Anti-Dong Zhuo Alliance (4)
The old villagers kept bowing, their voices thick with gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you!”
“We’re all citizens of the same Han Empire,” I answered. “In hard times, we help each other survive.”
I handed over a bundle of properly dried tofu and received a measure of millet in return. A few sacks of well-cured salt bought me the requisition of several empty houses so the troops could rest. The rainy season made the people’s resentment understandable, yet the moment they saw the salt piled in the storehouse their faces softened visibly.
So many young men had left for Liaodong that the elders had turned the vacant houses into their own little village. Along the Ji Province coastline, more and more camps requisitioned by my soldiers were springing up. The harbor that once could barely moor a few fishing boats was expanding in real time. Merchant ships from Liaodong arrived loaded with cargo but couldn’t dock immediately; they queued up in a long line, unloading one after another.
This was a sight you would never see if supplies had to be carried overland past Changli. Ships didn’t eat, and the crew’s rations could be supplemented with fish, so the loss rate of supplies naturally dropped. Of course every coin spent was recorded as debt… but war reparations would settle it quickly enough.
What if we lost the war? Then I’d simply blockade Bohai Bay (Changli Commandery), sell salt on the Korean peninsula and in India, and pay it back. If things got so bad that we were completely ruined, I had already decided to split Liaodong off from the Han Empire entirely and join hands with Goguryeo. At that point I wouldn’t bother hiding the gunpowder technology either.
In this era salt was literally gold. When you could extract endless gold from the sea, money was never the problem. The saying that one tael of silver equals one tael of salt was still current, and the Republic of Venice had once drawn its main revenue from salt as well. If a total war dragged on for more than ten years I would eventually go bankrupt, but scattering a little food among the old people and children left on the Ji Province coast was no great burden.
A day passed like that, and just as if by a lie the rain stopped. The ground was still a quagmire, but the air—washed clean of dust by the rainwater—felt clearer than it had in a long time.
“We advance,” I ordered. “Detach one battalion to maintain civil control here. Jeon Haerang and Yeom Yu, each take a cavalry unit and come with me. We will seize Hejian and drive straight through to Anping Commandery where the Ji Province Inspector’s office is located. Seo Young, take the mounted archer regiment and make absolutely certain the enemy’s supply lines are cut. Wang Mun, you focus exclusively on building our own supply route. Any good suggestions?”
“None, sir!”
“Good. Handle the details at your own discretion. Operation begins at noon. Let the men rest until then. Dismissed!”
“Yes, sir!”
The sky had cleared. During the night, nearly twenty messengers had burst out of the Ji Province Inspector’s office to carry letters, yet none of them managed to flee more than a hundred li. The high command’s silence for an entire day felt strange to the frontline units, but such things were common in this era, so quite a few generals simply let it slide.
“Haaam… Nice weather,” said Zhao Fu, Grand Administrator of Hejian, echoing the same sentiment.
“If only Lord Wenjie hadn’t sided with that Yuan Benchu fellow, everything would have been perfect… Hm?”
Hejian has been occupied by the Liaodong Army.
The thunder of hooves shaking the earth rolled over us. Two thousand heavy cavalry clad in silver armor, mounted on white horses with a golden sheen, were bearing down on the Hejian garrison. The ground was still a muddy mess, yet the white horses moved without the slightest trouble. Their charge possessed a majesty that chilled the blood—nothing like the ordinary Ferghana horses used by the Han.
The fine steeds bred from Akhal-Teke stock brought by the Xianbei were not quite destrier-grade by medieval European standards, but they easily reached courser quality. These five-year-old military horses, already the equivalent of twenty in human years, brimmed with such vigorous spirit that they looked ready to break into a full-power charge at any moment.
When the cavalry drew within a hundred paces, their commander—Gongsun Zan—raised his voice.
“I, Gongsun Zan, man of You Province and supreme commander of the Liaodong Army, speak! There is clear evidence that subordinates of Inspector Han Fu of Ji Province have imprisoned His Highness the Prince of Bohai and plotted treason. We have therefore entered a state of war with the You Province Army, which has been ordered to secure the Prince’s person. Thus I ask you: Grand Administrator Zhao Fu of Hejian! Are you a traitor who has joined Inspector Han Fu in raising the banner of rebellion against the imperial house of Han?”
Zhao Fu had been enjoying an afternoon nap in the fine weather. The sudden shout from the cavalry commander snapped him awake instantly.
“What are you saying?! Colonel Gongsun, there must be some misunderstanding!”
“I visited the Ji Province Inspector’s office in person yesterday, confirmed the facts, and declared war! Did you receive no word at all?”
This was thanks to my royal guard’s perfect physical severance of the Inspector’s communications, but a frontline officer like Zhao Fu could not know that.
“Th-there must be a misunderstanding! Lord Wenjie would never plot treason!”
“Then how do you explain the fact that Inspector Han Fu’s tax collector, Gongsun Jeong, has been levying taxes directly from the Prince of Bohai’s household? I have not come to exterminate the people of Ji Province. I have come to verify whether the treason is real. If it is a misunderstanding, it will be resolved. If the treason is true, the ringleaders will be executed!”
The white horse carrying me took a few steps sideways. In the gap it created, a wagon pulled by several Ferghana horses appeared. It was loaded to the brim with salt and military rations. The wheels were sunk a full hand’s breadth into the mud from the sheer weight, and the horses were sweating heavily just to pull free.
“If the You Province Army needs to requisition food, we will pay its full value in salt and provisions. If we need camps, we will pay the homeowners a fair price. This is the will of Inspector Liu Yu of You Province, and I, Gongsun Zan, swear it upon my honor! Now, Grand Administrator Zhao Fu of Hejian—are you a criminal who has joined the treason, or are you a loyal subject of Han?”
“…”
“If you truly are a traitor, what reward will your sacrifice earn you for facing the Baekmaeuijong here? Give me your answer at once! Otherwise we will conclude that the Hejian garrison has fallen into rebel hands and slaughter every last one of you!”
Zhao Fu’s mind began spinning at the fastest speed of his entire life.
Treason? Treason? Lord Wenjie? No… that can’t be. Something is wrong. His Lordship is not that kind of man. There is definitely a conspiracy at work.
“Here is Inspector Han Fu’s official seal! His Lordship has already proven his innocence to me. Open the road and prove your own innocence!”
From a hundred paces away it was impossible to examine closely, but the seal made of pure gold was clearly an object only a provincial inspector or administrator could possess. Since Inspector Liu Yu of You Province still had his own seal, the one I held up was either a forgery… or one of the genuine items Han Fu had entrusted to me.
“…I will send a messenger, so allow us to verify its authenticity! Contact with the Inspector’s office has been cut off since yesterday and we must confirm the facts!”
“We have no time. Send your messenger immediately! If you do not open the road even after the seal’s authenticity is proven, we will regard you as complicit in the treason and execute you!”
By now the cavalry had deployed in a skirmish line. The low walls of the Hejian Administrator’s headquarters were completely surrounded. Soon a messenger carrying a white flag approached me. I handed him the seal. After a short wait the man shouted loudly.
“It is indeed Lord Inspector of Ji Province’s seal!”
“…Open the gate. I need to see for myself exactly what is going on.”
The gates opened. I entered the fortress accompanied by a single warrior who appeared to be a bodyguard.
It felt as though the notification “Hejian has been occupied by the Liaodong Army!” had just rung out. With both Bohai and Hejian now taken, Anping—where the Ji Province Inspector resided—was right in front of us. Advancing through the Prince of Bohai’s residence was possible, but stationing ten thousand troops there would create a rather poor image, so it could not be helped.
A hundred soldiers from the Hejian garrison joined us as guides. The noon advance ended around the time the sun hung above the western mountains.
“Have the messengers confirmed what happened?”
The Inspector’s residence was completely surrounded. Every messenger sent since yesterday had long since been captured, killed, or turned.
“Yes. It appears several of the Inspector’s subordinates intend to hand over His Highness the Prince of Bohai and the Inspector’s position to Yuan Shao.”
“How predictable. We’ll try talking first. If they refuse, we trample them. We don’t have proper siege engines… Gather the royal guard. We’re using Jincheonroe.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I hold Inspector Han Fu’s official seal in my hand! How dare you twist the will of your own superior, the Inspector of Ji Province!”
“A seal? We don’t believe you! Where did you get that nonsense from?”
“Colonel, Yan Gang reports that he has successfully secured both His Highness the Prince of Bohai and Lord Inspector Han Fu. They are being moved to the Prince’s residence under Gao Balgi’s protection.”
“…Good. No need for any more words. Begin!”
According to the plan, the royal guard should have already infiltrated the fortress through the breach Yan Gang had prepared. Once the signal arrow answered, we had to accelerate.
I fired two whistling arrows as the signal. One came back in reply. The two thousand cavalry kicked their horses, which had been walking at a quick march, into a trot.
“Shoot! Shoot! Turn those lackeys of Dong Zhuo into arrow fodder! Show those idiots charging the gates without even a battering ram what real punishment looks like!”
“Shields down! Your horse, your body, and your head are protected by armor! Just cover your thighs!”
Against primitive bows that were neither steel crossbows, composite bows, nor proper anti-cavalry longbows, breastplates hammered from plate were more than enough. I lowered my face guard and raised my shield over my thigh. The sensation of the arrow storm hammering my whole body came through clearly.
“Aaargh!”
“Hiiiiiing!”
A few unlucky men and horses fell after being hit through gaps in the face guards or horse armor. Soon the firmly shut fortress gates came into view. Fifty paces remaining.
BOOM!
The explosions roared. The gates shattered into splinters, revealing the scene inside. Dozens of soldiers already lay dead, blood soaking the ground. Horses inside the fortress, terrified by the blasts, reared and thrashed against their tethered reins. The sun was setting behind the western wall, painting quite a spectacle.
“Charge! Slaughter the rebels!”
“Forward! Forwaaaard!”
“Let’s roll the wagon wheels! In the way of the steppe!”
“In the way of the steppe!”
“You damn horse-thief! Stop spouting nonsense and follow the plan!”
“The plan it is, then!”
“Yes, sir!”