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May 27, 2021

Chapter 16

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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