Chapter 282: The Fan Brothers, Tigers and Dragons

Luzhou City.

The atmosphere in the city was not good. Ever since it had fallen to the rebels, a pall of terror had hung over the place.

Ordinary folk barely dared to leave their homes. The streets were deserted and cold, with bamboo baskets scattered here and there and bits of odds and ends lying about. The occasional resident who absolutely had to go out for supplies would hug the walls and creep along cautiously, not daring to breathe loudly when they spotted soldiers in armor.

Although the rebels had strictly disciplined their troops, countless incidents of burning, looting, and plunder had still occurred. For this, the rebel leader had executed several disobedient soldiers as a warning to the rest.

Over this period, Luzhou City had become relatively stable, but the tension remained thick. Because this had always been a key military stronghold, the rebels naturally valued it highly. She Chongming had sent one of his most trusted men to guard it — that man was She Yin.

As She Chongming's son, She Yin wielded absolute authority in Luzhou City.

Inside the former Luzhou Prefect's yamen.

She Yin sat in the seat of honor, with the subordinates he had brought on this campaign arrayed below him on both sides.

She Yin swept his gaze across the assembled men and said in a low voice: "You've all heard about what happened at Zunyi City, I take it?"

Everyone present nodded silently.

Though She Yin was only in his twenties, no one present underestimated him. Even though She Yin was fair-skinned and clean-cut rather than burly, no one dared to look down on him — that had never changed.

Because compared to his old man She Chongming, She Yin left a worse impression on people. He was a young man of deep schemes, ruthless and merciless — no one dared to offend him. Everyone knew full well that if you crossed She Yin, he might be all smiles to your face, but turn around and you'd never know how you died.

Perhaps that was exactly why She Chongming had sent She Yin to guard Luzhou.

Everyone present knew how important Luzhou was to their cause. In the words of their king, Luzhou was their way out.

Once the whole of Sichuan was taken, they could leave Luzhou and enter Guizhou — that was why they had occupied Zunyi. Zunyi was the bridgehead; once Sichuan fell, they could advance from Zunyi into Guizhou.

When that day truly came, all of Guizhou and Sichuan would belong to the king. They could even push into Yunnan, or continue northward — and then they would carve out a vast new territory.

A big-bearded man seated on the right said: "Young Master, what happened at Zunyi City isn't too surprising. After all, no one holds Guizhou, and Zunyi was crying alone with no one to answer."

She Yin turned to look. He was naturally familiar with the speaker — it was Fan Long, his father's trusted subordinate. Beside him sat Fan Long's younger brother Fan Hu. Both brothers were their father's trusted men and first-rate fierce generals.

Only Fan Long dared to speak like that. If it had been anyone else, She Yin would not have been so gracious.

She Yin did not lose his temper. He said coldly: "The man guarding Zunyi City was Zhang Tong. Everyone should know what kind of man Zhang Tong is, and what his abilities are. Even so, Zunyi City could not be held."

"According to my scouts' reports, the Guizhou army is already marching toward us. I estimate their next step will be to attack Luzhou, so everyone go back now and make preparations. Enforce a curfew — tell the city's residents not to go out on the streets unless necessary. Beyond that, stockpile grain. This time, the fight may last a long while."

The assembled men looked at She Yin. No one dared to object, and they hastily adopted respectful postures: "Yes, Young Master."

Seeing that everyone had agreed, She Yin turned to Fan Long, who had just spoken, and said: "General Fan, we have enough men in the city. I'll give you three thousand troops to go out of the city, find a place to conceal yourselves, and wait for my signal. Once there's a chance to counterattack, we'll strike from within and without and annihilate the incoming Ming army."

"At the same time, send word to the king, telling him the Ming army has come to attack Luzhou. But ask him not to worry — I will wipe out the Ming relief forces beneath Luzhou's walls. Father need not be concerned."

The big-bearded general Fan Long frowned upon hearing this. He said hesitantly: "Young Master, isn't this a bit inappropriate? The Ming army is powerful. You yourself just said that Zhang Tong was highly capable and had no small number of men, yet he couldn't even send word in time — that shows how formidable the Ming army is. Though our forces in the city are adequate, they number less than thirty thousand. If the Ming army attacks the city, leaving only fifteen thousand to defend it may leave gaps."

"In my humble opinion, what we should do now is not think about annihilating the Ming army, but about holding Luzhou City well. If we can simply defend Luzhou City, that will be enough. Once the king takes Chongqing, breaches Chengdu, and occupies all of Sichuan, it won't be too late to send troops out from Luzhou."

In Fan Long's view, dividing their forces at a time like this was the most idiotic decision imaginable. Though he didn't know why She Yin had given such an order, he had no desire to carry it out.

Fan Hu, sitting off to one side, glanced at his elder brother and let out a helpless sigh.

The elder brother was good in every way — loyal to his friends, true to his word, and utterly devoted to the king. When it came to marching and fighting, there was nothing to criticize; he was a valiant warrior.

But the problem was that his head never quite worked right. If the Young Master wanted to divide the troops, did he really mean to divide the troops?

It was plainly a move to get the elder brother out of the way. First, he didn't want to share credit with the elder brother — this was to suppress him. Second, he found the elder brother's presence at his side irritating and wanted him gone.

If the elder brother concealed himself too close to the city and was discovered and wiped out by the Ming army, that would be the elder brother's own failure — a death not worth mourning — and it would also have harmed the Young Master's plans. If it truly came to that, the Young Master could simply push the blame onto the elder brother.

Everyone present could see that the Young Master was quite wary of the elder brother — or rather, the Young Master wanted to take the elder brother's place and seize command of this force for himself.

Now that the king's situation was improving day by day and his territory growing ever larger, the struggle over succession in the future was bound to be fierce.

The Young Master plainly wanted to seize military power, win great merit, raise his prestige, grasp the army, and strengthen his position.

Only the elder brother couldn't see this — as stubborn as a mule.

Fan Hu said with some helplessness: "Elder Brother, haven't we already fought the Ming army before? You know what they're like. Zunyi City was lost because Zhang Tong was incompetent — strutting around in peacetime, but a useless sack of straw when it counted. But can the Young Master be compared to him?"

"The Young Master has grand vision, deep plans, and abundant cunning. Dealing with these Ming troops is as easy as reaching into a bag for him. Defend the city? Defend what city?"

"I think the Young Master is right. We should annihilate the incoming Ming army completely, then press our advantage and retake Zunyi City. While the Ming forces in Guizhou are stretched thin, we'll drive straight into Guizhou and take a few cities — and if possible, push all the way to Guiyang."

Fan Long frowned at his younger brother, his face dark, and said nothing.

She Yin glanced at Fan Hu and felt his words made sense. His own vision had been too shallow — what use was merely annihilating the Ming army?

It would only earn him a bit more merit and make his father happy. But if he could fight his way into Guizhou and occupy Guiyang, the merit would be enormous. Then he could recruit troops in Guizhou, hold an entire province as his own base — who knew what might come of that?

At this thought, She Yin laughed heartily and said: "General Fan Hu speaks well! Since we're going to do great things, we need great ambitions."

"General Fan Hu is right — we can't fix our eyes solely on destroying the Ming army. We need a longer-term plan. We'll fight our way to Guiyang! We'll occupy all of Guizhou!" She Yin grew more excited as he spoke, rising to his feet and waving his hand.

The others all chimed in: "Annihilate the Ming army! Fight to Guiyang! Occupy Guizhou!"

For a moment, the atmosphere blazed with fervor.

Fan Hu, sitting there, let out a relieved sigh and then a helpless one. It seemed the nickname he and his elder brother shared was never going to come off.

Outsiders called the two of them the Fan Brothers — one dragon, one tiger. But what was the truth of it?

Plenty of people behind their backs called them the Fan Brothers' Two Fools. Yet Fan Hu knew that he was not stupid at all — in fact, he was quite shrewd. It was his elder brother who was the truly foolish one.

How much worry had he endured to protect his elder brother and protect this family?

They'd scraped through this time. But next time might not work — he'd better get his elder brother out of the city quickly. Though facing the Ming army carried some danger, his elder brother did have real skill in battle, so he probably wouldn't lose his life.

If he stayed in the city any longer, who knew how many days the elder brother had left to live?

Seeing that his elder brother was about to speak again, Fan Hu hastily reached out and tugged at him.

Turning to glare at his younger brother, Fan Long said irritably: "What are you pulling me for?"

"Elder Brother, I think you really should go out of the city. Though I agree with what you just said, look at the Young Master and these men — who among them agrees with you?"

"They all look down on the Ming army. They've won so many battles and taken so many cities along the way that they've long become arrogant troops. But arrogant troops are doomed to defeat — that's been the rule since ancient times. Fortunately, Elder Brother, your head is still clear, so I urge you to take the men out of the city. If anything stirs, you can support them from outside."

"If everyone stays in the city and the Ming army surrounds us all inside, then we truly won't be able to move at all."

"You don't think Luzhou can be held?" Fan Long asked in a low voice.

"Zhang Tong couldn't even hold Zunyi City. Though his failure was expected — after all, Zunyi isn't a large city and he didn't have many men — but at least he should have held out for a few days, shouldn't he?"

"What was the original plan? If Zunyi City came under attack, he would immediately send for help and we would dispatch troops to support him. But what happened? Zhang Tong sent out his messenger, and the city fell right on his heels. So I'm saying — this battle won't be easy, especially when everyone has become an arrogant soldier."

"Even if you stay in the city with your men, Brother, there's little you can do. Better to leave the city—then whatever happens, you'll be free to advance or retreat as you please. So go, Brother."

Fan Long glanced at his younger brother, then nodded and said, "Fine, I'll go."

Once everyone had finished their flattery, Fan Long rose to his feet and said, "Young Master, if there's nothing else, this humble officer will take his leave. I'll return at once to muster my men and leave the city before dark."

Seeing Fan Long agree so readily and without hesitation, She Yin smiled and nodded. At the same time, he stood up, walked over to Fan Long's side, reached out and clasped Fan Long's hand, saying with a smile, "Then the outside of the city is entrusted to you, General."

She Yin's face was all smiles, clearly very pleased.