Chapter 457: Today the Long Tassel Is in My Hand!

Let us return to a few days earlier. After Wu Han parted ways with Young Geng, he first seized a rural settlement, let his troops eat their fill, then marched around Long County — whose defenders had been terrified out of their wits by the two Wei flanking forces — and headed upward along the western slope of Mount Long. As he walked, he began cursing his mother.

"Heaven is unfair."

The eastern foothills they had come by were a tortuous, six-coiled, nine-fold mountain road, perilous beyond measure. Now, looking up at this gentle western slope, which led straight to Long Pass with hardly any effort, it was no wonder the Long army defended it so easily.

By the time they followed the Long army's supply route and neared Long Slope, the loess hills had given way to vast forests. Mid-autumn was approaching, and most of the leaves were changing to yellow robes; here and there, patches of blood-red woods appeared. Some soldiers said it was dyed by the blood shed in centuries of bitter fighting!

Long Slope was the Long army's supply relay point: the wounded and sick from the front lines withdrew here, while grain and fodder from the rear streamed ceaselessly through this pass. Because Wu Han and Geng Yan had been causing havoc, reinforcements and baggage had been cut off for days. Only two or three thousand Long soldiers were here, more than half of them wounded. Wu Han took it without much trouble.

Standing here and looking down, one could see Long Pass, also called "Great Shaking Pass," built at the most precipitous narrow point on the eastern slope.

Shielded by surrounding peaks, with the pass's western slope steep and sheer, the terrain formed a concave shape — an ideal place to station troops. The Long army had at least four or five thousand men garrisoned here to block the Wei army's advance.

Wu Han ordered his army to advance on Long Pass, driving many captives before them as they stumbled and staggered to the front of the pass.

"General, how do we attack?"

Wu Han had originally planned to use the captives to infiltrate, but Long Pass had clearly realized its rear was under attack and had already shut the western gate. Looking at this formidable terrain, even a two-pronged assault would not be easy.

So he first had his men shout loudly, proclaiming that the Wei army had already taken all of Longyou, that Wei Ao had been soundly defeated and fled, and that only Long Pass still held out!

The Long soldiers inside the pass could not help but believe it — how else could they explain this enemy force that had arrived as if on wings?

Only Wu Han knew that if Young Geng were not tying down Wei Ao and the main Long County force in Longyou, he himself could be surrounded and crushed at any moment.

So time was pressing; he had to coordinate with His Majesty to break the pass as quickly as possible!

Wu Han stared for a long time, then suddenly asked those beside him: "Have you all heard of 'Chu songs on all sides'?"

A famous scene from two hundred years ago — what officer or clerk with even a little learning did not know of it?

Wu Han reckoned that the garrison at Long Pass must now be trembling with fear: how had a Wei army force attacked from the rear, where baggage and reinforcements were supposed to come from? Had Longyou fallen? What of their homes? In such a state of mind, a little exploitation would make them lose their will to fight!

"Haven't we also captured quite a few Long army wounded and sick today? Let us put on a performance for them too!"

"Sing what?"

"How about 'The Longxi Ballad'?" someone suggested with a malicious chuckle.

This "Longxi Ballad" was originally a Music Bureau song about a sturdy Long woman who, while her husband was away, received a guest with perfect decorum, neither servile nor overbearing. But sung now, it carried a different meaning: "Fathers and brothers toil in bitter battle far away; only wives and daughters remain at home. If you do not return, we guests here shall not stand on ceremony!"

This sort of thing — Wu Han and his subordinates really were capable of it.

But Wu Han felt it was not wretched enough, so he made the captives sing a different song instead — one that Wei Ao himself had once sung at the top of his lungs, vowing to make "the Wei army's blood run dry on Long Slope."

"Long headwaters flow, streaming down the mountain. I think of myself, alone, drifting on the open wilds."

The captives had been beaten, and blood once again seeped from their wounds. For a time, they wept and wailed.

"At dawn we set out from Xincheng; at dusk we lodge at Longtou. The cold leaves us speechless, our tongues curled back into our throats."

Thinking of this war that had forced them to abandon their families and children — the sixteen great houses of Tianshui and Longxi had conscripted nearly every able-bodied laborer on their lands to plug the holes in Mount Long. Those magnates could still feast on wine and meat, but the common soldiers suffered bitterly. Ordinary men could not grasp the pride of the "sons of good families" from the six commanderies. Emperor Liu, Wei Ao, Diwu Lun — whoever ruled, was there any difference?

"Long headwaters flow, their murmur a choked sob. Gazing far toward Qinland, heart and liver torn asunder!"

Their grief-stricken voices turned into howling wails, and utterly drained the courage of the soldiers inside Long Pass!

The Wei main force on the eastern slope heard the commotion too. Under Diwu Lun's command, they launched their assault at the opportune moment. This mighty pass, which had blocked them for a full three months and whose terrain had made it difficult to deploy any of the new siege engines, was breached in barely half a day!

As the last diehard resisters in the pass were wiped out, the great banner of the Wei clan fluttered down. Diwu Lun's carriage entered through the main gate and rolled right over it.

Wu Han was already prostrating himself ahead: "Your servant greets Your Majesty. The pass has only been opened today — I am at fault!"

Diwu Lun had long since received the memorial from Wu Han and Young Geng requesting to bypass the pass. Because military intelligence was urgent and the mountain passes hard to cross, they had acted without waiting for a reply — which had worried him sick.

Now, seeing Wu Han had succeeded, and hearing him say that Geng Bozhao was tying down Wei Ao's main force below the mountain, Diwu Lun helped Wu Han up and said: "The gates of Long were stout and thick; it is thanks to you, General, that they were broken open for me."

When Diwu Lun ascended Long Slope and took in the view from the heights of the Liupan Mountains, he smiled and said: "Gentlemen, do you recall, in the summer, when we gazed at Mount Long from afar, how high did we reckon this mountain to be?"

Everyone said: "A thousand paces from the ground."

"And Long Slope?"

"At least seven or eight hundred paces."

Diwu Lun nodded. "Since ancient times, high platforms have been built to appoint generals — but no matter how high a platform is built, can it be higher than a mountain? Today, let us take Mount Long as our platform and appoint Ziyi as General — only then can it match his achievements!"

Wu Han, who had not received much praise down at the pass and was still somewhat displeased, now hurriedly prostrated himself upon hearing these words.

Then Diwu Lun said: "The Six Secret Teachings states: 'War chariots and valiant riders circle to my left and right.' Now Ziyi has circled the treacherous paths of Mount Long, raided Jieting, and routed Wei Ao — truly a warrior roused to action, valiant riders blazing with fury! Though your command has no cavalry, you surpass having cavalry. You may be styled General of the Valiant Riders!"

Because Wu Han had pledged allegiance late, his marquis rank and fief were not low, but previously he had only been an Assistant General. Now, with this promotion, Wu Han was delighted, yet also a little disappointed. He bowed his head and gave thanks for the imperial grace, but inwardly thought: "I had hoped to jump two ranks and get a heavy-title general post."

Although "Valiant Riders" sounded similar in meaning to "Fleet Riders" or "Chariots and Cavalry," it was far from comparable, because the positions of Fleet Riders and Chariots and Cavalry were so exceptionally prominent due to the two star generals Huo and Wei having once held them. As for those who had served as Valiant Riders in Han times…

It was Li Guang.

Diwu Lun intended to inspire Wu Han to emulate Li Guang — a man of unmatched talent, courage, and genius — and even hinted that in the future he might again have the chance to command the Youzhou shock cavalry. But it also carried a faint hint of criticism.

Because when Wu Han personally led troops on the detour to raid Jieting, the several thousand remaining men of the independent division he had left north of Xiao Pass had, through carelessness, been attacked and routed by the Longyou general Niu Han, who sallied out from the pass. They lost Jingyang City and retreated a hundred li east before halting their steps.

This incident left a major blemish on Wu Han's achievements, but the blemish did not obscure the whole. Earlier, at Anding, he had failed to coordinate with Young Geng to lure the enemy — winning the tactic but losing the strategy. Now, however, he had helped Diwu Lun win the overall game, while losing only a corner.

Thus came this result in the appointment. But one way Wu Han differed from Li Guang… was that his luck was very good.

The next day, as the great army advanced down the mountain and reached Long County, the Long forces there had already withdrawn completely. Geng Yan had occupied the place and, like Wu Han, came to beg Diwu Lun's forgiveness.

"Your servant failed to capture Wei Ao, and also failed to block the withdrawal of the Long County troops — I am at fault!"

Though he said this, if Diwu Lun took it seriously, he would be a fatuous ruler.

"After the battle of Jieting, Bozhao had only seven or eight hundred riders left, yet he tied down Wei Ao and the seven or eight thousand men of the Long County main camp — one against ten — allowing Wu Ziyi to advance on Long Slope at his leisure. To call this a fault is truly too modest."

Diwu Lun even regretted having appointed Young Geng as General of Chariots and Cavalry in one breath back then. But at the founding of the state, there were only so many capable generals; he had no choice but to give them heavy responsibility. Fortunately, there was still much room to maneuver with noble titles — the duke's position was still vacant!

And by comparison, one could see where Geng Yan surpassed Wu Han: though Geng Yan himself had also taken a risky detour, he had arranged the main army behind him with perfect clarity, and it had suffered no losses.

Diwu Lun looked at Geng and Wu, the two generals who still glared at each other the moment they met, and laughed heartily: "Did you not coordinate well this time? First time awkward, second time smooth. You two generals must still cooperate in good faith going forward."

Though he said this, Diwu Lun, who had broken out in cold sweat many times over the past month, would rather die than put these two clowns together again. Too much trouble.

The current situation was this: seeing that Long Slope could not be held, Wei Ao had abandoned the fantasy of defending the mountain line and had begun hastily withdrawing his forces from the various mountain passes.

"Where is Wei Ao retreating to?"

Diwu Lun asked Geng Yan. Wei Ao had at least three choices: west, north, or south.

To the west lay the Wei clan's ancestral home of Chengji, as well as Tianshui's capital, Pingxiang. To the north was Niu Han's force, fresh from a victory, still holding cities like Xiao Pass and Gaoping.

Geng Yan reported: "Wei Ao dares not go west. I have come from the west — he deems the western region unsafe already. Nor does he dare go north to join Niu Han and stake all on a decisive battle against us. Defeated at Jieting, his nerve is broken. He is now retreating south."

"South?" Diwu Lun laughed in spite of himself. This Wei Jimeng could be counted a regional hegemon, but his courage was just a little too small; he always chose the safest route. South was his home base, Ji County. If he could form a mutual horn-and-fang stance with Shanggui, build a defense line on the south bank of the Wei River, and then get support from Gongsun Shu in Shu, he might hold Longxi.

That was the most conservative way of fighting — it could let the Wei regime survive a few more months, but it left Niu Han at Xiao Pass trapped in a pincer encirclement by the Wei army from north and south!

"Ziyi!" Diwu Lun singled out Wu Han. "I am allotting you three thousand troops. Once your ranks are replenished, march north and coordinate with the remnants of the Anding Independent Division and the Bing Province troops under Meng Ze to surround and strike Niu Han!"

Since they had been able to thrash the Wei army even with Wu Han absent, Niu Han was no mediocre commander — this would be a hard fight, exactly what Wu Han needed! He could use it to wipe away the one blemish on this campaign!

"Bozhao!" Diwu Lun gave the easier task to Geng Yan. "You will lead troops to sweep through the counties of Tianshui. Remember — taking cities intact is paramount."

The reason for this arrangement was that Wu Han's troops had been replaced with a fresh batch, yet their discipline still had not improved, whereas Geng Yan had a better sense of what mattered.

As for Diwu Lun himself, he would march slightly south to first rescue the other great contributor to this battle — Wan Xiu, who had been the first to throw Longyou's strategy into chaos — and that was what led to the order for Zhang Yu to win over the Di tribes everywhere and turn them to his own use.

Diwu Lun did not rush to pursue Wei Ao and strike all the way to Longxi to end the war. When he was east of Mount Long, he had been very agitated, because once they were dragged into winter, the Long slopes would become a death trap and the campaign would have to be shelved until the following year — but would the Red Eyebrows in the Central Plains and Liu Xiu in the southeast wait for him?

Now, however, Diwu Lun's pent-up frustrations were all gone, and his mood had returned to a state of unhurried, steady fighting.

First, as a guest army maneuvering against the home army in the rugged terrain of Longxi, they had to be ten thousand times careful. Though it was only one commandery, it was harder to fight through than ten commanderies on the great Hebei plain. They would first turn Tianshui into a solid logistics base.

Second, Diwu Lun also harbored a sly scheme: "Now Gongsun Shu can no longer hold back and has entered the field. Cen Peng sent word that the Shu army launched a surprise attack on Ziwu Valley and was defeated once, and has also sent several thousand Shu troops into the Longxi sector. If we can trick Gongsun Shu into sending tens of thousands more Shu troops north in one go, we can encircle and annihilate them in Longyou!"

If Gongsun Shu also launched six expeditions from Mount Qi and drained his state's strength, then the future campaign against Shu would see countless difficulties vanish into thin air!

Diwu Lun suddenly asked those around him: "Do you all know what Liang Province looks like on a map?"

Du Du and the others said a ladle, or the Northern Dipper, but Diwu Lun shook his head. "It looks like a grey dragon!"

"It is long and narrow from east to west, stretching three thousand li across. Tianshui is the dragon's eye, Longxi is the dragon's jaw, and Anding is the dragon's horn — together they form the dragon's head."

"Jincheng Commandery is the dragon's belly. Of the four Hexi commanderies, Wuwei is the dragon's body, Zhangye is the dragon's spine, and Jiuquan and Dunhuang are the dragon's tail!"

Diwu Lun grasped the empty air, as if holding the cosmos in his hand. "The mountain passes are already crossed. For me, the long cord is now in hand!"

"The dragon's head is pinned. Next, we bind it slowly, claw by claw, horn by horn — and thus we shall truss up this grey dragon that is Liang Province!"

…

Diwu Lun likened Liang Province to a grey dragon, himself holding one end of the long cord, planning to first bind the dragon's head — but he did not yet know that the other end of the cord was right now clutched in the hand of Diba Jiao at the dragon's tail!