Chapter 500: - Drills

“Forward!”

“Forward!”

The shield-bearers began advancing, covering their own archers and crossbowmen as they suppressed the defenders from behind while supporting the advance of the battering ram.

Calling it a battering ram was not entirely accurate. It was nothing like those film and television productions with costume-and-prop budgets so tight that a crowd of men simply grabbed a log and charged forward with it.

The thing was closer to a towering war wagon. The ram itself hung inside. Above it stood an arrow tower, while below, leather and wooden planking spread outward to form protective screens. Several critical points had even been sheathed in iron to strengthen the defenses.

During an assault, more than a hundred men could fit inside, archers included. Unless the men below were spectacularly unlucky, they did not have to worry about arrows coming down from the walls while they hammered at the city gate.

Even boiling oil was not much of a threat.

The one thing they truly had to fear was fire. Even there, however, the people of Tianji Pavilion had added some fireproofing, doing everything possible to make the structure difficult to ignite.

And that was only the battering ram.

Farther behind it stood proper towering siege towers. They could be pushed forward on wheels. A detachable joint had been built near the bottom; once a tower reached the proper position, a crucial piece could be removed from below, causing the entire upper structure to naturally topple forward. With grappling hooks mounted at its top, the fallen tower would become the sturdiest siege ladder imaginable. Given that much weight, even defenders trying to push it away from the wall would have a very hard time.

Behind those stood siege crossbows. Their enormous bolts were so thick that even Fan Li in full armor would drop dead on the spot if one struck him squarely.

There were too many different siege devices to count. Some might prove useful, others might not. Only after actual battle would they know which suited the terrain and circumstances.

The most important of all were the trebuchets.

Xue San had originally designed Snow Sea Pass’s trebuchets. The people of Tianji Pavilion had added patterns resembling formations into the design, increasing both range and accuracy.

An inch longer meant an inch stronger. The principle applied to trebuchets too, because the Chu inside Zhennan Pass would certainly have stone-throwers of their own.

Right now, under Liang Cheng’s command, the soldiers of Snow Sea Pass had cleared one stretch of the southern wall and were using it for coordinated siege drills.

These men had all started as cavalry, but they could hardly ride their horses headfirst into a city wall during a siege, could they?

Fortunately, Snow Sea Pass had recognized the Yan army’s weakness in siege warfare long ago and had deliberately trained its troops in infantry formations. So this was not entirely a case of frantically cramming at the last moment.

“Can all of these be produced in quantity?” Zheng Fan asked Zeng Shulang, Master of Tianji Pavilion, who stood beside him.

Zeng Shulang replied, “Answering the Count, we can forge the critical parts here in advance and bring them with us. Once we reach Zhennan Pass, we can mobilize laborers to cut timber and gather the rest of the materials. As long as we have enough laborers and enough craftsmen, producing them in quantity will not be difficult. Before the battle begins, we can simply build workshops directly inside the camps.”

In other words, they intended to manufacture siege equipment while fighting the war.

That was actually a very common practice. Sieges lasting half a year, or even more than a year, were hardly rare.

Had the Chu inside Yupan City not run short of grain, why would they ever have surrendered? If Qu Tiannan had been determined to hold the city to the death and had possessed enough provisions, dealing with him would have been a colossal headache.

As for Zhennan Pass...

Unless the Chu had water in their brains, Count Pingye was not naive enough to imagine its garrison would be short of food.

“Count, forgive this lowly one for speaking out of turn, but every soldier under your command is an elite. Throwing men like that into ant-swarm assaults against a wall would truly be too wasteful. Such fine troops.”

“We still have to prepare for the worst. When the real siege begins, who knows which day our turn will come? We can’t run from it, and we can’t shove it onto someone else. If the day comes when we have no choice but to grit our teeth and go up, then at the very least we need to make our sacrifices worth something. Besides, we have no road left to retreat.”

Emperor Yan’s decision to attack Chu had finally given Count Pingye something to do. He would not have to sit curled up in the northeastern corner drawing circles on the ground while everyone else marched off to attack Qian.

But this truly was the State of Yan’s gamble.

It was also Count Pingye’s gamble.

If Zhennan Pass was broken and the strategic frontier pushed into Chu territory, then Snow Sea Pass would finally be secure. Perhaps he could even carry his godson to Tian Wujing and ask a favor:

Brother, look at Zhennan Pass.

Doesn’t it look exactly like the fried dough twist the child loves most?

Of course, that last part existed entirely in Count Pingye’s imagination.

But if Zhennan Pass could not be broken, if the Great Yan Dynasty exhausted its national strength on the attempt, then perhaps the people of Jin would rise in rebellion while misery spread through Yan proper. If the State of Qian pushed a little harder at the same time and the Chu immediately marched through Zhennan Pass into eastern Jin... then Zheng Fan would have no choice but to head north and become the next Savage King.

“Keep putting thought into these machines.”

Siege warfare ultimately depended on excellent equipment supplied without interruption, abundant provisions, and stable morale. Without those things, the siege would degenerate into what the Savages had done when attacking Snow Sea Pass: tremendously lively to watch, yet fundamentally incapable of creating much real danger, with lives simply thrown away for nothing.

“Yes, Count. This lowly one understands. I will certainly not disappoint you. To tell you the truth, Tianji Pavilion once built siege equipment for both the Helian and Wenren clans, but hardly any of it was ever used. That has always been a regret in this lowly one’s heart.”

Tianji Pavilion was a jianghu sect, but it also bore traces of official origins.

It had originally been founded by an Emperor of Jin from some earlier generation. As the Yu imperial house gradually declined, however, Tianji Pavilion was separated from the court and eventually became a jianghu sect.

As for the regret Zeng Shulang mentioned, Tian Wujing and Li Liangting had once fought across a thousand li in ten days and directly smashed the elite forces of those two great clans. They had broken not only the armies, but much of Jin’s will to resist. Once most of Jin’s main forces were destroyed in the field, city after city essentially surrendered the moment proclamations arrived.

So all the equipment Tianji Pavilion had once built for those clans had never found much use.

“Don’t worry. This time you’ll have plenty to play with.”

“Thank you, Count.”

Zheng Fan descended from the wall.

On the southern side of the city, Liang Cheng was directing the troops through siege drills. Over by the eastern side, the Blind Man was organizing a mobilization rally.

Most of the people attending were laborers. They did not count as registered Standard households within Snow Sea Pass, but on campaign they were indispensable, and at any moment they might become replacement troops and be thrown onto the battlefield.

Most were also the able-bodied young men of their households, quick of ear and eye. Once propaganda had been delivered to them, they could carry it back to their own families and neighborhoods. The message would spread easily.

The rally opened with the folk opera the people of Snow Sea Pass loved most.

The basic plot was simple. A group of actors dressed in Savage furs and Chu armor charged onto the stage, slaughtered the people of Jin, smashed children to death, and violated women.

The infant cries in the sound effects had to be shrill.

The women’s screams had to be harrowing.

Once they finished, the actors walked to the edge of the stage, faced the audience below, and laughed with extreme arrogance.

The acting was, admittedly, wildly overdone.

But even though the audience had watched this show countless times already, they still ground their teeth with hatred.

Most of the Jin people here truly did carry blood feuds against the Savages and Chu.

Some members of the audience even became too immersed in the performance. Several actors who specialized in villain roles had been ambushed with clubs in the streets and sent to the infirmary for treatment.

Once the audience’s anger had been whipped high enough, “Count Pingye” entered.

The actor chosen to play Count Pingye had been selected with great care.

He was very handsome.

Before fleeing to Snow Sea Pass as a refugee, he had already been a famous young male lead in a local opera troupe.

After “Count Pingye” entered, he led several actors playing Barbarians and Jin soldiers onto the stage.

First he shouted:

“Where do you think you’re running!”

Then they charged.

The staged fighting was quite entertaining. The spearplay might have been flashy, but some of the actors genuinely knew a little real martial skill.

After defeating the enemy, “Count Pingye” walked to the center of the stage and loudly delivered several speeches about “loving the people as his own children.”

Then the curtain fell.

At once, the audience erupted in thunderous cheers.

When these folk operas had first begun running last year, the organizers had gone even further to heighten the atmosphere. At the end of each performance, they would deliberately pick two maimed Savage slaves from the labor gangs, drag them onto the stage, and publicly behead them.

Whew.

That scene.

That atmosphere.

There was really nothing like it.

Only this year had they finally stopped, letting the stage remain merely a stage.

Once the opera ended, the Blind Man first led everyone through a familiar review.

Whose food were they eating?

Who had allowed them to eat their fill and dress warmly?

Who kept them from freezing in winter?

Who made sure they had medicine when they fell ill?

The audience below had heard it countless times and knew exactly how to respond. They all raised clenched fists and roared together:

“Count Pingye!”

“Count Pingye!”

“Count Pingye!”

The first time Count Pingye had seen this spectacle from the rear, he had genuinely wanted to thrust one finger into the air and shout along with the mood:

“Rock and roll never dies!”

But the common people were not blind.

They knew who truly treated them well.

Next, the Blind Man began explaining what the coming war meant for all of them.

The theme was only one thing:

They were allowed to win.

They were not allowed to lose.

Zhennan Pass had to fall.

Count Pingye did not interrupt the busy Blind Man.

Instead, he went to the ice cellar.

The weather had already started warming.

At Snow Sea Pass, the season that could truly be called hot was very short.

Count Pingye poured himself a glass of wine, personally chipped two chunks of ice from the cellar, dropped them in, and walked with the glass to a coffin.

He reached out.

Knock, knock.

Before long, the coffin lid slid aside.

A’Ming was lying inside.

His gaze immediately landed on the glass in Count Pingye’s hand.

“Master, that is from the best batch.”

The unspoken meaning was obvious.

Master, if all you want is grape juice, don’t waste the good stuff.

“Petty.”

Count Pingye sat down on the edge of the coffin.

When Zheng Fan had left Snow Sea Pass with the princess, A’Ming had already been lying here in the ice cellar. Liang Cheng had poured blood over him morning and night.

By the time Zheng Fan returned, A’Ming had actually recovered most of the way.

“You need to make a full recovery soon,” Count Pingye said with concern.

A’Ming was not especially moved by that concern.

He knew war was coming.

“Master, if you promise to stop drinking my wine, I should be fully recovered before the fighting begins.”

“That practical?”

“If my mood improves, my injuries may heal faster.”

“That makes sense.”

“Mm.”

“Then what if I say that unless you recover completely by tomorrow, I’ll distribute every bottle of your wine to the soldiers the day after? Would the effect be even stronger?”

“...” A’Ming.

“Fine, fine. I understand. Next time, squeeze me some orange juice or something. I’m not even used to drinking grape juice.”

Count Pingye helped A’Ming close the coffin lid, then walked out of the ice cellar with his glass of red wine.

Logically, he should have been extremely busy right now.

But in truth, there was very little for him to do.

The Fourth Lady was handling material reserves.

The Blind Man was handling morale inside the city.

Liang Cheng was handling troop training.

Everything Zheng Fan needed done was already being done by someone else, and each of them could only do it better than he would himself.

Yet this leisure on the eve of a great war left Count Pingye with an enormous feeling of emptiness.

So, he went to the rear residence.

He went to Liu Ruqing’s courtyard.

Because there, no matter how great the emptiness, it could always be completely filled by one drawn-out cry of:

“Uncle~”

Unfortunately, Count Pingye was disappointed to discover that Xiong Liqing was actually in Liu Ruqing’s courtyard at that moment.

That made him hesitate.

He stood outside the courtyard gate for a long time without going in.

Just then, Xiao Yibo came looking for him.

“Master, that one says he wishes to see you.”

“That one” meant the Savage King.

Inside this residence, the Savage King alone could not be referred to directly.

Zheng Fan nodded and walked to the other side of the rear residence.

After accompanying Zheng Fan on the trip to Yanjing and returning with him, the Savage King’s treatment had improved considerably. He no longer lived in an underground secret room.

Now he lived in an actual room.

There was still an iron cage inside, but a bed had been added to the cage, along with a tea table and even a washstand.

When Count Pingye entered, the Savage King was sitting at the tea table reading a book.

The book was upside down.

Count Pingye knew the man had done it deliberately, hoping he would laugh at him.

So Count Pingye deliberately refused to laugh.

“Eaten yet?” Count Pingye asked.

The Savage King set down the book and answered with a cheerful smile, “Answering the Count, Little Dog eats three meals a day at fixed times. Very regular.”

“What did you want me for?”

Zheng Fan sat in a chair outside the cage.

“Count, Little Dog wanted to discuss how my troops should be commanded once they arrive.”

“I haven’t seen any troops yet.”

“The letter has already gone out. I expect news within a day or two. Please rest assured, Count. If I wasn’t absolutely certain, Little Dog would never dare joke with you using my own head as the stake.”

“I am curious. That force you left behind numbered only eight hundred men.”

A tribe of eight hundred meant almost nothing on the snowfields.

“Count, what you do not know is that those eight hundred men were guarding a prison. A prison much, much larger than the one this subordinate lives in now. When this subordinate was King on the snowfields, I forced many tribes to send their young chiefs to me as hostages. That group is still being held by the eight hundred men most loyal to me.”

“Most loyal?”

“They will not believe I am dead.”

Zheng Fan shook his head.

“At the very least, their loyalty can last another ten years.”

“But I don’t think those hostages will have much effect. Young chiefs are replaceable. They can always have more sons. In some tribes, the old chiefs may already be dead, with new leaders long since installed.”

“What the Count says is true. That is why I need your cooperation. In this subordinate’s hands, those hostages cannot be exchanged for enough bargaining chips unless I personally return to the snowfields. But now that this subordinate has placed them in your hands, Count, we can negotiate properly.”

“Troublesome.”

“If the Count fears trouble, you could simply let Little Dog out. Let Little Dog handle everything personally. Forget thirty thousand Savage troops. I am confident I could raise a hundred thousand. After all, I am your loyal dog, Count.”

“Fine.”

“Mm?”

Even the Savage King thought he had misheard.

He had only said it casually.

“This Count can send you on your way.”

“...” Gou Moli.

Count Pingye rose and walked to the cage.

Looking directly at Gou Moli, he spoke one word at a time.

“I know you are still hiding things from me. You can tell me about those eight hundred warriors and I can listen. But when the day comes, if I do not see thirty thousand Savages standing here, I will take your head and use it to sacrifice the banner before my army marches.”

Gou Moli lowered his head.

“Count, rest assured. Little Dog still hasn’t lived enough. Now that I can finally live in a room with sunlight, I’m already dreaming of someday having a courtyard of my own.”

“Heh.”

Gou Moli dropped to his knees and bowed low.

Smiling, he called out:

“Count, Little Dog wants to know what the lives of thirty thousand Savages can buy for me.”

“You want to bargain with this Count now?”

“Little Dog would not dare. It isn’t a bargain. Little Dog has already thrown that shoe away on the road. Now Little Dog wants to hold a new shoe in his hands.”

“Oh? Then this Count would like to hear it. What do you want?”

“Little Dog heard Mr. Bei say that Snow Sea Pass now has many merchant caravans, and there will only be more in the future. Those caravans need someone to protect them. Snow Sea Pass will still be counting on them to keep yielding goat’s milk in the future.”

“Go on.”

“Little Dog wants to ask for an official post.”

“What post?”

“Lieutenant Commander of Merchant Protection, Snow Sea Pass.”

...

At that very moment, more than seventy li north of Snow Sea Pass’s northern wall, a Savage tribe numbering nearly thirty thousand people was migrating south.

[End of Chapter 500]