Chapter 119: Weakness

The sun sank in the west, over a loess mountain road.

An exhausted frontier army soldier sat on the ground, gulped two mouthfuls of water, and loosened his calf bindings to rest.

He looked at the sun, thinking of resting a moment longer, when he suddenly heard someone greet him from behind.

Turning back, he saw a young man in red cotton armor and an iron bowl helmet, his face flushed red from the long forced march. The man walked forward as he asked, "Fallen behind too?"

Drawing near, the young frontier soldier looked at his uniform color and helmet pennant and laughed. "Third Squad — you look unfamiliar."

"Ah, aren't we all the same? Transferred with General Liu to General Li's command. Only got a few days of full meals since the troops were dispatched. I really have no strength left. You go on ahead."

"Come on, I've heard your squad leader has a bad temper. Rest any longer and it'll be dark."

The young man laughed and stretched out a hand. "Here, I'll pull you up. We'll find the general together — good to have company."

The third squad leader's temper must indeed have been bad. The sitting frontier soldier shook his head, helplessly lowered his head to tighten his calf bindings, then looked up and grasped that hand. His other hand pushed against the earth to rise, and he asked casually, "You're Ninth Squad? I have a few com—"

At that moment, the young man's extended hand pulled halfway, then suddenly shoved backward. A blade flashed — the wrist-cutting knife he had slipped from his back waist while the frontier soldier looked down had already slashed across his throat.

The frontier soldier lay on the ground clutching his throat, struggling for life, a "Heh-heh" sound of air sucking from his mouth. Liu Chengzong took off his helmet and sat down beside the dirt slope, using the inner sleeve of his iron arm guard to wipe the sweat from his forehead, tugging at the collar of his face-guard to vent the heat.

This was the fourth straggler officer-soldier to die by his hand.

Not long after, Wei Qian'er and the Han brothers came walking from the mountain road behind. Liu Chengzong praised them, "Good, none of you made a sound. The scout cavalry, continue forward."

Liu Chengzong's main unit was the strongest in combat power among the combined forces, and the only unit capable of matching government troops in the professional skill and organizational ability of officers at every level.

They were nearly all frontier soldiers. Whether fighting alone or in formation, they were no different from the frontier army.

But he still could not fight large-scale battles against government troops. The problem did not lie with his main unit, but with the other various units.

Even with proper deployment, their leaders' minds could not keep up with his logic, lacked his habits, and lacked the ability to form the kind of coordination with him that government troops achieved.

To devour this detached government force, only his main unit could do it.

Yet Liu Chengzong's main unit still had one weakness: the scout cavalry.

This kind of work should have been done by the scout cavalry, but his scouts were a bunch of post-station runners and relay clerks. Waving flags to observe the enemy, mounting up as horse soldiers in battle — that they could manage. This kind of thing, they could not pull off.

The scout cavalry passed by the dirt slope, using their eyes to salute the three war gods on the slope above.

With straggler officers and soldiers ahead, the main force could not pass through. Only a few men could pretend to be stragglers, blend in for close-quarters ambush, and kill them before the government soldiers could cry out. There was no margin for error.

From noon to dusk, crossing mountains and ridges, they had marched thirty-seven li in three shichen. Liu Chengzong and the Han brothers had already killed twenty-seven straggler officers and soldiers.

The mountains were full of twisting little paths — uphill one moment, downhill the next. This was almost the fastest pace they could manage.

Only by doing so had he barely managed to bite onto the tail of Li Bei's mountain detachment.

The two forces had entered the mountains one after the other. The timing of the advance was not ideal for the government troops. Had they set out one shichen earlier, they could have cleared the mountain road before the sky darkened and reached the open ground on the southern bank of the Yan River.

But this timing was excellent for Liu Chengzong. It was getting dark, and this government force would most likely spend the night in the mountains.

Not long after, Wei Qian'er came running back at a quick pace. "General, they've made camp."

He pointed to a distant mountain peak and said to Liu Chengzong, "That mountain — you can see them from there."

Liu Chengzong gave his collar one last tug. Without a mule following him, even in autumn he was nearly dying of heat. He stood up. "Excellent. Call Sentinel Chief Wang. Let's go take a look... With so many stragglers gone missing, Liu Guozhen should figure out what's going on very soon."

Sentinel Chief Wang was Wang Wenxiu, formerly a hundred-man infantry commander of the Guyuan Garrison, who had come over to him at Yanchang County together with Yang Yao.

Wang Wenxiu's unit was at the rear. On receiving the message, he came running over with two men. This fellow crossed mountains and forded streams as if walking on level ground. After such a long mountain trek, his face was not red and his breath was even. He spoke in a muffled, booming voice: "General, what's the matter?"

"The government troops have made camp up ahead. Let the brothers rest a while, round up the stragglers. We'll go to that mountain and take a look."

Liu Chengzong raised his eyes to look. This Pingliang man had just eaten parched flour and drunk water. His big beard was stuck all over with parched flour paste, matted into clumps.

He let out a laugh and said to Wang Wenxiu, "We're lucky they made camp. If Sky-Reaching Monkey hasn't sealed the mountain pass yet, once these men get out, we won't find them."

Still six or seven li from the mountain pass, Liu Chengzong took a small trail up onto a ridge and saw the government troops' encampment.

It was an abandoned, desolate village built against the mountain. The sky had already darkened; he could not make out the situation inside the village, only see that the government troops had lit campfires on several roads leading to the village entrance. A dozen or so men were outside digging a narrow trench.

Whether the men inside the village had removed their armor, Liu Chengzong did not know, but most of the men on the perimeter were wearing armor.

Very soon, before full darkness fell, all the government troops had donned their armor.

Wang Wenxiu was delighted. He laughed and said to Liu Chengzong, "General, this Commander Liu won't be sleeping well tonight."

Clearly, wearing armor at night most likely meant that after making camp, the government troops had discovered that the stragglers had failed to return to the unit.

Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said to those around him, "Think that'll let them sleep? Shipan, Shiyou — those campfires are thirty paces from the village entrance. No one else can do this job. You two eat something and go to sleep. At night, shoot the gate guards dead."

The Han brothers nodded in agreement. Han Shipan asked, "General, should we get up at night, shoot one arrow, and go back to sleep, or get up at night and raid the camp?"

"A night raid is too dangerous. They're on guard. Getting up to shoot a few arrows will do."

Han Shipan nodded. "Fine. It's close here. We'll just sleep right here."

These two brothers were not picky about living conditions. They found a wind-sheltered rock, took off their cotton armor and laid it beneath them, covered themselves with their two battle jackets, lay down side by side, and slept.

Since the battle at Yanchang the day before yesterday, everyone's hearts had been strung tight. Few had slept well.

Today, on the contrary, they were all truly exhausted. Not long after Liu Chengzong arranged for the four sentinel units to camp and rest on nearby mountain peaks, he returned to find the two brothers already snoring like thunder.

"General, still not sleeping?"

Liu Chengzong was sitting on a rock by the cliff, staring blankly at the campfires of the government encampment. Hearing a voice behind him, he turned — it was the big-bearded Wang Wenxiu.

He asked, "Is the General worried about the Jiapao Mountain front? It's fine. They won't attack today. Since Li Bei divided his forces, he'll wait for word from this side before advancing. After fighting for days on end, his men need rest too."

"I'm not worried about that front. I'm just a bit displeased... If it weren't for Li Bei's side, with just this one detachment, I think the best time to start the fight would be tomorrow afternoon."

What was truly keeping Liu Chengzong awake was indeed war.

But not this battle — rather, the wars that would come in the years ahead.

This was the first time he had considered problems from the perspective of a campaign commander. The feeling it gave him was like, like the war chess from another set of memories.

Both sides laid down their face-down pieces. Only when flipped over would you know who was captured.

He had more pieces, but they were all small pieces. He dared not flip any of them, leaving him passive everywhere.

Wang Wenxiu, unaware of what was on his mind, simply gazed toward the government camp and said, "If we don't let them sleep well tonight, by just past noon tomorrow they'll be so sleepy they'll be dizzy. They won't be able to do a thing."

A pity that time did not permit it.

They had to eliminate this government force as quickly as possible and turn back to encircle Li Bei.

Liu Chengzong gazed southeastward. In the darkness, mountain ridges rose and fell. He said slowly, "Tomorrow morning, when we attack them, Li Bei will also attack my troops."

If the government troops here are smashed and the bandit troops over there are smashed too, he still has a chance to win.

But if the government troops here are routed and the bandit troops over there hold out against the morning assault, their chance of winning becomes very large.

Just as Liu Chengzong was thinking this, his gaze swept past the mountain village. To the north, the winding mountain paths lit up. Crowds split into several columns, torches raised high to form several serpents of fire, snaking their way toward the village where the government troops were stationed.

"This..."

A clamor rose from the distance. Wang Wenxiu was dumbstruck. "That Flying Monkey's men — is this how they hold a position?"

Far too bold. Not the slightest intention of concealing their movements. The bright, blazing torches lit up the valley, engulfing the village from all sides.

"Hey, you have to admit, Flying Monkey's not bad. Look at his columns — even though their march is a mess and they're not hiding their tracks, each column doesn't interfere with the others. Some push forward to stall, others flank around the sides."

Liu Chengzong clapped his hands and said to Wang Wenxiu, "Not bad!"

The Han brothers had just fallen asleep and were now jolted awake. The two were furious. Without putting on their battle jackets or armor, they grabbed their bows and ran over. "General, have those little bastards come to attack?"

"They're our own. Flying Monkey wants a night raid. Get dressed, quick. No sleep to be had tonight anyway. Might as well break this village."

Flying Monkey had no intention of hiding his movements. He attacked the village exactly like he would a landlord's fortified compound, even sending men forward to demand surrender. That man was shot dead by a single arrow from the government troops in the village, igniting the night battle.

Then the two sides traded blows. Flying Monkey was in the light, the government troops in the dark. Arrows flew back and forth.

How could Liu Chengzong stand by and watch this? It happened that sentry commanders from the three surrounding mountains had all sent men to inquire about the situation. He immediately gathered his subordinates and sent Han Shipan running to find Flying Monkey, linking the two forces together.

Flying Monkey was outside the village, standing atop a large boulder. No torches were lit around him. He was watching the battle ahead with keen interest, occasionally sending men to relay orders to his columns.

That afternoon, upon receiving Liu Chengzong's message, he had urged his men to sleep on the spot. If they couldn't sleep, they were to just lie down.

Later, he used the seized silver to pay for transport and got several live pigs. Once the vanguard and the late-arriving troops were all assembled, they slaughtered the pigs and had a hearty, comfortable feast. Only then, at dusk, did he send men into the mountains to search for traces of the government troops.

Not only did they find nothing, the men sent into the mountains got lost.

It wasn't until full dark that they saw the torches the government troops had lit in the village. By then, Flying Monkey had already broken camp and moved his entire army into the mountains.

He had no choice but to advance. The meat had been eaten. If he didn't get his men moving, they'd all start getting sleepy.

Fortunately, the several bonfires the government troops lit at their position were indeed conspicuous.

Flying Monkey's plan was simple. Over three thousand men were divided into three large battalions, each occupying an entrance to the village, and would assault in rotating hundred-man companies.

The ones in front charge, the ones behind shoot. If they can't break through, they fall back and reform, and the next wave behind them charges. The remaining men rest while guarding against a government troop sortie.

The moment they smash through the defenses at the village entrance and drive straight in to slaughter, it's a success.

This was a plan born of having no other options. Flying Monkey's decision to set out at dusk and fight at night was no spur-of-the-moment impulse. He had carefully planned it before the campaign. Only under these conditions was the gap between his men and the government troops smallest.

In the valley during broad daylight, this battle would be impossible to fight. It could only be fought at night.

Yet even fighting at night, charging a village garrisoned by government troops was vastly different from charging a landlord's fortified compound.

Before long, Han Shipan returned. "Flying Monkey is overjoyed. He asks if the General has any orders. His men can't break in."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand. "What's there to fear if they can't break in? Tell him to pull his men from the east and launch two fierce assaults from the north and south."

"The General means to surround on three sides, leaving one open?"

"Surround what, leave what open? Even a dog wouldn't fall for that." Liu Chengzong let out a laugh. "Assemble our men. We won't raise torches. We'll attack through that open gap, cut off their north and south flanks, and then when Flying Monkey's men pour in — won't this great enterprise be accomplished!"

Surrounding a force while leaving an escape route is an extremely common and highly effective tactic. It's just that it's not about leaving a gap so people will run. Everyone knows the gap left is a trap.

Its effectiveness lies in the fact that the besieged's psychological defenses have already collapsed. Even knowing full well it's a trap, they still want to try their luck.

Could Flying Monkey's bunch push the government troops to a psychological collapse? They could — if the fighting lasted one or two double-hours, with twelve or thirteen charges in one double-hour, a collapse would be certain.

But fighting that way, the first to collapse would definitely be Flying Monkey.

Liu Chengzong's thinking was that the government troops, knowing it was a trap, would absolutely not jump. But they probably wouldn't imagine that he would go in.

Everyone's attention was drawn by the torches.

With that, Liu Chengzong stopped Han Shipan, who was about to relay the orders. "Hold on. Be careful going over there. In the pitch dark, wearing border-army armor — don't let Monkey's men mistake you for a government soldier and attack."

Han Shipan burst out laughing at this. He waved his hand. "Don't joke, General. Flying Monkey's side has no torches lit. I blended in and searched for ages just now. I only found my way over by watching others carrying torches relay messages that way. The men on his perimeter didn't even know I'd gone in."

Hearing this, Liu Chengzong nodded and once again told Han Shipan to be careful. Inwardly, he thought that once this battle was over, he absolutely had to make Flying Monkey improve his security. What kind of alertness level did the men around him have?

It was just that at this moment, the government troops in the village were worried about their rear. If not for the stragglers on the road who hadn't yet rejoined, Liu Chengzong reckoned the government troops in the village would have already charged out.

The four sentries, bearing the Four Directions Marshal banners, assembled in the mountain terrain. Without raising torches, without making a sound, they crept toward the river valley east of the village.

The fighting on the north and south sides continued. Ahead, Wei Qian'er's scout cavalry cleared the way. Flying Monkey Liu Jiusi also sent a company to meet them, to prevent his own men from being startled.

Soon, they reached the millet field directly east of the village. Flying Monkey ran over to warn them. "General, be careful. The government troops dug three narrow trenches at the village entrance. A foot wide and a foot deep, specifically to trip people up. Many of my brothers got tripped, some even broke their legs."

This information was extremely important. Liu Chengzong immediately had each sentry relay this detail. Then, from over two hundred paces away from the village, they waited for Flying Monkey's forces to create an opening on the north and south sides.

To the north, three hundred-man companies charged twice with torches and weapons raised. The mountain path on the right was narrow, allowing only two hundred-man companies to charge. Each time, they were blocked and pushed back as soon as they reached the village entrance.

Those three spaced trenches were of little use in the daytime, but at night, especially for the motley crew under Liu Jiusi, in that brief moment of hesitation, five or six men in a hundred-man company would be shot down, and the unit would collapse and retreat.

Even so, Liu Chengzong's plan was working. To deal with the increasing numbers charging at them, the government troops were gradually thinning the forces guarding the east, dispersing them toward the two flanks.

The opportunity had come.

Liu Chengzong gripped his bow. The four-sentry infantry formed ranks to his left and right, emerging soundlessly from the darkness.