Chapter 971: Building Up Steam

The Yan army began retreating in defeat.

Yes. In defeat.

The main reason was that the defeat looked far too real—so real that it was almost impossible to find any trace of acting.

For one thing, throughout the entire plan, even the field commanders on the front line were merely pieces on the board. They had never truly understood the deeper purpose behind the arrangement. That meant they were performing entirely as themselves. They genuinely believed they were trying to preserve the Prince’s dignity after a mistake in his deployment, escorting him back toward Zhennan Pass so they could regroup and try again later.

For another, Zheng Fan’s stubborn obsession with infrastructure had produced a real oversight. The Yan defensive system looked complete, but it lacked a true focal point. Faced with a massive Chu offensive advancing along multiple routes at once, the positions could not hold.

They genuinely could not hold.

So when the Yan withdrew across the Wei River and the Chu followed, smashing through one abandoned Yan camp after another, even Xie Yu’an felt a little dazed.

Everything had unfolded through such a series of coincidences and natural developments that every piece fit perfectly. There was not even a crack to pick at.

Could something this coincidental truly have been designed?

Perhaps... he really had been thinking too much.

Perhaps his father—and the others—had actually gambled correctly.

“REPORT! Prince Ding has sent a messenger asking the Grand Commander whether the army should cross the river!”

The other three great columns had already pushed to the Wei River. The next step was crossing the river and advancing into Shanggu Commandery.

Of course, sending someone to ask him was really only a formality.

The key to the entire Yan-Chu strategic situation lay at Zhennan Pass.

As long as Great Chu failed to retake Zhennan Pass, the Yan could continue marching south at their leisure, whipping Chu’s land and people with their horsewhips.

In truth, Xie Yu’an no longer had the luxury of hesitation.

Once you sat down at the gambling table, you stayed until death.

“Pass down the order. Every army crosses the river and advances into Shanggu Commandery along the routes already assigned!”

In the end, Xie Yu’an, as Grand Commander, issued the order.

By the third day, the vanguard of Great Chu’s central army had crossed the river. With the other three armies cooperating, they began penetrating Shanggu Commandery, while the central army’s main body had already crossed as well.

Xie Yu’an remained more cautious and chose to cross with the final group.

According to the established plan, all vanguard forces would now be coordinated under Prince Ding’s command. The central army and subsequent formations would follow and take their places in sequence.

Xie Yu’an himself would not continue pressing forward.

His responsibility shifted to establishing supply points along the Wei River, receiving grain and provisions transported from the rear, and forwarding them to the army ahead.

Once the fighting became a matter of real blades and real blood, his personal role was actually less important.

There was another reason.

Although Great Yan’s Regent Prince and Prince Pingxi Residence were famous for their ability to govern and develop territory, they had adopted a completely different policy toward the enormous region of Shanggu Commandery.

The population had been moved inward almost entirely.

The land itself was barely developed at all.

So apart from a small number of fortified manors, Shanggu Commandery had practically become empty wilderness. The Chu troops advancing through it had no possibility of living off the land.

That made the supply route the absolute priority.

If the offensive ahead stalled even temporarily and the army could no longer receive grain, all the progress and effort of this advance would become smoke.

The moment the Yan recovered, shifted their main forces back, and counterattacked, the Chu would have no choice but to retreat.

Out of Shanggu Commandery.

Back across the Wei River.

And once again they would have to surrender the Wei River line with both hands and withdraw into the three commanderies.

At present, enormous numbers of laborers were working on both banks.

Fortunately, once Chu regained control over the Wei River’s two shores, the Chu navy also sailed down from Mijiang. Its assistance greatly improved the efficiency of transporting grain.

Battle reports kept arriving from the front.

Prince Ding’s army was advancing triumphantly.

They had already fought the Yan several times and, relying on their local superiority in numbers, had pushed them back in every engagement.

Now... the Chu army had already touched Zhennan Pass.

Prince Ding had made up his mind.

First, push the remaining Yan troops all the way back through Zhennan Pass.

Most importantly, force that Yan princely banner back behind the walls.

After clearing away the remaining Yan presence outside the pass, the siege equipment from the rear would either be brought forward or assembled locally from prepared components.

Then the army would concentrate all its strength and take Zhennan Pass as quickly as possible.

Even if they had to fill the approaches with human lives... they would bite that pass down.

Xie Yu’an, who now sat farther to the rear, naturally had no objection.

Batch after batch of siege equipment was already being moved forward, primarily in the form of critical components.

War with the Yan had not been entirely without lessons for Chu.

Eastern Jin’s classification and refinement of wartime preparations had long since been copied by the Chu.

The concept itself was not especially difficult.

The only requirement was that the court delegate enough authority and refrain from constantly interfering.

In earlier years, every state in All Xia had agreed that the Yan were poor at siege warfare.

Apart from armor and weapons, they had little talent for large military machinery.

Eastern Jin had consigned that judgment to history.

By the previous Yan-Chu national war, the Yan had already begun displaying a serious interest in learning and refining siegecraft. The man held up as their model example at the time had been the present Regent Prince, back when he was still merely Count Pingye.

During the years in which the Regent Prince ruled eastern Jin, Yan military engineering and siege equipment had surpassed those who once led them.

Eastern Jin was still most famous for cavalry.

But none of its enemies would now dare underestimate its ability to break a city.

Chu, the former leader in that field... had become the pursuer.

Fortunately... the decisive element in war was still people.

This time, their superior troop strength had finally been concentrated onto a local battlefield.

Such an opportunity was exceedingly rare.

They had to achieve something with it.

...

“Grand Commander, the next shipment of grain may be three days late. A batch of military equipment was sent forward first and occupied cargo space on the transports.”

“Three days is fine. We already sent enough grain forward to support the army for ten days. You have worked hard as well.”

“It was no hardship.”

Xie Yu’an reached out and patted the back of the scholar’s hand.

Chu had not absorbed much of Jin’s customs, but Chu people possessed a natural love of romance and elegance. Among the aristocracy, slightly intimate gestures between men were accepted rather easily.

“You have had a difficult time. As Master Meng’s direct grandson, you should have been like the Jing Clan, staying properly in Ying Capital to compile histories and pursue scholarship. Instead, you have come all the way here to shoulder burdens for the army. Still, I believe Master Meng’s spirit in Heaven would find comfort in it.”

Meng Shou had once compiled histories of the four states.

He had also served as Prince Jingnan’s tutor in letters and culture.

After returning to Chu, he witnessed Ying Capital burn.

He died five years ago.

“Grandfather’s spirit in Heaven might not be pleased,” Meng Qiling said.

“Oh? Why? Was Master Meng not also a man of Chu? Great Chu has won such a great victory. If Master Meng knows of it beneath the Nine Springs, why would he not rejoice?”

“Grand Commander, Grandfather spent years compiling the histories of the four states. In truth, within his heart, he considered himself a man of Xia even more than a man of Chu.”

“Heh.”

Xie Yu’an was not offended in the slightest.

Instead, he smiled.

“I can understand what that means.”

“In Grandfather’s eyes, Yan was the realm of the Marquis of Yan. Jin was the realm of the Marquis of Jin. Great Chu was the realm of the Marquis of Chu. The many smaller states—and Qian as well—were all feudal states within All Xia. Ever since Great Xia shattered, the realm has been filled with endless strife. What people call wars between states are, in truth, wars between feudal lords. They are civil wars within All Xia. But Yan’s wars against the Barbarians, Jin’s wars against the Savages, Great Chu’s wars against the Shanyue, even Qian’s wars against the southwestern tribes—those are what Grandfather considered foreign wars. Grandfather spent half his life exhausting himself to compile the histories of the four states. It may have looked like a fulfilled life’s work, but he still carried one regret. The highest aspiration of a historian is not to write the history of feudal states. It is to write the history of All Under Heaven.”

“Did Master Meng tell you that himself?”

“No. I learned it from a book Grandfather wrote after returning to Chu.”

“Where is the book?”

“After Grandfather died, it was presented to His Majesty. His Majesty issued an order forbidding its printing or circulation.”

Xie Yu’an nodded.

“As he should have. Master Meng’s book should not appear in the Great Chu of today. Truthfully, it would be more suitable in the Yan across from us. If this war proceeds smoothly, if Great Chu can break free from Yan pressure and stand upright again, if our national fortune rises with the greater momentum, then perhaps that book can be removed from the imperial archives and enshrined openly. In Master Meng’s eyes, perhaps he would rather Great Chu lose this war. And lose completely. Master Meng did not care which house ultimately unified All Xia. What he cared about was when All Xia would truly become one again.”

“That is precisely why I cannot understand Grandfather’s thinking, and why I am standing here. I believe I am a man of Chu. So naturally I should stand here and fight for Great Chu.”

“Then let our generation fulfill the duty of our generation.”

Xie Yu’an slowly exhaled.

Facing north, he sighed:

“Back then, Yan did not hesitate to exhaust its own national strength. It even used the death of an imperial prince to frame Great Chu, all so it could launch a national war against us. The purpose was this one Zhennan Pass. This pass... for Chu people... is too important. And carries too much pain. Only by taking it back will Great Chu regain the qualification to stand upright.”

“Grand Commander...”

“Say whatever you want. Ask whatever you want. Those were words Master Meng once used when teaching me.”

“Grand Commander, what if this battle does not succeed?”

“If it fails, then the better outcome is that our army withdraws once more into the three commanderies.”

“And the... worse outcome?”

Xie Yu’an closed his eyes.

“Do you have an imprint copy at home?”

“What?”

“You do not?”

“No. But... I memorized the whole thing.”

“Then transcribe it.”

“This...”

Xie Yu’an turned away and waved one hand.

“Offer it to the Yan.”

...

“Your Highness, this servant has finished reading.”

Eunuch Huang rolled up the scroll in his hands.

What he had just read was the war proclamation Xiong Tingshan had sent into Zhennan Pass.

“He uses his Xiong imperial bloodline to warn this Prince? He invokes the spirit of Great Chu’s Fire Phoenix to proclaim judgment against me? Heh-heh-heh.”

Zheng Fan stood with both arms extended while Siniang helped him into his armor.

“Eunuch Huang, tell me. Is this fellow trying to use his birth to press me down?”

Everyone beneath Heaven knew Great Yan’s Regent Prince had been born among the common people of Beifeng Commandery, rising from the grass roots into glory.

Eunuch Huang smiled.

“Your Highness, that is about the only thing he has left to boast about.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Exactly. Bloodline, in my view, is something you use when judging livestock.”

Eunuch Huang’s expression stiffened slightly.

He had no idea how to answer that.

The statement had accidentally dragged the Ji imperial clan into it as well.

The Prince could say whatever he wanted.

Eunuch Huang had personally watched His Highness and the Emperor call each other beasts to their faces.

But how could a servant like him dare join in?

Outside in the courtyard, the Pixiu lying on the ground heard the remark.

It raised its head toward the room and snorted in displeasure.

Then it lowered itself again, adjusting the suit of scale armor on its back that had been replaced half a year earlier.

“Besides, if we truly want to talk bloodline, what qualification does he have to compare with me? He is from a collateral branch. He is not even part of the Chu imperial house’s main line anymore. My Big Girl’s mother, on the other hand, is the full younger sister of the present Chu Emperor. And if we want to talk about the Fire Phoenix spirit... heh-heh-heh. That is even more ridiculous. My Big Girl was born with a Fire Phoenix Spirit Body. Can he compare? Aiya. If we really start talking about bloodline and Fire Phoenixes... then it turns out the true orthodoxy of the Chu imperial house is actually sitting inside my Great Yan Regent Prince Residence? Hahahahaha!”

“Hahahahaha! Your Highness is absolutely right. Absolutely right,” Eunuch Huang immediately echoed.

“Write exactly that and send it back to him.”

“This servant obeys.”

“Be quick. Send it over before tonight. I need to slap that face back early. Otherwise he will have no spirit for what comes next. Whether he has spirit or not does not matter, but this Prince will feel uncomfortable. It will feel as if he still owes me one slap.”

“This servant understands. I will write it now and have someone deliver it immediately.”

Eunuch Huang hurried away.

Siniang said:

“I never thought Master cared about birth.”

“I’ve simply spent so many days being chased by that Prince Ding that I finally chased up some anger.”

“Master, finished.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

“Oh, right. Master, take this as well. It just came out of the steamer.”

“Heh. I almost forgot. Dahu, carry it.”

Siniang smiled without saying anything.

Fully armored, Zheng Fan walked out, mounted his Pixiu, and rode to the southern wall.

He climbed the tower.

From here, the dense Chu military camps were already visible in the distance.

The scale of the offensive was enough to make any defending force feel alarm.

“Dahu, do you know something? In the old days, I would never even have dared imagine this. The Chu actually dared place a great army openly in front of us, on flat open ground at that.”

“Your Highness, do we need to issue the order?” Liu Dahu asked.

Every day, Liu Dahu reviewed the memorials arriving at headquarters before they reached the Prince.

Ever since the army withdrew into Zhennan Pass, he had seen a new group of memorials arrive.

The contents had excited him almost beyond restraint.

So now, standing beside the Prince and looking at the Chu camps ahead, Liu Dahu had an open smile of anticipation on his face.

“Dahu, what do you think the Chu will do next?”

“Replying to Your Highness, this subordinate believes the Chu will first drive away our remaining troops outside the pass and complete the encirclement of Zhennan Pass.”

“Correct. So there is no need to hurry. The fish cannot escape anymore. Let it swallow a little more of the hook on its own. Let it bury itself deeper.”

“Yes. Your Highness is wise.”

“This Prince is hungry.”

Liu Dahu immediately opened the food box and took out a steamed bun.

He handed it to the Prince.

“One more.”

Liu Dahu took out another.

The buns were still hot.

White steam drifted from them.

Zheng Fan held one in his own hand.

He placed the other on the battlement beside him.

Leaning one elbow against the wall, the Prince faced the Chu camps ahead and ate slowly into the cold wind.

Liu Dahu had accompanied the Prince for many years.

He understood.

Right now, the Prince needed to be alone.

So Liu Dahu quietly stepped backward with the food box in hand.

As he withdrew, he heard the Prince sigh.

He did not know who the words were meant for.

“Look. That head of steam... is almost ready.”

[End of Chapter 971]