Before Jin Feng introduced pit traps and the Macedonian phalanx, Dakang’s best method to counter cavalry was to clear the countryside and hold fast within fortified cities.
Clearing the countryside meant evacuating the people around the city, leaving no grain behind, and relying on tall city walls to resist cavalry.
In the early stages of the war, this tactic was highly effective.
Although cavalry moved swiftly, they consumed supplies quickly. Dakang’s walls were built high, steep, and sturdy, making them difficult to breach. With no food to plunder outside, the cavalry would soon retreat.
Throughout history, war has always been the greatest driver of innovation.
The Dangxiang people, having marched far and unwilling to return empty-handed, gathered experts to devise ways to breach Dakang’s walls.
This led to the creation of the siege cart.
The siege cart was simple, consisting of four wheels carrying a massive log, seven or eight zhang long, used to ram city gates with tremendous force.
Though simple, it was highly effective.
In the second year after its creation, the Dangxiang used siege carts to smash through the gates of over a dozen cities, plundering countless people and wealth.
Their iron cavalry swept across the entire Guanzhong Plain, reaching Tongguan by the Yellow River before stopping.
They were not halted by Tongguan but by the lavish reparations offered by the Dakang court.
This pattern continued for the next decade or so.
It was only when Dakang began conscripting labourers to dig moats around cities that the impact of siege carts was curbed.
Nowadays, Dangxiang cavalry rarely use siege carts. The few in use were hastily built by Li Ji Kui’s advisors to counter the phalanx, with improvements like sharp blades attached to both sides of the log.
Your bamboo may be long, but can it outmatch the massive log on a siege cart?
If a siege cart can smash through gates several inches thick, can it not break your shields?
On the flat mountain ground, Cheng Peng, Ding Yunfei, and their two phalanxes had been facing off against the Dangxiang cavalry for hours.
Everyone was thirsty and hungry.
Yet they persisted, waiting.
They awaited rescue from General Fan’s reinforcements from Weizhou City.
Just as they had gone to rescue the Iron Forest Army.
But by dusk, no allied reinforcements arrived. Instead, enemy reinforcements came.
Dozens of warhorses, dragging siege carts, rumbled onto the battlefield.
“Brother Cheng, they’ve brought siege carts. What do we do?”
Ding Yunfei, who had just calmed down, panicked again, clutching Cheng Peng’s sleeve, trembling with fear.
“Brother Ding, at this point, we can only fight with all we’ve got.”
Cheng Peng’s face was grave. “Let’s hope we can withstand the siege carts.”
“Why hasn’t General Fan sent help?”
Ding Yunfei was near tears. “And that Qing Huai, we got trapped here trying to save his Iron Forest Army. Why doesn’t he care?”
“How should I know?”
Cheng Peng, irritated, shook off his sleeve, understanding why Qing Huai avoided dealing with those spoiled commanders.
Zhuo Ban, growing impatient, launched an attack as soon as the siege carts arrived.
Three siege carts lined up, spanning over ten metres, aimed at Cheng Peng and Ding Yunfei’s phalanxes.
The sharp blades on the logs gleamed coldly.
“Everyone, stay sharp. If we don’t hold, we’re all dead!”
Cheng Peng quickly positioned two rows of shield bearers to face the siege carts.
With Zhuo Ban’s command, dozens of burly Dangxiang men shouted, pushing the siege carts into motion.
“Hold the line!”
Cheng Peng roared to rally his troops.
But the power gap was too vast.
The siege carts gained speed and crashed into the phalanx with a thunderous boom.
The massive log, carried by momentum, tore through the shield bearers’ defence, penetrating deep into the phalanx.
Shield bearers and spearmen on both sides fell to the blades on the log.
The siege cart stopped only when it reached the centre of the phalanx.
“Quick, seal the breach!”
Cheng Peng shouted, directing soldiers to close the gap.
But Zhuo Ban gave him no chance.
Hundreds of cavalry followed the siege carts, charging through the breach into the phalanx.
The spearmen inside, armed only with long, heavy bamboo they could barely carry, stood no chance against cavalry.
Once inside, the Dangxiang cavalry began slaughtering freely.
The thick bamboo slowed the horses slightly, delaying the carnage.
Cheng Peng, desperate, racked his brain for a solution.
But the Macedonian phalanx was like a durian. Once the tough, spiky shell was broken, only soft flesh remained.
Once breached, it was nearly impossible to recover.
As casualties mounted, Cheng Peng ordered the signalman to sound the gong.
This was the signal to disband the formation.
From the moment the siege carts appeared, Cheng Peng knew the formation could not save them.
Staying together would only lead to a slow death.
Better to scatter and let each man fend for himself.
The veterans understood this too. With one gong, the two phalanxes collapsed, and soldiers fled in all directions.
The Dangxiang cavalry, unwilling to let them escape, tightened their encirclement, especially blocking the road back to Weizhou City.
The surviving Dakang soldiers, mostly veterans, were far more experienced than the auxiliaries and recruits who died earlier.
Instead of fleeing instinctively toward Weizhou, they grouped in threes or fours, carrying bamboo, and rushed toward the nearest woods.
Some veterans even managed to kill one or two cavalrymen in the chaos.
The scene grew chaotic.
But the chaos did not last long.
Dakang soldiers either escaped into the woods or died on the spot.
The sunset painted the sky red.
But the blood on the ground was redder still.
Zhuo Ban wiped the blood from his face, laughing heartily.
This battle had washed away half his shame of being captured.
He wanted to besiege Weizhou City, but his advisors sternly stopped him.
Scouts reported that General Fan’s army had dug many camouflaged pit traps outside Weizhou, making an approach risky.
Moreover, Fan’s army was stronger than the Iron Forest Army. With Zhuo Ban’s forces, breaching Weizhou was impossible.
They might even be ambushed by Fan’s troops.
Zhuo Ban reluctantly ordered a retreat.
After nightfall, some veterans began appearing outside Weizhou City.
Of the over five thousand Ansu and Yong’an allied troops, fewer than seven hundred returned.
The Ansu and Yong’an armies were utterly shattered.
General Fan’s hair turned white overnight.
Qing Huai, sleepless, summoned his guard Liu Qiong at dawn and asked, “How many reserve troops do we have left in the armoury camp?”
These were the last of his Iron Forest Army.
