Chapter 636: But Let the Dragon City Flying General Remain

"Heaven protects the Great Han!"

When word arrived that the Wei army's Bing Province cavalry had left New Qinzhong and were racing west to relieve Hexi, this voice, brimming with relief, rang out inside the "Han Palace" in Jiuyuan City, at the far northern edge of Bing Province.

If Liu Bang, the Han's Exalted Ancestor, had spirit in heaven and could see clearly who was speaking these words, he would likely be so furious he'd push open his coffin lid and rise. The man seated high in the hall, arrayed in full imperial regalia as the ostentatious "Son of Heaven of the Great Han," was none other than Lu Fang — the very man who years ago had fled from under the blades of Diwu Lun and Ma Yuan!

Lu Fang's family were originally "mixed barbarians," part Hu and part Han, but they caught the wave of the "Han Restoration" at the end of the Xin dynasty. He took the alias "Liu Wenbo," drew on decades of experience as a country strongman, and concocted a story riddled with holes, claiming to be the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of Han — his ancestor, he said, had fled among the Hu during the Witchcraft Calamity and even had a romance with a "Xiongnu Princess"…

If you took seniority seriously, Liu Xiu would have to call Lu Fang "clan grandfather"!

Both were fake Lius, but in acting skill and disguise, Lu Fang fell far short of Liu Ziyu. The reason he could usurp the title of Han Emperor and keep it to this day was, crucially, that he had latched onto the Xiongnu's thigh.

Lu Fang's "Hu-Han" regime relied on the Xiongnu Chanyu's vigorous backing and coordinated its troops with the Hu; otherwise Diwu Lun would have wiped him out long ago. Lu Fang at least had the self-awareness of a puppet — even his Chancellor was concurrently held by the Xiongnu Left Guli King. The Hu-Han regime carved out a hold on the northern frontier, seizing the five commanderies of Wuyuan, Shuofang, Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Yanmen, but the governors of each commandery were local warlord strongmen who paid Lu Fang scant attention. Lu Fang's personal power was about on par with that puppet emperor of Manchukuo in later ages.

But that did not stop this "Son of Heaven of the Great Han" from embracing the whole realm in his heart, forever hoping to march into the Central Plains, restore the House of Han, and, with his Xiongnu patrons in tow, stride together into the old capital, Chang'an…

Regrettably, in the battle of New Qinzhong several years ago, the Hu-Han army was dealt a painful blow by Geng Bozhao leading the newly formed Bing Province cavalry, losing nearly ten thousand men, and they never again dared to lightly raid the border.

If young Geng was hard to provoke, what about his successor? When Wu Han first took up his post in Bing Province, Lu Fang thought he saw an opening and frantically urged the Xiongnu to invade south together. But this Wu proved even more ferocious than young Geng: he easily smashed the rashly advancing Hu troops, then brutally executed every last one of them, planting their corpses and skulls along the border for the sky-filling Hu vultures to peck at — even the Xiongnu were deeply horrified.

After several defeats, the Xiongnu Chanyu also saw that the Hu-Han were not worth relying on. In this attack on the State of Wei, he only ordered the Right Worthy King to advance on Hexi; for the direct front at Shuofang, he had no plans at all.

Lu Fang sensed grave danger. He knew himself well enough: the moment the Chanyu decided that anyone could sit on this "Han Emperor" throne, there would be no more place for a certain Lu. He had to expand the Hu-Han's influence while Wei and Xiongnu were locked in conflict.

It was not only for revenge — for his two brothers who had died at the hands of Diwu Lun and Ma Yuan — but also for himself.

Now, hearing that Bing Province's main forces were already gone, Lu Fang could wait no longer. While ordering Wuyuan Commandery to press-gang conscripts and prepare for war, he also made ready to go beseech the true master of this war.

"With Qiang and Hu joining hands, Wei's northwest is bound to fall. This is the Great Han's chance to sweep the north! We shall go in person to the royal court, pay audience to Our Father Chanyu, and earnestly plead to launch troops from Shuofang and strike New Qinzhong once more!"

…

At that very moment, Wu Han's army had already left New Qinzhong, crossed the clear great river, left behind the forest of beacon towers, and reached the edge of the boundless desert.

The vanguard commander was a Battalion Commander named "A Yun," a Di tribesman from Longyou. His experience could only be called legendary: he had joined Wan Xiu's forces as a local Di soldier, fought in the Longxi campaign, captured Wei Ao's double, and was promoted to Platoon Commander. When Wu Han was ordered to transfer to Bing Province, he picked a batch of elite, trusted men, and A Yun was among them.

Yet in his heart, A Yun was not so willing — after all, he still had a secret identity he could tell no one: he was an assassin trained by Gongsun Shu and Jing Han!

You tell me — how did an assassin like A Yun inexplicably end up on the very front line resisting the Xiongnu in Bing Province? It was the exact opposite of his mission. But A Yun had undergone professional training, after all. Since his cover had not been blown, he would keep lying low and wait for his moment.

So A Yun usually performed his duties quite conscientiously, repeatedly earning merit in bloody combat with the Hu raiders. His rank grew higher and higher — and now, look, he had several hundred men under his command.

"This route is wrong."

A Yun frowned at the desert ahead and promptly reported to the Colonel in charge of him. Although General Wu Han had not stated it plainly, the common soldiers already knew the news that the Xiongnu were invading Hexi — after all, only this stretch of desert lay between the four commanderies and New Qinzhong.

Pleas for aid from the four Hexi commanderies had also reached New Qinzhong, but Wu Han acted as if he neither saw nor heard them, proclaiming that without the Emperor's order, the Bing Province cavalry would never leave their post by half a step! He sat and watched as the Xiongnu plundered at will.

Only today, having obtained the court's approval, did Wu Han agree to dispatch troops. The normal route would be to follow the narrow Qingtong Gorge road along the great river's banks, turn west where the river bends, and thereby enter Wuwei Commandery, first relieving the city of Guzang, which the Xiongnu were besieging — Diba Jiao was still there, waiting with eager eyes.

But Wu Han had instead chosen a straight line, preparing to cut directly across the desert!

After hearing A Yun's report, the Colonel simply glared at him: "Insolence! A petty Battalion Commander need only carry out orders. Where do all these questions come from? Do you understand warfare, or does General Wu?"

In the past, A Yun would have already stabbed a dagger into him. Now, for the sake of staying undercover, A Yun could only swallow his anger and say to the Colonel: "This subordinate merely worries that crossing the desert will exhaust the troops and cause the horses to collapse and die…"

That Colonel was a Bing Province native, hand-picked and promoted by Geng Bozhao, and he held these "outsiders" in considerable contempt. Hearing this, he sneered: "You call this a desert? Truly a Di man from Longnan with no experience. Let me tell you — whether it's the White Dragon Mounds west of Dunhuang, or the Great Curtain at Bing Province's far north, in both places no bird meets the eye, no beast walks below; wherever you look, apart from dead, withered diversiform-leaved poplars, only the bones of men and beasts serve as road markers. Those are real deserts."

"And this sandy land between New Qinzhong and Hexi — it can only be called 'gobi.'"

In the eyes of those familiar with deserts, this "gobi" was practically fertile land. Most of it was not a sea of sand but bare rock, and it was not continuous — there were patches of grassland and scrub in between. Especially now, in the rainy season: after a bout of rain passed, the sand sagebrush seized the chance to sprout, and half the desert turned green.

"The Xiongnu often invade New Qinzhong through here. In the rainy season, herders can even drive their cattle and sheep straight across."

"The Xiongnu think Wei troops cannot cross it — but the General insists on advancing by this very route, to catch the Xiongnu Right Division completely off guard!"

The Colonel stopped there and urged A Yun to keep advancing. A Yun had no choice but to comply. Only after entering this gobi (the Tengger Desert) did he discover it was indeed no death zone. They could even, guided by herders, find small lakes left behind in the desert — most lakes had dried up, leaving only a sheet of glittering salt, but there were also miraculous water sources. Reeds, sand bamboos, and nitraria bushes grew on the lakeshores, forming oases, like a blue gemstone cradled on a cloth of gold. Flocks of birds played in the lake water and, after being startled, circled overhead, refusing to leave.

But when the soldiers and horses tried to drink, the guides stopped them. First they sent men to circle the small lake and check whether the Xiongnu had thrown rotting animal carcasses into it.

The result was unexpected — the Xiongnu had not even bothered with this sort of water-source sabotage. It seemed that after decades of peace, it was not only the Central Plains armies who had forgotten the tricks of fighting each other; the Xiongnu had degenerated too.

The Bing Province raiders had made ample preparations when they set out — not just the configuration of two horses per man, but they had even brought a camel train specifically to carry heavy loads like water and grain. After several days of trekking, A Yun and the other vanguard troops finally emerged from this gobi sea of sand and stepped onto a lush, verdant grassland. They even spotted abandoned beacon towers, standing on the horizon like lonely, wandering ghosts…

"The Xiutu Grasslands. Ahead lies Xiutu Marsh. This place was once a Han army forward post and barrier fortress; during the Xin dynasty under Wang Mang, the Xiongnu seized it."

A Yun now understood Wu Han's plan. When the Xiongnu went to war, they generally brought a large baggage train and herds of livestock in the rear. Herds of cattle, horses, and sheep needed water and grass — and within a thousand li, was there any better grazing ground than Xiutu Marsh?

Wu Han was heading straight for the Xiongnu rear echelon!

As admiration for the bold General Wu rose in his heart, another thought also stirred in A Yun.

As far as he knew, this war was connected to the Chengjia Emperor Gongsun Shu, whom he had once served. The Xiongnu and Western Qiang were allies, and the Western Qiang nominally submitted to Gongsun Shu — so he was, in effect, acting against Emperor Gongsun.

"Looked at another way — if in this battle I find a chance to assassinate Wu Han, would that count as fulfilling my promise to General Jing and Emperor Gongsun?"

…

The Bing Province cavalry's vanguard pressed on, seeking the enemy and sweeping away scattered Xiongnu scouts. Wu Han, who had insisted on marching among the troops, also appeared there. He licked his parched lips and drew out the "far-seer" Diwu Lun had bestowed on him, observing the conditions on the Xiutu Grasslands.

As early as ten days ago, Wu Han had already decided how to fight the Hexi campaign.

"This Xiongnu incursion is different from past plundering raids. The Right Worthy King seems dead set on reoccupying Hexi — and that, in turn, gives us an opportunity."

What Wu Han was emulating this time was the experience of the two Former Han generals, Wei and Huo. When Emperor Wu of Han first struck back at the Xiongnu, the frontal forces he dispatched could never catch up with them and repeatedly returned empty-handed — even a famed border general like Li Guang came back with broken wings.

Only the fledgling Wei Qing, a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, found the trick to dealing with the Xiongnu: he exploited the cavalry corps' advantage in mobility and speed, adopted a route of flanking and deep penetration, struck from a thousand li away, one sword piercing the heart. Whether it was his first battle at Dragon City or the later capture of the River Bend lands, he always threaded through gaps in the Xiongnu rear, executing a grand outflanking maneuver to launch a sudden strike at their baggage train!

Xiongnu cavalry were hard to find — but their cattle, horses, and livestock were ready-made targets!

"The Xiongnu Right Division's main force is right now happily plundering Hexi, thinking this general will circle around from the front. It never occurred to them that the Wei army could also cross the gobi and stab them right in the arsehole!"

Crude words, but sound reasoning. Wu Han lowered his far-seer and stretched out his hand, ordering the weary but still combat-capable Bing Province cavalry to advance. They would strike the first blow of Great Wei's counterattack against the Xiongnu — just as Wei Qing had done back then!

"Let all under heaven know: the Dragon City Flying General of this day is not Ma Wenyuan, nor Geng Bozhao, but one called 'Wu Ziyan'!"