Chapter 637: Hexi Cut Off, a Foreign Land's Spring

The walls of Guzang, the seat of Wuwei Commandery, were quite old. The inner city was even circular in shape, very different from the layout of the Central Plains; an outer wall was added later, seven li from north to south and three li from east to west.

Guzang's north gate faced the direction of the Xiutu Marsh two hundred li away. The Inspector of Liang Province, Diba Jiao, and the Governor of Wuwei, Dou You, stood atop the wall, woodenly watching the Xiongnu envoy shout at them in halting Central Plains speech.

"The Right Worthy Prince of the Xiongnu sent me to tell the Wei officials: this Guzang, this Hexi, is our ancestral land, bestowed by the Qilian God. The people of the Middle Kingdom are not children of the Qilian God and should leave."

Diba Jiao ignored the Right Worthy Prince's envoy's "surrender demand." Over the past two months and more, the Xiongnu army had indeed run rampant across Hexi, their horses' hooves trampling every county, but no matter what methods they tried, they still could not take the sturdy commandery cities of Guzang, Zhangye, and Jiuquan. And many of the county towns, fortresses, and outposts scattered like stars across the Hexi landscape had also survived, becoming the final bastions holding back the barbarian dust. As long as the food held out and the water sources did not run dry, they could hold on!

Diba Jiao's gaze shifted past the Xiongnu envoy to the riders in pointed leather hats standing sternly behind him. Their horses lowered their heads to chew the summer grass, while the soldiers gripped bows and blades, shouting and clamoring loudly, as if this were not a battlefield but a tribal hunt. Some tribesmen farther off were even enjoying food and wine plundered from the counties, singing songs as they flogged their captured slaves.

"What song are the Xiongnu singing?" Diba Jiao suddenly asked Dou You beside him. The Wuwei Governor's family had served as officials in Hexi for generations and often dealt with the Qiang and Hu peoples; he understood a little.

Dou You glanced at Diba Jiao and simply said, "The Xiongnu soldiers are singing an old song: 'We lost our Qilian Mountains, leaving our herds no place to thrive; we lost our Yanzhi Mountains, leaving our women robbed of their beauty.'"

This was the mournful song the Xiongnu sang over a hundred years ago when Wei Qing and Huo Qubing dealt them crushing blows and they abandoned Hexi and left. In the Xiongnu tongue, Qilian meant "Heaven"; their Qilian God was the Xiongnu's chief deity, and they believed Hexi was the farthest frontier of the bow-drawing people.

Diba Jiao could not help but sigh with emotion. "The Right Worthy Prince may be arrogant and perverse, but Hexi was indeed once Hu territory. I have always wondered: the Xiongnu have no writing or records, so how can they pass down events? So it is through songs, passed down orally by each generation?"

Dou You did not like hearing this. He snorted in contempt. "The Xiongnu may have come earlier than us, but they were outsiders too. This land originally belonged to the Yuezhi Kingdom! Guzang itself was built by the Yuezhi people, which is why the inner city is circular. Later, the Xiongnu killed the Yuezhi king, cut off his head to make a drinking vessel, and the Yuezhi people fled west. The Xiongnu are nothing but cuckoos occupying the magpie's nest, and now they have the gall to call this their 'ancestral land'? Bah! We have lived here for generations, drinking the water, bearing children, our ancestors' graves lie here. If this is a foreign land to us, then where shall the three hundred thousand people of Hexi call home!"

Diba Jiao nodded, his thoughts drifting far away. The Yuezhi, ah. It was said that after the Xiongnu drove them out, they went west beyond the Western Regions and, after two hundred years of development, had become a great kingdom. When Diba Jiao first took charge of Hexi, he had been full of ambition, wanting to emulate Zhang Qian and open the way to the Western Regions for Diwu Lun. Though the Emperor was not very enthusiastic about it, Diba Jiao was still making arrangements, hoping that Hu merchants would once again enter the pass through Dunhuang and restore the bustling scene of endless merchants and envoys coming and going. Now, it seemed, there might be no chance...

He had just inspected Guzang's granaries yesterday. The grain was nearly gone, and relying solely on the wells within the city, the nearly ten thousand soldiers and civilians could not hold out much longer.

Though he felt Guzang's days were numbered, Diba Jiao still offered words of comfort to Dou You and the others. "His Majesty will not abandon us. He will surely send troops to rescue Hexi."

Although Dou You was a local power broker, he was usually extremely deferential to Diba Jiao, the Inspector parachuted in from above. But now he truly could not hold back. Once they descended the wall and returned to the hall, he could not help but grumble in a low voice, "Inspector, the Xiongnu have been raiding Hexi for nearly three months. Where are the reinforcements?"

He calculated the distances for Diba Jiao. "General Ma Yuan in Longyou is tied up with a Qiang rebellion and lacks the troops; he can only hold the Yunwu Valley for us to prevent the Qiang and Hu from joining forces. It's one thing if he doesn't come. But that brat Wu Han in Bing Province is right next door — cavalry can reach us in ten days — yet he has done nothing but watch from the sidelines. What is the meaning of this?"

Dou You knew the internal factional divisions within the State of Wei ran deep. Aside from Diwu Lun, none of these arrogant generals and fierce soldiers submitted to anyone else. But Wu Han's behavior was simply too outrageous.

"Even if reinforcements were sent from Chang'an, they would have reached Wuwei by now in three months' time!"

"Governor Dou!" Diba Jiao's voice was somewhat weak and feeble. To conserve grain, he had already begun eating only half a meal a day: a bit of millet porridge and pickled vegetables had to sustain him for the whole day, because Diba Jiao believed that only the soldiers manning the walls against the Xiongnu needed to eat their fill.

Yet he still maintained the dignity of an Inspector and rebuked Dou You. "When the ancients were besieged by enemies, they would trade children to eat and use bones for firewood, yet still hold out to the end — and those were civil wars among the Huaxia. Now that we face the Hu caitiffs, can we let our integrity fall?"

Dou You, having been trapped too long, did not dare to directly contradict Diba Jiao, but he brought up a seemingly unrelated matter in a sarcastic tone.

"Inspector, I have been an official in Hexi for twenty years now. At that time, Wang Mang was wreaking havoc with the government, demoting the seals of the kings of the Western Regions, changing them all to marquises. It happened that the garrison soldiers in the Western Regions, still loyal to the Han, numbered in the thousands and defected to the Xiongnu, throwing the Western Regions into chaos. Karasahr and other states then conspired with the Xiongnu to rebel and killed the Protector-General of the Western Regions."

"Wang Mang did not simply ignore the Western Regions. Twelve years ago, he issued an edict to campaign there. He ordered the Five Might General, the newly appointed Protector-General of the Western Regions Li Chong, to gather provisions and deploy troops in Hexi. With three thousand men as the vanguard, they set out from the Jade Gate Pass and joined forces with over seven thousand troops from Shache and Kucha to attack Karasahr. I was among them."

As Dou You recounted this past event, he even rolled up his sleeve to show Diba Jiao the scar on his arm.

"But the fighting strength of the Xin army — the Inspector knows it well. They were defeated by Karasahr and the Xiongnu. One part of the Xin army fled east, escaping back to Hexi, and I survived. The Protector-General Li Chong was less fortunate. He gathered over a thousand remnants and retreated to Kucha. By then, the lords of the Western Regions had seen the weakness of the Xin dynasty and the resurgence of Xiongnu strength, and they defected one after another. The Jade Gate and Yang passes were sealed, and Li Chong lost contact with the east. It has been thirteen years now!"

At this, Dou You grew visibly emotional. "Back then, I still harbored foolish hopes. Who would have thought that what happened to Li Chong and Kucha back then is exactly what is happening to Hexi and Dou You today!"

Isolated and without aid, struggling bitterly to hold on — Dou You suddenly felt a pang of empathy for those in the same plight. He had heard that the Xin army in Kucha had held out until now. And they themselves — how much longer could they endure?

After Dou You finished speaking his heart, Diba Jiao remained silent for a long time. Finally, he simply lowered his head and pushed his own pickled vegetables and thin porridge across the table toward Dou You. "Today, this Inspector will not eat. The Governor must still lead the soldiers against the enemy — eat this on my behalf!"

Dou You, trapped for so long, had just let his temper flare and dared to vent his anger. But faced with the pickled vegetables pushed toward him, his anger instantly dissipated, and he could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

Diba Jiao was not an Inspector of great ability. His integrity was admirable, he liked to stubbornly stick to principles, and he was passable at governing the people, but militarily he was a complete mess. Fortunately, Diba Jiao knew his own limits and delegated full military authority to Dou You and others, leaving no grounds for complaint. That Hexi had come to this point truly could not be blamed on him.

"Governor Dou." Diba Jiao, in a weak voice, continued his feeble reassurance. "This dynasty is not the fallen Xin, and His Majesty is not Wang Mang. Reinforcements — reinforcements will surely..."

Before the words were finished, an official rushed in urgently to report. "Inspector Diwu, Governor Dou, more Hu troops have arrived!"

Diba Jiao and Dou You were greatly alarmed. Had the Xiongnu from the Zhangye and Jiuquan directions converged here? Dou You immediately shot back, "Have the Hu invaders reached the city walls?"

The official replied, "Not yet. It's just that the Colonel, using a telescope, saw dust from horses churning over ten li to the northeast. It seems several thousand riders have arrived."

Diba Jiao's heart instantly sank. If it was from the Xiutu Marsh direction, then it was even less likely to be reinforcements. Moreover, the entire Right Division of the Xiongnu had already poured out in full force. For several thousand more riders to now come from the northeast — could it be that the Chanyu's court had also detached troops?

He and Dou You had no more appetite. They hurried out of the government office. As they walked through the streets, they suddenly heard bursts of neighing and shouting from men and horses outside the city, as if the Xiongnu had been thrown into chaos.

And as they climbed the stone steps, they heard the sounds of battle cries drawing nearer.

Diba Jiao and Dou You exchanged a glance, their expressions shifting several times. Dou You, a military man by background, bounded up the steps three at a time. Diba Jiao, a scholar, had nearly died of illness during his exile under the Xin dynasty and had always been frail. Now, half-starved for so long, he could not run; he even had to lean against the wall, gasping for breath, and could only listen as the soldiers atop the wall went from shock to silence, and finally erupted in thunderous cheers!

Diba Jiao grew even more anxious. Supported by his attendants, he struggled to climb the steps one by one, nearly stumbling.

"My Inspector, why are you still here!"

It was Dou You, running back. His face was glowing. He supported Diba Jiao and pulled him upward.

And Diba Jiao, already hearing the shouts of "Ten thousand victories!" from the walls of Guzang, had guessed what had happened.

"They've come?"

"Yes, they've come!"

Receiving this confirmation, Diba Jiao grasped Dou You's hand, his stomach growling with hunger, hot tears filling his eyes.

Stepping onto the walls of Guzang, which had changed hands so many times, and gazing out at the scorched earth baking under the fierce sun, Diba Jiao saw, through vision blurred by tears, a rolling cloud of cavalry dust from the Xiutu Marsh. Over a thousand ring-pommel blades reflecting the sunlight were sweeping through the unprepared Xiongnu camp.

Sharp blasts of bronze trumpets sounded continuously from all directions — standard equipment for the Wei cavalry, loud and piercing, distinct from the low horns of the Xiongnu. After the sudden attack, scattered Xiongnu soldiers ran about in confusion, some fleeing far away, others joining the fray. The Hu caitiffs who had been outside drinking water and flaunting their might just that morning hurriedly organized a counterattack, but their enemy was ferociously fierce, charging in a chaotic mass and using their momentum to send the Hu soldiers tumbling, men and horses alike.

The Xiongnu began to retreat, pulling back to the northwest. They never liked to fight pitched, head-on battles.

And Diba Jiao, his eyes brimming with tears of emotion, could now clearly see the banners flying above the heads of the reinforcements: the Five Colors and Five Virtues auspicious banners, and a large character "Wu"!

"Prepare to open the gates and assist our allied forces in driving out the Hu caitiffs," Dou You decisively gave the order.

Turning back, Diba Jiao embraced him, his smile full of delight. "This Inspector does not like Wu Han. No... I detest that man!"

Wu Han had once been stationed in Liang Province for over a year. As the Inspector of this province, Diba Jiao had clashed fiercely with him more than once, even submitting memorials impeaching Wu Han for throwing Longyou into chaos — which was why he had been transferred to Bing Province. Earlier, Diba Jiao had also thought that this past grievance was why Wu Han had delayed in coming to Guzang's rescue.

But coming late was better than not coming at all.

"Today," Diba Jiao said, pointing outside, "this Inspector will treat Wu Han as my dearest kin and closest friend. I will show him the utmost respect, and use the cheers of all Guzang, along with our last remaining grain and fine wine, to feast the royal army of Great Wei!"