongnu. The rebel forces behind them weren’t numerous, but in coordination with the enemy army, they still posed a major concern.

Facing enemies on both front and rear—for any general, this was a dilemma with no easy solution.

Chai Yue decided to take a risk.

“General Fang will guard the north. One day—I only need one day.”

Fang Daye nodded. The more critical the moment, the less willing he was to speak, and his expression grew increasingly somber, but his promises were trustworthy.

Fang Daye commanded ten thousand troops, deploying them along the mountains with numerous banners to block over a hundred thousand Xiongnu. Meanwhile, Chai Yue would lead the remaining sixty to seventy thousand men in a full assault on the approaching rebel forces, striving to end the battle within a day before turning back to support Fang Daye.

This was an extremely risky plan requiring precise coordination. Any mistake by either Chai Yue or Fang Daye would lead to the complete defeat of the entire Chu army.

Chai Yue didn’t attack immediately. His troop formations appeared as if he intended to engage the Xiongnu in decisive battle—the normal choice for most people. However, he had already dispatched numerous scouts to closely monitor the southern rebel forces’ progress, and had sent an ambush force to block the rebels’ retreat route.

As he had anticipated, the rebel forces were too inexperienced. Having achieved several small victories during their northward march, plus encouragement from the Xiongnu, they believed this battle was certain victory. Therefore, they greedily pushed forward recklessly, not like they were coming to fight a war, but rather to collect spoils. Their marching speed was too fast, stretching their formation quite thin.

On the third morning after the Great Chanyu issued his ultimatum, while the Emperor was toasting his ministers in Jincheng City, the Battle of Yan began early. The Xiongnu launched the first attack. The Chu army had no city walls, only hastily constructed wooden palisades. The Xiongnu needed no siege equipment—they charged on horseback while the Chu army responded with rolling logs and stones.

Chai Yue began dispatching troops in waves. Initially, the numbers were small—only a few thousand men—making it appear the Chu army couldn’t spare more forces. This was to deceive the rebel forces and lure them into the narrow terrain he had already selected.

After more than an hour, Fang Daye had withstood two Xiongnu charges. Chai Yue deployed all his remaining soldiers to surround the rebel forces, raining arrows upon them—time was pressing, and Chai Yue didn’t want to take prisoners.

The rebel forces paid a heavy price for their arrogance, trapped in a narrow mountain valley with Chu forces on all sides. Especially the Chu troops on both flanks, positioned on high ground, unleashed volleys of ten thousand arrows from which the rebels had no escape.

Fang Daye’s situation was quite difficult. The Xiongnu had broken through multiple defensive lines, so he gathered his remaining troops together, holding their ground on the mountain ridge without yielding an inch, drawing the Xiongnu to continue their attacks.

The Xiongnu then made a grave error. The commanding nobles had never observed the Chu army’s movements behind the ridge, assuming the Chu forces on the ridge were the main force. Meanwhile, the Xiongnu soldiers who had broken through the defensive lines were eager to seize heads and banners for merit, paying no attention to anything else.

Fang Daye personally wielded bow and arrows, fighting alongside his soldiers, holding out until evening with only about a thousand men remaining. Though arrows and stones were nearly exhausted, the Chu army still refused to retreat or surrender.

Only then did the Xiongnu commander discover that the Chu army’s numbers were wrong.

Chai Yue’s main army finally returned in time. Though the men and horses had been traveling all day, they were returning victorious. When they spotted the Xiongnu forces from afar, along with the Chu army banners still standing tall on the ridge, all exhaustion vanished from the officers and soldiers. Though they were supposed to be the defending side, they had now become the attackers.

The Battle of Yan would last three full days and nights. An unnamed ridge changed hands more than ten times, with neither side able to hold it completely, and neither willing to give it up.

On the same day, fighting also broke out beyond the frontier.

After repeated deliberation, the Great Chanyu felt that the Chu army lingering at Mayi City beyond the frontier was not the most urgent threat, so he quietly transferred the main Xiongnu forces to the southern Yan region, preparing to annihilate Cui Hong’s Chu army in one decisive blow.

The Great Chanyu did not know that Deng Cui had already reached Mayi City, and even if he had known, he would not have cared. According to Xiongnu intelligence, Deng Cui was merely a Chu army deserter who had abducted the Right Wise King’s concubine and fled westward, hiding in some Chu city. No one would have imagined that such a person was actually a general appointed by the Emperor to command the Chu army.

The Chu army beyond the frontier reached Yan first. The Great Wall passes in this area had been breached and occupied by the Xiongnu attacking from within the passes, and most of the original garrison troops had fled to Mayi City, where they now served under Deng Cui.

The Xiongnu had not left many men to guard the passes. They were neither skilled at nor fond of defending high walls, always feeling that the open plains offered more freedom.

The first pass was recaptured in less than an hour.

Deng Cui suddenly realized he had stumbled upon a great opportunity, and if he was bold enough, he could continue to seize more.

While Deng Cui could not devise a flawless attack or defense plan, whenever such moments arose he would find excuses to sleep deeply, leaving specific affairs to his subordinate officers. However, when it came to analyzing the overall situation and making decisive judgments, he possessed an almost perfect keen intuition, as if aided by divine spirits.

Deng Cui immediately ordered all Chu forces to abandon formation and advance at full speed, with merit determined by the number of passes captured. He forbade direct assaults, allowing at most one hour per attempt—if they could not take a position, they should abandon it.

While the Emperor battled the Xiongnu at Jincheng City and Chai Yue fought in southern Yan, Deng Cui’s army charged forward like unleashed wild horses, advancing on two fronts both within and beyond the passes, seizing the Great Wall positions occupied by the Xiongnu.

Deng Cui had actually missed an opportunity. To completely annihilate the southern Yan Chu army, the Great Chanyu had transferred more than half of the Xiongnu forces from within the passes. Between Mayi City and Jincheng City, only small Xiongnu forces remained stationed. The Chu army from beyond the frontier could have driven straight through to Jincheng City to rescue the Emperor.

But at the time, no one understood the situation: the Chu army did not know the Xiongnu had moved south, and the Xiongnu did not know the Chu army beyond the frontier was advancing east.

The few scouts who discovered the anomaly were racing along the roads at that very moment, but their initial reports were simply not believed.

The people with the least information were the army and civilians besieged in Jincheng City.

The Xiongnu stone-throwing assault continued until late at night. The southern wall of Jincheng City was already badly damaged, and the defending soldiers had suffered such heavy casualties that they could only retreat below the wall.

The Emperor also left the wall top and, like ordinary soldiers, ate a few mouthfuls of dry rations on horseback, preparing for the final battle.

Outside the city was Xiongnu territory. The Chu army did not plan to leave the city, but would engage in street fighting within.

The elderly, weak, women, and children were all sent to the northern part of the city where the walls remained intact. The Chu officers and soldiers lined up in the streets of the northern city. Except for a few commanders, most were on foot, with horses, cattle, and sheep arranged at the front as the first line of defense within the city.

The Chu army was divided into two sections: the eastern section commanded by Fan Zhuangshan, and the western section under the Emperor. Cai Xinghai relinquished command and led the remaining few hundred Imperial Guard troops to protect the Emperor.

In the darkest moment before dawn, the Xiongnu confirmed that Jincheng City was breached, ended their stone bombardment, and sent troops into the city.

The Xiongnu crossed the bridge smoothly, quickly cleared away the rubble from various breaches in the wall, then poured in.

The first wave of “enemies” they encountered were not people, but a herd of maddened cattle and horses panicked by torches tied to their tails.

The Xiongnu were struck by the impact and thrown into chaos for a time, their assault faltering. But before long, they regrouped and slithered into the city like long serpents entering a beehive.

Jincheng was not a large city, its streets were not very wide, and with large amounts of earth, stone, bricks, and tiles piled up everywhere, the advantages of cavalry and crossbows were completely nullified. The Xiongnu could only dismount and fight the Chu army inch by inch for control of each street section.

The street fighting continued for an hour. Dawn had broken, and the Xiongnu’s progress was slow, so they changed tactics and began setting fires.

Jincheng had few houses remaining, especially in the southern district, where almost everything had been demolished to make room for defensive equipment and to provide earth and stone for defending the city. Only sections of uneven walls remained, preventing horses from running freely.

But fires still managed to catch.

The Chu army actually seized this opportunity to launch a counterattack, driving the fire-setting Xiongnu back to the city’s edge, then used materials at hand—the mud piled along the roadside—to extinguish the blazes everywhere.

The five catapults inside the city were all made of wood, massive in size and immovable. Once they caught fire, they were very difficult to extinguish, so they could only be left to burn.

Flames soared skyward, greatly encouraging the Xiongnu outside the city, who entered again and gradually forced the Chu army to retreat step by step.

Han Ruzi had long since dismounted and was running back and forth through the streets. At this point, commands were no longer important—the Emperor’s presence itself was the most crucial means of boosting morale. Most of those around him had gotten separated; only Zhang Youcai and Cai Xinghai along with a few other eunuchs remained. Everyone else was fighting alongside the soldiers, including guards like Meng E.

No one asked why the Emperor wanted to defend this city, and even the Emperor himself didn’t think about it. Everyone had entered a state of almost subconscious frenzy—they simply refused to retreat or surrender.

Han Ruzi felt there was no need to keep running back and forth. He still hadn’t made direct contact with the enemy, and it was time to join the battle. So he said to Zhang Youcai: “You stay behind.”

Zhang Youcai, who was also carrying a sword, shook his head vigorously. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“You can’t fight. If I get injured, I’ll still need your care.”

Only then did Zhang Youcai reluctantly nod, staying behind with two other eunuchs to await orders.

Han Ruzi smiled at Cai Xinghai: “Street fighting again. Do you remember that time in the palace?”

Cai Xinghai certainly remembered. Back then, he had led the Emperor in flight through the long corridors, with more than ten pugilists pursuing them from behind. It was after that incident that he became utterly devoted to the Emperor. So he laughed heartily: “The scene is bigger now, and my leg isn’t injured, so I can kill to my heart’s content!”

The two competed to run forward, with Zhang Youcai and the others following behind, not letting the Emperor out of their sight.

More and more Chu army soldiers appeared ahead, with occasional stray arrows flying overhead. Everyone who saw the Emperor followed behind, shouting loudly.

A group of soldiers blocked the street, locked in combat with the Xiongnu. Han Ruzi and Cai Xinghai could only squeeze forward step by step, surrounded by people on all sides, yet they still couldn’t see the enemy—though they knew the enemy was just a dozen steps away.

Every step was so difficult. Suddenly, the space ahead opened up somewhat. Han Ruzi quickened his pace, and the others quickened theirs too, with swords and spears swaying chaotically, but he still couldn’t see the enemy.

Only after running a full hundred steps did the Emperor and the large number of Chu army soldiers suddenly realize what had happened—the Xiongnu were actually retreating.

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