Chapter 253: Meteorite

On the twenty-fourth day of the fifth month, the very day Diwu Lun raised his banner at Hongmen, Xiur was in the city of Kunyang.

The several counties in Yingchuan Commandery they had taken one after another over the past two months were now all lost! But Liu Xiu had abandoned them willingly. Upon learning that Wang Mang had dispatched Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi south from Luoyang, he immediately pulled the forces from each county back south. For this, many soldiers from Yingchuan deserted and fled into hiding. Fortunately, not a single one of the talents Liu Xiu had recruited in Yingchuan was lost — from Feng Yi to Fu Jun and Wang Ba, they all remained with him.

Yet Wang Feng, the Upper Duke of the Gengshi regime, made a misjudgment: because Luoyang Pass to the west had come under attack first by the Xin Dynasty's Grand Chancellor Wang Xun with a hundred thousand troops, he dispatched several thousand men to reinforce it. By the time they realized the Xin army had split into two routes and an even larger force was closing in on Kunyang, the troops in the city numbered no more than ten thousand.

Every piece of news that came back from the front lines struck terror into the Greenwood chieftains.

"The Xin army has already taken Fucheng and Xiangcheng and massacred them — men and women, old and young, none spared. When we scouted nearby, just as the Xin troops came galloping from afar, looking out at them, they seemed to swarm like ants, beyond all counting. Their banners and baggage trains stretched unbroken for a thousand li. They claim to be a million strong."

The several chieftains sent to reconnoiter were all clamoring at once, describing how fearsome the Xin army was, until Wang Feng, Wang Chang, Li Yi, and the others stared at one another, their faces full of panic.

Had they known it would come to this, they should indeed have heeded the Liu brothers' advice and not rushed to proclaim an emperor. Now they had provoked Wang Mang's fury, and he was coming at them with the might of the entire realm. They had also divided their forces, leaving fewer than ten thousand troops — what were they to do?

Though Wang Feng was the head chief of the Greenwood Army, his standing rested solely on seniority as one of the first to rise, and he had no real strategic mind. He could not help saying, "Wang Mang's troops are so vast and fierce, pressing upon our city. Little Kunyang clearly cannot hold out. Would it not be better to withdraw first?"

Everyone, terrified by the Xin army's numbers, echoed him at once.

Only Liu Xiu, who had been studying the map all along, suddenly spoke: "The Duke Who Stabilizes the State proposes a withdrawal — may I ask, withdraw to where?"

Wang Feng said as a matter of course, "Naturally to Wancheng, to join forces with the Emperor and Liu Bosheng. Our army in the south numbers a hundred thousand — only then can we give battle."

Liu Xiu, however, shook his head. "Since ancient times, Wan and Ye have been one body, like lips and teeth. Without Kunyang, there is no Nanyang. If we suddenly face a powerful foe and Kunyang falls, the enemy horde will drive straight through. In a matter of days, they will be at the walls of Wan."

"Within Wancheng, Yan You and Cen Peng have held firm for nearly half a year and are still locked in desperate combat. Our siege has dragged on without success. The moment we retreat south, with morale already low from being bogged down before the city, the troops will surely lose all will to fight. I fear there will again be those who, like the Upper Duke, propose that we would do better to withdraw and each protect his own family and possessions."

He gave a cold laugh. "And so we would retreat, and retreat again. The way I see it, they will surely scatter at the first rumor. I fear we would end up retreating all the way back to Greenwood Mountain!"

Thereupon Liu Xiu argued forcefully: "Gentlemen, since entering Nanyang, the wives, children, and possessions you have gained cannot be kept safe. The walled towns and fine houses you dwell in will all be abandoned. To go back to eating wild greens deep in the old mountain forests — are you willing? Better to unite heart and mind, and together achieve merit and renown!"

Wang Chang, the Commandant of Justice of the Gengshi regime, nodded in agreement with Liu Xiu's proposal. The old forests of the south, damp and hot, constantly plagued by pestilence — he would rather die than go back. Yet he still hesitated.

It was Li Yi who spoke up and voiced what was on everyone's mind: "General Niu, what grand words! Now that we face the many with the few, you say we must rely on the officers and men to join forces and resist, and only then can we seek success. But with the odds so overwhelmingly against us, where is the hope of victory?"

All eyes turned to Liu Xiu. Toward Liu Bosheng they were awed and reverent, but toward the low-key Liu Xiu they had always been dismissive, regarding him as merely riding his elder brother's coattails to land a post as Bearer of the Gilded Mace and Assistant General.

Liu Xiu said, "The art of war has never said that greater numbers guarantee victory."

"At the Battle of Jimo, the Qi general Tian Dan, with a city long besieged, held out against Yue Yi's great army for several years, then took the offensive and utterly routed Qijie's hundred-odd thousand men. That is the weak overcoming the strong."

He even brought up the dark history of his own ancestor Liu Bang: "And at the Battle of Pengcheng, the Exalted Emperor led the allied armies east on campaign, claiming five hundred sixty thousand. Xiang Yu had only thirty thousand crack troops returning to the rescue, yet in barely half a day he shattered the Han army, slaughtering over a hundred thousand men. That is the few defeating the many."

"Why did this happen? Because being unconquerable lies with oneself; the chance of victory lies with the enemy! Last year the Xin army lost over a hundred thousand men in Nanyang and Yanzhou. Now they have hastily conscripted several hundred thousand more. The majority must be forcibly impressed able-bodied men, insufficiently trained, unfamiliar with banners and drums, and exhausted from trudging a thousand li. Though their show of force is grand, those actually capable of fighting are no more than one in ten!"

This was the conclusion Liu Xiu had drawn from the frontline reports. The Xin army's discipline was even worse than the Greenwood and Han armies. All along the way, as they broke through the counties of Yingchuan, they actually used massacres to boost morale — which only drove the people of Yingchuan to their side. And at every stop, there were countless deserters; the army grew smaller and smaller.

"Our troops know well the Xin army's brutality. They know that defeat means death. Though few in number, we can unite ten thousand hearts as one! Defeat is by no means certain!"

Liu Xiu's analysis failed to convince everyone. They still urgently wished to flee. But Wang Yi gave them no time. Suddenly scouts rode in with reports that the Xin army's vanguard had already reached the north of the city, stretching out for several li with no end to the rear column in sight — roughly several tens of thousands of men.

With matters at such a pass, the enemy was at the city gates, and flight was already too late. They could only seek some other good plan to meet the immediate crisis. No one could propose a workable solution. Only Liu Xiu remained calm and unhurried, so Wang Feng and the others had no choice but to deliberate with him once more.

Liu Xiu had already thought it through: "Today there are only eight or nine thousand men in the city, too few to risk a sortie. Fortunately, Kunyang's terrain is strategically difficult, its walls sturdy and moats broad, and over the past month I have continuously shipped grain into Kunyang — we can still hold out for a time. But without outside relief, and with no telling when Wancheng will see a decisive outcome, and Luyang too busy fending for itself, the only course before us is to send troops to appeal for aid, to the two counties of Yancheng and Dingling over a hundred li to the east, and seek the help of General Ma Wu and my brother-in-law's several thousand troops."

When he had withdrawn south, he had kept this in mind, detaching three thousand of his old troops and handing them to his brother-in-law Deng Chen to take east and hold in readiness. Now they could be put to use.

"When the time comes, the garrison will emulate Tian Dan of Jimo and fight with their backs to the city, while the relief force will emulate Xiang Yu's elite troops. Striking from within and without in concert, only then can we break the siege. As for who stays and who goes, I ask you gentlemen to decide for yourselves!"

Wang Feng, as the commanding general, naturally had to stay and hold the city. And with the Xin army's vanguard already outside the walls, having encircled one corner, going out to seek aid at this moment was extremely dangerous. No one was willing to go. For a long while, no sound was heard, until Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Since you gentlemen all prefer to defend the city, then let Xiu go himself!"

All marveled at his courage and resolve. Only Li Yi felt that Liu Xiu today was unlike his usual self — remarkably proactive, rather resembling Liu Bosheng. He said suspiciously, "General Niu, in the past you were always timid in the face of the enemy and arrived late. Why are you so valiant today? Could it be you mean to use this chance to slip out of the city and flee?"

Liu Xiu glanced at Li Yi. This man, though a member of the Li clan of Wancheng, had ever since the Gengshi Emperor was enthroned been circling around Liu Xuan and the powerful Greenwood chieftains. Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Before the battle of Little Chang'an, I was indeed as Jiwen says."

His voice dropped lower. "But that battle at Little Chang'an taught me that for us who have raised troops, there is only victory, never defeat."

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His eldest sister Liu Yuan's suicide, his second brother Liu Zhong's gruesome death, and the deaths of scores of kinsmen one after another — to say nothing of the eternal ache in Liu Xiu's heart: his betrothed Yin Lihua had also been seized by the Xin army and sent to Chang'an, her fate now unknown.

From the moment he followed his elder brother in raising high the Han banner, there had long been no path of retreat. If he did not succeed, he would die a martyr!

Liu Xiu raised his head. "You gentlemen of Greenwood can still retreat to where you came from. But my Chongling Liu clan has been entirely proscribed for arrest by Wang Mang. If we are defeated, not one will be spared. I would rather die in battle than flee for my life. If Jiwen doubts me, then why not... come with me out of the city to seek aid!"

Li Yi hesitated a moment, then agreed. And so Wang Feng and Wang Chang remained to hold the city, while Liu Xiu and Li Yi would break through the siege. Feng Yi, Wang Ba, Fu Jun, Chen Jun, and the others, seeing Liu Xiu's righteous valor as praiseworthy, also volunteered to go with him — thirteen riders in all.

Taking advantage of the dark sky and moonless night, they mounted their horses, gagged them with sticks, slipped out the south gate, and galloped away.

The Xin army's vanguard had just arrived before the city and were all encamped to the north. Given Kunyang's terrain, they had not yet concerned themselves with the south of the city, dispatching only a small number of scouts and roving patrols to circle the walls. Discovering people fleeing, they immediately gave chase!

Fortunately, their numbers were also few, while every man in Liu Xiu's party was a valiant and battle-hardened elite. Chen Jun wielded a crossbow, Fu Jun drew his bow, and after killing or wounding several pursuers, the enemy, seeing this group was not easy to handle, did not press the pursuit. The thirteen riders actually managed to gallop free.

Within the Xin army's encampment, however, Dou Rong — Duke of Zhou, who served as a guide but, due to repeated defeats, no longer held any command authority — gazed at this strategically vital pass fortress in the night and could not help recalling Diwu Lun's letter, and the one person Diwu Lun had emphatically mentioned.

"Liu Xiu... Is Liu Xiu also in this city?"

Though the Xin army was vast, just as Liu Xiu had analyzed, the majority were able-bodied conscripts with low morale. Their crack troops amounted to no more than the two divisions of the Northern Army's Tiger Guard and the Barbarian Cavalry, plus Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi's old troops. Those truly capable of fighting were indeed only a tenth of the total: a mere thirty thousand men.

But Grand Minister of Works Wang Yi, whether because he had not fought a battle in over a decade and had not adapted to the latest version, or because his last victory had left too deep an impression and filled him with unfounded confidence — as the three hundred thousand men successively arrived, he faced the tiny pass of Kunyang with utter disdain.

Dou Rong, mindful of Diwu Lun's warning, cautiously offered a proposal to Wang Yi: "Grand Minister of Works, though Kunyang is small, it has been a famous pass since the Spring and Autumn period, and its walls are very strong. Now that Liu Xuan has stolen the imperial title, while Liu Bosheng and the main rebel force are at Wancheng, would it not be better for our army to leave a hundred thousand men to keep an eye on Kunyang and guard our rear, while dispatching two hundred thousand troops to drive straight for Wancheng? The Greenwood rebels would surely flee in terror. With victory at Wancheng, why worry that Kunyang will not submit?"

"Duke Dou has been defeated time and again. His counsel cannot be heeded."

The Assistant Generals in Wang Yi's army whispered among themselves. Because Dou Rong was a kinsman of Wang Yi, they dared not speak directly and only said tactfully, "Grand General, though our force has three hundred thousand men, the great majority are merely temporarily conscripted able-bodied men. Breaking those few counties in Yingchuan went too smoothly — many have never seen blood. If we march directly to Wancheng and join battle with Liu Bosheng's main force, which has defeated the Duke time and again, I fear it will not be easy."

They were obliquely pointing out that the Greenwood and Han troops had been able to rise, transforming from a band of roving bandits into a battle-hardened army, all because the incompetent Yan You and Dou Rong had been sparring partners for them, delivering arms and armor!

Wang Yi was actually inclined toward Dou Rong's proposal, because he wanted to be the first to claim the prize among the three routes of advance. But the generals' proposal was not without merit either — he knew perfectly well what sort of troops he was leading. So he adopted both plans simultaneously.

"Detach over ten thousand men to cross the Fangcheng Mountains with light packs, bypass Kunyang Pass, and go probe for news below Wan. Ideally, let Wancheng know that our great army has arrived, so that they hold out for another ten days or so."

"The rest will follow me in besieging Kunyang!"

Dou Rong endured the humiliation before the Assistant Generals and dared not say more. Only when alone did he wish to remonstrate with Wang Yi again, but Wang Yi shook his head and sighed, "Duke of Zhou, though a commander should focus solely on military contest, he cannot but give some thought to what lies further ahead."

"Over ten years ago, when I was General of the Tiger Teeth and besieged Zhai Yi, I failed for a time to capture him alive and bring him back to Chang'an, and was rebuked by the Son of Heaven. For over ten years I received no important assignments. Now I command several hundred thousand troops. If I encounter a city and do not take it, how will I make a show of force? This is indeed a fine place to blood the troops and steel their courage. We should first massacre this city, then advance bathed in blood!"

Dou Rong could only offer further counsel: "The Grand Minister of Works' considerations are correct. But the art of war says that when besieging a city, one must leave one corner open, so as to let the defenders flee, lest they fight to the death. Moreover, if some troops escape, they can spread terror and break the spirit of the false sovereign below Wan. Would that not be even better?"

Wang Yi adopted this plan. The next day — the twenty-sixth of the fifth month — he directed his forces to encircle Kunyang in several dozen rings, setting up over a hundred encampments. The sound of gongs and drums carried for several dozen li.

On one side they raised tower wagons, several zhang high, to overlook the city. They also built earthen mounds and fired powerful crossbows at random. Arrows fell like a plague of locusts; many of the defenders in the city suffered arrow wounds. Even when soldiers went to draw water, they all carried door planks on their backs and dared not raise their heads. Wang Yi then ordered battering rams to strike the walls, and clods of earth crumbled down like rain.

For a time, the city was in constant suspense, unable to eat or sleep in peace. Thus several days passed. By the thirtieth day of the fifth month, when Liu Xiu had been gone six days to seek aid from the two counties to the east and still no word had come back, even Wang Feng, the Duke Who Stabilizes the State, felt he could not hold on.

But the Xin army's imperial forces had a reputation far too vile. The several counties of Yingchuan that had previously surrendered had all been massacred by Wang Yi — how could they hope to be spared? A few officers, seeing a gap in the encirclement south of the city, tried to escape, but were surrounded and killed by the impatient Xin troops. As things stood now, they could only grit their teeth and endure bitterly.

Fortunately, though Wang Yi's forces were imposing in numbers, the quality of his soldiers was indeed poor — the conscripts thrown forward as cannon fodder were driven to their deaths in wave after wave, their morale sinking lower with each assault, and still no breakthrough came.

And so Dou Rong grew more and more uneasy. Late into the night on the thirtieth day, he lay long sleepless in camp, then rose and walked through the tangled field fortifications, climbing a watchtower.

East, west, south, north — wherever he looked, nothing met his eye but campfires and cooking smoke, hemming tiny Kunyang in a tight ring.

The flames were like fallen stars scattered across the sky — too many to count, even if one counted until the sun rose in the east.

As on every night since they had encamped at Kunyang, Dou Rong lifted his head once more to gaze at the stars above. Only when his neck ached did he rub it and laugh to himself: "Diwu Lun's letter reads almost like a prophecy from the Zuo Commentary — who knows what he is playing at? How could I lightly believe it?"

Yet just as time slipped into the first day of the sixth month — the hour of zi on the new-moon day — Dou Rong was about to descend from the watchtower when, as if in a daze, he saw a true streak of light slash across the night sky!

Dou Rong thought his eyes were playing tricks. He rubbed them and looked again — the light had still not vanished.

That light was a burning stone in flight, a falling meteor — not, in truth, a rare sight. But today's was different. At first it was distant, its glow like any common star, but then it grew larger and larger, a blaze over a hundred feet long, until it seemed almost a bright moon! And there came a low, rolling sound, like the cry of a great pheasant, startling half the army camp and the city of Kunyang alike!

Soldiers of the Xin army and the Han troops — countless men — tilted their heads back, staring slack-jawed at the sight. Then they watched the light begin to dim, and the place where it finally vanished was south of Kunyang city!

Though the three-hundred-thousand-strong host had ringed the city in a great circle, Dou Rong's proposal to "surround on three sides, leave one open" had alone left a gap to the south.

It was this empty ground that became the meteor's falling place — yet there was no earth-shaking tremor, as if nothing at all had happened.

But the Xin camp and Kunyang were already in an uproar. Dou Rong could not remain calm either; he stood frozen atop the watchtower, his mouth hanging open for a long, long moment.

"A meteor truly fell at Kunyang!"

"Diwu Lun's prophecy — it has come true!"

…

The soldiers on night watch murmured among themselves about the rare wonder, while those startled awake from deep slumber in the camp rubbed their eyes, not knowing what had happened, and heard only the eyewitnesses tell them: "Just now, a star fell inside Kunyang city!"

This was, in truth, a matter of perspective. The Xin troops north of the city simply believed the meteor had fallen within the walls, and many deemed it Heaven's punishment upon the rebels.

"With one strike like that, who knows how many bandits were crushed to death."

Excitement, fear, bewilderment — all manner of emotions tangled together. Dou Rong moved through the clamor and chaos, his heart full of trepidation, and entered the main tent of the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi.

A crowd of subordinate generals had already gathered there, their faces alight with excitement, all thinking this event could be turned to their advantage.

Wang Mang had dispatched several dozen men versed in military strategy to accompany the army, among them not a few adepts in the arts of military divination and yin-yang. Now these men were praying to the stars and casting auguries. After putting on a long show of mystification, they all declared to Wang Yi: "This is the Star of Army-Breaking, an omen of our army's great victory and the rebels' utter rout!"

"Excellent!"

Wang Yi roared with laughter. "Spread the word — say that the falling star struck the city and slew a thousand bandits, that this is divine aid for us! At dawn we storm the walls, take the city in a day, and slaughter to our hearts' content, proclaiming our might!"

Even Diwu Lun could hardly have imagined that the very same meteor, differing by only the slightest detail, would instead grant Wang Yi's great army a +1 to morale.

The generals all sang endless praises, certain of victory. Only Dou Rong was filled with shock and dread. If he truly had to believe a prophecy, he would rather believe Diwu Lun's!

A short while later, the commanders dispersed one by one. Only Dou Rong remained. Wang Yi looked at him: "What matter does the Duke of Zhou still have?"

Had it been an ordinary general, Dou Rong would not have cared whether he lived or died, much less revealed this matter. But Wang Yi was different — he was his sister's husband, the patron who had raised him up. Gritting his teeth, Dou Rong drew from his bosom the silk letter he had turned over in his hands countless times and presented it with both hands.

"Your subordinate has a letter from Diwu Boyu. The words upon it are shocking to behold — I dare not conceal it, and beg the Grand Minister of Works to cast his eyes over it!"

…

PS: Had to go out, so I wrote and posted this early. Chapter two at 18:00.