Chapter 151

Chapter 151

On the far side of the mountain forest, night had already fallen.

The falcon crossed the forest, searching through the vast rain curtain until it found its man.

Ye Xuanjiu had already sent men to find a way to break through, but the Vanguard Battalion was limited in numbers. The Western Shu Army had not only cut off the roads, but had also stationed men along the way to block them. These were all mountain troops skilled in guerrilla warfare, and they wouldn't meet the Vanguard head-on.

Together, these two factors severely slowed their march back. Every soldier in the Vanguard Battalion was waiting for Junior General Qi's call. Qi Hanzhou said, "Keep the first battalion in the mountains to find a way through."

"The rest of you, change course. We're not going back to Jiangcheng."

The officers froze. Not return to Jiangcheng?!

Then what about the Crown Prince?!

"What's the situation outside Jiangling? Has Chen Shoude moved on Ningjiang?" Qi Hanzhou asked.

"A carrier hawk brought word—General Chen has already headed east to surround Marquis Cen'an's forces, and General Lu's twenty thousand can hold the line at Jiangling." A Vanguard officer said, "Junior General, we can reinforce Jiangcheng."

Ye Xuanjiu watched the Junior General pull up his horse at the front. That plump falcon landed on the Junior General's arm—the one from the Crown Prince's side in Jiangcheng. Qi Hanzhou's face was lost in the rain. Only Ye Xuanjiu, standing close, saw the Junior General's hand on his scabbard, veins bulging on the back—a sign of restraint.

As if, across that vast mountain forest, someone in Jiangcheng had just told him something.

The Vanguard Battalion's nearly ten thousand elites shouldn't go back to the city.

Qi Hanzhou crushed the letter in his palm. A few terse lines on the paper.

And at the end, Ying Fusheng had left him one word—"Advance."

...

Outside Jiangcheng, the enemy had arrived at the gates.

Marching through the rain, the Western Shu Army reached Jiangcheng to find the city defenses reinforced in the distance. Soldiers kept watch from the high watchtowers. The One-Eye General of the Western Shu Army took one look and knew the reinforcement was deliberate—just as the Lord's urgent message had said: the Crown Prince of Dayuan staying in Jiangcheng was no accident.

"Sir, I've scouted it out. The no-name generals left in Jiangcheng are all from the original Liangzhou garrison and the imperial reserves." The scout who'd been gathering intel came forward. "The imperial army at Jiangling is racing back to reinforce. So the city's strength is exactly what the Young Lord predicted."

They knew how vital the Crown Prince was to the southern front. Hidden agents had reported that the southern heartland's unity rested entirely on the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace network. They'd tried again and again to break it from within, but every time the Crown Prince sent a single sealed letter, Jiangnan's Yingtian Prefecture and the Six Ministries trusted it without question. It couldn't be shaken.

"Once the Crown Prince is in our hands and we start producing his seals, you think the court can stay united?" the One-Eye General said. "The Lord's scouts are already heading north. The moment word of Jiangcheng's fall spreads, the Eastern Palace's southern network collapses. That's when we strike."

"Since everything's clear, move out." The One-Eye gave the order, and the waiting Western Shu Army attacked at once.

Meanwhile, the watchtowers' limited view meant the imperial army in Jiangcheng couldn't gauge the enemy's distance. By the time they spotted them, the enemy was already at the walls. The instant the Western Shu Army moved, the strange shift in the night tipped everyone off.

The One-Eye General looked up and barked, "Everyone, spread out!"

The siege engines on the walls were loaded with boulders. The moment the Western Shu Army charged, massive stones came crashing down, rolling with the mountain city's natural advantage. The slope sent them hurtling down the mountain path, slamming straight into the enemy's front line!

Only then did the Western Shu Army realize Jiangcheng had set up outside the walls without them knowing. The natural slope, plus deliberate tweaks, had become a ready-made rolling-stone chute.

The Western Shu soldiers in front were caught flat-footed, many sent tumbling off the mountain by the boulders. The One-Eye General squinted into the distance. He'd studied Jiangcheng's terrain before coming, after all. "Have everyone hug the mountain! The path slopes toward the cliff—the mountainside is safe!"

"The Crown Prince of Dayuan came prepared," the military advisor said.

"No matter. I already sent men ahead to cut off their retreat."

The Crown Prince of Dayuan had lured them out of the hidden mountains—so of course they'd use the Crown Prince's own move to draw out the rest of the imperial army. The Western Shu imperial army was trying to encircle and relieve Jiangnan, but as long as they held Jiangcheng as the choke point, they could force the imperial troops off their original plan and make them turn back to save the Crown Prince.

"Jiangcheng's easy-to-defend, hard-to-take advantage—we can use that too," the One-Eye General said. "Pressure Jiangcheng while wiping out anyone who comes to save it."

Who said their goal was just Jiangcheng? They'd use the Crown Prince to bait out the imperial troops coming to his rescue.

The Crown Prince used them as bait to draw the enemy in—weren't they doing the same, using him to draw in his own people?

On the first day of the siege, every road in and out of Jiangcheng was cut off. The terrain made Jiangcheng easy to defend and hard to attack, but it also turned it into an isolated city in the Western Shu mountains. When the rain let up for a moment, a hail of fire arrows swept in from outside. The townsfolk hid indoors, and all flammable materials in the city had already been moved elsewhere.

Under the strain of the assault, not a single officer in the command tent got any rest. "Your Highness, the enemy is using fire attacks."

"The hardest side of Jiangcheng to defend is the mountain face, but it's also the easiest to defend." Ying Fusheng understood. This rain brought advantages to the enemy, but it also removed a hidden danger for the Jiangcheng garrison. The enemy could not use fire arrows to forcefully attack Jiangcheng. The greatest threat to the city—fire attacks—could be avoided with careful control.

The enemy had arrived an hour earlier than expected, moving with ferocity, indicating that the opposing general understood the Western Shu terrain far better than they had anticipated.

The map spread before everyone had every marked location clearly defined. They were about to face a charge from thirty thousand enemy troops.

Everyone understood that from this moment on, there was only one path forward.

Everyone knew that holding Jiangcheng against a siege of thirty thousand was extremely difficult. But from the moment the assault began, the city defenses were manned in two rotating shifts, all officers stood ready, the city's water came only from underground wells untouched by outside sources, and food stores were enough to sustain the entire garrison for many days. From the walls to the city interior, nearly every step had been prepared in advance.

As long as Jiangcheng held, it would buy time for the other imperial forces.

"Have the detoxification pills been distributed to the soldiers?" Ying Fusheng asked again.

Weng Yanqing understood his concern: "Wu Lao and Miss Chen are handling it. All the arrow remnants that came into the city have been disposed of."

The Secret Faction's common tactics also included poison attacks. While staying vigilant about water and food, they also had to guard against anything brought in from outside. The most easily overlooked places were often the most fatal. Soldiers had already discovered poison-coated arrows earlier—the enemy, seeing their small numbers, had resorted to such extreme offensive methods.

Officers came and went through the command tent, each reporting their situation before quickly leaving.

Ying Fusheng stood together with Weng Yanqing. He had not rested for a full day. Weng Yanqing wanted to urge him to sleep, but he continued giving orders: "Remember, the stone supply for the trebuchets must be sufficient, and use arrows according to the situation."

The trebuchets were to prevent the enemy from bringing siege equipment up the mountain; the arrows were to counter rapid assault teams. After multiple failed attacks, the enemy would grow anxious and would likely attempt a full-force assault!

Ying Fusheng slept less than two hours before the sounds outside the command tent rose and fell without pause.

The situation he had predicted occurred. After failing to take the city in a day, the enemy launched a night assault.

Poison smoke drifted down with the arrows, landing across the city defenses. Dizzying fumes spread outside, and even the soldiers on the walls, equipped with detoxification pills, felt physically nauseated. Before Ying Fusheng could even step out, Chen Xuqiu rushed over urgently: "It's an east wind."

Tonight, unfortunately, the wind blew from the east.

Ying Fusheng knew his luck was poor. He had thought the rain would block the fire attacks, but he had not anticipated an ill-timed east wind. Jiangcheng happened to be downwind, and even if the smoke was held at the walls, it would still blow across the entire city.

"The smoke they're using has a bit of poisonous herb mixed in—not an expensive poison, but one that causes dizziness, so they can use it in large quantities." Chen Xuqiu said. "The detoxification pills can resist it, but they can't withstand this kind of repeated harassment."

Ying Fusheng asked, "Can the poison be neutralized?"

"Yes." Chen Xuqiu frowned. "But no matter how effective the detoxification pills are, the soldiers can't stay standing in poison smoke forever."

"Have the soldiers cover their noses with wet cloths and take cover." Ying Fusheng was choked by the smoke. Weng Yanqing steadied him, and he looked up toward the heights. "Hot smoke rises—have the soldiers on the walls crouch low to avoid it. The enemy won't risk entering the smoke themselves. Once it passes, rotate fresh troops to the walls."

This wind would eventually end. The city had ample medicinal herbs and a divine physician stationed within.

As long as those on the walls could endure, those inside the city could rotate shifts. Mass-producing poison smoke required limited stock on the enemy's side—they could not afford to sustain large-scale use.

"Ye Xuanqi is on the city walls. He slipped back last night and brought intelligence on the enemy along the way." Ye Xuanqi had first been sent to destroy the mountain passes. The front-line troops had already linked up with General Lu, while he had crossed mountains and rivers with two men to rush back.

Weng Yanqing said, "He fought in the northern campaigns—he knows how to counter these tactics."

Weng Yanqing felt the heat in Ying Fusheng's hand. He knew that constant mental strain was not good for the prince's health, but if he were to insist that the prince rest without regard for the situation, the prince himself would not want that either. All the reserve defenses within Jiangcheng were being prepared by the civil officials, while the military officers handled the enemy outside the city walls—they could not afford to let the generals have any worries.

Wu Lao stepped forward with concern, "At least rest for a couple of hours."

Others could withstand the poison smoke, but the prince was more frail; even ordinary poison smoke affected him. Ying Fusheng waved his hand dismissively, accepting the detoxification pill that Chen Xuqiu handed him. "Don't worry about me. I know my own body well enough. I've already had four hours of sleep today."

The moment he sent word to Qi Hanzhou, he had prepared himself to face this alone. "We have no reinforcements. Every day we hold out here is buying time for the other imperial forces."

The sooner this war gained an advantage, the fewer casualties the southern border would suffer.

Within the Western Shu Army, the poison smoke did not drive back the defenders on Jiangcheng's walls. Instead, after the wind died down, the city's defenders rotated fresh troops in. Their numbers were few, but they took turns on patrol, using Jiangcheng's easy-to-defend terrain to withstand wave after wave of assaults. This Crown Prince of Dayuan had never fought a battle, and the city had no renowned generals—yet through sheer grit, they'd held off wave after wave of fierce attacks.

"What about the other imperial forces?" the One-Eye General frowned.

"We spotted traces of the imperial Vanguard Battalion in the mountains to the east, but they didn't risk an attack," the strategist said. "And at the Jiangling front, that Lu fellow hasn't pulled back—they're still holding position outside Jiangling!"

The strategist worried, "If we can't take the Crown Prince of Dayuan, we'll be stuck on the back foot."

Thirty thousand troops were being held up here. They had abandoned Jiangling to come here, and failing to capture the prince meant they couldn't face that lord.

The One-Eye General knew that the Crown Prince of Dayuan was trying to turn Jiangcheng into a stubborn stronghold, but since they'd already come this far, pulling back now to reinforce Jiangling would be too late. "What about the prince's mansion? Has the lord sent any new orders?"

The strategist frowned at this: "Strange—our messenger left three days ago, and there's been no word."

The One-Eye General suddenly halted, whipping around: "How many imperial soldiers are at Jiangling?"

"Tens of thousands," the strategist said. "The Lu Family Army is cunning—they keep splitting their forces, so it's hard to tell their real numbers, but they've definitely got a lot."

"Their vanguard never went back."

The One-Eye General's expression darkened. "We've been played."

The terrain along the Jiangling riverbank was flat and open—that was the Lu Family Army's kind of battlefield. They had split their forces to hide how many they really had. The imperial army hadn't sent a single soldier to the prince—were they really that sure the Crown Prince of Dayuan could hold Jiangcheng?

The One-Eye General was seething. "No matter what it takes, take Jiangcheng within three days!"

At Jiangcheng, on the watchtower, the movement of the Western Shu rebels immediately caught Ye Xuanqi's attention while he was on watch. He hurried back into the city toward the command tent, while the Light Garment Guard within the city had already fanned out to their positions. When word of the enemy's imminent assault reached the command tent, the man seated at its center wore a heavy cloak, with soothing incense burning before him to ease his headaches.

Though it was summer, he'd bundled up in heavy clothes again. Those who had long served beside him knew this was how the prince had been in his youth, but in recent years, as his health improved, he'd rarely felt the cold like this.

"They're getting desperate?" Ying Fusheng asked.

Ye Xuanqi nodded. "There's an urgent situation in the enemy camp."

"When they attack rashly, they'll avoid a frontal assault—we have limited catapults, so set up the defenses on the east side."

Ying Fusheng continued, "If he doesn't choose a frontal assault, he'll come from the mountains. I'll have the weaponsmiths prepare plenty of arrows."

On the table, the map of Jiangcheng was covered in notes with every contingency, every step accounted for.

Beside it lay another map of the southern regions, with several dark points deliberately marked—like targets already locked on.

He sat there alone, never having set foot on a real battlefield, yet somehow knowing it all.

The twists and turns of war had already been played out countless times on the prince's chessboard.

Win or lose, it seemed already decided.

"If Your Highness could take the field, your name would be known across the land," Ye Xuanqi said earnestly.

He didn't need to prove anything to anyone—among the imperial princes, no one could match him.

Ying Fusheng's gaze lowered, fixed on a point in the southwestern heartland of the map.

He felt no regret over his frail body, saying, "The general's board is the battlefield before him; the strategist's board is the whole world."

He was not content with a corner of the palace, nor with just one corner of the world.

What Ying Fusheng wanted was the whole wide world in the palm of his hand.

"With a sharp blade in hand, I can cut through ten thousand troops."

In the mountain forests, as the Western Shu army moved in silent stealth, a silent force slipped through the mountains to ambush—a nimble unit moving like mountain bandits, quietly circling the key positions in southern Western Shu. All wore black that melted into the night, crouched and hidden. When the enemy's whistle suddenly pierced the air, a lithe young commander leaped among them, his longsword striking like a serpent, taking the whistler's life in an instant.

The Western Shu army numbered roughly eighty thousand—part outside Jiangling, part outside Jiangcheng.

The remaining forces could only be guarding the Pingnan Prince's residence. With the enemy's strength overwhelming theirs, the defenders at Jiangling and Jiangcheng chose to hold with fewer troops, leaving the imperial Vanguard Battalion as a roaming force unopposed in southern Western Shu.

The Light Garment Battalion was the most adept at stealth in the Qi Family Army of the northern border. Now this imperial vanguard, having abandoned their heavy supplies and traveling light, had adopted the Light Garment Battalion's methods, roaming through the mountains of Western Shu.

The mountains of Western Shu could shelter the rebels—but they could also shelter Qi Hanzhou.

"Reporting to the Junior General—the fifth sentry post has been eliminated!" Ye Xuanjiu reported.

Qi Hanzhou reined in his horse, looking back toward distant Jiangcheng.

Every sentry post he could now clear was one that another had risked everything to bring him.

"Remove every sentry post outside the Pingnan Prince's residence."

Qi Hanzhou's gaze was icy. He would blind the Secret Faction's eyes and ears entirely.