Chapter 270: We Each Call Things Our Own Way

Forty li west of Suzhou city lies the famous western terminus of the Great Wall, Jiayu Pass.

Before the Ming dynasty, the valley where Jiayu Pass stands held only a guard post for inspecting traveling merchants, with no pass fortress, because the key military stronghold before the Tang had been at Yumen Pass.

By the Ming dynasty, the ecology around Yumen Pass had been completely destroyed, and it could no longer support the daily provisions of a garrison.

So it was only then that the famed early Ming general Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, was forced to contract the defensive line, building Jiayu Pass — known as the greatest pass under heaven — on the narrow flat ground between the Qilian Mountains and the northern hills.

As for why the Ganzhou Uyghurs did not build a fortress at the strategic choke point of Jiayu Pass when Yumen Pass already belonged to the Guiyi Army?

Heh! With the Ganzhou Uyghurs numbering only some three hundred thousand, if they truly tried to build a fortress at Jiayu Pass, the Guiyi Army probably would not even need to attack them — they would bankrupt themselves first through the waste of labor and resources.

Inside Suzhou city, the Ganzhou Uyghur Prince Jingqiong had been caught completely off guard.

The scouts from Jiuquan Spring — the later site of Jiayu Pass — had not even entered the city before the Guiyi Army's roving cavalry arrived right behind them.

Prince Jingqiong's heart pounded with fright, because the roving cavalry chasing the Jiuquan Spring scouts were extremely fierce; Prince Jingqiong could see that at least five of them could shoot a bow with either hand.

This was no simple matter. A rider's arm strength is limited; an ordinary strong bow can be drawn six or seven times before one must rest.

Those who could shoot with either hand were the equivalent of being able to loose six or seven more arrows than an ordinary rider, naturally doubling their combat power.

Of course, what made these fierce riders extraordinary was far more than their ambidextrous archery — it was that their will to fight was utterly resolute.

Though there were only thirty-some riders, the moment they saw a chance to seize the pass, they charged without the slightest hesitation.

Fortunately, the centurion beside Prince Jingqiong was quick-witted, and hurriedly led more than a hundred riders charging down before they even had time to don armor.

Only after more than a hundred men had nearly a third of their number shot down by those thirty-some riders did the ferocious horsemen withdraw.

When they retreated, they even carried away the body and warhorse of one fallen comrade.

'Dong dong dong dong!' The rhythmic war drums sounded, and the broad Beida River curved in a bend outside Suzhou city.

This bend became Suzhou city's natural moat, though of course it also provided enemies attacking Suzhou a broad river-bend flat suitable for encamping.

To the beat of the war drums, troops flying the Guiyi Army's sun-moon-stars tricolor banner streamed continuously out of the valleys of the Black Mountains, and a great banner bearing the character Luo gradually appeared in Prince Jingqiong's sight.

And just as he made out these banners, at least eight hundred light cavalry extended out from the dark mass of the army like a great pincer.

They split into a northern and a southern force and directly enveloped Suzhou city; the pontoon bridge over the Beida River was seized by these cavalry before it could even be destroyed.

"Quickly! Quickly! Send men to inform Father Khagan! The Shazhou rebel Han army has arrived in force — at least six thousand strong, surely their main army!"

Southeast of the Fulu county seat, at the foot of Kongtong Mountain, the Ganzhou Khagan Renyu, leading those six thousand-odd riders, received Prince Jingqiong's urgent report.

The Ganzhou Uyghurs had in truth been living very hard these past years. Ten years earlier, after Cao Yijin stormed Ganzhou city, the Guiyi Army had thoroughly sacked it, killing over a thousand people and seizing great quantities of gold, silver, and precious vessels.

After that, the Ganzhou Uyghurs, like the Guiyi Army before them, fell into endless internal strife.

In ten years, by his time there had already been three Khagans; the previous two Khagans had both died suddenly in the prime of youth.

Khagan Renyu of course knew why they had died suddenly — because the previous Khagan, his elder brother Aduoyu, had been killed by him personally leading armored soldiers.

After Cao Yijin stormed Ganzhou, Aduoyu had taken Cao Yijin's daughter as his queen, which in the eyes of the other tribesmen was intolerable.

So five years ago, Khagan Renyu launched a coup, killed his elder brother Aduoyu, and set himself up as Khagan, then quickly obtained investiture from the Central Plains and firmly established himself.

In the interim, the Guiyi Army and the Ganzhou Uyghurs had several minor clashes, but because neither side could do anything to the other, and because Cao Yijin wanted to ensure the safety of his daughter and grandson in Ganzhou city, after obtaining a guarantee that the Ganzhou Uyghurs would not obstruct the trade routes, he let the matter rest.

But this time was different. Ganzhou, after all, was closer to the Central Plains than Shazhou, its land more fertile, and it also had the neighboring Wenmo tribes to raid for provisions, so its strength recovered very quickly and gradually surpassed the Guiyi Army.

Four years ago — the very year Zhang Zhao went to Anxi — Khagan Renyu had forced Cao Yijin to come in person to outside Suzhou city to hold a covenant with him, which was in effect the Guiyi Army's disguised capitulation.

And after four years of development, Khagan Renyu believed his own strength had grown further still. His original plan had been to support his aunt, the Heavenly Princess Lady Li, in seizing power, thereby indirectly controlling the Guiyi Army and then swallowing it step by step.

But before his scheme could even begin, his aunt and several cousins had been completely wiped out. How could Khagan Renyu endure that?

Moreover, if his aunt had met with mishap, there was only one possibility: the Guiyi Army's Military Governor Cao Yijin had suffered a major health crisis, or had even already passed away.

This was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. He had the pretext, and he had the chance — strike while they were sick, and take their lives!

"Advance at full speed. We must reach Suzhou within two days. Dispatch the imperial-tent chiliarch as roving cavalry to reconnoiter and search!"

Just as Khagan Renyu was hastening from near Kongtong Mountain toward Suzhou, Zhang Zhao had already led two thousand light and heavy cavalry to the vicinity of Jinta County, eighty li north of Suzhou.

A little farther north from here, there was a lake both famous and obscure, called Baiting Lake.

The reason it was called both famous and obscure was that in the Tang dynasty there were two Baiting Lakes — one north of Suzhou, which was precisely where Zhang Zhao now was.

The other was north of Liangzhou, the famous Baiting Lake and Qingtu Lake of later Minqin County in Gansu.

Minqin's Baiting Lake was hailed as the lifeline of the Hexi Corridor. In the Republic era, Baiting Lake had already vanished, and Qingtu Lake was once in grave danger as well.

At that time, the Badain Jaran Desert had occupied nearly the entire lake region, and the Hexi Corridor was on the verge of being completely severed by the desert.

Had that happened, it would have been catastrophic for the northwest border defenses, and even for the whole country. Fortunately, after an all-society rescue effort, Qingtu Lake finally began to slowly recover.

The Suzhou Baiting Lake where Zhang Zhao was, however, was much smaller than the Liangzhou Baiting Lake, and had long since vanished in later ages — one could say it had no fame at all.

Still, it was a very fine place: green grass, rippling blue water, no shortage of green fodder or water, and the surrounding mountains helped conceal one's tracks.

Zhang Zhao also stole a moment of leisure, catching a fish of more than ten jin from Baiting Lake, setting up a grill, getting some mutton, and preparing for a barbecue, along with some sand leeks mixed in to cut the grease.

The clatter of hoofbeats approached, and before long Ma Shacai and Li Cunhui came running over together, panting heavily.

Zhang Zhao was holding up the big fish he had caught from Baiting Lake, gutting it, and without even raising his head he spoke to Murong Xinzhang, who stood beside him in full military dress.

"Xinchang my boy, wasn't I right? The reason the Ganzhou Uyghurs can keep our Guiyi Army down is all thanks to this Khagan Renyu.

Would a Khagan who counts as a heroic ruler be so easily ambushed? If our two thousand-odd riders went charging over there, who knows who would end up ambushing whom?"

Murong Xinzhang curled his lip, and his face flushed red in an instant. He practically ground the words out through clenched teeth.

"Commander Zhang, do not call me 'Xinchang my boy.' I am now your cavalry officer. You may call me Officer Murong!"

"This child, always so stubborn. It's just a form of address, after all!"

Zhang Zhao grinned without a trace of seriousness, but seeing Murong Xinzhang's face turning as red as Lord Guan, he had no choice but to put on a solemn expression.

"Since you don't want me calling you 'Xinchang my boy,' then let's do this: you call things your way, and I'll call things my way. I won't call you 'Xinchang my boy' anymore — we'll each call things our own way."

"Is Commander Zhang telling the truth?" Murong Xinzhang was dubious, and looking at the solemn face Zhang Zhao had put on, he still felt uneasy.

"What do you mean, 'each call things our own way'?"

"'Each call things our own way,' of course!" Zhang Zhao's lips curved up, and he put on an expression of utter matter-of-factness.

"Look, the relationship between us isn't something you can change either, so let's just call each other according to the actual situation — you call me Yeye, and I'll call you Master!"

"Why you..." Murong Xinzhang actually froze for a moment before he realized what disadvantage he'd suffered from this "each calls the other his own way" arrangement, and he immediately flared up.

If they weren't in the middle of an army camp, he would at least have had a fight with Zhang Zhao today.

"Shacai, Cunhui! How did it go? Did you get the better of them?"

Seeing that Murong Xinzhang was about to lose his temper, Zhang Zhao swiftly laid the fish on the iron rack to roast, then called out loudly to Ma Shacai and Li Cunhui, who had not yet come close.

Li Cunhui gave Zhang Zhao an odd look. Although his great-grandmother was Zhang Zhao's grand-aunt, making Zhang Zhao his cousin-uncle, and it was indeed acceptable for Zhang Zhao to call him Cunhui, it still felt a little strange.

"Of course we got the better of them!" Ma Shacai said with his nose in the air. "Reporting to the Army Commander — Shacai alone shot down three enemy riders, and Captain Li also cut down one.

But these Uyghurs are indeed much harder to deal with than those Uyghur cavalrymen of the Karakhanids. At scouting, reconnoitering, and screening a large army, they're all experts.

If we want to use two thousand riders to launch a surprise attack on their five or six thousand, the danger is truly great. Even if we could win, the casualties certainly wouldn't be small."

"That's only natural. The ancestor of the Karakhanid Bughra Khan, Pang Tegin, was defeated right here in Ganzhou and could only flee to Anxi. We'll rest and refit here — now it all comes down to whose endurance is stronger."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao brushed dogwood oil over the fish and let out a loud shout.

"Commander Murong! I've heard Prefect Murong say that you are quite familiar with the situation in Suzhou, and that the knights of the Murong family are the finest of all. Then I entrust you with the critical task of maintaining communication with Suzhou. You must deliver battle reports every two days — can you do it?"

The moment Zhang Zhao issued the order, Murong Xinzhang, who had been putting on a sour face, immediately reined in the temper Zhang Zhao had provoked. He at once clasped his hands and gave a crisp acknowledgment.

"Of course I can. If I fail, I'll willingly accept military law!"

Zhang Zhao grabbed hold of Murong Xinzhang, who was about to mount his horse at once. "Eat the grilled fish before you go. I roasted it myself. And remember this — in our Guiyi Army, there is no such thing as 'willingly accepting military law.'

Because you must understand: whether you can deliver battle reports in time bears on the lives of your five thousand comrades and the future of everyone in our Guiyi Army. Once you've accepted an order, you must carry it out. If there are difficulties that prevent you from doing so, you must raise them. Once the war is lost, no military law means anything."

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