Chapter 606: Hard Ice

Lai Xi's family was a prominent clan in Xinye, Nanyang. From childhood, he often heard his father — a six-hundred-bushel Remonstrance Grandee of the Han dynasty — recount the heroic deeds of their ancestors.

"In the time of Emperor Xiaowu, he refined laws within and drove back the barbarians without. He dispatched great generals like Fubo and Louchuan to destroy the hundred Yue and seven commanderies. Eastward, he attacked Chaoxian, establishing Xuantu and Lelang to sever the Xiongnu's left arm. Your sixth-generation ancestor, Lord Lai, whose given name was Han, was brave and talented. He served as deputy to General Louchuan and campaigned far away in Nanyue and Chaoxian."

The image of his forefather winning glory and renown in foreign lands lingered in young Lai Xi's mind and never faded. He too yearned to build achievements, was quite passionate about adventure, and also wished to possess deeds that his descendants would remember.

It was a pity he was born in an era when the imperial house was weak and lowly. The great Han was actually usurped by Wang Mang. The Lai family's opinion of Wang Mang was not good, but their sons still had to go to the Imperial Academy. The age of winning military merit and enfeoffment by expanding frontiers had passed. Studying the Five Classics was the only sure path for a scholar-official family to pass on its heritage and grasp the seals of high office. Though Lai Xi favored martial pursuits, his moral philosophy and literary compositions were also quite refined.

Every time he entered the capital, Lai Xi mostly traveled back and forth with his relatives, the Liu Bosheng and Liu Wenshu brothers of the Chongling Liu clan — Lai Xi's mother was a woman of the Chongling Liu clan.

Of the Liu brothers, although Lai Xi admired Liu Bosheng's heroic and chivalrous style from childhood, the one he liked more was the refined, cultured, and easygoing Liu Xiu. These two cousins had been extremely close since they were young, close enough to share a bed, and he considered himself quite knowledgeable about Liu Xiu.

Lai Xi's superstitious mother also often told him: "I had a shamaness look into it. She said Liu Bosheng is arrogant, domineering, and dislikes studying; sooner or later he will bring disaster to the clan and relatives. Wenshu, however, is honest and steady, focused on the Five Classics. In the future, he will surely be able to keep the family estate, and might even become a six-hundred-bushel official."

Lai Xi deeply agreed with this. After all, whenever he fooled around with Liu Bosheng, it was always the steady Liu Xiu who handled the trouble for them.

Yet many years later, amid the surging tide of the anti-Xin uprising, when Lai Xi fled Chang'an as a "relative of the Chongling rebels" and heard that Liu Xiu had defeated three hundred thousand with three thousand at Kunyang, turning the tide of the war in a single stroke, his jaw nearly dropped in shock.

"Magnificent, Wenshu! Magnificent, Kunyang!"

Then he reproached himself in frustration: "I have wasted these eyes of mine. For twenty years, I failed to recognize a true hero right beside me! I should have returned a month earlier. Such a majestic battle, a great victory worthy of boasting about to my descendants for a lifetime, and I missed it."

But he did not miss the battle where Liu Bosheng campaigned far into Guanzhong. Lai Xi had thought that leading cavalry and infantry on a flanking maneuver could bring Bosheng victory, but unexpectedly, it could not salvage the overall situation.

After Liu Bosheng died in battle on the Wei River, Lai Xi had no way back and could only flee in hiding to Longyou. Wei Ao cherished talent and wanted to keep him to serve the "Western Han," but Lai Xi looked at Wei Ao, this big man of Guanxi who tried to model himself after King Wen of Zhou in every way, and no matter how he looked, he did not seem like a true hero. He shook his head and refused.

"I promised Bosheng that if misfortune befell him, I would certainly help Wenshu accomplish the great cause."

Keeping his word — this was Lai Xi's life creed. He spent nearly half a year traveling by a roundabout route through Longyou and Hanzhong back to the south, only to encounter the Red Eyebrows entering Wan. This time, even the estate and lands in Xinye could not be kept. He could only escort his family and flee toward Huainan. When he looked back at the Ming'e Three Passes, all he saw was the evening glow spreading across the sky like a crimson light.

But that was not the color of the Fiery Han; it was the red of the Red Eyebrows, the final dusk of the Nanyang powerful families!

Fortunately, by that time, Liu Xiu had already gained power in Jiangdong. But Lai Xi had few men left at his side and once felt uneasy. After several years without seeing each other, was his cousin and childhood friend still the same A'xiu of the past?

Facts proved Lai Xi had worried too much. When Liu Xiu met him in Huainan, he was overjoyed. Seeing that Lai Xi's clothes were tattered from traveling a thousand li to join him, Liu Xiu immediately took off his own robe and clothed him. Within days, he appointed him as a Lieutenant General, entrusted him with military authority, and employed him boldly. Later, he even had him, as a representative of "Bosheng's old followers," promoted to Grand Marshal, one of the Three Excellencies.

Such trust and esteem made Lai Xi feel, for the first time toward anyone, beyond the bonds of friendship and kinship, the sentiment of a subject repaying his sovereign's grace, the resolve of a scholar dying for the one who knows his worth.

Thus, when a crisis arose in Huaibei and Liu Xiu urgently needed to leave a great general to defend Pengcheng, everyone knew it would be a brutal fight, nine chances in ten of dying. In the end, it was Lai Xi who volunteered and stepped forward.

"As Grand Marshal, I am duty-bound to defend this territory. I will surely hold Pengcheng!"

Liu Xiu was deeply gratified. Stroking Lai Xi's shoulder, he said with emotion: "Junshu, Junshu, the strong wind knows the sturdy grass. Hold out until the end of winter at most. I will certainly pin down Diwu Lun's forces, lure his rashly advancing troops, and destroy the army aiming to sever the Huai-Si confluence one by one, then come to lift the siege of Pengcheng."

Lai Xi also laughed heartily: "I await, with Your Majesty, to fight another great victory like Kunyang!"

However, this stubborn defense was even harder than anticipated.

The Wei army's troop strength was too great. Initially, it was a hundred thousand strong, like a black cloud pressing down on the city. Later, even after a small portion was transferred away, they still held an absolute advantage. The defenders' diversion of troops to Ximatai did not achieve much effect; instead, it triggered a mass defection of Liu-surnamed soldiers to Wei, greatly damaging the fighting spirit within the city.

The outer wall fell. The people of Pengcheng chose to help the victors. Lai Xi could only take three thousand trusted remnant soldiers and retreat to defend the inner city, resisting stubbornly from a corner.

The pressure from the Wei army increased. They launched fierce assaults from every direction, but Lai Xi led his soldiers to hold out time and again. As the twelfth month gradually drew to an end, the wounded and disabled on the city walls grew more numerous, and the weather turned ever colder. The wind on the walls was strong, the temperature dropping to its limit. Though not quite to the point where breath froze instantly, a leather flask of boiling water brought to the wall would freeze solid into hard ice in just a couple of hours.

Despite the extreme cold, they could not leave the walls unguarded. They could only huddle in squads in the corners, lighting bonfires for warmth, pressing close together, dozing off with weapons in their arms. Some had hands covered in chilblains, some had lost the tips of their ears, and some even slowly lost their warmth in their sleep and never woke again.

The sturdy grass of summer, when the bitter cold and heavy snow of winter arrive, can no longer hold on for long.

But the Wei army in the outer city was attacking fiercely! It seemed they had received strict orders from their Emperor. General of the Eastern Campaign Zhang Zong had gone mad to the point of disregarding casualties. Even if it took three Wei soldiers to trade for one Han soldier, they would sooner or later take the inner city.

"Perhaps it is time."

Lai Xi could feel the limit of himself and his men. After making a round on the wall and giving his fur coat to a young, thin common soldier, he returned to the command tower. By the light of a burning fire, he wanted to write a letter.

However, the web of his right hand had split open in battle. The old wound had just healed but was torn open again because he had personally wielded his blade in combat. The festering sore was frozen by the bitter cold, and he had almost no feeling in it.

Lai Xi could only hold the brush with his left hand and ordered his personal guard to grind the ink.

Seeing this, the personal guard bowed his head in grief, unable to look up. Lai Xi then rebuked him: "With a great enemy before us, how can you imitate the weeping of women and children?"

Then, crookedly, he wrote his final memorial.

"I dare not pity myself. I truly regret that I have failed in my duty, bringing shame upon the court."

This was his shame. The twelfth month had reached its end. If they could hold out until early spring, Liu Xiu would surely find a way, but Lai Xi probably could not manage it.

He also wrote: "In governing a state, obtaining worthy men is the foundation. Grand General of the Western Campaign Feng Yi is upright and can be entrusted with responsibility; the officers and soldiers respect him from their hearts. He is more qualified than I to be Grand Marshal. May Your Majesty consider this."

"The younger brother of Gushi Marquis Li Ciyuan, Li Yi, is cunning and treacherous in thought. In the past, he attached himself to the chieftains of the Greenwood. Now stationed in Huainan, he also cannot be trusted."

One recommendation, one warning — these were the final pieces of advice he could give Liu Xiu.

"Also, my brothers and clan are unworthy. I fear they may ultimately incur punishment. May Your Majesty, in your mercy, grant them frequent instruction and guidance, but do not give them marquis titles or heavy responsibilities."

This was the only place Lai Xi mentioned his family. Knowing Liu Xiu's style, he was not worried about them at all.

After writing, Lai Xi looked at the ugly characters and frowned: "His Majesty probably won't recognize this as my handwriting."

But there was no helping it. He folded the silk letter and handed it to the young personal guard: "If misfortune befalls me, find a way to survive. In the future, deliver this letter to His Majesty. Tell him that Lai Xi…"

Before he could finish, suddenly the war drums in the inner city thundered. The soldiers outside rose in alarm, and someone ran over and shouted to Lai Xi:

"Grand Marshal! The Wei scoundrels are coming up again!"

"They've come after all." Lai Xi let out a long sigh. He was a veteran soldier and knew that this moment was when the Han army was most exhausted and vulnerable.

When Lai Xi climbed back onto the city wall, though he was mentally prepared, he still drew in a sharp breath.

The northeast wall of the inner city overlapped with the outer wall, bordering the Si River. Only the west and south sides facing the outer city could be attacked, but because civilian houses were clustered there, it was difficult for large formations to organize an assault.

The Wei army had suffered many losses there. This time, in a ruthless move, they directly evacuated the residents in the northeast of the city. Dense ranks of soldiers advanced in sequence through the lanes and alleys. For a moment, torchlight blazed everywhere. These lines of fiery snakes seemed intent on melting the inner city, frozen into a block of ice, in one fell swoop!

The next moment, the Wei army's ranged weapons began to unleash their power. The inner city wall was only a little over four zhang high, well within the range of bows and crossbows. For a time, smoke-trailing arrows filled the sky, shooting down many defenders on the wall. A crossbow bolt, full of powerful force, grazed past Lai Xi's cheek.

But he had no time to care about the wound and immediately organized a counterattack. The Han army was actually not short on bows, crossbows, and arrows. The massive quantities of armor and weapons transported from the Donghai Commandery armory had helped them endure twenty full days of uninterrupted siege.

Yet even if arrows were inexhaustible, human strength was limited. As the sick and wounded increased, those who could draw a bow numbered less than five hundred. Compared to the Wei army's rain of arrows, only sporadic counterfire came from the walltop, utterly unable to stop the enemy advancing under the cover of large shields.

"Thud, thud…" A series of sounds rang out as countless ladders were set against the city wall. Wei soldiers swarmed up from both sides of the wall like ants.

Lai Xi, like a firefighter, led his personal guard into the fray. After repelling one attack, he continued to lead men to reinforce another spot.

However, the Han army had fewer than fifteen hundred soldiers left capable of fighting, not even enough to fully man the ramparts. How could they withstand such a two-pronged assault with twenty thousand men deployed at once? Lai Xi's emergency reinforcements were a mere drop in the bucket. Soon, the enemy, attacking at multiple points, fought their way onto the walltop.

The defending soldiers, having lost the cover of the wall, could only fight desperately, oblivious to death. But their desperate resistance could not stop the overall tide. The Han troops, exhausted from prolonged battle, were instead cut into one small battle group after another on the wall and subjected to merciless slaughter. As time passed, the west wall fell, the south wall was lost. The Wei soldiers' heads swarmed, their armor dark and grim, their blades glinting.

Soldiers without the resolve to die, seeing the situation was hopeless, chose to surrender. Yet several hundred men still followed Lai Xi as he retreated to a side hall of the Chu King's Palace, using it as their final base to continue resisting.

And when the Wei army controlled the walls on all four sides and the main force closed in on the side hall, looking around in all directions, they had nowhere left to retreat.

Lai Xi looked around. After a night of bitter fighting, his followers numbered barely over a hundred, and the trusted attendant who carried his handwritten letter had vanished without a trace.

Had he fled, surrendered, or died? Could he deliver Lai Xi's final words to Wenshu?

A strange sensation came over him. Lai Xi lowered his head and saw the great wound across his chest and belly, torn open at some unknown moment by a steel halberd. Blood flowed steadily outward, some even dripping to the ground and freezing into ice — yet why did he feel nothing? His hand felt nothing of the sword; his body felt nothing of the armor's weight.

In a daze, Lai Xi seemed to hear someone singing.

"My strength could uproot mountains, my spirit dominated the age — yet the times are against me, and Zhui runs no more.

Zhui runs no more — what can I do? Yu, oh Yu, what is to become of you?"

He shook his head, leaned back against the wall behind him, and felt helplessness.

We are the Han army.

Yet why,

now, are we surrounded by Chu songs on every side?

The sky was beginning to pale. The hallucination came again. In his trance, Lai Xi seemed to see countless blazing Han banners flying outside Pengcheng's suburbs. Liu Xiu was leading his troops to drive back Diwu Lun's great army and recover Huaibei.

And he himself, his wounds bound, was returning. Liu Xiu gave a great banquet with wine to comfort the officers and men. Even Liu Zhi of the Horse-Training Terrace was prominently present, and Lai Xi was seated apart from the others, his place set above all the generals.

And Liu Xiu, with considerable pride, said to everyone:

"This is Lai Junshu, Grand Marshal of Han — for me he held the firm city and crushed the mighty foe!"

In Lai Xi's hallucination, bells and tripods rang out together, civil and military officials all assembled, as if in the grand spectacle of Liu Xiu's founding of the state and ascension to the throne. But what was truly happening was the final assault ordered by the General Who Conquers the East, Zhang Zong!

Under the Wei army's advance, the Han soldiers struggling in their death throes were cut down one after another. This last patch of Han soil fell utterly.

Because Lai Xi's personal guard fought to the death to protect him, the Wei soldiers could not draw near for a time. And once they had slain every last man who resisted to the end, only this scene remained before them…

When Zhang Zong, who had personally directed the attack, stepped over corpses and frozen blood, pushed aside the onlookers, and reached this final battlefield, reached Lai Xi himself, even he was startled by the sight before him.

Lai Xi's body bore countless wounds, yet he still leaned against the wall, holding fast and refusing to fall. Though the blood he had shed had all frozen into ice, his entire face was ashen as green frost, without the slightest trace of color left.

Only when they touched him did they discover he had long been cold, dead for quite some time. So the one who had made the Han soldiers resist to the very last man — was it the dead Lai Xi?

Though each served his own master, Zhang Zong still felt a measure of respect. He bowed long and deep toward this frozen-blood general who stood firm and would not fall.

When he raised his head, the wind and snow had ceased, and the sky was fully bright.

"At least we've just barely met His Majesty's final deadline." Zhang Zong exhaled a long breath of white mist, gazed at the five-colored banners the soldiers were planting upright in the snow, and showed a victorious smile.

This was the morning of New Year's Day, the fourth year of Wude (AD 28).

…

PS: Got home late due to something that came up, apologies for the slight delay.