Chapter 509: - The Wind Rolls In

Guo Dong was extremely excited that day.

So excited that even after night fell, he kept tossing and turning.

Xu An, sleeping beside him, naturally knew why.

Wasn’t it simply because he had seen Count Pingye during the day?

Xu An was not nearly as excited as Guo Dong because he was not a Yan man.

For a Yan man, worshiping Count Pingye was almost inevitable.

The court needed a hero.

Count Pingye barely even needed deliberate beautification.

Simply taking his real victories and deeds exactly as they were made him look more embellished than other men after deliberate embellishment.

In Meng Shou’s words, that was “adding color.”

Xu An did not particularly like Yan people.

Inside Yingdu, Yan people always stood a head above everyone else.

Yan merchants.

Yan soldiers.

Yan officials.

Even Yan commoners who had migrated into Jin territory to farm reclaimed land.

There was always an unmistakable arrogance in their eyes.

Once, when Xu An’s godfather was drunk, he cursed them bitterly.

Said those Yan looked at Jin people as if they were inferior.

Then his godfather cried.

He said that if those Yan had not come in the first place, Jin people like them might not even have been able to live as human beings.

After sobering up, his godfather said something else.

That was simply how the world worked.

If your fist was bigger and you beat someone until he submitted, naturally he would submit more completely.

Their people came into our land and became men above men.

Since ancient times, when had the commoners of a normal state ever bowed and scraped before people from a weaker country while calling themselves inferior?

If that happened, only then would it be the greatest joke beneath Heaven.

Xu An did not understand many of the things his godfather said.

But he did understand one point.

He did not think there was anything particularly wrong with Yan people acting arrogantly.

His godfather acted exactly the same way toward the leaders of several other labor gangs after winning a few mass brawls.

It felt perfectly natural.

Still, not worshiping Count Pingye was one thing.

Learning that their group had been assigned under this Count made Xu An quite satisfied.

From the time everyone gathered in Yingdu until arriving here, from everything Xu An had seen himself to the stories Guo Dong told about the journey from Gu County in Yan, Xu An understood that the food here should be the best.

Earlier, he had wondered why their group had not transported grain when they came.

Now he understood.

The grain would be brought down from Snow Sea Pass.

That made Xu An think of his godfather again.

His godfather had once said that the official figure sitting above their labor gang was genuinely wealthy and generous.

The man did not even care about the little gifts of filial money the gangs offered him.

He merely wanted someone handling the work.

Even if the gang paid him nothing, as long as the market remained orderly and laborers did not cause trouble, that was enough.

Perhaps Count Pingye was the same.

Wealthy enough that he did not care.

Other armies relied on laborers to transport provisions to them.

When he went to war, he brought his own.

And there was another point.

Xu An knew Count Pingye could fight.

No soldier disliked following a commander who always won.

Auxiliaries and laborers were no exception.

That night, Xu An fell asleep while thinking about these things.

Guo Dong, however, remained awake.

...

The next day, war drums sounded.

Xu An immediately sat up and shook Guo Dong awake beside him.

The two quickly put on their leather armor, grabbed their weapons, and rushed out of the tent to assemble.

They were no longer laborers.

They were auxiliary troops now.

Real auxiliaries.

They no longer needed to do labor.

They only needed to be ready to risk their lives.

Five men assembled late.

A Yan Lieutenant Commander had them seized and gave each man five lashes as a warning to the others.

Then the drilling began.

Everyone formed ranks and started running formation drills.

The auxiliary force had only just been established.

Discipline had not yet become truly strict.

While running, Guo Dong could not stop himself from asking Xu An beside him:

“Where are the horses? Where are the horses?”

Yan produced horses.

Jin did as well.

Before the Savage chaos erupted in earlier years, the snowfields had practically been Jin’s backyard.

Horses flowed constantly from the snowfields into Jin territory.

That was why the cavalrymen of the Three Jin lands had once possessed the confidence to compare themselves with Great Yan’s iron cavalry.

When Guo Dong’s group left Gu County, they had brought horses too.

Most were pack animals.

But some were perfectly capable of entering a battlefield.

Those horses had been carefully tended throughout the entire journey.

When the time came to use them, the best mounts would be assigned to the young men of Gu County with the finest horsemanship.

Yan had always possessed a tradition of men providing their own weapons, armor, and horses to follow their sovereign to war.

Some places pooled the wealth and resources of an entire village, town, or even county to equip their young men with the finest warhorses and armor possible, sending them onto the battlefield to earn military merit.

After the war ended and merits were assessed, those young men would repay their hometowns.

After seeing Count Pingye yesterday, Guo Dong had been so excited that he did not fall asleep until the middle of the night.

All that time, he had been imagining himself riding a warhorse behind Count Pingye and charging through enemy lines.

And now... where were the horses?

Where was his horse?

Xu An answered:

“We’re attacking cities. What would you need horses for?”

It was like a basin of cold water poured directly over Guo Dong’s head.

Halfway through the run, the Lieutenant Commander leading them signaled that they could slow down and continue at a march.

As they approached the outer edge of camp and were nearly back where they could eat, Guo Dong suddenly saw his father being pinned to the ground by two Yan armored soldiers and whipped.

Guo Dong’s eyes went wide.

That was his father being beaten!

But he still did not dare go over and interfere.

He did not even dare make a sound.

Guo Dayong had originally been one of the minor leaders of Gu County’s laborer contingent.

After reorganization, he became the supervisor of a formal eight-hundred-man laborer unit.

When Yan officers inspected the trench outside camp, they discovered that it was too shallow and that the inner slope had not been dug at the prescribed angle.

So Guo Dayong was punished for negligence.

Getting whipped was not that serious.

But being whipped in front of so many people, including his own subordinates, was deeply humiliating.

Guo Dayong had possessed some reputation back in Gu County.

Otherwise, even after A’Shui’s family declined, they would never have agreed to marry their daughter to his son.

But a beating that was deserved still had to be taken.

Snow Sea Pass’s severe military discipline had been transplanted directly into this camp.

Once the whipping ended, Guo Dayong still had to return to work and lead his men in rebuilding the trench properly.

Fail to finish by the deadline, and the punishment would become heavier.

The auxiliary troops returned to camp.

The quartermasters began distributing food.

Rice.

Each man received one strip of cured meat and a large spoonful of sauce.

It was nothing especially sumptuous.

But away from home and on campaign, food at this standard was genuinely good.

Guo Dong ate while tears streamed down his face.

“Your father will be fine,” Xu An comforted him.

“I’m crying for my horse. I took care of it so carefully the whole way here.”

“...” Xu An.

After eating, the auxiliaries were issued shields.

They formed ranks, raised the shields, and began running back and forth across the open ground outside camp under the Lieutenant Commander’s supervision.

This round of training was much stricter.

Anyone who fell out of position, moved too slowly, or moved too quickly would taste the whip.

The painfully dull shield drills continued for three full days.

Every day followed the same pattern.

Rise early.

Run formations.

Return and eat.

After eating, form ranks with shields and repeatedly sprint back and forth while shifting through several fixed formations.

Guo Dong was not someone especially good at enduring hardship.

But under the encouragement of the whip, he did not dare slacken in the slightest.

During one break, Xu An suddenly punched him lightly and said:

“Look over there.”

Guo Dong turned.

Two men stood atop a watchtower in the distance.

One wore armor.

The other wore a black long robe.

They were too far away to make out his face clearly.

But even from here, his clothes looked exceptionally clean.

The regulations inside the military camp were strict.

There was only one man who could dress however he pleased.

Guo Dong immediately shouted in delight:

“Look! Count Pingye is watching us!”

“No shouting!”

An armored soldier came over carrying a leather whip.

He did not actually lash Guo Dong.

He merely kicked him once.

When the break ended and everyone resumed drilling with shields, their spirit and morale were clearly different from before.

Every man strained to perform each movement at the strictest possible standard.

They only wanted the distant figure to be satisfied.

Even though that distant figure might not have been watching them at all.

Count Pingye truly was not watching them.

He was peeling an orange.

Liang Cheng stood beside him.

“By tomorrow, all of our forces should have arrived, right?” Count Pingye asked.

More than ten thousand combat troops had already arrived.

The Commands under Jin Shuke, Keyan Dongge, and Gao Yi were present.

The troops of Ding Hao and Zuo Jiqian had remained behind to guard Snow Sea Pass.

Xu Youcheng’s formation was still on the road.

Xu Youcheng’s troops were moving so slowly because they were responsible for watching over and escorting nearly thirty thousand Savage slave soldiers.

The tribe of thirty thousand brought in by Sanghu had yielded only a little more than ten thousand men suitable for military service.

The earlier sieges on the snowfields had also produced more than ten thousand prisoners.

Together, the two groups still numbered fewer than thirty thousand.

More would come later.

The tribes across the snowfields had also been ordered to present able-bodied young men, cattle, and sheep.

But all of that was still on the road.

This was only the first wave of strength Snow Sea Pass intended to commit.

Counting everything, Snow Sea Pass’s original combat forces consisted of eleven Battalions, totaling roughly sixteen thousand fighting men.

There were thirty thousand Savage slave soldiers.

Fortunately, those thirty thousand came from different backgrounds and had previously fought one another, so they could be used to restrain each other.

In addition, other Yan and Jin armies would be camped on both flanks of Count Pingye’s position.

So in theory, Count Pingye was not relying on sixteen thousand men to watch over thirty thousand slaves.

The hundreds of thousands of troops spread throughout the surrounding front were helping him keep them under control.

Then there were the laborers.

A little more than six thousand had been received from Yingdu.

Snow Sea Pass itself had sent nearly ten thousand.

From these more than sixteen thousand laborers, six thousand had been selected as auxiliaries.

If Count Pingye used the kind of accounting that included laborers in the strength of an army, and then rounded everything upward, he could absolutely march beneath a banner proclaiming an “army of one hundred thousand.”

But really, what would be the point?

Both sides were about to put soldiers against soldiers and kings against kings.

Next came a direct collision with the Chu defensive system centered on Zhennan Pass.

What use was there in continuing to brag?

“By tomorrow they should begin arriving in batches,” Liang Cheng said. “According to the reports from the messenger riders, every force should have reached the general area already. The army’s provisions are still sufficient for now. The first round of fighting can begin.”

With a great army at the front, plus the mouths of laborers and warhorses, every day consumed an astronomical amount of provisions.

There was never such a thing as absolutely sufficient grain.

So they could not simply sit here waiting stupidly until everything was perfect.

As long as they had enough food at present, they should begin the battle in front of them.

Logistics could continue replenishing supplies while they fought.

Unless Tian Wujing intended to fight some kind of Battle of Changping and directly compare national endurance.

That was obviously unrealistic.

The Yan army’s logistical pressure was far greater than Chu’s.

“Fine. I imagine it won’t be long before the central command tent summons...”

“Report!”

A messenger rider came galloping over.

“Prince of Jingnan’s order! All commanders are summoned to the central command tent tomorrow to receive orders!”

“There. See? It came.”

Count Pingye did not go down to receive the command.

He merely remained on the tower and waved to the messenger.

It looked extremely arrogant.

On the eve of a great war, if some other commander dared treat the supreme commander’s order so casually, under a different commander-in-chief, his head might already be coming off as an example to the rest.

But Count Pingye was simply spoiled by favor.

And he trusted that the personal guard carrying the order would not return and gossip about him.

“See? Here it is. Truthfully, fighting under Tian Wujing is pretty straightforward. He likes marking out the movements, direction, and purpose of every army for you. You always have a clear objective to complete.”

Not everyone possessed the talent to command an entire theater.

Great Yan did not lack men capable of commanding an army.

But the difficulty of being a general and the difficulty of being the supreme commander were worlds apart.

That was why being a “puppet” on the battlefield could actually be rather pleasant.

It was much easier than being thrown alone into some complicated situation and expected to make sense of everything yourself.

“Master, just as this subordinate said before, I believe Tian Wujing’s style of warfare may actually display its strengths even better in positional fighting like this. He enjoys drawing apart every thread and controlling the entire situation. Large cavalry maneuvers around an enemy involve far too many unknown variables.”

“I know, I know. So all those battles before this were apparently forcing Old Tian to suffer, huh? Heh-heh. Anyway, tell me first. Looking at the situation now, how do you think this battle should be fought? I’m worried Old Tian will make me speak first again at tomorrow’s meeting.”

As Prince of Jingnan’s favored disciple, Count Pingye naturally enjoyed this kind of special treatment.

So in order not to damage his image in Tian Wujing’s eyes, and also to let Tian Wujing enjoy the satisfaction and pride of having personally trained the next God of War, Count Pingye maintained his old habit of predicting the test questions and memorizing the answers in advance.

This was not cheating.

It was rehearsal.

“The Chu prepared their position long ago and have been on guard for a long time. This war will inevitably drag on. Since General-in-Chief Nian Yao has used Zhennan Pass as his foundation and built so many forts and military camps around it, we can let the central army hold the line against the main Chu force inside Zhennan Pass while the remaining formations rotate through attacks against one fort or camp at a time. First, we remove the thorns the Chu planted outside Zhennan Pass. Second, we give a Yan army accustomed to field battles but weak at attacking fortifications an excellent opportunity to train.”

“Mm. That’s it?”

“That is essentially the grand strategy. With Zhennan Pass standing there, Yan and Chu are both playing with their cards face-up. Before something breaks the situation open, neither side has any particularly good opportunity. It is simply the Yan attacking to the death and the Chu defending to the death.”

“Wait, wait. A’Cheng, I trust you.”

“Master, this subordinate believes explaining that much during the meeting should already be enough.”

“Not enough.”

“Not enough?”

“After the meeting, Tian Wujing will probably keep me behind and say a few more things. You mentioned an opportunity just now. What would that opportunity be?”

“For the Chu, naturally it would be our Yan army’s logistics failing, or unrest breaking out in Yan or Jin and forcing us to withdraw. At that point, the Chu army would have a great deal of room to act. For our side, we are the attackers, so we should still retain the initiative. Once all the thorns outside Zhennan Pass have been removed, we can begin attempting direct attacks on the pass. We need not aim to break Zhennan Pass immediately. We can first try destroying the two large military camps on its eastern and western sides. In truth, a strategic pass is no different from Shengle City in the past or Snow Sea Pass now. The effect of a stronghold depends on the territory its influence can reach. Once our army clears the surroundings and turns Zhennan Pass into an isolated city, reducing the area it can influence to the minimum, we can begin sending forces around the pass and into Chu territory. Whether we cut its grain routes or raid the surrounding lands and force the army inside Zhennan Pass to come out and fight, the initiative will still remain in our hands.”

“Oh. Understood. Understood.”

Count Pingye put his hands on his hips and nodded.

“Oh, right. Tomorrow, remind me to bring the *Essential Principles of Siege Warfare* I had the Blind Man write and print. We can distribute copies during the meeting.”

“Yes, Master.”

Snow Sea Pass had always possessed a particularly striking sight: the Blind Man lighting lamps, the Blind Man reading letters, and the Blind Man writing books.

“The closest Chu position to us should be Suicheng, right?”

“Yes, Master. In truth, it is only a fortress. The garrison should number fewer than ten thousand.”

“What have the Chu been doing lately?”

“They seem somewhat restless. They know their side is primarily defending, but they still want to accomplish something. That is not something General-in-Chief Nian Yao can completely decide or control. Over the past few days, small groups of Chu cavalry have repeatedly clashed with our mounted scouts. Clearly they are unwilling to become turtles hiding in their shells from the very beginning. Our laborers and mounted scouts have also taken some casualties during these days.”

“Use my name to contact the friendly armies on both flanks. Have everyone coordinate the deployment of our mounted scouts. They should at least give me that much face.”

“This subordinate believes that after tomorrow’s meeting, Tian Wujing will probably place the friendly armies on both your left and right under Master’s coordination anyway. In the northeastern sector, only our three armies are present.”

“Mm. I’ll ask him tomorrow.”

...

After nightfall, Guo Dong and Xu An began taking turns picking open the blisters on each other’s shoulders.

The blisters had been rubbed raw by days of shield drills.

“Hiss! Hurts, hurts, hurts!”

Guo Dong cried.

“Didn’t you have shoulder padding? Didn’t it help?”

Two days earlier, Guo Dayong had brought his son a strip of leather padding to tie across his shoulder and several other pressure points.

A father still felt sorry for his son.

“That thing was hot enough to cook me alive. I didn’t use it.”

“Mm. You probably won’t need it soon anyway. Keep rubbing for a while longer and the skin will callus.”

At that moment, an armored soldier walked over, lifted the tent flap, and said:

“Guo Dong, someone from your hometown is looking for you at the outer camp.”

“All right. I understand.”

After the soldier left, Guo Dong immediately grinned at Xu An.

“Must be my dad bringing us something good to eat again. These last few days he’s been leading men cutting timber in the outer forest. They often hunt something while they’re there and bring it back to improve the food. Wait for me, Anzi. We’ll get another extra meal tonight.”

Xu An smiled and nodded.

About fifteen minutes later, Guo Dong lifted the tent flap again.

He stood at the entrance in a daze.

Xu An asked:

“What happened?”

Guo Dong suddenly burst into tears.

“Anzi... my dad. My dad’s gone. My dad is gone!”

[End of Chapter 509]