Chapter 653: Beheading

Plans couldn't keep up with change — at the very end of the eleventh month, the situation on the Bing Province battlefield shifted in subtle ways once again.

The immediate cause was that the Wei army had begun lashing boats into pontoons, moving troops from Shizuishan toward the Hunhuai outpost, clearly intent on crossing to the Yellow River's eastern bank to engage the Xiongnu.

Faced with the Wei army's movements, the Xiongnu commander, the Left Guli King, dared not be negligent, but his reaction was actually to pull all Xiongnu troops back to the rear, while driving tens of thousands of Hu-Han men forward as an advance screen. And the false Emperor Lu Fang did not escape either — the Left Guli King insisted he supervise the battle between the Hu-Han and Xiongnu forces.

The Hu-Han lords and warlords all knew their own limits. Suddenly thrust onto the very front line between two clashing armies, everyone felt the Xiongnu meant to use them to fill the ditches and wear down the Wei forces; every man's heart was seized with dread.

Only Sui Yu and Li Xing, who had already resolved to defect to Wei, were overjoyed.

"This way, it will be even easier for us to coordinate with the Wei army!"

So these two, far from being afraid, actually volunteered to Lu Fang to be transferred to the very foremost positions, one on the left, one on the right, mutually supporting each other. Lu Fang was deeply moved and praised them as "loyal stalwarts of the Great Han."

Because the stakes were so high, Sui and Li dared not inform their trusted subordinates; they could only meet privately to discuss matters. The only remaining problem was that, although they had set the uprising for the first day of the twelfth month, the exact hour, how to respond, and how the Wei army would come — the other side had not yet notified them.

Unlike Sui Yu, who had long since accepted a great deal of gold, Li Xing had joined the plan later and had only received indirect verbal promises, so he worried a bit more: "What if the Wei general merely intends for the two of us to turn on Lu Fang first, throwing the Hu troops into chaos — what then?"

After all, they were still thirty li from the Hunhuai outpost. Xiongnu scouts roamed constantly between the two armies; any small Wei detachment leaving the frontier could not escape Hu eyes. In these circumstances, the tactic that would maximize the Wei army's advantage was to first plunge the Xiongnu and Hu-Han into internal strife, then seize the moment to strike out from the frontier.

If that were truly the case, the danger of the uprising would soar, and how many of their own troops would be left after the fighting?

Li Xing's hesitation was finally somewhat eased as the last day of the eleventh month drew to a close.

"Boats are coming on the water, sailing from the south!" In the deep of night, a clerk keeping watch by the river came to report.

That's right — the water!

Sui Yu and Li Xing suddenly saw the light. They had nearly forgotten that this gently flowing Yellow River had once been the most convenient transport route between Beidi and Shuofang.

The Yellow River traces an enormous "几" shape across the land of Bing Province. The stretch from Xin Qinzhong to Shuofang and Wuyuan runs downstream. As early as Emperor Wu of Han's campaigns against the Xiongnu, boats were used to move troops on the river, cutting the Zidao route and bridging the Northern River. Later, when military-agricultural colonies were established on the frontier, because Xin Qinzhong was relatively well developed and produced a surplus of grain each year, the great river was used for canal transport to ship provisions downstream. The histories record: "Using canals for irrigation, water-powered mills and river transport, with little effort the army's grain was sufficient."

At its height, two hundred boats were built, each carrying two thousand hu of grain. From the third month to the ninth, they could make three round trips, delivering six hundred thousand hu. Was this not far more convenient than hauling grain over a thousand li from Chang'an?

It was only by the Xin dynasty that canal transport had declined, and for the past fifteen years, boats had vanished entirely from the river, so much so that they had nearly forgotten the grand spectacle of sails and oars filling the great river. Besides, even canal transport was concentrated in spring, summer, and autumn. In winter, the north wind moaned, unfavorable for sailing — which was why neither of them had anticipated this.

But military movement differs from canal transport. Even against the wind, going downstream with the current still offered some speed. The two men ordered their camp to keep absolutely silent and personally went to the mudflats to receive them. There they saw Wei boats sailing north in an unbroken line. To ensure stable night navigation, two boats were lashed together into a double-hulled barge, each barge carrying twenty men. A hundred barges of soldiers headed straight downstream — they were going to reach the northernmost edge of the Hu-Han camp and set fires, so that the north wind would fan the flames into a sky-consuming blaze!

Seeing this, Sui Yu and Li Xing no longer had any doubts. That very night, they passed word through the camp for officers and clerks to assemble, and proclaimed:

"Lu Fang is nothing but a mixed Hu from Sanshui, falsely claiming descent from the Han house. He has deceived us for a full ten years — ten years!"

He spoke with righteous fury, as though he had only just learned this: "Now that his identity has been exposed, he actually intends to hand over Bing territory to the Xiongnu, making us, the sons of Bing Province, slaves of the Hu forever! To cast off our robes and caps and don Hu garments — how could we face our ancestors?"

The two men stripped off the Xiongnu-style felt coats they usually wore, impaled them on spears, set them alight, and raised them high.

"Now the sacred Son of Heaven is in Chang'an, and the General of Chariots and Cavalry, General Geng, is ever-victorious. The first day of the twelfth month has arrived — we abandon the Hu and turn to Wei! We vow to be the Great Wei's vanguard, to turn our spears around and strike the Xiongnu with all our might!"

When time entered the small hours of the first day of the twelfth month, and flames rose from the Hu-Han camp ten li to the south, the Xiongnu Left Guli King commanding the allied forces knew of it at once.

"Liu Wenbo's officers have answered the Wei army's call?"

After a moment's hesitation, the Left Guli King still intended to send troops to the rescue — they were "allies," after all — but his deputy, the "Right Aojian King" Luanti Bi, dissuaded him.

"Left Guli King, not rescuing the Han Emperor will be better than rescuing him!"

This Luanti Bi's status was far from ordinary. His father was the previous generation's Chanyu, "Xiao Chanyu Xian." "Xian" was his Han name; he was called Xiao Chanyu because he was enfeoffed by Wang Mang. Old Wang Mang liked auspicious words, and later even created a "Shun Chanyu."

The Shun Chanyu was a puppet in Chang'an and naturally very compliant. Xiao Chanyu was different. Although he too had been a hostage in Chang'an, he had grown a rebellious bone in the back of his head and secretly fled back to the Xiongnu. After a series of complex struggles, he inherited the Chanyu's throne. While accepting Wang Mang's "gifts of silk" and swindling quite a lot of gold and grain, he deliberately opposed the Xin dynasty, formally declaring that the Xiongnu would no longer honor the Central Plains — taking the first step toward independence and revival.

After Xiao Chanyu Yu died, his eldest son Bi did not succeed him, because the Xiongnu followed the system of fraternal succession. As a son of Huhanye, Xiao Chanyu still had two younger brothers behind him, so Bi was only made "Right Aojian King" by the new Chanyu.

At first, Bi accepted the ancestral decision. If everyone had followed the rules, that would have been the end of it. But the new Chanyu, Huduershidaogao Ruoti, had no martial virtue. His first act upon taking the throne was to convict and execute his younger brother, and then make his own son "Left Worthy King" — clearly signaling a shift to father-to-son succession!

After this incident, Luanti Bi was quite terrified, fearing he too would be murdered. Fortunately, because he was relatively young and lacked prestige, the Chanyu was still at ease with him for the time being and let him continue to govern the eight southern tribes, though he also dispatched the Left Guli King and two Gudu Marquises to oversee Bi's people.

Luanti Bi's tribe provided the main force for this southern campaign, so he naturally had some say. Seeing him oppose rescuing Lu Fang and the Hu-Han army, the Left Guli King was rather puzzled.

Luanti Bi then said: "Liu Wenbo has a secret pact with the Great Chanyu. As long as the Hu can help him capture Longyou and Guanzhong, allowing the Han dynasty to be reestablished in Chang'an, Liu Wenbo is willing to offer the Great Chanyu the sixteen northern commanderies suitable for herding."

"But does the Left Guli King truly believe the Hu can march all the way to Chang'an?"

Luanti Bi was fond of southern affairs and did not underestimate the Wei army: "In the time of Yizhixie Chanyu, the Hu were a great nation of a hundred barbarian tribes. All the bow-drawing peoples of the northern lands obeyed their orders, with three hundred thousand mounted archers. After fighting the Han dynasty's great armies for a full forty years, the population plummeted. The cavalry they could field did not exceed a hundred thousand. Not only did they lose the Western Regions, they were even raided by former slaves like the Dingling and Wuhuan. In the end, they split into five, with endless war. It was only when my grandfather, Huhanye Chanyu, made peace with the Han that the Hu once more honored the Chanyu's court."

"My father, the former Chanyu, spent many years in Chang'an. After he returned, he told me that although the Central Plains have suffered great chaos, their population is still a hundred times that of the Hu! The army they can organize is at least ten times ours. It was only Wang Mang's stupidity that allowed the Hu to win a few battles."

"Now the State of Wei has grown strong again, absolutely beyond comparison with the Xin dynasty. A few years ago, when the Left Guli King helped Lu Fang attack Xin Qinzhong, you failed. On the Left Worthy King's side, raids on Bing Province and You Province have grown harder and harder. Though the Hu are now resurgent, we still cannot compare to the days of Modu or Yizhixie. We cannot even cross Shizuishan or Beiyi Mountain, let alone fight our way to Chang'an."

So Luanti Bi felt the Great Chanyu was muddled, keeping the Xiongnu entangled in this war for a goal that could never be achieved, reducing the followers of every noble king — it was most unwise.

Seeing the Left Guli King still hesitating, he offered a simple, easy-to-understand analogy: "Suppose a herd-owner told the Left Guli King, 'Help me drive this flock of sheep to the Northern Sea. Once we get there, when the rams give birth to lambs, I will give you sixteen of those sheep.'"

"Spending all that time traveling to the Northern Sea would exhaust and kill many horses, and rams can never give birth to lambs."

"For such a person, we can only use the method the Hu are best at."

Luanti Bi smiled and proposed a plan: "Because of the Great Chanyu, we cannot simply kill the herd-owner outright and seize his possessions. But when we encounter a band of raiders ahead, we have a chance to abandon the herd-owner — and his flock will naturally become ours!"

The Left Guli King and the Right Aojian King governed the southern tribes. Compared to the unreachable Guanzhong and the hard-to-crack Xin Qinzhong, they coveted the Shuofang, Wuyuan, and Yunzhong in Lu Fang's hands far more.

The Left Guli King's heart was stirred. He did not want to fight this war either! The Xiongnu were nothing like they had been two hundred years ago. This so-called revival was merely a final flicker before death; internal fractures ran deep. Aside from the Great Chanyu, who still dreamed of restoring past glory, everyone else only wanted to preserve their own strength. They were eager for easy pickings, but when it came to gnawing hard bones — let someone else go.

"The Great Chanyu places great importance on this war, and on Liu Wenbo's promises. If he demands an explanation, how should we answer?"

Luanti Bi had long since thought of a countermeasure: "As long as we collude with the various lesser kings and promise to divide up Liu Wenbo's territory afterward, everyone can say the same thing: Liu Wenbo's subordinates turned traitor, surrendered to the Wei army, killed Lu Fang, and then tried to trap our forty thousand Hu cavalry here as well."

"Thanks to the protection of the Qilian God, the Left Guli King was cautious and thus able to withdraw with everyone, preserving the Chanyu's court's main force! Far from being a fault, it is a great merit! Shuofang, Wuyuan, and Yunzhong will all fall under the Left Guli King's command!"

The Left Guli King was finally persuaded. He ignored the messengers Lu Fang once again sent begging for help and ordered all Xiongnu Hu cavalry to break camp that very night, traveling light, and return to Shuofang to seize territory!

And the Right Aojian King Bi, before he left, cast one more glance southward at the firelight and sounds of slaughter from the Hu-Han camp. He could never forget the letter that, months ago, had been written by the Wei Emperor Diwu Lun and delivered to his royal court through the circuitous efforts of the Grand Herald Feng Yan and the Embroidered Uniform Guard:

"Speaking as brothers, the Right Worthy King Yituzhiyasi was Huhanye Chanyu's youngest son and should have succeeded — yet he was condemned and killed. Speaking as a son, you, my lord, are the former Chanyu's eldest son — you should succeed. If you do not plan a way out, I fear sooner or later you will fall to the Chanyu's murderous hand!"

The Wei Emperor's words held great reason. They shared a common enemy: the current Xiongnu Chanyu. This withdrawal was Luanti Bi's first response to the persuasion in that letter.

"Indeed."

Luanti Bi thought to himself: "When the current Chanyu dies, and I become the new 'Huhanye Chanyu,' restoring peace with the Middle Kingdom, and even negotiating a marriage alliance, having Diwu Lun marry a Wei Princess to me — what harm is there in that?"

By the time the sky was fully light, the Xiongnu, who had maxed out their talent for fleeing, had slipped away without a trace.

And the Hu-Han warlords, who had spent the night slaughtering each other, finally reached a consensus. Vying with one another, they followed Sui Yu and Li Xing as "vanguard of the Huaxia in expelling the barbarians." Facing the belatedly arriving Wei army, they shouted "Follow me!" and hunted down Lu Fang everywhere.

As for Lu Fang, he was caught at the edge of the desert. This self-proclaimed Son of Heaven of the Great Han, overnight, found himself utterly abandoned by his followers. Even the Xiongnu, his masters whom he had loyally served for ten years, had suddenly cast him aside. In his terror, nothing remained but the primal instinct to flee and survive.

If he had been riding a donkey cart, a mule cart, or a half-broken boat, he might well have escaped long ago. But as luck would have it, Lu Fang rode a camel. The Hu–Han mounted scouts caught up with him, a volley of arrows came flying, the camel collapsed, and it pinned him underneath.

By the time Lu Fang was dragged out and shoved all the way to the banks of the Yellow River by his former subjects, the Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry, Geng Yan, had also arrived there. He was gazing north at the Xiongnu army withdrawing at its leisure, having not left him so much as a single goat, and he looked rather unsatisfied.

Only after Sui Yu, Li Xing, and the others had repeatedly confirmed that the bound man was indeed the villain Lu Fang did Geng Yan stroll over with some interest. He studied Lu Fang, who was covered in mud and sand, a wretched sight, pressed to the ground with his face against the mudflat.

Geng Yan drew the famed hundred-refined blade that Diwu Lun had bestowed upon him, placed the keen edge right before Lu Fang's eyes, and said with a smile:

"Lu Fang, I've heard a rumor."

"That you enjoy the protection of the Han emperors, and possess twelve lives and twelve heads!?"