Chapter 463: If an Army Were Ambushed Here

PS: Earlier text had an error — it should be Platoon Commander.

……

The Hu, the Qiang, and the Di — three tribal peoples who had lived intermingled with the Han in Longyou and Hexi since the Qin and Han — were each handled by Diwu Lun with a different strategy.

Against the Xiongnu Hu, the most powerful faction and the one most likely to draw the Chanyu into invading the interior, he maintained the strictest vigilance and a death-grip defense.

Toward the fierce and formidable Western and Eastern Qiang, already impossible to peel away from the region, Diwu Lun made only cautious contact.

Only with the Di, the weakest of the three, who mostly practiced terraced farming in the mountains, did Diwu Lun actively extend amnesty and recruitment, allowing these tribes — ruthlessly suppressed under the Former Han and the Wei clan's rule — to turn their fortunes around, promising them the position of Dependent State Marquis Chief. In the past, the Di had held such low status that, apart from the White Horse Di of Wudu Commandery, they could not even secure a Marquis Chief post, let alone during the Xin Dynasty, when Wang Mang had demoted every dependent state by one rank.

Thus, over the past several months, Di tribes in Tianshui who submitted to Wei were numerous; many Di were even willing to enlist and serve under Wan Xiu's command.

As a "veteran" who had taken part in the Battle of Mianzhu and scored considerable kills, and who had also caught General Wan's eye, A-Yun — despite being confined to quarters for several days — was smoothly promoted to Platoon Commander.

Yet he failed to get close to Wan Xiu as he had hoped. General Wan had sustained a waist injury; normally fond of inspecting the front lines in person, he could now only lie in a cart and look around casually. Several times, A-Yun could only watch helplessly as Wan Xiu's war cart approached from afar and then departed into the distance. For a minor Platoon Commander like him to attend at stirrup and bridle, he was still far from qualified!

"If I can't even get near Wan Xiu, how much less Diwu Lun?" A-Yun felt somewhat disheartened.

Worse still, military orders kept coming down. Sure enough, the newly formed Di troops received an assignment: exploit their advantage in scaling mountains and crossing ridges, follow Colonel Diyi Jiming westward, take the high Gaocheng Ridge northwest of Mount Niaoshu, and strike straight for Longxi along the narrow trails!

This route had been pointed out by a surrendered Longxi officer — a genuine defector. After marching seven or eight days and reaching the mountains southeast of Didao, the Colonel sent men to establish contact with Wu Han. After all, with the long-standing tradition of "accidentally hitting friendly forces," they could not afford to skip precautions.

According to Diwu Lun's micromanagement, Wu Han's isolated force would find it very hard to take the stronghold of Didao by storm — attacking a city was the inferior option; they still had to play some tricks.

That was how the "relief force" suddenly arrived, with the defector calling at the gates before Didao.

A-Yun stood in the front ranks. He was loyal to the Gongsun Emperor, understood that the contest with Wei over Long was of vital importance, and did not wish to see Didao fall.

But if he spoke out to warn them, he would certainly blow his cover. A-Yun had already considered whether to "accidentally" drop the five-colored sash issued to every Platoon Commander onto the ground — but would the men on the wall even see it? The Wei army overseers behind him, however, had sharp eyes and keen ears!

Just as A-Yun was agonizing, Wei Ao on the wall spoke up, addressing the defector Xing Xun: "General Xing, please enter the city first to explain!"

At these words, a basket was lowered. Xing Xun froze, unsure whether to step in. He glanced back slightly at Diyi Jiming behind him — hidden among the crowd, crossbows were quietly trained on him!

And that very hesitation was the flaw that Wei Ao spotted!

"Those men are Wei troops in disguise! Loose arrows!"

Arrows rained down haphazardly from the Didao wall. Xing Xun took a hit and retreated in disarray, while the rest, their playacting equally unconvincing, gave up trying to bamboozle the Longxi troops and angrily brandished the Wei army's five-colored banners.

A-Yun immediately breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of delight: "Thankfully, Wei Ao is suspicious by nature!"

"A petty little ruse, and you thought to fool this general?"

Seeing the Wei army's ruse to seize the city fail, Wei Ao swept a smug look over his subordinates, hoping to hear a few words of flattery and praise so he could ride the momentum to boost morale.

But he found that the soldiers did not share his joy. In their swollen eye sockets, worn from sleepless nights on guard, the last glimmer of hope had shattered, leaving only hollow bewilderment.

Reinforcements had come — but they were the enemy's reinforcements. How could they not despair?

Wei Ao's bid for applause fell flat, and the fear in his heart deepened. He knew that with one lost battle and ceded territory after another, the sons of Longyou had already begun to turn away from him in heart and mind!

Over the next few days, Wu Han finally launched his assault on Didao. The low-status Di troops were naturally the first choice for cannon fodder swarming the walls. A-Yun in particular was assigned by the malicious Diyi Jiming to lead the vanguard. Because Wan Xiu paid considerable attention to this bold little Di soldier, Diyi Jiming could not strike him down directly and could only hope that A-Yun would die in combat.

The city's garrison was ample, and the fighting was brutally fierce. A-Yun's platoon lost seven men in a single uphill charge, kindling a fire of anger in his heart.

It was true that he was loyal to the Gongsun Emperor, and true that those dying were Wei soldiers — but they were also his fellow Di people.

Yet casualties within the city were also heavy, and morale sank lower by the day. Even Wei Ao personally fighting on the walls could do nothing to stop it.

By the fifth day of battle, with arrows nearly exhausted, Wei Ao's patience wore thin: "My son is at Angu County, thirty li to the south. I detached four thousand men to him so we could form a pincer with Didao — why has he not come out to relieve us?"

The Wei army was clearly besieging the city to strike at reinforcements. Wei Ao did not know whether to praise his son for having his father's caution, or to blame him for watching them die without lifting a finger.

That day, after just beating back an assault, Wei Ao leaned wearily against a pillar to doze. In a daze, he saw several officers gathered not far away, whispering among themselves while casting glances toward his position!

The sight jolted Wei Ao violently awake. But by the time he rose and walked over with his personal guard, the men had stopped their discussion, merely keeping their heads down and avoiding his eyes. After all, General Wei was a good man; to betray him, they could not help feeling a little guilty.

Wei Ao, too, was on high alert, and a historical episode from the Former Han immediately came to mind.

After Emperor Gao of Han, Liu Bang, defeated Xiang Yu, he enfeoffed and rewarded over twenty great meritorious officials. The rest quarreled over their merits day and night, unable to settle who ranked above whom, and so no further rewards were granted. At the Southern Palace in Luoyang, Liu Bang looked down from a bridge and saw some generals often sitting together on the sand, talking among themselves. He asked Zhang Liang, "What are those men talking about?"

And Zhang Liang answered Liu Bang thus...

"Does Your Majesty not know? They are plotting rebellion!"

The way those men were looking at him — it was exactly the way one looks at a walking seal and ribbon of office, a pile of gleaming gold ingots!

"Rebellion — they are going to rebel!"

A trusted aide proposed, "Grand General, most of those men are in-laws of Niu Han. Lately, they have been most slack in battle, and they hold the city gates. Why not seize and execute them!"

Wei Ao shook his head. He had no proof. Doing that would make every man fear for his own life and splinter them even further.

Besides, would arresting and killing a few men settle the matter? Wei Ao recalled Niu Han's urging to surrender, recalled his own impassioned speech, and the soldiers' cold reaction after he had seen through the Wei army's ruse. Once men's hearts scatter, they are terribly hard to gather again.

Wei Ao felt only absurdity. He had intended to hold firm behind high walls and deep ramparts to blunt the enemy's keen edge — who would have thought that morale would collapse first on his own side?

And so Wei Ao summoned the Colonels he trusted and had a confidant speak on his behalf: "Niu Han has surrendered with the elite troops of Xiao Pass; the Di bandits also aid Wei. The rebel host swells mightily; a victorious army cannot be withstood."

"And our General, with newly withdrawn troops following on the heels of a defeated army, finds his officers and men dispirited and Longyou toppling. The ancients said: 'When a viper bites the hand, a stout warrior severs his own wrist.' Sunzi said: 'There are armies one does not strike, and ground one does not hold.' This is because a small loss may preserve the greater whole. Now, the harm Wu Han poses exceeds that of a viper; the ground of Didao, I fear, is hard to hold. It would be better to withdraw south to Angu, join forces with the Young Lord, and then fight Wu Han to the death."

This long string of classical citations, translated into plain speech, meant: "We can't hold it — let's run!"

The men looked at one another, then all turned to Wei Ao. Wei Ao slapped the armrest table.

"How can retreat be spoken of so lightly?"

"The Wei army has come from afar as strangers and divided its forces north and south of the city, with the Tao River cutting between them so they cannot aid each other. This is the moment for us to advance swiftly and smash the foe! As it is said, sudden thunder leaves no time to cover one's ears — such is the natural momentum!"

Wei Jimeng was, after all, a man who prized appearances; even now, he still cared about empty phrases.

"This is not a retreat."

"It is sallying forth to strike the enemy — and breaking out of the encirclement in passing!"

……

With such a lord, the morale of his officers and men can be imagined. In the past, Wei Ao had treated the worthy with courtesy and adorned himself in lofty righteousness, but war reveals a man's true character. The virtue and goodwill accumulated in ordinary times had been utterly consumed through defeat after defeat and chronic indecision.

And so, on the eve of Wei Ao's flight, several local military clerks of Didao, upon learning the news, gritted their teeth, stamped their feet, and opened Didao's north gate! Wei Ao could leave, but they and their families and estates could not. Since Niu Han was doing quite well among the Wei forces, was surrender not also a way out?

Wei Ao happened to have been awake all night and was the first to learn of the shocking turn. He immediately advanced his plan: the south gate also swung open, and he concentrated all his mounted followers in the hands of trusted clan partisans. Over a thousand riders burst through the gate and, under the faint light of dawn, galloped south at full speed.

But south of the city, too, lay the army encampments Wu Han had laid out. They had not expected the Longxi troops to collapse so quickly and thought it was a camp assault, so they rushed out to give battle.

In the ensuing melee, seeing that breaking through forward was hopeless, Wei Ao could only take a hundred-odd riders across the icy waters of the Tao River and flee south along the narrow river path west of the city.

The men around him dwindled, but no matter — thirty li, just flee thirty li south and he would reach the walled town his son held. Wei Ao clenched his jaw and spurred his horse on, but up ahead the road flickered with torchlight. A Wei army unit had, by sheer ill chance, blocked the narrow pass!

……

At the same time, Wu Han, stunned by news of the upheaval, led his troops to the south of the city and linked up with Diyi Jiming, who had just barely held off the Long army's camp assault. Only then did they learn that Wei Ao had not been found.

Wu Han's gaze swept southwest. "The road across the river is critical. If a battalion were lying in ambush there, even if Wei Ao broke out, he'd have to surrender with his hands tied."

Wu Han looked at Diyi Jiming. "Who's holding that position?"

Diyi Jiming had not expected his own blunder to turn out this way. He could only murmur, "The Di troops' First Battalion!"

……

"Didao has fallen into chaos — Wei Ao has escaped!"

"His cavalry scattered, fleeing all over the hills."

"Follow the river into the mountains and search — we must catch him!"

When A Yun heard the news, he could only sigh that this Wei Jijimeng truly had no talent for war. After only a few days, how had he been defeated again?

A Yun had no time to stamp his feet and lament. Their platoon was hurriedly mobilized. Colonel Diyi Jiming was utterly shameless: during the first days of storming the city, he had thrown the Di men into the brutal scaling assaults. Now that the city was about to fall, he pulled them back and sent in his own trusted troops to steal the glory.

So the Di soldiers found themselves southwest of Didao, on the far bank of the Tao River — cold, desolate, with nothing to gain. And if Long troops came north from the south, they would be the first line to be hit.

"Should never have believed the Wei men's lies."

The weather was bitterly cold. The Di soldiers shivered and began to regret it. They had thought the Wei army would be different from Longyou, but it turned out to be the same damned thing.

"Di soldiers do the hardest labor, storm the toughest walls, march the longest roads, die in the greatest numbers, and get the lowest rewards."

It was A Yun, as platoon commander, who spoke a fair word.

"General Wan still looks after us. And with that Palace Gentleman overseer from the brigade watching, Colonel Jiming can only play petty tricks. If we really earn a great merit, he won't be able to cover it up."

If nothing else, things in the Chengjia Shu army had been far worse than this…

Having said that, A Yun seemed to realize that, as an assassin, it was rather inappropriate for him to speak up for his target, and he promptly shut his mouth.

But it was the truth. The Di soldiers could not say a single bad word about Wan Xiu. Though no bold warrior, this general was strict yet kind to his subordinates and showed no prejudice against the Di troops. When they were in Tianshui, he personally saw to the armor, weapons, and provisions they were due, fearing that petty clerks might shortchange them — not a single grain was ever withheld. If anyone earned merit, he immediately recommended them for promotion to officer. A Yun was a prime example.

Surely Emperor Wu was the same. The bad ones were officers like that Colonel Jiming!

As they talked, their feet did not slow. The Di people were not so different from the Han folk in the mountains — most were simple, honest, and true to their word. Given a task, they carried it out with all their strength. That was why Wan Xiu liked to use them.

In the river valley, the Di soldiers could not match the speed of horses, but now, searching the mountains and threading through the woods, they moved as if on level ground. Many had such thick-soled feet they could tread barefoot over sharp gravel without a care.

"Blood!"

A Di soldier who had been a hunter shouted out. Scouting ahead, he had found a drop of blood on a withered leaf. Pushing aside the dead grass, he revealed the blurred print of a horse's hoof.

They followed the trail for over a hundred paces, rounded a mountain stream, and found a dead horse. Its leg had broken, so its master had abandoned it — and to keep it from making noise, had cut its throat.

A Yun felt the horse. Trained for years as an assassin, he could gauge the rough time of death from the warmth still in its body. An hour at most!

"This is a fine horse."

The Di soldiers began stripping the horse's ornaments — plenty of gold, silver, and splendid border decorations. The bridle and saddlecloth were all top quality, clearly the mount of some great personage.

From under where the horse's leg pressed down, A Yun even pulled out a purple cord. At the end of the cord hung a gleaming gold seal!

A gold seal with a purple cord! A Yun had once seen the Chancellor of Chengjia wear one. This was the emblem of the Three Excellencies, and near Didao there was only one "Three Excellencies."

He spat on it, rubbed off the mud — no mistake. The characters on the seal read: "Grand General Ao"!

Among the group, only A Yun could read, but he had always pretended he could not. He deliberately turned it over and over. The Di soldiers all pointed at the seal, thinking this trip had not been in vain. They decided to smash it and divide the pieces — absolutely no handing it over, absolutely not!

Only A Yun's heart pounded wildly. Following the footprints that had not yet faded and the trail of blood from the wounded man, he knew that if he wished, he could certainly capture Wei Ao, who had fled into the dense forest.

But Long and Shu were allies. He ought to deliberately let Wei Jijimeng go!

"Even if Wei Ao escapes, it's useless now."

A Yun told himself this in his heart. He knew a little of the terrain and strategic situation between Long and Shu. Once Didao fell, Wu Han's detached force could punch straight through Longxi like a hollow bamboo stalk, and might even form a pincer against Yang Guang at Shanggui and the Shu army. He could only hope they could take the Qishan road and withdraw safely to Wudu Commandery. Otherwise, things would get far worse.

With Wei Ao's flight, the war for Longxi — and indeed all of Longyou — was basically decided. The moment Wei left Didao, he was already dead!

"He's a dead man anyway. Better to trade his head for my dagger, and get one step closer to Diwu Lun!"

So thinking, A Yun clenched the gold seal in his palm and pointed ahead.

"Brothers Hezhi."

A Yun said, "Follow me. Up ahead — there's an even bigger piece of gold!"