Chapter 178: The Horse Has Already Submitted

Ma Yuan was growing more and more irritated with Geng Yan. This young whelp, though outstanding in ability and not without skill in battle, was just like his uncle Geng Chun — two-faced, with a heart full of sly malice.

He had actually said to Ma Yuan: "Ma Fufu, Zhao She, failed to take Wu'an back then. Later, the Qin Lord of Wu'an, Bai Qi, crushed the second Ma Fufu, Zhao Kuo, slaughtering hundreds of thousands. This proves that Wu'an is naturally the bane of the Ma Fufu line."

Now that a descendant of the Ma Fufu line, Ma Yuan, had come to attack Wu'an, according to the military yin-yang school's methods of assessing punishment and virtue, striking with the Dipper's guidance, and prevailing through the Five Overcomings, it was absolutely doomed. It would be better to hand command over to him, Geng Yan, while Ma Yuan withdrew to the rear to escort the grain and fodder...

These words, however, stirred Ma Yuan's competitive spirit. After all, he was the commander-in-chief personally appointed by Diwu Lun. So, in high spirits, he named Geng Yan and dispatched him to attack the Li clan's fortified manor twenty li away.

Geng Yan departed with five hundred troops and the chariots and cavalry, which left Wan Xiu somewhat puzzled. "Wenyuan is not one to let a petty grievance harm official business. We are already short on men; why divide our forces and send Adjutant Geng away?"

Though they had taken Shexian and Wushi with ease, it was mainly by catching the enemy off guard. But now, in their rear, Mount Fu bandits had fled into the forests and not yet been mopped up, so Thief-Catching Clerk Zhao Pang had to hold Wushi with five hundred men.

As a result, when Ma Yuan and Wan Xiu joined forces beneath the city walls, they had only two thousand men left — not even enough to encircle one corner of Wu'an.

The enemy, by contrast, was formidable. Wu'an was the Li clan's old nest; the family had operated and multiplied there for centuries, their foundation deeply solid. They had over a thousand retainers, and by proclaiming that the imperial army would slaughter Wu'an, they coerced the county soldiers and stirred the powerful families and commoners inside and outside the city to resist. Behind the four walls, there were at least four to five thousand people.

The art of war says: with ten times the enemy's number, surround them; with twice, attack. Storming a city is a brutal fight. Even with a tenfold advantage, attackers often fail — let alone with this paltry number.

Ma Yuan merely smiled. "Do you think I don't know that two thousand men can never take Wu'an by storm?"

Wan Xiu said, "Then shall we wait for Boyu to arrive with the troops and laborers before attacking?"

"Boyu must guard against Zhao and Liu at Liangqi and cannot get away. Even if he sends one or two thousand men, the fight will still drag on and cost us dearly."

Ma Yuan was, in truth, a little embarrassed to admit it: he was a master of field battles on the northern frontier, but he had never once fought a siege.

Even if he had war-gamed it beforehand, it was still nothing more than what Diwu Lun called "armchair strategy" — though Ma Yuan had no idea what "paper" was, and even less did he know that his son-in-law had once again insulted the Ma Fufu name right to his face.

Wu'an was, in fact, a basin. The Ming River wound beneath its walls, enclosing the city on its southern and eastern sides, giving it a natural moat. The city walls themselves were three zhang high, nearly rivaling a commandery seat.

No wonder, centuries ago, the old Ma Fufu, Zhao She, had preferred to fight a pitched battle at Eyu rather than grind away against the Qin army at Wu'an.

A direct assault was therefore out of the question. Hoping to win hearts and sit idle until chaos broke out inside the city was a fool's dream. If they wanted to take Wu'an before the autumn harvest in the eighth month, there was only one way.

Ma Yuan said, "Feign weakness to the enemy, and lure them into attacking!"

Wan Xiu suddenly understood. "Was that why Wenyuan deliberately drove Adjutant Geng away?"

Ma Yuan said to Wan Xiu, "Not just Geng Yan — I am leaving too."

He pointed toward the sloping high ground to the northwest. "I will take a thousand men and make a show of attacking the iron-office slaves twenty li to the northwest."

Iron smelting was Wu'an's pillar industry and the main source of iron tools for Wei Commandery. The Li clan had spent over a hundred years managing the cast-iron trade, serving for generations as iron officials, with over a thousand iron-office slaves under them. These men were convict laborers, digging iron ore in lightless mine pits, working the bellows beside searing furnaces, lifting hammers thousands upon thousands of times to forge fine steel.

If Li Neng armed these men, they would be no small threat.

But he had not brought the iron-office slaves close by — partly because he did not fully trust them, and partly because he wanted them to hold the high ground, forming a mutual horn-and-antler defense with Wu'an county seat.

This force was a hidden threat on their flank and rear, and Ma Yuan decided to root it out first.

Ma Yuan looked at the tattoo-faced officers among his troops, men of convict origin. "Some of them once worked in the Wu'an iron workshops and know the roads well. The people of Wu'an county fear we will slaughter them, so they follow Li Neng in stubborn resistance. But the iron-office slaves have long suffered harsh treatment; they will not fight to the death for the Li clan just because they've been fed a few full meals lately. Setting other matters aside, Boyu's reputation among slaves and convicts is excellent. I will go and see if I can make them turn their coats."

This would leave only Wan Xiu and a thousand-odd Boar-Rush Braves by the walls of Wu'an.

Wan Xiu understood — he was the "weakness" Ma Yuan intended to display.

Ma Yuan entrusted the heaviest task to Wan Xiu for good reason. "The Li clan does not know our true strength. The refugee soldiers were only recently formed and fought just one chaotic skirmish at Wushi; they cannot withstand a hard battle against a major foe. But the Boar-Rush Braves are different."

"They were raised by Boyu's own hand and have fought the Xiongnu on the frontier under Junyou. Their training never slackened; they have been through large-scale engagements."

"Even if, as I hear, their morale later grew somewhat slack, they marched thousands of li from Xin Qinzhong to Wei Commandery without falling apart, and have once again pulled together as one."

The Boar-Rush Braves' future had long been bound to Diwu Lun. On this unfamiliar land, they had no way back.

"Use the Boar-Rush Braves to lure the enemy out of the city. The moment the wolf-smoke rises here, I will turn back at once. And the chariots and cavalry have all gone with Geng Yan — he excels at cavalry combat and can return to reinforce at any time."

But before reinforcements arrived, Wan Xiu would have to hold off a gentry militia that might sally forth at any moment. The enemy could number two thousand, three thousand, even four thousand. How long would they need to hold? Perhaps one double-hour, perhaps two.

Had the Seventh Squad Leader been present, he would have leapt to accept, for he was desperate to jostle for rank against the newcomers around Diwu Lun.

But Wan Xiu cared little for such things. What he could not bear was the thought of his Boar-Rush Braves dying. He found it hard to accept that, after trudging thousands of li, they must now shoulder a brutal fight alone. He himself could manage, but some of the soldiers might wonder in their hearts: "Why us?"

This battle required the Boar-Rush Braves to fight as one. But how to convince the men to fight so outnumbered?

"This battle plan was also approved by Boyu. This letter — he asked me to give it to you."

Ma Yuan handed Diwu Lun's letter to Wan Xiu. Wan Xiu drew out the bamboo slip and read it, his eyes widening.

On it was a promise — a promise to the soldiers of the Boar-Rush Braves.

Wan Xiu, ever steady and composed, was now stirred; even his hands trembled slightly. He simply bowed to Ma Yuan with clasped hands.

"Wenyuan, go with peace of mind. Leave Wu'an to us."

"In this battle, the Boar-Rush Braves must fight!"

At that same moment, inside Yecheng, a transaction was just beginning.

The patriarch of the Ximen clan, Yecheng's foremost powerful family — the aged Master Ximen Yanshou — went in person, leaning on a pigeon-staff, to the commandery office. The moment he met Geng Chun, he began to complain.

"This is a letter sent by Li Neng. That rebel traitor actually means to use this scalding object to harm the Ximen clan."

"This old man did not even break the seal, but brought it straight to Commandery Assistant Geng."

Geng Chun took the letter and saw that the seal was indeed unbroken — though, of course, it could have been read and then resealed to look intact.

Since the other party had gone to such lengths, Geng Chun did not even read the contents. He threw the letter directly into the fire, burning it to charcoal. "In that case, what the letter says is of no importance. Rather than be angered by Li the rebel's cunning words, better to let it all turn to ash."

Ximen Yanshou raised his head, looking with some surprise at this young commandery assistant. After Diwu Lun had launched troops against him, Li Neng, in his panic, had not only begged Zhao and Liu for help, but had also sent men over the mountains by back roads to weep and plead with old in-laws in Wei Commandery. The letter's message was surely nothing more than the Wei powerful families' shared fate — if the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. If Diwu Lun could destroy the Li clan today, he could move against the Ximen clan tomorrow.

But Ximen Yanshou felt that Li Neng had brought this on himself because his family's greed was too great. He had tried to wrest power from the commandery governor and dominate Wei, leading to a fight to the death with Diwu Lun. As for the Ximen clan, they were content to consolidate their existing position and had no intention of reaching further. Over the past year, Diwu Lun had treated their family with utmost respect — promoting their sons to clerks, sending silk to Ximen Yanshou on holidays, and making multiple visits to the shrine of Grand Master Ximen Bao, erecting steles to commemorate his achievements. He had kept the Ximen family very comfortable.

The Ximen clan had never been known for military force. The heir, Merits Clerk Ximen Ping, and several other sons had been deliberately kept at Diwu Lun's side as hostages. Li Neng's attempt to pull them into backstabbing Diwu Lun was truly the desperate act of a man grasping at any straw.

And the reason Ximen Yanshou immediately betrayed Li Neng was still...

With Zhao and Liu refusing to help the Li clan, Diwu Lun still had the better odds. Entering the third year of Dihuang, the outer commanderies grew ever more chaotic. If they fought among themselves now and let outside bandits seize the chance to raid into Wei, it was the powerful families who would suffer the losses.

Rather than a civil war in Wei Commandery, they preferred that Lord Diwu act as the powerful families' proxy and keep the region safe.

Besides, Diwu Lun had spent a year without sweeping reforms, leaving everything as before. The only thing that worried the powerful families was this: Diwu Lun was recruiting soldiers from the refugees. Could he control these men in the future?

Having made the Ximen clan's stance clear to Geng Chun today, Ximen Yanshou took his leave — though he turned back to look at Geng Chun, who hailed from the great Songzi clan.

"I only hope that Lord Diwu can swiftly pacify Li Neng, and then soothe and bind the heroes — governing Wei together with great-clan talents like Commandery Assistant Geng and the commandery's powerful families, defending against the Red Eyebrows without and quelling the refugee bandits within!"

As Geng Yan's and Ma Yuan's soldiers departed one after another, a murmur of noise rose from the ranks of the Boar-Rush Braves, which had been quiet and orderly just moments before.

"Weren't we supposed to attack this city together? Why have Colonel Ma and that fellow surnamed Geng both left?"

"Haven't you noticed? The ones who left are all the troops Diwu Gong newly recruited in Wei. The ones who stayed are us veterans of the Boar-Rush Braves."

Diwu Lun really did love the new and loathe the old — the latecomers had surpassed the old hands. He let Ma and Geng take the Wei recruits to pick the soft persimmons, and left this rock-hard city for them to gnaw on.

Everyone knew that storming a stronghold like this meant heavy losses were inevitable. Seeing this, no one felt good about it.

What was more, they were down to just over a thousand men, while the city held several times that number. What if Li Neng seized the chance to sally forth and strike them?

The next morning, once it was confirmed that Ma Yuan had truly departed, a drumbeat sounded and the gates of Wu'an swung wide open. Li Neng, just as expected, could not resist coming out. The powerful families' armed retainers, tenant fighters, and county troops mingled together — their equipment was not bad at all — and streamed out to form ranks before the city walls, while crossbowmen stood watch atop the ramparts.

Wan Xiu had his men beat the drums as well. Whatever misgivings the Boar-Rush Braves harbored in their hearts, they still swiftly assembled according to the drill and battle routine honed over these past few years. Yet as they watched the enemy forces massing thicker and thicker outside Wu'an, they could not help a creeping dread.

"Reinforcements will arrive shortly!"

Wan Xiu sent Diqi Biao and the others to notify every unit to prepare for battle, and at the same time announced the promise Diwu Lun had made to them.

"Diwu Gong has said: so long as we win this battle, every man of the Boar-Rush Braves who came a thousand li to aid the fight shall be rewarded for his merit!"

What would the reward be? The men looked at one another, their enthusiasm hardly stirred. They were no longer the starving convicts and slaves of three years ago. After several years of decent living, their demands had risen with the tide — a few full bellies could no longer coax them into laying down their lives.

"Could it be bolts of cloth?"

Coin was no longer worth anything; cloth was the hard currency now.

"Could it be like in Xin Qinzhong, where they arranged marriages for the officers — a wife for every man?" someone chuckled. Most of those who had come with Wan Xiu were bachelors.

But what Diwu Lun had promised was something they never, ever would have guessed — something that men of the Boar-Rush Braves, born to hardship, yearned for yet could never reach.

Something that could drive them into a frenzy, that could make them forget life and death for a time.

The enemy had already formed their lines and could charge at any moment, and Wan Xiu had his men loudly proclaim to the troops:

"Diwu Gong has said: once we destroy the Li clan and seize Wu'an, every man of the Boar-Rush Braves, according to his merit in this battle, shall receive a share."

"Land... of his own!"

PS: Chapter 2 at 18:00.