Chapter 687: Guo Has Been Waiting Here for Quite Some Time

Those around Luo Zhao could only sigh. They were still immersed in the bad news, still finding it difficult to believe that the river-defense line had been broken so easily.

Luo Zhao paced in troubled thought, unable to disperse the gloom accumulating in his chest.

A tremendous variable.

He knew he might now be facing a tremendous variable.

For the moment, Song still held an absolute advantage. Even with the river defenses breached, Yan's army remained trapped in a desperate situation. By all reason, defeating Yan should not have been difficult at all.

Yet Meng Shanming had shattered the river-defense line in one stroke, and that feat had left a shadow in Luo Zhao's heart that he could not erase.

The true problem was Meng Shanming himself.

If that man could turn the impossible into the possible and break the river defenses in a single stroke, who dared guarantee he could not reverse another hopeless situation?

"Yan has Shanming; Qi has Wuhen..."

As he paced, Luo Zhao raised his face toward Heaven and sighed again.

He remembered the outrageously rude white horse he had sent Meng Shanming.

He also remembered Meng Shanming's reply: if the opportunity came, he would certainly return the courtesy with a generous gift.

Luo Zhao was beginning to regret it.

Not that he regretted the insult itself. That had simply been a provocation meant to lure Meng Shanming into pursuing him. Meng Shanming had merely refused to take the bait.

What Luo Zhao regretted was driving his main army so deeply into Yan. He should have remained and faced Meng Shanming personally.

But who could have imagined the river-defense line would fall so quickly?

From Luo Zhao's position at the time, this had been a war to destroy Yan. He had been obliged to seize the greatest possible benefit for Song. Spending too much strength fighting Meng Shanming head-on would have been unwise and would merely have benefited Han.

Song needed to preserve enough military strength to compete with Han afterward for Yan's territory.

Yet now the situation had changed.

Luo Zhao could not personally command the fighting along the river in time. He genuinely worried whether Wu Qunlie could match Meng Shanming.

Wu Qunlie still possessed an overwhelming advantage in strength.

Even so, Luo Zhao no longer felt the slightest certainty.

More troublesome still was the imperial court behind him.

When a commander kept winning, almost anything he said could be justified. One sentence—"You do not understand warfare"—could silence many people.

But once he suffered a defeat, the people at court could pick out countless supposed mistakes. Even things they had praised before could suddenly be declared wrong...

Luo Zhao's new strategic order had only just been sent when another great battle erupted around the Hukou defensive line.

Killing cries shook the sky.

Liao Nanqing's three hundred thousand Qingqu troops joined with Xu Laiping's one hundred thirty thousand surviving troops and attacked together, assaulting at any cost.

Zhang Hu's forces, which had only recently captured Hukou, retreated.

The defensive line Yan had only just seized was taken back by Song.

During the retreat, one of Zhang Hu's subordinates could not help complaining.

"Grand General, we did not even exert ourselves fully. Losing the Hukou defensive line like this feels far too unjust."

"What are you babbling about?" Zhang Hu barked. "If I tell you to retreat, then retreat. Where do all these useless words come from?"

Then he issued another order.

"The army stops here. Rest and reorganize briefly."

He had barely jumped down from his horse when Gong Lince dismounted as well and walked over.

"This place is not far from the enemy. If you halt now, are you not afraid they will pursue?"

"Pursue?" Zhang Hu gave a disdainful snort. "They finally managed to seize the Hukou defensive line again. Does Sect Leader Gong think they still dare abandon it?"

"They will not dare split off troops to chase us."

"The Hukou defensive line is a pit Marshal Meng dug for them. Once they have fallen into Marshal Meng's pit, do they still think they can climb back out?"

Gong Lince looked thoughtful.

"So this is what Marshal Meng meant by 'Defeat is allowed. Victory is not'?"

Zhang Hu nodded.

"This Song force has already been nailed to the Hukou defensive line. They are turtles in a jar!"

"Oh?" Gong Lince said. "When do we move to take them?"

"No hurry. Let them enjoy themselves for a while first."

"Do they really think Marshal Meng's advantage is so easy to take?"

As for the details, Zhang Hu still refused to explain.

He would only reveal what had already been accomplished.

But since he plainly knew what he was doing, Gong Lince did not ask any further.

...

The Hukou defensive line was a scene of devastation.

Broken walls and ruins lay everywhere, and flames still burned in many places.

Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping inspected the wreckage and discovered that Yan's army had left them nothing.

Anything that could not be carried away had been burned or destroyed. Not even a single building remained where they could properly shelter.

Their troops had been rushing against time and traveling light. They had brought almost no baggage.

Now, in the rainy season, more than four hundred thousand men might have to eat the wind and sleep beneath the open sky.

Still more troublesome was that Yan's army had not withdrawn far.

Small detachments repeatedly returned to harass them.

The purpose was obvious.

The enemy knew Liao and Xu did not dare abandon the defensive line to pursue far, so they kept harassing them over and over, denying their exhausted troops any chance to rest.

The moment Song sent men after them, the raiders fled.

The pursuers, in turn, did not dare chase too far for fear of being surrounded and annihilated by Yan's main force.

...

"Victory report! Victory report!"

At the headquarters of the River Defense Governor-General, a young officer ran at full speed into the Hall of River Pacification with a victory report in hand.

Wu Qunlie, whose eyes were bloodshot from staying awake, shot up from behind his desk with an intensely expectant look.

Before all the gathered generals, the young officer presented the report with both hands.

"General Liao and General Xu have joined forces and retaken the Hukou defensive line in one stroke!"

"Ah!"

The generals in the hall immediately erupted in delighted noise.

Wu Qunlie snatched the report and read it.

Then he exclaimed, "Good! Very good!"

He raised the report for everyone to see.

"According to the two generals, Yan had only a little over two hundred thousand men remaining, so they could not withstand our offensive and Hukou was retaken in a single attack."

"It seems Zhang Hu's losses during the river-crossing battle were even worse than we estimated. He did not lose merely two hundred thousand. His losses were probably greater than three hundred thousand!"

He tossed the report to the officers for them to pass around.

After reading it, one general said, "Under those conditions, forcing a river crossing using nothing but crude wooden rafts was bound to produce terrible casualties."

Another said, "This also shows that Xu Laiping truly did everything he could at the time."

A third frowned.

"Yan destroyed every defensive installation along the river. Once Xu Jingyue arrives and begins crossing, while Zhang Hu's remnants attack from behind, General Liao and General Xu may have difficulty holding against an attack from both sides."

The hall fell quiet.

That truly was a serious problem.

Zhang Hu's remaining troops would certainly not allow Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping enough time to gather materials and rebuild the river-defense works. They would keep harassing the position so as to support Xu Jingyue's crossing.

After a brief silence, Wu Qunlie said, "For now, all we can do is order General Liao and General Xu to hold at any cost. I will transfer another four hundred thousand troops to reinforce them."

Another officer reminded him, "The army marched here in haste and brought very little baggage or grain. The soldiers are carrying only two days of rations. Supplies for Hukou must be sent forward as quickly as possible."

One general said, "The supplies will arrive soon. The moment the Qingqu troops departed, the grain and fodder were dispatched behind them."

Wu Qunlie said gravely, "Tell General Liao and General Xu to keep a close eye on Zhang Hu's troops and guard against any attempt to seize the grain."

"The moment the provisions arrive, they are to send part of their forces out to receive and escort them."

"Tell them they need only hold for several days. My four hundred thousand reinforcements will reach them by then."

...

Across the river from Hukou, Xu Jingyue's force arrived in haste and immediately began preparing wooden rafts for the crossing.

While Xu Jingyue was inspecting the riverbank, a message from Zhang Hu arrived.

It ordered him to suspend the crossing for now.

He was merely to make preparations and wait for notification from Zhang Hu before actually crossing.

The deputy general beside Xu Jingyue read the message and frowned.

"We finally captured the Hukou defensive line, yet now we have lost it again. This is exactly when we should cross while Song's troops have not yet established themselves and attack them from both sides."

"Are we supposed to wait until they rebuild the defenses before attacking?"

"What exactly is Marshal Meng doing?"

Xu Jingyue gazed across the river and said slowly, "Marshal Meng never acts without purpose. He must have made other arrangements."

"We need only obey orders."

...

Outside Jiangxia County, a grain convoy stretched like a long dragon through the mountain country, escorted by twenty thousand troops.

As they approached a forested area, several cultivators scouting ahead came flying back at speed.

They gave an urgent warning.

"Retreat immediately! A great army is lying in ambush inside the forest!"

Even as they spoke, the mournful blare of ox-horn bugles sounded from the woods ahead.

Countless troops surged from the trees and charged straight toward the convoy.

"Retreat!"

The officer escorting the grain shouted in alarm.

The convoy tried to turn around in haste.

But with so many carts and so much baggage, how could they possibly escape quickly?

The escorting troops immediately formed a rear guard to protect the withdrawal.

As the two armies confronted one another, Guo Xianfu rode out from among his troops with a spear in hand.

He displayed himself boldly before the formation and called out, "Marshal Meng knew the reinforcements would be rushing ahead and their baggage would have to follow behind."

"I, Guo, have been waiting here for quite some time!"

"Lay down your weapons and surrender, and your lives will be spared!"

So much for Zhang Hu having only a little over two hundred thousand men remaining.

The one hundred thousand troops Guo Xianfu had led toward the grain depot had failed to seize it. He had immediately marched through the night in secret to Jiangxia County and hidden along the route the grain convoy had no choice but to take.

Zhang Hu's preparations had been made long beforehand.

By fixing their eyes only on the troops openly visible around Zhang Hu, Liao Nanqing and Xu Laiping had already overlooked the true danger.

The Song troops ignored the demand and refused to surrender.

Instead, the grain convoy commander ordered the provisions destroyed.

Soldiers immediately began slashing open grain sacks, intending to scatter the contents into the muddy ground.

Guo Xianfu's eyes nearly split with fury.

Grain was now the lifeblood of Yan's army. Otherwise, why would he have gone to such lengths?

He roared, "Kill!"

Killing cries instantly shook the Jiangxia plain as the two forces collided.

One hundred thousand elite Yan troops against twenty thousand grain escorts.

The outcome was not difficult to predict.

The latter suffered a crushing defeat. After leaving piles of corpses behind, several thousand grain troops scattered and fled in every direction.

Nearly all the ten days of provisions prepared for Qingqu's three hundred thousand reinforcements fell into Guo Xianfu's hands.

After a brief reorganization, he began withdrawing with the captured grain.

At the same time, a Goldenwing shot into the sky and raced toward Zhang Hu with the urgent report.

The grain was in their hands.

...

Inside the headquarters of the River Defense Governor-General, voices filled the Hall of River Pacification.

A new strategic order from Grand Commander-in-Chief Luo Zhao had arrived, instructing the river-defense forces to abandon the defensive line and execute his new strategy.

"To simply abandon the river defenses now would be a great pity."

"My lord, the Grand Commander-in-Chief does not know the latest battlefield situation here. He does not yet know that we have retaken Hukou. If he knew, he certainly would not still order us to abandon the line."

"Why not wait until the Grand Commander-in-Chief receives our battle report and sends revised instructions?"

"Exactly. It is our duty to keep the war beyond the state's borders. Once the main battlefield moves inside Great Song, it will be the common people of Song who suffer."

Faced with a chorus of objections, Wu Qunlie sat behind his desk staring at the new order laid before him.

He hesitated.

Just then an urgent cry came from outside.

"Report!"

A young officer hurried in.

"My lord, the grain being sent to the Hukou defensive line was seized in Jiangxia County!"

Wu Qunlie shot to his feet.

"Who seized it?"

The officer answered, "Guo Xianfu, Left Commander of Zhang Hu's central command, personally led one hundred thousand men in an ambush at Jiangxia County and seized the grain!"

"Zhang Hu still had one hundred thousand men hidden at Jiangxia County?"

Wu Qunlie was greatly shocked.

Only now did he finally realize he had fallen into a trap.

The Hukou defensive line had not been retaken because Yan lacked troops to hold it.

Yan had feigned defeat and deliberately handed Hukou back to Song, forcing Song to continue sending grain toward the front.

Every general in the hall rose in alarm.

They finally understood the seriousness of the situation.

No one had expected the enemy to circle through such an elaborate scheme, even using the hard-won Hukou defensive line as bait, all merely to seize this amount of grain.

To Song, perhaps it was not much.

To Yan, in truth, it was not much either.

Ten days of grain for three hundred thousand men amounted to only one day's full ration for three million men.

But Meng Shanming's army was desperately short of provisions.

With some careful management—thin gruel in ordinary times, solid food before battle—the grain meant for three hundred thousand men over ten days could still keep three million men going for several days.

[End of Chapter 687]