Pacification Commissioner Li pinched a peanut cake in his fingers, crumbs all over his hand. He could neither eat it nor throw it away, and could only stare awkwardly at the military map while listening to Li Si explain Kuiyuan’s terrain.
Li Si leaned over the military map, broke off more than half a piece of peanut cake, and placed it halfway up Yuquan Mountain, west of Kuiyuan. “This is Ant County.”
Then he carefully placed the remaining smaller half at the foot of Yuquan Mountain, in the gap between the slope and the Wen River. “This is the abandoned fortress. There is a tunnel inside the fortress that leads directly to Ant County.”
After that, his slender finger dipped a little water from a teacup and drew two wet paths on the map. “These are the two secret paths behind Ant County. This one goes to Tianmen Pass, and this one goes to Jiao County.”
He then spoke at length about his experiences in Ant County, the abandoned fortress, and Kuiyuan, about Prefect Zhang and Chief Commander Wang’s arrangements, and about Brother Xiao and General She’s joint plan.
Li Gang listened with great concentration, holding the peanut cake in his hand and unknowingly beginning to nibble at it. He was only in his early forties this year, yet his temples and beard had already been worn white. Gradually, golden crumbs covered his black-and-white beard, adding a trace of warmth to his weathered, bitter, and solemn face.
Li Si finished speaking. Li Gang swallowed the last mouthful of peanut crumbs and summarized, “According to what you mean, Kuiyuan City has actually maintained contact with the outside all along, and they have even secretly joined forces with the She family army behind His Majesty’s back, intending to quietly retake Tianmen Pass?”
Li Si nodded. “Brother Xiao told me at the time that roughly ten days later, they would use firelight as a signal at night and attack simultaneously from inside and outside Tianmen Pass. That was a plan from over three months ago. They should have already retaken it by now.”
Li Gang asked, “Who is Brother Xiao?”
Li Si said, “The militia commander of Ant County. Pacification Commissioner just ate his peanut cake.”
Pacification Commissioner Li: “???” Wasn’t it given to me by you?
Li Si explained seriously, “I shared it with Pacification Commissioner from his portion.”
Pacification Commissioner Li: “…”You clearly bought too much and could not carry it all, so you shared it with me!
He was a dignified pacification commissioner, yet somehow he seemed to have received a packet of precious snacks from two little children and inexplicably shouldered the guilt of stealing children’s treats. He held out the oil-paper packet he had been clutching the whole time, signaling that Li Si should just take it back and eat it himself.
Li Si shook his head and did not take it. Instead, he picked up the two small pieces of peanut cake that had been used as markers on the map and stuffed them into his own mouth without wasting a bit.
Li Gang asked again, “But now the letter route between Kuiyuan and the capital has been cut off. How do we confirm that they have already retaken Tianmen Pass, and how do we establish contact with them?”
Li Si: “…”
His puffed cheeks were stuffed with peanut cake, and his pair of dark eyes quietly looked at Pacification Commissioner Li.
Li Gang’s eyes urged him to answer. “???”
Li Si: “…”
Li Gang: “???”
Li Si: “…… Cough! Cough, cough, cough!”
Li Gang: “Hey, hey! How did you choke? Drink some water! I’ll pour water for you! …It was my fault! Eat slowly! Finish eating first, then speak!”
–
Li Gang was a man full of learning, with great ambition and an upright, unyielding temperament. He had only passed the imperial examinations at thirty, and within a couple of years, because he had repeatedly submitted memorials frankly criticizing court affairs, he was demoted several times. Yet because of this, he was also appreciated by discerning men and recommended many times. Only in his early forties had he finally been transferred back to the capital after many twists and turns. Several months earlier, he had still only been Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Ceremonies, in charge of rites and music. When the Xiao bandits invaded, he submitted a memorial analyzing strategies for resisting the enemy, and was immediately promoted in succession by the two Emperors—not because they truly valued him, but mainly because “if you can do it, then you do it”—and in the blink of an eye, he successively became Vice Minister of War, Right Assistant Director of the Secretariat, and Defense Commander of the Capital’s Four Western Walls.
The titles sounded impressive, but in truth, he had no real authority. He was used and discarded by His Majesty at will, and now, after being made Pacification Commissioner of Hebei and Hedong, he had been hurriedly kicked out of the capital.
Now he led twenty thousand new soldiers who lacked armor and food, without even half a horse among them, and when he requested military pay from the court, less than one-tenth of it actually reached his hands. Originally, he had wanted to wait for a few more days in the outskirts of the capital, until more grain, pay, and equipment were prepared, before setting out north. But the peace faction in court impeached him on a large scale, saying that he was afraid to go out and had delayed the military opportunity, demanding that His Majesty punish him. His Majesty also urged him on endlessly.
At the end of the fifth month, on the very day Li Si arrived at the camp, Li Gang had no choice but to pack up his baggage. The “army” set out and hurried north.
–
At this time, there were no Xiao troops occupying the Yellow River, so the army no longer needed to make a detour through the Western Capital as Li Si had when he went north in the first month. Instead, they went directly north, crossed the Yellow River, passed through Jincheng, and entered a basin between the Taihang Mountains and the Taiyue Mountains.
—This place was called Longde Prefecture, a prefectural city about the same size as Kuiyuan.
Longde Prefecture was similar to Kuiyuan Prefecture. It was located in a river valley basin, and its products were relatively abundant. Li Gang therefore stopped in Longde and temporarily reorganized the army there, purchasing military grain nearby, forging weapons, and training the new troops.
Under his command, there was now one new instructor. Although this instructor was young, he was skilled at training soldiers, and his methods were ruthless. All day long, he wore a cold little handsome face and said nothing, but whenever there were new soldiers who violated military discipline and refused instruction, the little instructor would raise his horsewhip and give their backsides a proper thrashing.
In half a month, he forcibly propped this group of muddy new soldiers into something that barely resembled human shape—at the very least, they knew to obey military orders and would not flee at the mere sound of the wind, and their use of saber and bow also barely looked presentable.
But Pacification Commissioner Li could not stay here for too long. The court once again urged him to go north, forcing him like ducks onto a perch to hurry and lead this makeshift troupe to fight a decisive battle against the Xiao army. Li Gang could only lead the military grain and equipment he had hastily scraped together—less than half of what was needed—and this weak new army that had only just learned how to swing sabers, and continue north.
–
Pacification Commissioner Li led the army through the Taihang Mountains. The hardship and exhaustion along the way will be set aside for now.
Now let us return to the other side of those towering mountains, to that tiny, insignificant mountain city unknown to the court and to His Majesty.
Ever since the second day of the second month, when he had sent Sisi away, Zhang San had been bitterly holding out here for four months.
Not long after Sisi left, he followed the plan and cooperated with the She family army from within and without, smoothly retaking Tianmen Pass.
But from then on, the war situation fell into a stalemate.
On Xuan’s side, the She family army only had enough troops to defend Tianmen Pass to the death and had no strength to leave the pass alone and aid Kuiyuan. News came that the court intended to go back on its decision and support the three towns again, and this news reached the She family army, who then passed it on to Ant County and Kuiyuan, seeming to kindle some hope once more. But the rumored reinforcements were all routed one after another before they ever reached Kuiyuan, without even the slightest shadow of them appearing.
On the Xiao army’s side, although they occupied Jiao County south of Kuiyuan, because both Kuiyuan and Tianmen Pass were under Xuan army control, they worried that their rear would be harassed and did not dare drive straight south to attack Fenzhou. In spring and summer, with grass growing and orioles flying, it was the season for the grasslands to pasture horses and sheep and recover strength, making it inconvenient to launch large-scale war, so the situation temporarily came to a halt.
Thus, the two sides remained locked in stalemate for four months.
During these four months, the Xiao army’s main force was not idle either. Aside from beating back several Xuan reinforcement forces, they also attacked Kuiyuan City several times—though they could not enter the city, they intended to continue wearing down the city’s weapons and morale.
The Xiao army’s western camp also gained one persistent task—attacking Ant County.
The Xiao army’s commander-in-chief did not know about Ant County’s secret tunnel. He had merely learned that the western camp had sent one thousand men to attack an insignificant little county, only to return in crushing defeat, with even the minor leader’s head cut off by the little county’s defenders. Although such a nameless little city seemed to have no strategic value at all, even less than a chicken rib, tasteless to eat and no pity to throw away, losing an officer and one thousand troops over it was still like a fishbone lodged in the throat, truly humiliating.
The commander-in-chief therefore ordered the western camp commander to recover the face he had lost himself. A tiny mountain city—go take it down yourself!
So the western camp organized troops again and went to dig at that mountain hollow a few more times. The first few times, it was still only several hundred or one thousand men, and they were still beaten until they fled in utter disgrace. Later, they threw themselves into it with all their might, organizing a full three thousand troops and swearing to raze that broken little city—whose residents might not even number three thousand—to the ground completely.
Three thousand troops hollowed out the western camp’s main force and marched out of camp with grand momentum. They walked twenty li and arrived at the Wen River. Before they could even build a bridge and cross the river, the soldiers left behind to guard the western camp came chasing after them in complete panic—bad news! That crafty Chief Commander Wang in Kuiyuan City saw the large army to the west leave camp, led cavalry out, and slaughtered the western camp again! He seized a great heap of grain, grass, warhorses, and live lambs, then set a fire before leaving and burned all the tents to nothing!
That very night, Kuiyuan City held a grand feast for the troops, and the whole army received an extra meal of mutton. Wang Xu wrote the delicious taste of the grassland’s fat sheep into his letter, making Commander Zhang so greedy his heart and lungs itched.
–
Wang Xu may have eaten a meal of fat sheep, but things were not easy on Commander Zhang’s side.
This western camp commander was far more experienced and steady than his predecessor, whose throat had been pierced by one of Li Si’s arrows. He knew that if he returned now with his tail between his legs and no achievement to show, facing that camp burned into charcoal ash, he would probably be fed a full meal of military lashes, and might even lose his head. So he simply staked everything on one throw and set up camp right on the eastern bank of the Wen River, determined to break Ant County before going back.
The three thousand troops camped along the river and built a temporary wooden bridge, transporting proper siege equipment—goose carts, wooden donkeys, scaling ladders, and so on—across the river, then panting and grunting as they carried them up the mountain.
For some reason, the Xuan troops hiding inside the mountain city seemed to have grown eyes. They knew perfectly well when the Xiao army set up camp and when they moved supplies up the mountain. The Xuan troops had built ladder-bridges on the inner side of the rockfall, directly using the fallen rocks as their first defensive line. When the Xiao army dismantled the siege equipment on the spot beneath the rockfall and tried to carry it across the fallen stones, the Xuan troops suddenly popped up from the top of the rock pile, fired a volley of arrows that shot down a great mass of Xiao soldiers, then threw down dozens of oil bladders and lit them with fire arrows, burning the dismantled siege equipment clean away.
The Xiao army abandoned their helmets and armor and fled back down the mountain in a sorry state, driven back by the flames. Zhang San personally led troops over the rockfall and carried every bit of armor, weapons, and supplies the Xiao army had left behind back into the city.
–
Late at night, Zhang San remained in the side courtyard of the county yamen, watching over the clerks as they counted the supplies. Chen Lu wrote down numbers with flying strokes while listening to the Commander sigh. “How come there isn’t a single sheep? They only brought this dry, shriveled jerky.”
Chen Lu wrote as quickly as his brush could move, not even lifting his head. “Commander, who brings live sheep up a mountain to fight a battle? Having jerky to eat is already good enough. You’ve worked hard all day. Go rest early.”
The Commander chewed on jerky, his empty gaze fixed on the corner of the wall, and stopped moving entirely.
Chen Lu secretly glanced at him and, long used to it, sighed inwardly.
Ever since that day when the Commander and Envoy Li had parted with tears, the Commander’s whole person seemed to have split in two. One half was the wise, mighty Commander Zhang, training troops, defending the city, handling all the miscellaneous affairs in the county… every matter was done calmly, steadily, and in perfect order. As for the other half, it had flown away with Envoy Li, leaving only an empty shell without a soul. Whenever official business was done, he would stare blankly at the sky, clouds, wall corners, or tree branches. Sometimes, while speaking or eating, he would simply freeze like this.
Elder Brother Zhou Qi from the sentry tower came running over in a hurry. Chen Lu shot him a look, and Zhou Qi quickly took a glance—sure enough, the Boss had gone blank again!
Zhou Qi strode forward and, long used to it, shook the Commander hard. “Boss! Hurry and call your soul back! County Commandant Liu sent me to find you! Something bad has happened!”
Zhang San’s soul was forcibly shaken back. Ever since he had become this Commander, every day was something bad has happened, so he sighed calmly. “What is it this time?”
Zhou Qi grabbed him up. “I’ll tell you while we walk!”
–
The two of them left the county yamen and mounted their horses. Zhou Qi had long been galloping about delivering messages, and by now, he rode a horse in fairly decent form. The two of them rode clattering along the stone-paved road, reached the drill ground, and then went through the tunnel down to the earthen fort.
Younger Brother Zhou Ba was standing guard beside the sentry tower. He came forward and hurriedly said in a low voice, “Boss, the Xiao army discovered our earthen fortress tonight. County Commandant Liu is now leading men and guarding inside the Seven-Star Formation.”
Zhang San went up the sentry tower and leaned between the newly repaired parapets to look outside. Beyond the layered maze of earthen walls in the Seven-Star Formation, the Xiao army had lit several hundred torches outside, illuminating the whole riverbank. The man at the head of them, judging by his attire, should be none other than the western camp commander.
That commander had failed before he had even achieved anything during the day, not even touching Ant County’s city gates before he was once again burned into fleeing in utter disgrace halfway up the mountain path. He was so furious he could not sleep that night, so with his personal guards, he came out himself to stroll along the river. Unexpectedly, he discovered a hidden and strange fortress by the riverside. It looked like a silent, deserted abandoned fortress, yet the high earthen walls on the riverbank also looked newly built.
The commander had sent more than a dozen men into the maze one after another to explore, and they vanished without a sound—Liu Wu had long been stationed in the earthen fortress with some soldiers. Seeing that the situation was wrong, he quickly sent Zhou Qi to notify Zhang San, while he himself led men to wait in the dark inside the maze, cutting the throats of however many people came in, all without a sound.
Knowing there was something strange in the maze, the commander called a halt to the exploration, ordered men to guard the maze entrance, then rode his horse around the outer perimeter of the earthen walls to observe.
–
Zhang San lurked in the darkness, looking down from above as he quietly watched the commander pacing back and forth on horseback.
The distance between them was about two hundred meters, and it was the deep of night with wind blowing hard. He did not feel very confident and could only take the risk. In a low voice, he said, “Bring me a longbow.”
A subordinate brought over a heavy long-siyah bow made of tang wood, along with a bag of heavy arrows. Zhang San rose and leaned out over the parapet, drawing the bow and pulling the string. He sensed that although this bow was not bad, it did not bear as much draw weight as Wang Xu’s Golden Crow Bow, and an ominous feeling rose in his heart.
But there was no other way. If he stayed turtled up and did nothing at this moment, letting that commander leave safely and bring troops to attack tomorrow, that would be truly disastrous.
If Sisi were here…
Zhang San’s gaze went blank again for an instant, but fortunately, it was only for an instant. When the night wind blew over him, he instantly came awake.
He furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth, his gaze sharpening, and the feathered arrow left the string.
–
The western camp commander was holding a torch and looking up at the earthen walls with a face full of suspicion when suddenly, an arrow flew down from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, it shot him off his horse.
The personal guards around him swarmed forward, voices clamoring, mixed with a chaotic burst of horse neighs.
Zhang San frowned and tried to distinguish carefully, but he could not see whether the commander was dead or alive. Suddenly, Zhou Ba beside him cried out softly in alarm, “Boss, I saw him! He’s still alive!”
Following the direction of his finger, Zhang San looked toward the brightest part of the firelight. Sure enough, he vaguely saw the commander being supported out by everyone. The flying arrow seemed to have only struck the man’s shoulder, and his steps were smooth; he was clearly still able to walk steadily on his own. His personal guards protected him, fleeing like smoke toward the camp on the other side of the river.
Zhang San lowered the bow and gave a long sigh.
“Call County Commandant Liu and the others back. Hurry and get some rest. Prepare for battle tomorrow.”
–
At noon the next day, the Xiao army indeed gathered the remaining siege equipment and attacked the earthen fort.
The western camp commander had injured one arm and no longer personally charged at the front. Instead, he withdrew far to the second line to command. Having learned from his setback, he did not order his men to tangle with the Seven-Star Formation again. He brought out the force used to attack Kuiyuan City, sending out a siege battering cart and a stone-throwing machine, and they quickly smashed and collapsed the layered earthen walls of the maze. The goose carts wrapped in cowhide and the scaling ladders all advanced fiercely through the rain of arrows, and in the end, they were set up against the walls of the earthen fort.
After going through untold hardship to reach the base of the wall, they thought they would still encounter attacks from falling stones and fire arrows, but all the figures atop the earthen fort suddenly vanished, and not the slightest sound remained.
The commander suspected a trick and sent a death squad to climb the scaling ladders up to the fortress gate.
Before long, the death-squad soldiers all poked their heads out from the fort wall, waving to signal that there was no enemy situation at all. They then opened the heavy fortress gate and let the main army enter.
The commander still suspected a trick and sent several hundred soldiers inside, while he himself remained withdrawn on the riverbank.
The Xiao soldiers poked their heads around as they entered the earthen fortress, patrolling both above and below it, but did not see even a trace of Xuan troops. Growing bolder, they walked into the tunnel. Seeing that the halls and chambers inside were spacious, they were all astonished by the ingenious structure within the fortress, and began feeling around and investigating everywhere…
Bang!!! Rumble—!!!
–
A tremendous roar shook the entire Wen River valley. Even Kuiyuan City twenty li away could faintly hear the sound.
Wang Xu, who was at the western city gate, trotted all the way up the city tower and looked far into the distance, seeing rolling black smoke beneath Yuquan Mountain.
After less than half an incense stick, Chief Commander Wang also arrived hurriedly on horseback. Father and son leaned against the railing and looked out, seeing that even the sky in the distance had been dyed gray, with thick smoke lingering for a long time without dispersing.
Wang Xu sighed in a daze. “That little bastard couldn’t have blown up the whole mountain, could he?”
Chief Commander Wang said, “At most, he could have gotten some Heaven-Shaking Thunder bombs from the She family army. Where would he get such great ability?”
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