Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 30

The retreat could not be stopped.

Shan Ping and the other Qin generals all said: "Our numbers are many while theirs are few. It would be better to block them at the riverbank so they cannot land; this is the only way to ensure total safety."

Fu Jian replied: "Let them cross only halfway. I will then use our iron cavalry Heavily armored shock cavalry, a specialty of the northern nomadic-influenced states to press down upon them and slaughter them. There is no way we shall not be victorious!"

Cases where the same strategy leads to different outcomes of victory and defeat are all of this kind.

Fu Rong also agreed with this. He then signaled the troops to pull back. However, once the Qin soldiers began to retreat, the movement became a rout and could not be stopped. Xie Xuan and his commanders led their troops across the water and attacked them. Fu Rong rode swiftly through the ranks, intending to reorganize those who were withdrawing, but his horse stumbled and fell. He was killed by Jin soldiers, and the Qin army subsequently collapsed. The retreat turned into a panic when someone in the back shouted, "The Qin army is defeated!" causing a mass stampede.

On the first day of the first month, Fu Pi, the Duke of Changle, held a grand gathering for his guests. He invited Murong Nong, but could not find him. He then sensed that a change was occurring and sent men out in all directions to search for him. He eventually learned that Nong was in Lieren and had already raised an army in revolt.

Murong Chui declared himself the King of Yan. Leading a host of more than two hundred thousand, he crossed the Yellow River from Shimen and marched his cavalry toward Ye. Meanwhile, Nong also pressed the residents of Lieren into service as soldiers and sent Zhao Qiu to persuade the butchers and the people of the east... This marks the beginning of the collapse of the Former Qin Empire, as the Murong clan of the former Yan state took advantage of the defeat at Fei River to reclaim their independence.