Chapter 325: Breaking the Pass

As the old saying went:

An army has no constant disposition, just as water has no constant form.

Truthfully, General Zheng’s original target really had been Ming’an City.

He had grown accustomed to running a small business, and that small-minded style could not be changed overnight.

For General Zheng, war had never had much to do with defending the homeland or protecting the state. He did not possess that sort of moral devotion, much less any willingness to exhaust himself unto death out of loyalty to the State of Yan.

Naturally, he did have a favorable impression of Yan.

That much was certain.

But to insist that he would bend himself to the task until his dying breath?

Too much.

Far too much.

So General Zheng fought wars for plunder.

Military merit was used to expand territory.

Wealth, grain, and population were used to strengthen his own power so he could raise more troops.

More troops allowed him to plunder more effectively.

More plunder allowed him to raise still more troops.

It was the same logic as asking a shepherd boy what his dream was, only to hear:

Herd sheep.

Have children.

Herd more sheep.

Have more children.

Ming’an City was the transfer point for the savage plunder market.

One could figure out with the sole of one’s foot how much profit would come from taking it.

While the wealth remained in savage hands, it was the blood, sweat, and tears of the Jin common people.

Once Zheng Fan captured it, it became spoils of war.

Unfortunately, not long after the army departed, Liang Cheng noticed something wrong.

The pursuing force behind them had clearly possessed several opportunities to close the distance and bite into Shengle’s rear.

Yet it never did.

It merely continued pretending to grope its way along their tracks.

At the same time, Xue San and the others roaming beyond the main army sent back word that savage forces on both the eastern and western sides appeared to be moving.

Liang Cheng immediately concluded:

Ming’an City could no longer be attacked.

The original plan had to change.

Continuing to charge forward stubbornly would only end with their heads smashed bloody.

At this moment, in this region, the Shengle Army was the weaker side.

When you were strong, you could naturally lay out the board according to your own intentions.

But when you were weak, you had to dance to the rhythm set by the enemy.

The enemy possessed quite an appetite.

They wanted to swallow the Shengle Army whole.

What else could Zheng Fan do?

Wash himself clean and deliver himself to their dining table.

Jin Shuke and the other two small vanguard detachments were, in truth, merely shadows cast by the main army.

Their task was to manufacture tracks and signs of movement belonging to a large force, guiding the savages into completing exactly the strategic encirclement they wanted to build.

The actual Shengle main force had slipped free long before the encirclement took shape.

Once they had escaped, they still needed something to do.

Zheng Fan looked at the map.

Then he looked around.

One place caught his eye.

Snow Sea Pass!

The savage force originally stationed at Snow Sea Pass had been pulled out to participate in the “encirclement” against him.

And because of that an almost completely hollow Snow Sea Pass appeared directly before Zheng Fan and the Shengle Army.

Zheng Fan splashed cold water over his face.

His entire body felt greasy and uncomfortable.

He desperately wanted a hot bath.

When cavalry went on campaign, there was a principle: remain still and there was nothing.

Move and move like thunder.

When Tian Wujing first opened the Jin campaign, that had been exactly his method.

The elite Zhenbei and Jingnan troops cautiously borrowed a route through the State of Qian and entered Nanmen Pass.

But the moment they reached Jin territory, they fought a thousand li in ten days and settled the entire strategic situation in one stroke.

Zheng Fan had always believed that when it came to commanding troops, Liang Cheng was no worse than the Marquis of Jingnan.

Reality had proven exactly that.

Moving an entire army while successfully “shedding the shell like a golden cicada” was not something an ordinary commander could accomplish.

At least, Zheng Fan felt that if he himself had been commanding this force, they would probably already be surrounded on every side.

Then his subordinates would be shouting for him to escape.

He would shout that if they died, they died together.

His subordinates would continue urging him to go...

The usual cliché.

But now, he could face the distant Snow Sea Pass, undo his belt, and relieve himself in an excellent mood.

By the time he finished and came back, Liang Cheng was already waiting.

The soldiers had not rested well either.

Everyone was exhausted.

But the target was right in front of them.

They only needed one final shiver at the finish line.

Getting back onto their horses and launching another charge should still be manageable.

Xue San returned.

These past several days had truly tormented him.

He had lost weight.

Even his third leg looked as though it had shortened considerably.

“Master, no problems.”

By “no problems,” he meant there was no need even to consider a gate-seizure operation.

They could simply shout “Ura!” and charge.

The Sword Saint walked over to Zheng Fan at that moment.

If they were attacking Snow Sea Pass, then as the Sword Saint of Jin, he naturally intended to stand in the foremost ranks.

Snow Sea Pass meant far too much to the lands of the Three Jin and to the people of Jin.

Whether one later wanted to contend for all beneath Heaven was a matter for later.

Back then, the Marquis of Jin had received enfeoffment in Jin territory from the Great Xia Son of Heaven.

His great task had been to drive out the savages and bring glory to the Xia peoples.

Snow Sea Pass was the symbol that the people of Jin had driven the savages away.

It was a gate.

Inside the gate lay fertile human lands.

Outside lay the bitter cold of the snowfields.

If one wished to put it in more stirring language, then this pass was a monument built by generations of Jin people advancing one after another, generation after generation.

So the Sword Saint volunteering to join the assault force was only natural.

It suited him perfectly.

“There really won’t be a problem?”

Zheng Fan asked again.

This was pure nervousness.

He simply wanted confirmation one more time.

After all, the place before them was Snow Sea Pass.

“Master, there really is no problem,” Xue San said, patting his small chest. “You could even give a pre-battle speech right now.”

The implication was obvious.

*Boss.*

*This matter is basically settled.*

*You can start preparing the speech you’ll use to harvest political capital when the reporters shove their lenses in your face.*

Liang Cheng also said:

“It can be done, Master.”

Since even Liang Cheng was certain the battle posed no problem, Zheng Fan finally relaxed.

As for speeches to someone from later generations who had endured endless long-winded reports full of empty words, they were a form of torture.

But in this age, they were still extremely effective.

More importantly, a speech would allow Zheng Fan to brush another layer of prestige across the army and reinforce his presence.

Under the tireless shaping of the Demon Kings beneath him, General Zheng had already become a kind of spiritual totem for Shengle’s soldiers and common people.

If everyone else had already completed ninety-nine steps for you, do not complain about the effort required to take the hundredth.

Zheng Fan mounted his horse and deliberately rode into the formation.

The moment the soldiers saw General Zheng, excitement appeared across their faces.

But the military order had been to sit and rest.

So no one dared stand or move recklessly.

The Sword Saint looked curiously at Xue San.

“What is he doing?”

“A pre-battle address. Raising morale.”

The Sword Saint gave an “oh,” indicating that he understood.

Still, he turned his head and looked north.

Snow Sea Pass was right there.

Giving a pre-battle speech now was there no risk something might go wrong?

Was no one worried that delay could breed unexpected trouble?

But the Sword Saint was no longer the man he used to be.

Once, he had involved himself in politics.

He had involved himself in military affairs too.

After everything he touched collapsed, he had calmed down and accepted one reality.

Apart from the sword in his hand, there truly was very little else at which he excelled.

Zheng Fan raised his voice.

“Soldiers of Shengle!

“That pass in front of you—

I believe every one of you knows its name!”

Half the barbarian troops who had marched with Shengle had already been dispatched as vanguard forces and had not yet returned.

So the army gathered here now consisted overwhelmingly of soldiers who had once been surrendered troops from Jin.

“That is Snow Sea Pass!

“The mighty fortress the people of Jin built to resist the savages!

“The pride of the lands of the Three Jin!

“The nightmare that has haunted the savages for hundreds of years!

“I, Zheng Fan, am not a man of Jin.

“But I have been to the snowfields.

“I have fought the savages there.

“Those uncivilized bastard curs know neither shame nor propriety.

“They are nothing more than beasts wearing the shape of men!”

Regional prejudice was wrong.

But in this age, standing before a crowd of grunts like these, trying to solemnly lecture them on preserving the distinction between Xia and barbarian and invoking the righteous principles of the *Spring and Autumn Annals* would be like playing a lute to a cow.

Only the most primitive club of regional hatred could make these Jin-born soldiers feel it in their bones.

“But now— they have captured Snow Sea Pass!

“They are sleeping with the women of Jin!

“They are stealing the grain of Jin!

“They are abducting the sons and daughters of Jin!

“I am a Yan man, and even *I* am fucking furious looking at it!

“When all is said and done, eight hundred years ago, we were one family!

“Yan resisted the barbarians!

“Jin drove out the savages!

“When our own people fight one another, that’s brothers shutting the door and arguing over fields and dividing the family estate!

“What the hell does it have to do with the savages?

“They want to stretch a hand in and grab a share too?

“Motherfuckers— do they deserve it?!”

Hearing this, the Sword Saint instinctively murmured:

“Makes sense.”

Xue San chuckled.

“This is called the united front against the savages.”

A’Ming, meanwhile, said:

“This style of speech feels strangely familiar.”

Xue San nodded.

“Master’s imitating that little-mustached dictator’s speech from the Chaplin movie.”

“Oh.

“So that’s it.”

...

“Most of you sitting here were born in Jin.

“So let me say something clearly.

“This war is not the people of Yan fighting the savages.

“It is the people of Yan helping *you people of Jin* fight the savages!

“Snow Sea Pass was lost by the people of Jin!

“The savages were let in by the people of Jin!

“At the Battle of the Wang River, tens of thousands of Yan soldiers died!

“Their corpses covered the river!

“But we Yan people refuse to accept defeat.

“If we lose, then we gather again and come back for another fight!

“What about you people of Jin?

“Is this place your home or not?

“Do the ancestral temples and clan shrines on this land enshrine your ancestors or not?

“A hundred years from now, when you go beneath the Nine Springs, how will you face those ancestors?

“How will you tell them that you failed to protect your own land and allowed it to become pasture for the savages?

“Pick up your sabers!

“Mount your horses!

“Ahead of you—

Snow Sea Pass!

“Take it!

“Prove that Jin blood still runs hot!

“Prove that Jin courage still lives!

“Prove that the men of Jin still have balls between their legs!”

The temperature was about right.

The faces of the Jin soldiers were already twisting with anger.

Even the Sword Saint’s breathing had grown noticeably heavier.

General Zheng slowly released a breath.

It seemed his ability to pump men full of adrenaline had improved considerably.

Zheng Fan drew his saber.

Then he roared:

“SHENGLE ARMY!”

“HERE!”

“HERE!”

“HERE!”

“FOLLOW ME TO THE DEATH!”

“TO THE DEATH!”

“TO THE DEATH!”

“TO THE DEATH!”

The charge began.

Ten thousand horses surged forward at once, murderous momentum rolling with them.

If the Savage King had been standing here and heard Zheng Fan’s pre-battle mobilization, he would probably have immediately regarded Zheng Fan as a kindred spirit.

Both men understood the mysteries of speeches and emotional intoxication.

Both knew exactly how to seize soldiers’ emotions and make men willingly throw their lives away.

After appreciating one another they would probably draw their blades and try to stab each other to death.

Because both would understand perfectly well just how terrifying an opponent like this could be.

From ancient times onward, there had never been any shortage of talented men who knew clever techniques.

But true masters played directly with human hearts.

In any case, Zheng Fan had completely ignited the Shengle Army’s momentum.

Even if a mountain of blades and sea of flames stood before them now, these men would charge straight into it with their eyes open.

The Sword Saint rode as well.

The Sword Saint gripped his sword as well.

And in this moment, he suddenly desperately wanted another night like the slaughter beneath Fengxin’s city tower.

Unfortunately the coming battle was destined to disappoint him.

Because the army charged directly into Snow Sea Pass.

Yes.

Exactly that.

They charged straight inside.

Xue San had returned from reconnaissance earlier and said with complete confidence that there was no problem.

Liang Cheng had given the same guarantee.

Taking the fortress held almost no suspense.

And reality proved them correct.

To the west, Snow Sea Pass connected with a branch of the Tianduan Mountains extending eastward.

To the east lay the open sea.

When people of Jin spoke of Snow Sea Pass, they indeed meant this mighty fortress.

But true military men valued something larger: the entire defensive system centered upon Snow Sea Pass, together with the chain of beacon forts extending for dozens of li along both sides.

That system had locked away the savages’ desire to move south for hundreds of years.

The Shengle Army was now attacking Snow Sea Pass itself.

Broadly speaking, the fortress resembled the Chinese character *hui*—回—a box within a box.

To the north stretched an extremely long horizontal defensive line, somewhat like a Great Wall, linking beacon forts and military camps together.

Snow Sea Pass was not merely that long northern line.

It sat against the southern side of that defensive chain, with three additional sides forming a square fortress.

To strengthen its defenses, the Jin ancestors had extended an additional projection outward on the northern face, making the shape somewhat like a protruding 凸.

For symmetry, the southern side possessed a similar projection.

But when all was said and done, the famed strength of Snow Sea Pass referred primarily to its ability to defend against attacks coming from the northern snowfields, using the entire chain of beacon forts as a layered defensive system.

One also had to remember something else.

When the Jin ancestors built this great pass, they had already expelled the savages from the lands of the Three Jin and driven them back onto the snowfields.

So the fortress only needed to withstand attacks from the north.

As for the south... how could an attack possibly come from the south?

Yet the Shengle Army was attacking precisely from the south.

They were advancing northward.

There were walls.

There were defensive works.

But all of them had been built perfunctorily compared with the layered and heavily reinforced northern side of Snow Sea Pass.

And the most absurd thing the part that made Xue San feel this battle posed almost no challenge whatsoever was that the savages had personally punched several huge holes through the southern wall of Snow Sea Pass.

In other words, the Shengle Army needed no battering ram.

No siege engines.

Not even ladders.

They could simply charge straight through the breaches.

There were two reasons this ridiculous situation had come about.

The first was hatred.

The savages genuinely hated Snow Sea Pass.

For hundreds of years, the fortress had locked them outside and prevented them from taking even one step south.

It was like that episode from the history Zheng Fan knew involving the Second Zhao.

After finally exhausting himself taking Taiyuan, and after suffering so bitterly beneath its walls, he simply destroyed the great city out of spite.

The savages were much the same.

Merely looking at Snow Sea Pass filled them with rage.

If they did not smash part of it down, they could not calm the resentment in their hearts.

The second reason was even simpler.

Moving everything through a single gate was too troublesome.

So they opened several more passages themselves.

They had far too many slaves, goods, and stores of grain to transport into the snowfields.

Those two absurd reasons had created Snow Sea Pass’s current embarrassing state.

In truth, if the Savage King had not later learned what these newly arrived tribes were doing and immediately sent envoys to rebuke and stop them, the savages might already have dismantled the entire fortress.

But even now, those breaches were more than enough for the Shengle Army to charge directly inside.

The savage force originally stationed at Snow Sea Pass had already been transferred out to participate in the “encirclement.”

Fewer than two thousand savage warriors remained inside.

And even those men were scattered throughout the fortress.

By coincidence, a major tribe was currently transporting an enormous number of slaves through the pass and into the snowfields.

Large numbers of savage warriors were needed simply to maintain order and prevent the slaves from escaping.

So only several hundred savage warriors were actually standing guard along the southern wall.

Even the wisest king could not guarantee there were no pig-brained fools beneath him.

This fortress was even easier to take than Mianzhou City had been when General Zheng first began his career.

Back then, General Zheng had possessed only three hundred barbarian soldiers.

Now, he had nearly ten thousand elite cavalry!

The savages had no time to stop them.

The Shengle Army poured directly into the fortress and began killing every savage they encountered.

Unfortunately, there were too many monks and too little porridge.

The soldiers whose blood had been set boiling by General Zheng’s speech charged inside only to discover there were nowhere near enough savages for them to vent their fury upon.

Even the Sword Saint, relying on the fact that Longyuan could fly out and kill at a distance, barely managed to snatch three heads.

Truthfully, compared with the killing beneath Fengxin’s walls that night, the taste was far inferior.

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Shengle’s armored soldiers began searching the entire fortress for savages to kill, like packs of strong men who simply could not be satisfied.

If Liang Cheng had not personally led a force around warning and restraining them, some of the soldiers, their eyes red from killing, might even have hacked down the slaves the savages had captured and imprisoned there.

And those slaves were all people of Jin.

This was the danger of soldiers becoming too fevered with bloodlust.

Fortunately, the situation was brought under control in time.

No tragedy of men slaughtering their own people occurred.

General Zheng himself, meanwhile, was practically an idle spectator.

He had long since climbed onto the wall with A’Ming.

A’Ming held a wineskin and drank one mouthful after another.

Zheng Fan held sunflower seeds and cracked them one by one between his teeth.

Both men were experts at looking perfectly calm and aloof in the middle of tense, violent surroundings.

“A’Ming.

“There are now two roads in front of me.”

“Master, speak.”

“One— we finish the fight and immediately run.”

Zheng Fan pointed beneath his feet.

“Because if we do not run, at least several tens of thousands of savages will soon rush here.

“Once they block us inside, we will not be able to escape.”

North of Snow Sea Pass lay the snowfields.

The savages’ homeland.

“And the other road is not to run?” A’Ming asked.

“Yes.

“We stay.

“We hold this place.”

Zheng Fan turned and looked behind him.

Many newly rescued slaves were crying there.

Farther away, armored Shengle soldiers were still searching for hidden savages to kill.

“If we can hold Snow Sea Pass, then every savage army that invaded south this time not one of them will escape back into the snowfields.”

“Master,” A’Ming said, “truthfully, we do not actually have a choice.”

“Why?”

“Because although the Marquis of Jingnan never assigned us a specific objective and merely used us as a raiding force, if he later learns that we once captured Snow Sea Pass and then simply fought our battle and ran away the Marquis of Jingnan will kill you.”

[End of Chapter 325]