Chapter 311: Ill Luck

An hour earlier, just as Zhang Zong struck Wang Chang's "seven-inch spot" at Huangxiang Slope, the Hedong Army's commander Dou Rong was leading his colonels and majors aboard transport boats, sailing southwest against the wind. Their target was Wei Mouth, behind and to the flank of Deng Chen's force.

In truth, when deciding the direction of attack, Dou Rong had played a little sly. He deliberately said he would chew the hard bone and meet Wang Chang's main army head-on, but Zhang Zong replied, "Life and death are fated — how could Zhang Zong shirk hardship and choose ease?"

Thus Dou Rong smoothly and logically handed the clearly tougher eastern sector to Zhang Zong and took the west himself. Wei Mouth is where the Wei and Tong Rivers enter the Yellow River, and the ground there is quite flat. Compared to the crisscrossing hills and gullies at Zhang Zong's landing point, it was far easier for large boats to reach shore and deliver more troops in a single wave — an advantage for the attacker.

Dou Rong was brimming with confidence for this battle: "This action will smash the enemy's rear in one blow, seal off Wei Mouth, and together with General Jing, annihilate these several thousand troops inside the Tong River valley!"

Reckoning carefully, it had been over nine months since his crushing defeat by Liu Bosheng at the Battle of Tang River. In Nanyang and Yingchuan, he, Dou Rong, had been chased all over by the Greenwood men, his old troops lost, his face utterly gone. So much so that after he threw in his lot with Diwu Lun, even though the King of Wei spoke of "spitting out food to receive a Duke of Zhou" and honored him as a scholar of the realm, with rank and office both granted, Dou Rong was still looked down upon by the colonels under his command.

If he wanted his orders to be obeyed in Hedong from now on, he had to make a showing in this battle!

Using Zhang Zong's broken tally as a spur, Dou Rong had already rekindled the army's morale. But as a seasoned campaigner, he did not underestimate the enemy just because only a few hundred men guarded the opposite bank. He had the major whose first assault had failed come and report, telling him every detail of the engagement.

"The channels at Wei Mouth are wide, the river forks many, and the reeds grow so thick you can't see through them — taller than a man."

"On Lord Dou's orders, a few days ago, before the Greenwood bandits arrived, we hid over a hundred men in ambush among the reed beds to support the landing. Using the reeds for cover, they set up camps at key points. But when we landed, the ones who came to meet us were Greenwood bandits in swapped armor. They suddenly sprang up and attacked — they must have wiped out every one of our ambushers."

"There are men among the Greenwood who know how to use troops," Dou Rong nodded. Now the reed beds at Wei Mouth had been seized by the enemy instead. The foe was hidden, they were in the open. Yet to land and strike Deng Chen's force, they had to pass through this spot. The alternative was to row upstream against the Wei River and go several more li — a long detour.

The Wei colonels and majors, knowing shame and finding courage, showed no fear now. One after another they begged to fight: "Earlier we fell for the bandits' trick and slipped up carelessly. Now we've ferried over two thousand men. The big boats reach the shore, the infantry form ranks and advance, and the small boats probe the creeks searching for the enemy. The bandits are few — what can they do to us?"

Dou Rong did not answer. He first reached out a hand to feel the wind. It was blowing from the southwest. The boats were already struggling to move against it, let alone adding an upstream push into the Wei River. If they did that, they would certainly waste even more time.

"Make for Wei Mouth!" Dou Rong gave the order. Yet as the riverbank drew nearer, the sense of foreboding in his heart grew heavier and heavier.

Before the battle, Dou Rong had come in person by boat to reconnoiter. The reeds along the bank were dense, and now in late autumn they had withered, quite dry, swaying and rustling in the wind. The sound was like a thousand troops moving within.

And on the bank there were indeed some Greenwood soldiers watching by their campfires. When they saw the Wei vanguard arrive, they immediately snatched up bows and crossbows and loosed wildly. The Wei soldiers leaped ashore with shields raised against the arrows. After leaving a few corpses behind, the Greenwood men hastily retreated, vanishing into the reed beds.

The men were about to pursue when, unexpectedly, Dou Rong's order came from behind!

"No deep pursuit!"

The colonels and majors, eager to wipe away their earlier disgrace, were baffled. Old habits resurfaced at once, and someone said snidely, "Could it be Lord Dou is afraid of the Greenwood men?"

Repeated defeat by the Greenwood was Dou Rong's sore spot, so he had to show some aggressiveness. But he was not so hotheaded as to lose his reason. Coolly, he directed a more cautious major to lead his men forward slowly.

"Have the troops advance in a skirmish line and search. Make the formation behind them as noisy as possible, so the Greenwood bandits think our whole army has entered the reeds. The moment you hear the gongs, pull back at once!"

His subordinates acknowledged the order and moved out. The others looked at one another, but Dou Rong told them to stay calm for now.

"I say, Duke of Zhou Dou has been scared witless by the Greenwood — timid and hesitant." The whispered muttering was shattered by cries of alarm. It was nearly dawn now, the sky growing light, the rising sun already climbing from the east. Yet deep within the reed beds, many points of light were also flaring up: fire!

The eight hundred men under Deng Feng were not enough to hold the several li of shoreline at Wei Mouth, but they were more than enough to start a fire. At a roll of drums, the men he had positioned lit the flames. The blazing fire swept from south to north, fanned by the wind, gradually spreading. From the creeks, fire boats piled with kindling were pushed out, crackling and roaring as they burned, charging straight forth with the wind at their backs.

Dou Rong immediately ordered the gongs sounded. His soldiers had not gone far and hurried back just before the great fire could swallow them. The wind was fierce, the flames savage. The Wei soldiers had no choice but to dive into the mud or scramble and swim back to the boats, in considerable disarray.

The officers aboard the ships could only stare wide-eyed at the inferno engulfing the whole of Wei Mouth. Pheasants flew wildly, deer fled in panic. Had they been a moment later, they too would have been roasted.

Duke of Zhou Dou, aboard his boat, gazed at the fire and sighed: "The art of war says: To launch a fire attack, there must be the right conditions; the fire-starting materials must always be at hand. There is a season for setting fires, and a day for igniting them. The season is when the weather is dry; the day is when the wind rises."

"This place has tangled trees and thick reeds, and now a strong wind is blowing — it is the perfect place to use a fire attack."

"Those who let themselves be deceived are sure to lose. If we had fallen for the bait just now and charged in with everything, our boats would have jammed at the creek mouths with no room to turn. Once this fire was lit, we would have suffered a crushing defeat!"

The men acknowledged, all still shaken. They waited a while, but even as the flames died down, no enemy troops charged out. It seemed Deng Feng had used the fire for defense, not offense. Using the wall of fire as a barrier, he had led his troops away in good order.

The Wei soldiers, however, were directly in the path of the wind and choking on the smoke. Dou Rong had no art to change the wind's direction or summon rain. No one knew how long the fire would burn. He could only adopt the second plan: lead the men against wind and current into the Wei River.

By the time they landed, circled around the smoldering reed beds, and reached Forbidden Gully, half an hour had passed. The Greenwood men had already abandoned the several hundred corpses from their uphill assault on Tong Tableland and withdrawn south.

Jing Dan also led his troops down from Tong Tableland. The Seventh Brigade, which had hurried over after spotting the smoke and flames, followed behind. After linking up with Dou Rong, Jing Dan still managed a courteous bow, but the Seventh Brigade commander's face was dark. He demanded:

"Governor Dou, what took you so long?!"

In the millstone plan devised by Jing Dan and the King of Wei, the Hedong Army was critical. Zhang Zong's column, just over a thousand men in all, had achieved enormous results and could be said to have met its objective. Dou Rong's side, by contrast, had more men but had fallen short, letting the Deng troops withdraw at their leisure.

Jing Dan, ever tactful, tried to placate the Seventh Brigade commander: "General Seventh, we have already beaten back two Greenwood armies, destroyed and captured several thousand of the enemy, while our own casualties are barely over a thousand. This exceeds the King's projections — it is a great victory!"

But the Seventh Brigade commander, who loved to bully the weak and fear the strong, was still displeased. Zhang Zong was too fierce and daring to curse at, so he vented all his anger on the hapless Dou Rong, glaring at him: "Right, a great victory — just not quite perfect!"

Dou Rong had grievances he could not voice. It still came down to his ill luck. He had picked the side that was easier to land on, only to run into a man who knew how to fight. That fire had burned away all his temper. Keeping his troops intact was already the best he could do.

Now, facing the Seventh Brigade commander's mockery, Dou Rong could only clasp his hands, mumble assent, and then tell himself with bitter self-mockery:

"Fortune is where misfortune hides; misfortune is what fortune leans upon."

"Perhaps a Dou Rong whose spine was broken by the Greenwood, who commands troops timid and hesitant, who can no longer win battlefield merit and can only honestly govern a commandery…"

"…will live better, and longer, than a Dou Rong who recovers his former glory, a general whose name rivals that of the King of Wei, Diwu Lun!"

…

"Uncle, the pursuing Wei troops have been beaten back by me, and I've destroyed another bridge. That should slow them a little."

Over the past two days, Deng Feng had fought across the entire field and shone brilliantly: first, he wiped out the troops Dou Rong had hidden in the reed beds; second, he repelled the Hedong Army's probing landing; third, he used a great fire to block the enemy and cover Deng Chen's withdrawal.

Now he personally held the rear guard, using the narrow, north-south terrain of Forbidden Gully to deal a sharp blow to the Wei troops the Seventh Brigade commander had sent in hot pursuit — men strung out in a long, single-file snake inside the gully!

Four battles, four victories. More and more of the Deng troops admired this "young clan heir." Set against the overall defeat, Deng Feng was like a single grain of gold in a heap of ashes.

Deng Chen, by contrast, was utterly dejected. Even when resting, he would not touch a morsel of food, consumed by nothing but anxiety.

His plan with Liu Bosheng had been to make a noise in the east while striking in the west, but the Wei army was tougher than expected. In the east, far from linking up to attack Hexi and pin down Diwu Lun, they had been soundly beaten. Wang Chang's column had gone silent, and he himself was retreating in disarray. The first move had failed. What of the other two battlefields, on the Wei River and in Right Fufeng?

"Uncle!"

Deng Feng came to his side and spoke with emphasis: "At this point, where does Uncle intend to go?"

Deng Chen answered as if it were obvious: "We haven't suffered much damage. Naturally, we take the troops and pull back south of the Wei River."

West of Forbidden Gully was another tableland (the site of present-day Tongguan county seat), but its slopes were gentler and its height unremarkable — nothing as daunting as Tong Tableland. They could easily climb it, cross a few more similar tablelands, and return to the Huayin area.

Deng Feng shook his head. "With this great victory, the Wei army will certainly press the pursuit. On flat ground, they march far faster than we do. The moment we leave these tablelands, we'll be hit hard around Huayin!"

Meeting a victorious army with freshly defeated troops — morale would be heaven and earth apart. No matter how brave Deng Feng was, he had no confidence of winning.

"Then in your view…"

Deng Feng said, "Not west — keep going south! Take the mountain paths through the Hua range, circle around to Huayang, and then return to Shangluo and Shang County."

That sounded fine, but Deng Chen recalled Deng Feng's earlier attitude and pressed: "And after that? By your thinking, I suppose you mean to head south back to Wu Pass, or even Nanyang?"

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At this stage, Deng Feng did not shy away: "The Deng troops were built up by Uncle and me, man by man. We've already lost a fifth of them. Must we let them die in Guanzhong for Liu Bosheng's ambition?"

"Uncle stormed Tong Tableland with everything you had; I fought four battles in a row at Wei Mouth and Forbidden Gully and bear several wounds. We have both done right by Liu Bosheng — our duty is fulfilled, our loyalty exhausted. What comes next, we must consider for the Deng clan."

"Withdraw to Wu Pass, send a memorial to Gengshi begging forgiveness, and declare a break with Liu Bosheng. The one Liu Xuan hates is Liu Bosheng, not the great clans of Nanyang. The Deng clan has rendered great service to Gengshi — this way, we can still return to our homeland, instead of wandering as lonely ghosts in foreign lands!"

"You—" Deng Chen wanted to rebuke his nephew, but the words lost their force before they reached his lips.

On one side lay his bond of friendship with Liu Bosheng and his brother; on the other, his clan's future. Deng Chen had once believed the two were one and the same, but now, with the first signs of Liu Bosheng's defeat emerging, a contradiction had arisen. For a moment, he truly did not know what to do.

But if they really followed Deng Feng's suggestion and simply left, the Wei army at Tongyuan would have no threat to their rear and could march straight west — then Bosheng's rear would be in grave danger!

After a long while, Deng Chen raised his head, about to speak his decision, but Deng Feng had already guessed his intent. He suddenly strode forward, shaped his hand like a blade, and struck Deng Chen hard on the back of the neck — knocking him unconscious on the spot.

"Uncle, Uncle!"

Deng Feng held Deng Chen, calling out loudly, but his cold gaze swept over the clansmen and followers stunned by the scene. "My uncle is overtaxed and has collapsed. From this moment on, the Deng clan troops take orders from me."

"Whoever dares defy my command — death without mercy!"

Before this battle, such words would have lacked weight, but over the past few days Deng Feng had repeatedly thwarted the Wei troops, winning renown and prestige. No one dared oppose him now. Besides, they had made a trip to Guanzhong and, apart from the palace halls, had gained nothing — some were already homesick. All bowed their heads and assented.

"South! Back to Wu Pass!"

…

Just as Deng Feng had anticipated, Jing Dan sent the Seventh Biao to chase the Greenwood men, while he himself quickly "borrowed troops" from Dou Rong and advanced west to Huayin County. After retaking it, he waited at ease for the weary enemy, expecting Deng Chen and his nephew to walk right into the encirclement from the hills and plains to the east.

Yet they waited until the third day, when the Seventh Biao, looking thoroughly ill-fated, crawled out of the ravines covered in dust and grime — and still there was no sign of the Greenwood forces.

"Commander Jing, the Deng clan troops have fled south. The mountain paths are narrow and treacherous — hard to pursue now." The Seventh Biao was seething with resentment.

"It's all Dou the Duke of Zhou's fault!"

The Seventh Biao had already decided that once the fighting was over, he would lodge a proper complaint against Dou Rong with Diwu Lun.

Jing Dan, for his part, bore no ill will toward Dou Rong. Every victory needs one unlucky fool who gains no merit, to serve as a foil that makes the achievers shine all the more.

Zhang Zong was beyond doubt the officer of foremost merit in the battle of Tongyuan — but as for the commander of foremost merit, Jing Dan would not yield that title to anyone!

He gazed westward. Today was the sixteenth day of the ninth month. The two battlefields at the Wei River and Youfufeng should have seen action long ago — he only wondered how the fighting was going.

"Wang Chang has been repulsed and fallen back to Hu County; he won't dare advance west again rashly. Tongyuan can be left to Dou the Duke of Zhou and the recovering Zhang Zong."

A bold idea sprouted in Jing Dan's mind. He looked at the still-eager Seventh Biao. "General Seventh, we have won a great victory in just a few days. What comes next — even the King of Wei has not arranged it. But we can act first and report afterward!"

"What is it?"

Jing Dan raised his whip and pointed west. "To Xinfeng, Hongmen, and Lantian — cut off Liu Bosheng's rear!"

…

PS: Tomorrow's update at 13:00.

There will be extra chapters.