231-233: RECLAIMING WHAT IS OURS
Emperor Wu had decided that he would not let go of the lands he just lost in Qing Province. Yes, he had been defeated by his brother-in-law, and yes, the Chen army was in shamble. But over the last month they had all worked hard to rebuild and reorganize. While some of his advisors suggested that they needed more time to restore the Chen military to its full strength, Emperor Wu wanted this dealt with as soon as possible, as fast as possible. For him, it was simply impossible to accept the idea that he had lost these territories he had inherited from his father. With the Chen Dynasty now split, Emperor Wu was convinced that it would only be a matter of time before his state was conquered, unless he went on the offensive.
His campaign already ran into problems when he assembled his generals to decide the strategies that they would use against the Xianbeis. He wanted to reuse the trio of
Hu Zan, Ba Daiping and Ding Zhiguo. But one of them never showed up. Instead, it was a mourning Xiao Cha who heeded her brother’s summon, informing him that her husband had passed away three weeks ago at the age of 58. Ding Zhiguo had started his career in Xu Province under the Tao Clan, playing a key role in the province’s administration in the 210’s. He then became one of the most accomplished generals of the Chen Dynasty, though his career was often plagued with bad luck. Still, he managed to become a national hero for his role in defeating the Liang invasion, and his death was lamented by many at court. Emperor Wu was distraught at this development. Only a few months ago he had lost He Jintao, and now he found himself without Ding Zhiguo. His great generals were disappearing one after the other, just when he needed them the most.
But more important than the growing number of dead officers was one massive problem that Emperor Wu seemingly missed when he declared war: Xibaxiong had never left. His entire horde of horsemen was still camping in the conquered territories. The Despoiler had first wanted to enforce his authority over the Chinese locals and force them into submission, a task he expected to be done with by the end of the year. Xibaxiong was thus quite surprised and confused when he heard that the Chen Dynasty was going on the offensive. He even sent an envoy to Chenguo with a letter for his sister (which did nothing to help Changle’s situation at court). In it, he joyfully wrote:
“It seems that your weak southern husband wants to kill himself. I am unsurprised that this soft weakling owns no sword to do the deed, so I will happily provide him with mine when I finally meet him.”
The Chancellor Xiao Bin wasn’t keen on this war. He knew that the Chen wasn’t ready to attack the Xianbei Confederacy, and more importantly, he worried that someone might take advantage of the weakness of the Dynasty to increase their power and influence. So while he couldn’t stop his brother from launching his campaign, he was able to eliminate one potential threat from the inside by removing Ren Duo from his commandery. The former Excellency of the Masses had been the most powerful man in the Chen during the late reign of
Emperor Cheng, and in an attempt to return to these heights had joined Ba Daiping’s revolt in 228. He had been one of the few rebels to advice the general against making peace with Emperor Wu, which is why he stayed on the Chancellor’s radar ever since. The fact that Ren Duo’s son was married to Xiao Hanhe’s daughter did nothing to appease the Chancellor. Fearing that this snake might use the current situation to his advantage, Xiao Bin had him removed from his office. Emperor Cheng’s right-hand man was relegated to a comfortable exile on the coast, where he would die in 242 from a cancer at the age of 59.
Meanwhile, Ba Daiping found himself the fastest general when it came to being ready. While Hu Zan had been occupied with his duties as Grand Commandant, Ba Daiping had simply stayed ready for the eventuality of a new campaign. This explained how he managed to be ready this fast, and why he was given command of the first army that was sent into the conquered territories while Hu Zan stayed behind at court to organize the details of the campaign. Ba Daiping could only smile at this prospect. He was given a chance to shine, and this time without Hu Zan to share in the glory (and to distort the facts once the battle was won). Now was his time to shine!
By his side was the new generation of officers, the men that would one day replace the aging generation of elite generals that had so far carried the Chen Dynasty. The first of these officers was Chen Gongwei, whose career so far was mostly summarized as “the guy who didn’t get captured when Ding Zhiguo lost his battles”. Of course, he despised this reputation, which wasn’t helped by his harsh treatment of the troops under his command. Chen Gongwei now worked hard to build a new reputation as a solid commander, though only the future would tell if this worked. The other commander was one of Emperor Wu’s growing favorites, the trustworthy Liu Derun. The first scion of the Han to abandon his titles out of loyalty for the Chen, Liu Derun had since served as a courageous, kind and sociable general, beloved by both his men and his emperor. He did not question orders, he acted with upmost loyalty and was always willing to do what was asked of him. What could the Chen Dynasty ask more out of this loyal general?
Of course, by the time they showed up on the border between the Xianbei Confederacy and the Chen, Xibaxiong had already been pillaging the border villages. While Ba Daiping desperately wanted a win, he knew that he didn’t have the troops to challenge the Xianbei Khagan. Instead, he made his way toward the coast, which he hoped to follow to avoid confrontation. Reports from his scouts indicated that attrition and bad supply were hurting the Xianbei army. With some luck, the horsemen might ruin themselves if left alone, which would eventually make then too weak to fight the Chen soldiers. Of course, this plan would be null if the tributaries arrived before the Chen could swoop in to attack. This was a risky plan, banking on chance and timing far too much for the general’s liking. But then again, what other option did he have?
Not that any of this mattered, as Xibaxiong had no intention to let the Chinese army roam free in his newly conquered territories. As soon as he learned of the approaching Chen force, the Despoiler abandoned what he was doing and ordered his horde to ride back to their new territories. They eventually intercepted Ba Daiping and his troops in March 232 next to Chunyu, the city that had once been Hu Zan’s first appointment between 191 and 193. The Battle of Chunyu was a complete disaster for the Chen army. As some had feared, it was completely unprepared for a new conflict with the Xianbeis. It had deployed 20,000 men against the invader the previous year, yet this had done little to stop them. With only 8000 men, Ba Daiping had no chance. Not only that, but Xibaxiong was proving to be one of the great military leaders of his age, and his personal command of the horsemen allowed him to kill two thirds of the Chen army.
Ba Daiping and his officers did manage to organize a retreat, but this didn’t mean much considering the massive losses suffered at Chunyu. In returning to the Chen Dynasty, the retreating army ran into reinforcements, led by Hu Zan and Emperor Wu. The Emperor had decided to accompany his Grand Commandant on this campaign, wanting to show that he was his brother-in-law’s superior when it came to military command. Of course, this didn’t mean that he didn’t rely heavily on Hu Zan as always. The Grand Commandant was effectively in command of the campaign, with Emperor Wu only occasionally butting in. With these two now in charge, Ba Daiping was relegated to the massive officer corps that accompanied them, which included the likes of Yang Qub, son of
Yang Weili and a key advisor of the Emperor, Liu Bojing, the Marquis of Xiacai, and Xue Tang, Hu Zan’s protégé.
But this amount of talent by their side would accomplish little when they barely had five thousand men under their command. And when Xibaxiong arrived in late April, he simply fell upon the Chen army and started the slaughter. While each commander was efficient in his duties, it also meant that they needed to communicate far more than necessary in order to coordinate. Once again, any soldier that fell into the hands of the Xianbei was put to death, as Xibaxiong had no clemency to offer the weak southerners. Emperor Wu and Hu Zan, afraid that this might turn into a deathtrap, had no choice but to retreat before they lost everything. They tried their best to save as many men as they could, but in the end only 1500 men were left under their command. In the span of a single month, the Chen Dynasty had managed to lose almost 9000 soldiers.
But these weren’t the only losses that the Dynasty suffered, as two generals also perished during the Battle of Zhencheng. First was the Marquis of Xincai, Liu Bojing. An officer that had been singled out by Emperor Cheng as a man with a bright future ahead of him, he seemed destined to rise to the highest offices in the Dynasty. Yet as he was overseeing the retreat he was spotted by a subordinate Khan and killed with a spear through the chest, leaving him impaled on his horse and unable to stop himself from bleeding to death at the age of 35. The other loss was that of Yang Qub, who died in the early staged of the battle. A straight arrow hit his horse. Panicking, the mount threw its rider on the ground, which made him an easy prey for the Xianbei cavalry. Yang Qub died at the age of 34. He had been the first Excellency of Works of the Chen Dynasty and a loyal ally of Emperor Wu, serving on his council since he took the imperial throne in 226. These two men were in the prime of their lives and seemed to be destined for more, yet their lives were cut short by this gruesome campaign that was turning into a debacle.
The following months saw the Chen army disorganized and struggling to find cohesion after two quick defeats. Emperor Wu did try to regroup, but he was keenly aware that he needed time and troops to rebuild his forces. Meanwhile, the Xianbeis were free to advance into the Chen once more, pillaging and destroying villages and towns. They seized what they could and killed who they wanted. In fact, many small pockets of troops had been left strayed from the main army. These poor soldiers were picked off one by one during the spring and the summer, as neither Emperor Wu nor Hu Zan had any way of coming to their help without risking the safety of the main army. This was a gruesome time to live in the Chen Dynasty, and these deaths would weight on Emperor Wu’s mind for the rest of his life, knowing full well that these were all due to his own hubris.
In the end, something had to be done before things fell out of control. Ba Daiping managed to convince Emperor Wu that they needed to achieve some sort of victory before it was too late. That way they might boost morale and allow the soldiers to regain some confidence. Emperor Wu agreed, though he left Hu Zan in charge of a new recruitment and the defense of the Dynasty. They needed another general to help, with Chen Gongwei eventually volunteering to accompany the Emperor on this attempt to save this campaign. They didn’t have much under their command, barely 2600 men. But that’s all they could spare for this, so it would have to do.
Ba Daiping suggested that they strike at some of the tributary armies that had arrived during the summer. They lacked the powerful step horsemen of Xibaxiong, often being made of underequipped infantry troops. Even better, they were often small forces of two to four thousand men, which they should be able to handle easily as long as they used strategy. This seemed like a good plan, except for the fact that Xibaxiong had posted horsemen regiment close to his tributaries in case the Chen tried this exact maneuver. So when Ba Daiping and Emperor Wu struck at an army from Gogureyo, they were soon beset by Xianbei horsemen who came to reinforce their allies. This defeat in August was followed by a rout, which was followed by another defeat at the end of the month. And just like that, this little expedition had failed spectacularly, with Emperor Wu frustrated and distraught at the number of casualties.
By that point, someone came forward with an idea that didn’t imply sending their remaining troops to their death against the Xianbei. Xue Tang, Hu Zan’s protégé, suggested to the Emperor that they instead redirect their troops toward defending their territories. It was of course going to be a temporary solution, as he knew that Hu Zan wanted to win a battlefield victory against the Xianbei and he himself angled to gain from such victory. But for the time being they needed to solidify and regroup. What was the point of recruiting new conscripts if they would need replacement in a month? Emperor Wu agreed with this defensive plan, and for the rest of the year the Chen army was on the defensive. In following meetings with Hu Zan, Emperor Wu praised Xue Tang, telling his longtime mentor and friend that he had made the right choice in supporting Xue Tang’s career.
But tensions were also rising among the officers, either due to various opinions on how to continue the war or because some had more influence than others. The most heated of these disputes was between Ba Daiping and Ding Gongsi. Ba Daiping simply felt that Ding Gongsi no longer had the right to a place by the Emperor’s side, especially not in a military camp. This was because Ding Gongsi had lost his eyesight due to a terrible infection, leaving him completely blind. What general could lead troops while being blind? Even worst, he still held a key position as an Imperial Councilor of the Emperor. Really, the only reason he was still around was because of his longtime support and because his daughter was married to Crown Prince Gong. Ding Gongsi did not take well to these criticisms, often criticizing Ba Daiping’s lack of restrain and never missing an occasion to remind everyone that the general had once led a rebellion against the Emperor.
In February 233, the Chen army had been reorganized enough that it could at least try to slow down the Xianbei horde. Xibaxiong was in the process of making a big push, and it was decided by Hu Zan and Emperor Wu that they needed to stop it. Sadly for the Chen, this would prove the last nail in the coffin for this campaign. While they had regained some of their numbers and positioned themselves on a hill, it was still not enough to fight the powerful northern horsemen. Xibaxiong, fully aware that his enemies didn’t have the manpower to cover every single angle of the battlefield, was able to launch a daunting raid on their rear during the fighting. This led to the capture of many soldiers, most of the supply and equipment of the Chen, and perhaps more importantly, to the capture of Hu Zan. The Grand Commandant found himself prisoner of the Despoiler, with his fate uncertain after the Xianbei victory on the field of battle. He was eventually able to explain how valuable he was to the Chen, how they could get a lot more from keeping him alive than killing him. After much hesitation, Xibaxiong chose not to execute the old general, though he did expect a hefty amount of gold to arrive soon if Hu Zan wanted to keep his head.
After this debacle, Emperor Wu decided that he couldn’t wait for Hu Zan’s release. He needed a Grand Commandant now, at least until his old mentor was freed and returned to his office. And it seemed that the only viable candidate was Ba Daiping. While the battle had been a complete failure, the old general had managed to shine as a hero, even going as far as killing a Khan in duel. If someone could bring back morale to the troops, it was Ba Daiping. The general smiled when he was offered the position. After years, he was finally back at the top. While his smile faded when he was informed that this was only until Hu Zan could return, it still gave him an opportunity to show Emperor Wu that he was more deserving of the position than his fellow officer.
But this didn’t change the disastrous situation of the campaign. After another quick skirmish in March that also ended up the defeat of the Chen army, Emperor Wu had to come to the conclusion that his efforts were doomed. With his brother Xiao Bin writing him that the Dynasty needed to recover or it might find itself terminally weakened, Emperor Wu sent most of his treasury to Xibaxiong in exchange of peace, his envoys going as far as begging the Khagan to accept. The Despoiler quickly agreed, happy to see his brother-in-law humiliate himself in such a way. Emperor Wu was quickly informed that the war was over, but he could not bring himself to celebrate. In front of his troops, he gave a heartfelt speech where he asked for their forgiveness. He asked them to forgive his failure to lead them, his failure to hold their homes from barbarian control. And he promised to them that one day, he would bring them back to their homes. That one day, they would make the Chen Dynasty whole again.
