Chapter 612

Perhaps because it was by the sea, by late autumn at the end of the ninth month, Canghai City was already as cold as winter. The soldiers who had set out on expedition in summer clothes were already shivering uncontrollably. Fortunately, shipped to the front on the same boats as Heifu this time were several thousand woolen coats — fine wool from the Northern Lands and Longxi, sent to Xianyang to be woven into thick garments, then rushed without pause to Jiaodong, and distributed piece by piece to the Guanzhong troops. Once they put them on, the chill vanished at once.

The officers even had specially made dog-fur hats, with two ear flaps on the body of the hat; when the weather turned cold, they could pull the flaps down tight against the face. For now it was not yet so cold, so they could tie them up to the crown — this item, following Heifu who "invented" it, had spread from the Northern Lands to Jiaodong, then crossed the sea to the peninsula. Once the officers and officials put them on, they really did look a bit like field-army soldiers.

This time, they had also planted the banners of the Central Plains on land south of the thirty-eighth parallel...

While the soldiers were busy collecting their woolen coats and dog-fur hats, inside the main tent, Heifu was also exchanging views with Fusu.

"His Majesty's edict is to destroy the Lord of Canghai before winter sets in. Now the Lord of Canghai and his followers have fled — this campaign can hardly be considered over."

Heifu was reminding Fusu that, given the First Emperor of Qin's character, before the Lord of Canghai's head was cut off, this war would absolutely not be allowed to end just like that.

"The great army no longer has the strength to go seek the enemy and give battle."

Fusu was speaking the truth. With the harsh winter about to arrive, to go pursue the enemy through unknown, vast territory at this time would be nothing short of suicide — death either in an ambush, or from exhaustion, hunger, and cold.

Besides, this Canghai City was already the end of the supply line. With the southwest monsoon stopped, large-scale transport of provisions would have to wait until the fifth or sixth month of next year. Staying behind to garrison this place was undoubtedly impossible.

Since a single battle could not resolve the problem, they could only fight a protracted war. But Fusu was somewhat pessimistic about the future of this war. As outsiders who knew nothing of this land, they had already lost the advantage of terrain. The enemy was cunning and absolutely refused to fight head-on; trying to catch their tail — how could it be easy?

"Even if we are to fight again, I fear we must first withdraw to Liaodong to rest and regroup..."

Compared to Fusu, who was thinking about morale and the soldiers, Heifu's attitude was somewhat ruthless: since they had made it here with such difficulty, they absolutely could not retreat easily!

"Young master, please look. This is a map of Haidong drawn in Jiaodong."

Haidong — that was the name for the peninsula. This map, purportedly "drawn by Xu Fu," was laid out on the table. From it one could see that the only civilized state, Jizi Korea, was merely a small realm of a few hundred li in circumference, with a population of just over a hundred thousand, occupying only a corner of this "three-thousand-li land," equivalent to the area around later-era Pyongyang.

East of Korea lay the "Dongye," a loose tribal confederation; the Ye people also made up the main population of Jizi Korea.

South of Korea were the tribes of the "Three Han," short in stature, whose speech differed greatly from the Ye people. The Qin army had recently made contact with the "Mahan" among them.

Heifu had already heard about this matter. Several months ago, when Jiaodong dispatched three ships to cross the sea, a small three-hundred-hu vessel had been swept away by wind and waves. Its mast snapped, its rudder failed, and they could only rely on rowing by hand. Driven by the west wind, they drifted near the coast of Mahan and unfortunately struck a reef. The hull was breached with a large hole, and seawater kept pouring in.

The crew could only row a small boat to escape. Sharks swarmed in from all around, drawn by the smell of blood, and were beaten back by the crew with the few weapons they had left. Fortunately, the reef was not far from land, and in the end they made landfall on a deserted stretch of coast.

Using the latitude value measured by the "star-guiding art" of that centurion who was friendly with Wei Yang, they roughly determined their position. By fishing, stealing bird eggs, and hunting, the several dozen survivors endured the hardest half month, walking ever northward, until at last they saw cooking smoke.

They visited a small tribe of the Mahan people.

Although the Mahan people were primitive and ignorant, living by fishing and hunting, fondest of eating raw octopus legs, and roasting animal meat on stones heated until scalding hot — appearing utterly savage — at heart they were gentle-natured and bullied the weak but feared the strong. The Mahan people did not attack the Qin men, only showing great interest in the crew's clothes and weapons.

After the two sides communicated through gestures, the crew traded their clothes for some food and animal hides, and under the Mahan people's guidance, headed back north by land. Without a map, the group took no small number of wrong paths, even circling inside a great mountain for half a month before emerging, looking exactly like wild men.

Midway, they also encountered a group migrating south from Canghai City. The crew could only hold their breath and hide to avoid them. They captured a straggler, who turned out to be a scholar who had fled from Qi over ten years ago; their language was mutually intelligible.

This was the first time in months the crew had heard the Xia tongue, yet unexpectedly it came from an enemy — truly one could only laugh bitterly.

Only upon asking did they learn that the great Qin army had already pressed close to Canghai City, not far from this place...

The forty-odd survivors, after twisting and turning, enduring a thousand hardships, finally managed to find the boat troops patrolling near the coast. When they were discovered, each one was gaunt and bony, waving their arms desperately at the seashore; there were even seven-chi men who wept on the spot.

Thinking back on it afterward, all the stories this group experienced over four months could be compiled into a tale of overseas exploration...

Thanks also to the information the crew provided, Heifu and the others were able to mark the two characters "Mahan" on the southern part of the map.

"The Lord of Canghai has fled to the area between Dongye and Mahan, but he has not gone very far."

Pointing to the region east of Ganghwa Island, Heifu knew this was the later-era Han River basin, the place called "Hanseong," which would later be renamed Seoul...

The general area could be determined, but exactly where, no one could know. What was certain, however, was that once the Qin army struck at empty air and hastily withdrew, the Lord of Canghai would be able to return in force.

"At that time, he could loudly proclaim across Haidong that he repelled the Qin army without spending a single soldier, and his prestige would surely surge. With the help of people from the six kingdoms as well, I fear the Lord of Canghai will henceforth dominate Dongye and the Three Han..."

Not only would they have failed to extinguish the "rebellion," they would have allowed it to grow further, creating a new regime on the peninsula hostile to the Central Plains at such an early date — that would be a crime beyond measure. Heifu did not want to become a sinner in history.

"Does the Army Supervisor mean that the great army should remain garrisoned on this island?"

Fusu frowned. Although supplies were still fairly ample, no one understood the state of this army better than Fusu: a spent crossbow bolt cannot pierce even thin silk! The soldiers' physical strength, energy, and morale had all been exhausted in the past half year of long-distance marching.

The camp mutiny at Manfanhan had already warned them that even the Guanzhong soldiers, eager for merit and rank, had secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the fighting could not commence, and had begun to optimistically think about going home.

One burst of spirit, then a decline, then a third time and it is spent — by now, the Qin army's morale had long since dried up.

If they were told now that they would spend the winter here and could only go home after the Lord of Canghai was destroyed, a second camp mutiny would only be a matter of time...

Heifu, however, shook his head: "Although this place is easy to defend and hard to attack, it is isolated out at sea. For the great army to stay here would be like a tree without roots, water without a source — it cannot be sustained for long."

Moreover, the sea channels around Ganghwa Island were narrow; every entry and exit was fraught with anxiety. Over this month, the boat troops had already struck reefs and damaged two ships. This was absolutely not a good place to station troops. Hmm, Incheon at the mouth of the Han River on the opposite shore would be quite good, but unfortunately it was still all mudflats right now. To build a port fortress from scratch was still impossible at present...

So Heifu's idea was to abandon this place, have the great army return to Korea, and station at Liekou.

"In this way, first, we can intimidate Jizi Korea from close range; second, during the several months when supplies cannot come through, we can live off Korea's tribute; third, once spring begins next year and the Lord of Canghai leads his followers back to the island, the great army can also rely on the boat troops to transport us swiftly south!"

"Station at Liekou..."

Fusu pondered: "That is, after all, a city of Korea. To borrow it for so long, I fear the Jizi clan will be unwilling."

Heifu, however, thought little of this. Although Fusu had won a fairly good reputation in Wangxian City, when it came to the real arena of diplomacy, he was still too soft-hearted. In the end, he was still too much of a "gentleman."

And precisely because of this, a gentleman can be trapped by his own principles...

"Young master."

Heifu's expression turned serious. Although Fusu had changed somewhat and was much easier to cooperate with than before, it now seemed he needed to teach Fusu another lesson.

"A weak state has no diplomacy!"

"The Army Supervisor's words have reason, but..."

Fusu fell silent. What he truly worried about was that the Qin army had already lost both the timing and the terrain, and was somewhat stuck in a dilemma. Only Jizi Korea was still fairly friendly, willing to grant passage and lend land, and had even sent their local city grand masters to lead people in helping the Qin army transport provisions.

Fusu feared that once Korea viewed the Qin army's actions as aggression, their "unity of people" would also vanish completely. At that point, with yet another enemy made, how would the Qin army gain a foothold in Haidong?

Heifu, however, thought little of this: "I observe that the Jizi father and son are the type who yield only to force, not to persuasion. They were so with the Zhou house in the past, and so with Yan as well. Being too polite to such people will instead make them think that a great state can be bullied!"

Several months ago, had the towering ships of the boat troops not screened the seas off Korea, making men gaze in awe and fear, then no matter how refined, cultured, and nobly poised Fusu appeared, it would likely have had little effect.

He said: "How about this — when the time comes, the young master will continue to play only the good man, exchanging poems and praises with them. As for the villain, I will play that part!"

Heifu grinned, showing his large white teeth: "After all, my face is black — I do look like a villain!"

PS: The second chapter will be at midnight.

(End of chapter)