Chapter 124: Information Asymmetry

This ploy to deceive Xiahou Yuan was, in effect, a psychological maneuver.

Shen Chen bribed the county magistrate, repeatedly emphasizing that he intended to withdraw his troops, and then suborned the man’s servants to expose the magistrate’s corruption. The servants spoke the truth, and harboring a grudge against their master, they were naturally willing to comply. The result was that Xiahou Yuan mistakenly believed the magistrate’s claims were false—when in reality, Shen Chen had already marched north toward Xudu—leading Xiahou Yuan to withdraw his troops in a panic. It was a strategy of killing two birds with one stone: it eliminated the wicked magistrate and tricked Xiahou Yuan into a fruitless journey. One could only imagine that even a "General of Rapid March" as capable as he was would be exhausted to the point of collapse after covering such a distance.

Meanwhile, after exiting through the east gate, Shen Chen did indeed head south along the Ru River. However, he was not bound for Donggeng Township or Dingling; instead, he detoured ten miles south before turning northeast toward Fenqiu. The Ying River is a major waterway, but it has narrow points where bridges allow crossing at Yingyang, Fenqiu, and Linying. Shen Chen did not know which route the Xudu reinforcements would take, so he chose the most direct one.

Between the upper, middle, and lower routes, which was the fastest? Naturally, the middle one. Yingyang lies to the north; traveling from there to Xudu requires an extra detour of dozens of miles before heading east toward Yingyin. Linying lies to the south; traveling from there to Xudu requires an extra detour of dozens of miles before heading north toward Yingyin. Only Fenqiu sits exactly in the center; past Fenqiu lies Yingyin, and past Yingyin lies Xudu. Thus, Shen Chen lay in wait at Fenqiu.

He had departed Xiangcheng between nine and ten o'clock in the evening. Xiahou Yuan arrived after eleven o'clock and immediately set out to reinforce Xudu. Fenqiu is less than twenty miles from Xiangcheng. In terms of timing, as Shen Chen detoured south, Xiahou Yuan was arriving at Fenqiu; by the time Shen Chen reached Fenqiu, Xiahou Yuan had reached Xiangcheng. The two forces missed each other perfectly.

Though Shen Chen did not know if or when reinforcements from Xudu would arrive, it mattered little to him. Even if he had to ambush them upon their arrival, that would suit him just fine. And so, through a combination of estimated timing and Xun Yu’s miscalculation of Shen Chen’s marching speed, a serendipitous misunderstanding arose between Xiahou Yuan and Shen Chen.

Shen Chen did not know if Xiahou Yuan had come or when he would arrive. After all, the main road was exposed, and without cavalry, one could not judge the enemy’s presence by the freshness of horse manure. Xiahou Yuan, meanwhile, believed that Shen Chen had bypassed Linying to attack Xudu and had rushed back in a panic. It was within this mutual misunderstanding that they collided.

"General!" At the end of the midnight watch, around one o'clock in the morning, Shen Tao reported urgently, "They are here! They are coming from the direction of Xiangcheng."

"Oh?" Shen Chen was quite surprised. "I did not expect them to be this fast. It seems they arrived at Xiangcheng shortly after we left."

Shen Tao asked, "What shall we do?"

"Prepare for battle." Shen Chen drew the ring-pommel saber at his waist. He usually carried a sword, but on the battlefield, the saber was more effective.

"Prepare for battle!"
"Prepare for battle!"
"Prepare for battle!"

More than ten messengers scattered, whispering commands to the soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the road. The soldiers passed the word along, finding their attack positions under the command of their officers.

Fenqiu was a rural outpost on the south bank of the Ying River, surrounded by lush vegetation and dense forests. In the silence of the night, village dogs caught the scent of strangers and barked incessantly. The Cao troops carried torches, their faces etched with exhaustion, even though they were routinely drilled by Xiahou Yuan. This time, the intensity was simply too high; many had fallen behind, and the formation was severely disjointed.

As they drew closer to Fenqiu, Xiahou Yuan’s deputy advised him, "General, the men have been marching all day and are utterly exhausted. Let us rest."

The deputy was on horseback and felt no fatigue, but the foot soldiers were spent. Moreover, there were no scouts sent ahead to gather intelligence, as Xiahou Yuan was convinced the enemy was racing toward Xudu; he never considered that an ambush might lie ahead.

Looking back to see his soldiers gasping for air, disheveled and devoid of fighting spirit, Xiahou Yuan realized they would have little combat effectiveness even if they reached Xudu. He gritted his teeth and said, "Very well. Pass the order: rest by the river and drink some water."

"General’s order: rest by the river ahead!" the messenger shouted back.

The news felt like a reprieve for everyone, and they used their last ounce of strength to scramble toward the riverbank. But at that very moment, arrows began to rain down like a storm.

"Attack!" A thunderous war cry erupted.

"What?" Xiahou Yuan looked on in shock as countless figures emerged from the wilderness, the forests, the ravines, and the field ridges.

Fighting in the darkness is notoriously difficult. Historically, when Cao Cao personally campaigned against Zhang Lu, he was battered at Yangping Pass, but while retreating in the dead of night, he accidentally blundered into the enemy camp and somehow managed to capture the pass. This shows how many unpredictable factors exist in the dark. Shen Chen’s soldiers did not carry torches during the ambush to avoid confusion, so they operated in small, coordinated squads.

First came the roar, then a volley of arrows directed at the torch-bearing Cao troops. By the time they finished their arrows and lit their own torches, much time had been lost. Taken by surprise, the entire Cao army fell into a state of collapse, with soldiers running like headless flies, turning the battlefield into absolute chaos.

"General, flee!" A deputy struck Xiahou Yuan’s horse.

At this point, individual martial prowess could not turn the tide. Their five thousand troops were too exhausted to fight, and the enemy, rested and prepared, left them no room to counterattack. Xiahou Yuan understood this; though he wished to rally his men, it was a futile effort. He gritted his teeth and ordered, "Retreat!"

"Retreat!" The cry echoed across the wilderness. The Cao soldiers, already lacking the will to fight, scattered like birds and beasts.

"Quickly, quickly, quickly!" Shen Chen personally joined the fray, leading his guards to cut down a small group of Cao troops before the battle effectively drew to a close. The soldiers of Huangmen Pavilion identified friend from foe through shouts and uniforms. In an instant, the Cao troops were fleeing in every direction—through the grass, the fields, the forests, and along the riverbanks—too many to capture.

After twenty minutes of chaos, a series of whistles signaled the Huangmen Pavilion soldiers to assemble. Once a large number of torches were gathered, Shen Chen immediately asked Deng Zhao, who led the unit, "Did you question the captives? Where did this force come from, and who was their commander?"

"Reporting to the General, they came from Xudu. The commander was Xiahou Yuan, but he managed to escape."

"How many did we capture?"
"About six or seven hundred."
"How many were killed?"
"About two or three hundred."
"Were there any important figures?"
"We captured one of Xiahou Yuan’s deputies, a man named Zhu Zhong."

"That is enough. Take a few captives, strip the rest of their armor, let them go, and then return immediately."

At Shen Chen’s command, they stripped the Cao soldiers and headed toward Xiangcheng. He had chosen to strike while Xiahou Yuan was exhausted, intending to use the captives to help finish off Liu Dai and Wang Zhong.

In truth, this was a poor use of time, as decisive annihilation battles were difficult in the age of cold weapons, especially at night. During the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao annihilated eighty thousand Yuan soldiers—the survivors were those who surrendered because they lacked food, only to be buried alive by Cao Cao’s order.

It was now midnight. Even with an ambush on the road, attacking while Xiahou Yuan’s army was exhausted would, at best, scatter them. Without daylight, the soldiers could hide in the fields, woods, or brush, and Shen Chen lacked the time to hunt them down. More importantly, he had to return immediately to assist Gan Ning in wiping out the forces of Liu Dai and Wang Zhong. Only by clearing these Cao troops from the gateway to Nanyang could he occupy Ye County and Kunyang, seizing the initiative against Cao Cao.

In a sense, places like Ye County and Kunyang were as vital to Nanyang as Hanzhong was to Bashu; only by controlling them could one enter the Henan region from Nanyang. If Shen Chen did not hurry south but instead wasted time on Xiahou Yuan, Liu Dai and Wang Zhong would likely consolidate their forces and hold a fortified city. Once they held out for two days and reinforcements from Xudu and Runan arrived, Shen Chen would be trapped between Kunyang and Wuyang, unable to secure the gateways to Nanyang.

Thus, to achieve his strategic goal of seizing the Nanyang gateway for future campaigns against Cao Cao, Shen Chen painfully abandoned the idea of total annihilation. After taking a portion of the Cao army as captives, he chose to prioritize speed and marched for Kunyang.

Meanwhile, Liu Dai in Kunyang and Wang Zhong in Wuyang were facing a dilemma. Cao Hong had been defeated; though he survived, his losses were heavy. His five thousand men were scattered; some fled into the mountains, others were killed or captured, and fewer than a thousand followed him in his escape. By nightfall, after more than a thousand stragglers returned to the cities of Kunyang and Wuyang, only two thousand remained of the original five thousand.

Cao Cao had left few troops to guard the Ye County, Kunyang, and Wuyang area—only about eight or nine thousand. His primary focus was Guandu, and he believed this force was sufficient to defend the gateway to Nanyang, especially with Man Chong and Li Tong stationed in Runan.

Consequently, after Shen Chen’s feint succeeded, the total number of soldiers in Kunyang and Wuyang was less than six thousand, and they had to defend two separate cities. After Gan Ning’s great victory, he occupied Ye County and marched north, leaving two thousand men to watch Wuyang while he set up camp outside Kunyang.

After a day of fighting, both Cao Hong’s and Gan Ning’s troops were exhausted. Having marched through the previous night and fought from midnight until noon, Gan Ning’s men retreated ten miles after reaching Kunyang to camp and rest.

Seeing Gan Ning camp outside, Liu Dai suggested a surprise attack, but Cao Hong argued that they had only three or four thousand men against Gan Ning’s six or seven thousand. Furthermore, Shen Chen’s whereabouts were unknown; he might be lying in ambush outside the city waiting for them to sally forth. They decided not to act rashly and to wait for reinforcements.

Thus, a tense stalemate ensued. It was not until the third day after the fall of Ye County, at the crack of dawn—around six or seven in the morning—that things changed.

At daybreak, a squad of scouts appeared from the northeast; they were the messengers sent by Xun Yu. Xun Yu had made three arrangements: one for Xiahou Yuan to go to Xiangcheng, one for Li Dian to guard Xudu, and the final one to order Cao Hong and the others to fall back. Because Xudu believed the enemy’s main force had bypassed Ye County and Kunyang to strike Xiangcheng directly, the scouts took a southern route through Linying and Dingying to avoid the battlefield. Though it was a detour, by changing horses at the two cities along the way, they covered the 140-kilometer route in about twelve hours.

With the seal of Xudu, the scouts were admitted into the city. Liu Dai and Cao Hong, who had retreated from Ye County, hurried to the battlements to receive the news.

"Xudu has been deceived as well," Cao Hong said, frowning. "Shen Chen’s main force was never intending to raid Xudu; they have been in Ye County all along. He only took a detachment to Xiangcheng to lure us out."

Liu Dai asked, "What now? Xudu has ordered us to retreat to Xiangcheng."

"We cannot go," Cao Hong shook his head. "We must stay where the enemy’s main force is. Gan Ning’s army is right outside our city. At Xiangcheng, Shen Chen has only three thousand men; I trust Brother Miaocai can handle that."

"Then how shall we reply to Xudu?" Liu Dai asked.

Cao Hong thought for a moment and told the scouts, "You have ridden all night and are exhausted. Hand over the seal; I will send others back to tell Chancellor Xun that the force at Xiangcheng is merely a decoy. Request that General Xiahou come to reinforce Kunyang immediately after he defeats them."

"Understood."

The scouts rested in the city. Later that afternoon, another change occurred.

On the road north of Kunyang, a troop of about a thousand Cao soldiers appeared. Cao Hong recognized the leader: Zhu Zhong, Xiahou Yuan’s deputy. He reached the city walls and told Cao Hong that Xiahou Yuan had raced to Xiangcheng, found only three thousand weary enemy troops, and crushed them. Learning that Shen Chen’s true intent was to take Ye County, Kunyang, and Wuyang, Xiahou Yuan had rested briefly and was now coming to reinforce them. This thousand-man force was the vanguard, with the main body only ten miles behind. He requested that Cao Hong open the gates so they could rest.

This information aligned with what Cao Hong already knew. It stood to reason that Shen Chen’s main force was not at Xiangcheng and that the small garrison there would be exhausted after their long march. Without a second thought, Cao Hong ordered the gates opened to let the thousand troops in.

"Brother Shen!"
"Hmm!"

Shen Changqing walked along the road, nodding or greeting those he knew. Regardless of who they were, no one showed any unnecessary expression; everyone seemed indifferent to everything. To this, Shen Changqing had long grown accustomed.

This was the Demon Suppression Division, an institution dedicated to maintaining the stability of the Great Qin, primarily tasked with slaying demons and monsters, among other side duties. It could be said that everyone in the division had blood on their hands. When one becomes accustomed to life and death, one becomes indifferent to many things. When he first arrived in this world, Shen Changqing had been unaccustomed to it, but over time, he had become used to it.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast. Those who remained were formidable experts or those with the potential to become one. Shen Changqing belonged to the latter. The division was divided into two roles: Protectors and Demon Slayers. Everyone entered as a low-level Demon Slayer and worked their way up, with the hope of eventually becoming a Protector. Shen Changqing’s predecessor had been a trainee Demon Slayer, the lowest rank. With his predecessor’s memories, he was very familiar with the surroundings.

Before long, Shen Changqing stopped in front of a pavilion. Unlike the rest of the grim, blood-stained division, this pavilion stood out, a sanctuary of tranquility amidst the carnage. The doors were open, and people occasionally moved in and out. Shen Changqing hesitated for a moment before stepping inside.

As he entered, the atmosphere shifted. A scent of ink mixed with a faint trace of blood greeted him, causing him to frown instinctively before smoothing his expression. The scent of blood on those in the Demon Suppression Division was almost impossible to wash away.