Chapter 520: - Fatherly Love Is Like a Mountain

The column of Yan beacon smoke rising into the sky meant Central Mountain Camp had fallen.

Yan mounted scouts rapidly carried the news to every force. With Central Mountain taken, those who needed to disengage did so, and those who needed to withdraw began withdrawing.

The main armies each fell back. But the small detachments that had originally been positioned on the perimeter as battlefield warning screens were not recalled. Instead, according to the arrangements made before the battle, all of them were released outward, reinforcing the mounted-scout forces south of Zhennan Pass, where Yan already held the advantage.

Removing Central Mountain Camp served two purposes. The first was to sever the links that allowed the Chu forts and camps to operate in concert. The second was to bring the entire zone before Zhennan Pass completely under the rhythm and control of Yan warfare, turning every military fort and camp the Chu had painstakingly built there into an isolated island.

If you sent out a large army, a Yan army would immediately move at the news and confront you.

If you sent out a small detachment, it might get out, but it probably would not get back.

The fundamental reason for this situation was not merely the loss of Central Mountain Camp. It came from the original structure of the war itself: Yan was attacking, Chu was defending. As the defensive side, Chu was bound, willingly or otherwise, to surrender some control of the overall situation.

Of course, the battle report would inevitably trumpet the matter:

Count Pingye led the Snow Sea Iron Cavalry in one decisive charge that shattered Central Mountain Camp, setting the tone for the entire campaign against Chu, laying a firm foundation for breaking open Chu’s iron defensive formation, accelerating the progress of the war against Chu, and so on and so forth.

But to be fair, none of that was entirely empty boasting.

For the next two days, apart from mounted scouts becoming even more active than before, the various armies mostly returned to their camps and made whatever preparations were required.

The Prince of Jingnan did not convene another military conference simply because of this victory. The arrangements for the battle had already been decided at the previous conference. There was no need to deliberately summon every commander now solely to celebrate Count Pingye’s achievement.

After all, this great war had only just raised its curtain.

Yes.

It truly had only just begun.

After returning to camp, Count Pingye first enjoyed a long, comfortable hot bath.

The bathtub had been set up behind the command tent. A doorway connected the two tents: the front served as his working area, the rear as his living quarters.

That was the benefit of fighting so close to home. In all his previous campaigns, Count Pingye had never enjoyed treatment like this.

After bathing, he slept beautifully.

Only after genuinely restoring his energy did he leave the command tent again. What greeted him outside was a scene of feverish activity.

With Central Mountain Camp broken, the armies had been divided into several fronts and were beginning siege operations. Naturally, not every force could be used to attack fortifications. Several mobile formations still had to be kept in reserve, but those arrangements belonged to Tian Wujing.

The target placed before Count Pingye was the Chu’s East Mountain Fort.

It was a fairly large stronghold.

Several days earlier, when the Chu were weaving their encirclement, one Imperial Clan Guards force had entered East Mountain Fort. Later, that force had marched back out to reinforce the battlefield and clashed several times with Gong Wang’s troops. Both sides had suffered losses.

But once Gong Wang learned that Central Mountain Camp had fallen, he stopped trying to block that Chu force outright. Instead, he gathered his men and sealed off every possibility of it returning to East Mountain Fort.

He truly was a veteran of the battlefield. A man valued by Situ Lei who, even after the heavens changed and Yan took control, could still command a force independently possessed ability beyond question.

And Count Pingye liked his style of doing things very much.

That Imperial Clan Guards force could go anywhere it pleased.

It just could not go back to East Mountain Fort.

Because in the fighting to come, East Mountain Fort was theirs to attack.

In truth, the move was rather vicious. Unless Gong Wang actually annihilated that Chu force, then even if it could not return to East Mountain Fort, it could still enter another military fort or camp. Eventually, whichever Yan army drew the assignment of attacking that position would find its resistance greatly increased.

But this spirit of sacrificing the greater family for the sake of one’s own small household... was very much to Count Pingye’s taste.

And now, amid all this bustling activity, assembled trebuchets, battering rams, siege towers, giant siege crossbows, and every sort of siege engine were being transported forward one after another.

The sight nearly brought tears to Count Pingye’s eyes.

The Snow Sea Army had long been famous among Yan forces for its manufacture of siege equipment.

Now, at last, it had the chance to properly use siege engines in an actual siege.

He had waited so long.

Longed for it so long.

And finally, finally, this day had come.

As for those earlier assaults on the snowfields... could those even be called sieges?

There was only one thing still puzzling Count Pingye.

By all logic, Xue San should have returned already.

The people of Tianji Pavilion working in his army could substitute for many of Xue San’s functions, but the campaign against Chu had been proclaimed for so long that Xue San, even in the State of Liang, could not possibly have failed to hear about it.

Count Pingye had barely begun spending a little more time “missing” the absent Xue San when the Blind Man came over to report.

“Master, Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi have arrived.”

There was nothing strange about those two coming to see him. The eastern front contained only these three forces, and Tian Wujing had already designated Zheng Fan as the man in charge of coordinating them. Naturally, Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi would come to pay their respects to the new boss.

“Tell He Chunlai to make something good for us to eat.” After saying that, Count Pingye gave a bitter smile. “I’ve always wanted to maintain good relations. You’re good, I’m good, everyone’s good, and we all get along peacefully. But Old Tian always likes roasting me over the fire. Tsk. Miserable.”

At the last military conference, Tian Wujing had pulled an enormous amount of colleague-hatred onto him in one breath. And before the conference, Zheng Fan had been outside the princely tent bowing politely to everyone.

The contrast was so sharp it might as well have been labeled “arrogant before, deferential afterward.”

The Blind Man smiled.

“Perhaps in the Prince of Jingnan’s eyes, Master simply does not need to walk the path of cultivating relationships. Take the Prince of Jingnan and Prince Zhenbei. Do those two need to deliberately build relationships with anyone? Once your own strength is great enough and your position high enough, everyone beneath you becomes a relationship automatically.”

“That’s true enough, but I’m still not used to doing things that way. Pretending to be a pig so I can eat the tiger suits my tastes better. Heh.”

“Heh.”

“All right. Go bring them in. I’ll wait in the command tent.”

Count Pingye turned and went back.

The Blind Man found a personal guard and told him to fetch He Chunlai to cook. Then, leisurely peeling an orange as he walked, he wandered into another tent.

A’Ming was leaning against the tent wall drinking wine.

“Tell me. How did our Master end up with such incredible luck?”

A’Ming looked surprised.

“You call that good luck? You weren’t there that day. Master was riding along, and that trebuchet stone somehow picked him out specifically to smash.”

“But he didn’t get smashed to death, did he?”

“Heh.”

“What I mean is, perhaps Master really does possess some sort of personal charm. Look, a woman having several sugar daddies is perfectly normal. Everyone gets what they want. One side wants money or power, the other wants her body. But our Master is a man. For a man to find a godfather who sincerely wants the best for him? That is damned difficult.”

“Did word come from home that Sha Tuo Queshi woke up?”

The Blind Man shook his head.

“Not that godfather.”

A’Ming understood.

“The one over here is his sworn elder brother.”

The Blind Man ate a segment of orange and smiled.

“Same difference.”

Then he added, “You just knocked the Prince of Jingnan down a generation beneath the Left Guli King for no reason. If the Prince of Jingnan ever hears about this, you really will become a dead bat.”

“I’m asking you, what exactly did you come here to get sentimental about?”

“What I’m getting sentimental about is this: I never thought of it before, but I just did. The two neighbors next door, Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi, have both come to pay respects to our Master. Earlier I didn’t have time to think about it. Just now I did, and four words came to me.”

A’Ming tilted his head back and drank.

Silence.

Silence.

The Blind Man could not help giving a light cough.

A’Ming lowered his wineskin and looked at the Blind Man with eager curiosity.

“Go on. What four words?”

The Blind Man smiled.

“Fatherly love is like a mountain.”

...

Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi entered Count Pingye’s command tent together.

Zheng Fan had just begun to rise when both generals immediately dropped to their knees.

“This general congratulates the Count on victory at first engagement!”

“This general congratulates the Count on victory at first engagement!”

Both men were Chief Commanders, technically the same rank as Zheng Fan. Count Pingye might also carry a noble title, the status of Imperial Son-in-Law, and the office of Grand General of Cheng State, but in the army those things did not matter nearly as much.

Moreover, soldiers, especially commanding generals, were often the very center of their force’s morale and fighting spirit. Their temperaments were generally direct, and they did not casually bend the knee.

For the two men to kneel this cleanly meant they had already decided, before coming, how they intended to define the relationship among the three of them.

They were deliberately placing themselves below him.

Nominally, Count Pingye merely held authority to coordinate their two forces in joint operations. He stood only half a step above them.

In practice, they had already placed him completely in the position of their superior.

Seeing this, Count Pingye did not hurry forward to help them up.

Instead, he sat back down and smiled.

“Generals, please rise.”

“Thank you, Count!”

“Thank you, Count!”

Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi stood.

Count Pingye looked at them and said, “We’re military men. Military men don’t really like all the nonsense civil officials enjoy. You kneel, I rush over to pull you up, you insist on kneeling, I keep pulling, and in the end I may have to kneel down with you until the three of us are kowtowing to each other. Far too troublesome. So I’ll just sit here and we’ll skip that entire step. I’m an honest man with a straightforward temper. Whether speaking or doing things, I don’t like beating around the bush. Let’s do it this way. You two generals follow me from now on. When there’s merit, we take it together. When offices are handed out, we rise together. When noble ranks are raised, we rise together. From now on, we’re all brothers of one household.”

“Many thanks for the Count’s support!”

Gong Wang dropped to one knee again and saluted.

He was a Jin man, after all. He might be shrewd and measured in how he handled things, but he still lacked a certain carefree ease.

Gongsun Zhi, on the other hand, burst into laughter when he heard this and sat directly in the place below Zheng Fan on the right.

“Hahaha! Count, then I won’t stand on ceremony. Years ago, when you sent wine to my father-in-law, the old man guarded it like treasure and barely let me have two mouthfuls. Truth be told, I’ve been thinking about the Count’s wine for a long time. The day of the military conference, when His Highness assigned me beneath the Count’s command, I was so damned happy the wine worms in my belly woke right up. Hahaha!”

“Hahaha.”

Count Pingye laughed and pointed at Gongsun Zhi.

The man did not actually look especially burly or rough, but there was a trace of Li Bao in the way he spoke and acted.

More importantly, the greatest difference between him and Gong Wang was that Gongsun Zhi was a Yan man.

“That wine wasn’t your father-in-law being stingy and refusing to let you drink. It was for treating wounds and keeping them from festering. It saves lives. How about this: I’ve already prepared two full wagons. When you leave later, each of you takes one back. His Highness’s military discipline is strict, and drinking is forbidden in the army, so when I heard the two of you were coming today, I didn’t prepare wine either. We’ll use tea in place of wine. And once you haul that alcohol back, make sure you keep an eye on the greedy drinkers in camp. Better yet, I’ll assign two military-medical teams to each of you as well. I’m not boasting when I say this, but when it comes to treating the wounded, my force does it best in the whole army. Let them train your own medics a little. Also, take some cattle and sheep with you. Let the brothers in your camps enjoy a little meat.”

This was simply handing out benefits directly.

If people accepted you as their big brother, then as the big brother, you had to show something in return.

What, did you think men were born with cheap bones and simply enjoyed kneeling to you?

Of course, these were only small favors.

In the future, leading them to victory and helping them earn military merit was the true path.

The Prince of Jingnan had exterminated his own entire clan and still retained the support of commanders from every route.

This was why.

“Thank you, Count!”

“Thank you, Count!”

Gong Wang rose and took his seat as well.

In truth, Zheng Fan valued him more highly.

Gongsun Zhi believed himself familiar with Count Pingye and therefore slipped into this new relationship more easily because he was Yan.

But from Zheng Fan’s perspective, Gong Wang being Jin actually gave him more room to develop.

It was not that Count Pingye dreamed of rebelling.

But if that day truly came... which would be easier?

Persuading Gong Wang to rebel with him, or persuading Gongsun Zhi?

“Brother Gong.”

“Count.”

“Let’s speak plainly. Elsewhere, people may distinguish between Yan and Jin. Here with me, there has never been any such distinction. Yan men and Jin men have always been treated exactly the same beneath my command.”

“Hahaha. Count, there’s no need to say that. You treat Jin soldiers so well that plenty of men under me have already started talking about transferring over to your force to draw their pay.”

Count Pingye smiled too.

“Don’t worry. That day will come.”

The instant those words left his mouth, both Gong Wang’s and Gongsun Zhi’s eyes flickered.

They had knelt together when entering precisely to make their attitude clear.

But who would have expected Count Pingye not merely to accept it gladly, but immediately begin skipping steps at insane speed?

They had thought themselves fast.

Only now did they discover Count Pingye was the real lightning bolt.

Listen to him.

Don’t worry. That day will come.

Meaning that sooner or later, their men would be drawing pay from the same purse as Count Pingye’s own troops.

Normally, a commander would resent, even reject, anything that cost his force its independence.

But all one could say was that when the Prince of Jingnan first assigned the army dispositions, he may already have buried a hidden thread there.

Gong Wang was a Jin man. He himself had essentially risen as high as he could. At most, he could still dream about a noble title. But even Gong Wang believed it unrealistic for the Yan court, at this point, to hand a Jin-born commander one entire frontier region and make him a great regional military governor.

Yet beneath Gong Wang were not only his own sons.

Many sons and nephews of the comrades who had once fought beside him also served in his army.

One could say half the future of the old Situ Clan’s household generals rested on his shoulders.

Even if he did not need to plan for himself, he still had to find a road for them.

The simplest road would be to raise a banner in rebellion and restore Jin... but Count Pingye himself did not yet dare think about rebellion, much less Gong Wang.

As for Gongsun Zhi, he was Li Bao’s son-in-law. After Li Bao died, however, he had split away from Li Bao’s son.

The court had certainly pushed matters in that direction because it wanted to break Li Bao’s old command apart.

But if Gongsun Zhi himself had been utterly loyal and unwilling, the split could never truly have happened.

That left him in an awkward position.

Generals from the Zhenbei Army, men like Li Fusheng, did not care for him at all.

Other commanders did not regard him as one of their own either.

Splitting cleanly away and independently commanding his own force was certainly comfortable.

But every other circle had closed its doors to him.

So both of these men currently needed a powerful thigh to cling to.

Count Pingye was a newly risen thigh so dazzling it almost blinded the eyes. More importantly, apart from his own direct troops, he still possessed no external military followers.

That naturally made him the best choice available now, and the one with the brightest future.

The gathering was thoroughly enjoyable.

In official language, the three great commanders of the eastern front in Great Yan’s campaign against Chu had reached a consensus on close cooperation and continuing to strive together for Great Yan and the glorious achievements of His Majesty the Emperor.

In private language... a military faction centered on Count Pingye had formally come into existence today.

Even Count Pingye himself, amid cups of tea replacing wine and the cheerful clatter of the gathering, could not avoid feeling faintly dazed.

Everything was moving... a little too naturally.

A little too inevitably.

A little too smoothly.

...

It had rained heavily for many days along the upper Wang River.

And since the river was already in its high-water season, tension had spread along the dikes everywhere.

Transporting grain and military supplies to the front had already drained a huge portion of the manpower around Yingdu.

Now they had to squeeze out still more labor and material to carry out river works.

Grand Tutor Sun Youdao, who had only recently returned to public office, had worked himself visibly haggard.

Fortunately, Count Pingye’s earlier march into the city had thoroughly purged Yingdu’s officialdom.

So although the task was extremely difficult, there were far fewer people obstructing the work.

“Here! Here! Here too! And here! Hurry! All of you, hurry!”

Two blisters had risen at the corners of Fifth Prince Ji Chengwen’s mouth, showing just how anxious he had been these past days.

He had originally thought this trip to Yingdu would be little more than going through the motions.

Instead, the front was fighting a war while Yingdu still had to keep repairing river dikes.

Manpower and material were obviously insufficient. By now, even the household servants and retainers of every wealthy family in Yingdu had been mobilized to work along the embankment.

Fifth Prince had just taken a moment to rest and drink some water when he noticed a dwarf standing on the dike nearby.

A horse stood beside the dwarf.

A woman sat on the horse. Her face was broad, her hips even broader. With her sitting in the saddle, even the horse’s rump somehow looked dainty.

Xue San used his dagger to stab at the surface layer of the dike.

Then he cursed:

“Holy shit. Did they order the materials for this dike off Pinduoduo or what?”

“May I ask Young Master Xue, what sect is this Pinduoduo?”

“Uh... you really don’t need to know.”

Xue San turned toward the river on the other side.

He put a finger between his teeth, gnawed his nail, and muttered to himself:

“Hiss... this doesn’t look like river-repair work.”

[End of Chapter 520]