Chapter 452: Prelude to the Turbulent Age (End of Volume)

In the dark night, along the valley between two mountains, a massive army was arrayed in a single‑file long‑snake formation, marching; the specks of torches formed a dragon of light that seemed endless.

"General, letting Sun Xiaozhe stay behind the main force and also ambush in Ya Ming Valley—doesn't that seem a bit improper?"

At the front of the column, Zhang Xiaozhong asked the commander beside him, Cai Xide.

For some reason, he constantly felt an ominous premonition. Sun Xiaozhe, that young fellow, was indeed reckless, relying on his adoptive father Shi Siming, with an arrogant air that looked down on everyone.

How could anyone trust such a person?

Cai Xide remained silent; after all, giving a subordinate a hard time is an unbecoming act. He didn't want Zhang Xiaozhong to feel a rabbit‑dies‑fox‑saddens kind of sorrow.

"General, if Sun Xiaozhe were to lose his mind and send someone to inform Fang Chongyong that we are making a night forced march, hinting that the enemy will pursue us, what should we do?"

Zhang Xiaozhong, his face clouded with worry, asked.

Now Cai Xide could no longer pretend to be deaf and mute.

He shook his head slightly and said, "Sun Xiaozhe has no reason to surrender to Fang Chongyong; he is Shi Siming's adopted son, not his biological son. If he acts recklessly, no one can save his life."

"But hiding a few thousand men in the hills of Ya Ming Valley isn't a problem. Sun Xiaozhe could first send a covert messenger to Fang Chongyong, then hide on the hills, waiting until the Hedong army fights us to a standstill, and then strike the Hedong army from behind."

Zhang Xiaozhong remained deep in thought, feeling that Cai Xide's handling of this matter was very improper. Giving Sun Xiaozhe a hard time was one thing, but not in a matter like this.

Is Sun Xiaozhe that clever?

Cai Xide was startled; in his impression, Sun Xiaozhe didn't seem that scheming.

Or perhaps his intelligence simply isn't enough.

It's hard to imagine Sun Xiaozhe could devise such a complex, uncontrollably risky maneuver.

"We're almost at Shouyang County; we must return to the city tonight."

Cai Xide said resolutely.

This narrow mountain road was a natural defensive line. To wait for the Hebei side's grain convoy from Jingxing, he also had to contract the defense.

This is the bitter result of the failed surprise attack on Taiyuan.

If we don't retreat now, we'll be chased and beaten with sticks like a fleeing chicken, which would be a disgraceful sight. That's why Cai Xide had to order a night march.

Now is the critical period of shifting from a strategic offensive to a strategic stalemate; thereafter will be small‑scale elite troops cutting off the supply road for a harassment war, not a massive army charging head‑on.

At this pivotal moment of tempo change, a single misstep could turn a defeat into a forced defensive posture.

Camping halfway in the valley is extremely risky. After weighing pros and cons, Cai Xide decided to turn back to Shouyang County overnight.

At that moment, the sound of horse hooves came from the rear of the column.

A bodyguard rushed to the front of the column, dismounted, and reported to Cai Xide, "General Cai, a large force of cavalry is pursuing from behind; General Gao Ruzhen is forming a defensive formation for self‑preservation. Please make a swift decision, General!"

"Relay the order: halt the march; each unit should form its own defensive formation on the spot to block the enemy!"

Cai Xide said in a deep voice.

"Understood!"

The messenger took the order and left.

Gao Ruzhen was a direct descendant of Shi Siming, but his bond was not as close as Sun Xiaozhe's adoptive relationship. Still, Gao Ruzhen was brave and shrewd, not a brute like Sun Xiaozhe, and his temperament was not as off‑putting.

After the messenger left, Cai Xide whispered to Zhang Xiaozhong, "Take your own troops and quickly withdraw to the Tumen Pass of Jingxing to hold it. I'll send men to garrison the old pass of Jingxing. The two passes are like opposite corners; defending Jingxing won't be hard."

"Eh?"

Zhang Xiaozhong was momentarily stunned, then immediately recalled that both their main forces were marching at the front of the column, and seemed to understand something.

Cai Xide's caution had become a subconscious habit; even the marching arrangements ensured his own troops could escape first.

"General, Shouyang and Shi Ai counties—are we just handing them over now?"

Zhang Xiaozhong looked at Cai Xide with an incredulous expression and asked.

"A fist fears being few and strong; Fang Chongyong's strategy is to place himself in a death‑trap to be reborn, a life‑risking tactic. As long as they crush Gao Ruzhen's unit, they will surge like a rolling curtain of pearls, sweeping up the broken troops along the valley, striking the long‑snake formation!"

On this narrow mountain path, even if we had a hundred thousand men, we couldn't deploy them.

If we go to Shou County, we'll have no supplies inside and no reinforcements outside—just waiting to die. The same goes for Shi Ai and the other counties.

Only by holding the two passes of Jingxing can we await Hebei reinforcements and supplies. The terrain there is treacherous and cannot be easily breached.

Don't hesitate; this battle cannot be fought—of the thirty‑six stratagems, retreat is the best.

Cai Xide, while ordering his bodyguards to mount quietly and telling his troops to hop on warhorses and flee immediately, patiently explained to Zhang Xiaozhong.

After all, once the latter reaches Jingxing, he will have to guard a pass alone, so the necessary details must be conveyed clearly.

As for a counter‑attack—what a damn counter‑attack!

We've already lost the initiative; no matter how we try to counter later, we can't, and we don't even know how many enemies there are. In the end, the result is just killing a few more foes.

What's the point?

Cai Xide saw clearly: if the battle can't be fought, then like a gecko shedding its tail, fleeing is best. After all, Gao Ruzhen's unit isn't ours!

"Understood, I'll handle the arrangements. General Cai, you go first; I'll cover the rear!"

Zhang Xiaozhong, a man of sincere loyalty, quickly clasped his fists in a bow to Cai Xide, showing his devotion.

"Don't cling to the fight; turning the troops back to Tumen Pass counts as a win. If the Hedong army makes a rapid push to Jingxing Pass, the imperial forces will pour in from there into the heart of Hebei!"

When we later regroup our forces, taking Taiyuan will be as easy as a palm‑sweep!

Cai Xide hurriedly gave the order, then vaulted onto his horse and rode east with his confidants.

Zhang Xiaozhong was also decisive; he quickly gathered the core officers of his troops and ordered them to flee swiftly. The shouts and battle cries from afar grew nearer, and the soldiers beside Zhang wore terrified expressions.

Although in a long‑snake formation messages take time to travel from the rear to the front, the faint sounds that reached them still filled everyone's hearts with gloom.

"Move! To Tumen Pass!"

As Cai Xide and his confidants slipped away, the "head" of the long‑snake column quickly detached from its "body," and the thundering hooves faded into the distance.

…

"Who are you? Where's Cai Xide?"

Fang Chongyong laid his Swift‑Wind Illusion Blade on the shoulder of a blood‑soaked Hebei rebel commander and asked.

He Changqi and his men were counting the battlefield and clearing the enemy's routed troops. At this moment the sky had turned a pale white, the air was filled with a sharp smell of blood, and the sides of the mountain path were littered with rebel corpses.

"I am Gao Ruzhen, Deputy General of the Pinglu army. That bastard Cai Xide let the hall behind; he himself fled with his close followers."

Gao Ruzhen said weakly, because his wound had bled heavily, he felt dizzy and light‑headed.

"Give him a quick bandage."

Fang Chongyong instructed his personal soldiers, letting out a breath.

He looked at the rising sun on the horizon and shook his head in disappointment.

The battle unfolded as he had predicted: after the cavalry broke through Gao Ruzhen's unit's defenses, the routed troops scattered, then assaulted the enemy infantry stationed on the mountain path, who, in a panic to flee, turned on each other, spreading a sense of collapse.

Then the cavalry led by He Changqi roared in like a rolling snowball; the troops under Cai Xide gradually lost the will to resist, more and more routed soldiers fell, the men and horses trampled each other, and finally the army collapsed like a mountain.

Fang Chongyong only lost a few men when he charged Gao Ruzhen's unit—the rear guard of the formation—while at other times it was like adults fighting children; the battle was utterly one‑sided.

"Jiedushi, according to many captives, Cai Xide and his confidant Zhang Xiaozhong led several thousand of their troops toward the Jingqing Old Pass and Tumen Pass. The two passes are opposite corners and can support each other. If we set out now, we may be too late to pursue."

Wang Nande stepped forward and reported to Fang Chongyong.

This Cai Xide runs faster than a rabbit.

Their group of Qiu Ba had even planned to dress this Hebei rebel commander in women's clothing and make him perform a Hu‑spinning dance in front of Fang Chongyong!

"Cai Xide is hard to deal with; he knew the matter was impossible and left early. Moreover, those who left were his most elite subordinates.

Do not chase a desperate foe; you take five hundred men to take over Shouyang County, and I will have Guan Chongsi take people to take over Shi Ai County.

"That will be the whole battle."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand lightly, speaking in a dispirited tone, looking utterly uninterested.

A single gamble won the battle, but it was not a complete victory; the enemy's elite troops still escaped.

Fang Chongyong could not say whether this battle was a win or a draw.

Fang Chongyong wandered aimlessly on the mountain road, seeing a Hebei soldier lying wounded and moaning. When his own Qiu Ba discovered him, they stepped forward and ended him with a single sword stroke, then took out an iron saw and, unhurriedly, cut off his head.

The grass was covered with blood clots everywhere, looking terrifying.

Whether it was the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army or the various Hedong army units, they were all doing the same thing at this moment, as smoothly as eating and drinking, showing no hesitation, evidently seeing no problem with it.

The rank‑and‑file soldiers rarely contemplate the meaning of war; they mostly treat it as a job. Serve, eat rations, earn merit and rewards—that's all.

"Whoever the higher‑ups order to kill, kill them!"

Few among them think carefully; a year ago these Hebei border troops were also Tang soldiers.

The Ministry of War kept serial numbers, and the rolls recorded the enlistments of Hebei troops; they were elite soldiers under central Tang control.

Yet after only a year, their conditions fell to the same level as the frontier Hu peoples.

Boiling beans on bean‑stalk fire, the beans weep in the pot;

Born from the same root, why scorch each other so hastily?

Fang Chongyong believed that if his troops were beaten by Hebei soldiers, the enemy would not hesitate to deliver finishing blows and decapitate them.

This is the principle that mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself. Once the sides are hostile, there is no need to care about the opponent's dignity.

"Send the order: just cut off the right ear, no need to decapitate; that's too indecent."

Fang Chongyong called He Changqi and gave him instructions.

"Um, Jiedushi, about the battle merit…"

He asked hesitantly.

"As always."

Fang Chongyong, careful with his words, said the four characters.

He Changqi was overjoyed and quickly assured, "Just cut the ear, it's fine, it's fine."

"Take care of cleaning the battlefield; this Jiedushi is heading back to Taiyuan City first."

Fang Chongyong gave He Changqi a brief instruction, turned and left, too lazy to watch those Qiu Ba squat on the ground, brandishing their saws to decapitate.

It looked like a herd of riding beasts.

Fang Chongyong muttered a curse under his breath.

At this moment the valley was bathed in golden sunlight, the sunrise at the horizon like blood.

……

In the spring of the twelfth year of Tianbao, while the Hebei rebels were besieging cities and seizing territory in Hebei and Hedong, the court appointed the Jiedushi of the four towns—Shuo Fang, Hedong, Youzhou, and Pinglu—Fang Chongyong, who left the city to engage the rebel force of Cai Xide that was escorting civilians back to Hebei.

However, the imperial troops fared poorly in the first clash; the rebels sent civilians to charge, the imperial army suffered heavy casualties, and civilian losses reached fifty to sixty percent.

After night fell, learning that Cai Xide's unit was hurrying back to Shouyang County, Fang Chongyong acted decisively, selecting three thousand elite troops, riding swiftly to chase the rebels, and delivering a spectacularly brilliant reverse‑horse lance thrust.

Caught off guard, Cai Xide suffered a crushing defeat.

Cai Xide and his confidant Zhang Xiaozhong, with their main forces, fled separately to the Tumen Pass and the Jingqing Old Pass in the Jingqing area, while the other units were all destroyed by Fang Chongyong, the entire army annihilated.

This battle greatly boosted the confidence of the Hedong imperial troops.

Previously, wherever the Hebei rebels went, the imperial forces collapsed at the first blow due to insufficient troops or cowardly commanders; even when they barely held a city, casualties were severe.

They had never achieved a complete victory over the rebels.

This emboldened the Hebei rebels; a few hundred dared to attack county towns, a few dozen cavalry dared to cross the Yellow River for reconnaissance, and the garrisons everywhere dared not leave their cities to meet them.

However, the good news from the front could not offset the impact of the bad news from the rear.

Fang Chongyong had been back in Taiyuan for less than two days when Che Guangqian, who delivered a letter to Li Guangbi, returned from Liangzhou with bad news.

"Li Guangbi doesn't want to send troops to Shuo Fang?"

"Could it be that my letter wasn't clear enough?"

"That's a bit unreasonable."

Fang Chongyong, hearing Che Guangqian's account, could hardly believe his ears. He had explained the reasoning so clearly, fully considering it from Li Guangbi's perspective.

"Why would the other side still refuse?"

Jiedushi, Li Guangbi is willing to go to Shuofang, but the officers of the Red Water Army are unwilling to go. They want to wait until your father-in-law returns to Liangzhou before speaking.

Che Guangqian replied with a helpless expression.

Is it An Chongzhang of the Liangzhou An clan, the Liangzhou Zhang clan, and those people of Lun Gongren's family?

Fang Chongyong's smile vanished from his face, and he asked in a deep voice.

Yes, if they don't move, Li Guangbi is just an empty frame, unable to command the various armies of Liangzhou.

Now the border garrisons are worried about whether to listen to Chang'an or Luoyang, and no one wants to become a rebel army for no reason.

Che Guangqian told Fang Chongyong what he had heard.

Simply put, the border garrisons now have their own ideas. After all, Elder Ji is old and cannot protect them for many more years. Choosing which prince to "follow the dragon" is the crucial matter.

If they back the right side, they will gain endless wealth and honor.

If they follow Elder Ji's orders to go to war, even if they win, what good will it do?

If Elder Ji were to pass away unexpectedly, who would verify their merits? Who would bestow rewards on them?

In fact, it's not surprising that the border troops up and down have doubts; their concerns are very real. People die for wealth, birds die for food—this is natural and just.

The so-called "Four Kings' Rebellion" has the Hebei border armies behind it. If Yang Weiming wins and Li Wan ascends the throne, the Hebei border army officers will be promoted and enriched.

This situation also applies to the other border armies.

Although their positions differ, the reasoning is the same.

How can the Hexi and Longyou two garrisons be expected to unconditionally support Elder Ji and fight to the death against the Hebei rebels?

So Elder Ji's words are useless, and Fang Chongyong's words are even more useless!

Li Guangbi is in an unstable wavering position, while the armies under him are firmly unwilling to rush into Guanzhong and Hedong to suppress the rebellion.

This outcome is both unexpected and reasonable.

Jiedushi, the Jinglüe army of Shuofang cannot be moved; otherwise Lingzhou will not be secure, and the Tiele people will rebel.

It would be better to send the Abusi Department to Taiyuan and the Li Liangchen Department to Fenzhou, thus obtaining twenty thousand barbarian troops.

Che Guangqian suggested to Fang Chongyong.

That would also be fine.

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly, let out a long sigh, truly a case of "troops are scarce when needed."

Jiedushi, I have heard some bad news in Hexi.

Che Guangqian hesitated somewhat, stammering and afraid to speak.

Speak, you are my confidant; you may speak freely.

Fang Chongyong patted Che Guangqian's shoulder and said.

Jiedushi, many people in Hexi are discussing, saying that the Jiedushi will surely rebel, leading troops to Luoyang to support the Crown Prince.

The Hexi border armies do not want to get involved in muddy waters, and they have this consideration, even as a primary reason.

They are waiting for your father-in-law, Wang Zhongsi, to bring the Anxi Northern Court troops to Hexi.

If General Wang sides with the Crown Prince, they will side with the Crown Prince; if General Wang sides with the emperor, they will also side with the emperor.

As for the Jiedushi, they do not want to guess.

If General Wang goes to the Crown Prince's side, your father and father-in-law are there, so you, Jiedushi, cannot avoid going as well.

Che Guangqian anxiously explained all this, directly leaving Fang Chongyong speechless.

(End of Volume)

Next volume: Thirty Feats of Dust and Soil, Eight Thousand Miles of Cloud and Moon

(End of Chapter)