In the first year of Yong'an (304), during the scorching heat of July, the weather was unbearably hot and stifling.
Donghai Prince Sima Yue had suddenly reduced the frequency of his meetings.
What's more, he often took his advisors out of the city to enjoy the mountains and rivers, composing poems and verses.
In the capital, gatherings and elegant assemblies began to emerge, with many poems and verses being widely circulated.
Upon closer inspection, the authors were either famous scholars from Luoyang or advisors from Prince Yue's court.
Shi Chao, who had stayed behind in Luoyang, heard about this and secretly sneered.
Sima Yue, is this all you're capable of?
Thus, he felt even more at ease staying in the Golden Valley Garden.
And let me tell you, living in the mountains during the summer was truly comfortable.
On the fifth day of the seventh month, the central army of Luoyang and the army of the Donghai Kingdom once again left the city for drills.
This wasn't unusual.
Over the past few months, they had been regularly leaving the city, as there wasn't enough open space within the city for their drills.
Mi Huang, Shao Xun, and others arrived at Mang Mountain and conducted their drills as usual for a day.
The next day, the entire army packed up and returned to Luoyang.
Mi Huang was now in charge of Luoyang's defense.
According to the plan, the troops under the command of Sili Xiaowei Man Fen and the imperial guard general Miao Yuan were to be under his command.
The former had three thousand men, mostly newly recruited, while the latter had only two thousand, also newly recruited, and were currently being trained with the help of retired imperial guard veterans.
Including the Donghai army, the total force defending Luoyang was eight thousand strong.
Shao Xun didn't believe that Mi Huang could truly command the troops of Man Fen and Miao Yuan, but given the circumstances, they had to do their best.
He had already thought through various plans.
At the beginning of the Si hour (around 9-11 AM), the Donghai Kingdom's army was nearing the Great Summer Gate.
With the help of Chen Yougen, Shao Xun donned his armor.
He looked at the 230 well-armored warriors standing behind him and said nothing.
The war had already begun.
According to the Grand Commandant's plan, the generals would each lead their troops to launch a surprise attack on Shi Chao's forces.
Among them, General Gou Xi would lead six thousand imperial guards to attack the Golden Valley Garden.
The best outcome would be to kill Shi Chao.
If he escaped, they would pursue him with cavalry, preventing him from returning to Luoyang.
With the main commander absent, the soldiers would naturally be disheartened.
Rumors would spread, and everyone would feel like they had been left behind as cannon fodder, losing all will to fight.
Moreover, these Ye troops, who had been guarding the twelve city gates for half a year, had become lax in discipline, focusing only on extortion and corruption.
They were ripe for a surprise attack.
Wang Hu, who had once defected to Ye, would also "return to righteousness."
For the sake of secrecy, Wang Hu had not yet announced this to his more than eight thousand soldiers, only mentioning it to a few trusted generals.
This was enough.
Once the surprise attack began, as former imperial guards and the strongest force Shi Chao had left in Luoyang, even if they didn't turn against him and just stood by, doing nothing, it would be enough to fundamentally change the situation.
The task of the three thousand Donghai Kingdom troops was to attack the Great Summer Gate.
During the previous day's drills, Mi Huang had ordered the selection of two hundred of the bravest and most skilled soldiers from the entire army.
They were fully armored and armed to the teeth, all under the command of Commandant Sima Shao Xun, to lead the charge as the vanguard.
The remaining two thousand or so would follow, waiting for the vanguard to disorient the enemy before charging in and defeating them—given their level of training, they were about on par with the Ye troops and could only do this much.
Mi Huang had initially wanted the entire army to charge together.
But Shao Xun didn't trust the overall combat effectiveness of the Donghai Kingdom's army and insisted on selecting the elite to act as the spearhead, clearing the way before the main force could join the fight.
Most of the elite came from the lower army, with fifty or sixty selected from the upper army's Donghai veterans, totaling two hundred.
Shao Xun gave them a name: the Assault Generals.
The name "Assault Generals" originally came from Zhuge Liang's "Later Memorial on the Expedition": "Since I arrived in Hanzhong, it has only been a year, yet we have lost Zhao Yun, Yang Qun, Ma Yu, Yan Zhi, Ding Li, Bai Shou, Liu He, Deng Tong, and more than seventy other commanders and officers, as well as over a thousand assault generals, fearless soldiers, Cong elders, Qing Qiang, and cavalry..."
It was essentially a military designation, meaning a force that breaks through enemy lines.
When Mi Huang heard the name, his eyes widened.
Young Master Shao, was this a slip of the tongue or intentional?
Shao Xun, of course, didn't have any thoughts like "I, the new era's investment target, hurry up and send money."
He simply thought the name sounded good and borrowed it without a second thought.
The previous day, the two hundred Assault Generals and thirty instructors had conducted multiple drills.
By now, their weapons were sharpened, their bowstrings taut, and all were fully armored.
Before setting out, each had drunk a bowl of wine to ensure their courage would be doubled during the assault—ensuring they were already fired up for the charge.
"Today, we charge, and there is only death," Shao Xun said after donning his armor, turning to face the men.
"As always, if a soldier flees, the squad leader will execute him; if the squad leader flees, the platoon leader will execute him; if the platoon leader flees, the company commander will execute him; if the company commander flees, I will personally execute him. If I flee, you all will immediately behead me."
"Yes!" the men replied in unison, their voices low.
They were no more than twenty paces from the Great Summer Gate, where the gate guards were impatiently urging them to hurry into the city.
Shao Xun gave them a cruel glance.
That damn feeling was back.
The heavy sword was eager, craving blood.
The born killer could barely suppress his inner desire.
If he couldn't vent it on women, he would relieve it through slaughter.
I am a natural-born bloodthirsty maniac!
"Assault Generals, where are you?" Shao Xun stood at the front, raising his heavy sword and shouting.
"The Assault Generals are here!" Over two hundred men drew their weapons and responded in unison.
This seemed to be the signal for the surprise attack.
Chen Yougen led thirty men forward, firing a volley of crossbow bolts.
Li Zhong also led over forty archers, positioned on both sides, drawing their bows and nocking arrows.
Caught off guard, the Ye troops, who had been waiting to extort merchants and commoners, fell in droves, screaming in agony.
"Kill!" Over two hundred men surged forward, charging straight for the Great Summer Gate.
Chen Yougen and the instructors abandoned their crossbows, wielding heavy swords as they charged into the gate tunnel.
Shao Xun led the two hundred Assault Generals to the right, charging towards a camp overgrown with moss and hung with drying clothes.
The camp's drawbridge was down, with only three or five soldiers resting in the shade by the moat gate.
When they saw a large group of armored soldiers charging across the drawbridge into the camp, they were stunned.
No one paid them any mind, as long as they didn't seek death.
Shao Xun, clad in golden armor, charged into a group of a dozen patrolling Ye troops, swinging his heavy sword and cutting them down.
Amidst the rain of blood, arms, heads, and legs fell to the ground.
He was like a human weapon, relying on the superior protection of the emperor's bestowed armor, wielding his heavy sword with wide, sweeping strokes.
Once he closed in on the spearmen, none could withstand him.
The Assault Generals were greatly inspired, wielding spears, axes, hand halberds, and ring-pommel swords, following Shao Xun and scattering one enemy formation after another.
From the various barracks, people began to pour out, only to be met with arrows from Li Zhong's archers.
The arrows flew through the air, easily piercing unarmored bodies and eliciting screams.
Li Zhong, a veteran of the Luoyang central army, knew how to fight.
His eyes scanned the chaotic battlefield, shooting wherever he saw a concentration of enemies.
Just exiting the barracks? Shoot! Make them hesitate to come out.
Running around in chaos? Shoot! Drive them in another direction, preventing groups from gathering and gaining the courage to resist.
Someone trying to beat the drum to rally troops? Shoot!
Someone shouting to gather scattered soldiers? Shoot!
Having such a clear-headed subordinate with battlefield awareness was truly rare.
He really knew what to do and how to coordinate with his comrades.
But the enemy was numerous, and they only had forty or so archers.
After the initial advantage and inflicting heavy casualties, they were soon discovered.
Even enemy archers returned fire, causing some casualties among their own.
"Assault Generals, where are you?" Shao Xun shouted after beheading an officer and climbing onto a supply cart.
His golden armor gleamed in the sunlight, making him easy to spot.
"The Assault Generals are here!" The men easily spotted Sima Shao and responded, then moved towards him, reforming their somewhat scattered formation.
"Kill!" Shao Xun leapt down from the cart, his sword pointing the way to attack.
There was a reason for wearing golden armor.
Such flashy equipment made him an easy target for arrows on the battlefield, but it also made him easy for his own troops to spot, a double-edged sword.
The moment he climbed onto the cart, several arrows flew towards him.
He dodged one, deflected another, and one struck his armor.
It didn't penetrate deeply, just a flesh wound, but it hurt, infuriating him as he charged towards the enemy archers.
"Die!" With his golden armor absorbing the blows, he swung his heavy sword, charging into a group of enemy spearmen.
"Thud! Thud!" With left and right strikes, two headless bodies collapsed to the ground.
The spearmen retreated, trying to create distance to use their spears effectively.
But once a swordsman closed in, did they really think they could escape?
"Thud!" The heavy sword struck an officer's neck, and as Shao Xun pulled it sideways, the sound of the blade cutting through flesh and bone could almost be heard.
"Ah!" The officer's body crumpled to the ground, not yet dead, his hands instinctively clutching the wound to stop the blood, but the more he pressed, the more it gushed...
"Whoosh!" Another arrow struck Shao Xun's shoulder.
Damn it!
Furious, Shao Xun killed another man with his sword and then chased after the archer.
The archer panicked, wanting to shoot but seemingly too late.
The golden-armored warrior was too ferocious, covered in blood, and wherever he went, limbs and heads flew.
Hesitating for a moment, the archer didn't have enough time to nock another arrow, so he turned and ran.
"Dare to run?" Shao Xun gave chase.
An enemy soldier instinctively swung his ring-pommel sword at the golden armor.
Shao Xun kicked him aside and continued the pursuit.
Another spearman stepped forward, seemingly trying to protect the archer.
Shao Xun dodged the thrust and swung his sword diagonally, sending a head flying.
Without even armor, you dare to block me?
"Thud, thud..."
His boots splashed through the blood as he closed in on the archer.
The archer was still running, not daring to look back.
"Bang!" Another man blocked the path, and Shao Xun simply shoved him aside.
The archer had reached a corner with nowhere to go, turning around in despair.
"Die!" Shao Xun grinned ferociously, swinging his heavy sword down.
The archer tried to dodge but had his arm severed at the elbow.
"Ah!" he screamed in agony.
"Can you still shoot arrows?" Shao Xun laughed maniacally, pulling the arrow the archer had shot at him from his shoulder and thrusting it into the archer's gaping mouth.
The scream was cut short.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Even in the chaos and bloodshed of the battlefield, such brutal and ruthless killing left many in shock.
He had only shot one arrow, and now he was chased to a corner and brutally killed.
Should we avoid him?
(End of Chapter)