Chapter 319: Fallen in Battle, Still Pondering the Past

Somewhere downstream on the northern side of the Dalinghe, several thousand Wuhuan main-force troops were besieging a Han army unit of just over a thousand men that was fighting with its back to the river, while the Wuhuan Chanyu, Qiuliju, watched the battle from a distance.

"Can we be certain this time?" Qiuliju, dressed exactly like a Han nobleman, suddenly turned his head, his face full of worry.

"We can be certain." Beside him, a Wuhuan nobleman, clearly drenched in sweat rather than rain, answered breathlessly from horseback. "Only Guini, twenty li to the south, has explicitly reported blocking the Grand General Gongsun. At every other point — whether it was the White Horse riders carrying the white-horse banner fleeing east, or this tough bone right here — no one has seen any sign of the Grand General Gongsun."

"Guini is a reliable man." Qiuliju's face finally showed delight. "If he says it is so, then it must be. Go quickly and tell him that under no circumstances must he harm the life of the Guard General... of the Grand General Gongsun. I will hurry over at once."

The Wuhuan nobleman did not dare delay and immediately led several riders away, turning their horses around.

"Come here." Qiuliju, unhurried, summoned another man. "Cross the river and find Tadun. Tell him not to waste any more time here with his ten thousand men. He is to head south immediately to reinforce Guini."

This man also acknowledged the order at once, then mounted his horse and rode off.

"Withdraw the troops!" Qiuliju said at last. "He is certainly not here. Do not waste our strength in vain... Let the whole army form ranks and go south to block him."

"Father." At that moment, a young Wuhuan nobleman, only about sixteen or seventeen years old, carrying a bow but no spear, suddenly spoke. "This Han army fights so well — they formed ranks with their backs to the river and killed so many of our men. Why not leave some troops to pin them down, and then wipe them out when we return?"

"Because there is no... no value in it." Qiuliju fixed his gaze on his son and said with a soft laugh, "Louban, do you understand that word?"

"I do."

"Then do you understand that in this battle, the sole value for us Wuhuan is to capture that Grand General Gongsun — and he must be taken alive?"

"Why?" the young Louban immediately asked, puzzled. "Before, Father wouldn't let me kill Duanri Yuming either, and in the end he still managed to send out intelligence that nearly let this Grand General Gongsun escape."

"Duanri Yuming and the Grand General Gongsun are not the same thing." Qiuliju sighed, then mounted his horse and spoke as he rode. "With Duanri Yuming, it was because his roots are around Liucheng, and I truly felt that given enough time, he could sincerely surrender... As for the fact that we knew he was a spy yet still let intelligence leak and be discovered by him, that was our own negligence."

Louban nodded slowly, then pressed on with his questions: "Then Father, what is the matter with the Grand General Gongsun?"

"The Grand General Gongsun is the master of the northern lands." Qiuliju's expression turned solemn. "People like us, along with Duanri Yuming, Mohugou, and those various Hu tribes, are nothing more than domestic dogs and wild dogs scavenging in his family's courtyard. And this time, our raising of troops was merely an attempt — while he was away from home — to act like wild dogs and steal a mouthful of something to keep ourselves alive."

"We have thirty thousand cavalry!" Louban retorted, his face flushed with agitation. "If those various Hu tribes would also pledge loyalty to us, we would have a population of two hundred thousand... How can we be mere wild dogs?"

"The Grand General Gongsun has a hundred thousand soldiers and a population of several million." Behind them, the main body of Wuhuan cavalry was forming up in large numbers and disengaging from contact with Gao Shun's unit. Without even turning his head, Qiuliju gave a figure that his son could scarcely imagine.

"But he is not as good at war as you, Father!" Louban immediately thought of a second rebuttal. "This time, even though Duanri Yuming sent word, he still couldn't escape in time and was still blocked by Father and my elder brother."

"You are wrong again." Qiuliju shook his head repeatedly. "Everyone under Heaven knows that he is far better at war than I am..."

"But Father has already won this battle," Louban repeated impatiently. "He is already surrounded by Father."

"When I devised this stratagem myself, I never expected him to actually fall for it." Qiuliju sighed. "Liaoxi is full of hills and rivers, with only a single five-hundred-li corridor from Guanzicheng to Liucheng, without any supplies whatsoever... And he actually came with only seven or eight days' worth of grain and a few thousand mixed troops. I was simply fortunate beyond measure."

"Doesn't this mean that Father has the Mandate of Heaven?" Louban remained unconvinced.

"I would rather not have this Mandate of Heaven." Qiuliju suddenly reined in his horse, turned around, and looked gravely at his son. "Louban, do you understand that this stratagem of mine was also a desperate act forced out of a hopeless situation? This time, I did not go to relieve Su Puyan in Liaodong, nor did I help Kebineng stabilize his position. That means our two flanks will inevitably lose their support and protection... In other words, if this gamble fails to capture the Grand General Gongsun alive, then for us, father and son — if we are lucky, we can flee into exile far away; if we are unlucky, we will die and our clan will be exterminated. Of course, looking at it this way, I have come to a realization: this Grand General Gongsun must also have some urgent matter pressing behind him, or else he would never have staked everything on a single throw like I did."

"But I still don't understand." Louban thought for a moment, then asked seriously, "Setting aside why the Grand General Gongsun fell for the trap, Father, why are you still so cautious even after winning the battle? Shouldn't winning a battle mean you have everything? Just like before, when we took Liucheng, all those fine things in the city became ours. And when we were driven out of Lulong Pass, everything we had plundered inside the pass was gone."

"Winning a battle is, of course, a tremendous good thing." Qiuliju smiled bitterly. "At the very least, those who originally could not survive can now survive. But this Grand General is not just one man... How should I put it? This is not something that can be explained to you in a single day... Today, I have only one thing to impress upon you, and you must obey it. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to send you back to Liucheng."

"Father, please speak," Louban said, growing even more solemn.

"When you meet that Grand General Gongsun who rides the white horse... you must maintain respect at all times. You are not permitted to treat him with the attitude of a captor toward a prisoner!" Qiuliju spoke with stern gravity. "If I bow to him, you must kowtow to him. If I lead his horse, you must carry his mounting stool. When we reach Liucheng, I will yield my own former residence to him, and you must circle around that building as if avoiding a tiger and not dare approach it! Do you understand?"

Louban hesitated for a moment, but facing his father, he finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

Just as Qiuliju was earnestly instructing his underage son, he was utterly unaware that twenty li away, the battle situation before Gongsun Xun had already reversed.

That iron-armored Han cavalryman was indeed loyal, fierce, and heroic; the Black Otter Heavenly King's surprise decapitation strike had also certainly achieved a miraculous effect. Without the former man's intimidation of these Wuhuan troops and mixed Hu, and without the latter man holding nothing back at the most critical moment, Gongsun Xun would never have even been able to reach the opposite riverbank... However, it must be admitted that what truly caused these mixed Hu tribal chieftains — who only wanted to fight when the wind was at their backs — to completely flip their mindset was a single sentence from Gongsun Xun.

Because this sentence, carrying the weight of a political commitment, truly and tangibly concerned the survival of their tribes, making them dare not continue to waver back and forth with the same opportunistic mentality as before.

If today's matter went awry, they would lose the grain and cloth coming from Lulong Pass to the south; they would lose the pottery and salted fish from Liaodong; they would have no place to sell the hides they tanned themselves, and no place to buy iron pots. And the Han people would use knives, rather than the grain coupons and general goods vouchers of the Anli Company, to trade for the goats and horses they had toiled to herd. More importantly, it was very likely that soon two great armies, each tens of thousands strong — one advancing from south to north out of Lulong Pass, the other from east to west across the Liao River — would uproot their tribes entirely.

If that happened, they would lose everything they currently had. If they were lucky, they could flee to the grasslands to the west; if unlucky, their entire tribe might simply vanish... just like the supporting characters in those stories passed down orally from their ancestors for generations.

And so, these fence-sitters, adept at calculating their own interests, turned coat in an instant.

In the chaotic melee, the white-clad attire of the White-Clad Wuhuan provided far too obvious a target for their opponents. Worse still, their previous formation meant they were almost instantly caught in a pincer attack from three directions.

The mixed Hu tribes on both flanks, the White Horse riders charging across the river head-on — what had originally been fourteen or fifteen hundred against two hundred men suddenly became twelve hundred against four or five hundred. Their commander had just been beheaded, their army's bravest warriors had been slaughtered moments before, and facing them directly was that Grand General of the Gongsun clan whom their own Chanyu had repeatedly ordered must not be harmed in the slightest... Under such circumstances, the fact that they held on for a moment before collapsing was already something to be said for the fighting ability and willpower of these White-Clad Wuhuan.

"Do not get entangled in the fighting!" Having suddenly escaped from the jaws of death, Xi Zhong's voice was trembling. "Quickly, escort the Lord Marquis south! Tell these mixed Hu that as long as we reach Guanzicheng, every man will be credited with meritorious service, and rewards will not be stinted!"

The White Horse Volunteers and several dozen core members of the mixed Hu tribes immediately surged forward. However, Gongsun Xun showed no intention of moving. He sat upright on his horse, scanning the chaotic battlefield in every direction, and when he spotted that iron-armored Han cavalryman who was still hacking and slashing relentlessly, he pointed at him from a distance.

Wen Ze, at his side, understood at once. He immediately led twenty or thirty Volunteers galloping over. A few of them made contact with the man, while a dozen others rode to the edge of the battlefield and placed the seventeen Han cavalrymen who had died in battle earlier onto the captured Wuhuan warhorses.

Only when he saw this man being escorted back did Gongsun Xun turn his horse around and head south.

However, after advancing south for about ten-odd li, around what was probably already noon, the rumble of hoofbeats suddenly came from the hills — a terrain feature so characteristic of the Liaoxi Corridor. The vibration of the sound was so great that it was clearly a large body of troops rapidly approaching head-on.

"There's no time." A mixed Hu chieftain beside him turned pale. "Grand General, the hills crisscross on both sides of the road here. We might round a slope and run right into them..."

"Wouldn't that be perfect, then?" Gongsun Xun cast a cold glance at the man. "If Tadun could have foreseen Guini's death and circled around here in advance, I might as well just surrender to him and beg for immortality!"

With that, he spurred his horse directly forward.

The crowd suddenly understood and followed excitedly. And indeed, after rounding a small hillside, they came face to face with the main body of the Han army, flying banners with Han characters. At the very front was none other than Wei Yue, whom Gongsun Xun had earlier sent back to Lulong Pass.

Wei Yue saw clearly and dismounted from afar, kneeling in welcome.

"Is there a commanding general behind you?!" Gongsun Xun shouted from a distance. "How many relief troops in total? And how many soldiers do you have at hand right now?"

"Reporting to the Lord Marquis, both Master Zibo and Commandant Han have come." Wei Yue hastily answered from the ground. "That day, they received the Lord Marquis's express message and, upon hearing that the Lord Marquis had suddenly marched out, immediately set out from Lulong Pass with the main army to provide support... The entire army numbers eighteen thousand, a mix of infantry and cavalry, advancing in separate segments. By my reckoning, they should be only two and a half days' march behind the Lord Marquis. I led three thousand cavalry swiftly at the front; Commandant Han leads five thousand cavalry behind me, half a day's march away; and Master Zibo leads ten thousand infantry with the baggage train further behind, though I do not know when he will arrive... But I truly never expected to meet the Lord Marquis here. Has the Lord Marquis suddenly turned back?"

This was a matter of marching speed... On the Liaoxi Corridor, which had no supply points and was composed of hilly terrain, the mobility of cavalry could indeed play a huge role, but it was manifested more on the battlefield than in strategic movement. Earlier, Gongsun Xun, in order to save time, had set out with an all-cavalry force, yet still only managed sixty to seventy li per day — which was already a very fast pace. Correspondingly, Han Dang and Wei Yue should also be at this speed. As for Lou Gui's ten thousand infantry, though they carried the baggage train, they could still march forty to fifty li per day. It seemed that in less than two more days, they would see Lou Gui.

In all honesty, before this, Gongsun Xun had only complained that his advance was too slow; now, he had to be thankful that his advance had not been fast enough.

After a brief moment of mental calculation, Gongsun Xun understood the situation and was overjoyed. Without wasting more words, he immediately instructed Wei Yue: "Take the vanguard to the banks of the Dalinghe, a dozen or so li behind us, and secure a foothold for the main army coming up behind. Be extremely careful — the Wuhuan main force could arrive at any moment! Black Otter, you guide him!"

Wei Yue also suddenly realized that Gongsun Xun had suffered a defeat and was more than happy to leave it at that. He quickly acknowledged the order, then immediately turned his horse and shouted for the troops to advance. As for the dark-complexioned Qifen Heita, he was brimming with excitement and spurred his horse forward to join Wei Yue.

The three thousand cavalry of the vanguard, along with some of the accompanying mixed Hu riders who had been swayed, suddenly accelerated and charged straight for the banks of the Dalinghe. Meanwhile, Gongsun Xun led his subordinates to a nearby hillside to rest and wait for the arrival of Han Dang's troops coming up behind.

"Lord Marquis!" Seeing the situation had completely turned around, Xi Zhong, beside him, publicly knelt to admit his fault, then wept profusely in the drizzling rain. "The peril today is entirely my fault... Ziheng, Du Bohou, and Ju Gongtiao were managing the overall situation in Changping without error; Shuzhi, Chang Bohuai, and Zao Wengong were transporting provisions and mobilizing civilian laborers without the slightest negligence. As for the military staff, Zibo set the military strategy and was thoroughly prudent — not to mention that he and Yigong were both at Lulong Pass at the time, and Cheng Demou was also in Yuyang... Among the army's officers, men like Gao Suqing are merely a Commandant, and Tian Yu is but a youth. A few days ago in Guanzicheng, I alone was the one who made the decision for the Lord Marquis to take this risk!"

"You bear fault, but it does not lie here!" Gongsun Xun sat before him and spoke with stern sincerity. "That day in Guanzicheng, it was indeed as you said — only you, Xi Zhicai, had the standing to speak. But at most, you merely failed to remonstrate; you did not lead the decision. This advance was nothing but me, blinded by obsession, still thinking of swiftly ending this turmoil so I could seek that Jizhou Governor post from He Jin... However, I have only now suddenly awakened to the truth. Back then, I was able to achieve swift victory in the Guanzhong situation because I cast aside the political struggles behind me and dealt with it purely through military means. And today's defeat stems from forcing politics onto military strategy, leading to one mistake after another. Zhicai, for this expedition falling into an ambush, I bear eight-tenths of the fault, and you bear two-tenths. We shall share the responsibility for this matter."

Xi Zhong was already covered in mud and water. Hearing these words, he felt even more shame and fury, to the point that his hands clutched at the green grass: "But as an advisor, I blundered in directing the battle. If I had not overstepped the Lord Marquis and ordered Gao Suqing and Tian Yu to split their forces and march separately, how could we have suddenly fallen into a death trap? If those two had been here just now, we could have simply broken through directly!"

"There is political strategy and there is military strategy. You are of Legalist background; your skills lie in politics, law, and assessing the overall situation. Military matters were never your forte... Today's command blunder is not on you, but on me, the Regional Commander, for being distracted and incompetent, and for actually using you in the role of military command!" As he spoke, Gongsun Xun struggled to help the other man up. "I know what you are thinking... But Zhicai, the shame we feel today is shared. If you were to simply end your life, would you not be leaving me to bear the disgrace of this defeated army alone? The road ahead is long. If I lose you, who will plan political strategy for me in the future?"

Xi Zhong, now on his feet, felt even more ashamed and furious, yet tears streamed down his face, and he did not know how to respond.

"Keep your useful self alive, and help me repay today's defeat." Gongsun Xun helped him sit down, then cast a meaningful glance at the Volunteers nearby, signaling them to take good care of him. Only then did he turn and walk to another spot on the hillside.

"My lord." On the other side of the slope, Wen Ze and the others, seeing Gongsun Xun arrive, also hurriedly saluted.

"How goes it?" Gongsun Xun, unable to conceal his weary expression, asked as he approached.

Wen Ze and those below him all fell silent, merely hastening to clear the path. And indeed, behind this company of Volunteer Followers, a man knelt seated on the hillside, and before him lay seventeen corpses.

Gongsun Xun stepped forward. The armored rider had now already shed his armor, wearing only a crimson straight-hemmed robe. In the drizzling mist, the grass beneath him was thoroughly stained a deep red... This was certainly not dye running from the clothes, but because he had killed too many today, and the blood soaking into the same-colored garment had not shown. Now that the clothing was soaked through, the water dripped as blood.

"Do you know, when I told you to leave then, it was not merely despair and a lapse of composure?" Gongsun Xun hesitated a moment before opening his mouth to ask.

The rider turned his head back, his face equally full of exhaustion, and his eyes thoroughly red. He was about to speak, but for a moment fell somber, finding it hard to open his mouth.

"What I said earlier across the river, though you refuted it as worthless, was indeed from the bottom of my heart." Gongsun Xun, seeing this, gave a long sigh. "Just now by the riverbank, watching you all fight desperately, I was reminded of that incident years ago at Mount Danhan, when Xia Yu abandoned my unit and fled alone... That affair is the great hatred of my life, so later I sought an opportunity and used it as pretext to kill Xia Yu. And just now by the riverbank, seeing you all disregard your own safety, I felt myself as detestable as Xia Yu that day — using high rank and selfish thoughts to drive brave warriors to their deaths, utterly detestable to the extreme!"

"Then this subordinate can only say it once more." The rider raised his head and spoke with effort. "My lord, what I said earlier was also from the bottom of my heart... We did not die today for my lord's rank or selfish thoughts, but for the benevolent governance my lord has simultaneously carried out in Guangyang. These fellow men of my commandery died without regret."

Gongsun Xun opened his mouth to speak, but also found it difficult for a moment. Only after forcibly controlling his emotions did he face him with a solemn expression: "Can you now tell me the names of these commandery fellows and yourself?"

"Naturally." The rider forced himself to stand, then pointed at the corpses on the ground and spoke with difficulty. "Like this one with the fair complexion, called Wang Bing, a post-station cavalryman in our Changshan Commandery; and that one with the long beard, called Han Yan, whose father was a minor official in the commandery; and that short-statured one, called Sun Wei, whose family were butchers by trade; as for this older one, I truly do not know his name, only that he was once a Yellow Turban rebel, and after the defeat at the Hutuo River that day was sold as a bonded laborer to a prominent local household in our Changshan, yet he still insisted on coming..."

From Gongsun Xun down to the various Volunteer Followers, everyone on the hillside was utterly silent, quietly listening to this man recount introductions that, in truth, held not much detail.

"This last one... this one was called Xiahou Lan, a man of Zhending in Changshan, a fellow villager and neighbor of mine." When the rider pointed to the last person before him, his speech grew ever more difficult. "From childhood he studied letters and practiced martial arts, versed in both civil and military matters, and was especially skilled in military law. Everyone in our village knew he harbored great ambitions. This time, hearing that my lord was suppressing the rebellion and recruiting troops, it was he who urged us to come enlist. Only because I was a year older was I chosen as leader. My lord, as for myself, I am..."

"I know who you are." Gongsun Xun raised his head in a long sigh, then shook his head, interrupting the other. "The moment you mentioned Changshan, I knew who you were... I heard your name when I was serving in Zhongshan, and even sent men to deliver gifts to your home."

The rider immediately lowered his head and fell silent.

"Zilong!" Gongsun Xun had wanted to step forward and grasp the other's hands, but in the end instead turned his back. "As days grow long and times change, the names and faces of these seventeen men of your village, and your words today answering me with death before the battle line, I fear will all gradually be forgotten by others... Therefore, in the days to come, you must always remain by my side and remind me often."

"Aye!" Zhao Yun bowed and answered.

"Rest for now." Gongsun Xun spoke without turning his head, then clasped his hands behind his back and silently walked around to the other side of the slope.

And suddenly, above their heads, the rain fell unceasingly.

——————I am the dividing line that cannot remember names——————

"Zhao Yun, styled Zilong, was a man of Zhending in Changshan Commandery. Yun stood eight chi tall, with a majestic bearing and appearance. At the end of the Zhongping era, when the Wuhuan of Liaoxi rebelled, he was recommended by his commandery and led Volunteer Followers and commandery youths to join the Grand Ancestor. When the Grand Ancestor was trapped by the Wuhuan at the Daling River and could not cross, Yun led seventeen riders across the river to see him. Not avoiding blade or arrow, they charged against a thousand riders, several times over. All around him fell, yet Yun alone continued charging and killing without cease, shocking both banks. The Grand Ancestor, stirred by his valor, then personally took up a blade and crossed the river, calling upon the various mixed Hu tribes to kill Wuhuan and seek amnesty, and thus they escaped. At that time, the army's civil officials, including Xi Zhong, were all present and thereby spared from disaster. Yun thereafter accompanied the Grand Ancestor on campaign." — Old Book of Yan, Scroll 69, Biographies 19

PS: Thanks to book friends Suiyuan Xian Hongchen and Qiligu's Book Collection for the tips... especially Suiyuan Xian Hongchen, the twenty-first Alliance Master — ten thousand thanks.

(End of Chapter)