Chapter 69: Wang Mang: My 420,000 troops can't defeat Xiuer?

Beneath the celestial canopy.

Looking at the introduction displayed upon the firmament, Yin Lihua turned her gaze toward Liu Xiu, her eyes brimming with shyness and joy.

Leaning gently into his embrace, she asked in a soft voice, "Your Majesty, was that phrase you uttered back then—'In taking a wife, one should marry Yin Lihua'—truly what was in your heart?"

With a fond and indulgent chuckle, Liu Xiu gently flicked the bridge of her nose. "The very first time I laid eyes upon you, I felt as though an immortal maiden had descended from the heavens. From that moment onward, no one else could ever find a place in my heart."

"It was solely to prove myself worthy of you that I diligently applied myself to scholarship and commerce."

A deep blush suffused Yin Lihua's cheeks as she inquired further, "And when Your Majesty beheld the Commander of the Middle Guard, were you truly filled with such great envy?"

Liu Xiu nodded, a touch of reflection coloring his tone. "At the time, seeing the magnificent and awe-inspiring procession, I thought that if I, too, could attain such a position, perhaps I might finally be deemed worthy of standing by your side. Yet, looking back now, the prestige of the Commander of the Middle Guard pales utterly beside the joy of accompanying you through life."

Snuggling even closer against him, Yin Lihua murmured, "To be able to walk hand in hand with Your Majesty for a lifetime is truly this concubine's greatest fortune."

Holding her tightly and gazing up at the depictions of his past exploits on the heavenly screen, Liu Xiu spoke in a gentle whisper, "In the days to come, I shall surely guard your peace for all time, and share with you the prosperity of this flourishing era."

[In the twilight years of the Xin dynasty, a series of reforms instituted by Wang Mang proved unsuited to the realities of the era, thoroughly alienating the elite clans and aristocratic families throughout the realm. The empire descended into utter chaos, and the common people suffered beyond endurance.]

[Liu Xiu and his cousin Liu Yan officially raised the banner of rebellion, joining the Green Forest Army—an insurgent force composed primarily of bandits and righteous outlaws of the woodlands!]

[Not long after, another formidable rebel faction emerged as a rival to the Green Forest Army: the Red Eyebrows.]

[Upon learning of these uprisings, a furious Wang Mang dispatched troops to suppress them. He ordered the Governor of Jingzhou to lead twenty thousand imperial soldiers against the Green Forest Army, only to have the government forces decisively defeated at Yundu by the insurgents, who annihilated several thousand men and captured all their supply trains.]

[In the third year of the Diyih era (22 CE), Wang Mang dispatched the Grand General of the Proclamation, Kong Ren, to inspect Yuzhou, and sent the Grand General of Official Guidance, Yan You, and the Grand General of Rites, Chen Mao, to attack Jingzhou. Each was accompanied by over a hundred officials, traveling in official carriages to recruit troops within their respective jurisdictions.]

[Once the levies were completed, Wang Mang further commanded the Minister of Works, Wang Yi, and the Minister of Masses, Wang Xun, to lead a massive army of four hundred and twenty thousand men to encircle and besiege Kunyang, where Liu Xiu and his forces were stationed—an event known in history as the Battle of Kunyang!]

The Xin Dynasty.

"You little cheater, so you were hoarded up in Kunyang all along, were you?" Wang Mang swept his arm outward, a brilliant, piercing light flashing in his eyes.

"Guards! Convey my imperial decree: summon the entirety of our military strength, surround Kunyang at once, and let whoever slays Liu Xiu be ennobled as a marquis!"

"By your command!" the messenger eunuch acknowledged respectfully, retreating hastily to carry out the order.

"Liu Xiu... Liu Xiu, only one of us shall walk away from this alive. I refuse to believe that with the full might of the state at my disposal, I cannot destroy you." Sitting upon the dragon throne, Wang Mang fixed his absolute, unwavering gaze upon the heavenly screen.

"Just wait until I have seen through every single one of your trump cards. Let us see how you dare contend with me then, and how you plan to restore the Han Dynasty!"

...

[At the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Xiu relied upon a mere seventeen thousand troops to withstand Wang Mang's grand army of four hundred and twenty thousand—and emerged victorious.]

Upon witnessing these words manifest upon the firmament, dynasties prior to the Eastern Han found themselves utterly unable to believe their own eyes.

A force numbering fewer than twenty thousand men had defeated an army of four hundred and twenty thousand?

A numerical disparity of fully twenty-one times—how could such a thing be possible?

The Spring and Autumn Period.

Laozi stroked his beard, his deep, unfathomable gaze fixed ahead as he murmured, "Such a military feat, had one not witnessed it firsthand upon this heavenly screen, would be truly impossible to credit."

"That the world should witness a triumph of the few over the many to such a degree—there must surely be a profound principle behind it."

Confucius folded his arms across his chest and nodded slightly. "Perhaps Liu Xiu possessed extraordinary strategy, capable of seizing victory through unconventional tactics. This single battle is well worthy of study by the military strategists of later generations."

"Even someone as formidable as myself would never dare to charge against a massive army with so pitiful a handful of men."

One must bear in mind the contrast: four hundred and twenty thousand against fewer than twenty thousand. On average, every single man on one side would have to slay roughly twenty-one enemies. What manner of concept was that?

...

At this moment, Bai Qi's eyes were likewise filled with profound shock.

Four hundred and twenty thousand men—it was not as though he had never slaughtered numbers of that magnitude; rather, he simply could not believe that anyone could achieve victory with an army numbering under twenty thousand.

After a brief, heavy silence, Bai Qi slowly opened his mouth. "If this campaign is true, Liu Xiu's military capability cannot be underestimated."

He recalled the numerous battles he had commanded himself. Though many of them featured instances of victory achieved by smaller forces over larger ones, achieving success against a disparity as monstrous as that at the Battle of Kunyang was exceedingly rare.

Moreover, the vast majority of his own victories had been achieved by the larger side over the smaller!

In warfare involving armies of such colossal scale, numerical strength was of paramount importance; individual martial prowess counted for very little by comparison.

"The situation on a battlefield shifts in the blink of an eye. For Liu Xiu to carve out a path to survival amidst utter desperation, he must possess talents far beyond the ordinary."

Setting aside the military treatises in his hands, Bai Qi likewise fixed his undivided attention upon the heavenly screen, attempting to glean from it some insight into Liu Xiu's methods of commanding troops!

...

The Qin Dynasty.

"Impossible! Utterly impossible! How could anyone achieve victory with such an insurmountable disparity in strength?"

"Even were the Lord of Wuan still alive, he would not dare utter such wild absurdities!"

Ying Zheng let out a cold snort, his eyes brimming with skepticism.

He firmly refused to believe that anyone could prevail under conditions where the balance of power was so overwhelmingly skewed.

The Han Dynasty.

Liu Bang's jaw dropped so wide in astonishment that he could scarce close it.

"Good grief... bless my soul... this great-great-grandson of mine is actually this formidable?"

Though he himself had risen from the turbulence of a fractured world to seize the empire, Liu Xiu's feat of routing an army of four hundred and twenty thousand with a mere seventeen thousand men still struck him as utterly incomprehensible.

It was not as though he had never fought a war... with odds like those, even had Xiang Yu served as the commanding general, he would never have believed it.

...

Xiao He was equally incredulous at first, yet the thought of the earth-shattering weapons of later generations flashed through his mind. "Perhaps... it is not entirely impossible..."

"Unless one possesses those apocalyptic weapons of future eras, such a thing is absolutely beyond possibility!"

Emperor Wu of Han was likewise struck with profound shock. "This... how can this be?"

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing exchanged glances, their eyes filled with awe and admiration.

Wei Qing said in a deep voice, "Such a military achievement is truly unprecedented throughout the ages."

Huo Qubing, meanwhile, clenched his fists in excitement. "I must unearth his art of war from this celestial manifestation. Should there be military campaigns in days to come, I shall certainly be able to draw inspiration from it."

The Xin Dynasty.

Wang Mang, who had just issued the imperial decree, watched the words upon the firmament as his complexion instantly turned ashen, the veins bulging upon his forehead.

Striking the armrest of the dragon throne with a violent slap, he roared, "Impossible! This is absolute nonsense!"

"How could my army of four hundred and twenty thousand have been defeated by Liu Xiu's meager seventeen thousand troops?!"

"This heavenly screen must be mistaken!"

He sprang to his feet, pacing back and forth across the grand hall, his eyes ablaze with sheer disbelief!

"Transmit my decree... let all armies halt and hold their positions in place, awaiting further orders until I have finished observing the heavenly screen."

Decree after decree was dispatched post-haste across eight hundred li from the imperial palace to every military encampment!

...

Meanwhile, high above upon the firmament:

[The Battle of Kunyang]

Four striking characters materialized conspicuously across the heavenly canopy, followed instantly by a shift in the imagery.

Every individual across the realms watched with rapt, undivided attention, terrified of missing the slightest detail!

Yet the scene that unfolded before them next nearly caused everyone's eyes to bulge completely out of their sockets.

(Liu Xiu: "Watch closely, I shall demonstrate this only once... how much you manage to learn depends entirely on your own innate talent!")

...

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