Chapter 708: The Song Army Withdraws

Familiar roads. The road home.

Luo Zhao sat on horseback with a gloomy face, unusually silent.

He had come in high spirits, carrying the ambition to win unparalleled merit for Song, with the bearing of a man ready to ask who among all under Heaven could truly be called a hero.

He had crossed the Dongyu River smoothly and advanced like splitting bamboo. Everything had unfolded within his expectations. But from the moment Meng Shanming formally assumed command and began the eastern campaign, everything changed. His soaring ambitions had been beaten down again and again. Now he was not merely returning without merit; dark clouds had gathered over his future as well.

He knew someone was waiting for him. The man he had never fought head-on was waiting for him. Meng Shanming was waiting.

Luo Zhao had withdrawn, but not because he had received an imperial decree ordering him to do so.

After the first attack on the city failed, he sensed something was wrong. When the second forced assault also failed, he did not lose his reason. He immediately recognized that Yanjing, which he had originally considered unable to withstand a single blow, had erupted with tremendous determination to resist and had gathered formidable manpower and resources for the defense. It could not be taken in a short period of time.

Two assaults? No, there had been three. The vanguard had made one forced attack at the very beginning.

Across those three assaults, one hundred and eighty thousand sons of Song had died.

They had fallen while climbing Yanjing's towering walls, their blood staining every inch of earth beneath those walls red.

With the forces in his hands, Luo Zhao knew that if he kept attacking, he would take the city sooner or later.

But he no longer dared keep grinding away. First, he could not afford the time. Second, his troops could not endure the losses. Even if he eventually took Yanjing, who knew how many of Song's three million men would remain to return home? And on the road back, someone was waiting for him. Meng Shanming was waiting.

Only after the fighting reached this point did Luo Zhao suddenly wake to something. He seemed to understand why Meng Shanming had buried those six hundred thousand prisoners alive.

Leaving every other reason aside, Meng Shanming had deliberately enraged the Song army and provoked its desire for revenge. Looked at from the other side, he had also terrified everyone in Yanjing into fighting desperately, forcing both sides to batter themselves against one another so that Song's strength would be consumed in great quantities.

Meng Shanming had used the lives of six hundred thousand men to turn Yanjing into bait, consuming Song's time, Song's provisions, and Song's troops.

When a weakened Song army finally appeared before Meng Shanming, the thought of what would follow made Luo Zhao shudder.

That old man had gone mad. He had disregarded the infamy that would stain his name for a lifetime, buried six hundred thousand prisoners alive without hesitation, and ignored whether everyone in Yanjing lived or died, all for the sake of defeating the Song army and preserving Yan.

The instant Luo Zhao saw through Meng Shanming's intent, how could he possibly dare continue the attack? He decisively ordered the army to withdraw.

"Escorting" the Song army on its departure were Shang Chaozong's one hundred thousand cavalry. Every rider carried several days of dry rations, repeatedly cycling back to the rear to replenish supplies.

Unlike when they had "escorted" the Song army toward Yanjing and had not laid a finger on them, the Nanzhou cavalry now launched attacks again and again of their own accord.

The hundred thousand cavalry moved like the wind around the Song army. Whenever they found an opportunity, they struck. The moment the situation turned unfavorable, they withdrew at once and never allowed themselves to become entangled.

This only confirmed Meng Shanming's intentions more firmly in Luo Zhao's mind. Nanzhou's forces had indeed been prepared specifically for his withdrawal, meant to delay and wear him down.

At the same time, Shang Chaozong sent orders to the various prefectures and provinces along the route, once again organizing manpower to destroy the roads the Song army would use in retreat, doing everything possible to delay and exhaust them.

Whenever the terrain offered a suitable opportunity, the Nanzhou cavalry would even launch a genuine, ferocious assault, as if to tell the Song army: We are not merely harassing you. At any moment, we may come for real.

The Song army understood what the Nanzhou troops were trying to do, but it still had no choice but to guard against them.

The constant harassment was a headache beyond words. An army of two or three million retreating over a long distance stretched out like an enormous dragon. It could not withdraw as a single compact mass, nor were there roads broad enough to allow that. So the Nanzhou cavalry kept striking without warning, cutting through from the left one moment and the right the next, then fleeing as soon as they had hit.

No one knew where they would suddenly attack or when they would choose to strike.

They were not greedy either. Each time, they killed several hundred or perhaps a thousand men and then ran, taking a few more bites only when the opportunity was right. The casualties from any single attack were not large, but over such a long journey the total could never remain small. Worse still, they kept the Song troops in a state of constant alarm, unable even to sleep peacefully.

Two legs could not outrun four, especially with so many men on the march. There was simply no way to shake them off.

Once, the harassment became so intolerable that the Song army finally organized cavalry to pursue them. The pursuing cavalry was lured away from the main force, whereupon Nanzhou's riders suddenly wheeled around and counterattacked. The Song cavalry was nearly annihilated. Only several hundred riders escaped back. They were simply no match for Nanzhou's cavalry.

Shang Chaozong also repeatedly created the appearance that he intended to attack the grain convoys, forcing Song to concentrate large numbers of cultivators around its provisions. In reality, Shang Chaozong never touched the grain train even once. But who could know whether he might suddenly do so? Song had no choice but to gather cultivator strength and reinforce the escorts.

Dachan Mountain paid dearly for carrying out this harassment mission as well.

The Song army was not made of clay. When the accompanying cultivators were enraged enough to pursue, Dachan Mountain had to cover the retreat, and the casualties it suffered were by no means light.

For Nanzhou's hundred thousand cavalry, the men themselves were not the problem. On a harassment campaign over such long distances, keeping their warhorses in fighting condition was another enormous test.

"Grand Commander-in-Chief, His Majesty's decree has arrived. You are ordered to cease the attack on Yanjing immediately and withdraw the army at once!" Wen You called as he urged his horse up beside Luo Zhao, having taken the decree from a young officer and read it.

Luo Zhao accepted the decree and read it for confirmation. He remained silent, thinking for a moment.

He did not know why His Majesty had suddenly issued such an order, nor whether the emperor had also seen through Meng Shanming's intentions.

Luo Zhao had already sent word to the Song capital that he had ordered the withdrawal. He estimated that not long after the decree had been dispatched, the capital must already have received his message.

He tossed the decree to Su Yuanbai and the others to read, still without saying a word. Looking around, he saw that the morale of the Song troops was low.

They had marched such a long distance back and forth, endured enormous hardship, paid a heavy price, and were now returning with nothing to show for it. How could morale possibly be high?

...

"Your Majesty, the Song army has withdrawn. They truly have withdrawn."

Inside the Imperial Study, Tian Yu hurried in with the joyful report.

"They truly withdrew?" Shang Jianxiong asked from behind the desk, still sounding doubtful. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles beneath them, and he looked utterly haggard.

These past days had felt like years.

Tong Mo, Shang Yongzhong, and Gao Jiancheng looked little better. All three were equally exhausted. Chairs had even been specially placed for them inside the Imperial Study. By now, they sat there "chatting" with Shang Jianxiong, a privilege they had never previously enjoyed, when they could sit and converse with the emperor at any time.

Rooms had also been prepared for the three men beside the Imperial Study, with palace eunuchs attending to them.

Tian Yu nodded excitedly. "It has been confirmed, and confirmed repeatedly. The Song army is already eight hundred li from the capital. At that distance, it should not be a feint. They should not turn back easily. They really should be withdrawing!"

"Hah..." Shang Jianxiong slowly rose and let out a long breath, then sank back into his chair as though a great burden had finally been lifted. Overcome with emotion, he said, "They truly withdrew. The soldiers and people of Yanjing gave everything they had, and at last we have preserved the foundations handed down by our ancestors. Otherwise, how could I ever have faced the emperors of generations past?"

The three ministers also relaxed, though Shang Yongzhong looked puzzled. "Luo Zhao still has more than enough strength in his hands. He came all this distance, attacked only a few times, and then withdrew. Why do I feel something is not right?"

Gao Jiancheng hesitated. "Meng Shanming is burning, killing, and plundering inside Song and has even massacred several cities in succession. Could the pressure he created on Luo Zhao have become so great that Luo Zhao had no choice but to retreat?"

The men looked at one another and all felt it was possible.

Tong Mo suddenly asked, "What about Shang Chaozong? Is he still leading his men after the Song army?"

Tian Yu inclined himself slightly. "Yes. According to our scouts, Prince Yong has shown no courtesy at all this time. He has repeatedly launched harassment attacks on the Song army along the road and even fought them head-on once."

Tong Mo snorted coldly. "When the city was fighting desperately and it was time for him to attack, there was no response. Now that the Song army has lost the will to fight, he puts on a show. His intentions are damnable!"

Gao Jiancheng and Shang Yongzhong instinctively glanced at one another. Both felt that Tong Mo was twisting right and wrong. When Luo Zhao's three million troops were massed outside Yanjing with their siege equipment deployed, no matter how capable Shang Chaozong's hundred thousand cavalry were, they could not possibly have charged in recklessly. And when the Song vanguard had attacked, Shang Chaozong had indeed launched an assault and contributed to the defense.

But when the two men raised their eyes and saw the look of bitter agreement on Shang Jianxiong's face, they understood perfectly well and did not argue with Tong Mo. They both knew how deeply Tong Mo hated Prince Ning's line.

"In any case, Yanjing has been held. That was entirely thanks to the soldiers giving their lives!" Shang Jianxiong rose again as he spoke, all the anxiety gone from his face. "The soldiers and the people gave everything they had. I will not treat them poorly. Draft a plan for rewarding the troops. As for the common people... give them money and grain. One gold coin per person and ten days of rations per person, calculated by head across the entire population of the city. Those who took part in defending the city receive double. Those who rendered distinguished service in the defense are to receive additional rewards..."

As Shang Jianxiong continued at length, Gao Jiancheng silently calculated. In addition to the grain seized this time, the court had previously hidden away a vast sum of money. It would be more than enough to cover His Majesty's present rewards for winning back popular support.

There was one thing Gao Jiancheng had to admire about Tong Mo. Whenever the court found itself in financial straits, Tong Mo always managed to resolve the problem. Somehow, he could always produce money and grain. In that respect, Gao Jiancheng admitted he was inferior.

...

Stationed inside the palace, Meng Xuan sat cross-legged in meditation atop the high pavilion. He opened his eyes after receiving essentially the same news as Shang Jianxiong.

"He said we would need to hold for seven or eight days. How long has it been, and the Song army has already withdrawn? Marshal Meng truly does read a battlefield like a god. He is worthy of being a famed general whose name shakes all under Heaven. Looking at it now, his strategy of refusing to reinforce Yanjing was correct." Meng Xuan stood, walked to the railing, and sighed with his hands clasped behind his back.

The Elder standing beside him said, "Indeed. I have more and more confidence in the rest of his grand strategy."

Meng Xuan nodded. "Shang Chaozong has also begun harrying the Song army all along the road. Meng Shanming's intention is to cripple Song's main force. It looks as though that army can forget about returning to Song smoothly. To fight a war to this point without supplies from the court has truly not been easy for them."

The Elder beside him nodded slightly.

The senior leadership of the three major sects knew Meng Shanming's grand strategy, but it was a matter of the highest secrecy. They had concealed it from Shang Jianxiong and the others all along, and there was no way to tell them. The three major sects could hardly admit that they were sacrificing Shang Jianxiong's interests and those of his faction in order to protect their own.

Fortunately, Yanjing had survived.

[End of Chapter 708]