Chapter 146: Yaksha

Wang De was a native of Shuyang Stockade in Tongyuan Army (present-day Gansu), a standard Western Army man by origin.

Before the Jingkang Incident, he served under Yao Gu of the Yao clan, a Western Army general family. When the Jin Army launched its first major invasion, the eastern route army under the Second Prince Wolibu swept through Hebei, passed through Xiangzhou into Weizhou, while the western route army under Nianhan besieged Taiyuan on one front while continuing south, passing through Longde Prefecture (present-day Shangdang) to rendezvous with Wolibu at Weizhou on the Yellow River's bank, where they discussed crossing the river.

With the Jin main forces converging, the area around Longde Prefecture, Xiangzhou, and Weizhou essentially gathered most of the Jin Army's main units, with nearly a hundred thousand elite field troops like Meng'an and Mouke alone.

Yao Gu happened to be stationed in Zezhou (present-day Gaoping, Jincheng), southwest of Longde Prefecture (present-day Shangdang, Changzhi area) and due west of Weizhou. Facing the Jin main force, he sent his most capable officer, Wang De, to conduct reconnaissance.

Wang De successfully killed a Jin Army commander and then returned unhurriedly.

Yao Gu was overjoyed and asked him if he could go again.

So Wang De accepted the order a second time, setting out with only sixteen riders. They crossed the front line where the Jin main force was concentrated, went straight into the Longde Prefecture seat (later Changzhi), captured the Jin-appointed Khitan Han official Defender Yao alive, and brought him back.

Later, after the first Jingkang siege ended and the Jin Army withdrew, Wang De sent Defender Yao to Dongjingcheng. Yuansheng, that is, Song Qinzong, asked him how he had been captured.

Defender Yao had no choice but to say that when he was taken, he only saw a Yaksha who killed people like flies.

From then on, Wang De earned the nickname "Wang Yaksha," famous in both states.

A man like this was certainly inferior to Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, but only inferior to Han and Yue. Given a suitable opportunity, he might well become famous in both states again.

In fact, even though Han Shizhong rather looked down on Wang De, saying the other was no commander material… if you think about it carefully, Han Shizhong, who had declared "First Under Heaven," should essentially look down on everyone. His only saying Wang De was no commander material meant he acknowledged Wang De as a rare general talent.

In a sense, this was a kind of certification.

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth month, Wang De led twenty riders and two hundred long-axe Beiwei Army troops out of the city first, heading east. Before they even reached Zhang Yu's camp, Zhang Yu became alert. Not daring to be careless, he ordered all camps to hold tight while sending a messenger north to Wanyan Wushu. Finally, he and his deputy general Li Dayin led out two thousand fully armored troops from their own camp to form a defensive line… They didn't recognize Wang De, and Wang De hadn't raised his banner, but they felt the troops were well-armored and orderly, not like common rabble.

But after watching for a good while, they found that the two hundred troops were just pacing back and forth in front of the camp. They had no reinforcements, didn't raise a banner to identify themselves, showed no posture or preparation for attack, and after some time, under the lead of that imposing general at the front, these two hundred and twenty-one men simply sat down on the ground in front of their formation… Such a situation naturally aroused suspicion.

"What does this mean?" Three hundred paces away, Zhang Yu stared for a long time without understanding, then turned to look at Li Dayin.

But Li Dayin was a carpenter, a professional man—how could he know what it meant? He stared for a while too, only shaking his head in silence.

"Do you lot know what this means?" Zhang Yu turned to ask the armored personal guards following behind him. "Whoever says something useful, I'll reward him with two women!"

Two women were certainly good, but you'd need to stay alive to set them up in your tent. Who knew what was useful? What if what you said was useless and you got your head chopped off?

The armored guards looked at each other, none of them speaking a word.

The snow hadn't completely melted, and with the cold wind howling these past few days, the ice and dirt on the ground were frozen hard. The horse under Zhang Yu grew restless, its hooves pounding the ground with a hard sound, which also signaled the impatience of Zhang Yu himself, the "Swarm."

Sure enough, after a moment, Zhang Yu casually pointed at a man behind him: "You, speak!"

"I… I don't know!" The man looked up blankly, the cold weather making his nose run.

Zhang Yu flew into a rage. He laughed first, then his face turned cold, and he directly raised his hand: "Execute him!"

Beside him, Li Dayin instinctively wanted to advise against it, but sighed inwardly and forced himself to hold back. Everyone was silent as cicadas in winter, watching helplessly as that armored guard was stripped of his armor and clothes in public amid pleas for mercy, then beheaded as a sacrifice to the banners.

"You!" Zhang Yu pointed at another man. "I remember you're a scholar?"

"Yes, Commander." The one questioned this time happened to be Zhou Bin, who had survived the earlier two-choice mode. He was now shivering in the cold wind while carrying a banner. When singled out, he jolted and quickly nodded.

"Speak!" Zhang Yu said bluntly. "What do you think this bunch of government troops is up to?"

"They're trying to lure us out!" Zhou Bin almost blurted it out. This wasn't something he said just to fool the other; he had actually thought so from the start.

In fact, upon hearing this, Zhang Yu was also startled. He immediately pointed his horsewhip at the man and said seriously: "Explain clearly!"

"Commander, look!" Zhou Bin gritted his teeth and spoke. "The government troops are in neat formation. You can see clearly at a glance—there are only a little over two hundred men! How dare two hundred men attack a camp of ten thousand? They clearly want to lure us over… Once we go, they'll surely lose and retreat, and our troops, once engaged in battle, can't be restrained and will inevitably chase after them… If many chase after, the city won't hesitate to use stone projectiles and fire those powerful stone-throwers at us; if few chase after, there are probably ambushes waiting behind the sheep-and-horse wall, ready to swarm out and swallow us up before the city."

"Makes sense!" Li Dayin was the first to agree, then gestured from his horse, making motions. "Brother, look… Our main camp is a full eight hundred paces from Nanyang City. The government's stone-throwers are powerful—they can shoot over three hundred paces from inside the city. Our camp wall's good crossbows are effective at about two hundred paces. That leaves about three hundred paces of open ground between the two forces… If we really attack, tempted by a quick victory or the fine armor on these troops, we might well be lured over."

Zhang Yu stared seriously at the two hundred-plus Song armored troops sitting there, and became thoroughly alert. He nodded repeatedly: "Brother is right! Pass my order: before the Great Jin reinforcements arrive, no one is to leave camp and fight without permission. If anyone does, I'll chop him up for New Year's meat filling!"

The two thousand armored troops who had come out were only too happy with that, so they said nothing.

And so, the two sides held their positions for a while. After a long time, as the sun climbed high, the messenger sent to Wanyan Wushu finally returned.

"What did he say?" Zhang Yu asked with eager anticipation. "Did you see the Fourth Prince himself?"

"Commander, the Fourth Prince said it himself," the messenger replied from his horse. "He said no matter what, let the Commander handle it as he sees fit!"

Zhang Yu was stunned. He thought for a while, feeling both helpless and somewhat relieved. He nodded in agreement, then sent the messenger back again to tell the Fourth Prince that "he had received the order."

Once the messenger left, Zhang Yu thought for a moment, then turned to his deputy general Li Dayin: "Dayin, the weather is cold, and the government troops are trying to lure us. The Jurchens don't want to fight either. So let's not all stay here freezing in the wind. There are about four hours until sunset. You take a thousand armored troops, use the camp wall's crossbows as support, and hold the position for two hours. I'll take the men back to rest and come relieve you later."

Li Dayin naturally had no objection.

And so, in the morning, under the clear, cold winter sun with the wind howling, after judging that this Song force was there to lure them out, Zhang Yu, who had come out to confront them, voluntarily split his force and withdrew.

Three hundred paces away, Wang De saw this and finally made a move. He stood up and stretched his limbs. In the distance, Zhang Yu was alerted by someone and turned to see this. He instinctively tensed, then halted his troops and stopped to watch. But after watching for a while, he saw that the Song troops were just standing up to stretch, and after stretching for a bit, they actually sat back down again.

Zhang Yu found it utterly baffling. After thinking it over, he became even more convinced that they were trying to lure him. He ignored them and continued urging his already somewhat disordered troops back toward the main camp. This time, that Song force indeed didn't cause any more trouble… until the moment Zhang Yu himself entered the camp gate, with half of his troops already out of their original formation.

Wang De had been waiting for this moment!

The Yaksha said not a word. He suddenly mounted his horse, and the twenty riders beside him also mounted. The two hundred long-axe Beiwei troops also stood up and picked up their axes.

Li Dayin, facing them, was startled and instinctively wanted to turn and shout for Zhang Yu. But then he thought: they've probably realized their ruse was seen through and are simply giving up on luring us and returning to camp… After all, who would dare to charge two thousand with two hundred? Behind those two thousand armored troops were the camp wall and crossbowmen?

With this thought, the craftsman genius reined in his horse and faced them, forcing himself to stay calm.

But in that instant—before Li Dayin had even finished his mental turn and before he could speak—Wang De, already mounted, charged straight forward with his twenty riders, heedless of anything else.

At the same time, one of the twenty riders, a personal attendant, unfurled a banner that had been hidden for a long time. The winter north wind whipped it open, and the banner fluttered in the wind, displaying the eight large characters: "Deputy Commander of the Imperial Camp Central Army, Wang."

Perhaps because his mind hadn't caught up, Li Dayin was stunned on the spot. He didn't snap out of it until the enemy was about a hundred and eighty paces away… After all, he had defended Dongjing during the Jingkang era, later served under the Dongjing Marshal's Office, and had been attacking Nanyang City for a long time. How could he not know that this banner meant Wang De? And how could he not know who Wang De was and what he was capable of?

In an instant, he felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. He abandoned all caution, wheeled his horse around, and tried to flee into the formation to regroup.

But at this moment, Zhang Yu's two thousand armored troops were split in two. Half had left their original formation, the front part already entering the camp gate with Zhang Yu, while the rear was still in formation, already in considerable disorder… And now, seeing the Song troops charging under the command of the world-famous Wang Yaksha, with one of their two commanders already gone and the other trying to flee, the entire army naturally sped up, pushing and shoving to get into camp. Those who shouldn't have moved also instinctively tried to follow their comrades into the camp for shelter.

Two thousand armored troops, arrayed with their backs to the main camp, were thrown into chaos in an instant after being charged by just twenty riders.

That wasn't all. After a few scattered crossbow bolts from the camp wall missed their mark, Wang De leaped his horse into the rebel formation, swung his long axe, and cut down several men in succession, easily scattering a cluster of armored troops in front of him. Then, as Zhang Yu hurriedly turned back and Li Dayin shouted orders for resistance from within the formation, Wang De raised his blood-dripping axe and roared:

"The main force of the Imperial Army has arrived! You rebel troops will die today!"

His voice was like a winter thunderclap, shaking the rebels. As his words fell, in but a moment, the two hundred heavily armored long-axe troops, having charged on foot, surged into the rebel armored formation and began hacking wildly! Not only that, but as Wang De formally advanced, drums and battle cries suddenly erupted from behind the sheep-and-horse wall at the foot of Nanyang City. Several thousand armored troops pushed down the already half-open sections of the sheep-and-horse wall, set up scaling ladders over the outer moat, and swarmed out, heading straight for the rebel camp to the east!

The two thousand armored troops, their formation already broken, were thrown into panic at the sight and sound.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu remained relatively calm. At the camp gate, he executed fleeing soldiers, forcing the already chaotic armored troops to push forward and hold the line. At the same time, he ordered the crossbowmen on the camp wall to prepare to attack the approaching Song main force… He also didn't forget to send a messenger through the camp's side gate to the Jin Army's main camp for reinforcements!

But at the same time, Li Dayin, who should have been calmly commanding at the front, had already lost his composure! Because Wang Yaksha had clearly set his sights on him and was chasing him relentlessly with his twenty riders.

The space in front of the camp was narrow, and the momentarily panicked rebel main force was in the way. It was like a game of cat and mouse, but it didn't last long… Those rebel armored troops weren't blind. Seeing that Wang Yaksha was clearly after Li Dayin, and that any armored soldier who got in the way was often chopped to mincemeat by the long-axe troops following Wang De, they all caught on and actively moved away from their own general.

Thus, Li Dayin found it harder and harder to escape... And before the main Song army could arrive, this gifted carpenter was already cornered by Wang De. He first made a desperate block, his weapon instantly flying from his hand, then completely lost his courage, almost apathetically facing the other's second swing of the great axe.

This was not his fault; he was merely a gifted carpenter, elevated to this position only after Zhang Yu took a liking to him and swore him as a sworn brother.

But war is war. At this moment, the Night Yaksha, charging the formation alone, seemed valiant and invincible, yet he himself knew the danger. How could he let this opportunity slip? So this axe blow was delivered with nearly all his strength.

And when that axe fell, whether it was an illusion or not, the already chaotic battlefield seemed to freeze for an instant—the Night Yaksha had actually cleaved Li Dayin in two from head to waist! Not only that, the great axe continued downward, striking the horse's back, splitting the warhorse's forelegs so it knelt, letting out a single mournful cry before toppling sideways with the long axe and a mess of human entrails, breathing no more.

At the same time, Wang De's own mount also showed clear signs of exhaustion, kneeling and crying out as well.

The Night Yaksha struggled to pull out his battle axe, but finding it stuck for the moment, he simply abandoned it, drew his waist blade, and mounted the horse of a personal guard behind him.

Once he was back in the saddle, he wanted to shout loudly, to continue yelling "The imperial army's main force has arrived," but by then the rebel armored soldiers around him, having witnessed that scene, no one dared to face him. They scattered like a disturbed nest, swarming toward the camp gate in flight.

Seeing this, Wang De laughed heartily, then, blade in hand, spurred his horse and cut down enemies, pressing all the way toward the camp gate... At this sight, the rebel armored soldiers fled in even greater panic, and amid the trampling, a bottleneck formed at the camp gate.

As for Zhang Yu at the camp gate, ever since he saw his sworn brother split in two, he had been dazed and confused, almost pushed through the gate by the chaotic troops. Then the main Song army, about three thousand strong, led by Xin Yongzong (Little Xin), arrived on the scene and, with the ease of taking something from a pocket, seized the stockade wall and surged inward.

That was not all. On the southeast side of the camp, Zhang Jing's unit, which had been prepared in advance, also crossed the frozen river at the right moment to attack the eastern camp from the flank.

By this point, the rebel forces were in complete disarray, almost inexplicably collapsing into a rout. Many surrendered at the mere sight of the enemy, and some even actively switched sides, shouting "The imperial army's main force has arrived" before the Song troops even reached their corresponding camp, echoing the call from afar.

Seeing that the eastern camp was beyond saving, and that the earlier cleaving blow had utterly cowed Zhang Yu, this man returned to the central command tent, gathered several hundred of his trusted followers, packed up some valuables, and fled due east, not daring to go to the northern camp to see Wanyan Wushu.

Little did he know that Wanyan Wushu would not blame him at all. This Fourth Prince was simply inside a tall watchtower in the northern central camp, sipping tea with Bolisu while observing the eastern camp from afar!

"This defeat was too fast." Bolisu picked up the slightly cooled teacup and drained it in one gulp, then picked out a tea leaf and chewed it. "I thought they could hold, and even if they couldn't, they should have put up a fight. Zhang Yu is truly useless!"

"It's not that Zhang Yu is useless." Wushu shook his head repeatedly. "First, the previous siege battles mostly consumed Zhang Yu's troops; their combat effectiveness and morale are far lower than when they surrendered. Second, the Night Yaksha lives up to his reputation... The order forbidding unauthorized assistance has been passed down, hasn't it?"

"Naturally." Bolisu answered solemnly, then set down his cup with a slight sigh. "Now I'm just afraid that the Song army's morale will rise too quickly, making them hard to control later..."

"Didn't you already agree with me on this plan?" Wushu frowned slightly. "No matter what their morale is like, if it comes to a real battle, we have thirty thousand cavalry—what can they use to stop us?"

"I did agree, and I do think it's feasible." Bolisu quickly changed his expression. "I'm just afraid of overplaying our hand... Don't let the Song emperor actually be escorted to Xiangyang. If Nanyang and Xiangyang split, we'll be in real trouble. It would be better to surround them on all sides and quietly wait for Marshal Talan to clear the north before coming to reinforce us!"

"That's not what you said the other day." Wushu sneered. "In truth, as long as the Song emperor leaves the city, where can he go? The weather is freezing, the Baihe River is frozen, and we've already placed ten thousand cavalry at the southern end of the western camp. If there's any movement, we just make a big sweep south and encircle them all... How about letting you replace Han Chang and take charge of this matter?"

Bolisu's heart stirred immediately.

In fact, as Wushu had said before and now repeated, no matter what the Song army did, as long as the Jin army kept ten thousand cavalry in reserve, once they saw any Song army movement, they would simply head south first and make a large flanking sweep north of the Han River, and the Song army would have no chance.

And it was based on his recognition of this tactic that Bolisu had gradually made concessions: first abandoning the strategy of allowing entry but not exit; then giving up the plan to encircle and annihilate Zhang Jing's unit (because Zhang Jing had come from Xiangyang, clearly to escort the Zhao Song emperor south, not purely as a relief force); and now, simply abandoning Zhang Yu's unit and the craftsmen's camp.

The goal was to gradually make the Song army underestimate their immediate enemy, while continuously learning of the dire situation in the north, thereby tempting the Zhao Song emperor inside the city to leave and head south.

And this plan now seemed increasingly likely to succeed.

Of course, this current composure was directly related to the overall situation of the Song-Jin war... If it weren't for the clear advantage of Wanyan Loushi and Wanyan Talan, and the ultimate option of converging all forces on this city, Bolisu would not have so easily changed his stance.

Leaving aside the bargaining between Bolisu and Wushu, outside the east gate of the Jin army's northern camp, several thousand Jin cavalry were drawn up in formation as a precaution. Meanwhile, the Song army, having swiftly captured the eastern rebel camp of Zhang Yu's unit, immediately began organizing, gathering prisoners, and cautiously guarding against the Jin army to the north.

Zhang Jing, Xin Yongzong, and Wang De had all fought against the Jin army before and knew their strength.

Yet among them, Wang De, who knew their strength, seemed to have been stirred to a killing frenzy today and felt unsatisfied. He actually rode out again through the north gate of the eastern stockade, observed the large, orderly formation of Jin cavalry between the camps for a moment, then, as if blood rushed to his head, he suddenly rode forward alone, reining his horse and patrolling back and forth before the Jin army.

Shortly after, he reined in his horse, pointed at what he judged to be the most imposing Jin soldier opposite him, and shouted publicly: "You bastard! So imposing, do you dare to cross blades with your grandfather?"

Both the Jin cavalry formation and the Song troops guarding the nearby stockade were stunned.

A few more words must be said here... The Jurchens, especially the civilized Jurchens, as well as the Bohai and Xi people, when in Liaodong, with various ethnic groups mixed together, commonly used Chinese for communication in multi-ethnic exchanges. So although most Jin leaders were illiterate, many understood Chinese, and specifically the crude dialects of Shandong and Hebei.

Later, in recent years, some of the older, higher-ranking, more Sinicized, or milder-tempered ones gradually became more refined, but most still spoke with "I" and "bastard" constantly... Wanyan Wushu, for example, could say "I" and basically never said "bastard," but in order to inherit his second brother's military authority and gain the recognition of his subordinates, he half-forced, half-habitually kept saying "I."

In fact, if you asked him to write a formal document, this Fourth Prince could manage a passable one.

In any case, back to the matter at hand. Whether it was "bastard" or "grandfather," the Jurchens, Xi, Khitans, and Han Chinese from the Liao region opposite—basically all those cavalrymen—understood perfectly. They all looked toward the designated Puliyan (commander of fifty).

At the same time, Wang De's provocation was not truly a case of blood rushing to his head. This man was rough but meticulous. Seeing the Jin army drawn up in neat formation while the eastern camp was still unsettled, he deliberately acted this way to buy time, test the enemy, and also intimidate them.

But regardless, how could this Puliyan endure such a public provocation? Besides, Bolisu had ordered no assistance to the eastern camp and to remain on guard. Now that the enemy had taken the initiative to provoke, how could he not respond?

Thus, under the gaze of thousands, this man abandoned his spear and bow, drew his blade, and galloped out, clearly falling into the trap.

But whether it was falling into a trap or being rough but meticulous, it all came down to the test of the blade. So both armies held their breath and watched, ready to appreciate the spectacle.

However, the moment their horses crossed, in a flash, this Jurchen Puliyan was chopped off his horse by Wang De with one stroke of his blade! As clean as cutting a melon!

Then, Wang De calmly dismounted, cut off the man's head, remounted, and slowly withdrew into the stockade as if nothing had happened... Both armies, utterly horrified, whispered among themselves, all knowing that the Night Yaksha had manifested in broad daylight.

And almost simultaneously with the Night Yaksha's awe-inspiring display, two messengers—one galloping into the Jin army's northern camp, the other racing to the foot of Nanyang city—both immediately met with the supreme commanders of their respective sides.

"What is it?" asked Bolisu, whose relationship with the Fourth Prince had just eased slightly, with curiosity.

"Nothing." Wushu answered casually. "Yelu Ma Wu reports that Wang Yan of the Eight-Character Army has led twenty thousand troops across the river to Dongjing. It's become hard to attack there... But it doesn't affect the overall situation."

"Your Majesty?" On the city wall, amid the cold wind and festive atmosphere, Lu Yihao stroked his beard and stepped forward to inquire. "What has happened?"

"Nothing much." Zhao Jiu put away the note in his hand and smiled slightly. "Wang Yan has led twenty thousand Eight-Character Army troops across the river... Calculating the time, they should have reached Dongjing by now."

Lu Yihao stroked his beard and nodded silently, while the others grew even more delighted.

PS: I checked, after finishing this chapter, I still need 44k to complete the 150k update target for this month. There's still a week left. It seems still possible. Everyone supervise me.