Chapter 338: Chema River

"Those carrying armor for the Personal Guard Division, get ready to move out."

At the end of the Silk hour, cooking smoke was already rising everywhere within Erlang Town, the air thick with the aroma of rice and roasting meat. Soldiers and civilian laborers sat together in groups according to their units, eating, while part of the army was already assembling and taking roll.

"Coming." Yang Guangdi answered hurriedly, stuffing a piece of roasted horse meat into his mouth. He quickly scooped up another half-bowl of rice, forced it in, then wolfed down the remaining dry rice in his bowl in two bites and jumped up. Old Man Zeng stopped him, wrapped a large clump of dry rice in a scrap of cloth, and tucked it into his chest. "A battle lasts all day once it starts — bring more to eat, and remember to fill your water to the brim."

"Understood, Master Zeng." Yang Guangdi patted the rice bundle inside his clothes and tightened his belt another notch. He patted the short blade tucked there, raised his head, and said to Old Man Zeng, "Master Zeng, today I'll help you kill a few of those bandit spawn too."

"A little whelp like you, killing people?" Old Man Zeng took another piece of horse meat off the fire, glossy with grease and still sizzling with heat. The old man raised his head and blew on the meat a few times, wrapped it in another piece of cloth, squeezed it in his hand, and tossed it rapidly back and forth between his hands several times — it was still scalding hot.

The old man shook his hands in the air twice and glanced around; there were no extra scraps of cloth. He ambled slowly over to that pile of corpses, intending to tear a piece off one of those bodies.

Yang Guangdi tilted his head to watch. That Roving Bandit who had asked for water earlier was already dead, his eyes half-open, his mouth gaping wide, a few lingering traces of water still beneath his head. The old man stopped in front of the corpse pile, his hand frozen in midair for a moment, and finally withdrew it. With a sigh, he forcefully tore a strip from his own trouser leg and slowly wrapped it around the outside of the meat bundle.

Yang Guangdi took it as well and tucked it into his chest, making him look like a chubby little Pangzi with a potbelly. He shouted to Old Man Zeng, "Master, I'm off to kill bandit spawn."

The old man waved his hand and said, "Don't be reckless, child. Your mother is still counting on you."

Yang Guangdi acknowledged and turned around, but had only taken two steps when Chief of Ten Tan grabbed him and pulled him back.

Tan Laizi stealthily handed over two soldier tags. "Both of these are soldier tags from the Personal Guard Division. Remember, the one with the chipped corner belongs to a Banner Commander — you have to collect three taels of silver from him. For that other one, some Squad Leader or whatever, two taels will do."

Yang Guangdi took the soldier tags in a daze. These were all things they had picked up along the road. He hadn't expected Chief of Ten Tan to actually be serious — he really meant to sell them for money. He stared at Chief of Ten Tan and said, "Chief of Ten, you're so formidable — why don't you go with the officers to kill bandit spawn?"

Tan Laizi coughed once. "This official would like to go, but Lord Pang won't permit it. cudgel gang leader Zhang here insists that Master Tan must manage the Women's Camp, to prevent them from running wild and causing trouble when the fighting starts."

"Then Chief of Ten Tan, you must take care. Those women are all Roving Thieves — none of them are good people."

Tan Laizi drew his waist saber in one motion, his face twisting ferociously as he said harshly, "With me, Tan Ya, here, let's see which woman dares to stir up trouble."

Yang Guangdi looked at this Chief of Ten who had personally slain eleven Roving Bandits with admiration. "If only I were as formidable as Chief of Ten Tan."

Tan Laizi sheathed his blade and patted him on the shoulder. "This official has been through many battles. Let me give you a few extra words of advice. The most critical thing in battle is to stay close to the riverbank. Those Roving Thieves fear water — once they reach the water's edge, they lose all their nerve. You must remember this well."

Another burst of shouting came from outside. Yang Guangdi hurried toward the place where the banners were set up. This team of fifty men was mostly made up of people from the various Chiefs of Ten of Shipai Market, plus a dozen or so he didn't recognize — all dark, lean, and sturdy-looking, probably civilian laborers who made their living working the river routes.

The one leading the team was a different Chief of Ten. He counted heads several times, then ran over and grabbed two more from nearby. Once he had scraped together fifty men, they set off at once toward the eastern side of the market street. The eastern entrance of Erlang Town was packed with soldiers; the Personal Guard Division was already formed up in ranks, holding a vast, orderly expanse of torches.

The Chief of Ten led the men over and spoke with an officer from the Personal Guard Division. The group of civilian laborers waited off to the side. Yang Guangdi tilted his head back to look at the soldiers nearby. In normal times he was with the Cavalry Division, where most of the soldiers were Postal Runners, Relay Couriers, or Head of Livestock traders by background — not much different from ordinary folk. The relay horses were even deliberately chosen to be lean, to conserve their strength. This unit before him was the tallest and largest group of soldiers he had ever seen; they seemed a full half-head taller than those in the other divisions, and broader in build too. The one right beside him, in particular, was like a small mountain. He held a long spear in his hand, with a waist saber and a short axe hanging from his belt, and his eyes had a dull, vacant look when he glanced at people.

Yang Guangdi felt a little afraid in his heart, but remembering what Chief of Ten Tan had told him to do, he steeled himself, took out the soldier tag, and looked up at the huge man. Before he could even speak, the huge man had already snatched it away. He looked at it, then suddenly burst out laughing and said to a soldier beside him, "Take a look for me — is this my soldier tag?"

"How could it not be? Squad Leader, look, this character 'Xu' — I've taught it to you so many times already."

The huge man nodded repeatedly. "I was just saying it looked familiar."

Yang Guangdi hurriedly said, "My family's Chief… Chief of Ten said…"

The huge man tilted his head toward the soldier from before and asked, "What kind of officer is a Chief of Ten?"

That soldier shook his head. "We only have Banner Commanders here — never heard of any Chief of Ten."

The huge man turned back to Yang Guangdi. "What's he saying?"

"This tag only, only costs…"

"This tag — I'll take it."

"Then, then…"

The huge man brooked no argument. With one hand he lifted the bundle of armor tied up on the ground and tossed it over. "You're not bad, you little porter — you can carry my armor for me."

Yang Guangdi caught it in a fluster, and his waist immediately bent under the weight. That bundle of armor had to weigh at least fifty jin. The huge man looked down at Yang Guangdi, reached out and patted him on the head, and said, "Little porter can't carry it? I'll put on the auxiliary armor — then it'll be lighter."

Without another word, he had the soldier beside him help, and he donned the armguards, battle skirt, and leg guards. Finally he picked up an iron mask with several hooks on it. He tried it against his helmet, then put it back down and cursed, "This thing suffocates a man to death. You carry it."

Yang Guangdi strapped the mask onto the main armor and tested it — indeed, it was noticeably lighter. A horn sounded up ahead, and the Personal Guard Division began to dress ranks. That Chief of Ten came over and roughly assigned everyone: one civilian laborer to assist one soldier. A moment later, another cannon shot boomed.

Officers ran back and forth along the ranks, counting heads over and over, and shouting at the civilian laborers, ordering them to keep up with the march and not to mix up which soldier they were assigned to. Up ahead, all sorts of musical instruments sounded on and off, and banners waved from time to time. Yang Guangdi had never seen so much fuss in the Cavalry Camp, but he found it curious all the same.

Finally, after one more horn blast, the column began to move. Yang Guangdi hoisted the armor onto his back and set off with the main force.

A flash of red light streaked across the horizon. Walking on the outer edge, Yang Guangdi caught the outline of the tall, dense weeds in the distance by that faint glimmer. Only a moment later did the boom of a cannon shot roll in.

Because the Second Division had seized Moyanpu and pushed the battle line close to the Chema River, and because the Roving Bandits were unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain and unable to move off the post road at night, this stretch of road was all safe rear territory. After departing Erlang Town, they suffered no harassment along the way.

But Yang Guangdi knew none of this. He was struggling somewhat under the load. The mountain-like huge man beside him, however, was perfectly at ease, occasionally sneaking a small piece of meat out of his chest and popping it into his mouth whenever he saw that no officers were watching.

Hoofbeats sounded on the road from time to time — relay horses carrying messages back and forth flashed past in an instant. Yang Guangdi had to be careful to dodge them. Soon the column passed Moyanpu. Yang Guangdi was starting to struggle; his body hunched forward, both hands straining behind him to support the bundle of armor. His shoulders grew heavier and heavier, and he panted ceaselessly.

"Little porter's got no strength." The huge man remarked. Yang Guangdi had no strength to reply. The huge man added, "I'll carry it."

A furious shout came from behind: "Soldiers are not permitted to carry armor!"

Yang Guangdi jumped in fright. Turning back, he saw a Garrison Inspector soldier behind them swinging a short stick and fiercely lashing a soldier, who hurriedly returned the armor to the civilian laborer.

Jolted by this fright, Yang Guangdi quickly straightened his back a little. Only when that Garrison Inspector soldier passed by, cursing and grumbling, did his nerves relax slightly — and the exhaustion instantly hit him even harder. His hands were almost beyond his control.

Just then, he felt the weight on his back lighten. Yang Guangdi's breathing immediately eased considerably. Turning his head, he saw that huge soldier supporting the load from below with one hand.

The huge man gave him a dull, blank grin. The two of them moved forward together like that. Only now did Yang Guangdi take stock of his surroundings. The column marched along the post road bearing torches. The roadside was piled with many broken carriages and household goods, and the road surface still had some debris that hadn't been fully cleared away — they had to step around it carefully. The fields all around were filled with the chirping of insects, and occasionally a few points of blue will-o'-the-wisp flickered.

They rested only once along the way. After walking for who knows how long, dense points of light began to appear among the hills and fields ahead — clearly a large body of men bearing torches. They were mainly to the east, but also quite numerous to the north, and faint battle cries could be heard.

Another flash, and the sound of cannon fire followed at once, deafening in the night, seemingly very close now.

The column halted not long after. Yang Guangdi immediately set the armor down and crouched on the ground, panting without pause. The officers nearby were busy counting heads again, and no one scolded him.

A clatter of hoofbeats sounded nearby and came to a stop. Yang Guangdi tilted his head to look and saw two men who appeared to be General Officers, each with a few personal soldiers, by the roadside. One of them he recognized — it was Battalion Commander Wang of the Second Division.

He looked rather weary. He said to the other General Officer, "Banner Captain Zhuang, the cannon fire from Fengjiadian stopped after midnight. I fear it has already been overrun."

Banner Captain Zhuang replied, "Lord Pang has already ordered all divisions to set out early and attack the Roving Thieves at dawn."

Battalion Commander Wang pointed north and said, "City River Stockade and Tufeng Fort have both fallen to the Roving Thieves. The Eight Bandits Camp is set up over there. The Sweeping King and the bandit spawn routed from Erlang Town have all withdrawn to that position. To the east are Cao Cao's troops — horse soldiers have been moving back and forth across the Chema River bridge all night."

"If the bandit spawn mean to give battle west of the Chema River, have they finished deploying their battle formation?"

"The bandit spawn's movements are chaotic. Quite a few of them even blundered all the way here during the night — they were killed without even knowing who they'd run into. I have a thought on this. The bulk of the bandit spawn is to the north, but that bridge to the east is still the most critical point. We need not wait for daylight. Let's strike them once now, while the bandit spawn are in disarray."