535: Chapter 535 Xiang Liang's Awe of the Elephant Soldiers

"Everyone, do not lose heart just yet."

Zhao Fusu naturally would not let his side's morale sink too low.

They still had to go and fight the Mauryan Empire, after all.

If they lost their morale, how could they go about seizing territory?

"That may be true..."

Xiang Liang sighed and said, "But dealing with the elephant army is not that easy!"

Engaging the elephant herd head-on would certainly be unwise.

Setting aside the elephant herd, even a herd of cattle is not easy to deal with.

During the Warring States period, Tian Dan restored the Qi State by using the Fire Bull Array. It was a classic example of winning against superior forces and staging a desperate comeback during the Warring States period, and it also represents the pinnacle of ancient surprise attack tactics.

In the late Warring States period, the famous Yan general Yue Yi led the allied forces of the five states—Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Qin—to attack the Qi State. They captured over 70 cities of the Qi State in succession, leaving only the isolated cities of Ju and Jimo struggling to hold out.

At this time, Tian Dan, a member of the Qi State's royal clan, was merely a minor official in Linzi who had fled to Jimo during the chaos of war.

After the defending general of Jimo died in battle, the soldiers and civilians in the city elected Tian Dan as their general to lead them in a desperate defense of the isolated city.

Knowing that the Yan army was powerful and that a direct confrontation would lead to defeat, Tian Dan first employed a series of stratagems to weaken the Yan army and boost the morale of the Qi troops.

After King Zhao passed away, Tian Dan sent people to spread rumors claiming that Yue Yi was intentionally delaying the siege because he actually wanted to declare himself king in the Qi State.

King Hui of Yan, already suspicious of Yue Yi, immediately replaced him and appointed Qi Jie as the commanding general. Qi Jie was short-sighted and cruel, causing the morale of the Yan army to fall into disarray.

Tian Dan ordered the people in the city to offer sacrifices to their ancestors before eating, which drew flocks of birds to circle above Jimo City in search of food.

Seeing this, the Yan army was filled with suspicion and unease. Tian Dan seized the opportunity to declare, "This is the gods descending to help the Qi State." He also intentionally had soldiers disguise themselves as civilians to spread rumors that the Qi troops were most afraid of the Yan army cutting off the noses of captives and digging up the ancestral graves of the Qi people.

Qi Jie fell for the trap and ordered the noses of the Qi captives to be cut off and the ancestral graves outside the city to be dug up. Seeing this, the soldiers and civilians of Jimo were incensed and clamored for battle, their morale rising to unprecedented heights.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Tian Dan began to secretly prepare the Fire Bull Array.

He collected over a thousand sturdy oxen from the city and draped them in red silk painted with colorful dragon patterns to confuse the Yan army, making them mistake the oxen for mythical beasts.

He tied sharp blades to the oxen's horns and bound their tails with reeds soaked in grease.

He chiseled dozens of openings in the walls of Jimo and hid the fire oxen behind them. He then selected five thousand elite soldiers, had them paint their faces and don armor, disguising them as "divine soldiers" to follow behind the fire oxen.

In the dead of night, Tian Dan gave the order to light the reeds on the oxen's tails.

The grease ignited instantly upon contact with the fire. The excruciating pain caused the fire oxen to roar in madness, and they charged out from the openings in the city walls, rushing straight toward the Yan army's camp.

The Yan army was jolted awake from their sleep to see flames shooting into the sky and thousands of "mythical beasts" draped in dragon patterns with sharp blades on their heads charging recklessly. The camp was instantly thrown into chaos.

The five thousand elite soldiers followed closely behind, killing everyone in their path, while the civilians in the city beat drums and gongs, shouting to boost their momentum, the sound shaking the heavens and the earth.

The Yan army, thinking that the gods were truly helping, were terrified out of their wits and fled in defeat. The commanding general, Qi Jie, was killed by the Qi troops in the chaos.

After the Fire Bull Array shattered the Yan army, Tian Dan led the Qi troops to pursue the victory. The people in the cities previously occupied by the Yan State rose up in response, killing the Yan garrison commanders and opening the gates to welcome the Qi troops.

In just a few short months, Tian Dan recovered over 70 cities lost by the Qi State, welcomed King Xiang of Qi back to Linzi, and restored the Qi State.

For his unparalleled achievements, Tian Dan was enfeoffed as Lord Anping.

Xiang Liang dared not imagine if Tian Dan had elephants at his disposal and used a thousand elephants to charge—the scene would be far more terrifying than a charge of a thousand cattle; the ground would likely shake violently, as if an earthquake were occurring.

The only way Xiang Liang could think of to deal with the elephant herd was to lure them into a valley and use the advantage of the terrain to attack them with fire.

But putting that into practice would be extremely difficult.

How would they lure the enemy?

Would the enemy really walk into their ambush?

If the elephant herd charged outward, who would have any way to stop them!

Xiang Liang shook his head; these elephant troops were truly difficult to deal with.