Chapter 8: The General Changes Direction and Heads West to Attack Ba-Shu, A Great Battle at Fongjie, Gunfire Strikes the Marquis of Shu

  In 327 BC (the second year of King Hui of Chu), King Hui of Chu was preparing to lead his army north to attack the State of Wei and reclaim justice for Chu. Just as he was about to set out, a urgent report arrived from the western border: The army of Shu (in present-day Sichuan province) had launched a massive invasion with 150,000 troops, capturing Ba and Yu, and advancing towards Wu Gorge and Qianzhong.

  It turned out that Hou Hui, the Marquis of Shu, had taken advantage of the recent death of King Wei of Chu and the young age of King Hui, who was still inexperienced in state and military affairs. The people's hearts were not yet stable, so he decided to take a big gamble. He mobilized an army of 150,000 troops, including 30,000 cavalry and 120,000 infantry, and marched towards Wu and Ba, with the intention of also annexing Qianzhong.

  Upon receiving the report, King Hui immediately put aside his plans to attack Wei and ordered Zuo to lead a large army to defend against the possible invasion of Wei and Han. He personally led an army of 200,000 troops (60,000 cavalry and 140,000 infantry) westward, accompanied by General Tang Mei. The 200,000-strong Chu army set out from Jingzhou, passed through Yichang, Zigui, Badong, and entered Wu Gorge to attack the Shu army.

  This battle was not only King Hui's first battle since his accession to the throne but also his first opportunity to establish his authority throughout the kingdom.

  The Chu army marched from Ba Dong, entered Wu Gorge, and met the 100,000-strong army of the Marquis of Shu at Fengjie County. Both sides deployed their troops, and King Hui of Chu rode forward on horseback, saying: "Are you the Marquis of Shu?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "I am." King Hui asked: "Why have you raised an army to invade our territory?" The Marquis of Shu said: "When did Wu and Ba become part of Chu's territory? I've never heard of it before." King Hui asked: "Why do you invade my Qianzhong region?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "Qianzhong was taken by your ancestors from others, and there is no clear boundary. How can you say that I invaded your Qianzhong?" King Hui became enraged, drew out the Chu king's sword, and felt a cold light radiating from it. This was not an ordinary sword but a heavy one-meter-long sword made of high-quality steel, extremely sharp. The Marquis of Shu saw that the Chu army was too strong, and as the battle began, he said to King Hui: "If you want to fight, let's have a one-on-one duel; don't use your numbers to bully me." King Hui listened and then put his precious sword back into its scabbard, saying: "Tang Mei, take command of 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry and retreat. Do not come forward to support us; anyone who disobeys will be beheaded!" Tang Mei led the 5,000 Chu soldiers to retreat and formed a battle line to watch the fight. King Hui waved his hand, and the Chu army's 3,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry divided into three routes: left, center, and right. The infantry formed three ten-layer square arrays, while the cavalry formed a horizontal row and two vertical rows.

  King Huai of Chu held a long spear, 2.5 meters in length, much thicker and heavier than the spears of ordinary soldiers, made of high-quality steel, with a glossy black finish. As soon as both sides were ready, King Huai shouted "Beat the drums!" The war drum of the Chu army sounded, and King Huai rode his horse, waving his spear, charging straight at Hou of Shu. This king was riding a rare black horse that could travel 900 miles in one day, running like the wind. When Hou saw this, he quickly urged his horse forward to meet King Huai. Hou used two steel spears, like a hunter hunting, brave and unmatched among the three armies, no one in the Shu army could rival him, only 38 years old, with a strong build, dark complexion. Just as King Huai's spear approached, Hou raised his double spears to block it hastily, but all he heard was a loud clang! The steel spear in Hou's left hand fell to the ground, and the tiger mouth was shattered, the steel spear in his right hand almost flew out, both hands numb from the shock. Hou never expected King Huai to have such divine power, shouting loudly: "Not good!" He quickly turned around and fled back to the formation. King Huai shouted loudly: "Where are you going?" With a squeeze of his legs, he rode his horse in pursuit, King Huai's black horse running like the wind, instantly reaching the front of the Shu army, catching up with Hou, King Huai thrust his spear forward, just about to reach Hou's back. Hou shouted loudly: "It's over!" He quickly flipped over and fell onto the horse's back. As soon as King Huai saw this, he raised his spear to strike. Before he could react, two Shu generals, one holding a long spear and the other grasping a long pike, rode up hastily, their spears and pikes swiftly blocking King Huai's heavy blow. All that was heard were two loud clangs! One of the steel pikes was broken, and the head of the other long spear was shattered, while Hou took advantage of this opportunity to escape back into the formation. As soon as King Huai swept his spear horizontally, the two Shu generals hastily raised their spears and pikes to block it, but all that was heard were two loud clangs! The spears and pikes in the hands of the two Shu generals flew out from under them, King Huai thrust his spear forward with a slanting motion, and one of the Shu generals let out a cry as he fell off his horse, dead. Another Shu general saw this and was so frightened that he quickly turned his horse around and fled in disarray.

  King Huai of Chu held a spear in his left hand and drew the sword of the King of Chu with his right, and the Chu army suddenly killed the sky. 300,000 cavalry and 1.2 million infantrymen rushed to the Shu army. First, the Chu army's 10,000 cavalry, in a horizontal line, charged forward. The Shu army's cavalry saw this and hastily urged their horses to fight back, but did not know that the other 20,000 Chu cavalry had formed two vertical teams, charging towards both wings of the Shu army. The Shu army's cavalry hastily divided its troops to intercept them, but the 10,000 Chu cavalry in front formed a horizontal line, almost running on the same line, while the Shu army's cavalry charged forward to fight back in disorder. Only saw the Chu army's 10,000 horses galloping together, 10,000 guns raised together, and the thousands of Shu cavalry that came up in disorder could not withstand the power of this simultaneous attack; instantly, the Shu army's cavalry fell down 5,000. And the Shu cavalry that intercepted the 20,000 Chu cavalry on both sides was a chaotic slant charge, just intercepting the first Chu cavalry, and the second, third, and fourth Chu cavalry had already charged past, with a knife or gun in hand, killing the Shu cavalry that was fighting, while borrowing the degree of running and charging force of the war horse, from the side. The two wings charged into the Shu army infantry, the Shu army infantry was greatly disordered, and the dead and wounded were heavy. At this time, the 1.2 million Chu infantry had already formed three large ten-layer square arrays and rushed to the front. This ten-layer square array is an attacking method with defense in the middle. When the Shu army wanted to use cavalry to impact the Chu infantry array, the first layer of Chu soldiers raised their shields with their left hands and swung their knives with their right hands. The first and second layers of Chu soldiers drew their bows and shot arrows in turns, killing the Shu cavalry. Therefore, the Shu cavalry could not approach the Chu infantry array, and a few who rushed to the front had already fallen off their horses and been killed by the first layer of Chu soldiers with a single knife. When the Chu infantry array met the Shu infantry, the Chu soldiers in the square array were the ones holding shields with their left hands and swinging knives with their right hands in the first layer, grasping long guns in the second layer, and holding shields with their left hands and swinging knives with their right hands in the third layer. Each layer of soldiers took turns attacking and defending, beating the Shu infantry back, killing countless people. Although the Shu generals were brave, they had never practiced a large-scale formation, and their overall strength was not as strong as that of the Chu army. Moreover, King Huai of Chu was invincible in bravery, with one defeat of three armies, one long gun sweeping across thousands of troops, and no one in the Shu army could resist. The morale of the Shu army had already been low, while the Chu army saw their king so mighty that their morale soared instantly, becoming more courageous as they fought on. Therefore, the Shu army was initially able to withstand for a long time, retreating while fighting, but later became one touch and then collapsed. The Chu army took advantage of the situation to slaughter and pursue closely, not letting go, and the Marquis of Shu led his 700,000 defeated soldiers in a desperate attempt to escape from Fengjie to Yunyang, and from Yunyang to Liangping, and finally escaped back to the capital of Shu (Chengdu) in one breath, without even daring to look back. After this battle, the Marquis of Shu was indeed intimidated by King Huai of Chu.