Chapter 573: A Vile Name

"The Qin army has massacred Linzi — three hundred neighborhoods reduced to scorched earth!"

In mid-April, such rumors suddenly began circulating through the encampment where the three brothers Tian Dan, Tian Rong, and Tian Heng were locked in a standoff with the Qin forces.

The rumors spread among the ten thousand Qi men, and the wandering blade Yue Bian heard many versions: some said that after the Linzi uprising was crushed, the Qin army turned its butcher's blade on the entire city's populace, slaughtering like hemp, not one in ten surviving, and in the end set Linzi ablaze — a famed city of centuries, destroyed in a single day.

Others said only half were killed; over a hundred thousand young men were cut open through the chest at the Zhuangyue market, their five organs left untouched, as the executioner reached into the chest cavity, pulled out a steaming heart, roasted it, and used it as rations for the Qin troops...

As for the decrepit elderly, they were either buried alive or tied to stones and shoved into the Zi River to drown.

Only two hundred thousand women and children survived, but they fared little better — the women were taken into the military camps and defiled by Qin soldiers, while the children suffered castration and were to be sent to Xianyang as young eunuchs. Infants too small to take away were impaled on Qin spearpoints and killed.

The noble son Tian An, who had raised the revolt, suffered an even more gruesome fate: he endured the "Five Punishments" — first his hands and feet were hacked off, his tongue cut out, then he was executed by slow slicing. It is said that that day, the executioners carved off his flesh piece by piece, sometimes stuffing it into Tian An's own mouth, sometimes tossing it into the jeering Qin soldiers, who scrambled for it and, like dogs, devoured it raw...

Although Linzi was under lockdown, the city was too large, and several sections of its walls had even been destroyed — there were always people who escaped and spread the news.

In the process of spreading, the Qin army's "atrocities" were constantly exaggerated, yet to the ears of the rebelling wandering blades, every word rang true.

Because Qin was a land of tigers and wolves, and the Qin people were no different from the Rong and Di barbarians — had they not, all those years ago, tricked their King Jian of Qi into going to Guanzhong and then starved him to death? The men of Qi had no qualms about imagining the Qin people in the worst possible light.

"Utter beasts, to do such things!" When Yue Bian and the other lowly roaming swordsmen heard this, their hair bristled with fury.

Their rage surpassed their fear of defeat. If they had been somewhat muddled when they first rose in revolt, now they were utterly resolved to oppose Qin!

"Who was it that massacred Linzi?"

Yue Bian and the others also asked around, wanting to know who could possess such cruelty.

But no one they asked knew either, so they pressed the sources of the rumors further, until at last they learned: the man who had done this was the Governor of Jiaodong — Heifu!

"That dog of an official!"

Hearing that this Heifu styled himself the black hound of Qin Shi Huang, Yue Bian's hair stood on end with rage, and he cursed him as a dog-official: "I will surely kill him — like slaughtering a cur!"

The wandering blades' curses flowed unceasingly, and finding even that unsatisfying, they hacked wood to carve an effigy, following the rumors' description of Heifu: a dog's head on a human body, bulging eyes, sharp fangs — and hearing that Heifu had a dark face, they blackened it with soot and smoke. They set it up by the Ji River and shot it with arrows, stabbed it with spears, and even urinated on it, only then feeling their hatred relieved.

Heifu's vile reputation as the "Butcher of Linzi" spread far and wide across the Qi lands along with this image. It was said he delighted in eating the hearts, livers, brains, and marrow of children, and for a time, saying "Heifu is coming" was more effective than telling a child "the leopard is coming to snatch you"...

The name of Heifu could stop the children of Qi from crying at night.

The rebels at the bottom conjured up an utterly evil fiend who killed without blinking, someone to loathe and hate, to sustain their courage for rebellion — otherwise, they might collapse and scatter under pressure at any moment.

But for the brothers Tian Dan and Tian Rong, Heifu and the Jiaodong troops that could arrive from Linzi at any time were an imminent threat...

"Tian An is dead, and the wandering blades have all been slaughtered. Linzi is beyond hope."

Tian Dan had heard the true situation in Linzi: after the revolt was suppressed, the killing had been strictly limited, and order had been restored to Linzi. This meant Heifu would soon come to join forces with the Linzi commandery troops.

"This Heifu is a fierce general of Qin."

Tian Rong recounted what he had gathered about the man: "He followed Wang Ben to destroy Wei, followed Wang Jian to break Chu, seized Xiang Yan's banner, then struck south against the Yang Yue and established Yuzhang Commandery. Later, he was sent by the Qin Emperor to Beidi Commandery as Commandant, where he defeated the Xiongnu several times. Among the Qin army's still-living commanders, his renown is second only to Wang Ben, Meng Tian, and Li Xin..."

Against such a battle-hardened general of widespread fame, with several thousand soldiers at his disposal, unless they could once again lure the enemy into attacking mid-river-crossing, the Tian brothers saw no chance of victory whatsoever!

"Cousin, in your view, how should we defend against this?"

Tian Dan tallied their own forces. Although over the past ten-odd days they had been joined by distant cousins like Tian Ji and Tian Jue, who had come from the upper Ji River to support them, they still had only fifteen thousand foot soldiers, two hundred chariots, and a few hundred cavalry. Facing the four thousand Linzi troops across the Ji River, they were already at an impasse — let alone dealing with Heifu.

They had already lost the initiative. Once the Qin army crossed the Ji River, they would have no choice but to hold out in a county town, which would surely be a dead end — the "Qi army's" numbers would dwindle with every battle, while Qin reinforcements would only grow.

Tian Rong, having heard of the Linzi uprising's failure, had also begun to lean toward retreat, and he offered his counsel:

"The best course now is to flee."

Tian Dan frowned. "Flee where?"

Tian Rong gritted his teeth. "With the hundred-plus ships A-Heng brought, we might still have a chance to withdraw overseas!"

"That would mean abandoning over ten thousand men and keeping only the elite."

Tian Dan sighed. "If we do that, this uprising of ours will have begun with a tiger's head and ended with a snake's tail. Not only will we have failed to restore Qi, we will have brought ruin upon countless people! What of the wandering blades who bared their right shoulders for us, and their families?"

Tian Rong pressed further: "Take five thousand elite soldiers overseas — ten years to grow, ten years to train — there may yet be a chance to return to the Qi lands..."

"Elder brother, you are wrong!"

Before he could finish, a booming voice sounded from outside the tent. It was Tian Heng, who had been ordered to garrison Qiancheng, striding in. He bowed to his two elder brothers, raised his head, and his eyes were filled with resolve:

"Elder brothers, when Tian Heng was young, you always scolded me for being a fish — once I was playing in the Ji River or the sea, I never wanted to come ashore. But this time, since Tian Heng has returned to the state of Qi and set foot on this land once more, even if I must die, I will die here! I will never again, as I did all those years ago, flee into the sea like a coward!"

These words fell with weight. Tian Dan clapped his hands in great praise, while Tian Rong opened his mouth but could only sigh helplessly — he was Tian Heng's own elder brother and knew his younger brother's stubbornness.

Tian Heng added, "Besides, the path overseas has already been cut off!"

"What?!" Tian Dan and Tian Rong were shocked.

Tian Heng's face was grim. He had come to report critical military intelligence.

"The Jiaodong fleet has already seized Shamen Island and killed the Yongmen Marshal. Then two hundred ships bore straight down on Linzi, and now they have blockaded the Qiancheng coast. Let alone a hundred-odd ships and four or five thousand men — we cannot even launch a single inch of plank into the water!"

At the same time, in Qiancheng County — unlike the Qi vessels that had furled their sails and hidden in the natural harbor at the mouth of the Ji River — out on the vast sea, the Jiaodong fleet had spread into a battle line a full li wide, dominating the entire field of vision!

The fleet's flagship was an enormous towered ship named "Yuhuang," a great Chu vessel that Ren Xiao had captured back in Kuaiji. It had three decks, stood eight zhang high, and was painted entirely in a fearsome black. During imperial tours, it served as the Qin Shi Huang's conveyance; in wartime, it was Ren Xiao's flagship.

Not only was it towering and majestic in appearance, but the ship was arrayed with powerful crossbows, flew banners, maintained strict vigilance, and excelled in both attack and defense — a veritable fortress on the water. Its only drawback was its slower speed, which meant it could only sail in the middle-to-rear of the fleet, serving as a command post and vantage point.

Besides the Yuhuang, there were five other towered ships, over ten great-wing, middle-wing, and lesser-wing warships, over ten shielded assault craft, plus several dozen small boats converted from local fishing vessels. The entire fleet combined could well be described as "a hundred ships racing the current" — a magnificent sight.

Aboard the towered ship, Ren Xiao was in high spirits. He smiled and said to the officials beside him, "The Commandery Governor once told me: 'Train soldiers for a thousand days, use them for a single hour.' From Kuaiji to Jiaodong, we have rested and recuperated for the better part of a year. Today is the hour to put that training to use!"

As Commandant, Ren Xiao normally had full authority over military affairs within the commandery. But with the Qi rebellion erupting, the Emperor had decreed that Governor Heifu take command of the land forces, and Ren Xiao dared not object. Yet watching Heifu sweep all before him and crush the Linzi revolt, while they had only killed a batch of old, weak, and sick bandits on Shamen Island — he was growing anxious.

So after taking on fresh water at Yeyi, he had immediately ridden the east wind and made straight for the Linzi Commandery coast. Now Ren Xiao was counting on the rebels being driven to desperation and attempting to flee by sea — then he could catch them right in the act...

"That way, the fleet's tally of kills won't look too shabby, and I, as Commandant, can preserve a little face." Ren Xiao smiled bitterly. Serving under a governor who was both formidable and a trusted confidant of the Emperor was truly no easy thing.

As he was still musing, a sudden glint of light flashed in the distance, followed by rising smoke. At the same moment, a soldier on lookout duty rushed over to report: "Commandant, there's fire on the shore!"

At the word "fire," Ren Xiao jolted. In naval warfare, nothing was more feared than fire attack — ships were made of wood, and sails were flammable hemp cloth. Once fire took hold, a great vessel would be buried in the sea!

Ren Xiao's first thought was: "Could they be planning to attack us with fire ships?"

But he reached out to test the wind — the direction was wrong. If the rebels launched fire ships now, they would only end up burning themselves.

Still, Ren Xiao dared not be careless. Seeing more and more rebel ships catching fire at the mouth of the Ji River, he immediately ordered all ships to raise sails and prepare to pull back, while also sending men in shielded assault craft to approach the shore and scout the enemy's situation.

After the warships departed, the fires on the shore blazed even fiercer — not only burning on the boats, but also setting the reed beds and mangroves at the river mouth completely alight. Viewed from the towering ships, it seemed as if the entire horizon was roaring in flames!

"Could it be..."

Ren Xiao narrowed his eyes and watched for a while before realizing with astonishment that those boats had not moved at all, and there seemed to be no one on them — the Qi people had set them all ablaze themselves!

What a bizarre turn of events!

This stretch of burning coastline seemed to proclaim some kind of resolve on the part of the Qi people...

The scene left the soldiers aboard the Chu and Yue towering ships staring at one another in bewilderment. Who burns all their own boats before the battle has even begun?

Even the widely experienced Ren Xiao could not help but marvel, recalling a line from the art of war.

"Burning boats and smashing cauldrons — what do they intend to do?"

……

PS: Burning boats and smashing cauldrons is like driving a flock of sheep — drive them forth, drive them back, and none knows where they are going. — Sunzi's Art of War, "The Nine Situations"