Chapter 957: The Splendor of Great Chu!

The evening wind on the mountain was a little chilly, but still within tolerable limits.

In truth, the fact that Great Yan had not chosen to launch this Yan-Chu war after winter set in already showed that the strategic intent this time was different from before.

Tian Tian had just finished eating and was leading a squad of armored soldiers around the mountain, inspecting every pass and choke point.

There was no time now to construct elaborate fortifications.

Fortunately, plenty of things inside the Buddhist and Daoist temples could be dismantled and turned into crude obstacles.

For example, at the downhill slope Tian Tian was inspecting now, a pile of arhat statues had actually been stacked together into a makeshift raised platform.

After this experience on Mount Wufeng, Tian Tian finally understood completely why his father had always disliked religious outsiders.

Originally, he had led troops onto this mountain to act as bait and give Chen Xianba the chance to deliver a fatal strike from outside.

Yet because of the monks’ and Daoists’ “collections,” the mountain had instead become almost like coming home.

They had never lacked grain.

During the previous westward advance, they had always paid attention to replenishing food and other supplies.

But logistics were something an army could never have too much of, especially during a defensive battle.

Many times, how long a force could hold did not depend on how many soldiers it possessed or how elite they were.

It depended on... the amount of grain and other supplies stored behind them.

Tian Tian knew the example of Qu Peiluo’s father well.

A Pillar of State of Great Chu, he had once commanded one of the finest infantry forces of the age, fierce soldiers said to be capable of standing on open ground and resisting Great Yan’s iron cavalry head-on.

Yet after defending Yupan City, he had still been forced to open the gates and surrender when food ran out.

At present, Tian Tian controlled nearly five thousand auxiliary soldiers.

Their fighting skill and overall combat ability still fell well short of regular troops.

But because of eastern Jin’s longstanding auxiliary system, the auxiliaries of eastern Jin were roughly comparable to Great Yan’s commandery troops or Chu’s local forces outside the imperial-clan Imperial Guards.

Moreover, eastern Jin’s auxiliaries had always served as the reserve pool for regular troops.

They were comparable to the rear camp of his biological father’s Jingnan Army years ago.

In discipline and command efficiency, they exceeded ordinary local forces by more than one level.

Beyond the auxiliaries, Tian Tian also had laborers.

The quality of the laborers was naturally much worse.

But because this was the first offensive wave, most of those selected were young and strong.

If given weapons, they could fight too.

After all, many ordinary registered households desperately hoped to advance through military merit.

In eastern Jin, there was never any shortage of legends about ordinary commoners rising through military service.

Because their Prince... was the greatest legend of all.

There was one more point Tian Tian understood clearly.

But thinking along those lines felt somewhat too dark.

Although he was now fighting away from home, eastern Jin’s strict local household-registration system meant that the nearly ten thousand men under him... wanted to collapse?

Wanted to surrender?

Wanted to shrink from battle?

Before doing any of those things, they had to think about the families they had left behind in eastern Jin.

Over the years, there had certainly been men who deserted during military exercises.

There had also been soldiers who performed disgracefully during small-scale clashes.

Once there were enough people, cowards and useless men inevitably appeared.

Whenever something like that happened... their families met miserable ends.

The offending household would be turned into a warning example and paraded through its own fort, agricultural settlement, and sometimes several nearby communities.

Ahead, torches burned.

This was one of tonight’s sentry posts.

Because the ground beyond it sloped steeply downward, someone had to remain there and watch.

What surprised Tian Tian slightly was that beside the torch, one soldier sat holding a book and reading by the firelight.

Tian Tian walked over.

The man was so absorbed that he did not even notice the Deputy Commander approaching.

Then... a low shout came from another position.

“Password!”

Tian Tian raised his head.

Farther away, another man had already drawn a bow and aimed an arrow directly at him.

The soldier reading beside the fire jolted so hard that his hand shook and the book fell to the ground.

“Greetings, Deputy Commander!”

Qin Xiaoyong was the first to recognize the man standing before him and immediately dropped to his knees.

Not far away, his elder brother saluted as well.

“Greetings, Deputy Commander!”

Qin Xiaoyong was quick-witted this time and immediately explained:

“Reporting to Deputy Commander, my brother and I are changing shifts. He is standing my watch for me right now.”

Meaning... he was not neglecting duty.

Tian Tian did not blame him.

Instead, he bent down and picked up the fallen book.

It was a handwritten copy.

On the cover were the words...

...

“Master Zheng’s Art of War? My lord, you read this sort of thing too?”

Commissioner Cui asked with a smile.

Xu Weichang set down the book in his hand and rubbed between his brows.

“Merely clasping the Buddha’s feet at the last moment.”

Commissioner Cui poured a cup of tea for the Governor.

“Have reinforcements from Liusha Commandery arrived?”

“No word yet. I’m afraid they aren’t coming,” Commissioner Cui said. “Liusha Commandery borders Fan City, after all.”

“They can come. They probably never intended to in the first place.”

Xu Weichang laughed carelessly.

“My guess is they’re simply waiting for the Yan army to cross our Sansuo Commandery. The moment it enters Liusha, they’ll gather their valuables and run.”

Commissioner Cui smiled and nodded.

“You can’t blame all of it on them. These past years, Sansuo and Liusha have lost far too many refugees and commoners because one borders Shanggu Commandery and the other Fan City. Both commanderies were already broken places.”

“The house is broken, so you simply let thieves come and go as they please? You stop caring entirely?” Xu Weichang asked.

“Take things slowly.”

“That isn’t the principle. What is truly precious is not the house. It is the land beneath the house. The Yan may genuinely look down on buildings made in the Chu style. Forget it. No point talking about that. Commissioner Cui, you saw the defenses on Mount Wufeng today. What did you think?”

“Extremely orderly.”

“Oh?”

“There is a rumor that the force which entered Sansuo Commandery this time is led by the eldest son of Yan’s Regent Prince—the Heir Prince of that former Prince Jingnan.”

“Descended from famous commanders. Two famous commanders, in fact. Seen that way, I suppose he has not disgraced his upbringing.”

“There is another matter you may not know, my lord. When the Yan first emerged from Shanggu Commandery and crossed the Wei River, they fought Prince Ding of Great Chu at the landing point. Prince Ding suffered a minor defeat and failed to bite through them. The one commanding... was precisely that Heir Prince Jingnan.”

“Fine. Then this old man withdraws what he said earlier. Barring something unexpected, that young fellow on the mountain understands military affairs better than I do.”

“My lord, you cannot really say—”

“There is no need to cover for me. On the eve of battle, I am still sitting here reading a military text written by the boy’s father. If word gets out, won’t I die of embarrassment?”

“Heh-heh.”

“Hahaha.”

Both men laughed.

“But there is no helping it. This old man has his difficulties too. Even after scraping together troops from the entire commandery, all I managed to gather was thirty thousand commandery soldiers. Mobilize the able-bodied men around the commandery capital, and perhaps another thirty thousand can be added. Sixty thousand men. If I took them into the Great Marsh, I might manage to stir up quite the storm. But you and I both understand that on a true battlefield, against the Yan... it is still not enough. This military text says that when surrounding and trapping an enemy, one should avoid sealing all four directions evenly. Unfortunately, it is not that this old man does not know how stupid my present deployment looks. But the book also says that if one leaves an opening, one must fill it with maneuver, or use a smaller elite force to delay the enemy formation. These troops were all gathered through my personal influence. Right now, they can barely maintain the framework of one army. If I place fewer men on any one side and the Yan charge down the mountain... forget holding them. Faced with an equal number of Yan soldiers, my men would not even have the courage to fight. They would probably collapse and run before contact. ‘If the Yan army numbers fewer than ten thousand, perhaps. Once it reaches ten thousand, it cannot be opposed.’ Who said that first?”

“If this subordinate remembers correctly, it should have been that Regent Prince of Yan.”

“Words aimed at the heart. The Yan do not have three heads and six arms. But once such words circulate long enough, the men below truly begin believing them. A pity. Great Chu originally had a chance to reverse its disadvantage after the great victory in Liang. But then the Qian had their capital broken by that Regent Prince through sheer force. Sometimes this old man wonders... if state affairs have reached this point, what comes next?”

Before Commissioner Cui could answer...

Governor Xu mocked himself.

“Only to do all we can.”

Then... he picked up *Master Zheng’s Art of War* again and resumed reading.

Without looking up, he added:

“Commissioner Cui, I will trouble you to patrol the camps.”

“Rest assured. At least for now, our army’s appearance is greater than the Yan force’s. We should not have deserters or anything like that.”

“Hahaha. Good.”

Governor Xu continued reading.

Commissioner Cui walked to the tent entrance.

Then he stopped and turned back.

“My lord, what do you think of the book?”

“Savor it carefully and every word becomes a pearl. Endless aftertaste.”

“His Majesty once asked Prince Ding what he thought of this book.”

“Oh? And how did Prince Ding answer?”

“The Prince said: ‘The less a man understands warfare, the more miraculous the book seems the longer he reads it.’”

“Oh. Hahahahahaha!”

Xu Weichang pointed at Commissioner Cui.

He showed not the slightest anger.

Instead, he sighed with feeling.

“I’m afraid that young fellow on the mountain, looking at an opponent like this old man, is probably finding the whole thing dull and tedious too.”

Then...

Xu Weichang tossed aside *Master Zheng’s Art of War* and picked up another booklet.

He said:

“Then I won’t read military texts anymore. I’ll read poetry. Qian’s Sage of Letters once cursed that Regent Prince, saying he had turned the art of poetry into a sugar-figurine trick hawked through streets and alleys. Truthfully, my favorite poem of the Regent Prince’s is his *Man Jiang Hong*. What I love is not the line:”

With fierce resolve, feast hungry upon the flesh of Yan barbarians;
Laughing, drink when thirsty the blood of the Xiongnu.

“What I love is:”

When the day comes, we shall begin anew,
Restore the old mountains and rivers,
And face the imperial court!

Xu Weichang looked at Commissioner Cui.

He asked:

“Commissioner Cui... do you think Great Chu will truly have that ‘one day’ in the future?”

“You may laugh at me, my lord, but I truly am not worried that Great Chu’s eight-hundred-year realm and state will perish.”

Xu Weichang nodded.

“Jin thought the same.”

“Fine. This subordinate is going to patrol the camps. There is simply no way to talk with you.”

Commissioner Cui left the tent.

Xu Weichang’s gaze fell upon the candle on the tea table.

When Commissioner Cui went out, he forgot to secure the tent flap.

A gust of wind happened to blow in from outside, making the flame sway violently, almost going out.

Xu Weichang instinctively reached out, wanting to shield the flame and preserve it.

But the wind twisted in circles inside the tent.

In the next instant... the candle went dark.

Only the small charcoal brazier in the center of the tent still gave off a faint red glow from time to time.

“Ah...”

Xu Weichang sighed.

He casually picked up a book beside the tea table, rose, and walked to the brazier.

He lit the book.

Then returned to the table and used the burning pages to relight the candle.

The book continued burning.

Paper ash drifted down.

Xu Weichang reached out and rubbed the layer of ash accumulating on the table.

Then he smiled.

“Since ancient times, what state has ever endured for ten thousand generations? What clan has ever remained one unbroken line through eternity? Great Xia was mighty once. Where is it now? A thousand years from today... sun and moon will turn, stars will change, mountains and rivers will transform. What can truly remain... may only be the splendor of Chu dress... the elegance of Chu hair... the grace of Chu music...”

Xu Weichang threw the mostly burned book directly into the brazier.

“Clothes are worn by people. Hairstyles are kept by people. Music is sung and played by people. Someone still has to do something... so that later generations, when they have leisure, might feel inclined to open a book and take a look, no?”

...

“When you have spare time, flipping through it is enough. There is no need to memorize it by rote.”

Tian Tian spoke to Qin Xiaoyong.

After asking a few questions, Tian Tian finally learned that he even shared a “stuffed-mantou bond” with these brothers.

On top of that, the two of them had discovered the arsenal the monks and Daoists had hidden on the mountain.

So Tian Tian was willing to say a little more to Qin Xiaoyong.

His father had told him very early on that this military text was fine to read casually.

But if you truly wanted to learn how to fight a war, you needed to see things for yourself.

See how much grain one cavalryman ate in a day.

See how much fodder a warhorse consumed.

See how many days laborers needed to push one cart of grain a certain distance.

See how much of the grain on that cart the laborers themselves would eat along the road...

“Watch more carefully how the people around you do things. Watch how the old veterans do them. Those things are more useful than what is written in books.”

“Th-thank you, Deputy Commander.”

Qin Xiaoyong was extremely excited.

“Mm.”

Tian Tian prepared to leave and continue his inspection.

Then he saw Qin Xiaoyong voluntarily present his shoulder and even crouch slightly.

Uh...

Tian Tian could only imitate his father and pat Qin Xiaoyong on the shoulder.

Qin Xiaoyong’s face flushed red with excitement.

Tian Tian smiled and turned toward the next position.

That night... both sides remained at peace.

More accurately... except for a small number of sentries, the Yan troops on the mountain slept very well.

The Chu below kept guarding against a Yan night raid for most of the night.

Then they decided that dawn, when the sky was only beginning to brighten, was the moment soldiers relaxed most easily.

Many officers went around whipping men awake, forcing them to stay alert during this supposedly most dangerous hour.

Unfortunately... the Yan on the mountain never had the slightest intention of launching a night attack.

By morning... smoke rose openly from their cooking fires.

The Yan began eating.

The Chu camps below began cooking as well.

Xu Weichang looked at Commissioner Cui’s bloodshot eyes and laughed.

“Stayed awake all night?”

“Of course.”

Commissioner Cui cursed while eating.

“Those Yan dogs don’t follow the rules.”

He immediately seemed to realize how stupid his own complaint sounded and added:

“Fine. My fault too. I’ve spent too many years as an intelligence agent. Ask me to investigate military intelligence, no problem. Ask me to command a battle, and I really do become confused and suspicious of every tree and blade of grass.”

Xu Weichang shook his head.

“The Yan on the mountain did not raid us at night. That means the men up there are extremely confident. I’m afraid they have another move prepared.”

“This...”

“No matter. When we attack the mountain later, hang my banner as high as possible. Make it as conspicuous as possible. I want the Yan to identify the position of Great Chu’s Governor at one glance. And I will trouble Commissioner Cui again. Lead your own men and select the best troops you can from these thirty thousand commandery soldiers. Place them around me. Set iron caltrops. Build chevaux-de-frise. Dig pits. Prepare everything in advance. Then... wait for the guest.”

Commissioner Cui looked in surprise at the Governor who had still been reading *Master Zheng’s Art of War* the previous night.

“My lord, did you spend the entire night studying military texts?”

Xu Weichang snapped irritably:

“After you mocked me, I simply burned the damned book.”

“Fine. My boy at home is useless at studying too. When I get back, I’ll burn all his books.”

“This is a stupid method,” Xu Weichang said.

“First assume you are going to lose. Then, starting from the fact that you will lose, calculate what the Yan would do to make you lose in the most miserable way possible. Heh. Once I thought about it like that... my head suddenly felt much clearer.”

After eating, the Yan army remained ready in formation.

No one knew what the Chu below were busy doing.

Only after noon had passed, well into the afternoon, did the first true offensive finally begin.

For a time... war drums thundered below the mountain.

Banners rippled in the wind.

Junior commanders from every commandery unit stepped forward before the Governor one after another to request battle, pounding their chests as they volunteered.

What a magnificent picture of Great Chu’s mighty host.

Unfortunately... the results beneath all that splendor were somewhat embarrassing.

By ordinary logic, one surge of drums brought the greatest courage, the second weakened it... so the first attack should have been the fiercest.

Instead, all three Chu forces made contact with the Yan on the mountain and then, before long, retreated in defeat.

The attack had begun in the afternoon.

They withdrew so quickly that it was still far from dinner.

So the Chu changed troops and launched another assault before mealtime.

This time... the fighting lasted longer.

The Yan began retreating.

The Chu troops immediately became overexcited.

Ignoring orders from the rear, they pushed forward recklessly.

Then the Yan launched a countercharge down the mountain and broke every one of them again.

One of the Yan sectors was held by Chen Xianba’s eighteen...

No.

Seventeen sworn brothers.

These sons of Chu great families, having first been frightened half to death by Tian Tian and then stimulated by Zhou Feng’s head, erupted with terrifying enthusiasm when facing Chu commandery troops whose fighting power was so poor.

If Tian Tian had not stopped them in time—and if they had not been too afraid to disobey Tian Tian’s order—they might truly have gotten carried away and counterattacked all the way into the Chu camps below.

In any case... after the two rounds of fighting, both sides had successfully muddled their way into nightfall.

It was time to prepare the evening meal.

Tian Tian ate while reading the casualty reports submitted from below.

Yan losses were not heavy.

Chu losses were higher... but still not especially large.

For the next three days... the Chu launched three attacks every day.

Once in the morning.

Twice in the afternoon.

Naturally... none achieved anything.

And gradually, the attacking Chu troops showed less and less initiative.

Eventually, the slightest setback was enough for the officer leading them to turn around and retreat first.

The Yan on the mountain grew accustomed to it.

After loosing one round of arrows, they would brandish sabers, shout loudly, and make a show of charging downhill... cooperating perfectly with the Chu withdrawal.

Both sides seemed quite capable of accepting this kind of battle.

At first, Tian Tian had suspected the Chu were deliberately creating a false impression.

But after observing them for four days... he finally confirmed one thing.

The overall quality of this Chu force... was genuinely poor.

Earlier, he had casually assumed Chu commandery troops were roughly equivalent to eastern Jin auxiliaries.

Now he realized he had missed something.

Chu’s first-tier combat force was the imperial-clan Imperial Guards.

The second tier was not the local army.

It had been the private armies of the great noble houses.

The local commandery troops... were actually third-rate.

Ordinarily, they mostly caught bandits and arrested criminals.

And so... an urge began growing in Tian Tian’s heart.

What if... he stopped waiting for Brother Ba?

What if he personally led the main force downhill and tried to punch through the Chu army below at one point, then collapse the rest from there?

Perhaps Chen Xianba, who had remained hidden and maneuvering on the outer perimeter all this time, had also realized just how poor the Chu force really was.

Or perhaps, by some mysterious instinct, he sensed that a certain little brother was thinking about eating alone.

So... that afternoon... as the Chu began their daily attack on the mountain... a Yan cavalry force suddenly charged out from the rear.

Its target was unmistakable.

It intended to punch straight through the Chu formation in one stroke and smash the command banner directly!

Beneath that great banner... on the raised platform...

Governor Xu had changed into a green robe.

The hair hanging beside his temples had been combed immaculately.

He lifted a bamboo flute to his lips and began playing.

At his side were more than ten beautiful women selected from the commandery capital.

Following the melody of the Governor’s flute, some accompanied him on zithers and strings.

Others danced gracefully.

Chen Xianba, charging at the front atop his Pi Beast, saw the scene from far away.

He could not help laughing and cursing:

“Is that idiot fucking stupid? Hahaha—”

The Pi Beast’s front hoof suddenly stepped into a concealed pit.

Chen Xianba was thrown violently from his mount.

Many Yan cavalrymen crashed down as well.

The riders behind them had their momentum blocked and were forced to haul back on the reins and stop.

At that instant...

Commissioner Cui raised his saber.

He roared:

“Boys! Kill the Yan dogs!”

Leading his own subordinates and a mass of Chu soldiers... he surged out like a tide.

On the raised platform...

Governor Xu dropped the bamboo flute.

He picked up a pair of drumsticks and began striking the great drum before him.

The rhythm was exquisite.

As he beat the drum, his body moved with the cadence.

Among Chu nobles and famous scholars, this sort of “elegant drumming” was often performed for amusement at gatherings.

The singers and dancers around him had not yet recovered from the sudden sight of slaughter erupting before their eyes.

Governor Xu threw back his head and shouted:

“Keep playing! Keep dancing! Let these Yan barbarians witness... what we call... the splendor of Great Chu!”

[End of Chapter 957]