levied from the conquered northern territories, along with cavalry drawn from the nomadic peoples of the north (the Xianbei and Xiongnu). Most men had little or no loyalty to the Former Qin, and many were forced to join or joined only because of military rations and pay. Many battalions had problems following orders as instructed by their commanding officers. Fu was warned of the poor training of his heterogeneous army, but instead chose to rely on the vast number of men that made up the army, saying, "My army is so huge that if all the men throw their whips into the Yangtze, its flow will be stopped," (投鞭断流) Jin Army Xie Xuan's Beifu army was drawn from the militarized settlements of powerful local families, with officers bringing along their own hereditary troops. This army underwent significant training and could be considered a professional military unit. Battle In October 383, the Former Qin forces under Fu Rong captured the important Jin city of Shouyang (壽陽, in modern Lu'an, Anhui). Fu Jiān, seeing the possibility of achieving a quick victory, left his main force at Xiangcheng and led 8,000 light cavalry to rendezvous with Fu Rong. Fu Jiān sent captured Jin official Zhu Xu as a messenger to try to persuade Xie Shi to surrender. Instead, Zhu tipped off Xie Shi to the fact that the entire Former Qin force had not yet arrived and that he should try to defeat the advanced Former Qin forces to cripple the Former Qin's campaign. At Zhu's suggestion, Xie Xuan and Liu Laozhi (劉牢之) led 5,000 elite troops to engage the advanced Former Qin force, scoring a devastating victory, killing 15,000 men. Afterwards, Jin troops were lined up in a wide formation to give the illusion that the Jin forces could match Former Qin's manpower. Because of the early minor defeats and the Jin formation, Fu Jiān overestimated the amount of Jin forces. In November 383, the Former Qin troops set up camp west of the Fei River. The Jin forces stopped east of the Fei and could not advance. Xie Xuan sent a messenger to Fu Rong, suggesting that the Former Qin forces retreat slightly west to allow Jin troops to cross the Fei River so that the two armies could engage. Most Former Qin generals opposed that plan, since maneuvering such a large army in that manner was too complicated for the