Chapter 1005: A Complete Mess

The messages from his two “elder brothers” left Tian Tian, who had already been somewhat baffled, even more confused.

The three garrisons stood near one another, but there was still distance between them. On top of that, Qian scouting cavalry had begun becoming increasingly active in the surrounding area, making communication between the three forces slower and less reliable.

So... what exactly were those two “elder brothers” doing?

At a moment this critical, why were they deliberately sending over such inexplicable messages?

The beacon-fire system linking the three garrisons still existed, but that was meant for transmitting enemy movements. It could not be used for detailed communication.

The root of the problem was actually simple.

Chen Xianba and Zheng Man both believed that only *they* had received an empty brocade pouch. Each thought he had understood the Prince’s meaning. And each instinctively assumed that the others had received explicit orders instead.

In truth, as early as Prince Jingnan’s era, the military system had carried one enormous weakness and one enormous advantage bound tightly together: the commander-in-chief controlled the entire battlefield from every direction and down to astonishing detail.

Every day, each formation had to submit memorials to the command tent. Everything from logistics and military supplies to disputes and punishments among ordinary soldiers had to be reported, allowing the commander’s staff to understand the army at a much deeper level.

The drawback was equally obvious.

The subordinate armies easily became puppets on strings and lost much of their independent initiative.

And because the commander-in-chief’s status and prestige were so overwhelming, the deterrent effect only became stronger. The commanders below grew even more reluctant to step beyond their allotted line.

So long as the commander-in-chief was brilliant, the entire army could twist itself into one rope and place pieces calmly across the larger board of war without fearing internal disorder.

But if the commander-in-chief lacked ability, the same system could trigger an avalanche. By then, even if someone below wanted to save the situation, there might be no room left to do so.

Prince Jingnan had always fought wars this way.

And Zheng Fan, as Prince Jingnan’s final disciple, had inherited the same system when leading campaigns of his own.

There had hardly been any way for him *not* to inherit it.

Old Tian had practically taken him by the hand and made him practice the system personally back then. Once Zheng Fan graduated from that apprenticeship, of course he would use the method he knew best and found most natural.

Most importantly... the man before him had never lost.

And so, when the Regent Prince—the commander and soul of the army—suddenly severed his own control over all those puppet strings by sending out empty brocade pouches... it immediately created a whole chain of confusion one level below the supreme command.

When Chu armies marched, when Qian armies marched, even when Yan armies from other factions marched, the first authority everyone obeyed was naturally the commander-in-chief.

But if the supreme commander’s order became unclear, or some unexpected factor intruded, neighboring forces on a local battlefield could usually establish a new temporary authority by “ranking seniority.”

Noble title.

Military merit.

Official standing.

Family background.

Faction.

There were too many factors that could be weighed against one another until a new small hierarchy formed.

Sometimes, the commander-in-chief even had to spend effort appeasing the various military chiefs beneath him to prevent subordinates from turning on their superiors.

That had never been a concern in the old Jingnan Army, nor was it a concern in the current eastern Jin Army.

There were plenty of factions.

The ethnic composition was even more complicated.

But with powerful men suppressing everything from above, no one truly dared bare his teeth.

Back then, even Zheng Fan—the man who had most blatantly built up his own forces and cared least about any larger national picture—had still been forced to open his own stores and hand over his foundation for army use the moment Prince Jingnan issued an order.

That alone showed how obedient subordinate commanders became under such a centralized military system.

Which was why...

Jin Shuke could never simply overstep his authority and command Li Chenghui.

And why Gou Moli, before Guyue City, had nearly faced a mutiny from his own subordinates until the Sword Saint appeared in time.

As for the commanders of the present three garrisons... they had indeed grown up around one another when young, but militarily there had never been a clear chain of command among them.

Their “backgrounds” were different too.

Tian Tian was Heir Prince Jingnan and the Regent Prince’s eldest son. By strict status, he was the most noble. But he was also the youngest.

Chen Xianba had risen unquestionably from the grass roots. He possessed the greatest military record among the three, along with an extraordinarily gifted Martial Artist cultivation that made him naturally arrogant.

Zheng Man was an adopted son. He had joined the group earliest. When he first arrived, Tian Tian had not even been born yet. On top of that, eastern Jin had spent years drawing Barbarians into its system, and Jin Shuke’s rise meant Zheng Man had been assigned to that factional lane beneath the Residence almost from the beginning.

If the three brothers could sit down together and talk, there would probably be little problem.

None of them harbored malicious intent.

The problem was... each was currently holding a separate garrison.

None could spare the time to gather for a proper discussion.

Their chain of command had never been clarified.

Worse still, Zheng Man currently believed the other two intended to run.

Under those conditions... coordinated command was impossible even to discuss.

Most importantly... perhaps Zhong Tianlang had already made up his mind.

Or perhaps the empty brocade pouch had somehow taunted him into action.

Whatever the reason...

Zhong Tianlang issued the order to advance.

It was the correct military choice.

Qian armies had grown almost habitually passive on the battlefield. But Zhong Tianlang commanded the largest and most elite cavalry corps in all of Qian. Was he supposed to make cavalrymen dismount, dig trenches, erect camps, raise shields, and wait for the Yan to attack?

More importantly... unless the Yan were idiots, why would they attack first now?

So the two Jiangnan local armies on the flanks began creeping eastward step by step at the pace of old men and old women, advancing only after securing every position.

Zhong Tianlang himself led his core force in person.

Like a spear thrust first onto the board, he seized the initiative directly.

And with that... the strange opening exchange on the eastern bank of the Qian River, one small battlefield within the greater campaign, officially began.

...

“Zhong Tianlang is here.”

Chen Xianba stood atop the garrison wall, having just heard the latest report from his scouting cavalry.

For someone who had made the Prince his idol from childhood, how could Chen Xianba possibly fail to follow the Prince’s old rivals?

Count them carefully.

Among the figures once listed beside his own Prince as the Four Great Young Generals, the young Barbarian prince had vanished from view long ago. Heaven knew how far Prince Jingnan had chased him.

Nian Yao had been castrated and had now become one of their own dogs.

Only this Young Marshal Zhong of the Zhong family was still alive and jumping about.

*Deal with you? Why would my Prince need to move personally?*

*You think you’re still worthy of crossing hands with him?*

Chen Xianba, too, had been stimulated by the empty brocade pouch until his confidence swelled wildly.

“The Qian are advancing fiercely. This spear they thrust forward is meant to pin all three of us inside the garrisons. They want to lock us down and still save effort in the process. Damn it. Just how little do they think of us? Fine. Let’s play properly.”

“General, what do you intend to do?”

“I’m going to jump out and take him for a walk. Doesn’t he command what they call Great Qian’s elite iron cavalry? Then we’ll teach him something. We’ll show them what real iron cavalry looks like. We’ll show them what *elite* really means!”

The Zhenbei Army had been dismantled.

The Jingnan Army had been divided.

At present, Great Yan’s finest cavalry unquestionably belonged to eastern Jin.

And Chen Xianba had fifteen thousand eastern Jin cavalry under his command.

That was his greatest capital.

Even facing inferior numbers, he did not panic in the slightest.

Quite the opposite.

The worse the situation became, the more excited he felt.

Deep in his bones, he had always possessed that desire to challenge difficult odds.

What he did not know was that Zheng Fan had once discussed him with the Blind Man and worried that constantly feeding Xianba easy victories might ruin a naturally gifted future general.

The present situation was, in truth, exactly the sort of battlefield he needed.

Troops have no constant disposition, just as water has no constant shape.

That phrase was often dragged from the military realm into discussions of morality and ordinary life, which was actually a lowering of its original sophistication.

Too few people understood warfare.

Everyone believed he could talk about morality.

Chen Xianba showed no attachment whatsoever to the walls beneath his feet.

His decision to abandon the position came directly.

“Don’t fuss over gains and losses involving one city or one patch of ground. The whole eastern bank is our battlefield to ride across. We only need to keep one strongpoint. Once our main force is outside, I’d like to see whether the Qian dare calmly attack that remaining garrison. Pass the order. My formation prepares to withdraw from Menhai Garrison. Also send separate orders to the other two garrisons. Tell Tian Tian to continue holding Donghai Garrison. And order that wolf cub to withdraw with me first. We’ll clear the battlefield for the Qian and let them step into it.”

...

“Fuck your mother, Chen Xianba! You ungrateful shit-eating bastard!”

Zheng Man hurled the military order onto the ground and stomped on it several times.

The messenger who had brought it stood there dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Zheng Man was not so unreasonable that he would vent his anger on an ordinary courier.

“Go back and tell that mongrel Chen Xianba that if he wants to retreat, he can retreat by himself. I don’t give a damn about long-term plans. I don’t want to hear any shit about preserving green hills so there’ll always be firewood left to burn. I know one thing. Without the Prince, I would never have lived this long! If you want me to watch the Prince die and refuse to save him, I’d rather cut my own throat right now!”

In truth, among the people who had once served beneath the command tent together...

Zheng Man’s later career had developed the worst.

There was no need to mention Chen Xianba. One only had to look at how many troops he commanded now to understand his standing.

Liu Dahu had long since become the Prince’s foremost confidential aide.

And now even Tian Tian had already caught up with Zheng Man...

It truly could not be blamed on anyone else.

Zheng Man even bore the surname Zheng.

But his temper had always been the greatest restraint on his advancement.

At a certain level, he was better suited to becoming a small wolf king in the desert—clear in love and hatred, admired and followed by men—than to becoming a top commander inside a military system ruled by strict discipline.

For a long period, Chen Xianba had faced the Chu directly on the Shanggu Commandery front.

Zheng Man, by contrast, had made several mistakes in succession and been thrown into western eastern Jin to hunt wild men causing trouble in the mountains and arrest smuggling caravans.

“Light the beacons! My formation is attacking! Fuck it. I’m going to smash through the Qian formation first. Then smash through the Wu Clan’s river pirates. And afterward, even if my five thousand men are cut down to five hundred, or fifty, or even only five... I’m going to die beside the Prince!”

...

By the time Zhong Tianlang led his core army up to Menhai Garrison... he learned that the largest Yan force among the three garrisons had withdrawn before he even arrived.

An empty city now stood in front of him.

The spear he had thrust forward... had struck nothing.

“Not bad. The Yan commander opposite me actually understands warfare.”

Given how quickly the situation had changed, Zhong Tianlang did not believe the man surnamed Zheng was personally commanding this detail from afar.

This had to be a local commander’s independent decision.

Zhong Tianlang had originally wanted to pin all three Yan formations in place at minimal cost.

If that worked, he would complete his own strategic task while still retaining the possibility of drawing off part of his core force to reinforce the battlefield west of the river.

Now... that plan was clearly going to fail.

The Yan opposite him had obviously read his intention in advance.

“Fine. You want to take me for a walk? Then let’s see which of us is the dog being walked. Keep scouting. I expect one of the remaining two garrisons will also withdraw. They’ll keep one position as a nail while the other two retreat first.”

“Yes, Marshal!”

Yet to Zhong Tianlang’s surprise... he had barely issued the order when an urgent dispatch arrived from the north.

The moment he read it... his brows drew together.

Every Yan soldier in Anhai Garrison had left the walls.

They were not retreating east.

They were advancing west.

They had completely ignored Zhong Tianlang’s powerful central force and were charging directly toward his left wing—the Jiangnan local army.

That meant Zhong Tianlang needed only split off a portion of his own troops, sweep south behind them, and he could encircle that Yan formation and swallow it whole.

“The Yan... have gone mad?”

The shift violated ordinary military logic so badly that Zhong Tianlang lost focus for a moment.

Then instinct immediately made him wonder:

Was there a conspiracy hidden inside this?

Years of war and direct experience had taught him exactly how high the Yan army’s military quality was.

And the force he faced was not some secondary Yan faction.

It was the eastern Jin Army that had only just beaten Chu flat.

So... should he now peel off troops from his own main force, loop south, and eat this Yan unit that had practically delivered itself onto his plate?

Great Qian’s Imperial Son-in-Law... actually hesitated.

...

“Nonsense! Bastard! I’ll personally whip him!”

Chen Xianba, who had only just withdrawn eastward, received Zheng Man’s reply.

He got the message faster than Zhong Tianlang received his own battlefield intelligence.

Zhong Tianlang learned of the action only after it began.

Zheng Man had sent his answer to Chen Xianba before launching the attack.

Chen Xianba clenched his fist and tore the letter into scraps.

The entire thing was filled with Zheng Man’s insults.

The wolf cub cursed Chen Xianba as a coward and a faithless bastard.

Worst of all... that dog-crawl handwriting alone was disgusting enough to make a man sick.

“The Prince handed command to me, and you dare refuse my orders? Bastard!”

That was the real source of Chen Xianba’s anger.

In his understanding, all three garrison forces had already been placed under his authority.

Inside eastern Jin’s military system, a princely order was inviolable.

And Zheng Man had dared defy it.

Worse...

Chen Xianba believed Zheng Man’s real reason for defying the order was simply that the brat did not want to bow his head before him.

That animal.

Had he forgotten how many times Chen Xianba had beaten him into the dirt when they were younger?

As commander of an army, Chen Xianba had truly never expected that during an actual battle, he would need to soothe and manage the emotions of a troublesome subordinate.

And this particular troublesome subordinate had exploded beyond all reason!

Still... anger was anger.

As the self-appointed commander of the “three armies,” Chen Xianba forced himself to think from the perspective of an overall commander and strip personal emotion out of the decision.

“Pass the order! Stop withdrawing east. Push west instead! We’re going to pin the Qian central army! Send someone immediately to that wolf cub. Tell him to pull back, now! And send an order to Donghai Garrison. Tell Tian Tian to come out first and sweep the battlefield. Once the wolf cub withdraws, my formation will move toward him and use his position as support.”

By “sweeping the battlefield,” Chen Xianba did not mean collecting spoils.

He meant using cavalry mobility to rapidly clear a safe zone where friendly forces could enter without interference.

Chen Xianba intended to use his own central formation to pin the Qian center.

That would give Zheng Man a chance to disengage.

Afterward, the two forces would move together toward Tian Tian at Donghai Garrison.

Once Tian Tian provided cover and support from the garrison, they could shake free of the Qian pursuit and restore the battlefield to the pattern Chen Xianba had originally envisioned.

Because Chen Xianba believed in his own ability.

As long as all the forces were under his control, he was confident he could push hands with Great Qian’s Imperial Son-in-Law for several rounds and then hunt for a weakness.

Yet from Tian Tian’s position... the military reports pouring in from both elder brothers left him almost unable to respond.

First, he saw the beacon signal from Anhai Garrison.

Zheng Man had actually launched an offensive.

Then, messages from Chen Xianba changed one after another.

First he was ordered to continue holding his garrison.

Then he was ordered to come out and sweep the battlefield.

Tian Tian suddenly felt as though both elder brothers were putting on spectacular performances while he, the younger brother, remained confused from beginning to end.

It was just like watching them fight when they were children.

Every time, Zheng Man would be beaten into the ground by Xianba.

Then Brother Man would immediately go provoke Brother Ba again, seeking another beating with endless enthusiasm.

At that moment...

Tian Tian pulled out his empty brocade pouch again.

He truly belonged to the household.

He was family in the deepest possible sense.

He revered his father.

But unlike several of the others, Tian Tian did not view Zheng Fan through quite so many layers of myth.

So perhaps he was the one most capable of seeing the empty brocade pouch for what it really was.

Tian Tian turned and looked eastward with some confusion.

Yet even without those layers of myth, the ordinary instinctive belief that his Father Marshal was omnipotent and always held victory in his palm had not diminished in the slightest.

Tian Tian reached into his clothes and took out a new iron case.

The old one had been passed down to his younger brother Zheng Lin.

This new one had been specially copied for him.

There were no cigarettes inside.

Father did not allow him to smoke.

Tian Tian ran one fingertip over the iron case.

“I always thought Father Marshal meant... that we should decide for ourselves.”

Then Tian Tian answered his own thought:

“Because in the end... we’ll only win anyway. So the two elder brothers must have understood Father Marshal’s meaning long ago. That’s why they’ve been playing so hard.”

In an instant... everything made sense!

So... if the order was simply to decide for themselves...

Tian Tian’s gaze deepened.

In the end, what flowed deepest inside his blood had always been the aura of that man.

And on a battlefield... the choice that man made most often was...

Tian Tian drew a deep breath.

He tucked the iron case back between the layers of his inner armor.

Then ordered:

“Pass the order. The entire army attacks!”

[End of Chapter 1005]