Chapter 778: Crisis: Locked Horns

"Mad. Mad. Mad!"

Gou Moli roared in a deliberately lowered voice inside his command tent.

The commander's orders had already come down.

Aside from the troops Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang had taken away to hunt the "turtle," every other formation was making rapid preparations.

This was different from the earlier kind of preparation.

This meant... march immediately.

As one of the true members of the "high command," Gou Moli naturally received the orders too.

And the moment he did... he nearly lost his composure.

Yet even inside his own command tent, he did not dare raise his voice too loudly.

After venting for a while... the former Savage King washed his face.

Then carefully straightened his clothes.

He stepped outside the tent.

Faced the direction of the commander's pavilion.

And let out a heavy sigh.

Fine.

Fine.

Fine.

Your foundation.

Your household wealth.

If you want to gamble it away, then gamble it away.

Goddamn it.

Worst case, once you've gambled yourself down to nothing, we'll open that inn, sleep in the stable, and lie there every night counting Stars overhead!

Praise the fucking Stars!

At that moment...

Gou Moli suddenly understood the idea of "opening an inn" on an entirely different level.

He even began wondering whether Master and those gentlemen had secretly wanted to open an inn all along.

Perhaps that was why they never treated the family's foundation as something precious.

Maybe they could hardly wait to squander it all so they would finally have an excuse to fulfill that dream.

That night... under Marquis Pingxi's command, Gou Moli personally led five thousand cavalry as the vanguard.

They rode out of Zhennan Pass.

And entered Shanggu Commandery.

...

"Lanterns are lit! Back to camp! Back to camp!"

The Chu commoners shouldered their tools and left the river.

They began returning to camp.

Qian Miao, Chief Clerk of the local county yamen, watched the people finish work and file away.

Inside... he felt both helpless and angry.

The commoners hated the corvée labor of "smashing ice" from the bottom of their hearts.

And over these past few days... that resistance had grown steadily worse.

In the end... it had become passive obstruction.

Qian Miao had originally wanted to mobilize the yamen runners and punish a few people.

But Magistrate Jing would not allow it.

"My lord."

"My lord."

Two junior clerks saluted Qian Miao.

He nodded.

Then lifted the curtain and entered the crude shelter.

Most people in the camp lived either in lean-tos or dugout pits.

The bitter cold made life miserable.

This little hut was already among the best accommodations in the entire camp.

Of course... it still could not compare with the warm kang back home in the county seat.

Jing Minren, Magistrate of Xiawei County, was seated inside brewing tea.

He added firewood himself.

The tea itself was nothing special.

Magistrate Jing came from the Jing Clan.

Yet apart from living slightly better than the ordinary Chu commoners levied into this camp... his conduct truly gave no one anything to criticize.

Seeing that, Qian Miao found his bellyful of complaints had nowhere to go.

He could only sit.

"Here. Have some tea."

Jing Minren passed him a cup.

Qian Miao lifted it.

Blew across the surface.

Took two sips.

Warmth immediately spread through his body.

After the Yan's last invasion of Chu, the foundations of Great Chu's noble clans had suffered a devastating blow.

Afterward, the Regent began accepting Shanyue people while suppressing the nobles as much as possible, preventing those clans from regaining their local power.

The Jing Clan was one of Great Chu's Four Great Noble Clans.

But the Jing Clan had always cared far more about literary inheritance than territorial power.

Its household was great.

Its political force was not.

Precisely because of that... the Jing Clan survived this upheaval relatively intact.

It even developed to some degree.

Jing Minren had received his posting to Xiawei County against that background.

"My lord, today's ice-breaking work achieved only thirty percent of what we managed at the beginning. Perhaps not even that."

"I know." Jing Minren nodded. "I saw it myself."

"My lord, the Grand General's office issued strict orders. We must..."

"The Grand General's office is the Grand General's office. This county is this county. Xiawei County used to be relatively wealthy. But starting several years ago, when Pillar of State Qu sent troops into Jin, war followed war. Our county lies beside the Wei River. We supplied the most men, the most grain, and the most corvée labor. The people have been exhausted for years. At last the two states made peace. Then throughout last year, the garrisons along the Wei began building stockades, forts, and embankments again. Court relief was pitifully small, while labor demands were heavy enough to crush the breath from people's chests. Now spring planting is almost here. By rights, our yamen should be preparing for agriculture. Instead, everyone has been forcibly trapped here. Failing to show mercy to the people's strength is one thing. Delaying the spring planting is another. If that happens, how are they supposed to survive the coming year? Let the people catch their breath. Let them breathe."

Qian Miao listened to the confession from the heart.

He could only sigh helplessly.

Jing Minren smiled.

"Brother Qian, do you think I'm being softhearted like a woman? Or do you think I'm deliberately fishing for a reputation?"

"This subordinate would not dare."

"There is no question of daring or not daring. Since winter began, merely around Xiawei County and several neighboring counties, starving people have already stormed county yamens and gathered in riots. The commoners have reached the limit of what they can bear. It is not that I fail to understand great principles or affairs of state. But this matter of smashing ice... Brother Qian, let me ask you only one thing. Do you truly believe that even if we smashed every last sheet of ice across the Wei River cleanly apart... the Yan would really be unable to ride south? Do the Yan only know how to wage war in winter?"

"At minimum... it creates some trouble for them."

"If the front crossings are held and the Yan become deadlocked there, then if the Grand General's office sends an order... no. Even if the Grand General's office sends no order at all, I, Jing Minren, will still mobilize every commoner under this county and send them forward as laborers for the royal army. I will help the royal army resist the Yan."

"My lord..."

"The court is not wrong. The Grand General's office is not wrong either. But are these common people wrong? Am I wrong? The resentment in their hearts has accumulated for too long. We cannot keep forcing them. If we keep pressing, the Yan won't even need to arrive. Our own people will start fighting one another first."

Qian Miao had no answer.

"Brother Qian. Drink your tea."

...

Splash.

Splash.

Splash.

Savage soldiers leapt into the river one after another.

Sabers clenched between their teeth.

Nearly naked.

Each hugged an inflated sheepskin float as he began swimming toward the far bank.

Northern Chu was cold at this season.

But everything was relative.

Just as Qian people considered the Three Frontiers a bitterly cold wasteland, while farther north lay Yinlang Commandery, which Yan people called their "Little Jiangnan"... the same principle applied here.

Chu people considered this weather bone-piercingly cold.

But to Savages born and raised on the snowfields, with all of Jin territory lying between... this climate barely counted as anything.

Grand General Nian could exploit the mountain-running ability of a Shanyue tribe to launch a huge raid behind enemy lines.

Marquis Pingxi Residence could likewise exploit the Savages' resistance to cold... and give Chu a winter-swimming demonstration.

The Blind Man stood on the bank and watched.

He genuinely felt some emotion.

The adaptability of human beings truly was the strongest thing of all.

In later generations, ordinary people found winter-swimming enthusiasts astonishing merely because they could jump into icy water wearing only swim trunks.

But under savage natural conditions... the endurance people produced simply to survive... was genuinely terrifying.

"Don't you have anything else to do?"

Gou Moli stood beside the Blind Man, sounding helpless.

"War's started. What else am I supposed to do? This campaign doesn't need me handling logistics. Don't worry. You do your thing. I'll watch from the side and learn a little from you."

"Where are the boats and planks?" Gou Moli asked.

"Prepared long ago," the Blind Man answered.

Gou Moli rolled his neck.

"Crossing the river isn't difficult. Killing our way across isn't difficult either. The hardest part comes afterward. Once we cross the Wei and head west, what happens if we encounter blocking forces? If the army is delayed, then we're effectively stranded inside Chu after voluntarily cutting our own logistics. Just like me back when Master seized Snow Sea Pass."

"That's the worst-case scenario, isn't it?"

"Fine. Fine."

Gou Moli no longer wanted to speak.

By then, the first group of Savages who had secretly swum across had already reached the far bank.

The Wei River was too long.

It wrapped around more than half of Shanggu Commandery.

Unless the Chu became so ruthless they were willing to expend the manpower and resources to build a Great Wall along the entire river... they could never defend every stretch.

The value of a defensive line was simple.

Either you stopped to grind away at fortified points, wasting time and men... or you ignored them and broke through anyway.

Then the defenders blocked your rear and turned you into an isolated force.

So in the simple sense... getting across was never difficult.

It was always easy to do something while caring about the head and ignoring the ass.

The sentry post on the far bank was cleared.

The Savages who landed afterward began establishing a perimeter.

At the same time... small boats that had been concealed nearby were dragged from hiding.

Marquis Pingxi Residence had never established a navy of its own.

It was simply too extravagant.

Money was one issue.

The real problem was that building a navy consumed enormous manpower and attention.

The Residence did not possess enough spare capacity.

So the matter had always been postponed.

But during the earlier campaign against Chu, they had captured quite a lot.

The Blind Man knew how to run a household.

So years ago he had set aside a place and stored those vessels.

No one had maintained them especially well.

No one trained with them.

Now... perfect.

They could all be dragged out at once and extravagantly sacrificed as material for pontoon bridges.

A crude bridge quickly began taking shape.

Before dawn...

Gou Moli and the Blind Man had already crossed to the far bank.

Construction continued behind them.

Gou Moli ordered several detachments upstream and downstream to sweep away nearby sentry posts, delaying Chu's discovery of what was happening here for as long as possible.

When the sun rose... the troops behind them began moving across.

Marquis Pingxi's command banner was there too.

The pontoon bridge continued expanding and being reinforced so greater numbers of soldiers could cross more quickly.

Gou Moli looked around at the Savage soldiers who had spent an entire night building the bridge and then rushed across the river.

He roared:

"Want your wives to stop standing at the very back the next time they go worship Buddha?"

The surrounding Savages all turned toward him.

"Want yourselves and your families to live as actual human beings in Fengxin City?"

The Savages began standing.

This particular Savage Command had not been temporarily levied from beyond Snow Sea Pass.

These were men Gou Moli had personally trained and developed.

Gou Moli raised his whip and cracked it through the air.

"I know you're thirsty. Tired. Sleepy. But if you want to become human, then first learn how to be beasts! Hear my order! Armor up! Mount! Follow me forward and clear the road for the army!"

That was the meaning of the vanguard.

When they met mountains... open the road.

When they met water... build the bridge.

The bridge was already built.

Now... they would open the road.

...

The Yan had come.

Yes.

The Yan had come.

And because the Yan objective this time was to cross the Wei and drive west...

Xiawei County took the blow first.

There was hardly any question of defending the county seat.

The laborers.

Yamen runners.

Local militia.

Almost all of them were in the camp outside the city.

When the Yan force smashed into the camp, the whole place barely managed any effective resistance.

It collapsed on contact.

Jing Minren stepped out of his hut.

When he saw Savage cavalry wearing Yan armor galloping through the camp... there was no regret on his face.

He did not believe he had been wrong.

And in truth... he had not been wrong.

The entire practical effect of forcing the commoners to smash winter ice had been this: the Savages got a little cold.

They went winter swimming once.

And they spent one night building a pontoon bridge.

That was all.

Jing Minren drew his sword.

Chu people loved wearing swords.

Chu scholars too... usually possessed swords of their own.

Then... a Savage rider swept past.

The cavalry saber flashed.

Jing Minren was cut down.

Blood spilled out.

Moments later... hooves from the riders behind trampled over his body.

Qian Miao, Chief Clerk of Xiawei County, had risen early that morning because he intended to drive the laborers out onto the river.

So he happened to be outside the camp.

When he saw Savage cavalry charging in... he immediately ran.

Not away.

Toward the county seat.

As he ran, he shouted for the city gates to be closed.

Then... an arrow entered his back from behind.

The force was tremendous.

Qian Miao wore no armor.

He pitched forward after the hit.

His head lifted.

He looked toward the city ahead.

The gates had not closed in time.

Savage cavalry were already charging inside.

Xiawei County fell.

The Savage vanguard did not pause.

Under Gou Moli's control, they did not even have time to burn, kill, or plunder.

They rapidly re-formed.

Then continued forward.

The Yan's sudden attack sent beacon smoke rising from every Chu military stockade along the Wei.

The first reaction of each camp was to gather its troops and hold fast while sending messages toward the rear, guarding against another Yan dash straight toward Ying Capital like the last one.

But elsewhere... once the main Yan force crossed the river, it showed not the slightest interest in going south.

It wanted only one thing.

West.

West.

And farther west.

Hooves thundered.

Wind rolled the clouds.

Yet at that moment... the Chu and the Yan appeared to reach a strange understanding.

This was not a war that followed normal logic.

There was no orderly pattern to trace.

It was more like... a quarrel.

One side started it.

The other grabbed the challenge.

Then they locked horns.

...

At the same time...

Grand General Nian finally boarded ship with his men.

The Fan Clan had huge ambitions.

Combined with their familiarity with old smuggling routes, they had even tried building their own "navy."

Of course... calling it a true navy would be laughable.

But they had greatly expanded the size of the fleet under their control.

Then the actual Chu navy entered the region.

Under that pressure, combined with Phoenix Nest agents planted inside the Fan Clan... two Fan water stockades defected.

They turned around and became internal collaborators for Chu.

Fan Zhengwen was a ruthless man of ambition.

No question.

The Fan Clan's foundation was deep.

No question there either.

But transforming a merchant clan into a military regional power in only a few short years... while leaving no leaks at all... was simply unrealistic.

The inevitable result of recruiting troops and expanding forces on a large scale was sand mixing into the grain.

And the Fan Clan's roots remained in Chu territory.

Although only the Mount Meng range separated them from eastern Jin under Marquis Pingxi Residence... that one mountain range mattered.

Many people under the Fan Clan still regarded themselves as Chu people.

Not Yan.

The ships moved downriver.

Several days later... they reached the shore.

Grand General Nian took his personally trained Shanyue tribal troops as the central force.

He gathered the Fan Clan "water bandits" who had defected as servant troops.

Then entered Mount Meng and launched an offensive toward the Fan Clan's rear.

Mount Meng's defenses had originally focused northward.

And those northern routes were easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Years ago, during Marquis Zheng's first entry into Chu, he had personally crossed this region.

Even then... only because the Fan Clan acted as internal collaborators and opened the way for him.

Now... because the territory behind Mount Meng belonged to Yan influence, the so-called defenses on this side had long since become little more than decoration.

The Fan Clan's true attention had shifted south.

Even people who had lost out in household or political struggles were often dumped into this region as a kind of marginal assignment.

So... when Grand General Nian appeared before those passes wearing Fire Phoenix Armor while his Grand General's banner rose behind him... most of the soldiers defending those supposedly "easy-to-hold, hard-to-attack" positions either opened the gates and surrendered directly... or fled the moment they saw the wind change.

A few loyal to the Fan Clan tried to resist.

But the Shanyue soldiers could climb mountains and scale sheer cliffs.

They broke through those positions quickly as well.

Many mountain stockades and bandit groups throughout Mount Meng came down from their lairs and gathered beneath Grand General Nian's banner.

The force under Nian Yao might have become a "rabble" in composition... but its morale was astonishingly high.

He led it south.

...

Inside Fan City...

Fan Zhengwen had only just received a message from Qu Peiluo.

The old patriarch of the Dugu Clan had personally led an army forward.

Qu Peiluo knew he was no match.

He had begun retreating and requested the Fan Clan receive and supply his force.

Then... a fresh report arrived from the rear.

The Fan Clan's ancestral county seat, adjoining Mount Meng north of Fan City and effectively lying right at the mountain's foot... had been broken by a Chu force of unknown origin.

That location stored grain and weapons intended as reserves in case Fan City itself came under siege.

In one stroke... all of it was gone.

The following day... news arrived from the front that Qu Peiluo had been defeated and the Dugu Clan's army was pressing forward.

From the rear...

Grand General Nian's command banner finally appeared.

Old Fan clansmen deliberately released from the captured county fled into Fan City.

They were accepted inside.

Then spread the news.

In an instant...

Fan City, while perhaps not impregnable, still a strong city behind solid walls... fell into panic.

For the past two years, the Fan Clan had ridden the momentum of Yan's great victory over Chu.

Then last year, the Princess had visited personally and created an atmosphere of blazing prosperity.

Now... it was as though someone had dumped an entire basin of ice water over the clan's head.

Everything went cold.

Thoroughly cold.

...

While panic spread through Fan Residence... the Old Ancestress of the Fan Clan sent someone to summon the clan head, Fan Zhengwen.

Inside the courtyard with its heated rooms... even in winter, grass remained green and flowers bloomed.

The Old Ancestress looked even older than when Marquis Zheng had last seen her.

She still held a little gardening shovel.

Still crouched beside a flower bed.

When her direct descendant entered, she gave a cold snort.

"Well? Happy now? Satisfied now? This time you've truly pushed the Fan Clan to the edge of extermination. Aren't you capable."

Fan Zhengwen did not look frantic.

Did not look panicked.

Did not look as though he regretted everything and wanted to weep.

Instead... he walked over.

Picked up a watering pot.

And watered the flowers the Old Ancestress had just planted.

Then he smiled.

"Listen to you, Ancestress. My wife and children were sent to Yanjing long ago. What does the extermination of the entire Fan Clan have to do with me, Fan Zhengwen?"

[End of Chapter 778]