Chapter 369: Glory and Rank Are Won from Horseback

News of the situation in Qingzhou reached Yuanzhou in an instant. Liu Zaisheng sent riders galloping to report to Zhang Zhao while he himself immediately began mobilizing in Yuanzhou.

Since they would have to cross the Liupan Mountains, he did not have much time.

But Yuanzhou had only one battalion from Yucheng Town and one battalion from Yingyang Town. Even if all two thousand of those troops were sent to Qingzhou, they would still be hard-pressed to hold off the cavalry of the Dingnan Army.

That is, if the Li family of the Dingnan Army reacted quickly and swiftly mustered a large force to march south from Xiazhou.

The emergency left Liu Zaisheng little time to think, and he could only issue an urgent conscription order.

All the Tangut herders in Yuanzhou were to be called up. Even if it only meant stalling, they had to hold on until the main army arrived.

Fortunately, over the past year and more, the official roads in Hexi and Longyou had been constantly repaired and widened, and the relay stations built along them had served their purpose well.

Liu Zaisheng sent out more than a dozen messengers. The fastest covered over a hundred li in a single day, riding several horses to death, and in under ten days the news reached Liangzhou.

Zhang Zhao, upon receiving Liu Zaisheng's report, did not dare be negligent. But after summoning his generals to discuss the matter, he decided not to go directly to the relief of Qingzhou, but instead to march on Yanzhou.

In the Moon-Gathering Palace at Liangzhou, Ma Yaozi pointed at the map and was explaining the plan to the assembled generals.

"If we go to Qingzhou, the fastest route is to reach Ningzhou, then follow the Maling River north. That is a full fifteen hundred li from Liangzhou.

Never mind whether we could arrive in time — the route alone passes through Weizhou and Jingzhou, both of which are in the court's hands.

The court just this year re-established the Zhangyi Army and the Jingnan Army. Whether they would even let us pass is unknown.

And even if they did, needlessly provoking the court's suspicion is not worth it. It would be nothing but beating the grass to startle the snake."

With that, Ma Yaozi pointed to where Yanzhou lay. "If instead of going straight to Qingzhou, we strike from Huizhou directly at Yanzhou, then even from Liangzhou it is less than a thousand li.

Yanzhou has the salt waters of Huamachi. The Dingnan Army depends on it for most of its salt supply. To the Dingnan Army, even ten Qingzhous are not worth one Yanzhou. We should simply strike Yanzhou and force the Dingnan Army to turn back to its aid."

Clap, clap, clap! Zhang Zhao applauded appreciatively. Ma Yaozi had now fully come into his own.

He was no longer the foul-mouthed old soldier who could curse without repeating himself, but had become a true commander capable of leading a great army.

"You little brat, you've been reading behind my back, haven't you? You even know 'besieging Wei to rescue Zhao' now." So saying, Zhang Zhao looked around at the officers in the room.

"Don't just watch. All of you, give your views. As for my own opinion, I think quite highly of Ma Yaozi's plan."

"My only fear is that the Defense Commissioner of Yanzhou has already gone over to the Dingnan Army. If so, getting a large army through will not be easy!" Everyone voiced their approval, except Shan Zhu'er Luo Shande, who stroked his chin and spoke.

"That is easily handled. We disguise ourselves as yabing officers of Grand Marshal Zhang of Lingzhou, go to Yanzhou on official business, lure out the Defense Commissioner of Yanzhou, and cut him down with one stroke. Then we simply take Yanzhou!"

Zhebu Jiashi, a radical within the Guiyi Army who held little reverence for the Central Plains court, stood up and said to Zhang Zhao.

Everyone looked at Zhang Zhao, knowing that he had always been rather cautious in his dealings with the court.

In truth, many people this time were in favor of directly answering An Zhongrong's call, but Zhang Zhao knew that An Zhongrong truly could not accomplish anything — his twenty thousand troops had not even held out a month — and that better opportunities lay ahead.

That, however, was out of concern about standing alone against the entire Central Plains, and about the Silk Road being cut off by the Later Jin court.

Yanzhou was not so sensitive. In any case, it could be passed off as a clash with the Dingnan Army.

Moreover, in Shi Jingtang's eyes, Li Yiyin and Zhang Zhao were both troublemakers. He probably could not wait for the two of them to batter each other bloody.

"Qiong Reduojin, make your preparations. Once the main army has passed Feng'an Army, take men to Yanzhou. Take three hundred riders and say that Grand Marshal Zhang of Lingzhou has arrived. Tell that Defense Commissioner to muster his troops and come out to greet him. The moment he leaves the city, kill him!"

Although Qiong Reduojin's martial strength was a notch below Manxiong and the others, he was sharper and far quicker of mind. To ambush and suddenly cut down the Defense Commissioner of Yanzhou with three hundred riders should not be much of a problem.

"All generals, return to your posts. Draw off your elite troops and complete the mobilization. This time we will send out at least fifteen thousand men."

Zhang Zhao had never regarded the Li family of the Dingnan Army as a soft persimmon, even though they still could not compare at all to the Western Xia of history.

But after all the Later Tang court's meddling, the Dingnan Army's strength — chiefly the cohesion of the Tangut tribes — had been greatly enhanced.

For Zhang Zhao, who had only just gained Hexi and Longyou, they were not an easy opponent to deal with.

The Macheng River in the early morning seemed rather quiet. A few early-rising water birds skimmed over the river from time to time, occasionally snatching up a small fish and sending ripples spreading across the calm surface.

Just as more water birds were about to begin fishing, a clamor of hoofbeats came from the riverbank.

Before long, two messengers with red triangular flags on their backs and dressed in black-green riding clothes spurred their horses across the Macheng River at its shallowest point, scattering the many water birds in all directions.

On the left bank of the Macheng River stood a village neither large nor small. It had been built only the previous year, and most of its people had migrated from the Liugu tribe south of Liangzhou.

With the help of the authorities, they had built houses with rammed-earth walls over a meter high, and the waters of the Macheng River had been channeled out through several newly dug irrigation canals.

All around the village, golden spring wheat and millet, soon ready for harvest, stretched across the fields — a scene of peace and plenty.

At the village entrance, an old man in a short white hemp shirt was drinking porridge. The moment he saw the flag-bearing messengers arrive, he snatched a small bronze gong he always carried from his waist, swung onto a horse, and began beating it as he rode.

"The Great King is mustering troops! All garrison soldiers of every household, assemble at the village entrance at once! United Bowmen and sworn-follower light cavalry, come quickly too!"

With the clang-clang of the bronze gong and the old man's shouting, the village of thirty or forty households instantly erupted into commotion.

Men carrying bows and spears kept pouring out of the low houses like bees.

"Damn your mother! Get your armor on, now! If you're not ready by the third drum, the dispatch officer will break your legs!"

In a house at the very center of the village, a middle-aged man already mostly dressed in lamellar armor was roaring at a young man still frantically pulling on a leather cuirass.

The middle-aged man's old wife hurried over to help their son put on his armor. By military law, even when garrison soldiers returned home, if they were at home and could not arm themselves and assemble by the third drum (or gong), every one of them received ten strokes of the army rod.

At the east end of the village, beside several huge millstones, five garrison soldiers, some twenty United Bowmen, and seven mounted sworn-follower light cavalry all arrived within the three drumbeats.

Under the Guiyi Army's current system, the five garrison soldiers and the Hanshan Battalion — apart from those on regular rotation guarding Liangzhou or stationed in the various prefectural cities — followed the "one stays, two go" system.

That is, of the thousand men in a battalion, only one company remained permanently in camp for training, while the other two companies were released to return home, where the village elders supervised their training, rotating once a month.

There was no helping it. Hexi and Longyou together had only about two million people, yet they had to control a full eighteen prefectures, plus the newly established Zhongzhou, making nineteen in all.

Maintaining a standing army of around ten thousand in ordinary times was already a strain. The remaining ten thousand or more had to be sent home, and this rotation system was used to preserve their fighting strength.

The United Bowmen and sworn-follower light cavalry were the militia at the grassroots level. They too had to drill once every ten days and hold a large drill once a month, and during the slack farming season they also had to organize joint exercises at the county level.

As for why some were bowmen and some were cavalry — this was not divided by ethnicity, but because a horse was, at this time, also a very important piece of family property.

Only those with horses could be cavalry. The poor, whose families had no horses, could only become United Bowmen.

The moment the eldest son of the Zhang family appeared, the United Bowmen and sworn-follower light cavalry at the village entrance hurriedly parted to make way for him.

For no other reason than that the eldest son of the Zhang family was not only a garrison soldier, but a fire deputy with iron lamellar armor among the garrison soldiers.

In the Guiyi Army, cotton armor basically belonged to the public stores. Only a few — figures like Li Yanli of the Qingzhou Tangut, or great meritorious servants — could occasionally receive cotton armor as a reward.

Everyone else was only issued it once they had assembled and were about to go to the battlefield.

Because lamellar armor is troublesome to adjust for size, some sets were still granted as gifts or exchanged for soldiers' battle merits.

After all, everyone's build differs, and a set of lamellar armor you receive won't necessarily fit you just right.

However, with the Guiyi Army currently possessing only a little over three thousand sets of lamellar armor, although quite a few men in the army had received such grants, once spread across every locality, they became scarce.

A single set of lamellar armor was a symbol of power and martial might. Return to one's village wearing it, and one became a famous figure known far and wide.

At any family's banquet, such a man was sure to be seated first, and in the seat of honor. When anything happened in the village, the village elders and headmen would come and ask him to discuss it.

Even the two orderlies who came from the county seat, upon seeing the red-corded iron lamellar armor on the eldest son of the Zhang family, hurriedly clasped their hands and saluted.

"Greetings, good brother. We have been sent down by the young lord of the Lesser Treasury of Minqin County to deliver the Great King's decree here at Lower White Horse Village."

"Lesser Treasury" was the polite title for a county lieutenant. Lower White Horse Village fell under Minqin County's jurisdiction, so the village's militia archers and sworn-follower cavalry were all under the management of the Minqin County lieutenant.

But the county lieutenant had no authority over a minor elite officer of the garrison army like the eldest son of the Zhang family. Therefore, when he and the six garrison soldiers heard the county lieutenant's dispatch, they merely nodded as a token of respect.

But when they heard the words "the Great King's decree," the six men instantly clasped their hands in perfect unison, then turned toward the direction of Liangzhou and dropped to one knee with a thunderous thud.

"The Great King's decree: The Dingnan Army of Xiazhou has swindled a thousand jin of our refined iron and murdered one of our special envoys. Their arrogance is extreme, and their crime is utterly hateful!

By this order, every garrison is to muster its troops. Those who receive this order must assemble at Liangzhou within three days. Whoever misses the deadline shall be dealt with by military law!"

"What brazen villains, daring to seize a thousand jin of our refined iron! We shall return to camp at once and obey!"

Upon hearing the messenger's words, the eldest son of the Zhang family and the others immediately exploded, howling with rage and vowing to teach the Tangut men of the Dingnan Army a lesson.

This was also why Zhang Zhao wanted to manufacture an incident before mustering the troops.

Because these garrison soldiers were out in the countryside, comfortably raising their children and holding their wives. The autumn harvest was about to begin — who could be bothered to go out and risk their lives?

Without giving them a reason, without making them feel the fight was justified, arbitrarily calling them up would mean that, except for the most elite soldiers, the rest would dare to just go through the motions on the battlefield.

To fight a war, one must first establish who is right and who is wrong, stirring up anger and a shared hatred of the enemy.

"Brother of the Zhang family, besides all the garrison troops being summoned, the Great King also requires bringing along some militia archers and sworn-follower cavalry. The county lieutenant knows you carry considerable prestige in the village, so he asks that you help pick three to five men."

Having delivered the order, the messenger added with a touch of ingratiation. The county lieutenant lived in the county seat, so he certainly couldn't know better than the eldest son of the Zhang family, who lived in the village, who could fight and who couldn't.

Therefore, they often relied on locals like the eldest son of the Zhang family to help select the braver ones, men who wouldn't fear killing once on the battlefield.

At the news that they could follow the great army to kill and earn merit, more than twenty local soldiers surged forward at once.

Even though life in Liangzhou had improved considerably since Zhang Zhao's arrival, it was still only enough to survive. To improve one's status and livelihood, one still had to rely on going to war.

The role model for these militia archers and sworn-follower cavalry was the eldest son of the Zhang family in his iron armor.

This eldest son of the Zhang family had gone to Guanzhong once and earned back a full suit of iron armor, fifteen strings of cash as reward, half a bolt of brocade, ten bolts of cotton cloth, one warhorse, one donkey, a monthly salary of two hundred coins, and five times that amount when on guard duty.

In Lower White Horse Village, that was a life fit for the immortals.

"Back off! Back off! Stop your racket! I already know who I'm taking!"

The eldest son of the Zhang family shooed away the local soldiers crowding around him, then picked the second son of the Zhao family, who was superb at horsemanship, the youngest son of the Ma Bo family, and the skilled archers from the Li and Wen families.

Those chosen went back joyfully to prepare, while those not chosen wilted on the spot.

As for the autumn harvest being imminent, what would happen with all the men gone? The village elders and headmen would have to mobilize the villagers to help one another.

If the fighting dragged on and the men still couldn't return by spring plowing, the government would provide oxen, and the officials and functionaries would go down to the fields to work alongside them.

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