Chapter 98: The Deliberation

In the arrow tower atop Shouzhou's city wall, Liu Zhiyuan, Wang Wei, Xu You, and Li Long were discussing the roving bandits' attack on the city that day.

Liu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Today the imperial army won two battles and dealt the bandits a minor setback—truly cause for celebration! Guard Commander Li even charged into the fray personally, unstoppably brave! I will certainly report this to the court to honor General Li's valor!"

Wang Wei chimed in, "When the bandits climbed onto the city wall, I thought the city was about to fall. Fortunately, General Li arrived in time and drove them back down. What a stroke of luck! What a stroke of luck!"

Xu You said worriedly, "There is one thing I do not understand: the bandits clearly have overwhelming numbers, so why did they send only a few hundred men to attack the city? If tens of thousands of bandits were to assault us all at once, what would we do then?"

Li Long clasped his hands and said, "Three gentlemen, today's two victories over the bandits were indeed fortunate. In my humble opinion, the bandits were merely testing our strength today and did not truly fight with everything they had—that is why we managed to win twice. You all know well that the guard station troops in the interior differ little from common farmers. The two thousand-plus men under my command are already more obedient than most guard stations in the Southern Metropolitan Region, but if the bandits were to attack in full force, I fear we could not hold out for long!"

Liu Zhiyuan fell into pensive silence, and Wang Wei could not help speaking up first: "Then what does Guard Commander Li suggest we do?"

Li Long sighed, "For now, we can only pray that reinforcements arrive soon! If the bandits gather their main force to attack next time, I will have no choice but to fight to the death!"

Wang Wei and Xu You both fell silent with sighs upon hearing this—did they not know full well what defending to the death would mean? But the court had explicitly ordered that local officials bore responsibility for holding their territory, and any who abandoned their city would be executed, with their families exiled three thousand li. That would cost not only their lives but also leave behind a tarnished name and drag down their families. With no other choice, every prefectural and county official whose city had been breached by the bandits chose to perish alongside their city—it seemed they too could not escape such a fate.

Liu Zhiyuan suddenly addressed Wang Wei by his courtesy name: "Youzhi, how goes the recruitment of able-bodied civilians within the city?"

Wang Wei was startled—in over two years of working together, this was the first time Liu Zhiyuan had called him by his courtesy name. He quickly clasped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, after receiving your orders, I immediately dispatched yamen runners to post official notices throughout the city. I also had the clerks of each bureau in the prefectural office go in small groups through the streets and alleys to spread the word, proclaiming that everyone bore the duty of defending their homeland, and explaining to the people the past atrocities of the roving bandits, calling on all to join in defending the city. The gentry and common folk within the city have all eagerly signed up, and we have now recruited over two thousand able-bodied civilians, all strong young men between eighteen and fifty years of age!"

Liu Zhiyuan praised, "Youzhi, well done!"

Then he shifted his tone and said firmly, "Over two thousand civilian militia, plus the two thousand-plus men of the Shouzhou Guard, comes to five thousand in total. These five thousand will be divided into three companies: the first and second companies will each have two thousand men and take turns on guard duty! The third company of one thousand will serve as reserves, rushing to support wherever needed during battle! Guard Commander Li, you will break up the Shouzhou Guard troops into squads of two hundred, assign them to sections of the battlements, and select reliable men to lead each squad in defense!"

Li Long rose, clasped his hands, and accepted the order.

Liu Zhiyuan continued, "This time the bandits have gathered outside the south gate, with no sign of the enemy at the other three gates—this shows their contempt for us! They have been at Shouzhou for four days and have only now begun their assault; there must be something suspicious about this! Youzhi, go again and contact the gentry and wealthy households within the city—any family with members skilled in martial arts must come up onto the walls to help defend! General Li, you will immediately dispatch trusted men to rush to Fengyang—first, to deliver word, and second, to guide the reinforcements! The reserve company will be split into two teams of five hundred each. You will personally lead one team to provide support at all times! The other team will be led by a man of your choosing from your troops!"

Li Long bowed, then turned and left the arrow tower to make the arrangements.

Wang Wei said, "Your Excellency, who will command the two companies defending the city? Surely not the few of us?"

Liu Zhiyuan laughed, "I will command the first company, and you will lead the second! Magistrate Xu will lead patrols within the city and at all four gates, strictly guarding against internal unrest!"

Xu You clasped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, defending the city is dangerous. It would be better for Your Excellency to lead the patrols, while I and Magistrate Wang lead the defense of the city!"

Liu Zhiyuan waved his hand and laughed, "I am the chief official of this prefecture—am I the sort to seek advantage and avoid harm? Say no more! You two need only remember this: the day the city falls is the day we die for our country! We must never fall into bandit hands, and we must never do anything that would leave our names cursed for a thousand generations!" His tone turned suddenly severe on that last sentence.

Wang Wei and Xu You rose and clasped their hands with solemn expressions. Wang Wei said with fervor, "I, Wang, have received the Emperor's grace for generations—I will never do anything shameful!"

Xu You said gravely, "If I cannot make a name for myself in life, I can only hope to leave a good name after death!"

Liu Zhiyuan rose to return the bow, gazing at his two colleagues of several years with a flood of emotion: in ordinary times, the few of them had not been united—there had been no shortage of struggles for power and profit. But now, at this moment of life and death, looking back on the past, all those former squabbles seemed so ridiculous.

In the bandits' main camp, Gao Yingxiang was listening to his younger brother Gao Ying'en report on the day's observation of the battle. Gao Ying'en recounted in detail how Zhang Xianzhong's forces had attacked the city that day, then continued, "Elder Brother, that Zhang fellow put on quite a show for us today—could he be in league with someone inside the city? We'd best keep a close watch on him, lest we fall for that bastard's tricks!"

Gao Yingxiang shook his head and said, "That Yellow Tiger kills without mercy, and last year he even dug up the Zhu family's ancestral graves. Even if he wanted to surrender, the Emperor in the capital would never let him live! Strange—that bastard has several thousand capable fighters under him. If he attacked without regard for casualties, taking the city in two days would be no trouble. Why must he carry on like this?"

Eight-Clawed Dragon, who was nearby, spoke up: "I reckon that Yellow Tiger is afraid that after we take Shouzhou, we'll compete with him over the loot and the women—that's why he's dragging his feet and not putting in real effort! Dashing King, why don't you pull Yellow Tiger out and let me lead the attack? I guarantee I'll take the city in one day!"

Another chieftain, Chief Gao, spoke up: "I don't think that's it. Yellow Tiger is cunning—we need to be careful of him! Dashing King, in my view, we should send two thousand cavalry to keep an eye on him, or he really might stir up trouble!"

Gao Yingxiang thought for a moment, then ordered, "Old Gao makes sense! No matter what, let's keep an eye on him first! Ying'en, you take two thousand cavalry and move toward his position. If anything seems off, charge his camp immediately! Find Yellow Tiger and cut off his head!"

The senior chieftain He Shuangquan spoke up: "Dashing King, there are still over two thousand of those Liaodong bastards behind us! If we start fighting among ourselves, we might just hand the imperial army an easy victory! I say we don't move against him yet—instead, send someone to urge him on and make it clear: if he can't take the city tomorrow, he moves his camp and we'll do it ourselves! We can deal with him later when the time is right!"

Gao Yingxiang was never a man of deep schemes or quick decisions, but hearing He Shuangquan's words, he found them quite reasonable. He nodded and said, "Ying'en, don't take the cavalry over for now. Make another trip to the Xi'an camp and tell him exactly what Shuangquan just said! Damn it! I was hoping to use this opportunity to make Yellow Tiger lose some men, but that bastard has too many tricks up his sleeve! After we take Shouzhou, he definitely won't be allowed to live!"

When Gao Ying'en arrived at the Xi'an camp again, Zhang Xianzhong was in his tent discussing strategy with several trusted subordinates. From a distance, through the wide-open tent flaps, he saw Gao Ying'en approaching on horseback.

After the personal guards announced his arrival, Gao Ying'en strode in. Zhang Xianzhong sat motionless, and the others also eyed Gao Ying'en sidelong, showing not the slightest respect for Gao Yingxiang's own younger brother.

Gao Ying'en was inwardly furious at Zhang Xianzhong's rudeness, thinking to himself: "This isn't like the time when he first came to seek refuge with my elder brother after digging up the Zhu ancestral graves—back then he wouldn't even speak to me without a smile, calling me 'younger brother' this and 'younger brother' that. Now that he's built up his strength, he turns his face away! If you bastard ever falls into my hands, I'll slice you up piece by piece!"

He gave a slight clasp of his hands and said with a smile, "Greetings to the Eighth Great King! My elder brother sent me to inform the Eighth Great King: if the city is not taken tomorrow, we of the Dashing King's camp will attack it ourselves! At that time, the Eighth Great King is requested to move camp and watch the battle!"

The corner of Zhang Xianzhong's mouth twitched, and he squeezed out a smile, saying, "I, Old Zhang, accept the Dashing King's goading! Go back and tell the Dashing King that tomorrow he will have his wish!"

Gao Ying'en said no more, clasped his hands, turned, and strode out of the tent. Mounting his horse, he rode off with his personal guards.

Zhang Xianzhong's general Shi Tatan spat in the direction of Gao Ying'en's retreating back: "Son of a bitch! Coming to our camp to throw his weight around! One of these days I'll cut him down with one blow!"

Another trusted subordinate, Xie Diguang, spoke up: "Eighth Great King, what do we do now? It looks like that Gao Dashing is ready to turn on us—if we drag this out any longer, it won't work! Gao Dashing has superior numbers. If we don't take the city tomorrow, we'll have to move camp. If he takes Shouzhou and we're left eating his dust, that would be disastrous!"

Yizhangqing added, "Why don't we just take the city tomorrow? Open the south gate and let our elite troops in to loot, then shut the gates tight behind them. Once we've stripped the place clean, we head straight out the north gate and leave! The northwest has deep ravines and dense forest—his cavalry can't run there! By the time Gao Dashing realizes something's wrong, gathers his men, wastes time forcing open the city gates, and comes out the north gate chasing us, we'll already be long gone!"

Sun Kewang, standing behind Zhang Xianzhong, sneered, "How much grain can a few thousand veterans carry? Most of us are foot soldiers—can we outrun the Dashing King's camp's cavalry? If we truly did that, Gao Dashing would certainly fight us to the death with everything he has."

Zhang Xianzhong waved his hand irritably and ordered, "The rest of you, return to your camps and await my orders! Kewang and the few of you, stay—I have matters to discuss!"

Shi Tatan and the others rose, took their leave, and returned to their camps, while Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, and the others remained.

Sun Kewang spoke up: "Righteous Father, we cannot break with Gao Dashing yet. If it truly comes to it, we must endure for now. With the imperial army on our heels, he wouldn't dare openly fight us anyway. As long as Righteous Father doesn't go to the Dashing King's camp again, Gao Dashing has no way to move against us!"

Li Dingguo said, "Elder Brother is right. Tomorrow we'll break Shouzhou, and after we've looted it, we'll find a chance to break away from Gao Dashing and head for Huguang! Now that Gao Dashing has been marked by the imperial court's army, staying allied with him is extremely dangerous!"

Liu Wenxiu also said, "Righteous Father, you take most of the veterans and head north tonight, then double back west. Just leave us a thousand veterans! We'll take Shouzhou, loot it, and then come find you!"

Ai Nengqi nodded vigorously in agreement, and Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo also voiced their assent.

Zhang Xianzhong felt extraordinarily gratified—at critical moments, it was still his own people who could be trusted. Liu Wenxiu was right: there was no need for him to stay here waiting for Gao Yingxiang to turn on him. Better to leave this dangerous place under cover of night. He trusted the abilities of his adopted sons—a small place like Shouzhou was nothing to them.

He said, "Kewang, Dingguo—go make preparations. Have Shi Tatan and the others pick out the veterans, and we'll leave tonight! Wenxiu, Nengqi—you attack the city tomorrow and grab as much as you can. We have tens of thousands of men; take as much as we can carry. Gao Dashing cares about his reputation and won't lay hands on our soldiers! It's settled!"