After realizing there might be a hole at Matou City, and doing what he could about it, Liu Cheng turned his attention back to the Bian River before him.
There was no time to save it now anyway.
His task now was to buy time and wait for the weather. Once it rained, if Murong Chui dared not withdraw, he would dare send troops out through the Bian River's tributaries and swallow him whole. And if Murong Chui withdrew, he would dare proclaim a "great victory"!
Who wasn't an expert in the art of winning?
Still, with the experience of the earlier fighting, this General of the Guards understood that the greatest taboo in holding a position firmly was to defend passively, to cling to it blindly.
Even defense had to be dynamic: using attack as defense, repeatedly provoking battles to goad and harass the enemy. If they did nothing, the surface might seem calm, but the enemy could easily find a weakness, and would have ample energy and time to deploy and organize.
The fighting on the river continued to escalate. After the Jin Army coated camp palisades in mud and erected them aboard their boats, the Yan Army soon found a counter. They began using grappling hooks and ropes, tools most commonly used to scale walls, which the Jin Army had first used to tear apart floating bridges. Now they were being turned back on the boats.
Without any hesitation, the Jin Army immediately began issuing large sabers specifically for cutting the ropes.
But the soldiers aboard soon discovered something interesting: when the enemy hauled on the boats in a contest of strength with the helmsmen, the Yan soldiers exposed along the bank were practically ideal targets.
Many archers and crossbowmen aboard were reluctant to end these contests,