In the pirate command tent, Mao Haifeng held Zhu Ping’an’s personally written reply, slowly unfolding it and reading it aloud softly.
“Tch, tch, who would’ve thought? Truly unexpected that this Zhu Ping’an has some boldness!” Mao Haifeng read the letter, clicking his tongue in surprise and exclaiming twice.
“Brother Haifeng, should we emulate Han Xin’s tactic of striking mid-crossing? While they’re retreating halfway, we launch a surprise attack. Even if we can’t crush them, we can take a big bite out of them to avenge their ambush at the mountain pass slope,” Otomo Sadakawa suggested sinisterly.
Otomo Sadakawa referred to Han Xin’s famous tactic during the conquest of Qi, where he defeated the Qi-Chu allied army by striking mid-crossing. During the Chu-Han Contention, Han Xin, tasked with attacking Qi with 80,000 troops, faced a 200,000-strong Chu-Qi army led by Long Ju, sent by Xiang Yu to aid Qi. Long Ju issued a challenge for a decisive battle, which Han Xin accepted. That night, Han Xin sent 10,000 men to build a dam of sandbags upstream on the Wei River, blocking its flow, and instructed the dam guards to release the water the next morning when they saw a red flag raised on a new flagpole in Han Xin’s camp during the battle.
The next day, Han Xin led his army across the river to attack the Chu-Qi camp. After a fierce fight, he feigned weakness, as if his smaller force couldn’t match the enemy, and retreated across the Wei River. Seeing Han Xin’s retreat, Long Ju ordered his drums to sound and led his entire army in pursuit. When 30,000 to 40,000 Chu-Qi troops had crossed the river, Han Xin signaled for the red flag to be raised. The dam was breached, and the Wei River surged, sweeping away some of the crossing troops and isolating the rest on the opposite bank. Han Xin turned and fiercely attacked, killing Long Ju, and the remaining Chu-Qi troops surrendered.
Mao Haifeng smirked, “Brother Otomo, you’re not a scholar of the Central Plains and have misused a classic. You’re not talking about Han Xin’s mid-crossing strike but rather Xie Xuan’s Battle of Fei River. In that battle, Xie Xuan tricked Fu Jian into retreating to clear space for the Jin army to cross the river for a decisive battle. Fu Jian planned to strike when the Jin army was halfway across, but as Fu Jian’s army retreated, Xie Xuan sent men to shout, ‘Fu Jian’s army is defeated, they’re fleeing!’ This caused Fu Jian’s rear ranks to believe their front had collapsed, leading to a chaotic rout. The Jin army, having crossed, seized the moment to attack, and Fu Jian’s army was crushed.”
Otomo Sadakawa nodded eagerly, “Yes, yes, Brother Haifeng, you’re truly learned! That’s what I meant. We can do the same—while the Zhejiang army retreats, we shout that they’re defeated and fleeing, then attack to catch them off guard. It’ll surely deal them a heavy blow!”
To his surprise, Mao Haifeng shook his head repeatedly, waving his hand. “No, Zhu Ping’an has the boldness to retreat three li and meet us for a decisive battle at the pass. We’re the ones who proposed this fight. How can we go back on our word and ambush them during their retreat? Even if we win that way, we’d only enhance Zhu Ping’an’s reputation for keeping his word, while we’d be scorned as dishonourable villains.”
“Brother Haifeng, didn’t Xie Xuan do the same? He tricked Fu Jian into retreating to clear space for a decisive battle. Why can’t we do it? Only losers are mocked—victors are always glorified,” Otomo Sadakawa insisted.
“Brother Otomo, the situations are different. Fu Jian’s army fell into chaos during their retreat because his forces were large and diverse. Zhu Ping’an commands only 8,000 Zhejiang troops, where the rear can see the front and the entire battlefield. They won’t believe a shout of ‘The Zhejiang army is defeated, they’re fleeing!’ We’d just look foolish trying to imitate,” Mao Haifeng said, shaking his head with a smile.
Otomo Sadakawa disagreed and was about to argue further.
“Brother Otomo, do you hear the noise outside?” Mao Haifeng interrupted, pointing outside the tent.
Otomo Sadakawa listened closely.
“You want to fight? Then fight!”
“You want to fight? Then fight!”
The Zhejiang army’s chants reached the pirate camp, faintly audible in Mao Haifeng’s tent.
Otomo Sadakawa frowned, noting the Zhejiang army’s high morale.
“Brother Otomo, you hear it, don’t you? ‘You want to fight? Then fight!’ The entire Zhejiang army knows they’re retreating three li for a decisive battle. Do you think they’d believe a shout of ‘The Zhejiang army is defeated, they’re fleeing’?” Mao Haifeng said with a smile.
“Even if they don’t believe it, their formation will be unsteady during the retreat. If we attack then, we’ll gain the advantage. It’s not easy for the Zhejiang army to shift from retreating to forming ranks for battle,” Otomo Sadakawa argued.
“Brother Otomo, as I said, Zhu Ping’an has the boldness to retreat three li for a decisive battle at the pass. We proposed this fight. If we go back on our word, even if we win, we’d only boost Zhu Ping’an’s reputation while we’re branded as dishonourable. We’d be mocked by the world,” Mao Haifeng said, shaking his head.
He continued, “Brother Otomo, we have more troops and experienced soldiers. Even though Zhu Ping’an’s ambush at the mountain pass slope cost us over a thousand men, we still have 13,000. Last night, our scouts scoured an 80-li radius and confirmed the Zhejiang army has no reinforcements. They’re just 8,000 strong, mostly new recruits—farmers who’ve barely trained for a month. They’ve fallen for my provocation to fight at the pass, where we’re already poised to win. Why resort to petty, uncertain tricks that would tarnish our victory?”
Mao Haifeng finished, looking at Otomo Sadakawa with burning eyes.
After a moment’s thought, Otomo Sadakawa nodded slowly. “Brother Haifeng, you’re right. I was too fixated.”
“Not at all, Brother Otomo, you’re just devoted to our cause,” Mao Haifeng praised.
“Report! The Zhejiang army has broken camp and is retreating to the pass,” a pirate reported, entering the tent.
“Excellent. Zhu Ping’an keeps his word, retreating as promised. Brother Otomo, shall we order our camp broken? Once the Zhejiang army clears the pass, we advance to meet them for a decisive battle. What do you think?” Mao Haifeng said, his eyes showing admiration as he sought Otomo Sadakawa’s opinion.
“Everything as Brother Haifeng decides,” Otomo Sadakawa agreed.
“Good. Order the entire army to break camp. Once the Zhejiang army clears the pass, advance to the pass for a decisive battle with them,” Mao Haifeng commanded.
