Chapter 455: Bones by the River

By nightfall, when Meng Yi arrived at the battlefield with the ten thousand or so laborers trudging slowly behind, the windblown sand from the nearby desert had already died down, and the slaughter between Qin and the Xiongnu had long since ended.

General Li Xin had led the cavalry to pursue the scattered remnants of the enemy, while General Heifu was in his tent tallying gains and losses and writing the victory dispatch. Meng Yi had already called on him and learned that the Young Master, Fusu, was still out on the battlefield…

"The Young Master is benevolent and virtuous; he went personally to tend to the dead and wounded after the battle."

Heifu set down his writing brush and, facing his former superior from his days as a Lang Guard, cupped his hands and smiled. "To have such an Eldest Young Master is truly a blessing for Great Qin. His Majesty, upon seeing this, would surely be gratified."

Meng Yi, somewhat older than Heifu, had always been stern and incorruptible, yet in his heart he held a certain fondness for Young Master Fusu, who had once taught him laws and ordinances. Heifu's words pleased him greatly, but his face remained solemn as he went off to find Fusu.

Vultures and crows circled overhead. The mouth of the river, all along its course, was strewn with corpses — mostly Xiongnu and their warhorses, interspersed with Qin soldiers in black armor. The Xiongnu heads had been hacked off by Qin troops and hung at their waists, while the Qin dead were being carried by the laborers tasked with clearing the battlefield to the side and laid out in neat rows.

Young Master Fusu was down on one knee beside the bodies of fallen soldiers, silent. He was waiting for the military judges to verify the identities of these troops and record them in the casualty register.

"Young Master."

Seeing Meng Yi approach, Fusu said to him, "Army Supervisor Meng, only today do I truly understand how many soldiers' lives must be sacrificed for a single general's achievement. Many cannot even have their bodies identified. Fortunately, each man carries his own inspection tally and travel permit. The Northern Lands troops even have the soldier tags that Commandant Wei had made — hidden inside their armor. Even if trampled beyond recognition by Xiongnu hooves, a grave marker bearing his name and registry can still be raised for him!"

It was late summer and the weather was scorching; the bodies could not be brought back. They could only establish a "Loyal Soldier Cemetery" for them here on this battlefield.

"Not only the officers and men who died in battle today, but also the hundred sons of good families who fell to Xiongnu arrows earlier while trying to relay messages, and even the infantry and cavalry who perished in Shang Prefecture under the Xiongnu horde's assault — I wish for them all to be buried here."

Meng Yi nodded. "The laborers from Longxi and the Northern Lands will handle this properly. As for Commandant Feng at White Goat Mountain — has someone been sent to make contact?"

Fusu replied, "After routing the Xiongnu Chanyu, Commandant Wei immediately dispatched men to go and liaise. The Chanyu left several thousand cavalry at the foot of White Goat Mountain to keep watch, but the Shang Prefecture troops, believing it to be a Xiongnu ruse, are still holding fast on the mountain and only sending men to the river to fetch water…"

"Feng Jie is in for a bad time this go-around."

Meng Yi chuckled darkly. As fellow second-generation officials, the Meng and Feng clans had only a so-so relationship. In this great battle beyond the frontier, Feng Jie had suffered two consecutive defeats. Had reinforcements from the Northern Lands and Longxi not arrived in time, he likely would have faced total annihilation. Though his force was preserved for now, Feng Jie had thoroughly become a foil to the achievements of the two generals, Li Xin and Heifu.

Speaking of the two generals' command coordination in this battle, Fusu still found it deeply engrossing.

Having observed the entire course of the battle, he had come to understand something: the Xiongnu were almost entirely cavalry, and cavalry skirmishing and archery required a relatively broad battlefield. This was also the reason they came and went like the wind, making it difficult for Central Plains foot soldiers to oppose them on the flatlands beyond the frontier.

The battlefield Heifu had chosen to engage the enemy, however, was flanked on left and right by rivers. The Xiongnu could only break through from the front. If they attempted a flanking maneuver, the muddy riverbanks were difficult to traverse, greatly reducing their horses' speed. Thus, the Xiongnu's usual tactic of "riding and shooting at the same time" could not be executed at all; they were forced into close-quarters combat with the ceaselessly charging Qin shock cavalry. Given the generational gap in equipment, how could they possibly be a match for the well-armed Qin horsemen?

After the Xiongnu cavalry on the right wing failed in their strategy to strike directly at Li Xin, they began to rout. Li Xin, having received the support of two thousand infantry that Heifu had transferred to him, actually drove over ten thousand Xiongnu straight into the river…

After defeating the Xiongnu right-wing cavalry, Li Xin immediately had his cavalrymen switch to fresh horses and launched a flank assault against the Xiongnu Chanyu's main force, which was being steadily pushed back by the Qin infantry.

"Hammer and anvil — Commandant Wei's analogy is exquisitely apt."

Fusu recalled the scene at that moment. First, Heifu had ordered the war drums beaten to their loudest. The Qin army's martial steel chariots and infantry, which had been advancing slowly, suddenly accelerated and charged at the Xiongnu. When the Xiongnu riders tried to pull back, the Qin cavalry slanted in and cut off their retreat. Under the command of their respective cavalry officers, the shock cavalry of the two prefectures sliced vertically, thrust horizontally, encircled, and struck at the center among the ten thousand Xiongnu riders, galloping back and forth. Truly, like an iron hammer, they pounded the iron-tough Xiongnu, deforming them bit by bit, sparks flying everywhere!

At the same time, taking advantage of the Xiongnu's inability to retreat, the infantry pressed forward as well, squeezing them together. Crossbow bolts reaped the lives of Xiongnu men and horses. Qin soldiers wielding eighteen-foot long-spears advanced through the gaps and skewered the Xiongnu riders off their mounts. The moment a Xiongnu fell from his horse, countless dagger-axe heads rose and fell, splashing blood as they hacked and pecked him to death. And if the Xiongnu were forced by desperation to dismount and fight on foot, they would face Qin armored soldiers bearing swords and shields, gaining not the slightest advantage…

The entire process was indeed just like a blacksmith ceaselessly hammering a lump of iron.

By this point, the Xiongnu were already somewhat disordered. Seeing the battle turning against them, the Xiongnu tribes in the rear ignored Chanyu Touman's orders to continue the attack and instead crossed the river to flee northward.

Chanyu Touman could not get his orders across in time and had no choice but to command his followers to retreat. Li Xin ordered the Qin cavalry to pursue, and the two sides fought fiercely in the Dusi Tu River. The Da Danghu, Xubu Sheng, who had earlier been repelled by Li Xin, attempted to return and salvage the defeat, but was shot dead by crossbowmen, and his followers scattered once more…

Yet it was in this brief span of time that Chanyu Touman managed to cross the river and flee. It happened to be dusk, and the sandstorm blowing in from the northern desert was intensifying. Fearing that a rash pursuit would lead to getting lost and being counterattacked, Li Xin ordered the cavalry to rest in place. Half a shichen later, when the wind and sand subsided, they resumed the chase.

This was the entire course of the battle. Standing at the command post, Fusu could observe the overall situation, with Heifu occasionally offering a few words of explanation, and he had found the spectacle immensely satisfying.

Only, when he toured the battlefield after the fighting was over and saw the Qin soldiers — themselves not lightly wounded or few in death — lying strewn haphazardly in the river, on the sandbanks, and among the grass, gentlemen on campaign, unable to return home, able only to be buried in this foreign soil, Fusu felt sorrow for them.

"How can one open up frontiers and expand the borders without death and injury?"

Meng Yi counseled, "After this battle, the Xiongnu ought to lose their nerve and never dare to be Qin's enemy again!"

"I hope so." Fusu asked Meng Yi to return to the main tent first; he wanted to make another tour to comfort the wounded soldiers.

Watching this scene, Meng Yi thought to himself, "Heifu has delegated the task of rewarding the troops and tending to the wounded to the Young Master — is it so that he may earn the love and esteem of the army's soldiers?"

The Emperor had long delayed appointing an heir. Now Fusu's support was the strongest. His Majesty's sending him this time to serve as army supervisor and experience the battlefield firsthand was not without the intent to temper him. Fusu's benevolence was disliked by the Emperor and the Legalist ministers at court, but placed in the army, his manner of being close to the soldiers and laborers, treating them like his own newborn children, easily won him their allegiance.

"Could it be that Heifu, too, has been moved by the Young Master's benevolent heart?" Meng Yi sank into contemplation.

…

Clearing the battlefield was no easy task. Besides gathering the Qin dead, they also had to imprison the Xiongnu who had not managed to flee in time. After a tally, the numbers were found to be staggering: the Qin army had taken barely five thousand heads, yet those surrendering numbered over six thousand…

The next day, Fu Zhi, a son of a good family from the Northern Lands, returned, bringing back another thousand captives tethered by ropes behind their horses. The procession stretched out exceedingly long, a magnificent sight to behold.

Fu Zhi reported to Heifu: "Touman and the various Xiongnu tribes that withdrew number forty thousand in total. They should be retreating northward along the eastern bank of the river. General Li has ordered me to bring the captives back first, while he himself has taken four thousand cavalry across the great river to continue the pursuit on the western bank. The boat troops on the river are also carrying several thousand men forward together, hoping to intercept the Chanyu's defeated troops at the Woye Ford south of the river bend…"

That was also the place where Chen Ping had crossed the river years ago when scouting the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu had no large boats and could only cross using sheepskin rafts. The water was deep elsewhere; only at Woye was it gentle and shallow. Jiuyuan and Touman City should both have been taken by Meng Tian. There was a high probability the Xiongnu would first withdraw to the river bend, then continue on to the desert north. He could only hope Li Xin would achieve further extraordinary merit. But pursuing forty thousand enemy cavalry with only a few thousand men — this was something only Li Xin would dare to do.

As for him, Heifu, he merely wanted to steadily consolidate the fruits of victory and then present a splendid victory dispatch to Qin Shi Huang.

"Since General Li cannot return for the time being, there is one matter that this Commandant shall first discuss with the two Army Supervisors."

Meng Yi and Fusu looked at Heifu as he spoke: "The great battle is not yet over. We must continue our advance, fully occupy the entire land south of the river, and also relieve the Shang Prefecture troops who have lost their baggage. In this battle, our army has suffered one thousand dead and over three thousand wounded, while taking a total of five thousand heads and capturing over seven thousand Xiongnu. Supplying grain beyond the frontier is difficult. To feed these seven thousand Xiongnu captives requires enormous resources, and should they rebel and flee, that would also be a troublesome matter…"

Meng Yi had already guessed what Heifu wanted to say. He nodded. "The grain that the laborers have toiled so bitterly to transport beyond the frontier indeed cannot be wasted on captives. How does Commandant Wei wish to dispose of these seven thousand Xiongnu?"

"Very simple. It is nothing more than release, or kill!"

Heifu smiled. "The Rong and Di are wolves; one cannot be close to them. If we let them go free, I fear it won't be long before they gather again under the Chanyu's banner and become a menace to the northern frontier. Furthermore, the officers and men who died or were wounded need head-count merit. Military law states: a commandant of ten thousand, if he attacks a city or besieges a settlement and takes eight thousand or more heads, then the full reward is granted; in field battles, if he takes two thousand or more heads, then the full reward is granted."

"According to statute, for those who receive the full reward, not only do the generals and commandants gain an increase in rank, but the soldiers under them who have rendered merit also receive more rewards. Now, Longxi and the Northern Lands have over thirty thousand troops, yet have taken only five thousand heads. We still need over a thousand more heads to reach the full reward. If we had over ten thousand heads, distributed per man, the soldiers who died in battle could be posthumously promoted two ranks, and the rest of the warriors would all receive commendations as well!"

As if discussing what to have for lunch, Heifu said flatly, "Therefore, I wish to emulate the precedents of Huayang and Changping!"

Changping needed no elaboration; Bai Qi, for the exact same reason, had buried alive four hundred thousand Zhao soldiers. In that battle, every Qin soldier had merit, and the lands in Qin's Guanzhong were almost entirely distributed.

At the Battle of Huayang, also after Bai Qi defeated the Zhao-Wei allied army, he had beheaded another twenty thousand Zhao captives and thrown their bodies into the great river, the water turning crimson for days on end.

The Qin army did not permit killing innocents to falsely claim merit, but killing captives was a different matter. Though not explicitly encouraged in the laws, the court had always turned a blind eye to generals doing such things…

Meng Yi, being older, was unsurprised. Fusu, however, was stunned; this was something he had not considered before.

Heifu cupped his hands. "This matter is of great importance. Now that General Li is absent, Heifu cannot make a unilateral decision. Therefore, I need the agreement of both Army Supervisors before it can be carried out!"

"Army Supervisor Meng, Young Master — what do you two think?"

He appeared to be asking both at the same time, but the corner of his eye was fixed on Fusu the whole time!

Heifu had received secret instructions from Qin Shi Huang. Now that he was a father himself, he could somewhat understand those paternal words the Emperor had spoken before his departure.

"I only hope that when Fusu returns, he will be a little less prone to lamenting for the world, a little less of that hypocritical benevolence, and will have become a resolute and decisive Young Master!"

So the question was, could he?

(End of chapter)