Chapter 97: Empty Fort

By the Shalanjiang, within Li Bucai's Territory, among the long mountain range, there is a huge rocky shoal on the riverbank, isolated by the mountains, with no road to the interior; it lies about a hundred kilometers from San Shui Port, and after a day's arduous trek, Tan Jiang moored his boat here and took a short rest.

At dusk, the scout reported to Tan Jiang: "Master, in about four more hours we'll reach their dock; shall we set out now?"

Tan Jiang calculated the timing; if we depart now, four hours later it will still be two hours before midnight, so their men will have only just lain down, not be deep in sleep, and the surprise attack would be ineffective.

"No rush, wait a bit longer."

Tan Jiang produced the sketch the scout had just drawn and gathered all the commanders. Since the scout could not penetrate deep into Li Bucai's Territory, only the riverside layout was depicted clearly: a sizable fort whose east side faced the White Horse River, westward reached the mountain foot, blocking the road into the interior; a watchtower stood on the adjacent ridge. As for the main stronghold deep within the Territory, he imagined it based on Tan Jiang's own fort.

Tan Jiang told the commanders: "When we set sail, Le Jin will lead seventeen boats ahead. Once they reach the enemy fort, they should draw as many of their men as possible into the water stronghold. The rest will follow me, with the Whirlwind Death Soldiers behind. We will skirt the water stronghold from the mountain's mid‑slope and strike directly at their main stronghold, so that that Li can truly see the power of the Whirlwind Death Soldiers."

Capturing the water stronghold would only scratch Li Bucai's hide; to defeat him outright the best way is to seize his main stronghold, slaughter his people, ruin his prestige, and spread the word so that everyone in Sky City knows he cannot even protect his own subjects, and wonder who would still follow him. That would wreck his construction projects, force him to start over, strip him of competition, and make him a meek vassal.

Already confident, he now also commands these 120 Whirlwind Death Soldiers, which fills him with even greater confidence.

With the plan set, everyone waited for night, took on more provisions, then set sail. Two fleets, one ahead of the other, spaced several li apart, surged grandly toward the San Shui water stronghold.

At night, a veil of water mist rose over Shalanjiang, blocking the moonlight and plunging several li of both banks into darkness. When they were about seven or eight li from San Shui, Tan Jiang ordered the boats to pull up to the shore; the river was too deep for the fishing boats to drop anchor, so they could only moor at the bank. The mountains rose farther from the shore here, leaving a wide gap between the fleets and San Shui. Tan Jiang intended to wait for the clash of the vanguard ahead, and as soon as the fighting began, slip through the mountain mid‑slope between the water stronghold and the watchtower to reach Li Bucai's rear.

"They arrived half an hour before us; why is it still so quiet?" Tan Jiang waited a long while, saw no movement ahead, grew impatient, and said to the scout, "Go check what's happening up front."

The scout took the order and was about to leave when Leng Ying stopped him: "The enemy situation is unclear; let the Second Fort Master wait here a moment while I go investigate."

The troop types here follow the same hierarchy as the generals: nine ranks, each with ten grades, totaling 90 grades. Most lords currently command soldiers around the tenth grade. This time Tan Jiang leads the elite twelfth‑grade troops, while the Whirlwind Death Soldiers, though officially only fifteenth‑grade, have been equipped with Bronze Armor by Tan Ping; combined with their innate abilities, their limbs are unusually agile, giving them combat power equivalent to eighteenth‑grade troops.

His scout is only a twelfth‑grade soldier, a typical green‑quality officer; compared with ordinary soldiers, he already surpasses a fully‑upgraded footman. A commander forged for a month and a half reaches the fifteenth‑grade general level. I'd heard from the elder brother that he has a renowned assassin under his command—Leng Ying himself—whose combat rating even hits the sixteenth‑grade among generals. After the tenth grade, advancing either generals or soldiers becomes difficult, so sending him to scout will not only yield more accurate intel but might also bring back a few "big fish."

Tan Jiang smiled, "Alright, take my boat; go swiftly and return quickly." The Whirlwind Death Soldiers were still concealed in the boat with a blue cloth.

Leng Ying gave a grim smile, "By now our vanguard has probably reached their fort; their leader still refuses to show himself, clearly they're on guard. I ask the Second Fort Master, do you want to give them a frightful show to force them out to fight?"

He was referring to the two scouts captured en route. Li Bucai had sent two scouts into Tan Ping's Territory; on their way back they were spotted by Tan Ping's men, who gave chase. The scouts' boat was fast and seemed about to shake off the pursuers, but it ran into Tan Jiang's forces downstream, with no room to turn. Trying to slip through the darkness from the opposite bank, they were discovered by Tan Jiang's men and seized, now locked inside the boat covered with a blue cloth.

"Weren't they already turned into food for those Whirlwind Death Soldiers?" Tan Jiang certainly hoped to lure the enemy out, but the two were tossed onto the Whirlwind Death Soldiers' boat as soon as they were seized; he had never seen how those soldiers eat, and didn't know if any bodies remained whole.

"If the Second Fort Master permits, leave everything to me."

Tan Jiang nodded, "As long as we can draw them out, send as many as you need; you decide." He then went ashore, cleared his swift boat, and handed it to Leng Ying.

Leng Ying rowed his boat beside another vessel and, from a distance, saw him bring aboard two already stiffened corpses. The distance was too great to discern their faces, and he dared not look; the sight of people ravaged by those monsters was too horrific to behold. A single glance at those beasts had already made him lose his appetite.

Leng Ying placed the two scouts into the boat's hold and rowed away alone. After a short while, a faint outline of the water stronghold's wall appeared ahead. Because this is the confluence of three rivers, the water is broad and the current steady; fourteen fishing boats were lined up in a row a short distance from the stronghold.

"General Le," Leng Ying greeted Le Jin, first asking about the situation: "How long have you been stopped here? No voices from the fort wall?" The water stronghold was dead silent, not even a flicker of light, like an empty fort.

Le Jin nodded, "About half an hour or so. We've sent people forward to the fort several times, but there's been no response. We're awaiting the master's orders, ready to abandon the boats and assault the fort from the shore. What are your commands?"

Leng Ying was startled; he had been wondering why no one had been sent to inform Tan Jiang, assuming they'd fallen into an ambush. From his words it seemed messengers had been dispatched, yet none were seen. He asked oddly, "Did you send out messengers?"

"We sent three boats in succession to notify the master; why, they couldn't reach him?" The answer was clear from his expression.

Leng Ying hurried, "There must be an ambush in this stretch; none of us on these boats are trained for water combat. Quickly, bring the boats to shore!"