Chapter 955: Battle of the New Generation!

Wang Qingmei’s head had been hung from a flagpole.

The city had fallen.

He was dead.

Beneath the pole lay several more heaps of severed heads, their faces twisted hideously.

“The Prince once said that the reason Qian people and Chu people call us ‘Yan barbarians’ is not, at root, because our culture is actually that much inferior to theirs.”

“And what is it, then?” Tian Tian obligingly asked.

“It is because, for nearly the past hundred years, we Yan people have always been the strong. Because we are strong, we are called overbearing. Just as in the days of Great Xia, the Barbarians were called Barbarians because they occupied Great Xia’s northwest and threatened its security. Only the strong can keep creating an image of tyranny. The weak can only condemn them helplessly.”

Chen Xianba clapped his hands.

A guard brought forward a box.

Chen Xianba opened it. Inside lay the head of the messenger who had been killed earlier, already given some simple preservation treatment to slow its decay.

A severed head was a useful thing.

No army held many taboos about heads. Eastern Jin had long since abandoned the old custom of counting military merit purely by severed heads, doing its best to distribute credit more reasonably, but soldiers’ fondness for heads had never disappeared.

Whether the enemy’s... or their own.

Chen Xianba placed the messenger’s head atop one of the piles, stepped back, and ordered:

“Bury them together.”

“Yes.”

Chen Xianba closed his eyes.

Perhaps he was mourning.

Perhaps he was simply adjusting his own emotions.

“Father once told me that when my biological father ordered the execution of captives beneath Yupan City, he nearly broke down completely.”

When Tian Tian had been little, Zheng Fan had loved holding him and telling him stories about the past.

And Tian Tian’s memory had always been excellent.

Chen Xianba nodded.

“That is exactly why I have always admired the Prince most. The Prince is a great man.”

“Yes.”

Tian Tian had never denied his father’s greatness.

“But the Prince is not a god. His greatness was not boasted into existence, nor manufactured for appearances. It is real. And because it is real, I am willing to keep standing behind him, walk the roads he once walked, and recreate and relive his glory. Not even two years after rivers of blood ran beneath Yupan City, the Prince led Snow Sea cavalry into the snowfields and drove the routed Savage troops into several fortresses so our Yan army could use them to practice siege warfare.”

Chen Xianba rolled his neck.

“Actually, this is my first time too. Little Brother, do you feel uncomfortable about any of it? I do.”

“I don’t.”

Chen Xianba was slightly surprised by the answer.

Then he saw how calm Tian Tian’s gaze was and laughed.

“Little Brother has more promise than your elder brother.”

Tian Tian shook his head and pointed toward the heaps of heads before them.

“I genuinely feel nothing toward them.”

Tian Tian’s childhood had been spent beside Demon Child, Sha Tuo Queshi, and others like them.

His understanding of “life” and “death” had always been more direct and more intimate than an ordinary child’s.

He possessed moral standards.

He simply did not care especially much about them.

“Heh.”

Chen Xianba laughed.

He reached out and patted Tian Tian’s shoulder, then turned toward the armored soldiers behind him.

“Also, pick out more heads. Send them to the surrounding towns and cities. Warn them that two hundred thousand troops of Great Yan have entered Chu. The imperial-clan Imperial Guards of Chu have already been defeated. Chu’s destruction is near. Any city that dares shut its gates and resist us will be massacred when it falls!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Chen Xianba walked over to a water vat and began washing his hands.

As he washed, he said to Tian Tian:

“Truthfully, massacring a city is the most effective form of intimidation. Of course, benevolence and righteousness can be useful too, just not here. If the Prince ever marched on Yanjing one day, for example, benevolence and righteousness would become very useful. But here in Chu, especially somewhere like Sansuo Commandery that Chu has practically abandoned, let the Chu people see some blood and they’ll learn to behave.”

“You’re right, Brother Ba.”

“You’ve spent all this time beside the Prince. You understand these principles better than I do. These past few years, even though I’ve been outside commanding troops, I increasingly feel that the years I spent beside the Prince as a personal guard were when I improved the most. Not in military science. Not in cultivation. In understanding the world. Sometimes the Prince casually says a few words, and they turn out to be truths another man might spend his whole life failing to summarize.”

“I feel the same way. Many things Father says make people think deeply.”

“There’s a ridiculous rumor that our present Emperor of Great Yan, back when he was still an impoverished prince, only became willing to associate with the Prince—who was merely a Lieutenant at the time—because the Prince knew how to speak pleasantly. And supposedly, His Majesty even called himself the younger brother and honored our Prince as elder brother.”

Tian Tian nodded solemnly.

“The Emperor is Father’s younger brother.”

Then he added:

“The Crown Prince is my younger brother too.”

Chen Xianba burst into loud laughter.

“Well, that’s convenient. The entire imperial family is made up of younger brothers.”

Inside the eastern Jin army, there was genuinely no need to avoid saying such things.

“Brother, what do we do next?”

“Keep fighting. Keep accepting surrenders. We won’t split troops to garrison anywhere. We’ll just knock on one door after another and say hello. Even if those cities raise Chu banners again after we leave, it doesn’t matter. Remember when I followed the Prince into Qian? Chuzhou City had already been entered once before. The second time we went in... things went much more smoothly.”

After making that comparison, Chen Xianba glanced sideways at Tian Tian with a trace of caution.

He saw that Tian Tian had not understood the innuendo at all.

Chen Xianba shook his head.

Good.

At least this little brother still had some things he did not understand.

...

After Xiawei County fell, this army—composed mostly of auxiliaries and laborers—continued advancing.

In less than a month, they took seven small county towns and two prefectural cities, meaning somewhat larger walled settlements.

Most collapsed at the mere sight of them.

There was almost no resistance.

In one place, the Yan army had been delayed by fatigue and arrived later than expected, only to find the city commander had already led the local elders and noble representatives twenty li outside the walls to offer surrender.

The resistance at Xiawei County had been the bloody warning.

The cities that opened their gates afterward and were neither looted nor massacred became the sweet dates.

Under those circumstances, most local Chu people were willing to surrender.

At worst, they lost some wealth and had to hand over cattle and sheep.

Compared with the destruction that followed a city being stormed by force, that cost was trivial.

Meanwhile, morale within Chen Xianba’s army climbed higher and higher.

Tian Tian could sometimes appear somewhat “green” or “wooden.”

Chen Xianba was different.

His personality possessed a very distinct, flamboyant side.

When Zheng Fan first acquired him in his youth, he had once said the boy carried Tian Wujing’s shadow.

Unfortunately... people changed.

After years of growing up while worshiping the Prince far too deeply, Chen Xianba had gradually lived himself into an imitation of “Zheng Fan” instead.

While marching, he would occasionally ask Tian Tian whether some gesture of his, some words he had spoken, or some movement he had made carried a little of the Prince’s bearing.

Tian Tian naturally told him yes.

But Tian Tian knew even better that the father in his memories was completely different in the army, before outsiders, and at home.

When the Blind Man and the others had first been helping Zheng Fan manufacture his myth, Tian Tian had still been a tiny child.

By the time Tian Tian grew older, Zheng Fan had already become fully accustomed to his identity.

He no longer needed to perform deliberately.

The aura of a true superior simply emerged naturally.

So in Tian Tian’s eyes, the difference between his father at home and outside was simply another sign of how much Father cherished his family.

Outside, he was the majestic Regent Prince.

The guardian deity of eastern Jin’s soldiers and people.

At home, he was a gentle father willing to play with his children.

One could only say that these two brothers, one older and one younger, had formed far too favorable a first impression of “the Prince.”

Whenever necessary... their minds automatically filled in the gaps and polished the image for him.

The auxiliary troops continued marching and “conquering territory.”

Military merit piled up so quickly they practically howled with excitement.

Morale alone could never create a truly elite army.

If it could, Gou Moli would never have lost so catastrophically in the Second Battle of Wang River.

But without morale at all... one could hardly even call a group an army.

After being baptized by victory after “victory,” the auxiliaries’ bearing gradually began changing.

Add their ordinary training, and the repeated process they went through every time they approached another city, and this auxiliary force was maturing with astonishing speed.

It was beginning to resemble a real field army.

In addition...

Chen Xianba had not troubled the cities that surrendered voluntarily.

He did not touch the local nobles or great clans.

But he did actively demand their submission.

That was exactly what the local snakes wanted too.

It hardly counted as “press-ganging strong men.”

For a time, large numbers of sons from local great families arrived under Chen Xianba’s banner with their own grain, armor, weapons, and equipment, voluntarily asking to serve.

By now, their numbers had grown to nearly three thousand.

Quite a few even brought their own horses.

Whenever the army reached a new place, these men became the most enthusiastic of all.

They gathered intelligence.

They persuaded cities to surrender.

And whenever minor resistance did appear, they were often the most eager to charge and kill.

Chen Xianba even selected eighteen sons of great clans from among them, broke the alcohol ban, drank with them, smashed their bowls, and swore brotherhood.

The gesture moved those men almost to tears.

Tian Tian did not participate in the revelry.

Most of the time, he simply watched quietly.

Chen Xianba understood Tian Tian’s personality and never forced him to join the “socializing.”

After all... merely placing the Regent Prince’s eldest son there was enough.

A little aloofness actually made those people value Tian Tian even more.

Today... another city had fallen without a fight.

Chen Xianba drank with his eighteen “Chu brothers” in celebration.

...

“Already eaten?”

Chen Xianba walked up behind Tian Tian.

“Mm.”

Tian Tian answered.

Chen Xianba sat down beside him.

At first, he had assumed Tian Tian was sitting there looking at the moon.

Only after sitting did he realize that Tian Tian had been drawing a map in the dirt with a branch.

“Those fellows earlier were urging me to petition the Prince and ask to be left here to guard Sansuo Commandery. Heh.”

“What do you think, Brother Ba?”

“To calm them for the time being, of course I slapped my chest and promised them I would. But honestly, I find the idea boring. Fence off a grass shed and declare yourself king and hegemon—maybe the sons of local strongmen think that sounds wonderful. To me, it means nothing. We’re still young. We’re nowhere near retirement.”

“True.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Brother Ba, have you noticed that things have been a little too smooth lately?”

“Isn’t smooth exactly what it should be?” Chen Xianba asked.

“Too smooth isn’t necessarily good.”

Tian Tian frowned slightly.

“In a few more days, we’ll reach the commandery seat of Sansuo. Every medium and small city before it has surrendered without fighting. What do you think the commandery capital will do?”

Chen Xianba spoke as though the answer were obvious.

“What will it do? Obviously they’ll trap us here and try to gather forces to annihilate us.”

“Uh...”

Tian Tian froze.

Everything he had been pondering... everything he had been worrying about... every carefully chosen phrase he had been organizing to persuade Chen Xianba... became impossible to say after that one sentence.

Chen Xianba picked up another branch and began drawing around the edges of Tian Tian’s map.

“Here. Here. And here. Heh. And over here too.”

These were all places in the western half of Sansuo Commandery.

Only after they crossed the hurdle of the commandery capital would they be able to touch them.

“Judging by our marching speed, the timing is about right.”

Chen Xianba coughed lightly.

“Actually, from Xiawei County onward, every city we’ve taken has shared one problem. According to what everyone says, Chu’s imperial-clan Imperial Guards withdrew from this area long ago. Once those Imperial Guards were gone, the local military forces should have lost heart early. Every city we pass opens its gates and surrenders. But... we almost never see the local garrison. The explanation is that they simply scattered, threw away armor and weapons, disappeared among the civilians, and hid because they feared we would settle accounts with them. Honestly, that explanation sounds plausible. It really does. When two states go to war, hostility between the armies is usually far stronger than hostility toward ordinary civilians. But I only massacred half of Xiawei County. After that, saying we never touched a single hair would be exaggerating, but at least we were polite enough to leave the defeated Chu people feeling almost flattered. And yet... the ones clustering around me and offering service are all sons of local great families. There are plenty of them now. These clans understand perfectly well that now our army has entered, coming early to cling to a thigh and make themselves familiar means they’ll have an easier time continuing to survive here afterward. Maybe they can even catch the eye of Prince Pingxi Residence. But... where are the military strongmen? The sons of local families have a few young men with decent skills. Sending them to seek advancement under the new regime makes sense. But are you telling me the men who actually command troops don’t understand that bringing their soldiers over as intact units would give them an even better ladder to climb? When Great Yan destroyed Jin, how many Jin military strongmen changed banners overnight and are now generals inside our army? Never mind that Prince Pingxi Residence keeps Qu Peiluo around as a living signboard. Not one. There hasn’t been a single one. Not one organized local garrison has surrendered. Every last one of them is supposedly terrified of me like I’m a tiger and simply dissolved and ran away? Put it this way. Even if I slaughtered cities. Even if my reputation were filthier than it is. I still couldn’t extinguish every man’s desire to ride my tailwind and climb upward. Especially in these latest cities. We sent people ahead early to investigate and persuade them to surrender. And yet every time... the garrison had already ‘collapsed and fled.’ Heh.”

Chen Xianba took a deep breath.

Then stabbed the branch in his hand straight into the soft ground.

“Little Brother... they’re looking down on us. Don’t you think?”

Tian Tian nodded.

“Yes.”

“Come on, Little Brother. You say something too.”

“Brother, you already said everything.”

“Sorry. In a few days, when we reach the commandery capital and hold council in the command tent, how about you say all this instead?”

“Huh?”

Tian Tian laughed.

“Brother, there’s no need.”

He assumed Chen Xianba was trying to give him a chance to show off.

Instead...

“Aiya, every time our Prince holds council in the command tent, Liang the Grand General and the others speak first while the Prince sits there with everything under control. Then the Prince gives the final word and settles the matter in one stroke. So... that day, your elder brother doesn’t want to say too much.”

“Fine, Brother.”

“Thank you, Little Brother.”

“As long as you’re happy.”

Tian Tian reached out and pulled the branch Chen Xianba had stabbed into the ground back out.

“Brother, doesn’t this scene feel familiar? A hundred years ago, Qian’s great army launched a northern expedition. They seized city after city and seemed invincible.”

“Mm. Then Great Yan stripped the countryside bare and strengthened its walls. Once the Qian expeditionary army became exhausted and internal disorder broke out, the first Marquis Zhenbei struck and destroyed them in one blow. So whoever is coordinating the Sansuo Commandery defenses thinks he is the first Marquis Zhenbei. That’s genuinely amusing.”

Tian Tian said:

“Brother, isn’t the more amusing part that he apparently thinks *we’re the Qian army*?”

“Yes, yes. That is the truly intolerable part. Outrageous!”

...

Atop the walls of Sansuo Commandery’s capital... a middle-aged man in green official robes and cap stood in the wind.

The gusts were strong.

They continually lifted the long hair hanging beside his temples.

“Your Excellency, are you truly not leaving?”

“I am Governor of Sansuo Commandery. How can I leave?”

“But His Majesty’s decree hopes that you will leave. My own mission is to escort you back to Ying Capital and return you safely to His Majesty.”

“Commissioner Cui may return first and report to His Majesty.”

“And you, Lord Xu?”

“If something can still be done, how can I refuse to do it?”

Xu Weichang laughed.

“My political views have always differed from His Majesty’s. In His Majesty’s eyes, it is acceptable to sweep everything clean and begin again from the start. In my eyes... His Majesty’s thinking is too beautiful. The Yan have not given us that opportunity. For ten years... first came Qu Tiannan’s tragic song beneath Yupan City. Then during the Yan-Chu national war, His Majesty borrowed Yan blades to clip the wings of the great noble houses. Even Nian Yao was disposed of in a murky, inexplicable fashion. It is like a game board. You want to set up calmly and slowly build a grand position. But first you have to ask whether the opponent is willing to give you that time. Even if you choose instead to fight fiercely at every point and contest every inch of land... when you lose, at least you usually do not lose quite so shamefully. Commissioner Cui, look. We have already confirmed that the main Yan army remains along the Moya Commandery front. This force that entered Sansuo Commandery is clearly nothing more than a tiny detached column by Yan standards. The imperial-clan Imperial Guards are not here. That is true. But gather Sansuo’s commandery troops, prefectural troops, and local militia... and we can still assemble thirty thousand men. How can we flee? How can we run? How can we keep shrinking?”

Xu Weichang spread both hands and bowed deeply toward the Commissioner of the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard.

Commissioner Cui immediately shifted half a step aside.

“I ask Commissioner Cui, when you return, to tell His Majesty this: The reason Great Chu has fallen into its present decline is not because Chu men do not dare fight. Let His Majesty open his eyes and see how many Pillars of State of Great Chu have died in battle! Nor is it because Chu men do not know how to fight. Let His Majesty listen carefully. Along the Wang River, across Liang and Zhao, Yan men have screamed miserably too! Great Chu’s defeat... lies in His Majesty thinking too much. In His Majesty thinking of too many things. In His Majesty... always wanting to keep one final move hidden away to settle Heaven and Earth in a single stroke. But Heaven and Earth... are already about to overturn. I, Xu Weichang, submit this plea with my life. I beg His Majesty to think again.”

Commissioner Cui immediately shook his head.

“I wouldn’t dare carry words like those back to His Majesty.”

Then...

Commissioner Cui removed his cloak.

He pressed down lightly on the saber at his waist.

And said:

“I’m staying.”

“Truly?”

“Actually, you aren’t the only one who can’t understand it, Lord Xu. I’m an old man of the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard. And I can’t understand it either. When did Great Chu’s Phoenix Guards and Qian’s Silver-Armored Guard ever become inferior to Yan’s Secret Intelligence Department? And yet... we lose. Lose. Lose. For ten years... we have done nothing but fucking lose! I... have lost enough!”

...

Clack.

Atop Sansuo Commandery’s capital, two figures of Chu were drowning in sorrow and fury.

Sixty li away... two very young generals stood facing one another.

They had been arguing over one thing.

Who would lead the main body directly into the encirclement?

And who would command the cavalry outside, maneuvering freely and providing support?

Both wanted the job inside the trap.

Because that was the more dangerous one.

“Little Brother, why don’t we fight for it?” Chen Xianba suggested.

“No.”

Tian Tian shook his head.

“One of us is the commander and the other the deputy. If we start fighting each other, that would be ridiculous. If Father Commander learns about it, neither of us should expect to command troops outside again.”

“That’s true.”

Chen Xianba feared the Prince more than almost anyone.

Every time Tian Tian invoked Zheng Fan’s name, it worked on Chen Xianba nearly without fail.

“How about this, Brother. Let’s find a stone and carve two characters on opposite sides. One side says ‘Heaven.’ The other says ‘Earth.’ Toss it. If Heaven faces upward, I lead the main force into the encirclement. If Earth faces upward, you do.”

“This...”

This time, Chen Xianba genuinely was not trying to steal merit.

He simply did not want Tian Tian placing himself in danger.

“Brother, how about you toss it?”

“Fine.”

Chen Xianba immediately agreed.

Then added:

“A gentleman’s word.”

“Four horses cannot overtake it.”

Chen Xianba relaxed.

If he threw the stone himself, then the result was settled.

His cultivation realm was higher than Tian Tian’s.

He could release blood qi invisibly and completely control how the stone landed without leaving the outcome to chance.

“Brother, wait. I’ll find a stone.”

Tian Tian lowered his head and searched around.

“Eh, Brother, look. This red stone is nice. Let’s toss this one.”

[End of Chapter 955]