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This place was a stretch of grassland. Because autumn had arrived, the green grass had already withered and turned yellow, and the dry blades swayed futilely in the wind.
Huang Zhong had taken up a position on a small earthen mound only about five or six meters high, which was the only piece of relatively elevated terrain in the vicinity. He had arranged his battle formation on the gently sloping incline.
Sun Jian, on the other hand, had drawn up his ranks on the flat ground opposite.
The autumn wind blew bleak and chill, whipping the banners and flags of both sides with sharp cracking sounds, yet it could not blow away the thick fighting spirit that hung between the two armies.
Sun Jian looked at the large banner bearing the character "Huang" across from him, and he also saw the middle-aged officer standing beneath that general's banner. He pondered for a moment.
Hmm...
He did not recognize him.
But he was certainly no great commander.
That little earthen mound was indeed a decent piece of terrain, but how could a commander look at only one aspect of a problem?
Just to occupy a minor geographical advantage, he had formed ranks far too early.
Being fully prepared and waiting in strict formation was not wrong in itself, but did he not understand the concept of the courage that lasts for three rolls of the drum?
By advancing slowly, Sun Jian's men would be able to loosen up their bodies thoroughly. The enemy, on the other hand, had been standing bitterly in the autumn wind for nearly an entire hour, and their hands and feet were bound to be stiff by now.
Moreover, it was already past noon, and soon the sun would begin to slant westward. Once the sun slanted, that little earthen mound would be directly hit by the angled rays of the sun.
An incompetent general brings ruin upon the entire army!
A trace of mockery appeared at the corner of Sun Jian's mouth. He raised his war blade high and let out a thunderous shout, shattering the silence between the two confronting armies.
The war drums suddenly exploded like rolling thunder, like surging magma erupting from between the two opposing forces, shooting up into the sky and then crashing down to the ground. In an instant, they seemed to blot out the heavens and cover the earth, carrying boundless, surging battle intent as they swept across the less than two hundred meters of ground between the two armies and collided with one another.
Amid the beating of the war drums, both armies simultaneously sent out their first line of combat troops. Two hundred men from each side marched forward, their feet pounding against the earth as they held their wooden shields before them. Under the commands of their respective company commanders, they began to advance.
Behind them, the archers also half-crouched and entered into range of one another. One sharp arrow after another tore through the air with piercing shrieks and hurtled toward the opposing lines.
In midair, the arrows of both sides crossed past one another.
This was the standard field offensive method of the Han armies. Up to this point, the formations, the numbers, and the deployment of both sides were exactly the same, methodical and precise. The Han military had inherited the combat patterns of the former Qin Dynasty. Generally speaking, they would begin with probing attacks and harassment by archers, and this was especially true when both sides were primarily infantry—it was a thoroughly standardized mode of attack.
As for that foolish style of riding out in front of the lines to demand single combat, one had to stay outside the range of the enemy's bows while doing so. Otherwise, there was no guarantee that the opposing commander would not have a sudden change of heart and simply order a volley of ten thousand arrows to shoot the challenger dead on the spot.
The frontline company commanders of both armies let out a shout in near unison. The sword-and-shield men, divided into three rows, raised their shields. Those in the front row crouched down, leaning their shoulders against the shields. The second row half-bent their waists and rested their shields atop those of the first row. The third row stood upright and lifted their shields toward the sky. The archers who had been exposed hastily shrank back behind the protective wall of shields.
The arrows came down like a rainstorm drumming upon lotus leaves, crackling and popping without end, as though Death himself were lightly tapping his fingers against the shield walls of both armies.
At this moment, what was being tested was the command ability of the frontline company commanders on both sides, as well as the courage and level of training of the soldiers.
After the first wave of arrows, the shield formations on both sides inevitably shifted apart slightly, revealing the sharp arrowheads that had already been nocked and drawn. Then the second volley of arrows was launched into the sky at nearly the same time.
Nearly the same time.
But there was still a difference. It was like a hundred-meter sprint—perhaps the gap was less than a second, yet it was the difference between heaven and earth.
The soldiers on Sun Jian's side completed the entire sequence of coordinated movements faster. Because Sun Jian's arrows arrived a single second earlier, several enemy soldiers were struck before they could dodge and fell to the ground with miserable howls.
Sun Jian's gaze was fixed intently on the soldiers at the front. In an encounter battle like this, no one would foolishly commit all their forces at once. One had to remain constantly aware of the situation on all sides. Only after seeing that his frontline troops had gained a slight advantage did a satisfied smile appear on his face.
Of course, it was not merely the several hundred men at the front who were engaged in probing attacks. The mixed formations of light cavalry and infantry on both the left and right flanks were also carrying out their own attacks and probing maneuvers against each other.
The light cavalry moved with their warhorses like curved blades, constantly wheeling and slashing, making contact in an instant and then breaking away in an instant, leaving only the fallen dead to stain the withered yellow grassland red.
Han Dang observed for a moment and let out a soft click of his tongue. He said from beside Sun Jian, "My lord, their cavalry foundation is actually quite good. Our two wings are under some pressure."
Sun Jian also shifted his gaze over and nodded, saying, "Those are veterans. Send the order! Have the left and right wings hold them back. They are not to launch attacks on their own initiative!"
The messenger behind Sun Jian immediately began waving the flag that represented the cavalry, and only stopped when the company commanders on the left and right wings shook their flags left and right in acknowledgment of the order.
Sun Jian knew that his left and right wings would suffer some losses, but that did not matter. After all, the combined strength of both wings was little more than a hundred men. The key was still the main infantry formation in the center. As long as the enemy's main formation could be broken, then even if those fewer than a hundred cavalrymen on the opposing side were formidable, how could they possibly contend against his own mixed force of cavalry and infantry?
What was more, the advantage Sun Jian's side held in the central battle formation was continuously expanding as time passed, and the expansion of this advantage was like an avalanche.
Archers actually did not have much effect against sword-and-shield troops. The purpose of such attacks, apart from striking at the enemy's morale, was more about testing the opposing commander's ability to maneuver and deploy his forces. Whichever side's formation collapsed first would be the one to be destroyed.
Sun Jian tilted his head toward Han Dang and said, "The probing is about done. It is time to send in the second wave. Yigong, take the men and, no matter what, tear open a breach in their center!"
Han Dang clapped his fists together in salute, and without another word, turned and moved to the forefront of Sun Jian's central army.
"Thud! Thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!" Just as Sun Jian had expected, the second round of drumming rose from the small earthen mound across the way. Rank after rank of soldiers began advancing in response to the drumbeats.
At the front of the central army formation, Han Dang turned his head back to look at Sun Jian. Seeing Sun Jian nod, he tightened his grip on his long spear and roared at the top of his lungs, "Beat the drums! Advance!"
Since he was to lead the infantry in breaking through the enemy's central formation, Han Dang naturally could not charge forward on horseback. Otherwise, he would not be able to keep pace, and he would simply turn himself into a target for the enemy archers. Therefore, Han Dang dismounted and mixed himself among the second row of infantry, advancing together with the entire battle formation.
The archers at the front of the formation began splitting to both sides, opening up the line of advance for the follow-up troops. On Huang Zhong's side, the archers had clearly left more bodies on the ground than those of Sun Jian's side, evidently having suffered heavier losses.
At last, the second wave of troops from both sides reached the front line, and a chaotic melee was about to unfold.