Chapter 275

Chapter 275

In late July of the fourth year of Yongan.

Tomorrow, Xiao Zhen would lead his troops into battle. After a busy morning, he had finished all the necessary arrangements. In the afternoon, he entrusted the political affairs to Tong Sui, confident she would handle everything perfectly in his absence, and took Chengzu to Quchi. They chose a small scenic island with no palaces, leaving behind no palace servants or guards.

Arriving at a shallow shore, Xiao Zhen asked Chengzu to stand still and broke a branch, starting to draw lines on the ground.

The three-year-old Chengzu, imitating his father, broke a small branch as well. When his father drew to the left, he drew to the right.

Xiao Zhen said, “You can draw whatever you like on your side, but don’t come over here and mess up mine.”

Chengzu nodded obediently and played for a while. When he glanced back at his father, he saw that Xiao Zhen was not only drawing lines but also drawing circles. Chengzu started to draw circles as well.

After finishing, Xiao Zhen removed his outer robe and rolled up the sleeves and pant legs of his inner tunic. He picked up a wooden bucket he had prepared earlier and went to the lake, digging mud into the bucket with a shovel.

It looked much more fun than drawing circles, so Chengzu immediately ran over.

Xiao Zhen squatted down, rolled up his son’s sleeves and pant legs, and handed him a small shovel.

Father and son began digging together. After filling a large and a small bucket with mud, Xiao Zhen carried the buckets to the first circle, squatted down, and scooped a handful of mud. He placed it on the circle and molded it into a small hill, saying to Chengzu, “This is a city, just like our capital city! Go and turn all the circles into cities.”

Chengzu, very seriously, began to help his father build the cities.

When he finished, Xiao Zhen had already flattened the mud along a line into a smooth path. “This is a road. Wherever there’s just a line, lay down a road.”

Chengzu understood and continued to help his father build the roads, sticking his little butt out.

Where the lines curved, Xiao Zhen used the shovel to dig a shallow ditch and filled it with water to represent a river.

After everything was done, Xiao Zhen placed some stones on either side of the mud roads and told Chengzu that the stones represented tall mountains that people couldn’t pass through.

If Tong Sui had seen this, she would have realized that Xiao Zhen had laid out a crude map for Chengzu, a map of Hanzhong, Guangyuan, Jianmen Pass, and the Jialing River.

Xiao Zhen stood at Guangyuan City and had Chengzu stand in Hanzhong. The two of them pretended to fight a battle.

Chengzu, holding a small wooden horse his father gave him, started from Hanzhong along the mud road and chased his father all the way to Jianmen Pass. The little guy wanted to rush up to the pass, but Xiao Zhen gently stopped him, pointing at the steep mud slope. “This is too steep. My soldiers will shoot arrows from above, and all your soldiers will be shot dead. You can’t let your soldiers die for nothing. You have to think of another way to attack me.”

Chengzu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll fly up like a bird!”

Xiao Zhen laughed. “People can’t fly.”

Chengzu said, “I’ll have a big bird take me up.”

Xiao Zhen said, “You can’t ask birds for help.”

When his idea of climbing the big stones was also rejected by his father, Chengzu looked around and found another path. With a grin, he took his little horse and headed toward the Jialing River.

Xiao Zhen said, “Horses can’t swim.”

Chengzu then took the small wooden boat his father had set aside and changed to traveling by boat down the river. When he reached the mud path that led behind Jianmen Pass, he got off the boat, switched back to his little horse, and made his way to the other end of Jianmen Pass, where he defeated his father, who was as tall as the terrain.

Chengzu beamed with pride, having outsmarted his father.

Xiao Zhen played with him a second time. This time, he blocked the Jialing River in advance, and Chengzu couldn’t get through.

Chengzu tried to cheat. “I’ll sneak across without you knowing, so you can’t stop me.”

Xiao Zhen: "When two countries go to war, both sides will send out scouts. As soon as you bring your warships to the riverbank, my scouts will spot them, and I'll know you're taking the water route. Of course, I'll come to block you."

Chengzu: "I’ll hold the Sword Gate Pass, and you can try to attack me, Father."

This time, it was Chengzu who managed to stop his father.

Xiao Zhen: "It seems I'll have to think of a special strategy to beat you."

Chengzu: "What kind of special strategy?"

Xiao Zhen: "I don't know yet. After I finish dealing with the Liang Kingdom, I'll have figured it out, and I'll tell you then."

After playing with mud, the father and son took a bath and changed clothes in the Liuli Palace. By then, the palace servants had also prepared the horses. Xiao Zhen held Chengzu and took him for a ride around the grounds. It was dusk when the father and son returned to Qianyuan Palace.

Chengzu had so much fun that he felt sleepy after dinner and obediently followed his wet nurse to the eastern courtyard to sleep.

In the dead of night, Tong Sui clung tightly to Xiao Zhen's shoulder, wishing the two of them could merge into one.

Xiao Zhen kissed her on the cheek. "We’ve planned everything together—supplies, troops, tactics—down to the last detail. Even our ancestors would be proud of us."

Tong Sui: "Don’t get too confident."

Xiao Zhen: "I’m worried you’ll cry again when I leave."

Tong Sui shook her head and leaned on his shoulder. "Will you leave me alone to handle this coveted yet difficult family legacy?"

Xiao Zhen's expression turned serious. "No."

Tong Sui: "Will you leave Chengzu for me to raise on my own?"

Xiao Zhen: "No."

Tong Sui: "Will you make me suffer again like I did when Grandfather passed away?"

Xiao Zhen held her even tighter. "No."

Tong Sui smiled. "Then I won't shed tears when you go off to war."

When Xiao Zhen finished his training under the old master, she was still chasing rabbits and pheasants in Taohuagou.

When it came to battlefield skills, Tong Sui trusted Xiao Zhen more than she trusted herself.

For this campaign, Xiao Zhen personally selected 50,000 elite troops from both the Eastern and Western camps. The accompanying generals included Xiao Yan, Xiao She, Sun Dian, Qi Yun, Qiao Changan, and Jiang Tiankuo. He also brought along Zhang Chao, who was just 18. As for Zhang Wengong, he was tasked with the position of Commander of the Imperial Guard and stayed behind in the capital with Xiao Shouyi, Qi Heng, and Zhao Jin.

The supplies had already been dispatched to Jingzhou ahead of time. Upon arriving in Jingzhou, Xiao Zhen assigned 10,000 elite infantry to Xie Jian to guard against the Ling Kingdom and took 20,000 elite naval forces from Xie Jian.

On the fifth day of the eighth month, the army departed from Zigui and marched west along the Yangtze, heading into the Liang Kingdom’s Sichuan region.

When the supplies began moving in the Jingzhou area, the Liang Kingdom's spies had already sent back military intelligence. When Xiao Zhen’s 100,000-strong army left the capital, the Liang Emperor was certain that Xiao Zhen would attack from the east. Therefore, the Liang Emperor sent 100,000 infantry and 30,000 naval forces to the eastern front, hoping to repel the Wei forces.

For the northern stronghold of Guangyuan, the Liang Emperor only sent 10,000 troops, most of whom were elderly or weak. After all, if Guangyuan fell, there was still the formidable Jiange Pass. With just 3,000 troops stationed at the pass, they could hold off 100,000 Wei elite forces. The previous failure of the Xingping Emperor and Xiao Mu served as a warning, so it was assumed the Wei Kingdom wouldn’t dare take that route again.

The army set out with high morale, but it took them a month just to lay siege to Wushan City—and they still hadn’t captured it.

Xiao Yan couldn’t hold back his frustration and asked Xiao Zhen, "Second Brother, we’d just engaged the enemy, why did you order a retreat?" The battle had barely begun, and Xiao Yan was eager to press the advantage.

When he wasn’t in a rush, he called him "Your Majesty," but in the heat of the moment, he forgot the formal title.

Xiao Zhen: "I have my own plans."

Xiao Yan: "But we could win if we just fought. Why are we idling here? A hundred thousand troops consume an enormous amount of grain and fodder every day."

Xiao Zhen: "Don't worry, it's the Liang Kingdom that should be worried about supplies."

The new policies implemented in the northern regions have been in place for two years, filling the national treasury and stocking the granaries to the brim. It's also convenient to transport supplies here via water routes. In contrast, within the Liang Kingdom, forced conscription has already stirred up public resentment. With fewer able-bodied men at home, farming has become difficult, leading to a shortage of food. If Xiao Zhen doesn't have any quick-victory tactics, a battle of attrition over supplies would exhaust the Liang army.

Sure enough, Liang generals were urging the next batch of supplies. The Wei State was using six provinces to support the Yong'an Emperor's hundred thousand troops, most of which were grain-producing regions. On the other hand, the Liang Kingdom, despite its large territory, mostly consisted of mountainous regions with fewer soldiers and less food. The last thing they needed was a prolonged standoff that drained their resources.

Liang generals did try to launch an offensive, but the Wei army opposite them was like a tiger or wolf pack. For the Liang soldiers, attacking was simply suicide.

While the Liang generals anxiously awaited their supplies, the Liang Emperor, who was stationed in Yizhou, suddenly received an urgent six-hundred-mile report stating that Qi Ling, from Hanzhong, was leading thirty thousand troops to attack Guangyuan.

The Liang Emperor laughed upon hearing this: "Just thirty thousand troops? He'll struggle to take Guangyuan, let alone Jianmen Pass. It's probably a ploy to lure our eastern front troops away. Ignore them."

Outside Guangyuan City, Qi Ling's thirty thousand infantry arrived and dispatched two thousand men to block the northern entrance of the Jiange Road at Panlong Town before setting up camp.

Although only Qi Ling's general flag was raised in the camp, inside the main tent sat Lu Gong, Xiao Ye, Tong Gui, and Qi Ling.

Qi Ling, looking at the map, sighed: "Back then, the Empress ordered me to dispatch secret scouts along the southern bank of the Jialing River to explore if there were any small paths that could bypass Jianmen Pass. Although my men, disguised as fishermen, found a small path, the problem was how to ferry a large army across the river. If we moved a large number of boats, the Liang scouts would definitely notice. With just a few small boats, we could barely transport fifty men in a single night—far from enough to make a difference."

"I thought the Empress would give up on this route, but she actually came up with a way to cross the river."

Xiao Ye smiled and straightened his posture, only to glance sideways and see that Tong Gui had already done so.

General Lu Gong simply ordered: "Rest tonight. We move out tomorrow night."

The next evening, as dusk fell, the camps became busy. Two thousand riverine forces from the Huainan army instructed the infantry to secure one thousand sheepskin rafts. Then, under the leadership of Qi Ling and Tong Gui, ten thousand soldiers crossed the Jialing River near Guangyuan that night. Each sheepskin raft carried ten men and set off downstream.

With Huainan soldiers pair by pair responsible for rowing, one thousand sheepskin rafts floated downstream and arrived at Red Stone Town just as dawn broke.

After landing, they deflated the rafts and carried them into the nearby mountains and forests, where they rested for a day before setting off again at dusk.

Thanks to Qi Ling's secret scouts guiding them, the group, holding only a dim lantern, successfully passed through fifty-six miles of mountain roads and arrived south of Jianmen Pass.

There were only three thousand defenders at Jianmen Pass.

After another hour of rest, the ten thousand men launched a surprise attack just before dawn, easily capturing Jianmen Pass.

Tong Gui was left with three thousand men to guard the pass in Liang battle armor, while Qi Ling led the remaining troops into the Jiange Road, clearing two garrisons before meeting up with Lu Gong and Xiao Ye at Panlong Town.

Upon learning that Jianmen Pass had been lost, the Liang soldiers who were old or unfit for combat in Guangyuan City opened the city gates and surrendered.

The report of General Lu Gong leading thirty thousand elite troops to break through Jianmen Pass reached Yizhou, and the Liang Emperor panicked, hastily ordering the eastern front army to send fifty thousand troops to defend Yizhou.

Once the Liang generals withdrew from the eastern front, Xiao Zhen, who had been holding back for a month, launched a full-scale pursuit.

With the loss of Jianmen Pass, the morale of the Liang Kingdom plummeted, while the morale of Xiao Zhen's army soared. The enemy was weak, and we were strong, leading to a crushing victory.

In early October, the Liang Emperor, following the advice of his ministers, issued an imperial decree to move the imperial capital to Kun City.

After occupying Yizhou, Xiao Zhen stayed behind with Sun Dian, Qi Yun, Qiao Changan, and Zhang Chao to pacify the people, while Lu Gong led Xiao Yan, Xiao Ye, Xiao She, Tong Gui, Qi Ling, and other generals with a hundred thousand troops to continue the chase.

In late November, Xiao Yan, Xiao Ye, and Xiao She each led five thousand troops to corner the Liang Emperor's thirty thousand remaining soldiers into General Lu Gong's ambush.

The generals around the Liang Emperor fought bravely but were no match for Xiao She, who speared one of them in the chest.

Overwhelmed by the ferocity of the Xiao family brothers, the Liang soldiers knelt and surrendered en masse.

Seeing no hope, the Liang Emperor raised his sword to end his own life.

Xiao Ye loosed an arrow, and it struck the Liang Emperor's wrist dead center.

Just as the Liang Emperor mistakenly believed Wei would spare his life for the sake of a benevolent reputation, he was stunned as a fierce warrior charged at him on horseback, brandishing a massive blade from a distance.

As his head was severed, the Liang Emperor saw a snarling, brutal face and eyes brimming with tears.

The valley fell silent, as if holding its breath.

Then, Xiao Yan lifted the bloody head and raised his head to the sky, letting out a mournful cry, "Grandfather, your third son has avenged your honor!"

In the winter of Yong'an's fourth year, the Liang Empire crumbled.