Chapter 90: Cavalry

Central command camp.

Gazing at the distant battlefield, having found not even the enemy’s tail, Marquis Wuyang couldn’t help but sigh.

“To pursue the enemy, you absolutely need cavalry!”

“Li Battalion Commander, you’ve kept so many retainers—why not raise a cavalry unit?”

Hearing the question, Li Mu felt deeply awkward.

Who wouldn’t want to raise a cavalry unit if they had the means? The problem is, they simply can’t afford it.

Warhorses are far more precious than soldiers—they don’t just eat grass, they need grain.

Their rations are higher than those of infantry.

The daily maintenance of cavalry equipment is also a substantial expense.

Compared to infantry, cavalry is a gold-swallowing beast.

In the Great Yu Dynasty, the cost of one cavalryman is roughly five to ten times that of an infantryman.

The smaller the cavalry unit, the higher the cost per soldier.

Not every mission is as profitable as the Yangzhou assignment.

For most of the time, military officers are stuck doing grueling, low-pay work.

For someone like Li Mu, a Battalion Commander of the Five Cities Garrison, supporting dozens of infantrymen is easy.

But supporting dozens of cavalrymen could bankrupt him at any moment.

The true power of cavalry only emerges when it’s organized in large numbers.

A few isolated cavalrymen can only perform reconnaissance duties.

Such an expensive troop type—losing even one would break your heart.

Under these circumstances, aside from the border generals who constantly fight the Hu people, few officers raise cavalry as retainers.

Organized cavalry units are primarily funded and maintained by the imperial court.

“My Lord, your servant is poor!”

“To form a cavalry unit, individual strength is too weak—we must pool the resources of the garrison.”

Li Mu spread his hands and said.

This answer clearly didn’t satisfy Marquis Wuyang, but it was the truth.

It’s simply too hard for a single officer to raise a full cavalry unit.

Even an organization like the Five Cities Garrison, if it wanted to form a cavalry unit, could only assign quotas to its officers and have them share the burden.

For example: the Commandant leads by raising fifty cavalrymen, the Deputy Commandant raises thirty, wealthy Qianhus raise fifteen, poor Qianhus raise five, and Baihus raise two…

Force the quotas, and a cavalry unit could be assembled quickly.

The cost? Officers’ personal incomes would plummet.

It might force them to squeeze local merchants harder, harming regional economic development.

If this were a local garrison system without sufficient funds, even forced quotas would struggle to raise a cavalry unit.

“Garrison quotas are fixed, and the Ministry of Revenue strictly controls military spending.

The court won’t approve adding a cavalry company.

We can’t trouble the Emperor with every matter—some problems, as ministers, we must solve ourselves.”

Marquis Wuyang shook his head.

It was clear he was fixated on cavalry.

But no one knew if it was a passing thought or a real plan.

Li Mu didn’t care much about Marquis Wuyang’s ideas.

There were no vacant posts in the Five Cities Garrison; his next promotion would take him elsewhere.

If the Five Cities Garrison ever formed a cavalry unit, that would be the headache of whoever succeeded him—not his concern.

“Your Lordship’s advice is sound—if conditions allow, I will certainly train a crack cavalry unit for the court!”

Li Mu immediately replied in agreement.

No general ever complains about having too many troops.

If he ever transferred to a wealthy garrison, he wouldn’t mind building a cavalry force himself.

In the Great Yu Dynasty, owning fifty cavalrymen made a Battalion Commander the most prestigious among his peers.

If one commanded five hundred cavalrymen, even a Commandant would be invincible.

If one commanded a thousand cavalrymen, one would surely be a Regional Commander—and among the most powerful.

If one commanded five thousand cavalrymen, one would be the most formidable military clan in the Great Yu.

One would wield real influence in court, shaping imperial military policy.

If one commanded over ten thousand elite cavalry, it wouldn’t just be political clout.

One could dominate the court—or secede and rule a region.

At that point, the entire court would tread carefully, and even the Emperor would lie awake in anguish.

“You have heart!”

Marquis Wuyang nodded in satisfaction.

Whether a cavalry unit could be formed didn’t matter—what mattered was having the right attitude.

…

Yangzhou City.

Xu Wenyue, upon hearing the news, was nearly enraged to death.

The Five Cities Garrison arrived too quickly—his efforts had been rendered useless.

Even a few hours’ delay would have let his official documents be posted, earning him considerable prestige in court and among the people.

But reality was cruel.

With the rebels driven off, claiming to stand and die with Yangzhou now seemed contrived.

His plans had been ruined, yet he still had to greet the gentry with a smile.

Thanking them for their timely rescue, his inner bitterness was plain to see.

Watching the triumphant Marquis Wuyang, Xu Wenyue seethed at this “life-saving favor.”

The man had clearly been here all along—delaying his arrival until now was clearly meant to mock him.

His gut told him the rebel impostors spotted last night were also Marquis Wuyang’s doing.

For city guards hundreds of meters away to instantly recognize a wanted fugitive was an improbable event.

Fortunately, Marquis Wuyang refused to enter the city for the victory banquet, citing pursuit of stragglers—otherwise, the embarrassment would’ve been worse.

“This guy was born to ruin me!”

After seeing off the Five Cities Garrison’s army, Xu Wenyue couldn’t help but mutter.

“Your Excellency, don’t let such trifles anger you.

Marquis Wuyang is indeed detestable, but his reach is limited—he’s not our true enemy.

If you waste too much energy on him and ignore the eunuch faction lurking behind the scenes, that would be a fatal mistake!”

Hou Huaichang stepped forward to warn him.

Imperial relatives and civil officials may feud, but rarely to this extreme.

Given the current situation, he had reason to believe Marquis Wuyang’s provocations were a cover for the eunuch faction.

Once their attention fixated on Marquis Wuyang, scrutiny of the eunuch faction would inevitably drop.

The Emperor initiated the salt monopoly reform, but the eunuch faction handled its execution.

Imperial relatives and meritorious nobles merely assisted, taking their share of the profits.

Marquis Wuyang’s behavior strongly suggested he was deliberately drawing attention.

If they mistook the primary conflict and kept entangling with Marquis Wuyang, they'd fall right into the enemy's trap.

“Despicable eunuchs—how dare they scheme against me!

No wonder Yin Zuo, that bastard, didn’t come to Yangzhou—he must have arranged everything, waiting for me to walk into the trap.

If nothing goes wrong, the eunuch faction has already extended its tentacles into the salt fields.

All these upheavals in Yangzhou were just their ploy to keep me occupied.

Entering Yangzhou is easy; leaving is hard.

If I leave now, the world will think I was frightened by the rebels and dared not stay.

The eunuchs are truly vicious!”

Prompted by the warning, Xu Wenyue suddenly realized.

His conflict with Marquis Wuyang was merely about face—mostly pride and emotion.

The salt monopoly reform was the true battleground among the major factions.

One misstep, and he’d fallen into the enemy’s trap.

He’d fixated on Yangzhou as the main salt trading hub, yet ignored the major salt fields.

“Your Excellency, it’s not too late to realize this now.

You entered the Two Huai region alone—losing ground on salt production to the eunuch faction is only natural.

We made a mistake earlier, but we can still find ways to recover.

After all, once salt is produced, it must be sold.

Geography ensures that future salt trade will always depend on Yangzhou.”

Watch the salt administration reforms closely and place our people inside—this southern campaign won’t be a failure!

Hou Huaichang gently advised.

In political struggles, temporary wins or losses mean nothing.

As long as the final outcome is favorable, failures along the way can be entirely ignored.

But Xu Wenyue clearly wasn’t as optimistic as he was.

Under the old system, controlling Yangzhou meant controlling the lifeline of the salt trade.

The situation is different now—the salt administration reforms are imminent.

If the rules change, Yangzhou, the largest salt trading hub, will inevitably be affected.

As a state monopoly, salt trade could be entirely regulated by imperial decree to designate official trading locations.

From the eunuch faction’s standpoint, changing the rules to exclude them is entirely worthwhile.

…

“Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop…”

The approaching hoofbeats made the earth tremble.

“The enemy’s cavalry is coming!”

Realizing this, Huang Renliang, who had been leading his troops to flee, felt like spitting blood in frustration.

If he’d known the imperial troops had such a large cavalry force, he never would have ordered the retreat.

On open plains, two legs can never outrun four.

After marching nonstop for over three hours under enemy pursuit, the soldiers were utterly exhausted.

Leaving their backs exposed to enemy cavalry was tantamount to courting death.

“Order the entire army to halt! Push all carts and wagons to the front and form a wagon fort to resist the enemy cavalry!”

Huang Renliang gave the order with gritted teeth.

Reason told him this wasn’t a good choice.

A wagon fort could resist cavalry charges, but it couldn’t stop enemy infantry.

Once the enemy foot soldiers caught up from behind, they’d have no chance to escape.

But there was no alternative—running further would only mean dying faster.

With their backs exposed, the enemy could simply follow and pick them off one by one until the entire force was annihilated.

Now they could only hope the enemy infantry arrived slowly, giving them time to hold out.

His troops were elite veterans of the rebel army. If there was even a glimmer of hope, Huang Renlong would spare no effort to rescue them.

If they could hold out until the main force arrived, they might still have a chance to fight a decisive battle.

“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh…”

Huang Renliang’s order came too late—soldiers at the rear were pierced through by arrows.

Those who dodged the arrow storm were met with cavalry lances.

With immense force, men were lifted clean off the ground.

Screams of pain made the already chaotic ranks fall apart completely.

Overcome by panic, soldiers ignored orders and scattered wildly in all directions.

Realizing all was lost, Huang Renliang abandoned his troops entirely and fled with only a handful of trusted followers.

…

“Reinforcements are here!”

“Hurry up! If we keep moving this slowly, we’ll have done all this for nothing!”

Seeing the cavalry pass by, Zhao Yawei urged impatiently.

The main assault role was hard to secure; he’d finally gotten his chance, only to fail to even touch the enemy.

Word would get out, and everyone would laugh at him.

Even now, it seemed unlikely they’d outpace the cavalry.

But if they moved faster, they’d still get something.

After all, this battle was the Five City Military Command’s purge of its own ranks.

If they didn’t take part and let their allies claim all the victories,

the Marquis of Wuyang would lose face, and he, as the one assigned the main assault, would surely be treated with suspicion.

Deep down, he only hoped his fellow officers from the Capital Garrison would show some mercy and leave him a few heads to cut—so he could report back with something.

(End of Chapter)