CW:
gore/violence involved
When Chen Yulong brought back the news that Han
Zhaoxing's life or death was still uncertain, they had already decided that
this man was in grave danger. Now that he actually came back unexpectedly, apart
from the unforeseen circumstances, everyone had mixed feelings.
It seemed that even his subordinate Chen Yulong
was obviously not happy.
Because the reason why Han Zhaoxing could still
be alive was most likely he’s captured and was released back, and people couldn’t
help but let their imagination roam.
Han Zhaoxing rode back to the city alone. His
warhorse was still his warhorse, but the horse was as dazed as him. The
soldiers died in battle, and the general lived. What a shame.
"Lord Yuan, do you want to open the city gate?"
The gatekeeper asked respectfully.
Yuan Mao stood at the head of the city. Looking
at the horse that was anxiously trampling back and forth in the snow, and Han
Zhaoxing, who was in a mess, he had slight hesitation in his heart. He
recognized that horse, and it’s not a Liaodong horse, nor a Qin horse, but the
pure-blooded Jurchen horse that was once captured. It is a horse that no one
could find a better one in Liaodong and was naturally kept by the chief soldier
under his command. A good horse also needed a good general to ride. This horse
still had a trace of a majestic spirit as a Jurchen horse now, even though it was
the same as Han Zhaoxing, feeling full of dejectedness of a defeated general.
At this time, he was the military officer of
Guangning. Since Han Zhaoxing rode back alone to the city, he was suspected of
colluding with the enemy. It was inevitable and right for him not to open the
city gate, but if it’s not opened, Han Zhaoxing only had one way to die, and
everyone was looking at him.
Yuan Sikong took advantage of the chaos and came,
screaming uneasily in his heart: "Don't open it, don't open it."
Yuan Mao closed his eyes and said in a deep
voice, "Open the city gate."
"Father!" Yuan Shaoxu became anxious.
Once Han Zhaoxing returned to the city, the
military power of Guangning would be out of Yuan Mao's hands.
"My lord, this..."
Yuan Mao waved his hand to stop those who would dissuade
him, "Chief Soldier Han and I are generals of the same government, and we
are guarding Liaodong together. Although he was defeated this time, won't it
make the other generals bitterly disappointed to reject the defeated general
behind closed doors? Moreover, Chief Soldier Han is bound to know more about
the enemy than the scouts. Open the gate."
"Father, what if he collaborates with the
enemy!?"
Yuan Mao's eyes were cold: "If he is
collaborating with the enemy, I will kill him with my own hands. When this
battle is over, I will ask the court for punishment." Yuan Mao's firm and
upright voice blended with the cold wind, which added a bit of majesty, making
people dare not give a comment.
The gatekeeper shouted reluctantly, "Open
the gate and welcome Chief Soldier Han back to the city."
Yuan Mao walked towards the stairs. When he
passed by Yuan Shaoxu, he sternly patted him on the shoulder: "You have
already joined the military. Anywhere outside of home, there is only superior
and subordinate, not father and son."
"...Yes." Yuan Shaoxu bowed. His
expression was extremely reluctant.
Yuan Sikong was a small fry. He did not have the
right to express dissatisfaction like Yuan Shaoxu. He could only clench his
small fist and glared viciously at Han Zhaoxing.
Yuan Mao was a very talented person. He’s
upright, honest, and good at ruling the army, otherwise he would not have
become Qianhu*
at the age of 30. The only reason why he did
not get promoted was because he did not go to war. There was no opportunity for
him. On the contrary, although Han Zhaoxing was the chief soldier of Liaodong,
he had repeatedly tasted defeat. First, he lost Qingzhou, and then he lost
Huangshui. Half of Liaodong was wrecked by him. If he were to take charge of
the battle of guarding Guangning, it would probably be difficult to preserve
Guangning!
Since the adults didn’t say anything, Yuan Sikong
didn't know what kind of background Han Zhaoxing had, but it's toxic to have
such an incompetent person in a key position.
Yuan Mao personally went to meet Han Zhaoxing.
After entering the city, Han Zhaoxing cried out bitterly
and had a face of remorse and self-recrimination. Yuan Mao did not comfort him.
He only waited for him to stabilize his emotions and asked him about the battle
that day and how he was able to return to the city.
Only then did Han Zhaoxing confess that Zhuo
Letai had captured him and more than 4,000 soldiers alive and let him go back
to the city alone to persuade him to surrender.
Han Zhaoxing said with tears in his eyes,
"If the 4,000 soldiers were not still in the hands of the Jin, how could I
have the face to live in the world?"
Yuan Mao asked, "Chief soldier, how should
we respond now?"
"Where is Lord Li?"
"Lord Li has gone to the capital personally
to ask for help."
"What is the food and armor situation in the
city?"
Yuan Mao reported truthfully. There were still
four thousand soldiers in the city, but six hundred of them were wounded and
disabled. Several hundred of them were managing provisions, carts and horses,
weapons and armor, clothing and other kinds of provisions. He even reorganized
the guards kept in the officials’ and generals’ houses, but there were only
three thousand of them. The only good thing is that there are enough rations to
support for a year.
After Han Zhaoxing listened, he remained silent
for a moment, and only said after a long time: "Zhuo Letai led 70,000
troops. If we have ten times the enemy’s strength, encircle and destroy them at
will. If we have five times the enemy’s strength, attack and destroy them fiercely.
Since the Jin has twenty times the strength more than us, and the weather is
cold, it's unfavorable to besiege a city and battle for a long time. We must
attack."
"The weather is so unfavorable for combat,
and attacking the city is the worst option. I think Zhuo Letai wants to make
peace. Letting you return is a signal."
"He released me to come back to persuade you
to surrender." Han Zhaoxing touched his forehead, "If I do not
surrender, the four thousand soldiers will not live long. Why not think of a
plan to swindle him?"
Chen Yulong said, "If we surrender
immediately, Zhuo Letai will certainly suspect us. Why not let him release one
to two thousand soldiers back first to show sincerity?"
The implication was that the rest would be
discarded.
Yuan Mao immediately opposed: "No. If Zhuo Letai
planted spies among them, it would be a big disaster." Not to mention one
to two thousand people, even if he released one back, it is possible that Zhuo
Letai has heavily bribed them.
"Is there any other good strategy?" Han
Zhaoxing looked around at the crowd.
There was silence.
Han Zhaoxing raised his tone: "Do we just
leave my soldiers to fend for themselves?"
Yuan Mao arched his hand and said, "Chief
Soldier, let's pretend that they all died in Maoer Valley."
Yuan Sikong nodded appreciatively. There was no
solution to this matter. If they wanted to preserve Guangning, they had to give
them up.
Han Zhaoxing viciously slammed the table. He was
so angry that his beard trembled. He was glaring at Yuan Mao but could not say
anything. After all, this sounded extremely mocking, and it’s difficult for him
to refute.
The room was silent again, obviously agreeing
with Yuan Mao's words. After all, except for Han Zhaoxing and Chen Yulong, all
of them were military officers of Guangning Wei, and they refused to obey Han
Zhaoxing.
Han Zhaoxing also pondered for a moment before
saying, "If I pretend to surrender and lure Zhuo Letai into the city, I
will set up an ambush to surround them, how about it?"
"This is one plan." Yuan Mao said,
"But, as Lord Chen said, this surrender is not good. Zhuo Letai will not
believe it. If we want to pretend to surrender, the timing needs to be
right."
"When is the right time?"
"When we battle once. Both the enemy and us
will have damages. At that time, it's only natural to pretend to surrender.
"
Han Zhaoxing's cheeks puffed up. He looked down
and thought for a long time: "Ultimately, we still have to defend."
"Yes."
"Okay!" Han Zhaoxing stood up, "We
vow to live and die with Guangning!"
The soldiers roared in unison, "We vow to
live and die with Guangning!"
"Yuan Mao."
"I’m here."
"Follow me to inspect the situation of the
city defenses."
"Yes."
Han Zhaoxing left the assembly hall first, and
Yuan Mao followed.
Only when he reached the door did Han Zhaoxing
find Yuan Sikong hiding in the corner: "Where did that little boy come
from?"
"I’m the general’s son who came to deliver a
meal."
Only then did Han Zhaoxing remember that he had
seen him at the military training ground that day, but he did not care and
hurriedly left.
Yuan Mao said, "Kong'er, you go back."
"Father, mother is worried about you and big
brother. The meal ..."
"Put it there." Yuan Mao didn’t have
the mood to eat. He left without turning his head.
Yuan Sikong watched a room full of people go to
get busy on their own. Guarding the lunchbox, he felt quite unpleasant. He only
needed to wait another 3 years before he could join the army. Now, he had an
empty enthusiasm and a belly of military strategies, but there was no use for
it.
Looking at the distant back of Han Zhaoxing, Yuan
Sikong's eyes became gradually darker. This person was indecisive and had
mediocre talent. If he died in the hands of the Jin, all troubles would have
been solved instead. He even suspected that Zhuo Letai let Han Zhaoxing back
because he noticed his incompetency. They only hope that this person would not
let Guangning follow the disastrous path of Qingzhou.
Yuan Sikong gritted his teeth. He felt uneasy, so
he carried his lunchbox and chased after him.
Under the city wall, Yuan Shaoxu found him first.
He dragged him to one side, frowned and said: "Didn't father tell you to
go back? Why do you always like to meddle with important matters?"
Yuan Sikong showed a bitter face: "Big
brother, you and father have not returned home for several days. Mother misses
you guys day and night. She cannot rest or sleep in peace, so she instructed me
to make sure I see you guys eat."
Yuan Shaoxu's face showed a hint of shame:
"Then you should not run around here. Go back to the council chamber and
wait."
Yuan Sikong was about to stack excuses when he
heard a loud noise from the city wall. The sentry guard blew a horn, two short
and one long. It’s a signal of an incoming enemy attack.
Yuan Shaoxu abandoned him and rushed up to the
city wall.
Yuan Sikong put his lunchbox aside, took
advantage of the chaos, and followed several soldiers up. The crowd knew he was
Yuan Mao’s son. They didn’t know whether they should block him, so no one went
to block.
Yuan Sikong hid in the most hidden place. When he
looked out, he only saw a team of Jurchen horses riding on the snow. The war
horses were not fast. Looking carefully, there was a soldier tied behind each
horse, who was stumbling and running with the horse.
When they reached the place where the bow and
arrow could not reach, that group of calvaries stopped, and the leader shouted
in a loud voice: "I am the vanguard general Mang Hua'er. Han Zhaoxing, do
you surrender or not?"
Han Zhaoxing's face was ashen, and he did not
speak.
Mang Hua'er asked three times in a row with each
roar louder than the other.
Seeing that no one answered, he laughed wildly:
"My Jin have 100,000 troops. I can break your egg city in a matter of
days. I came
to tell you with the grace of the great prince that if you surrender, you will
not be killed!"
Han Zhaoxing gave an expression to Chen Yulong.
Chen Yulong roared in reply, "You all are small
barbarians, yet so daring. Why don't you kneel down and prostrate yourself
before the Emperor of Dasheng?”
"How dare you speak of courage when your men
are defeated? HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Chen Yulong was so angry that his face was
distorted.
Mang Hua'er gave a hand gesture to his subordinates.
His subordinates dismounted, cut the ropes that
bounded the dozens of Sheng soldiers with their side swords, and gathered them
into a circle. They then began to pour kerosene on them.
After that, the fire engulfed them instantly.
The dozen or so Sheng prisoners of war let out mournful screams and cries, which were scattered in the air with the
cold wind. It was so gloomy to the bone.
The people on top of the wall were full of shock
and anger and intolerance. Their eyes were almost going to bleed from glaring.
There were even many soldiers showing fear on their faces.
Yuan Sikong was looking at those soldiers who
were eroded by the fire, helplessly and desperately rolling on the ground in a
daze, and his body could not stop trembling.
A moment ago, they were still alive, and in the
blink of an eye, they became fireballs. When they were alive, they were other
people's fathers, husbands, and sons. They all had their own laughter, tears,
memories, and stories, but now they were all turned into a puddle of charred
stuff that were too horrible to look at.
How ruthless was this, how cruel was this!
Mang Hua'er rode his horse, circled playfully
around the burned and inhuman-shaped soldiers, and roared arrogantly: "If
you surrender, you will not be killed! Otherwise, I will use the corpses of
your 4,000 soldiers to form scaling ladders, climb your walls, kill all your
men, and snatch all your women, HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
That group of Jurchen calvaries followed and
roared, "If you surrender, you won’t be killed! If you surrender, you
won't be killed! If you surrender, you won't be killed!"
Yuan Sikong's legs went weak, and he sat down on
the ground while holding onto the wall. His eyes were bloodshot. Besides
trembling and fear, there was also burning anger.
----
PS: it’s been more than a month since I
update this. I’m almost on par with SQC for WCJ, so just hang in there, I’ll be
back soon! This is just a surprise update :D (I don’t think my ZW book would
even be here yet when I get back to translating ZW…)
Qianhu*[千戶]---Qianhu literally
means “thousands of households”. In the military sense, it means thousands of
men. More or less meaning Yuan Mao is in command of thousands of soldiers.
Edited on 27 May 21 (Emzie)
Edited on 4 Jul 21 (Ari)
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