Chapter 212: Endeavor

"Endeavor!"

As the twelfth month drew to a close, south of the Tang River in the Vanguard Commandery, a young man with fine beard and brows also spurred his horse forward and used this, his favorite word, to rally the clan soldiers.

Ever since Liu Xiu and his elder brother Bosheng had drawn twenty thousand Xiajiang troops into their alliance, the situation had shifted; they had secured a foothold in several counties south of the Tang River, including Xindu and Huyang. The grain emptied from the family coffers of the Chongling Liu and Huyang Fan clans, driven to desperation, at least let them drink thin gruel.

And following Liu Xiu's proposal at the covenant assembly, the Han soldiers and the Greenwood Army had also changed tactics: they no longer sought to attack proactively and meet the government forces head-on. Instead, they played to the Greenwood Army's strengths, deploying their main force along the Tang River to hold the government troops at a standoff. Another ten thousand men were split into six columns, guided by local strongmen and wandering swordsmen of the Vanguard Commandery, to penetrate deep behind enemy lines and repeatedly sever the government army's grain supply.

Liu Xiu himself took one column together with the Greenwood minor commander Ma Wu, and they cooperated quite happily, several times capturing government baggage trains.

Ma Wu was a man with a swarthy face, also from Huyang County, making him half a fellow townsman of Liu Xiu. He admired Liu Xiu quite a bit, praising him for understanding the ways of bandit raids and house-plundering despite coming from a good family.

Liu Xiu did not claim credit, merely saying: "What we are imitating is, in truth, the strategy of Peng Yue."

Liu Xiu, who had studied at the Imperial Academy, spoke with ease, recounting how, during the Chu-Han Contention, the Liang King Peng Yue had never fought head-on. Positioned in the Chu army's rear, he constantly roamed as a roving force for Han, cutting off their grain, leaving the Chu army utterly exhausted and ultimately dragged to collapse.

"To sum it up in the words of military doctrine: 'The form of the roving army: now moving, now still; avoid the solid, strike the hollow; observe the weak, harass the strong; assemble in formation, race to the ground; sever and encircle the four paths.' That is it."

A cultured man truly was different. Ma Wu nodded repeatedly, and could not help recalling his sister's entreaty.

Ma Wu himself was ugly, but his younger sister, Ma Sanshunü, had grown up delicate and lovely. Years ago, when Ma Wu had encountered the Yushan bandit Jia Fu, he had jokingly suggested Jia Fu become his brother-in-law.

She had grown up on Greenwood Mountain, seeing a crowd of dirty-faced bandits every day; a well-bred young gentleman like Liu Xiu, his face washed perfectly clean and his manner so courteous, was a rare sight. She harbored feelings of admiration and hoped her elder brother would take matters in hand for her, but after Ma Wu hinted once or twice, Liu Xiu, whose heart was wholly set on his betrothed Yin Lihua, pretended not to understand.

Although the roving-troop strategy, modeled on Peng Yue, had left the government forces deeply uncomfortable, the war had dragged on for over two months since their uprising began. The Red Eyebrows in the east were drawing the court's attention, but if they waited any longer and the court dispatched one of the Three Excellencies to lead a campaign, matters would become difficult.

Truly, a pillow was delivered just as drowsiness struck. Just as the Han soldiers and the Greenwood Army were locked in endless debate over whether to seek a decisive battle with the government forces once more, the enemy, as if having spied their thoughts, came offering themselves up!

On the eve of the great battle, Liu Xiu was assigned to lead three thousand men alone, drawn from the sons of powerful families — the Deng, Yin, Lai, and others — whom the government forces had single-handedly pushed to this side, their hearts filled with the vengeance of desecrated graves. Having learned his lesson, he spoke no foolish words like "we'll marry after the battle," but simply rallied the men with a loud, brief cry.

"Endeavor!"

Liu Xiu was not the only one endeavoring; Dou Rong was as well.

Had he been able to decide for himself, Dou Rong, with his conflict-avoiding nature, would have been ten thousand times unwilling to march south on his own initiative. Was the Greenwood Army constantly harassing their grain convoys? Then they should not press forward — why not pull back toward Wancheng, simply hole up and refuse to come out, slowly training the conscripted soldiers, tending the horses and sharpening the weapons, and wait for the court to send a grand army before fighting?

Yet what arrived in Wancheng from Chang'an was the Emperor's rebuke. That Yan You had vainly been called the greatest general under heaven, yet his bandit-suppression campaign in the Southern Commandery had chased the bandits all the way into the Vanguard Commandery — this had sent Wang Mang into a great fury. And hearing that the old general was gravely ill, bedridden and unable to rise, he simply promoted Dou Rong.

From "General of the Waves" to "Grand General of the Waves"!

Apart from that one added word, Wang Mang had been utterly unwilling to give anything else — no additional troops, gold, or silk — merely urging Dou Rong and Zhen Fu in his edict to press on and swiftly pacify the Chongling bandit gang and the Greenwood outlaws.

The trouble lay precisely here: Zhen Fu had also been promoted by Wang Mang to "Grand General of Pinglin," equal in rank to Dou Rong. When battle came, who exactly was to command whom?

Such a complex matter had simply not been considered by the Emperor, whose intent, presumably, was for the two men to listen to each other and gain clarity — to work it out through discussion.

The result was the present situation: Dou Rong, pressed by the court's urgency and with Zhen Fu advocating battle, could only reluctantly drag his troops and temporarily conscripted auxiliaries, ten thousand men in total, out of Jiyang.

On Zhen Fu's side, he had conscripted forty thousand men in one breath from the populous counties of the Vanguard Commandery; nearly every household in Wancheng had to provide a man. In Grand Governor Zhen's plan, this was to be the final campaign against the Greenwood forces — once it was over, they would disband on the spot, without even needing to issue much extra pay or provisions.

Since the other party was the local power and had far more men, Dou Rong had instead become a supporting flanking force, obliged to follow Grand General Zhen's command.

The Vanguard Commandery was not as cold as Hebei; the Tang River was merely a shallow stream, nothing like the natural barrier of the mighty Yellow River. The two armies built pontoon bridges and crossed at points where the Han soldiers and Greenwood Army's defenses were lax, proclaiming themselves a "hundred-thousand-man army" and preparing to advance for the decisive battle.

It was at this moment that something occurred which would be enough to shock Dou Rong for an entire year!

When he, serving as the vanguard, turned his head back, what he saw were rising pillars of smoke and the burning pontoon bridges.

"Could it be that Liu Wenshu has again led the Greenwood troops to strike our rear?" Greatly alarmed, Dou Rong immediately dispatched Ren Guang to investigate.

Ren Guang returned shortly after, his expression complicated, and told Dou Rong: "Grand General of the Waves, Lord Zhen has burned the pontoon bridges!"

Dou Rong was dumbstruck. It turned out that Zhen Fu believed the army's many new recruits were unwilling to fight, and he wished to emulate the famous battle of the Huaiyin Marquis, Han Xin.

"Array your backs to the river, put yourself in a death trap and then fight to survive! I ask the Grand General of the Waves to fight with confidence at the front! I shall be your rearguard!"

To hell with you! How could anyone have confidence in this? Dou Rong felt dizzy, his state of mind utterly collapsing. With an ally like this, how was he supposed to fight this battle?

A man as refined and amiable as Dou the Duke of Zhou could not help but burst out cursing: "This Zhen Fu — could he be a spy sent by the Greenwood Army? A loyal servant of the House of Han who has lain hidden for years?"

There was yet another man who endeavored even harder than Dou Rong: Cen Peng, who, months before, had been ordered by Yan You to march south and intercept the Xiajiang troops.

In the battle on the Han River, Cen Peng had received his orders at a moment of peril. Cherishing the debt of gratitude he owed Yan You for recognizing his worth, he had led a mere three thousand men — remnants ravaged by a malaria epidemic — on a forced march of several hundred li, just barely catching up to the Xiajiang troops. But the enemy numbered over ten thousand; what could he do? He had resorted to bluffing a larger force, striking as they crossed the river, killing over a thousand and frightening the Xiajiang troops into retreat.

Yet the defeated side, turning north in panic, was joined by refugees and bandits who had no means of surviving the winter, and their forces swelled to double their size. By sheer mischance, they entered the Vanguard Commandery and merged with the Han soldiers, altering the situation there — a classic case of losing the battle but winning the strategy.

And Cen Peng's own army? After the battle, his losses were severe. He had planned to go to Jiangling, the capital of the Southern Commandery, to rest and refit, hoping the Southern Commandery would allocate some troops to him so he could head north and assist Dou Rong in striking the the Xin troops.

Unexpectedly, he ran straight into a civilian uprising in the Southern Commandery. A local bandit leader, Tian Rong, having heard news of the government army's great defeat at Chengchang, had raised his banner in Yiling County, proclaiming himself "Grand General Who Sweeps the Floor." Jiangling was under alert three times a day, and naturally had no troops to spare for Cen Peng, fobbing him off with some grain and fodder and considering the matter closed.

Cen Peng had no choice but to lead his two thousand-odd men sullenly back toward the Jiang-Han region. Midway, he learned of the shocking upheaval at Chongling and that Yan You had already gone north. He had intended to follow closely behind, but unexpectedly, Qin Feng — a local gallant whom Yan You had earlier driven into the Jing Mountains — had fought his way back, proclaiming himself "Grand General of Liqiu" and seizing Xiangyang and other areas, completely blocking Cen Peng's path. This bandit had gathered a host of over ten thousand and could not be overcome for the moment, so Cen Peng had no choice but to take a long detour westward.

All along Cen Peng's journey, it could be said that every place had its bandits and every county was in turmoil with outlaws — such as the great bandit Jia Fu, who had seized Wudang County, and the wandering swordsman Yan Cen, who had raised his banner in Zhuyang in response to Liu Bosheng.

He had also tried to help the local county magistrates suppress them. Relying on Cen Peng's command, he won every engagement, yet as soon as a few hundred bandits were struck down, over a thousand men in the neighboring county would rise in revolt. Every part of the Vanguard Commandery was in a state of seething ferment, just as it had been when the people of the Six States, hearing that Chen Sheng and Wu Guang had risen, slaughtered the Qin officials and rallied in answer like gathering clouds.

Cen Peng found it strange as well: "News has clearly come that the Chongling Liu clan and the Greenwood Army have both been defeated, and the uprisings in the various counties have mostly been crushed by me. Why, after being defeated, do they gather again?"

The implication was: I have won every battle, so why are you still rebelling?

It was the County Commandant of Rang County who spoke the blunt truth to him: "To suppress the bandits, the Vanguard Commandery has requisitioned grain far too excessively. Many households have had neither food nor clothing since winter began. Though the Colonel wins every battle he fights, he cannot conjure up grain. If they do not rebel, what are they to wait for? General, though you are victorious, it is still defeat!"

By the next day, the County Commandant of Rang County had himself joined the outlaws, catching Cen Peng completely off guard, and he could only withdraw hastily to the next county.

Worn down by attrition along the way, the banners of the Great Xin could draw no one to rally to them. He could only lead his remnant force of fewer than a thousand battered soldiers, hoping to return to his hometown of Jiyang.

This present force of collapse was not merely the result of the Xin Dynasty's decade-plus of natural and man-made disasters; it also had to be compounded with the accumulated rot of two centuries of the Former Han. It was already a disease deep in the vitals, and now, erupting all at once — how could a few minor victories by Cen Peng alter the great momentum of an empire toppling?

Once a collapse begins, it is difficult to halt. Wang Mang's endeavors had all failed, so what of a few "loyal and virtuous men"?

Though Cen Peng did not yet understand this principle, he had discovered that his own endeavoring was like a mantis brandishing its arms at an onrushing chariot wheel — majestic and imposing, its bladed arms slicing through the air, yet utterly unable to slow the wheel for even an instant!

What was more, there was another batch of "Great Xin loyalists" making endeavors in the opposite direction!

When Cen Peng, having endured countless hardships, finally reached Wancheng, what he learned was not only the news that his own mother, wife, and children had long since perished in the chaos of war, but also the arrival of routed soldiers fleeing from the south.

"Junran, the battle at the Tang River is lost."

Ren Guang had ridden his horse at a wild gallop the whole way, even losing his hat, looking utterly bedraggled. He was quite surprised to encounter Cen Peng, and recounted to him this muddled, confused defeat.

The blame still lay with Zhen Fu's "array your backs to the river" scheme. The moment the pontoon bridges were burned, instead of rousing a determination to fight to the death, it threw the temporarily conscripted soldiers into utter panic. That very night, a camp panic erupted and ten thousand men fled. The Han soldiers and the Greenwood Army seized the opportunity to come and raid Zhen Fu's main camp.

"Zhen Fu fought bitterly against the Han army and the Greenwood forces, then pulled back, intending to seek help from General Dou. As a result..."

As a result, his own troops fled in chaos and threw Dou Rong's formation into disorder as well. Dou Rong still did not retreat. Gritting his teeth, he fought the Greenwood and Han soldiers for several hours, until Zhen Fu's army had utterly collapsed and the situation was beyond salvaging — only then did he withdraw from the battlefield. When setting up camp, he had long since quietly dispatched Ren Guang to build another pontoon bridge.

But those who crossed the bridge were after all a minority. Zhen Fu finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish of "burning the boats and fighting to the death." He battled bitterly against the Han soldiers and Greenwood men until dusk, when Liu Bosheng cut him down in formation. Several thousand from both armies died, and the rest all surrendered to Greenwood.

Cen Peng listened, utterly dumbfounded. Looking around, he could see no sign of Dou Rong's troops. Ren Guang then told him: "General Dou has only a few thousand men left. Knowing the Han soldiers and Greenwood would surely besiege Wancheng, he withdrew toward Yingchuan."

Ren Guang himself had become separated from Dou Rong in the chaos of battle. He simply fled northwest, hoping to return to the vicinity of Wancheng, gather his clan and retainers, and flee before the Han soldiers and Greenwood arrived.

Now, encountering Cen Peng and seeing that he still had some troops under his command, Ren Guang could not help but be overjoyed. He put forward an idea.

"Though I could not protect Junran's mother, wife, and daughter, your son survived by a stroke of luck. I have placed him in the western district of Wancheng. Junran, come with me quickly!"

"And then what?"

"The vanguard is finished. If the Han soldiers and Greenwood take this commandery, we will certainly be exterminated, and no one knows when the court's relief troops will arrive. Better to go far away..." Ren Guang said. "Go to Wei Cheng in Ji Province, and seek refuge with Lord Diwu!"

Yes, Diwu Lun had already tried to recruit the two of them last year, only to be preempted by their teacher Yan You. Going to seek refuge with him now was only natural. It was just that their status and treatment would likely rank behind the founding shareholders like the Ma and Geng clans, and even behind the Ji Province local scholars.

Cen Peng nodded, then asked: "What of Lord Yan?"

Ren Guang said: "Lord Yan is gravely ill, inside Wancheng, unable to travel with the army. I already entered the city to pay my respects. He refuses to leave, insisting on staying to rally the commandery troops' remnants and hold Wancheng for the Emperor."

At that moment, a clamor arose in the distance. A steady stream of city gentry and women were fleeing Wancheng, all saying that Greenwood was almost upon them.

Seeing Cen Peng still hesitating, Ren Guang said urgently: "Junran, there's no time—go, quickly! Do you not wish to see your son?"

But Cen Peng had made up his mind. "I wasted the first half of my life achieving nothing. Only when I received Lord Yan's generous regard did I rise above the rest. A scholar dies for the one who knows his worth. I will never abandon Lord Yan."

He turned back to look at the remnant soldiers who had followed him in campaigns north and south. "Gentlemen, most of your families are in Wancheng. You likely cannot bear to abandon them and flee alone. Those willing to stay, follow me into the city! Those with no ties, go with Ren Boqing and escort my son to Ji Province!"

"Cen Junran! You—!" Ren Guang truly did not know what to say to Cen Peng. Why was this man so foolishly loyal, so stubbornly earnest?

His finger pointed at Cen Peng's nose for a long moment, but meeting Cen Peng's resolute gaze, he could not utter a single word of reproach. He even felt a touch of shame. He merely bowed deeply to Cen Peng with clasped hands.

"Your son shall be my son. With this parting, I only hope you take care of yourself, Junran!"

With these words, he hurried north. Cen Peng likewise bade Ren Guang farewell and, leading his several hundred men, parted the stream of gentry, women, and merchants desperately fleeing the city in fear of Greenwood plunder. Against the current, he entered the walled city. He would aid Yan You, doing what others could not understand.

The great momentum of the realm surges mightily onward; the wheel of history rolls relentlessly forward. Some follow the current, some push it forward themselves, and some hitch a ride upon it.

Yet in every dynasty and every age, there are always a few who fail to read the times, who cannot distinguish good from evil, right from wrong—mere mantises waving their arms at the empty air, making futile efforts.

The great defeat at the Tang River, Wancheng besieged; a popular uprising in Nan Commandery, with Qin Feng and Tian Rong besieging Jiangling; Dingtao fallen, Dong Xian aiming to enter Liang territory; Fan Chong crossing Mount Tai, advancing east to attack Ju City in Chengyang Commandery...

No one could have imagined that barely a single month into the fourth year of Dihuang, so many events would convulse the realm.

And all of them disasters!

By mid-first month, these tidings of doom, as if by prior agreement, were delivered together to the capital, piling up on the desk of Emperor Wang Mang, as though to crush his realm along with them!

Defeats clustered together—all pleas for aid, all laments, all shifting of blame!

Each time he opened a memorial, Wang Mang would fall silent for a long while, wanting only to disbelieve them all, to sweep his sleeves and leave, to slam the desk and walk away!

But he could not. He could only listen in silence as the palace eunuchs tremblingly made their reports. His hair, already entirely white, seemed to whiten a few shades more.

"What has become of my realm?"

Why was it that the harder he strove to govern, the faster the world collapsed? Wang Mang did not understand.

"In all of this, is there not a single piece of good news?"

Wang Mang shut his eyes in anguish, feeling despair for the very first time—until a new missive was hurriedly delivered from outside.

"From Wei Cheng in Ji Province, Diwu Lun!"

PS: (Alliance Leader bonus chapter 1/17)

Tomorrow's update at 13:00.