Chapter 330: Bearing the Banner

What kind of office was a “Generalissimo”?

Jin Shuke had no idea.

He had heard of Five-Man Leaders, Centurions, and Thousand-Man Commanders, but he truly had never heard of an office called “Generalissimo.”

Faced with the First Prince’s question, Jin Shuke could only shake his head.

“Honored sir, I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?”

“No. Sometimes General Zheng and Mr. Bei really do say things I can’t understand. But I’m certain those words must contain profound meaning. I simply haven’t comprehended it yet.

“For example, after we took Fengxin City, Third Master was talking with Lord Li and said Situ Yi was practically a ‘Transportation Corps Commander.’

“There really was a great deal of good stuff stored inside the city.”

“Transportation Corps Commander and Generalissimo... both sound like official positions, don’t they?”

“They probably are, honored sir.”

“That Generalissimo sounds like someone who frequently forged imperial decrees. And since Situ Yi was compared to a Transportation Corps Commander, those two ‘commanders’ probably weren’t particularly respectable figures.”

“Yes.”

“Forget it. If I get the chance later, I’ll ask General Zheng himself.

“Jin Shuke, we should go.”

“Yes.”

“If we return alive from this mission, come serve under me in the future.

“My Princess Consort is the daughter of the Barbarian King.”

My wife is the Barbarian King’s daughter.

That makes me the son-in-law of your barbarian people.

In the First Prince’s view, that identity should naturally give him an advantage when attracting barbarians into his service.

Jin Shuke, however, suddenly looked blank.

“The wind’s too strong, honored sir.

“What did you just say?”

...

The savages moved faster than expected.

Late on the second night after the night raid, scout riders reported that a large body of savage cavalry had already appeared along the southern approaches to Snow Sea Pass.

After making a rough estimate of the enemy’s numbers, Liang Cheng immediately ordered all outer scouts back inside the fortress to avoid unnecessary losses.

A night raid was the sort of trick you could use once.

The savages were not fools.

They would not give you chance after chance to humiliate them with the same method.

More importantly, there were simply too many of them now.

Trying another night attack could very easily end with the raiders burying themselves inside the enemy camp.

When the moment called for aggression, you had to be aggressive.

When it was time to turtle up, you had to turtle properly.

The number of soldiers patrolling the walls was doubled.

Whatever trick you yourself excelled at most was exactly the trick you had to guard against most carefully.

The Shengle Army loved “special troops seize the city” tactics.

So vigilance had to be increased.

Losing Snow Sea Pass was, to the savages, like having someone step on their balls with a leather boot.

At a moment like this, they would be willing to try almost anything as long as it gave them a chance to quickly retake the pass.

As for the majority of soldiers, Liang Cheng ordered them to continue resting.

The savages had only just arrived.

The nearby forests had already been cut down or burned.

They could not attack the fortress immediately even if they wanted to.

At the very least, they needed a couple of days of carpentry before they could construct siege equipment.

There was no reason to make everyone behave as though the enemy was already climbing the walls and exhaust the troops ahead of time.

General Zheng ignored the fact that his injuries had not fully healed.

He put his armor back on and climbed the wall to inspect the situation.

Not far outside the fortress, savage riders carrying torches galloped back and forth.

“Are they demonstrating?” Zheng Fan asked Liang Cheng beside him.

“Yes, Master.

“They’re trying to pressure us.”

“They really think we were raised on fear?”

Zheng Fan genuinely did not think much of this sort of psychological warfare anymore.

The army beneath him had been fed with real silver and real effort, year after year.

If they were truly driven into a dead end, perhaps morale might become something worth worrying about.

But right now, the real fighting had not even begun.

The army’s morale was perfectly fine.

The savages’ way of warfare, however, truly had not shed all traces of primitiveness.

From the distance came faint chanting.

Clearly, savage priests were at work.

By their own terminology, they should be called Guides of the Stars.

Apparently, they were delivering warnings and curses from the stars toward Snow Sea Pass.

“Heh.

“So if you translate what they’re chanting, does it mean:

‘Surrender immediately, or in the name of the moon, we’ll punish you’?”

The Demon Kings around him laughed.

Several armored Shengle soldiers nearby saw their superiors laughing and joined in to fit the mood.

“Everything ready?” Zheng Fan asked.

“Master, rest assured,” Liang Cheng answered calmly.

At a moment like this, as the army’s true battlefield commander, he had to maintain precisely that kind of composure.

Because everyone knew the truly brutal fighting would arrive very soon.

Then, a sound came from overhead.

Everyone raised their heads.

Many soldiers had already lifted their bows toward the sky.

“A falcon,” Liang Cheng said.

“Some savage tribes raise and tame these birds to observe battlefields and carry messages.

“The best breeds are almost like demonic beasts.”

“It’s watching us?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Heh.

“That’s practically an unmanned reconnaissance drone.”

Zheng Fan even raised one hand and waved at the falcon circling overhead.

He did not order the soldiers around him to shoot.

“This bird is a little small.

“Doesn’t look very imposing in flight either.

“I still think Yan eagles look more majestic.”

That was simply loving the house and therefore loving the crow perched on its roof.

Because Zheng Fan possessed an instinctive fondness for the State of Yan, many things associated with Yan simply looked better to him.

“If I’d known earlier, I should’ve asked the Marquis of Jingnan for a couple to play with.

“Before a battle, release the eagles and let them circle twice.

“Then cavalry surges across the horizon beneath them.

“Now *that* would have flavor.”

“Master need not worry. Ah Li knows how to tame beasts.

“Once we return to Shengle, we can go into the Tianduan Mountains, capture some suitable flying demonic beasts, and let Ah Li train them.”

“Mm?

“Ah Li knows how to do that too?”

“Yes.

“He can even understand some beast languages.”

“No wonder half the things he says sometimes don’t sound human.

“Now I understand.”

Zheng Fan reached out and patted the battlement.

Ever since taking Snow Sea Pass, his side had actually not dispatched a messenger to report the news to the Marquis of Jingnan.

For one thing, the distance was too great.

Savages and Chu troops lay between them and the western bank of the Wang River.

An ordinary rider would have enormous difficulty getting through and successfully delivering the report.

Send too few, and it would be useless.

They would vanish without a ripple.

Send too many, and at a moment when every man was needed here, Zheng Fan would feel the loss.

Truthfully, Xue San would have been the best messenger.

His chances of success were highest.

But Xue San was far too useful here.

They simply could not spare him.

Of course, the most fundamental reason was that Liang Cheng was utterly certain Tian Wujing, waiting on the western bank of the Wang River, would smell something from the savages’ reaction.

Let the savages serve as their messengers.

That was the cheapest and most efficient arrangement.

Perhaps this was the sort of tacit understanding that existed between one master of warfare and another.

Zheng Fan had once asked Liang Cheng:

What if the Savage King at the front learned what had happened and deliberately pretended nothing had changed?

Liang Cheng had answered with only one sentence:

As long as the Savage King knew, then no matter how he disguised his response or tried to conceal it, traces would inevitably appear.

And the Marquis of Jingnan on the other side would certainly catch those traces.

The falcon continued circling above the fortress for a while longer before finally leaving.

In the distance, the number of savage campfires kept growing.

Zheng Fan cleared his throat.

Then he took out a cigarette and lit it.

He did not smoke it.

Instead, he wedged it into a crack between the stones of the wall.

“A stick of incense for you first, grandsons.”

...

This time, although the savage camp had not yet had time to build palisades or properly establish defensive works, five thousand cavalrymen on each of its eastern and western flanks were divided into several roaming groups.

That was how they protected the central camp and prevented another disaster like the previous Yan night raid.

The falcon returned.

It landed on Gelimu’s shoulder.

Gelimu reached up and stroked its body.

Several Ten-Thousand Household Commanders sat before him.

Altogether, the various forces gathered here now numbered close to forty thousand men.

And by now, the Savage King had probably received the news as well.

More troops would likely be sent.

Snow Sea Pass was simply too sensitive.

Too important.

No one dared conceal what had happened.

Nor could it have been concealed.

“Gentlemen, Limuer has already been guided away by the stars.

“We do not have time to hold a funeral for him.

“Because there is only one road before us.

“Even if we have to use our teeth, we must gnaw Snow Sea Pass back out of Yan hands!

“This is the Holy Race’s road of retreat!”

Gelimu’s voice grew darker.

“This time, all responsibility belongs to me.

“After Snow Sea Pass is retaken, I, Gelimu, will personally bear the consequences.

“I alone will accept the King’s fury.

“This was my mistake.

“It had nothing to do with any of you.

“I can swear that before the stars!

“So right now, you are not fighting for me.

“You are not fighting for the King.

“You are not even fighting for some future of the Holy Race.

“You are fighting for your own lives.

“If the Yan are allowed to block Snow Sea Pass for one month, two months then every warrior of the Holy Race who entered the pass this time may be buried by the Yan here in the lands of Jin.

“We... have no road left behind us.”

Gelimu’s words were sincere.

He made no attempt whatsoever to shift blame.

The Ten-Thousand Household Commanders present also understood the gravity of the situation.

The reason the savage army had been able to confront Yan so casually along the Wang River was that they had already made back their investment many times over.

Enormous amounts of wealth and vast numbers of slaves had already been transported back into the snowfields.

If the front truly became untenable, everyone could simply withdraw with the wind and return to the snowfields.

The snowfields were, after all, their home ground.

The Yan might not gain any advantage fighting there.

And besides, although retreat would mean surrendering Jin territory, Yan would then face pressure from both the snowfields and Chu.

Even if the Yan swallowed this half of Dacheng territory, they might not be able to digest it.

But now, their retreat route was gone.

Which meant that if the most dangerous situation truly appeared, they could fall into an abyss from which there was no recovery.

Heaven alone knew how that Yan force had slipped in.

They had escaped the encirclement of tens of thousands of savage troops and then somehow seized Snow Sea Pass.

A situation that had originally looked excellent had collapsed almost instantly.

“Gelimu, give the orders.

“Right now, we have no choice except to unite and retake Snow Sea Pass.

“There is no other road.”

“Exactly, Gelimu.

“We trust your ability.

“Responsibility can be discussed later.

“No matter what, right now we must take this pass and reopen the road between Jin territory and the snowfields.”

“Tell us what to do, Gelimu.

“Among the King’s commanders, you are the best at war.

“We all know that.”

Gelimu had been born a man of Jin.

His family background and experience genuinely gave him knowledge beyond that of most savages.

Ordinarily, other savage nobles and chiefs treated Gelimu respectfully on the surface while privately looking down on him.

But in a crisis like this, they instinctively put those feelings aside and accepted his command.

True, they had defeated the Yan once beside the Wang River.

But now the Yan had replaced their commander with the Southern Marquis—the man most famous for fighting, and the same man who had personally campaigned through the snowfields not long ago.

Who knew how the war might develop now?

Snow Sea Pass had to be opened again.

No matter how many warriors died taking it, they could not afford to hesitate.

“My entire force has already been sent farther out to cut timber and construct siege equipment.

“Alantai.

“Age.

“For the next two days, your two forces must keep Snow Sea Pass under constant observation.

“Limuer was caught by a Yan night raid because he was careless.

“We cannot repeat his mistake.”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

“The rest of you, please go farther out and seize some lowly Jin civilians.

“There are almost none left nearby.

“It will be troublesome.

“But when we attack the fortress, we need lives to fill the ground.

“The more Jin people you seize, the fewer warriors of our own race will have to die.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“We understand.”

Most of Gelimu’s own troops were surrendered Dacheng soldiers.

One reason Situ Yi’s little court had lived so miserably after the Battle of the Wang River—ignored by everyone and left to rot in Fengxin City—was that most of the Dacheng soldiers who had surrendered on the battlefield had been absorbed by Gelimu.

He had been born a man of Jin.

Using Jin soldiers suited him naturally.

Besides, asking savages to build siege equipment was unrealistic.

They simply did not know how.

Gelimu could only rely on his own troops for the work.

As for going farther away to seize Jin civilians as cannon fodder for the siege the reason was simple.

The region around Snow Sea Pass was no longer merely “nine houses empty out of ten.”

There were essentially no people left at all.

This had been the route every savage tribe passed through when they first entered the pass.

Each group had looted, burned, killed, and seized slaves here.

The land had been plowed over again and again as thoroughly as farmland.

Anyone who wanted Jin slaves now had to travel farther afield.

“When the siege equipment is ready, my force will attack first.

“At that time— you, me, everyone no one is permitted to preserve his own strength.

“For every day Snow Sea Pass remains in Yan hands, every one of us remains in danger of annihilation!”

“We obey!”

“We obey!”

Once the orders had been issued, Gelimu reached up again and stroked the falcon on his shoulder.

Long ago, his family had served the Situ Clan’s Imperial Beast-Taming Directorate.

But one mistake during the taming of a beast had frightened a young member of the Situ Clan.

Disaster had descended upon the entire family.

With no other option, they fled into the snowfields.

Their ancestral skills, however, had never been lost.

This falcon had been personally selected and carefully raised by Gelimu.

It was no ordinary bird.

It possessed intelligence.

It could even think much like a human.

Though it could not speak, it shared a private method of communication with Gelimu that only the two of them understood.

“There is one more matter.

“I will send a letter to the Yan commander inside Snow Sea Pass and invite him to meet me outside the fortress tomorrow.

“Whatever Yan can give him, the Holy Race can give him more.

“We can even carve out part of the Snow Sea Pass region and grant him a princely domain in Jin!

“No matter what promises must be made, if he is willing to surrender to the Holy Race, the price will be worthwhile.”

Age, seated below, spoke.

“Gelimu, what if the Yan commander doesn’t dare leave the fortress?”

“Exactly.

“What if that Yan commander is a coward who treasures his life?”

Gelimu’s expression darkened immediately.

He said solemnly:

“He smuggled an army across the Wang River.

“Raided Fengxin day and night.

“Killed Situ Yi.

“Then used deception to lure us into an encirclement around empty air.

“After drawing the tiger away from the mountain, he seized Snow Sea Pass.

“With this kind of method, this kind of courage, this kind of command ability he is unquestionably one of the outstanding men of this age.

“His skill is above even mine.

“A hero like that is not someone you can casually insult.

“The insult itself is a small matter.

“But if you continue looking down on him like this, then Limuer will become your example.

“We need to wake up.

“The man opposing us is absolutely no coward!”

Hearing that, several men looked somewhat embarrassed.

Gelimu continued stroking the falcon.

“If a man like this could be recruited beneath our King, then the future rise of the Holy Race would gain another great pillar.

“This man is worth meeting.

“I must meet him.

“If he is willing to submit, I, Gelimu, am willing to hand him my own position and every soldier beneath me.

“I will personally lead his horse!

“Age.

“Have someone write a letter immediately.

“Tell him that tomorrow at noon, I, Gelimu, invite him to meet three li outside the fortress.

“Our army will first withdraw ten li.

“Each of us may bring only one standard-bearer.

“No third person.

“When the letter is finished, find one of our finest archers and shoot it inside Snow Sea Pass.”

“Yes.

“I’ll arrange it immediately.”

Alantai spoke next.

“But Gelimu, how do we know whether the man who comes out tomorrow is actually the enemy commander?”

Gelimu smiled.

He pointed at the falcon on his shoulder.

“It told me that it has already seen the person of highest status in the enemy army standing atop the gate tower.

“It remembers his face.

“Demonic beasts possess intelligence.

“I trust its senses.

“It will not be mistaken.

“Tomorrow it will circle overhead.

“If the man who leaves the fortress is not the person it saw, then that proves the Yan have no sincerity whatsoever about negotiation.

“I will simply return.

“And once the siege equipment is ready, we attack!”

...

“What?

“Their commander wants to invite me outside tomorrow to negotiate?”

“Yes, Master,” Liang Cheng said.

“This is the letter they just shot into the fortress.

“It says the savages will first withdraw ten li tomorrow.

“The meeting point will be three li outside the city.

“Both commanders may bring only one standard-bearer as a gesture of sincerity.

“No third person is permitted.”

Xue San immediately laughed.

“They’ve gone insane.

“Negotiate my ass.

“What, are we supposed to abandon the Blind Man and Siniang back in Shengle, take our troops into the snowfields, and become some feudal lord there?

“Still, Master— could we use this chance to delay them?”

Liang Cheng shook his head.

“It will take them at least several days to finish building siege equipment.

“So strictly speaking, whether Master meets them or not will not delay anything.”

In other words, they were only proposing the meeting because they were temporarily unable to attack anyway.

“Then why bother?

“Don’t go.

“No reason to go,” Xue San said immediately.

“Mm.”

Liang Cheng nodded.

But Zheng Fan suddenly raised a hand.

“No.

“I’ll go.”

“Master, it’s dangerous,” Xue San said nervously.

Zheng Fan shook his head.

Then, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

“Tell the Sword Saint.

“Tomorrow, I’ll trouble him to carry a banner for me.”

[End of Chapter 330]