Chapter 303: The Waves Wash Away (II)

After the First Prince entered Yingdu and the war entered a new stage, the atmosphere within the left-wing army remained tense.

Just in the process of rectifying military discipline, three Assistant Generals and nine Garrison Commanders were executed.

The First Prince completely abandoned the gentleness he had shown during the march.

Holding the Son of Heaven’s Sword, he personally supervised the executions.

After that, he even beheaded a Chief Commander on the charge of refusing military orders.

True, a Chief Commander from a regional military establishment could not compare in status or authority with a Chief Commander of the Zhenbei Army or Jingnan Army.

But a Chief Commander was still a Chief Commander.

And the First Prince killed him just like that.

Several hundred others were implicated and sent into penal battalions to repair roads and build bridges.

Only then did the various military bosses within the left-wing army finally wake up.

The First Prince truly had the blood of the Ji Clan flowing through him.

The Ji Clan’s ruthlessness was not directed only at foreign enemies.

A century ago, generation after generation of Ji emperors had succeeded their fathers, personally led expeditions into the desert, and fought there themselves.

For a very long time, Great Yan barely needed to worry about the financial burden of supporting an enormous imperial clan.

The sons of the Ji family lived and died on battlefields.

Very few returned alive.

And inwardly, the Ji Clan could be just as ruthless.

The present Emperor had trampled the great clans beneath cavalry hooves and sent heads rolling across the ground.

Century-old aristocratic houses?

Scholarly great clans?

He uprooted them completely.

The Crown Prince’s maternal clan, the maternal clans of other imperial princes—

His Majesty had ordered several of them exterminated as well.

Deng Jiuru was not a fool.

He came from a hereditary military clan.

The fact that he could become head of the Deng Clan already proved his ability.

But people changed according to circumstances and position.

And humans found it almost impossible to avoid that secret feeling of self-importance:

*Perhaps I will be the exception.*

At the beginning, that feeling had made Deng Jiuru float a little too high.

The First Prince did not move against him.

Because just as the First Prince began preparing to straighten out the left-wing army, Deng Jiuru smelled something unusual in the air and panicked immediately.

The old general stripped naked, knelt outside the First Prince’s command tent, held a leather whip in both hands, and begged the First Prince to punish him.

There was not the slightest trace left of the old rogue who had once feigned madness and issued vanguard officers in the First Prince’s name to extort grain and laborers from local garrisons.

At first, others assumed the old general was staging a retreat in order to advance, trying to pressure the First Prince through self-humiliation.

But Deng Jiuru went even farther.

When the First Prince came out smiling and asked, “General, have you perhaps misunderstood Wujiang?”

the old general shaved off his own beard and hair.

It was a declaration that he had lowered his head and accepted guilt.

He had thrown his own face into the mud and stamped on it repeatedly.

Almost nothing could have been more decisive or severe.

And precisely because Deng Jiuru surrendered so completely, the First Prince’s purge of the left-wing army caused no backlash.

The Yan army preserved its internal unity in the face of the external enemy.

Those who understood politics, or who merely watched the matter from the opposite bank, could not help sighing afterward.

The Deng Clan had survived the Emperor’s trampling of the great houses for a reason.

Their ability to smell rain beneath a clear sky was genuinely impressive.

At the same time, many people could not help feeling puzzled.

For great families, development of the clan and marriage ties with the imperial house had traditionally been one of the best ways to guarantee future wealth and safety.

So why, under the present dynasty, had marriage into the imperial family somehow become a death warrant?

The rectification of the left-wing army produced obvious results.

Under the First Prince’s thunderous pressure, the left-wing army truly became an obedient child.

And as the new phase of the campaign unfolded, every level of the army carried out every command issued from headquarters with complete diligence.

So yes killing people could not completely solve a problem.

But it could make that problem far less necessary to solve.

...

At this moment, Deng Jiuru had just received a report inside the left-wing command tent.

One formation that had originally been responsible for a feint had found enough boats and unexpectedly crossed the river before anyone else.

Even more astonishingly, the rebel force stationed on the opposite bank had surrendered.

It was as though the gates of the Wang River defensive line had simply swung open and invited them through.

But Deng Jiuru did not immediately order a full advance.

On one hand, he continued reinforcing the forces on the eastern bank, while ordering those already across to build fortified camps and consolidate their position.

At the same time, he detached troops to scout the surrounding area across the river.

On the other hand, he immediately dispatched a messenger to the central command with a full report for the First Prince.

This was not because the First Prince’s bloody discipline had frightened Deng Jiuru so badly that he no longer dared make battlefield decisions.

He was an experienced veteran.

The head of the Deng Clan.

How could such a man have survived this long without genuine ability?

His caution now came from a veteran commander’s instinct.

Everything had gone a little too smoothly.

Smoothly enough to make the old general uneasy.

Of course, an extraordinary opportunity had opened in front of him.

If the left-wing army could pry open the entire battlefield in one stroke and seize the foremost merit of the campaign, it would be enormously important for a force currently in such an awkward political position.

But no matter what, the central army had to be informed first.

And if possible, he wanted support from the central command.

Reports continued arriving from across the river.

Batch after batch of armored soldiers and warhorses were ferried over.

The fortified encampment on the eastern bank continued taking shape.

Scout reports returned one after another.

No sign of an enemy ambush had been discovered nearby.

Several Chief Commanders and Assistant Generals under Deng Jiuru repeatedly requested permission to attack.

If they did not seize the opportunity to rip the breach wide open, then once the savages reacted and sent a force to plug the gap, everyone would be dragged back into another stalemate.

But Deng Jiuru still refused to issue an order for a large-scale crossing.

Every time his subordinates asked, he answered with only one word:

“Wait!”

...

“Your Highness, Great Yan’s soldiers truly are not accustomed to fighting on water,” Li Fusheng said.

Ahead of them, another round of attacks had just ended.

The Yan soldiers who forced their way across had failed to establish themselves on the opposite bank and had once again been driven back.

The First Prince nodded.

“Fortunately, neither the savages nor those rebels understand naval warfare either.”

“Indeed.”

Neither commander displayed any particular frustration over the failure.

The present stalemate on the main front had only one real purpose: to keep the rebels and savages focused on them.

The true decisive method was for cavalry detachments numbering a few hundred men to secretly cross elsewhere.

Once enough holes were eaten through the entire defensive line, it would naturally collapse with a push.

The Wang River stretched for such an enormous distance.

How could the enemy possibly guard every section?

It would be excessive to say victory was already assured.

But the broader situation still clearly favored Yan.

There was no reason to panic.

“The savages have not committed their full strength,” Li Fusheng said.

“Looks like they intend to keep themselves ready to withdraw at any time.”

“Yes.

“That is also why the rebel army on the far bank is losing morale more and more quickly.

“Wear them down for another ten days at most, and they should collapse on their own.”

“Ten days.

“A little long.”

“No matter.

“We can afford to wait.”

“REPORT!”

At that moment, a messenger from the left-wing army delivered Deng Jiuru’s battlefield report.

The First Prince opened it.

His brows immediately furrowed.

Then he handed it to Li Fusheng.

“Heh.

“That old fellow actually succeeded over there?

“Wait.

“Could it be a trap?”

The First Prince shook his head.

“Deng Jiuru still knows how to fight.

“He has not underestimated the enemy or rushed forward blindly.”

“If that’s the case, Your Highness, then perhaps we do not need to wait those ten days.”

The First Prince clasped his hands behind his back.

He said nothing.

An enormous breach had opened in front of him.

Did he take it?

Or not?

Advancing steadily and fighting methodically had been his established strategy.

Since beginning the expedition, he had followed that strategy all the way here.

But if he watched an opportunity like this slide away in front of his eyes, that would no longer be caution.

It would be stupidity.

“Your Highness,” Li Fusheng said, “once Deng Jiuru’s men are across, even if the savages want to drive them back into the river, they probably cannot do it quickly, can they?”

The First Prince remained silent.

Soon, a second and third report arrived from the left wing.

The situation across the Wang River had become increasingly clear.

No enemy ambushes had been discovered nearby.

And truthfully, even if there *were* ambush troops, the combat strength of the Yan left-wing army should still be enough to withstand them.

The regional troops might not be as strong as the Zhenbei Army or Jingnan Army, but they still fought beneath the Black Dragon Banner.

Their morale was not poor.

After several engagements during the campaign, everyone also had a fairly clear understanding of the savages’ and rebels’ combat ability.

The commanders had already formed a rough comparison of numbers and quality in their minds.

Military intelligence burned like fire.

The First Prince understood that he did not have much room left for endless thought and calculation.

Besides, war was ultimately different from playing chess.

However slowly you moved, however cautious and experienced you were, in the end, you still had to use a blade to cut through your opponent’s throat.

Blood would still splash across your body.

That was a fundamental nature of war that could never change.

Expecting the entire campaign to remain lukewarm and controlled from beginning to end had never been realistic.

The First Prince drew a deep breath.

Then he ordered, “Command Deng Jiuru to cross the river.

“Order Li Bao’s forces on the main front to organize another crossing attack.

“I want every enemy soldier around Yupan City pinned in place.

“Li Fusheng!”

“This general is here!”

“You will lead ten thousand iron cavalry to the left wing and support them.

“At the same time, order the right-wing army in the rear to shift toward the left-wing army.

“Press the Dacheng forces forward as well.

“Have them make a feigned crossing farther downstream!”

“This general obeys!”

The right-wing army was not large.

It had been formed primarily around Imperial Guard troops and had previously remained behind as the rear army.

Now, once the First Prince had decided to move, there could be no more hesitation.

Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit.

Today, he would smash the entire Wang River defensive line apart in one blow.

“And find a way to contact every detachment that has already crossed secretly.

“Order them to move ahead of schedule!”

“Yes!”

...

The moment Deng Jiuru received the First Prince’s order, he slammed one hand onto the table.

Then he drew his saber and chopped the command table in half.

Bald-headed and clean-shaven, the old general roared almost like a beast:

“Cross the river!

“Cross the river!

“Whether my left-wing army— whether all the military houses of Great Yan can still stand straight-backed in the future depends on today!

“Gentlemen!

“Bring out everything you have!

“Bring out your blood courage!

“Tell the sons beneath you to stop staring all day at the Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army, envying how they eat well and drink well!

“If they call themselves men, then today I give them their chance!

“Let them use the sabers in their own hands to prove to the world—

Great Yan does not have only the Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army capable of fighting!

Every army of Great Yan is made of tigers!”

“This general obeys!”

“This general obeys!”

Very quickly, every available ferryboat and pontoon bridge was pushed into maximum use.

Armored soldiers and warhorses streamed continuously toward the eastern bank.

For additional security, Deng Jiuru himself crossed early.

So did his command banner.

It was planted directly in the middle of the military camp still being constructed.

There was no need to move recklessly.

Nor did he intend to.

As long as his army locked this position down, his mission was already complete.

Once across the river, some impatient commanders immediately began wanting more.

They requested permission to lead their own troops deeper into the surrounding region.

Some even shouted that they were willing to serve as vanguard and strike directly at Yupan City.

But the old general remained unmoved.

He understood one thing clearly.

Right now, his greatest merit would be making no mistake at all.

If the First Prince had marched through the entire campaign as steadily as an old dog, then Deng Jiuru at this moment had become something even more authentic an old dog steadier than an old dog.

...

A tributary of the Wang River flowed directly into Yupan City.

Much like Shangjing, the city possessed a waterway running through its interior.

At this moment, a small boat drifted along the river.

Originally, it had been a pleasure boat belonging to a flower house.

In peaceful years, the women of Yupan City’s pleasure quarters would sing and dance aboard such boats to attract guests.

Naturally, anyone wishing to come aboard first had to pay a very expensive “tea fee.”

Now, no one knew which household had seized the flower house’s former owner and made her somebody’s plaything.

The pleasure boat itself had become quiet.

The life and color of earlier years were gone.

“I’ve long heard that among all the lands of the Three Jin, Yupan was the most romantic and refined.

“Who would have imagined it would fall into such a state?”

A young man stood at the bow.

Looking at the desolation around him, he could not help sighing.

Beside him sat a middle-aged man with long hair and brocade robes.

His face was smooth as jade.

Simply sitting there, he naturally radiated an elegant, unrestrained charm.

At that moment, Savage King Gou Moli emerged from inside the pleasure boat.

He walked onto the deck, then bent at the waist before the young man with extreme respect.

“As long as the fighting ends, two or three years will be enough.

“The songs will return.

“There will be people dancing again.

“The old scenery will still look like the old scenery.

“When that day comes, Little Dog will invite Young Master here once more.

“You can listen again to the crisp sound of raindrops falling upon the jade platter.”

The young man turned curiously toward the Savage King.

“You really are fascinating.

“You’re the mighty overlord of the snowfields, yet you insist on lowering yourself and acting like some servile little thing.

“What is it?

“Have you become addicted to this game?

“Does looking at the person in front of you like he’s a pig make you especially happy?”

As he spoke, the young man pointed back toward Yupan City.

“Those two idiots are still drinking themselves senseless, living by ‘wine today, drunk today.’

“Heh.

“Didn’t you fool them so badly they can barely walk straight anymore?”

With the Yan people entering the game and fierce fighting continuing along the Wang River defensive line, Situ Yi and Situ Jiong had already begun abandoning themselves to despair.

They believed the greater situation could no longer be reversed.

“Listen to you, Young Master.

“Little Dog has admired the civilizations of Xia for many years.

“As a barbarian from beyond civilization, isn’t it only natural that I should feel inferior?

“As for some king this, overlord that— before a noble person like you, aren’t those just titles children use while playing house?

“How could I possibly take them seriously?

“How could I possibly put on airs?

“At most, Little Dog is nothing but a wild cur.

“Even standing before a noble person, I worry I might dirty your eyes.

“I’m trembling inside as we speak.”

“Enough.

“I’m not wasting more breath trading nonsense with you.

“They should have crossed by now, yes?

“Heh.

“The people of Qian are always calling the Yan people ‘Yan dogs.’

“This time, I want to see whether your wild dog can bite those Yan dogs to death.”

The Savage King immediately slapped his chest.

With utter confidence, he declared, “Just watch!

“Woof! Woof!”

The elegant long-haired man sitting nearby immediately burst out laughing.

Even he could not keep from being amused by the Savage King’s complete lack of shame.

“Interesting.

“Very interesting indeed.”

The man pointed at Gou Moli.

“You.

“You truly are interesting.”

The Savage King immediately turned toward him.

“So long as Senior finds me interesting, that’s enough.

“I heard that years ago, Senior forged Longyuan for the Sword Saint...”

“What?

“You want one too?”

“How could I?

“How could I?

“For a lowly person like me, how could I deserve a sword forged by your hands?

“But if Senior happens to have some scrap iron or leftover bits lying around and feels generous enough to toss Little Dog a blade, Little Dog would already be so grateful I’d weep.

“You have no idea.

“If that bunch under me learns I received a reward from you, their eyes will shine.

“They’ll flatter me half to death, all hoping they can get their hands on the divine weapon Senior bestowed.”

The Swordsmith of Chu shook his head.

“You do not need a sword anymore.”

“Hm?

“Why not?”

The Swordsmith of Chu chuckled.

“Because you already have all the *jian* you need— just the cheap-and-shameless kind, not the sword kind.”

[End of Chapter 303]